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PODCAST

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.

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All Episodes

8:19

S8 Ep149: 4/8. The Second Eurasian Invasion: Herding...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

4/8. The Second Eurasian Invasion: Herding Culture, Wolves, and the Birth of the Global Market Economy — Dan Flores — European colonists expressed astonishment regarding the extraordinary abundance of American wildlife following the catastrophic population decline of Native American societies. Flores explains that European settlers possessed a distinctive herding culture and ideology of human exceptionalism—the conviction that animals lack souls and exist solely as human resources. Flores documents

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12:16

S8 Ep149: 3/8. Ten Thousand Years of Kinship: Native...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

3/8. Ten Thousand Years of Kinship: Native American Hunter-Gatherers and Ecological Balance — Dan Flores — Following the Pliocene extinction event, North America entered a 10,000-year period characterized by hunter-gatherer societies achieving sophisticated ecological equilibrium. Flores documents that Native American peoples consciously maintained deliberately restricted human populations (fewer than five million inhabitants) to preserve biodiversity and prevent further species loss, resulting in

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7:11

S8 Ep149: 2/8. Clovis Culture and the American...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

2/8. Clovis Culture and the American Extinction: Early Humans as Ecological Simplifiers — Dan Flores — The Clovis culture, emerging approximately 13,000 years ago, rapidly spread across North America in a remarkably brief timeframe. Flores connects the Clovis expansion to the "American extinction," wherein large megafauna including mammoths disappeared with striking rapidity. Flores explains that emerging scientific consensus attributes this ecological simplification to humans functioning as novel

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11:32

S8 Ep149: 1/8. The Deep History of North American...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

1/8. The Deep History of North American Mammals and the Arrival of Human Predators — Dan Flores — Flores's book Wild New World examines North American fauna spanning 66 million years, detailing the evolutionary processes and intercontinental migration patterns that created the diverse Pliocene animal assemblage. Flores argues that Eurasian animals including deer and elk possessed significant adaptive advantages over indigenous species because they possessed millennia of evolutionary experience with

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8:42

S8 Ep149: 8/8. Global Bird Consciousness and Human...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

8/8. Global Bird Consciousness and Human Responsibility — Steven Moss — Moss concludes by emphasizing that birds represent profound indicators of planetary ecological health and human stewardship. Moss argues that human societies have repeatedly demonstrated catastrophic ecological mismanagement—from deliberate species eradication campaigns to inadvertent pesticide-driven collapse of insect populations supporting avian food chains. Moss stresses that contemporary climate-driven extinctions represent

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10:53

S8 Ep149: 7/8. The Snowy Egret, The Emperor Penguin,...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

7/8. The Snowy Egret, The Emperor Penguin, and the Climate Canary — Steven Moss — Moss describes the beautiful Snowy Egret, nearly driven to extinction during 19th-century "plumage wars," when its feathers, priced equivalently to gold, were harvested for women's millinery fashion. Moss emphasizes that the resulting systemic cruelty toward birds catalyzed women to establish conservation organizations including the Audubon Society. Moss identifies climate change as the current existential threat,

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8:44

S8 Ep149: 6/8. Mao's Sparrow Campaign and the Worst...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

6/8. Mao's Sparrow Campaign and the Worst Human-Created Disaster — Steven Moss — Moss recounts Chairman Mao's 1958 order for systematic extermination of the Tree Sparrow, predicated on the erroneous belief that sparrows consumed excessive grain supplies. Moss documents that the Chinese population executed massive killing campaigns, often exhausting sparrows to death through relentless pursuit. Moss explains that because sparrows feed their fledglings primarily on insects, the resulting explosive

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9:05

S8 Ep149: 5/8. Guano, Tragedy, and the Rise of...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

5/8. Guano, Tragedy, and the Rise of Intensive Farming — Steven Moss — Moss discusses seabird guano (nutrient-rich droppings), first recognized as a valuable resource by the Incas and subsequently monetized by William Gibbs, who accumulated immense wealth trading guano from arid Peruvian islands. Moss emphasizes that guano harvesting occurred under tragic human conditions, with Chinese indentured laborers frequently dying during extraction operations. Mossnotes that declining guano availability

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8:33

S8 Ep149: 4/8. The Dodo and the Legacy of Extinction...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

4/8. The Dodo and the Legacy of Extinction — Steven Moss — Moss examines the Dodo as the iconic symbol of species extinction, despite extinction being conceptually incomprehensible to contemporary observers when the species disappeared from Mauritius. Moss explains that the Dodo, having evolved flightless on a predator-free island, was exterminated within 80 years by introduced species including cats, rats, and dogs transported by Dutch sailors. Mossdocuments that early museum Dodo specimens were

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11:02

S8 Ep149: 3/8. Darwin's Finches: The Evolution Myth...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

3/8. Darwin's Finches: The Evolution Myth and the Speed of Adaptation — Steven Moss — Moss corrects widespread misconceptions regarding Darwin's Finches, noting that Charles Darwin collected the specimens but failed to properly label their specific island origins, and subsequently employed pigeons rather than finches to explain evolutionary mechanisms. Moss discusses researchers Peter and Rosemary Grant, who demonstrated that evolutionary adaptation can occur with extraordinary rapidity, occurring

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6:29

S8 Ep149: 2/8. Pigeons: The Great Communicators and...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

