In the UK, farmers are protesting in a way they haven't in recent times. They are furious about proposed inheritance tax changes to be brought in by the Labour government. The government claims the changes will only affect a tiny minority. The national farmers union claim they have got their numbers wildly wrong. Who's right - and is there a better…

One of the regular topics of discussion in the media in the US recently has been how polarised and divided the country has become, even to the extent where there is regularly speculation about what a new civil war would actually look like, if things continued to worsen. How did America get here? How did it end up with two parties of extremes circli…

This week sees the COP29 conference on climate change, where the expectation is that the next US president will walk away from the issue, leaving China a golden opportunity to step into the role of global leadership it covets. And the landmark we learned this week has been reached - that China's cumulative emissions are now greater than those of th…

Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F Kennedy Jr are amongst the recent names released by President-Elect Trump as his nominations for his cabinet. To say the least, they have caused something of a stir - a lot more so than his earlier picks. Why are they controversial? Will they get through the confirmation process? And will Trump try to sidestep…

After years of our lives being taken up by the campaign for the US presidency, we finally have a result. And against the apparent polling, it is a clear and unambiguous result. Donald Trump has performed the most remarkable political comeback, has cemented his role as a transformational president in the politics of the United States, and at a strok…

The US election has ... finally ... arrived. It's all over, bar the shouting. Except that the shouting has gotten pretty loud, and it's likely to continue for quite some time after the election has taken place. This possibly counts as one of the dumbest elections in American history - and if possible it got even dumber over the last week. Let's rec…

It has been the sort of week that will be referred to in decades, even centuries, hence as being one that was a turning point in history. There is a lot to come, but let's see if we can make sense of where we have gotten to in just the last few days. Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The ‘Dangerously Reasonable’ channel by Malle…

In the US, in the UK and the EU - the proposed shift from internal combustion cars to electric vehicles is starting to become a major factor in a big political shift that's going on. What's driving it (pun not intended!), and just how far is it going to go in rocking our old political assumptions? Let's have a look. Support this channel! https://pa…

This week, Rishi Sunak just announced pushing back of a few net zero targets - but much more significantly signalled a shift in campaign positioning that has thrust the issue to the centre of the conflict between the two main parties in advance of the general election. Labour leader Keir Starmer now has to work out if this is a great opportunity, o…

More mainstream voices are starting to be raised highlighting the likely outcome for where America is currently headed. One of them is Ray Dalio, the billionaire investor whose book 'Principles for dealing with a changing world order' identified the cycles that inevitably define the rise and fall of empires. Let's have a look at what he has to say.…

Elon Musk is so often at the centre of every important issue or controversy - he is a techno-optimist, he is pro-free speech, he is desperate for man to colonise Mars - you name it. He is also powerful on the world stage. And somewhat unaccountable. Is that a problem? Let's discuss. Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The ‘Dangero…

Two months in to Ukraine's counter-offensive, and so far - while there have been gains - they are well short of what people had hoped for. The implication is that this war is going to last years not months, notwithstanding the unexpected. How does that realisation begin to change the landscape - for Russia, for Ukraine, for the West? Support this c…

Over time, how we understand an ongoing issue, and aim to act on it, will evolve and change. We've been in the same phase on climate change for several decades - but right now it seems as though we may be entering the transition to the next phase. In this podcast, we look at why that may be, but why it will reach America later than many other place…

Maybe companies should have values. But should they have the sort of values that are about holding powerful corporations to account, or the ones that turn powerful corporations into policeman over how we live our lives? There's nuance to be had, but a crucially important distinction not many commentators are making right now. Support this channel! …

Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The Mallen Baker Show covers news, current affairs, science and politics. It aims to be independent, fact-focused and non-ideological. A rational and reasoned approach to some of the difficult issues of our time, including climate change, the Covid pandemic, and how we can best survive and thriv…

It wasn't a coup, but it looked like a coup. Putin wasn't bothered, but he certainly looked bothered. Really, it was just a protest. The sort of protest where you destroy military planes on the way. So just what HAS been going on in Russia this week, and what does it mean?Mallen Baker által

Boris Johnson has left the building - before launching a broadside against the Parliamentary Privileges Committee process just before it delivered its damning verdict. It found that he had lied repeatedly - which isn't much of a shock. The question is this. Was this the system upholding its commitment to integrity in public life? Or was it a politi…

This week, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met the US President Joe Biden and amongst the various topics they discussed was Britain’s desire to carve out a role for itself on the discussion around Artificial Intelligence. In recent weeks, we’ve seen voices raised – including those of some of the pioneers in AI – warning about the potential exist…

