What Donald Trump's Nato Threats Mean for Europe, and Pakistan's Political Malaise

[@crussty]

Would really appreciate if you could start adding timestamps in the description or chapters on the video

[@Thomas_basiv]

Why

[@crussty]

Just because I don't always have time to listen to the full discussion and would like to be able to quickly visit the topics that I'd most like to hear @@Thomas_basiv

[@jonathonjubb6626]

​@@Thomas_basivone of the silliest questions I have ever seen on a KZbin comment. May I ask how old you are before I comment further?

[@Thomas_basiv]

@@jonathonjubb6626 you may not

[@stepheningermany]

Please do this...

[@cinevisionaryfilm]

This podcast is a political lifeline. So refreshing to hear people who know what they are talking about (and admitting when they don't) examining world events without spin. I only wish our actual politicians could be as candid and open in their discussions.

[@martydav9475]

Agreed, they're outstanding broadcasts. As for the current politicians, they may well be just as open in private but they won't do it in public until they're out of office, as is the case with Campbell and Stewart.

[@cadmdhpro8779]

They are maybe too candid. To the point of wishful thinking. I love theyr talks, though. But not beeing able to see the flaws in the democrats lawsuits and how much americans are outraged about it doesn't leave room for a third option. A system of thought that doesn't integrate the weight of the non desirable ways would often miss the point.

[@cinevisionaryfilm]

@@cadmdhpro8779they literally talk about a third option - another candidate - in the video.

[@cadmdhpro8779]

@@cinevisionaryfilm elections are everything in the US. The choice of the people. To me, there is no room for other than Biden or Trump in their system.

[@joepaluka9031]

They are not being candid! They are pretending! Are you so gullible ? They never deviate from the narrative yet you continue to buy it. Guess govt schools are successful in breeding dimwit!

[@CloudhoundCoUk]

The UK really should wake up. The US-UK special relationship ended a decade ago or more. Like it or not the UK is in Europe.

[@dh1380]

The UK and US 'special relationship' is still very real. And yep, the UK is in Europe. The two things are completely dependent issues though.

[@batcollins3714]

President Biden has made it quite clear that he deals with Europe and there really is NO "special relationship" any more as most British papers are stridently against Biden and the Democrats. He is disliked by the right wing British because he supports the North of Ireland in its wish to stay within the Single Market and this is showing the glaring mistakes of Brexit, something the Brexit cultists can't handle

[@jmaitland5709]

@@dh1380 idk man, more and more in the last 10 years or so its felt like the special relationship is entirely one sided. It seems like the UK still believes it has that relationship while the US largely doesn't care

[@stephenhardy312]

The relationship which the UK has with the US is important for the UK as it is for other NATO powers in Europe. It enables the UK to leverage its military capability within NATO and the world at large. Sadly, British defence expenditure is inadequate for the mission with which it is tasked. This is true as with other essential public services.

[@MrClarktom]

It is very real in defence and intelligence. Five eyes and AUKUS are evidence of this.

[@natures_child]

I cannot get enough of Alastair and Rory. The Leading episode with Robert Sapolsky is the best one so far - well worth listening to.

[@philipmulville8218]

I thoroughly enjoyed today’s wide ranging discussion. When Rory drew breath for ‘a quick introduction to Pakistan’ my mind automatically switched to ‘full speed mode’ to try and keep up. Amazingly rich content. Thank you both so much.

[@jhart8118]

You guys are doing such an amazing job at covering world events. You are shaming the big news channels with your considered and balanced reporting of events …. Bravo!

[@tanagra2]

Where on earth are you getting this balanced reporting from? It’s clearly not a balanced view unless you think bigging up Biden and totally slagging of Trump is a balanced view

[@jhart8118]

@@tanagra2 Hi - thanks for asking. I think it refreshing that we have two gentlemen at different ends of the political spectrum, sharing their views on political matters in a very civil and considered manner. It is shame that many commentators on US politics need to see themselves as either Pro Biden or Pro Trump. The Geopolitical landscape is far more complex than siding with the views of one particular leader. Admittedly, Europeans will tend to have a preference for Biden’s more inclusive, ally-proactive stance on world affairs vs Trump’s fundamentally more isolationist stance … but that does not detract from the fact that this channel tries to enable the debating of different perspectives as opposed to the more binary “my team” vs “your team” view. Personally, I salute them for that. It may not work for you of course … All the best.

[@DSTH323]

​@@jhart8118--- These two very plainly have far more in common than differences, even if it detracts from the shows description.

[@steveknight878]

It seems extraordinary that a country with a population as large as America cannot find any (younger) candidates than Trump and Biden. Or less criminal than Trump.

[@Yrevnoc]

Proof that capitalism is decidedly not a meritocracy.

[@zetectic7968]

Because US are all about raising money from donors big & small. Money doesn't go to an unknown. Kamala Harris is not popular & can't get the big donors to back her

[@jimofthenorth8090]

When was the last time the US had a President who was under 50?