2/8. Pigeons: The Great Communicators and Wartime Heroes — Steven Moss — Moss discusses the humble pigeon as a paradoxical feral bird species possessing extraordinary homing capabilities that made it invaluable as a communications mechanism. Although the famous narrative of Nathan Rothschild using pigeons following the Battle of Waterloo is apocryphal, pigeons were genuinely crucial wartime messengers. Moss emphasizes that pigeons were essential during the D-Day invasion due to radio silence

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11:17

S8 Ep149: 1/8. The Wild Turkey, the Bald Eagle, and...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

1/8. The Wild Turkey, the Bald Eagle, and the Illogical Nature of Bird Names — Steven Moss — Moss introduces the Wild Turkey, discussing its successful reestablishment in New England and its domestication origin in southern Mexico. Moss critiques the turkey's nomenclature as fundamentally illogical, derived from historical confusion involving exotic trade routes through Asia Minor. Moss examines the Bald Eagle as a scavenger species that symbolizes predatory power and dominance. Moss notes that

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5:34

S8 Ep151: 4/4. The Perilous Return and Legacy of...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

4/4. The Perilous Return and Legacy of OSIRIS-REx — Dante Lauretta — The sample return capsule executed its descent over the Utah desert with dramatic complications. Critical anxiety ensued when the drogue parachute failed to deploy at the nominal 100,000 feet altitude, invoking memories of the Genesis mission mishap. The primary main parachute deployed successfully at 60,000 feet, confirming mission success and sample integrity. The spacecraft, subsequently rebranded OSIRIS-APEX, is now en route to

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14:03

S8 Ep149: 3/4. Encountering Bennu: Unexpected Terrain...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

3/4. Encountering Bennu: Unexpected Terrain and Science — Dante Lauretta — Asteroid Bennu presented surprising geological characteristics, displaying unexpectedly rocky, boulder-strewn terrain rather than the predicted smooth, "beach-like" surface indicated by telescopic observations. Bennu, a dark, compositionally active object, contained abundant carbon, complex organic molecules, and water locked within clay mineral matrices. Lauretta's team developed innovative "bullseye tag" guidance technology

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8:24

S8 Ep149: 2/4. Naming OSIRIS-REx and Overcoming Major...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

2/4. Naming OSIRIS-REx and Overcoming Major Hurdles — Dante Lauretta — Following successive rejections, Lauretta systematically defined the mission's core scientific objectives—Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security—establishing the OSIRIS framework and subsequently designating the mission OSIRIS-REx(Regolith Explorer). The mission received formal selection in 2011, and Mike Drake, serving as Lauretta's mentor while managing significant personal health challenges,

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9:22

S8 Ep149: 1/4. The Genesis of the Asteroid Hunter...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

1/4. The Genesis of the Asteroid Hunter Mission and Early Rejections — Dante Lauretta — Lauretta, hired by mentor Mike Drake at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL), initiated the asteroid sample return mission concept in 2004 following a pivotal meeting with Lockheed Martin's Steve Price. The team submitted its initial proposal to NASA in July 2004, which received the agency's lowest competitive ranking, designated Category 4. A subsequent refined mission proposal targeting asteroid 1999 RQ36

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7:50

S8 Ep150: 4/4. Climate Pragmatism and Denial of...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

4/4. Climate Pragmatism and Denial of Renewable Energy Constraints — Terry Anderson (Editor) — Andersonhighlights Bjorn Lomborg's "climate pragmatism" framework, which advocates rational spending prioritizing immediate human needs rather than attempting to arrest climate change through technological transformation. Anderson confirms that genuine market adaptation is actively occurring, citing declining real estate valuations in storm-surge vulnerable areas of Dade County. Anderson asserts that

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12:50

S8 Ep150: 3/4. Price Discovery, Trade Policy, and...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

3/4. Price Discovery, Trade Policy, and Government Market Distortions — Terry Anderson (Editor) — Andersondiscusses Timothy Fitzgerald's analysis demonstrating that border carbon adjustment mechanisms frequently disguise protectionist trade policies, aligning with the "bootleggers and Baptists" theoretical model. Anderson stresses that authentic price discovery in financial markets is absolutely crucial for effective climate adaptation. However, government intervention, including subsidized

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9:05

S8 Ep150: 2/4. Politics vs. Markets: The Failures of...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

2/4. Politics vs. Markets: The Failures of Incentivized Climate Solutions — Terry Anderson (Editor) — Andersondiscusses adaptation barriers, noting that regulatory frameworks systematically impede Alaskan Native Villages'traditional ecological knowledge and adaptive ingenuity. Anderson critiques incentivized climate solutions, particularly carbon taxation schemes, arguing they fail fundamentally due to political polarization driven by the perverse incentive structure ("don't tax me, tax them")

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9:45

S8 Ep149: 1/4. Market Adaptations, Fossil Fuels, and...

The John Batchelor Show ·

2025/12/01

1/4. Market Adaptations, Fossil Fuels, and Physical Limits of Renewables — Terry Anderson (Editor) — Andersonintroduces Adapt and Be Adept, examining market-driven responses to climate change while applying Pascal's Wageranalytical framework. The book emphasizes the necessity of localized control in climate adaptation strategies, exemplified by Alaskan Native Villages implementing place-based solutions. Anderson details Mark Mills' argument that hydrocarbons remain essential to industrial

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9,376 results

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