London Calling: Recent Episodes
The Ricochet Audio Network
James Delingpole and Toby Young discuss and explain British and European politics and culture for their American audience.
In 1935 Cole Porter penned a tune called "Just One of Those Things" about a love affair "too hot not to cool down." And so it goes.
What started out as a podcast critiquing Game Of Thrones relaunched as London Calling on Nov. 6, 2015. We've been around for five Prime Ministers, three US Presidents, two Monarchs, Brexit and a worldwide pandemic. Our intrepid duo has broadcast from 11 different countries from three different continents with barely a week off. And now we're taking a break.
This is not goodbye but "until we meet again." Toby and James will return in October with a slightly revamped programme and the plan (for now) is come to you once a month after that. Stay tuned.
So goodbye, goodbye, bye, bye, goodbye baby and amen -
Here's hoping we'll meet now and then...
It was great fun
But it was just one of those things.
Opening sound this week comes to you from KHNL, Honolulu.
Everyone is a little miserable this week, fueled by the rainy summer England has had this year.
Or maybe because we're all getting a little bit older. James "celebrated" #58 this past weekend and Toby isn't looking forward to #60 due this October.
Toby tells James about having lunch with Sean Langan, who’s just back from the Donbas where he’s been making a documentary about the Ukrainian war seen through the eyes of Russian conscripts.
James pulls Toby up about last week’s episode, in which he thinks Toby “attacked” him; Toby assures James that no one put him up to it (not even our producer, Evil Brian) and, in Culture Corner, Toby praises Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and season two of Yellowstone, while James says how much he enjoyed The Chosen One, a new Netflix series from Mark Miller, and describes Anna Karenina as the best novel he’s ever read.
This week James and Toby open the discussion with James’ recent gig in Dorset and the division in towns like Bridport and Totnes between the woke and the awake, particularly over traffic calming measures like LTNs, Ulez schemes and 15-minute cities.
They go on to talk about Yuval Harari’s calling for ‘conspiracy theorists’ to be banned from the internet and Toby ask James to respond to Harari’s claim that many conspiracy theories, particularly those that blame the world’s problems on an elite cabal of billionaires and their acolytes, have an antisemitic component and that leads to a bigger argument about whether James’s conspiracy theory about the ‘death jabs,' Paul McCartney and 'manufactured' bands.
In Culture Corner, Toby heaps praise on They Cloned Tyrone, a new sci-fi conspiracy thriller (Netflix) and Lioness, the new Taylor Sheridan series (Paramount+), while James enthuses about Kohrra, an Indian police procedural (Netflix.)
This week's opening sound is Yuval Noah Harari's appearance on The Lex Fridman Podcast #390.
It's hot in the Mediterranean and James and Toby discuss the recent forest fires in Greece and whether climate change or arsonists are to blame. This triggers an argument (From these two? Really?) about whether there are enough honest journalists left to expose such wrongdoing and that, in turn, leads to a heated discussion about whether the journalist Ross Clark is a genuine climate contrarian because concedes that the world has got a little bit warmer in the past 150 years.
We then segue into a discussion of their holidays this year, both those they've already had and those they are planning, with James saying he may go to Amsterdam which leads to agreement that cannabis should probably not be legalised.
Finally, in Culture Corner, James discusses the new University Challenge, as well as having almost finished Anna Karenina – which he declares the best novel he’s ever read – while Toby gives a lukewarm review to Hijack.
Opening sound this week is CapX editor discussing Michael Gove's backtracking on Net Zero.
"The best laid plans of mice and men," said Rabbie Burns, "often go awry." And so it is as Toby tells James about how his travel plans have gone over the past fortnight, even though he’s in Majorca with his wife and four children.
Better to be on holiday in Spain than to be in England with a hacked Twitter account. James' Twitter profile (and his followers) have been hijacked by a crypto currency scammer.
They then discuss the weird ‘crossover’ podcast in which Nick Dixon, Toby’s other podcasting partner, interviewed James for his other podcast, The Current Thing.