[@steveknight878]

@@jimofthenorth8090 I don't know - Kennedy? But I don't see the relevance. There is a difference between 50 and 81.

[@TheMz27]

​@@jimofthenorth8090 obama was 47

[@johanneskentsch2617]

I very much enjoy your discussions. Best regards from Germany

[@HektorBandimar]

Great podcast guys, more please.

[@paulwhitmore6335]

I listen to every show and I’m concerned how much the both of you agree on things.

[@minui8758]

Why? Some things are easy to agree on. When you watch interviews from the mid to late 20th cent the politicians are often conspicuous for agreeing with each other

[@smoozerish]

The sanest podcast on youtube

[@si0054]

Left of centre here, would never vote a Tory. But I really like you both, met Alistair once, nice man. Would like to have seen Rory as PM, both proper politicians. Loads of good content and a nice insight to both of your humanity

[@richardfinlayson1524]

Here in Melbourne a house within twenty kilometres from the city is about a million bucks.

[@cinziam457]

Ditto Toronto, one of the most $$$ in the world prior to Covid.

[@JelMain]

Good judgment relies on sound memory. If the considerations made are hazy, what hope the conclusion?

[@SplashTasty]

You realise you can actually prove the inverse of what you are trying to say by using your logic. Joe Biden is a renowned legislator and negotiator, even today. Arguably has 'good judgement' as far as working with Congress is concerned, so what makes you think his memory is a massive problem? Because a special prosecutor decided to indict him politically because he couldnt do so criminally? Its weak and its ignorant.

[@badgertheskinnycow]

If we are being totally unbiased and honest - neither Biden OR Trump should be running for office this year.

[@kerryobrien71]

Thanks Alastair and Rory. Would be great to see a president that was not Trump or Biden. Your channel should have at least 500K subscribers by now as it is fascinating and high quality. Certainly better than any uni/academic/news led political podcasts.

[@col.hertford9855]

Biden’s age was an issue in 2020, it’s not a new issue. It’s a been an issue in the US with voters for a while now. You should get Jon Stewart on to discuss, his opinion is quite balanced. Biden has been poor demonstrating he’s capable, trump doesn’t need to because his base don’t care.

[@willharris5005]

How bad it's got is a new issue.

[@georgestone8099]

The issue is it's rapidly getting worse. Over 4 years, he's deteriorated massively.

[@drummingtildeath]

​@@georgestone8099I haven't seen any evidence that it's affecting his decision making or leadership, only his oration.

[@SplashTasty]

Yeah, precisely. Kevin McCarthy is infamous for saying one thing in public -that Biden is slow and basically demented- and making remarks in private at the Presidents competency in bringing a deal together. I think people are just ignorant. @@drummingtildeath

[@mikedignum1868]

I've seen the Jon Stewart YT piece..Very good.

[@curlew-3592]

I’m afraid the utter contempt and disdain with which politicians now treat the populations they are meant to serve has sadly now made any political discourse irrelevant.🇬🇧

[@MR-zy6bw]

Remember that these two are also political animals. And, I HATE that they are suggesting Biden’s slips of the tongue are signs of dementia! Shut up about Biden if you don’t want the republicans to win!!

[@benlowe1701]

That European Army doesn't seem so bad right now, does it?

[@adambrickley1119]

I think it would be a huge mistake not to.

[@anirudhanagarajan7530]

It never was; European countries should have large militaries

[@catmonarchist8920]

Exclude the US, Canada, Turkey, Norway, and UK of NATO to make an EU army? Only the French who aren't exactly reliable have nukes.

[@davidhenderson3751]

I’m pro European but don’t support this - the EU is economically powerful but crap at logistics, I have no reason to think that they would be able to manage an army any better than member states can. We have NATO for this reason

[@benlowe1701]

@@davidhenderson3751 With respect, I don't think you've thought this through. The EU is bad at logistics because it needs to manage 30+ Different nations, none of which are integrated together, with extraordinary waste between them. You look at the combined military budget of the entire EU, and then look at what that managed to produce, you'll see it was extraordinarily wasteful and the problem - as which much of the EU - is that it isn't operating as one unit, but as 30 units in a trenchcoat. With a single European Army, you'd resolve the issues that make the EU bad at logistics. 30 Nations operating independently is a logistical nightmare. A single EU Army? You have every reason to believe that could be managed better than 30 disparate individual states.

[@carlchadwick9858]

Brilliant as always 👌

[@gaznips]

At about 29:00 hard work can only get you so far with the amount of wealth inequality we have in Britain. Hopefully people are waking up to this as change is needed in our tax system

[@clivemitchell3229]

I'm not sure GDP takes inequality into account.

[@ShaunieDale]

@@clivemitchell3229that’s the big thing, it only really shows how well the wealthy are doing.

