The Cosmopolicast

Prime Minister Oxley runs through the options for dissuading Iran from targeting dissidents on British soil. Secretary of State Berlinski is worried no one has an Iran policy. The PM realizes he’ll need to lead the Free World in devising a comprehensive plan to deal with Iran’s nuclear program, which will require him to call upon Defense Minister Oxley for a briefing. (The DefMin was in an urgent meeting today but will brief us tomorrow.)

Show notes:

* Iran is winning the war. Right now things look good for Israel. But the Islamic Republic is playing the long game. And its advantages, alas, are many.

* Iran executes 853 people in eight-year high amid relentless repression and renewed “war on drugs.”

* The EU compromise machine is breaking—and everyone’s blaming Germany. Berlin’s domestic spats are gumming up the EU’s delicate policymaking process.

* How Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could doom Joe Biden

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

Fridays are the day we talk about happy and beautiful things, and what could be happier or more beautiful than our golden, wine-and-poetry soaked youth at Oxford and Cambridge?

I wrote a short story some time after I went down from Oxford. (You “go up” and “go down” from Oxford, and you pray that you’re never “sent down,” because that is very, very bad.) The story is a love letter to Oxford, its beauty, its history, its weirdness, and the dizzying excitement of being young. I still think it captures something true about the place.

I didn’t know what to do with it. It was and remains the only short story I’d ever written. But I was attached to it, so I turned it into a little book and self-published it on Amazon. Every so often, some curious reader buys it. This one liked it:

It’s a work of fiction, but every place I describe is real.

I have a special offer for you. If you subscribe today, I will send you a complimentary copy of Oxford on Acid. (When you subscribe, you’re given the option of sending me a note. Be sure to tell me that you’d like to read it.)

If you’d like to read it but you’re already a subscriber, you can buy it on Amazon. And if you’d like a signed copy—signed electronically, of course, but still signed—you can become a Founding Member. Remember that Founding Members are also entitled to a bespoke Paris tour.

Enjoy!

Become a Founding Member.

(It’s not your imagination: Oxford really is far more beautiful. Sorry, John.)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

Fridays are the day we talk about happy and beautiful things, and what could be happier or more beautiful than our golden, wine-and-poetry soaked youth at Oxford and Cambridge?

I wrote a short story some time after I went down from Oxford. (You “go up” and “go down” from Oxford, and you pray that you’re never “sent down,” because that is very, very bad.) The story is a love letter to Oxford, its beauty, its history, its weirdness, and the dizzying excitement of being young. I still think it captures something true about the place.

I didn’t know what to do with it. It was and remains the only short story I’d ever written. But I was attached to it, so I turned it into a little book and self-published it on Amazon. Every so often, some curious reader buys it. This one liked it:

It’s a work of fiction, but every place I describe is real.

I have a special offer for you. If you subscribe today, I will send you a complimentary copy of Oxford on Acid. (When you subscribe, you’re given the option of sending me a note. Be sure to tell me that you’d like to read it.)

If you’d like to read it but you’re already a subscriber, you can buy it on Amazon. And if you’d like a signed copy—signed electronically, of course, but still signed—you can become a Founding Member. Remember that Founding Members are also entitled to a bespoke Paris tour.

Enjoy!

Become a Founding Member.

(It’s not your imagination: Oxford really is far more beautiful. Sorry, John.)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

It’s a beautiful day in Europe. Jake Sullivan visits Ukraine and tells them the aid is coming. The EU is meeting in Brussels and going “on a war footing.” The Elephants are relieved by these faintly encouraging signs.

The German economy is in a world of hurt. Let’s be careful what we wish for, folks: The Elephants look at Germany and wonder if we should be excited about German rearmament.

Leaked Russian Education Ministry documents show Russia’s plans for “reeducating” kidnapped Ukrainian children.

A surprisingly hopeful poll suggests Gazans are rethinking “armed resistance.”

Below, an AI translation of Friedrich Merz’s speech. I’m impressed by him. He’s saying what needs to be said. (Does anyone know how he’s polling? Is there any chance we might see him as Chancellor?)

I know some of you would prefer to watch this in the original German, but I saved it several days ago and can’t for the life of me remember where I found it. If anyone knows, would you please let me know in the comments?

Darling but useless:

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

It’s a beautiful day in Europe. Jake Sullivan visits Ukraine and tells them the aid is coming. The EU is meeting in Brussels and going “on a war footing.” The Elephants are relieved by these faintly encouraging signs.

The German economy is in a world of hurt. Let’s be careful what we wish for, folks: The Elephants look at Germany and wonder if we should be excited about German rearmament.

Leaked Russian Education Ministry documents show Russia’s plans for “reeducating” kidnapped Ukrainian children.

A surprisingly hopeful poll suggests Gazans are rethinking “armed resistance.”

Below, an AI translation of Friedrich Merz’s speech. I’m impressed by him. He’s saying what needs to be said. (Does anyone know how he’s polling? Is there any chance we might see him as Chancellor?)

I know some of you would prefer to watch this in the original German, but I saved it several days ago and can’t for the life of me remember where I found it. If anyone knows, would you please let me know in the comments?

Darling but useless:

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

Hey, has anyone else had this problem? I received this message from a subscriber:

[T]he podcast episodes are no longer appearing in the subscriber podcast feed. Last week episodes for Monday-Thursday appeared and I listened to them but disappeared from the full list of episodes in the podcast app feed for all episodes.