In Culture Corner, Toby praises season 1 of The Tulsa King (Paramount+) while James has been watching Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate (Netflix) and The Traitors: Australia (BBC3 and i-Player in the UK; there is an American version that runs on Peacock.)
Opening sound this week is Novak Djokovic's gracious speech after his Finals loss at Wimbledon.
Toby is in Ibiza and James is in a funk as the diet he's on fails to really kick in and that leads to a discussion on DNA, genetically altered mosquitos, Bill Gates, lost friends and cocaine. Yep, it's quite the journey.
On a serious note the lads take on the immigration crisis taking place all across Europe and especially the riots that have rocked France.
In Culture Corner we begin with Wimbledon and the crowd's treatment of Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who was booed off the court after losing to the Ukranian Elina Svitolina. And since it's summertime we concentrate on books instead of television.
Opening sound this week is Azarenka in her post match press conference.
After the usual chit-chat about the week gone by, Toby and James have a substantive talk about the limits of free speech and what constitutes "crossing the line." It's all spurred on by the revelation last week that former UKIP party boss - and now GBNews personality - Nigel Farage has been "de-banked."
In Culture Corner the spotlight falls on the new Idris Elba series, Hijack (AppleTV+) and Toby recalls the life an Englishman in America on the Fourth of July.
Opening sound this week is Farage explaining his predicament on Twitter.
This week Toby tells James about his event-filled diary last week, the climax of which was bumping into Boris Johnson at a party and explaining to him why Tobes was so disappointed by his decision to tell us all to stay in our homes three years ago; a close second was attending a one-day conference on Friday chaired by the American journalist Michael Shellenberger about how to fight back against the censorship-industrial complex.
Then it's on to the implosion of the Titan submersible. One of the lads thinks the news drip may have been a ‘psy op’ (Not saying who...) We also cover the "failed coup" in Russia led by the Wagner Group and whether it was all a cunning ploy so Putin could place Prigozhin and his forces North of Kiev without raising Ukrainian alarm bells.
In Culture Corner James complains about The Covenant, which he dismisses as “regime propaganda”, and Toby praises Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which he saw last week with his 15 year-old son.
James began the week attending a "speed awareness" course, having been nicked going a wee bit too fast on the way to an appointment. Early on in the programme James thinks that he has finally... FINALLY... brought Toby over to Team James, only to have his hopes dashed later in the show.
Yes, mummy and daddy have a bit a tiff this week that temporarily devolves into a cable news panel show, but we do our best to get it back on the rails so we can bring you the ever popular Culture Corner. Toby touts a new web site designed to help you discover if a show is more politics than entertainment and then offers his own advice on The Covenant, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+), and Extraction 2 (Netflix), while James gives a thumbs up to Tour de France: Unchained (Netflix).
Opening sound this week is from Episode 3 of Tucker Carlson's Twitter monologues that sparks heated debate among James and Toby.
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Less than three years ago they were flying high and now they've been subjected to major setbacks. And, no, we're not talking about our intrepid duo. In the last week former President Donald Trump has been put under federal indictment, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been run out of Parliament and former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been placed under arrest.
Rumors have circulated that this episode sees our hosts coming together in agreement over several major issues instead of the knock-down-drag-'em-out fight predicted over the weekend. You'll just have to listen in.
In Culture Corner, both James and Toby take in Patriots at the Noel Coward, the latest play from Peter Morgan (The Crown, Frost/Nixon) that features Tom Hollander as Boris Berezovsky and Will Keen as Vladimir Putin. And - SPOILER ALERT - we wrap up Succession.
Opening sound this week is Douglas Ross, Leader of the Opposition in the Scottish Parliament, commenting on Nicola Sturgeon's legal troubles.
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We begin this week with James and Toby debating a truly burning issue - Is it better to live in the city or live in the country? After some time in the country this past week, Toby isn't sure the Youngs would last very long living the Delipngpole life.
In the news we talk about independent journalists detained for questioning by counterterror police, The Telegraph story about stifling lockdown dissent, and the Philip Schofield affair. (For our American listeners think a grayer and gayer version of Matt Lauer.)