[@mikesmith-vb6fz]

Get Gary Stevenson on to show where the money's headed

[@gabrieldsouza6541]

If you want to be rewarded properly for your hard work, you're better off moving to the US where you'll actually be able to take home your salary instead of having most of it taken by the government.

[@ShaunieDale]

@@gabrieldsouza6541 the country where a major disease like cancer will bankrupt you before you die anyway, no thanks. Taxes properly spent benefit all the working class, it’s the top 1% that can afford to buy anything they want that are gaslighting the public into believing that paying tax is a bad thing.

[@InsanitiesBrother]

A note on the thumbnail (frame of video). It looks like the viewer has already watched some of the video due to the red at the bottom looking similar to youtubes watch time history. Making it seem like you have already watched a video. Not a problem when it's a recent video. But for older videos you might skip one thinking you've seen it already.

[@badgertheskinnycow]

Good point - I thought exactly that until I fully read the title.

[@Thomas_basiv]

The frame isn’t in the thumbnail

[@InsanitiesBrother]

@@Thomas_basiv on PC it is.

[@georgemayo7383]

Using GDP statistics for economy, is a very crazy system, countries or government, should device another way of measuring economic performance of a country.

[@cliffwillson3643]

'Little miss steps'. Bless.

[@SamMerchant-vn4or]

They are giving him a pass, as he has always made gaffs! Mixing Mexico and Egypt up is a big ole gaff

[@kejuu6887]

None of the NATO countries bordering Russia fail to meet the 2% budget recommendation. Its countries like Germany, France, Benelux that have very low defence budgets because they expect US to take care of EU defence.

[@garyyoung3179]

France is on 2% now Germany is on track following their recent vote.

[@michelebaffo5741]

Germany actually is at 2% in 2024 and expanding the defense industry, with record-high popular approval.

[@jackoh991]

Benelux?

[@garyyoung3179]

Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg @@jackoh991

[@here_we_go_again2571]

Yep! They didn't want to "waste" their money on defense. That was before Putin grabbed Crimea in 2014 and invaded Ukraine 2022

[@mush_AV]

Would love to hear your opinions on RFK Jr and his chances/difficulties he faces in getting on the ballot

[@jonmoore176]

Jon Stewart called the election campaign Antiques Roadshow.....

[@imerupp]

Alastair, I maybe a big Ian Hislop fan, but I have become a huge fan of you and Rory's podcast. Can I say the discussions are so in-depth and reveal more information because of both of your insights from your careers. One thing I will say is I prefer the podcasts more when you two are actually in the same room. Thank you both for doing this podcast, I believe both of you are doing a great job informing the greater public with real facts and perspectives both in reflection as well as fresh perspectives from what you've both learned over the years. Please keep it up, your both doing a WONDERFUL job! p.s. Please do more podcasts in the same room with one another.

[@tokelahti]

GMT was officially replaced by UTC in 1972.

[@feekygucker2678]

Is Cardiff going to Wales? Discuss.

[@nathanwalpole551]

Great podcast but I’m really disappointed that you brushed over the Rochdale debacle and the way it’s been handled

[@jacobcochrane9069]

I get the impression that these guys hold the view that bad actors appear to be bad actors - i.e., those who appear to be bad actors are, and the rest aren't. Or, maybe they think there are no bad actors? It's hard to get a handle on.

[@scottbarrett4746]

I like the image of Victor Orban having his arm pushed up his back and being told 'Look here, sunshine.......'.

[@frederickschwarz246]

Sheer Gold. Doff my hat to your "sticking to your guns" with Boris Johnson, Mr Stewart! You are a living testament to the human excellence that vouchsafed British hegemony for centuries. Your 30-40% estimate of a third candidate I do take issue with however, but thanks for the crash course on Pakistani politics. Brilliant!!! 💯

[@bernadettesheehy5463]

Yes, Robert Francis Kennedy - Junior ( RFK) bringing Hope back to the world despite all mainstream media's efforts to supress him via misrepresentation.

[@margaretmcnamee6411]

Unfortunately, the bill approved by the senate that would fund Ukraine's defense has to go to the house of representatives. The speaker of the house who is an idiot, refuses to bring it to a vote. The democrats may be able to work around this but nothing is certain

[@ocean_monster1]

He's obviously on Russias side. Either paid by or ideologically. Hopefully he can be removed at some point.

[@matthewn1805]

Excellent point.

[@mikedignum1868]

The Jon Stewart piece on YT was worth a watch as he placed Bidden and Trump side by side to see which one forgets things the most.

[@jamesbollard6502]

2:35 in my opinion, for what it's worth. You should be addressing what has been going on with Labour. If it is chaotic, surley that is worth discussing. Even for 5 minutes.

[@kevinfletcher1999]

Some time ago I couldn’t remember who the Prime Minister was. Turned out it was Boris, so eminently forgettable. 😂😂😂

[@Samafterhours]

I'm curious of why AC called Sisi "the Guru of Egypt" An interesting take!!

