International Episodes

Dickie Arbiter was Queen Elizabeth’s press secretary from 1988 to 2000. He was on hand during two royal crises, Annus Horibilis 1992 and Lady Diana’s death 1997. He joins us to comment on the former Prince Andrew scandal and the King’s decisive action to strip him of all titles.

The Telepathy Tapes have been a worldwide podcasting phenomenon. Today’s episode brings a British point of view.

The accomplishments of the APEC 2023 Conference.

Presidents Biden and Ci meet on the APEC 2023 sidelines.

We will feature brief daily summaries of conference proceedings.

Nightmare choice in November 19 runoff election - left wing populist versus libertarian populist. With 138% inflation. The libertarian candidate wants to ditch the Peso for the US dollar.

Daniel Noboa will serve out the remaining 28 months of President Lasso’s term. A new face in Ecuadorian politics, he was a congressman and company executive.

A new global equality index based on 8 criteria has been developed by the Cato Institute. The media persists in its pessimistic view of global equality despite the data.

When Russia privatized the 45,000 state owned corporations when Communism and the USR collapsed, every man, woman and child received a privatization voucher. The book recounts the story of a young American investment manager who participated in the process.

Turkey faces an historic presidential runoff election on Sunday May 28, pitting incumbent President Erdogan against challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Over 88% of registered voters turned out to vote in the first round.

US regulations and restrictions on traveling to Cuba .

Career Diplomat and Retired US Army Major, Charlie Ray shares his professional experience as a US Ambassador and senior Foreign Service Officer.

A political profile of the new Prime Minister and the economic challenges facing his Conservative government.

Ukraine’s retaking of Kharkiv and 2000 square miles of occupied territory was a turning point in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Tue rout of the Russian army likely prompted Putin to mobilize 300,000 army reservists and call 4 referenda in Ukrainian regions it had occupied.

Looking back on highlights of the Queen’s life.

The new status quo.

The Conservative Party leadership race pits Rishi Sunak the Former Chancellor of the Exchequer against Liz Truss, Foreign Secretary. 160,000 party members will vote on the choice with the winner to be announced in early September.

Will Speaker Pelosi be the most senior elected US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years ? And how will Beijing respond ?

Abortion in Canada was decriminalized in 1988, 15 years after the American Roe v Wade decision. While the Roe decision treated abortion as a woman's right, Canada treats it as a medical procedure to be discussed and agreed to by the pregnant woman and her doctor. Has Canada's approach been better than America's ? Sean Fine walks us through our neighbor's very different approach to terminating a pregnancy. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message

The Estate Origins of Democracy in Russia: From Imperial bourgeoisie to Post Communist Middle Class.

Retired British General Sir Chris Deverell shares his insights on the Ukraine Russia War. A pivotal moment in 21st Century history.

The Russian Army was under resourced when it launched the invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking to us from his office in Lviv, in Western Ukraine, Oleg gives us a sense of the nation's drive to maintain infrastructure and energy supplies to this Texas size, nation of 44 million, in the middle of Winter. Gas production is only down 1.1% in the midst of the war with Russia. How has life changed as we enter week two of the invasion ? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message

Karkhiv is the second largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1.5 million in the North East of the country, 440 kilometers from Kyiv, the capital. Julia recounts what it's like to live day to day in the war zone that her city has become, with the Russian Army 35 kilometers away. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/james-herlihy/message