In Culture Corner, James can't even make it through the trailer for Poker Face (SkyMax in the UK, Peacock in the US), Toby is back on the Bernard Cornwall train with Sharpe's Devil, and they agree not to talk about Succession until James is caught up - and he'd be caught up if he wasn't watching crap such as The Days (Netflix).
Opening sound this week is Amercan journalist Michael Shellenberger talking tp Andrew Doyle on GBNews about government censorship during the pandemic.
This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5822211/advertisement
Usually Culture Corner comes at the end of the programme but this week it sorts of flows through the entire show. We talk the bank holiday in the UK (It's Memorial Day in the USA), grocery stores, eye glass frames and proper English pronunciations. Somehow James and Toby come around to Ron DiSantis announcing for President plus the Target and Bud Light boycotts but that just leads us to John Carpenter movies and pictures about the war in Vietnam.
In Culture Corner proper, James turns against Silo and Toby says stay as far away as possible from FUBAR (Netflix) as it lives up to the name.
Opening sound this week is Gov. Ron DeSantis talking about Donald Trump on the Clay and Buck Show.
This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5822211/advertisement
Oh, to be in England now that Spring is here! When republicans and royalists are in full bloom! James and Toby clash on the official coronation of His Majesty King Charles III. Another chapter in our long Island story or just a distraction? Say, who's in charge around here.
We wrap up James' trip abroad (ewwww, leaches!) and mourn, lament and bury the Queen's Park Rangers season.
All that and Culture Corner, too.
This week's opening sound is King Charles reading off cue cards for his oath.
What better way to observe May Day than to discuss another US bank failure? But before we get to the collapse of First Republic (Is this another case of "Get Woke, Go Broke" and what does it means for the future of ESG and "Stakeholder Capitalism?"), we talk about James’ adventures in the Far East, including a trip to a Muslim Thai restaurant in Malaysia where he had the best cup of tea he’s ever had.
Toby recounts his own adventures in the Far North - no, not that one - we're talking about Stoke-on-Trent, where he went on Saturday to see QPR’s final away game of the current football season. Speaking of football, what's the real motivation behind Ryan Reynolds’ and Rob McElhenney’s purchase of Wrexham Football Club?
In Culture Corner, James goes all anthropological on us. Really.
Opening sound this week is Jamie Dimon, the chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase, on this morning's conference call on the acquistion of First Republic Bank.
Two thirds of the earth is covered in water, the rest is covered by London Calling. But this week we've left London behind as James and Toby find themselves on opposite sides of the world – Toby in Canada, James in Hong Kong – and whether jet lag gets worse as you get older.
James says Hong Kong may not be a democracy any longer, but then, neither is the UK, while Toby tells him how much he’s enjoying being in Canada, not least because there are plenty of conservatives in rural areas who have no time for their Prime Minister.
Then it's on to discuss the news of the hour – Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News – with James claiming it’s because he’s too Team James and Toby thinking it’s because the Murdochs were embarrassed about having to settle the Dominion law suit.
They aslo pay tribute to the late Barry Humphries, briefly discuss the candidacy of Robert Kennedy Jr, explore the pro-natalist movement (to which James is sympathetic, although he gets sidetracked into talking about his new theory that Greta Thunberg is a small, hairless man.)
In Culture Corner, they discuss The Playlist, The Night Agent, andThe Whale. Falling of the bookshelf is Anna Karenina, which James is reading in Hong Kong, and Andrew Roberts’s magisterial Churchill biography, which Toby is listening to in Canada.
Opening sound this week is the Canadian Prime Minister rewriting history on the vaccine mandates.
This week James has a good walk in Shropshire spoiled by the "bird-blending, bat-chomping eco-crucifixes" and Toby debates animal "rights" around the dinner table because of the deaths of three horses at this past weekend's Grand National. ("Save the Sheep!")
That leads us to the name change of the Brecon Beacons National Park, the scandal at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the shocking suicide of a 19-year old Greenpeace activist from Walthamstow who became inconsolable by the prospect of climate change.
We also pay tribute to Nigel Lawson, Mrs. Thatcher's Chancellor of the Exchequer who died 3 April, aged 91.