[@gjingodjango]

I think Iain McGilchrist with his fascinating take on the human mind and its impact on decision making, including politics would make for a thought provoking episode, just saying.

[@billbankes-jones6034]

Intelligent openness and a connected view, seem far from politics, to all of our detriments, even those in power.

[@petermccrea2421]

RFK! (Unless we could have Rory!)

[@stephenhardy312]

Are those hot air balloons on your wallpaper, Alister? How novel - rather nice!

[@RobertThomson-y4m]

The Rochdale issue not worth talking about? What?? Seem to have heard that before......

[@munkeepawify]

The government has been helping companies outsource American jobs so long we need to outsource government jobs? The politicians don't do any work: Mitch McConnell, MTG, Lorena BlowBert, Ted Cruise, etc..

[@mikeinportland30]

On the ground in America the economy (real perceptions of everyday people) is terrible. The govt figures do not at all match what real Americans are feeling as they are skewed by the small percentage of high wealth individuals in the same way our "roaring" stock market is skewed obscenely by just a few giant tech companies. I wish Rory you were right we might get a non Trump/non Biden President but on the ground here that seems extremely remote (more like 2-3% chance than 30%). Energy here is cheaper than UK but it is still way up as is housing, insurance, groceries, restaurants, services, etc. Our inflation figures that laughably exclude "volatile" energy, food & housings costs are meaningless. We have scale which gives us a bigger buffer but we are not in a dissimilar state to you in the UK. We each concurrently had the toxic seeds sown by Reagan & Thatcher now bearing fruit, seeds that were nurtured and encouraged by "New Dems/New Labour" with Clinton & Blair and ensured the awful crop we are now harvesting. We had the buffoonish populists Trump & Johnson exacerbating bad trends while only concerned with personal gain and now we have non-entities Biden & Sunak nobody actually likes. Exacerbating this maelstrom we both have dealt with Murdoch poisoning the media with lies for his personal profit. Whole swathes of people of people and regions in both our countries are so let down by our govts, the social contract so broken for them they are happy to just burn it all down.... and really who can blame them? That manifested itself here with Trump (to a lesser extent Bernie Sanders) and with you guys Brexit. We both have conservative parties that have destroyed themselves which is terrible for our polity. Neither of us seems to have any noticeable great hope on the horizon either as we seem stuck with Biden and you guys with Starmer. They may be nice people but does anyone believe there is great leadership or dynamism with either of these two to reverse the current malaise we are both experiencing?

[@luismanuel2612]

An EU defense independent of NATO, without the UK, is simply unthinkable-a further complication arising from Brexit...

[@batcollins3714]

Yet you have two Aircraft carriers that can't make it out of port without problems!

[@jonathanbowen3640]

@@batcollins3714 At least those two aircraft carriers exist. They will be fixed and workable soon. Just look at the issues Russia has with it's new carriers. And what other European nation has two new aircraft carriers with at least some F35s to go on them? Exactly.

[@johnricercato740]

You’re not up to date. The EU want us to be part of it, and now the idiot Johnson is out of the way, it should happen.

[@KIAKAHABENJI]

I do hope you mention the date of the interview further on.

[@paultaylor7947]

Makes me compare the present politicians with the responsible maintenance of the U.S. trains or owners car documentation

[@rextable2000]

Question: how did European countries (including the United Kingdom) manage to demilitarise their politics on their way to becoming democracies back in the day?

[@Sunglasses_Ron1]

The same Andy Murray who fronted "Healthy Choices"?

[@pastyman001]

The constituency link is there with the favoured STV, in PR voting recommended by the Electoral Reform Society. Multi member constituencies of about 6 Mps would usually give you a wide choice of party members to go to. These large areas are far harder to fiddle boundaries for party advantage. It's easy for the voter and the Irish love it. You can pick a slate of candidates from 1 party of a range, individuals, or avoid voting for someone you dislike in a favoured party. This gives most power to the voter and less to the party when compared to List systems as used by the EU. Ultimate proportionality could still be achieved by an extra vote in a regional list top up list, to give a chance to people standing who narrowly missed out. Of course it costs a bit more and an anti campaign would focus on that but good democracy and government costs money.

[@nicholasevennett8231]

This is absolutely awful. How are they filling arenas?

[@lilscottieme]

Because others are not you

[@valko999]

Does Germany and other EU countries need nuclear weapons? Obviously nuclear deterrence works. Is not cheaper to invest in nuclear weapons to defend Europe and have peace instead of massive investments in ground armies and massive munitions manufacturing? Can you do article on nuclear weapons for Europe debate and all options for it?

[@jennycooper333]

it (funding bill) has not got through the House, and that is not a given.

[@TheLucanicLord]

1:42 Expensive education and he doesn't know armadillos are mammals? 17:50 Seems we're nearly as bad at big boats as we are at small ones.