There has been a lot of talk this week about how the world may nose its way across the 1.5ºC line soon. It's been held up as a major landmark for so long - and generally with menaces attached. So is it truly on the cards? And how significant a line is it anyway? Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The Mallen Baker Show covers news…

Trump's Town Hall on CNN gave him his very best day of his 2024 election campaign, by far. How did it happen at all? And how much does it really change the equation for the next election, and indeed the next period of American political history? Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The Mallen Baker Show covers news, current affairs…

A drone attack hits the Kremlin building. Once again, the world is left wondering "who dunnit?". Was it a false flag attack by a Russian leadership determined to drive a wedge between Ukraine and its allies? Or an attack by Kyiv, or even the United States - or a Russian partisan group? Let's look at the theories that are flying around - and at leas…

He's spoken to Vladimir Putin five times since the war started - but this was the first time he picked up the phone to Ukraine's Volodymir Zelensky. What does the call say about China's intended role in the Ukraine war - why might it signal hope for an end to the conflict - or, depending on your perspective - provoke fear in how China might use tha…

During the last week, a major summit that was supposed to advance climate onto the World Bank agenda hit an impasse. Meanwhile, China is rapidly gaining as the alternative lender to developing countries. The stakes are pretty big - it could just be the biggest problem that no-one's talking about. Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbake…

A hugely significant leak of US intelligence has dominated the week ... and it's one unlike any that came before it. But what's really interesting, is what it says about the rapidly changing place of America in the world. And it's not good news. Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The Mallen Baker Show covers news, current affairs…

Some reflections on the week that saw former president Donald Trump appearing in criminal court for the first - but surely not the last - time. Is this a shrewd political game? Or crass stupidity pushing the country closer to civil war? Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The Mallen Baker Show covers news, current affairs, science…

China’s Xi Jinping to visit Putin in Moscow as China outflanks the US on the world stage. Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse – is the world economic system teetering on the edge of major meltdown? And Dutch farmers hit back against green policies with a major election win from nowhere. Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The Malle…

Suggestions come from US intelligence that a pro-Ukraine group was responsible for the Nord Stream pipeline explosions. We learn that the UK government had an undisclosed position to reject the lab leak hypothesis to keep good relations with China. Massive farmers protests in Brussels underline how the EU’s. Farm to Fork sustainability policy is fa…

It’s retro news week, apparently. A massive leak of whatsapp text messages from the heart of government shows the unedifying reality of the UK’s response to Covid. The US energy department declares that it now believes a lab leak is the most likely cause of the Covid-19 pandemic. And, in this week’s short thought – do we believe in science or in ma…

Last week, the former UK Labour prime minister Tony Blair, and the former would-be Conservative prime minister William Hague produced a joint report calling for a British technology revolution. Some of the response to this – particularly on the populist right – was that this was the face of technocracy. Partly that’s true – and partly it’s not. But…

The world marks the one year anniversary of the start of the Ukraine war with big speeches on all sides saying nothing new. China puts itself forward as a neutral peace broker in ways that may please neither Russia nor America. The US supreme court is offered the chance to break the internet with a single decision, but looks like declining the offe…

As the anniversary of the start of the Ukraine war approaches both sides burn through their resources at a rapid rate. The EU’s corruption crisis continues to deepen as more MEPs are named in the Qatargate scandal. Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is brought down after being damaged by the trans prisoners row. And in this week’s short thou…

A Chinese sky balloon is blown out of the sky along with recent hopes of easing tension between the two countries. Russia apparently begins to ramp up for a major offensive as President Zelensky visits the UK and Europe. Did we just get the real story about the exploding Nord Stream pipelines – or was it just a pipe dream? And, in this week’s short…

Corruption continues to be the focus as more are raided in Ukraine and the EU and the UK have problems of their own. The UK’s armed forces recruitment comes under scrutiny with allegations that competence is no longer a key criteria for air force pilots. The trans rapist prisoner row in Scotland has reached the point where Nicola Sturgeon’s politic…

Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The Mallen Baker Show covers news, current affairs, science and politics. It aims to be independent, fact-focused and non-ideological. A rational and reasoned approach to some of the difficult issues of our time, including climate change, the Covid pandemic, and how we can best survive and thriv…

Putin’s latest moves suggest he’s fighting a political war at home as much as a military one in Ukraine. China urges its people not to travel for the Chinese New Year as Covid starts to hit the rural areas hard. President Biden is deeply embarrassed by the discovery of top secret documents in his garage. And in this week’s short thought, why respon…

Russia suffers a major blow on the battlefield the strategic implications of which highlight its biggest challenge. Republicans in the US celebrate their election gains by demonstrating an inability to agree on electing a House Speaker. Campaign group Extinction Rebellion gives up breaking the law but faces an upward struggle regardless, and in thi…

In this news round-up of the week for 30th December 2022, as Covid rages across China, some countries bring in restrictions on travellers blaming the fear of new variants. Russian oligarchs continue to die by sudden falling out of hotel windows syndrome. A controversial leading light of the manosphere Andrew Tate picks a fight with Greta Thunberg a…

Vladimir Putin makes a startling statement after Ukraine’s Zelensky makes an appearance in the US. Scottish lawmakers pass a controversial trans self-ID bill, creating a likely constitutional crisis with the UK government. The summit on biodiversity reaches a final agreement and needless to say not everybody’s happy. And in this week’s short though…

The EU is rocked to its core by a massive corruption scandal that its enemies believe could become a rout of the bureaucrats. China is seeing its hospitals rapidly overwhelmed as the Covid takes off, but they’re not reporting how many are dying. And Vladimir Putin cancels all of his most important engagements fuelling speculation as to whether the …

Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The Mallen Baker Show covers news, current affairs, science and politics. It aims to be independent, fact-focused and non-ideological. A rational and reasoned approach to some of the difficult issues of our time, including climate change, the Covid pandemic, and how we can best survive and thriv…

The EU and the US have a huge falling out over Biden’s big subsidies for climate change action. China looks to be crossing the tipping point on its zero covid policy as cases surge upwards. Does the virtue signalling around the World Cup prove Vladimir Putin right about the West’s growing intolerance? And in this week’s short thought, why good qual…

China dominates the world stage at the G20 summit and Western countries start dialling back their hostility to it. Ukraine’s power grid is seriously knocked out by Russian attack as the UN criticises it for human rights abuses. Donald Trump announces that he is candidate for President but his strategy is already a defensive one. And in this week’s …

The US mid-term elections deliver a surprising result that arguably makes US civil war just a bit less likely. Ukraine takes back control of Kherson city as senior figures in the US administration urge them to negotiate with Putin. Social media giants Twitter and Meta are in meltdown as the online landscape seems vulnerable to change. And in this w…

America prepares itself for the mid-term elections as late polls suggest Republicans may soon control both houses, Brazil’s president Bolsonaro narrowly loses his election but does that actually mean the Amazon rainforest is safe? Rishi Sunak changes his mind about going to COP27 – we review the issues up for debate at the climate conference. And i…

US political support for Ukraine shows first signs of fracturing as Vladimir Putin predicts the most dangerous decade. The UK has a new prime minister in Rishi Sunak who promises a return to competence in government. And the global climate summit COP27 is looming, which means a rash of updates on how we’re not on target. And in this week’s short th…

Ukraine continues to make advances as the world is newly alarmed about potential nuclear war. The UK’s brand new government sees more consequences from its self-sabotage. And EU members push back against the bloc’s plans to reduce pesticides in the middle of a world food crisis. Support this channel! https://patreon.com/mallenbaker The Mallen Baker…

Putin draws his red line and dares the West to cross it by formally annexing four regions of Ukraine. The UK Truss government’s mini-budget explodes in their faces and gives Labour real hope of regaining power. And controversial and Eurosceptic right winger Georgia Meloni wins Italy’s election, the latest populist wave that seems possibly to be swe…

Russia announces a major mobilisation of its citizens while repeating its threats of nuclear war. The UK’s new government announces the unbanning of fracking and the most radical tax cutting day in fifty years. And in this week’s short though, we look at the latest tech giant, PayPal, to exercise unaccountable power against its customers apparently…

Putin has a bad week in the war, and not a great time with China’s Xi Jinping who has ‘concerns’ about Ukraine. Sweden sees an election upheaval as concern about gun crime and immigration creates a populist backlash. And the second largest cryptocurrency ethereum slashes its massive energy use at a stroke, but will others follow? And in this week’s…

Liz Truss is poised to become the next UK prime minister - I look at what she’s said so far she will actually do. A critic of Vladimir Putin mysteriously falls from a window and his history making predecessor, Mikhail Gorbachev, dies. A genuine climate catastrophe has a third of Pakistan under water and is likely to be followed by famine. And in th…