In Culture Corner, we let the blocks fall where they may with Tetris (AppleTV+) and Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix.)
Opening sound this week is James Evans, Member of the Senedd for Brecon and Radnorshire courtesy of GBNews.
This week James and Toby contemplate the spiritual - from the game of "sermon bingo" James and his family played when they went to church this Sunday (betting on which progressive talking points the vicar would include in the service) to Justin Welby’s pledge to set aside £100 million for the Church of England’s reparations fund and that leads to the question as to why the Anglican Church was been captured by the woke cult (James thinks it’s the work of the devil).
Speaking of reparations, we also talk about the recent story about the founder of The Guardian and his links to the slave trade and the paper's subsequent attempt to deflect attention from this story by exposing the Royal Family’s links to the slave trade.
In other news, Toby crows about the derailment of the Worker Protection Bill, for which the Free Speech Union deserves some credit.
In Culture Corner, Moonage Daydream (Available for rent on Amazon Prime) Sharper (AppleTV+), The White Lotus 2 and Beef (Netflix).
Opening sound this week is BBC Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell talking about the Royal Family slavery study.
This week James buys a second-hand car while Toby has a mundane weekend and contemplates masculinity, which prompts a discussion on the release of Andrew Tate from jail and why he’s acquired cult status among adolescent males (in spite of being a less than stellar advert for masculinity) and James wishes that he were a more ‘manly man.’
Of course there's the Trump indictment and whether the former President uses the word ‘INDICATED’ deliberately to troll the libs; plus the Overton Window and whether Toby outside of it or not.
In Culture Corner, the films 65 (Sony Entertainment), The Boston Strangler (Hulu in the US, Disney+ in the UK), as well as the TV shows Succession, Rabbit Hole and War Sailor (Netflix).
Opening sound this week is remarks by Andrew Tate after being released from prison.
This week, James and Toby discuss James’s profound sense of loss now that the hunting season is over and Toby’s concern that James’s pessimism about the future is making him mentally ill.
Among the news items covered: Whether Bill Gates really is an evil mastermind, the inevitability of ’15 minute’ cities, the Global Warming Policy Foundation’s damning new report on wind power, Humza Yousef becoming the new leader of the SNP and the mobbing of Kellie-Jay Keen in New Zealand.
In Culture Corner, the new season of Succession (HBO Max), The Night Agent (Netflix), the first of Anthony Trollope’s Palliser novels (Can You Forgive Her?) and Royal Flash, the second of George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman novels.
A cold has Toby feeling less than stellar this week, so he and James have an age old discussion about men - and old age. Vitamin regimens, detoxification and general bouts of hypochondria lead off the show before we really get down, as Texans would say, to brass tacks. Namely are the protests happening across Communist China just a blip on the radar or is this real trouble for Xi? And do we have a right to still feel superior about it? Then we tackle the distasteful Balenciaga "BDSM Teddy Bear" ads and the reactions that has provoked, former Health Secretary Matt Hancock's performance on I'm a Celebrity... and Jonathan Van-Tam’s forthcoming role in Call The Midwife. In Culture Corner Toby reviews Tokyo Vice (HBO Max), James likes Graham Hancock's Ancient Apocalypse (Netflix) and off the bookshelf Toby is taking in Barry Lyndon and James is enjoying Trollope’s The Way We Live Now. Opening sound this week is SkyNews correspondent Helen-Ann Smith eyewitness account of protests in Shanghai via YouTube.
This week James and Toby compare notes about meeting fans of the podcast and discuss all the things that have happened in the past week that suggest James just may be correct in his assessment about who’s really running the world (the Autumn Statement, the signing of a climate reparations agreement at COP27 and Rishi Sunak’s betrayal of Brexit.) We congratulate Elon Musk on reinstating Donald Trump and revel in the meltdown it has caused among Twitter’s blue tick population, particularly Sadiq Khan, which somehow leads us down the Elizabeth Line on the London Metro System. We also debate whether James, not Toby, is ‘controlled opposition.’ No. Really. In Culture Corner, Toby takes on Season Two of The White Lotus (HBO), while James watches Sylvester Stallone's new series Tulsa King (Paramount+), and they touch on Deep State (available in the US on EPIX and in the UK on Disney+), Andor (Disney+), Gangs of London and two shows James has only just caught up with, Ted Lasso and SAS: Rogue Heroes. Opening sound this week is the PM trying to reassure us on his belief in Brexit.
