The John Batchelor Show
The John Batchelor Show is a hard news-analysis radio program on current events, world history, global politics and natural sciences. Based in New York City for two decades, the show has travelled widely to report, from the Middle East to the South Caucasus to the Arabian Peninsula and East Asia.
Episodes
THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR AND THE PROBLEM OF SUCCESSION Colleagues Gaius and Germanicus, Friends of History Debating Society, Londinium, 91 AD. In the final segment, Gaius and Germanicus analyze the New York Times characterizing the Trump presidency as a "reign," a term Gaius embraces as historically accurate for the current state of the American executive. Germanicus argues that the American presidency has evolved into a syst...
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THE GILDED AGE, GROVER CLEVELAND, AND THE ASSERTION OF SOVEREIGNTY Colleagues Gaiusand Germanicus, Friends of History Debating Society, Londinium, 91 AD. The second segment pivots to a historical comparison involving Grover Cleveland, the only American president prior to Trump to serve non-consecutive terms, using his presidency to illustrate parallels between the "Gilded Age" and the 2020s. The primary focus is the Venezuela...
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THE ACTOR-EMPEROR AND THE SHIFT FROM DIGNITAS TO INTIMACY Colleagues Gaius and Germanicus, Friends of History Debating Society, Londinium, 91 AD. In this session, set against the backdrop of a cold winter in Londinium, Gaius and Germanicus explore the evolution of the imperial persona, drawing sharp parallels between the Roman Emperor Nero and modern American figures Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. Germanicus argues that the e...
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THE MUTINY PLOT AND THE DECISION TO EXECUTE Colleague Richard Snow. Spencer's "mutiny" plot is revealed to a steward, triggering Mackenzie's paranoia. Mackenzie arrests Spencer, Cromwell, and Small without concrete evidence of an uprising. An irregular council of officers, influenced by the captain's fear and the lack of a brig, decides the three men must be executed. NUMBER 7
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THE MUTINY PLOT AND THE DECISION TO EXECUTE Colleague Richard Snow. Spencer's "mutiny" plot is revealed to a steward, triggering Mackenzie's paranoia. Mackenzie arrests Spencer, Cromwell, and Small without concrete evidence of an uprising. An irregular council of officers, influenced by the captain's fear and the lack of a brig, decides the three men must be executed. NUMBER 7
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THE OVERCROWDED SOMERS AND SPENCER'S ISOLATION Colleague Richard Snow. Snow describes the Somers as a fast, overcrowded school ship filled with teenage midshipmen. He details Spencer's isolation due to his physical disability and surly demeanor. Spencer violated protocol by mingling with the crew, while Mackenzie's rigid discipline clashed with the conditions on the small, flush-deck vessel. NUMBER 6
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THE SOMERS MUTINY: SPENCER AND CAPTAIN MACKENZIE Colleague Richard Snow. Snow introduces the Somers mutiny, focusing on midshipman Philip Spencer, a troubled youth obsessed with pirates, and Captain Mackenzie. Mackenzie, who changed his name for an inheritance, is described as a "flogging captain" with a literary reputation and a morbid fascination with executions, setting the stage for tragedy. NUMBER 5
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THE COCKPIT HUMILIATION AND FRANKLIN'S TRANSFORMATION Colleague Richard Munson. Munsondescribes the "Cockpit" humiliation in London, which transformed Franklin from a royalist mediator into a revolutionary. They discuss his founding of the American Philosophical Society to unify colonial science and his celebrity in France. Finally, Munson addresses modern skepticism regarding Franklin's scientific contributions. NUMBER 4
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ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS AND THE FRANKLIN STOVE Colleague Richard Munson. The discussion focuses on Franklin's electrical experiments, including the Leiden jar and conservation of charge. Munson explains that the kite experiment had practical origins for lightning protection. Additionally, Franklin's refusal to patent his stove invention highlights his joy in discovery and commitment to public benefit. NUMBER 3
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FRANKLIN'S PRINTING SUCCESS AND SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS Colleague Richard Munson. Munson details Franklin's success in the "high-tech" printing industry, which generated the wealth necessary for his scientific pursuits. The segment covers his political battles with Thomas Penn regarding colonial governance and his transition into a full-time experimenter, driven by the Enlightenment's spirit of curiosity. NUMBER 2
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ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS AND THE FRANKLIN STOVE Colleague Richard Munson. The discussion focuses on Franklin's electrical experiments, including the Leiden jar and conservation of charge. Munson explains that the kite experiment had practical origins for lightning protection. Additionally, Franklin's refusal to patent his stove invention highlights his joy in discovery and commitment to public benefit. NUMBER 3
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DUELING MONUMENTS AND THE HEART OF DARKNESS THEME Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. The feud extends into the 20th century with "dueling monuments" in Ohio, where the Cresap Society and local residents erect competing memorials near the site of Logan's Elm to debate the history. Parkinson concludes by returning to the "Heart of Darkness" theme, using Conrad's metaphor of "the flicker" to describe how people create narratives lik...
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JEFFERSON, LUTHER MARTIN, AND THE CANONIZATION OF A FALSE ACCUSATION Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Thomas Jefferson publishes "Logan's Lament" to argue against French theories of Americaninferiority, but in doing so, he canonizes the false accusation against the Cresap family. This sparks a bitter feud with Luther Martin, a Cresap in-law, who attacks Jefferson to clear the family name. Despite the controversy, the lament bec...
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THE TRAGIC FATE OF LOGAN AND JEFFERSON'S DISCOVERY Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. The narrative reveals the tragic fate of the Mingo leader, Logan. In 1794, a surveyor encounters a Native American who admits to killing his uncle, Logan, near Lake Erie around 1780. The nephew explains that Logan had become too powerful and unpredictable a figure during the Revolutionary War, necessitating his silence. The discussion then moves...
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CRESAP'S RIFLEMEN, DEATH IN NEW YORK, AND A HERO'S FUNERAL Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Michael Cresap leads his riflemen to Boston, fueled by press coverage depicting them as America's invincible "secret weapons" against the British. However, upon arrival, the troops prove undisciplined, leading George Washington to regret their presence. Suffering from illness, likely malaria, Cresap attempts to return home but dies in Ne...
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LORD DUNMORE'S WAR AND CRESAP'S PATRIOT TURN Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Following the massacre, Logan abandons diplomacy for vengeance, killing nearly twenty people and provoking Lord Dunmore's War. Simultaneously, the Continental Congress calls for rifle companies to join the revolution in Boston, and Michael Cresap is surprisingly tapped to lead a Maryland unit. Parkinson notes the irony that Cresap, previously blamed f...
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THE YELLOW CREEK MASSACRE AND THE TRUE PERPETRATORS Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. This segment details the chaotic environment following the British withdrawal from Fort Pitt, which created a power vacuum and a border war between Pennsylvania and Virginia. Amidst this tension, the Yellow Creek massacre occurred on April 30, 1774, where settlers lured Logan's family—including his mother, brother, and sister—into a tavern and ...
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BEWILDERMENT, THE OHIO COMPANY, AND COLONIAL EXPANSION Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Parkinson explains that "bewilderment" is the central theme of his book, drawing a thematic parallel to Joseph Conrad'sHeart of Darkness to describe the confusion and violence of the early American frontier. The conversation shifts to the Ohio Company, a massive land speculation venture involving George Washington and the Lee family, with th...
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LOGAN'S LAMENT AND THE CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Host John Batchelor introduces Professor Robert G. Parkinson and his book, Heart of American Darkness, which investigates the complex relationship between colonials and Native Americans in 1775. The discussion focuses on a famous document known as "Logan's Lament," published in the Pennsylvania Journal, in which a Mingo leader named Loganblames a ...
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THE SCANDAL'S LEGACY AND POST-CIVIL WAR DIVORCE Colleague Barbara Weisberg. Weisbergdiscusses the scandal's legacy, noting that divorce rates spiked significantly after the Civil War, though the guilty party was legally forbidden to remarry. She explains that this public trial shattered the privacy of the elite, proving to the public that the upper classes were deeply flawed. NUMBER 8
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