[@vickiryalls405]

Hi guys, my first time watching you. I'm enjoying it. One question: how does American Psychiatrist Bandy Lee (plus her the 30+ colleagues )information, diagnosis and warnings on Donald Trump's psychosis fit into your narrative regarding dementia in Trump or Biden?

[@johnricercato740]

No one who a) is not a qualified psychiatrist/analyst and b) has not assessed/analysed the person concerned in person, should offer these kinds of ‘diagnoses’. It is completely unethical as these people should know. Secondly, the psychology profession is 90% Democrat so they can hardly be classed as objective. (And psychiatry is by no means an exact science.) As a psychologist myself I would only say that one might have dementia and the other might have a personality disorder, but that I would need to assess them myself to confirm this.(For the avoidance of doubt, I believe neither is suitable to be President of any country, let alone the US.)

[@kevinduggan201]

With regards to young people in the UK and their attitudes towards the Torys and attitude towards Brexit. I think that there is a distinct lack of political acknowledgment on this, akin to the red wall brexit vote in 2016. Take this with the research done a few months ago about millenials bucking the trend and NOT becoming more conservative as they get older and STILL hating brexit today, its creating a generation of voters who are about to move into the sapce that boomers occupy, that domenant voting block group, and they will push to rejoin. An intersting point to this is, if you look at conservative labour, lib dem, SNP, they all have a youth engagment programme, brexit parties like reform do not. And for any party trying to get voters on board young is vital, and for a party that has been so vociferous in its support of Brexit, you would think that they would realise that they need to convice younger voters of their cause. I think once there is a generational shoft in voting demographics parties like reform uk and politicians onnthe right who voted for brexit will be supprised to find the landscape has shifted dramatically under their feet. I dont know,.i just think its something interesting coming down the road that mainstream commentators dont talk a whole lot about, i knkw this guy did on question time, but not nearly to the extent it deserves discussion

[@paultaylor7947]

Sometimes it is wiser to revise some info for overseas driving tests

[@jackhunter4556]

Rory’s in-laws are absolutely away with the fairies. 😂

[@FRM101]

29:07 -> American optimism springs eternal due to our numerous odds defying achievements, up to and including our very founding. We weren't exactly favorites in that scrap. As France and Germany can attest, Brits can be quite difficult to defeat. Yet here we are, and here we shall remain.

[@juergenernst1320]

As a German historian I can attest that Brits can be quite difficult to defeat. If they have limitless supplies from across the Atlantic; and a pit bull of a prime minister. Without those two components, well, the French might still agree. Although they’ve had a good go at times as well.

[@johnricercato740]

@@juergenernst1320There are a few comments to make: the supplies were not ‘limitless’ - America was in isolationist mood and Roosevelt had to battle hard to get any supplies over; secondly there is a political aspect to war and the ‘special relationship’ - which then meant something - was carefully cultivated precisely in order to get some support; Churchill plugged into an aspect of British culture to mobilise our war effort, which included a massive domestic re-armament programme that had nothing to do with the US.

[@juergenernst1320]

@johnricercato740 my friend, the pound was traded for the dollar as the world reserve currency as a result of the American support; that didn't happen for nothing. Regardless, however small of a support we can agree on, it kept Britain going and thankfully so, at a time when despite the support, things were on the edge.

[@juergenernst1320]

Btw: Russia would have been done as well; the deliveries in trucks alone kept the Red Army moving and supplied. And the isolationist mood certainly didn't survive December 7 of 1941.

[@johnricercato740]

@@juergenernst1320 You didn’t read my post properly, my ‘friend’. I didn’t say there was no support, I also mentioned the diplomatic efforts made to get that support, plus our own domestic production which was ramped up massively. I hope that in your role as a historian you examine texts more carefully…..

[@FRM101]

28:00 -> This is also a reflection of the age at which contemporary 25-34 year olds start a family, on average, as compared with 1990.

[@scottishbanjo]

Surprisngly good discussion on Pakistan

[@olivermoore7020]

I guess time will tell if its a pre-election tour or post...

[@MazzaEliLi7406]

Thank you.

[@dreamcrusher112]

Young men may have given up on the Conservatives but they are broadly very right wing in the UK. They will vote for Reform and I bet a considerable portion of them would go even further right. Data is pretty useless when the sample sizes are either tiny or made up of the educated left wing youngsters.

[@swarupawalker7904]

Please give some attention to Robert Kennedy who is running for President and what a fantastic candidate

[@sacredgeometry]

6:08 The assumption that it isn't entirely deliberate and that the people "presiding under him" don't want it that way is a little naive isn't it?

[@dennisbrown3824]

Can you not debate the elephant-in-the-room, RFK Jr?

[@daviddingo5014]

Would it be discrimination to stop anyone over the 65 from running for President so they didn't have this problem that they have now

[@syn_tekken3055]

The thing is there are elderly people sharp as a razor, perfect example in the US is Reagan, president between the age of 69-77. On the left you have Bernie Sanders who would have definitely been capable in the role too.

[@SK-hq6ux]

But the majority of those in that age bracket would probably be out-of-touch and not as quick as they should be given the new developed and technological world. Imo we the law should be made to avoid the risk of something like that happening again. @@syn_tekken3055

[@GNotGenius]

who cares? there's a minimum so why can't there be a maximum?

[@johnricercato740]

@@syn_tekken3055What?! There seems a general consensus that in his later years as President Reagan was clearly demented. He was confusing his movie roles with reality. I doubt he was professionally certified as such - for obvious political reasons - but there were certainly grounds for suspicion.

[@christopherwyatt2771]

I find it frankly bizarre that you can have a conversation about the possibility that neither Trump nor Biden will be president and somehow fail to mention that Kennedy is regularly polling over 20%. Are you just oblivious to American political life outside the Democrats and Republicans? Or are you deliberately shutting him out of the conversation? And I ask this as someone who isn't even particularly supportive of Kennedy.

[@adamcummings20]

I thought this was hyperbole at first, but yeah. Wikipedia shows a Reuters poll putting him at 18% in early January. They should have mentioned him.

[@adskee69]

Completely agree. Totally ridiculous!

[@johnricercato740]

Why should they mention him? If neither Trump or Biden get in, Kennedy certainly won’t. He is all over the place politically, is not conspicuously bright, and is merely trading on the name recognition.

[@mysteriousfox88]

why make news about a fart in the wind

[@FRM101]

22:37 -> As an American I can tell you there is 0% chance our next president isn't Biden or Trump. Our system, and the egos invloved, simply do not allow for such corrections.

[@ioart33]

American presidential election - Robert Francis Kennedy - Junior ( RFK) - isn't it about time you did a proper full coverage of his candidacy gentlemen? And if not why not?

[@thomaschapple4749]

The Prosecutor was mot qualified to make psychological assessments and secondly it was not in his remit. It was a political hack job. Imagine being interviewed by Police for a traffic offence and them saying you were innocent but seemed stupid and had bad hygiene and that getting printed in the local press.

[@tom5216]

Do those balloons behind Alastair have politicians names on them?

[@wallaceanature2788]

Thanks for 10 minutes brief mention of Indonesia's elections. Now that Prabowo and Jokowi's son have won in a landslide result (probably more due to the large coalition of 7 parties and the lack of prowess in debates of the other candidates, rather than bad dad dancing or hashtags), it might be interesting to dig a bit deeper into the geopolitical consequences of this result as it is going to be pretty significant within Asia and the Middle East.

[@CharlieMorris-g7i]

Where can I buy this on Friday

[@realJPRC]

I’m in Glasgow October 2025 - damn

[@annettekearney9798]

George monbiot on leading please.

[@johnricercato740]

What on earth does GM know about leadership? He is a climate obsessive who doesn’t understand the multifarious nature of the subject, and whenever he ventures beyond that field, his work is superficial and poorly supported by evidence.

[@gareth4457]

Alistair, no country pays dues into NATO, so it's not "fair enough" to criticize them for that. They're paying themselves. It's military spending where each country spends 2% of their own GDP on their own military.

[@dalemontgomery9427]

I am from the USA and you guys are nuts

[@tom5216]

Funny that. We think the same about you.

[@cinziam457]

That's what happens when you are in a cult, fed 24/7 propaganda. You are here but think two of the sanest, most intelligent, informed voices are nuts. Trump is also a master projector, manipulator protected by his sociopathy as a conscience would have stopped him ages ago. It's why Tucker Carlson, like most of them, have admitted to HATING TRUMP privately, but when busted they kiss the ring. Trump wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire. Project 2025 will replace the Constitution w/Hitler's NAZI manifesto -- only US is longer and more controlling. BYE BYE GUNS, MANDATORY MILITARY SERVICE + watching PORN is jail time. Consider this PSA from a non-American CONSERVATIVE as Noah's Arch. You can wake up now, or forever regret voting for Fascism.

[@batintheattic7293]

I reckon it's better to forget something, because of senescence, that to have never cared enough to want to remember it. Guess who I'm talking about.

[@andyambrose2921]

If, Trump wins, and pulls out of NATO and America goes back to it's historical (pre WW2) isolationist position, and coinciding with the UK not being part of the EU. Would the UK not then be a prime target for Putin, as the UK military is not 'a do it all' force, having specialised in certain specific areas as part of defence alliances.

[@dreamcrusher112]

What will he do, teleport the VDV into Dover? There is no conceivable way the UK could be invaded. For what reason would he invade? You should think about it a bit harder!

[@andyambrose2921]

@@dreamcrusher112 I don't think Dover would be his first port of call, lol. I did not refer to invasion.

[@KimTebrok]

On the housing issue for young people. It’s clear, Tories have no solution or have any interest in solving it.

[@TheTubelerone]

Mr Campbell has accepted the US economic figures without scrutiny. Derrr...

[@MightySheep]

10:54 "Biden might be a bit forgetful but Trump is displaying signs of proper dementia" you dont do yourselves any favors when you say blatant nonsense. I listen to this podcasts for common sense and straight talk not partisan propaganda

[@darren_anscombe]

How is it propaganda ? They stated issues on both sides and I've seen myself the incoherent ramblings recently by Trump. You might not like what you're hearing but they are being fair to both sides.

[@jamesherkes2094]

Can we afford trident do we really need it

[@ssmith70s]

I enjoy, especially, Rory's intelligent approach to analysis of current events, and I must give a crucial statement on my own behalf that I despise Trump and Trumpism. However, as someone who is at least on the economic left in America, I feel like the burden of shouldering NATO with U.S. taxpayer dollars and, indeed, possibly the young bodies of men and women thrown into the maw of this hideous war in Ukraine--this is certainly NOT in the best interest of Americans. We have grave problems here--most notably economic ones. Alistair tends to slough off the concerns of middle class and working class Americans, but I can tell you that getting by even with two incomes is unbelievably hard right now. Perhaps worst of all is the lack of national health care here, which is a real slap in the face to those of us who follow our foreign policy debacles quite astutely: the pouring of billions upon billions of dollars into a war that will never be won, whilst Americans suffer under horrible medical and prescription costs, in tandem with very steep insurance prices that bankrupts one family after the other in America. And, why do I say this war will never be won? Why, we all know that without a massive infusion of infantry from NATO countries (one of Clausewitz maxims--wars cannot be won without infantry, which Ukraine no longer has) this war will never be won. We all know that a most certain political suicide by Biden and the Democrats would be Americans dying en masse on the Ukraine killing fields, a proxy war that is quite unpopular with most Americans now, especially since most people doing the fighting are the same class of people who ended up voting for Trump en masse. So, I believe both of you are misguided and quite speaking the language of the privileged elites when saying that you were breathing a sigh of relief about the Senate vote on more funding for Ukraine.

[@johnricercato740]

I think you are missing a few points, with respect. Firstly, no one has ever suggested American soldiers should fight in Ukraine - only materiel is needed; secondly the rebuilding of Ukraine will be massively profitable for US companies - e.g. BlackRock - and that will benefit the US economy via taxation; thirdly, if Ukraine is handed to Putin he will be minded to go further and further into Europe. You can be isolationist if you want, but if Putin were to over-run much of Europe and continue his alliance with Xi the USA would be increasingly isolated and faced with an extremely powerful alliance.

[@ssmith70s]

@@johnricercato740 with respect, among other of your points I find troubling, the rebuilding of Ukraine by a quite sinister entity like Blackrock, which has an overwhelmingly negative track record with the poor and working class in America and their housing needs, is putting money in the pockets of the elites that leftists such as myself despise. Furthermore, where do you suppose Ukraine is going to find the men to run the material you want sent? They are mostly, sadly, dead. Finally, this isn't a 2nd Sudatenland all over again and Putin isn't going to try to conquer the Baltics, much less Europe. Basically, this foul human being wants Russian speaking Ukraine and his nasty minions in this region to do his bidding. Accordingly, we have no stake in this nastiness; Ukraine is also a nasty little corrupt country. Who wants this war? American neocons like Kagan, Nuland, Bidens warmongering state department heads like Blinken, all heavily influenced by the now defunct but still deeply influential Center for American Progress. Don't get me started on Bidens own personal stake in Ukraine and his deeply corrupt family ties....

[@chandi58]

how do I get a ticket for Wales?

[@jim2376]

Pakistan's army: never won a war, never lost an election. FUN FACT: No Pakistani prime minister has ever finished his or her 5 year term. Gotta love that Pakistani political stability.

[@__aoc]

The argument Rory makes at 5:53-6:05, that if Biden 'was genuinely suffering from some kind of dementia, you’d have many more people from his administration resigning, breaking away, and complaining about it, which isn’t happening,' is fallacious in two ways. First, it commits the fallacy of "argument from silence" or "argumentum ad silentio," which is the assumption that a lack of evidence or absence of something (people from his administration resigning, breaking away, and complaining) confirms a particular conclusion (that Biden does not have dementia). Second, it commits the fallacy of "affirming the consequent," which is the assumption that if a certain condition is true (Biden has dementia), then a specific outcome would necessarily follow (people from his administration resigning, breaking away, and complaining). However, even if the consequent is true (a lack of/few resignations, etc.), it does not necessarily mean that the initial condition is true (that Biden does not have dementia), as there could be other reasons for the lack of resignations, etc.