Lou Pearlman... Bernie Madoff... and now, Sam Bankman-Fried. "SBF" joins a long list of Ponzi scheme artists in modern times and Toby and James open the show with the collapse of FTX and the fall from grace of its 30 year-old founder. Toby’s just back from Hungary, a nation that he says provides a glimpse of what Britain might look like if our side had won the culture war, why the British Government has no right to ask the taxpayer for even more money (given it’s profligacy in the past two-and-a-half years) and, in Culture Corner, we put a bow on SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself, Sharpe’s Enemy and Dostoevsky’s The Devils (also known as Demons or The Possessed). Or do we? Opening sound this week: Larry David's prophetic FTX advert produced for Super Bowl LVI.
In this week’s London Calling, Toby and James discuss James’s trip to Venice, which is mercifully free of Covid theatre, whether traveling overseas is being made deliberately more difficult as part of the Great Reset or it’s just a consequence of staff shortages at airports. Glancing at items currently in the news we assess the risk that Rishi Sunak will agree to pay ‘reparations’ to countries supposedly harmed by global warming because Britain was the first country in the world to industrialise and the significance of America'smid-term elections (Toby thinks a ‘red wave’ of Republican victories will be significant, not least because Trump will almost certainly declare in the immediate aftermath, whereas James doesn’t) In Culture Corner, the disappointing first episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, hold-overs from previous podcasts, Sharpe’s Enemy and Rich Man, Poor Man. Opening sound this week: The PM speaks at COP27.
In this week’s episode Toby and James discuss the deep state’s determination to destroy Home Secretary Suella Braverman (MP for Fareham) and the finalization of Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, including his Tweet about the the conspiracy theory surrounding the Nancy Pelosi ‘home invader.' In other news we talk about the victory of Lula over Bolsonaro in the Brazilian Presidential election (Spoiler alert: Someone may think it was stolen) and Russia’s alleged hack of Liz Truss’ phone. A spate of Royal news comes up with King Charles hosting an environmental mini-summit because he cannot go to Cop27, Prince Harry names his autobiography ‘Spare’, and The Crown’s decision to dramatise Tampon-gate. (It's as tasteless as it sounds.) In Culture Corner we're watching SAS Rogue Heroes (UK: BBC One & iPlayer, US: EPIX starting Nov. 13), Gangs of London (UK: Sky. US: AMC - Graphic trailer warning) and The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself (Netflix). On the bookshelf James grabs for Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor while Toby goes back to 1974 for Fletch by Gregory Mcdonald. Opening sound is via NBC Bay Area/YouTube.
This week Toby and James discuss Toby’s three-front war with PayPal, both personal, and with the accounts of the Free Speech Union and The Daily Sceptic. Out in the wider world we touch on the victory of Meloni in the recent Italian elections, Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget, and whether the Canadian teacher who identifies as trans and turned up to class wearing huge fake breasts was, in fact, trolling the woke left. In Culture Corner: The Capture, Crime and Punishment and Dr Thorne, the third novel in Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Chronicles.
This week James and Toby discuss if James is suffering from mercury poisoning, whether Tobes is, at the least, partly responsible for PayPal’s recent difficulties, and the ongoing trials and tribulations of the new Prime Minister. In other news we ask if Michael Gove is a sadist, congratulate John Cleese on his announcement that he’s joining GB News and, of course, ponder Toby's conspicuous absence from Boris’s resignation honours list. Finally, no discussion would be complete without contemplating our complete thermonuclear destruction. In Culture Corner, we touch on our current obsessions: The Old Man, House of the Dragon and Rings of Power.
In this week's episode of London Calling, Toby collects his 50 quid and then he and James debate whether 2022 will be the year we return to normal or "The Great Reset" will continue apace. What lies ahead in politics? What's the line of succession in Scotland, what does the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell hold for the powerful around the world and what are the chances of Boris surviving until the end of 2022? With a new year comes the Honours List including the controversial pick for Tony Blair; resolutions (although James hasn't made any); and, in Culture Corner, the Turner Contemporary in Margate, The Power of the Dog (Netflix) and Roadrunner (available on most PPV services), a documentary about Anthony Bourdain.
Now that the drama about who is to be the next Prime Minister has been settled, in the most undramatic fashion with an uncontested race for the Tory Leadership, the high drama remains on London Calling… Will Toby capitulate and join Team James in the WEF Globalist Conspiracy wing of the podcast? Oh, wait. Can we even use the word “globalist?” Or has that been designated as the next anti-Semitic...
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Time marches on and so James wishes Toby a happy birthday (today, Oct. 17) but they both worry about the approaching Big Six-O. And while one might assume than a man of Toby’s “advanced” years would be through with cycling, he relates to James the tale of his recent accident (which pleases James because he doesn’t like cyclists to begin with). Speaking of time, when Liz Truss became PM it was...
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This week James and Toby discuss if James is suffering from mercury poisoning, whether Tobes is, at the least, partly responsible for PayPal’s recent difficulties, and the ongoing trials and tribulations of the new Prime Minister. In other news we ask if Michael Gove is a sadist, congratulate John Cleese on his announcement that he’s joining GB News and, of course, ponder Toby’s conspicuous...
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Half of our intrepid duo comes to us this week from Birmingham, the site of the 2022 Conservative Party Conference as the PM and the Chancellor retreat from the higher-end tax cuts. Its a pugilistic edition of London Calling as James and Toby pick a fight and debate the proper strategy to win one. In Culture Corner, James takes on The Old Man (FX/Hulu in the US, Disney+ in the UK) while Toby...
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Update: At 5:30pm BST (12:30 EDT) this evening, PayPal notified Toby that it has restored all three of the accounts it cancelled a couple of weeks ago – the accounts for the Daily Sceptic, the Free Speech Union and his personal account. In all three cases, the email read as follows: We have continued to review the information provided in connection with your account and we take seriously the input...
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On the day we laid our late Sovereign, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to her eternal rest, we reflect on the last ten days of mourning. And so we have entered the Era of Charles III and with it, cricket riots in Leicester. The rest of the world churns on and we discuss Ron DeSantis’s transport of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Toby’s dinner with Jordan Peterson, the trans teacher at a Canadian...
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Of course the lead story this week is the death of Her Majesty the Queen. James is showing a bit of a republican streak at the beginning of the reign of Charles III and he’s not the only one. Toby and the Free Speech Union are defending quite a few as tolerance of opposing views slowly fades away across the land. Looking elsewhere they celebrate the election of Pierre Poilievre as leader of the...
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If it’s Tuesday it must be a day for the kissing of hands. Boris and Liz go to Balmoral and out goes one Prime Minister and in comes another. Toby and James disagree about whether Liz Truss is her own woman or controlled by the WEF and You-Know-Who. For laughs the guys discuss the Chris Rock-Dave Chappelle gig which Toby took in on Sunday night and James enters the 21st Century of internet...
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A London Calling Tuesday can only mean one thing – Toby got a last-minute grouse shooting invitation – for Monday. As the Johnson Premiership comes to a close this week (The final results of the race between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are to be announced next Monday), we discuss the possibility that Tobes could end up in the House of Lords, which leads to a discussion of James’ new book about “God...
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This week James and Toby talk about Anthony Fauci’s retirement – is he stepping down to maximise his chances of winning a Nobel Prize? – the fact that neither of them have received any invitations to go grouse shooting this year, the role of the vaccines in the rise in excess deaths, Finland’s dancing Prime Minister, Michael Gove’s departure from frontline British politics (which Toby rather...
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We start with the least controversial opinions to begin this week’s show, namely, the return of the mullet is not a good idea. After dispensing with that we hit the news from the last week: the FBI raids Mar-a-Lago, Salman Rushdie is attacked in New York State, actress Ann Heche’s fatal accident and the cancellation of comedian Jerry Sadowitz. In Culture Corner the show returns to its roots with...
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This week our congenial hosts talk about Toby’s narrow escape from a volcanic eruption in Iceland. But more importantly, how’s a journalist expected to take a family holiday without an expense account? Toby also frets about his obsession with watering the lawn and how he’s going to cope with the hosepipe ban. And with James’ proclivity for the occasional trip down the rabbit hole...
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The Delingpoles admire their billing. (Photo: Twitter via @DickDelingpole) Toby is all shook up as he wraps up the family holiday in Iceland, where unusual seismic activity in the past few days may mean a volcano is about to erupt. Meanwhile, back home on his own island, James and Dick Delingpole go to a hippy festival over the weekend. Like all good Englishmen, er, English persons we celebrate...
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This week Toby and James talk about Toby’s family holiday in Iceland, where he’s enjoying the spectacular scenery and geological wonders but is freaking out about how eye-wateringly expensive everything is. In addition, they discuss the shortcomings of the recent BBC documentary ‘Unvaccinated’, whether or not the moon landings actually happened, whether dinosaurs are a hoax, the fact that the...
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In this week’s episode, James and Toby discuss whether the current heatwave is evidence of global warming, whether the Conservative Party leadership election is “rigged” by the World Economic Forum and who is likely to win. Other topics tackled include the looming winter food shortages, the suspension of the Online Harms Bill and the motives of the global liberal elite who want to censor the...
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In this week’s episode of London Calling, Toby and James discuss the big news of the week, namely, James’s visit with his grandson. In other news, Boris Johnson has been defenestrated by the Conservative Party, which James thinks Bill Gates flew in to oversee, and a leadership election is underway. Toby is Team Kemi Badenoch (MP for Saffron Walden) – he thinks the 41 year-old anti-woke warrior...
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It’s Independence Day in America, or as the British call it, “Monday.” And that means another edition of London Calling. In this week, James tells Toby about his trip to Devon to see his granddaughter, why he thinks terrorist attacks by radical Islamists are often false flag operations organised by the deep state, his admiration for the farmers and fishermen protesting in the Netherlands and the...
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In this week’s London Calling, James and Toby discuss James’s college reunion where he had an awkward encounter with Kate Bingham, ex-head of the Vaccine Taskforce; Toby’s last college gaudy, where the headmaster of Harrow made a good joke about recognising lots of former left-wing radicals in the audience because he’d seen them at Harrow open days; Greta Thunberg’s appearance at Glastonbury...
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We start off this week’s London Calling with a discussion of the Messenger Review of the NHS and then look across the channel at the results from France’s vote for the Assemblée nationale and how it has placed Emmanuel Macron’s globalist agenda at peril. Are we heading for The Summer of Discontent? James and Toby discuss the upcoming rail strike and the favorable reaction to James’ appearance on...
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In this week’s London Calling, James and Toby discuss the use eco-warriors make of ‘fact-checks’ to try to discredit their opponents and the inevitable delay to the deportation flights to Rwanda. On the Royal front, Prince Charles complains that Boris doesn’t treat him with the respect he deserves and Harry and Meghan’s use of a private jet to return to California from the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee...
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Note: This week’s episode of London Calling, was recorded several hours before the Conservative Party’s vote of confidence in Boris Johnson’s premiership. Update: Johnson survives, 211-148. Percentage-wise that is much worse than the vote that signaled the beginning of the end for Theresa May in 2019. Number 10 had hoped to keep the rebellion under 100 votes. Toby and James discuss whether Boris...
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In this week’s London Calling, Toby and James discuss whether Boris will survive a vote of no confidence, wonder if it would make any difference if he was replaced by another Conservative leader, marvel at the Government’s theft of Jeremy Corbyn’s policies, and pie-in-the-face climate debate with the Mona Lisa. In Culture Corner, they give their verdicts on Stranger Things Season 4 and Ricky...
