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.
SOUTH AFRICA - Low Attendance Baffles International Cricket Officials - JEREMY ZAKIS
Oct 18, 2026
Show notes 1940 Low Attendance Baffles International Cricket Officials Jeremy Zakis discusses Australia’s dominant victory against South Africa in a five-day Durban cricket test match. Despite global television broadcasts, grandstands were mostly empty, attracting under twenty thousand spectators across five days. Consequently, South African cricket launched an investigation to discover whether fans snubbed Australia due to ball tampering. (3)
ALICE SPRINGS - Venomous Snakes Infest Australian Airport Lounge - JERENY-ZAKIS
Oct 18, 2026
Show notes 1842 Venomous Snakes Infest Australian Airport Lounge Jeremy Zakis details deadly eastern brown snakes infesting the Alice Springs airport lounge to escape extreme heat outside. Meanwhile, massive swarms of Bogong moths destroy crops and confuse weather radar into falsely predicting rain. Finally, a lone magpie acts like a gunslinger, repeatedly stalking hostile cockatoos in Jeremy’s own backyard. (2)
australia - El Niño Brings Extreme Australian Rain - JEREMY zakis
Oct 18, 2026
Show notes
1905 QUEENSLAND El Niño Brings Extreme Australian Rain Jeremy Zakis reports from New South Wales on unpredictable weather driven by a monster El Niño event. After warning of flash droughts, meteorologists forecasted the wettest El Niño on record following heavy rainfall. Sydneysuffered three to four inches of rain, causing severe drainage backups and slowing down city transportation. (1)
IRAN - Espionage Networks Behind Clandestine Iranian Arms - CRAIG-UNGER-DENOF-SPIES PART 2
Oct 18, 2026
Show notes 1904 PERSIA Espionage Networks Behind Clandestine Iranian Arms Craig Unger, Part Two: Working alongside investigative journalist Robert Parry, Unger uncovers a vast international intelligence network involving the Safari Club, Israeli military intelligence, and rogue arms dealers. Crucial government documents hidden in an abandoned congressional restroom reveal secret wiretaps and illicit weapons transfers flowing directly to Iran. Although official congressional inquiries dismissed the October Surprise allegations, high-level Iranianofficials and archival evidence confirm that clandestine arms deals were brokered. Minutes after Ronald Reagan takes the official oath of office on Inauguration Day in January 1981, Iran finally releases fifty-two American hostages, completing a momentous, highly controversial chapter in modern presidential history. (2)
IRAN - Hostage Crisis Politics And Covert Negotiations - CRAIG-UNGER-DEN-OF-SPIES PART 1
Oct 18, 2026
Show notes 1705 PERSIA Hostage Crisis Politics And Covert Negotiations Craig Unger, author of Den of Spies, Part One: In April 1980, the catastrophic failure of a secret American military rescue mission in Iran leaves eight servicemen dead and President Jimmy Carter politically crippled. Taking advantage of Carter’s vulnerability, Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign hires former OSS intelligence officer William Caseyas campaign manager. Fearing a pre-election hostage release that could boost Carter, Casey secretly builds a covert international espionage network. Unger examines allegations that Republican operatives negotiated with Iranianofficials in Madrid and Paris, offering illicit arms shipments in exchange for delaying the release of fifty-two American hostages until long after the 1980 presidential election. (1)
BENJAMIN-CARP PART 2REVOLUTION - Arson Accusations And Unresolved Historical Inquiries -
Oct 18, 2026
Show notes 1776 NY Arson Accusations And Unresolved Historical Inquiries Part Two: Following the catastrophic blaze, British military authorities detain dozens of suspected rebel arsonists caught carrying turpentine, matches, and other flammable materials. Disagreeing over underlying motives, both political sides launch intense propaganda campaigns to sway public opinion regarding the destruction. General George Washingtonpublicly denies involvement while privately acknowledging the major strategic benefit of the burn. Key suspects, including intelligence agents like Abraham Patten, are executed or die in brutal captivity. In 1783, British General Guy Carleton conducts an extensive formal inquiry into pump sabotage and incendiary caches, yet ultimate historical responsibility for the conflagration remains an unsettled historical mystery. (2)
REVOLUTION - Revolutionary Conflict And The Manhattan Conflagration - DBENJAMIN-CARP-TH PART 1
Oct 18, 2026
Show notes 1776 NEW YORK Revolutionary Conflict And The Manhattan Conflagration Part One: In the spring of 1776, General George Washington arrives in New York City to establish a Continental Armybase while facing a deeply divided, suspicious loyalist population. The British fleet soon commands the harbor, forcing two-thirds of the civilian population to flee. After severe American defeats on Long Island, military leaders debate destroying Manhattan to deny the British valuable winter quarters. Although Congress explicitly forbids burning the city, Washington considers this decision a major strategic error. Around midnight on September 21, a massive fire erupts, rapidly destroying lower Manhattan as strong winds drive the flames through vulnerable wooden civilian structures. (1)
USA - Courtroom Clashes Over Creationism And Science - BRENDA-WINEAPPLE-KEEPING-THE-FAITH PART 2
Oct 18, 2026
Show notes 1926 DYTON Courtroom Clashes Over Creationism And Science Part Two: Presided over by Judge John Raulston in sweltering July heat, the crowded Dayton courtroom attracts worldwide attention and live radio broadcasts. Blocked from calling scientific experts directly to the stand, the defense team successfully records written affidavits into the official court record. Darrow executes a dramatic strategy by calling prosecutor Bryan to testify as an expert on the Bible. Under intense cross-examination, Bryan admits that biblical creation days could represent longer metaphorical time periods. Scopes is ultimately convicted, but Bryan dies days later, leaving the cultural debate over science, faith, and public education permanently unresolved. (2)
BUSA - Fundamentalist Faith Confronts Evolutionary Science Law - RENDA-WINEAPPLE-KEEPING-THE-FAITH PART 1
Oct 18, 2026
Show notes 1926 DAYTON, TENNESSEE Fundamentalist Faith Confronts Evolutionary Science Law Part One: In May 1925, local promoters in Dayton, Tennessee, conspire at Robinson’s Drugstore to challenge the state’s new Butler Act banning public school evolution instruction. They recruit local substitute science teacher John Scopes to serve as the willing defendant for a test case organized by the American Civil Liberties Union. The trial quickly attracts massive national media coverage and legal heavyweights, including legendary defense attorney Clarence Darrow and three-time Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. Darrow seeks to defend academic freedom and confront religious fundamentalism, while Bryan aims to protect traditional biblical faith and popular democratic rule. (1)
NAPOLEONIC FRANCE - French Revolution Fashion Redefines Female Liberation - ANNE-IGONET
Oct 18, 2026
Show notes 1806 JOSEPHINE French Revolution Fashion Redefines Female Liberation Anne Higonnet, author of Liberty Equality Fashion: The Women Who Styled the French Revolution: Following the bloody French Revolution terror, three influential Parisian women revolutionize global fashion by completely abandoning traditional whalebone corsets and heavy silk gowns. Emerging from revolutionary prison, Térézia Tallien, alongside Rose de Beauharnais and Juliette Récamier, popularizes flowing, lightweight white cotton dresses inspired by colonial muslin and prison garb. Their revolutionary aesthetic introduces essential modern accessories, including functional handbags, cashmere shawls, flat laced shoes, and decorative tiaras. Celebrated across Europe through widely circulated fashion magazines and portraits by famous artists like Jacques-Louis David, these creative visionaries transform humble cotton into an enduring symbol of female emancipation, political rebellion, and cultural transformation. (1)
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