Please let me know if you’ve had this problem, too. It will help me figure out how to fix it.

Show notes

European GPS-disturbance: multi-faceted. I have no idea if this is completely kooky nonsense or if there’s something to it. Does anyone else?

Discussing it put me in mind of the introduction to this essay:

Sweden scrambles to intercept Russian aircraft within hours of NATO flag raising. Swedish JAS-39 Gripen multi-role fighter aircraft were scrambled alongside Belgian and German aircraft to investigate an unidentified track over the Baltic Sea emanating from Kaliningrad.

Russia’s first strike weapon: It’s even more dangerous than an orbital nuclear bomb. (The whole essay is excellent.)

Threat of regional war intensifies as DR Congo rebels close in on Goma. Aid agencies warn of humanitarian catastrophe as resurgent M23 militia fights its way through mineral-rich region.

If you’d like a backgrounder on this conflict, try this:

World Happiness Report 2024

The rankings:

At least 22 million fake votes cast for Putin in presidential election

Cannibalism in Haiti? Fact-checking the unfounded claims:

The State Department told PolitiFact that it has received no credible reports about cannibalism in Haiti, and experts who study the country said they’ve seen no sign that cannibalism is prevalent among gangs or the population at large. 

(The cannibalism claims don’t sound hugely credible. But the “hell on earth” claims sure do.)

UNICEF chief: Haiti’s situation is like a scene from Mad Max.

It really doesn’t sound that far off of cannibalism. Poor Haiti.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

Hey, has anyone else had this problem? I received this message from a subscriber:

[T]he podcast episodes are no longer appearing in the subscriber podcast feed. Last week episodes for Monday-Thursday appeared and I listened to them but disappeared from the full list of episodes in the podcast app feed for all episodes.

Please let me know if you’ve had this problem, too. It will help me figure out how to fix it.

Show notes

European GPS-disturbance: multi-faceted. I have no idea if this is completely kooky nonsense or if there’s something to it. Does anyone else?

Discussing it put me in mind of the introduction to this essay:

Sweden scrambles to intercept Russian aircraft within hours of NATO flag raising. Swedish JAS-39 Gripen multi-role fighter aircraft were scrambled alongside Belgian and German aircraft to investigate an unidentified track over the Baltic Sea emanating from Kaliningrad.

Russia’s first strike weapon: It’s even more dangerous than an orbital nuclear bomb. (The whole essay is excellent.)

Threat of regional war intensifies as DR Congo rebels close in on Goma. Aid agencies warn of humanitarian catastrophe as resurgent M23 militia fights its way through mineral-rich region.

If you’d like a backgrounder on this conflict, try this:

World Happiness Report 2024

The rankings:

At least 22 million fake votes cast for Putin in presidential election

Cannibalism in Haiti? Fact-checking the unfounded claims:

The State Department told PolitiFact that it has received no credible reports about cannibalism in Haiti, and experts who study the country said they’ve seen no sign that cannibalism is prevalent among gangs or the population at large. 

(The cannibalism claims don’t sound hugely credible. But the “hell on earth” claims sure do.)

UNICEF chief: Haiti’s situation is like a scene from Mad Max.

It really doesn’t sound that far off of cannibalism. Poor Haiti.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

Show notes:

* One year after Ohrid agreement, there is little commitment from Kosovo and Serbia to its implementation. EU High Representative Josep Borrell called the lack of progress in implementing obligations “regrettable.” To date, only the declaration on missing persons, the Joint Monitoring Committee, and the draft on the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities in Kosovo.

* Putin wants war in the Balkans. Russia is exploiting ethnic tensions as Serbia threatens violence against Kosovo and secessionists threaten a Bosnian collapse.

* Bosnian train massacre defendant dies before retrial gets underway.

Jovan Lipovac, one of four Serb ex-fighters being prosecuted in Belgrade for involvement in the abduction and execution of 20 non-Serb passengers seized from a train at Strpci in Bosnia in 1993, died before the first hearing in his retrial.

* KATE LOOKS GREAT. Princess Kate looked relieved and natural on shopping trip—she wasn’t trying to hide away, witness says. The Sun exclusively revealed the video of Kate during her outing.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

Show notes:

* One year after Ohrid agreement, there is little commitment from Kosovo and Serbia to its implementation. EU High Representative Josep Borrell called the lack of progress in implementing obligations “regrettable.” To date, only the declaration on missing persons, the Joint Monitoring Committee, and the draft on the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities in Kosovo.

* Putin wants war in the Balkans. Russia is exploiting ethnic tensions as Serbia threatens violence against Kosovo and secessionists threaten a Bosnian collapse.

* Bosnian train massacre defendant dies before retrial gets underway.

Jovan Lipovac, one of four Serb ex-fighters being prosecuted in Belgrade for involvement in the abduction and execution of 20 non-Serb passengers seized from a train at Strpci in Bosnia in 1993, died before the first hearing in his retrial.

* KATE LOOKS GREAT. Princess Kate looked relieved and natural on shopping trip—she wasn’t trying to hide away, witness says. The Sun exclusively revealed the video of Kate during her outing.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe

Sorry folks, it’s Monday. We have to think about this again.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe