The New Great Game?
22 April 2025 - 37 minsThe world shifting under our feet and US financial markets remain in turmoil. We explore whether Trump’s economic war with China is backfiring, and might push Europe closer to Beijing, not Washington. We detail a likley monetary scenario for the US over the coming months which will be the backdrop to any geo-political moves. For example, could France, weighed down by debt, turn to China as creditor? Are we entering a new global “Great Game,” where America’s threats drive its allies into the arms of its rivals? If Europe stops financing the U.S. bond market, what happens next? A podcast on grand strategy, with a few French wines, altar boy memories, and Machiavellian moves along the way. Host...
Series Episodes
World Cup Series: Haiti
Haiti just qualified for its first World Cup in 50 years, and they come from the poorest country in the Americas, a place where gangs run the capital and the average person earns $45 a month. We trace how the world's first successful slave revolution ended up here: French gunboats, a 120-year debt, ecological collapse, and an island where one half (the Dominican Republic) is racing ahead while the other is forgotten. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
44 mins
18 June Finished
Could Canada Have A Brexit Moment?
Mark Carney is being hailed as the new leader of the free world. While he's facing down Trump abroad, his real headache is at home, Alberta, Canada's Texas, is gearing up for a referendum that could split the country in two. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
42 mins
16 June Finished
Inside the World Cup's Narco State
We head down Mexico way to unpack the country hosting the World Cup, a $1.8 trillion economy living side by side with one of the most powerful criminal networks on earth. Drugs, guns, avocados, and the politics tying Trump and Sheinbaum together whether they like it or not. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
40 mins
11 June Finished
Why Social Democracies Win World Cups
The FT's Simon Kuper joins us to kick off our World Cup series, on why tiny social democracies keep producing the best football teams, why FIFA is laundering reputations for dictators, and why this tournament will say more about geopolitics than any leaders' summit this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
40 mins
9 June Finished
Why Social Democracies Win World Cups
The FT's Simon Kuper joins us to kick off our World Cup series, on why tiny social democracies keep producing the best football teams, why FIFA is laundering reputations for dictators, and why this tournament will say more about geopolitics than any leaders' summit this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
40 mins
9 June Finished
The Coming Water Crisis
Forget oil. The real fight is over the world's most precious and least understood commodity; water. We're joined by Paul O'Callaghan of BlueTech Research to explain why two billion people still can't get safe drinking water, why Saudi Arabia is quietly draining Colorado, and why Ireland's biggest strategic advantage might just be the rain we love to complain about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29 mins
4 June Finished