[@cadmdhpro8779]

Excellent ! Thanks !

[@johnricercato740]

Very well argued. Chapeau!

[@jed4119]

Let’s hope it’s neither Trump nor Biden! The American people deserve better, and so does the rest of the world.

[@SplashTasty]

who are you proposing it would be ? 😂

[@jed4119]

@@SplashTasty well I don’t get a vote but either Gavin Newson or Nicky Haley would be a start. Haley hasn’t dropped out and the Democrats still have time to replace Biden if they feel they have to.

[@andrewharrison7767]

Trump has form for highlighting Europe's lack of military funding, BUT he's finally been proven correct on this (broken clock) - only 5 nato members met 2% when he first mentioned the issue in 2017, since then (aided by Ukraine war) its i9ncreased to 9, with 10+ more pledging to do so within a decade

[@garyyoung3179]

Eighteen countries have now reached the 2% threshold. The process began following a Nato convention in 2014

[@andrewharrison7767]

@@garyyoung3179 as stated, that's up from 11 last year & assuming pledges are kept; but that's only half of the European member countries once the original 5 are taken out; ie 13 of 26

[@tamaliaalisjahbana6849]

You do not know much about Prabowo, Rory. He was the scape goat for every human rights occurrence in Indonesia after Suharto’s fall. Alister for example says he was head of special forces and responsible for the May riots and shooting of students but if you check his position at the time he was not head of special forces. If you want to know who was responsible for human rights abuses you are looking at the wrong general. Prabowo comes from a democratic socialist background. His father was a member of the no longer existing Partai Socialis Indonesia and that party had two priorities. The first was the economic welfare of the people and the second was democracy. And that is where Prabowo will give his priority. Richard Grozney will be back visiting Indonesia this year and he will learn a lot of new things. I was head of Oxbridge Society when you were stationed in Indonesia. Contact me if you want better information about Prabowo and Indonesia.

[@ohheyitskevinc]

Expat in the states here. I’m far to the left of the democrats. Despite democrats having a younger base and a young and diverse congress, the party leadership is very.. old and they think “old” policies still work. They’re not bad, but from the huge pool of young, smart, coherent politicians the party have, there’s Biden, Schumer at the top, with Hakeem Jeffries the outlier. Gavin Newsom is so far the only young democrat to bother campaigning with any significance on behalf of Biden and has good ideas of his own that Biden wouldn’t be interested in. He’s 56... If the only choices I get in November are Biden and the felon, I’ll go with Biden, but I’d be voting for him only because he’s not trump, and won’t be particularly enthusiastic about it. Why? He kept Jerome Powell (republican) as fed chairman who’s kept interest rates ridiculously high for the benefit of Wall Street; using my tax $ to fund a genocide (yes it’s congress who pass the bill to fund it, but he can veto if he really wanted to); passed an infrastructure bill that has done.. nothing. None of those are to do with age, but from his age come bad, dated ideas that don’t reflect the world we live in. I don’t care if he takes a stairlift to get into Air Force One. His dated policies and his administration have done very little for the country as a whole. That said - Bernie Sanders isn’t young and his policies are good, so age doesn’t always equal bad ideas - just those of the president we have. At least I have an out and can come back home (and can now finally vote again in UK elections - the only thing I have to thank the tories for in my lifetime (and something they’ve promised in 5 election manifestos and finally got around to a decade late)). Ps the economy is not doing well here. The stock market is fantastic. Housing is ridiculous. Gas is slightly down. Food is up over 50% since 2021. My wages have gone up by 2.5% in his time, but taxes are up and my take home pay is down by 2%. Disposable income is way down due to inflation. Healthcare is worse (and I have health “insurance” and choose not to use it because the deductibles went up by 50%)… still - the Dow jones is fine, so I guess it’s all good…

[@alphasierramike2091]

On the military depletion it would be useful to have views from retired generals and equivalent but also from allies equivalent within Europe, Canada and Japan. Also from academics within domain but also what it means from economic perspective. The other is to assess is how the German, brits and French are reallly committing to reinvesting given the pressure on education, healthcare, ageing population. About the Uk there is a. Elephant in the room that Britain is spending 2.2 %, which one could argue about but also how much that is that the strategic deterrent. I am more and more of the view that UK needs to spend the 3% it used to compensate this. The 3% is the amount the UK used spend during the 80. Another for you thing about if US pulls out what does that mean to the UK deterrent and equipment dependency?

[@Stopcolonizinglebanon]

What tosh. Why should the prosecutor want to land cheap shots? Also, Inflation will explain why a wheelbarrow of cash can only buy a loaf of bread.

[@francoisrichardsmith6595]

Alistair...Taylor Swift a big deal!? You have to be kidding us!!!

[@endintiers]

NATO doesn't need the US to beat Russia, actually Poland doesn't need NATO to beat Russia.

[@dlitepix3752]

House still has to approve funding for Ukraine