Nutshell Politics

In this week's episode, we begin a brief, two-week series on major  economic models/systems, culminating next week with a big Capitalism vs Socialism episode. This week, I offer the lead-in by discussing Mercantilism and State Capitalism models.

In this week's episode, we discuss the ongoing Hong Kong protests in their demonstrations against Chinese influence and push for democracy. It's been going on since March/April, so why are they protesting? What do they want? What are the implications of their demonstrations? And what can we expect going forward?

I had to record this week in an unusual location, so if the sound quality is a bit different, that's why. I'll be back in my normal spot next week!

First dropped almost a year ago, in Sept 2018, this episode on the history of modern terrorism is one of my most popular, most downloaded/played of all time. Enjoy! I'll be back with a brand-new episode next week!

In this week's episode, we talk about some of the cracks we're starting to see in the EU (the debt crisis, mass migration, and Brexit) and what that might mean going forward for the continent and the organization. 

In this week's episode, we spotlight a terrorist organization that was in the news last week for a brutal terrorist attack in Mogadishu. al-Shabaab is less known than the more infamous al-Qaeda or ISIS, but have been very powerful and violent in East Africa. We discuss who they are, what their ideology is, what they want, and more.

In this week's episode, we look at the story behind the recent discovery of the USS Eagle Boat 56, a submarine chaser patrol boat that was sunk off the coast of Maine during World War II. Missing for nearly 75 years, it was recently found again!

In this week's episode, we take a fun look at the tiny, Norwegian fishing village of Sommaroy. Situated so far north, it's inside the Arctic circle, they have mounted a half-serious marketing campaign to become the only time zone-free city in the world. Find out why by listening!

In this week's episode, we discuss the West African plan to introduce the "eco", a single currency that they seek to share as soon as 2020. What is it? Why are they trying to do this? What implications does this have for the region? And what implications does this have for the world at large? I think you'll find that this "eco" may have more important consequences for global theory and economy than it may seem.

In this week's episode, we discuss a BRIEF history of the Israel-Palestine conflict to set the stage, then dive into the outcome of the recent conference last week in Bahrain where the US revealed their economic plan toward peace and prosperity in Palestine. Who went? What was discussed? What was the outcome? Why is this important? And where do we go from here?