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In this week’s episode of London Calling, James and Toby try their best to avoid arguing and stick to topics they agree on, including the inevitability of widespread social unrest in the near future, and their complete indifference to Davos (although James does highlight Michael Senger’s Substack on the Monkeypox and where that falls in the scheme of things.) Then it’s on to the heroism of...
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After lamenting about the rising and eye-watering expense of summer holidays, James and Toby take off the gloves and duke it out over two red-hot topics: First up, Putin’s muted reaction to the prospect of Finland and Sweden joining NATO and whether or not that gives the lie to the claim that Putin was ‘provoked’ into attacking Ukraine. Secondly, the imminent World Health Organization treaty that...
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In this week’s London Calling, James and Toby discuss the QPR’s failure to reach the Championship play-offs, last week’s local election results (“Boring,” snorts James), Sinn Fein’s success in Northern Ireland and what that means for the future of the United Kingdom. Then there’s Keir Starmer’s announcement that he’ll resign if the Durham Police conclude he broke the rules during Beer-gate and...
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This week’s we have a Bank Holiday edition of London Calling which begins with James and Toby showing an amazing lack of understanding of the US holiday calendar but more than make up for it with a review of the weekend’s Delingpod Live event at London’s Emmanuel Centre. In the news there’s the coming global famine and whether it’s cock-up or conspiracy, the fact that the Queen is going to be...
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This week James and Toby discuss the news of Elon Musk’s apparently imminent takeover of Twitter and what that means for fans of free speech. We look back at Sunday’s big story, the re-election of Emmanuel Macron, muse over the integrity of the French Presidential election and whether Marine Le Pen’s 42% share of the vote means France is more racist than Britain and at home, what’s the future of...
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In this special Easter weekend version of London Calling, James and Toby tackle the Church of England, from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s unwelcome intervention in the immigration debate to their refusal to ordain Calvin Robinson. Then it’s on to that other religion, football, with QPR’s games on Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday. We go frolicking with the Easter Bunny as James writes about the...
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A plethora of topics on this week’s episode of London Calling: environmental protests, Boris’s double U-turn on banning conversion therapy, the non-dom (that’s “non-domiciled,” for our American listeners) status of the wife of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the horrors of the latest CCP lockdown in Shangai, the French election – and finally – Boris’s surprise visit to Ukraine.
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In this week’s London Calling, the topics under discussion are James’s recent trip to Bulgaria, Elon Musk’s purchase of close to 10% of Twitter, the ‘Respect my sex if you want my X’ campaign, and the Fixed Penalty Notice slapped on Boris’s “head of ethics” for attending a party in Downing Street. Which then leads to wonder just why karaoke seems to appeal so much to Tory politicians...
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In this week’s London Calling, James and Toby discuss the Oscars, pointing out that Army of the Dead winning ‘fan favourite’ was the real low point, not Will Smith slapping Chris Rock and the worry about President Biden inadvertently triggering a nuclear war by going off script and saying Putin cannot “remain in power.” Mummy and Daddy have a bit of a tiff about the videos that allege war crimes...
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In this week’s London Calling, James and Toby discuss Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s unwillingness to thank the British government for securing her release at a cost of £400 million to the British taxpayer and how Boris’s comparison of the crisis in Ukraine to Brexit upset more than a few people. In more cultural matters (not to be confused with Culture Corner) they talk about the absurd spectacle of...
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This week, James and Toby talk about the Delingpoles recent holiday in Costa Rica (he loved the wildlife, but not the masks) and then it’s on to the events of the week: The £400m release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori from Iran, Elon Musk’s proposal to wrestle Vladimir Putin for Ukraine, whether or not James is suffering from ‘oikophobia’ (Roger Scruton’s word for people who...
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In this week’s London Calling, Toby has to guess where James is on holiday – and he does – and James praises the British Airways staff for not once telling him to put on a mask during the 12-hour flight. For the most part they cannot agree on anything this week, whether it’s about the war in Ukraine (James even takes issue with Toby’s claim that the invasion isn’t going according to Putin’s plan*)...
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In this week’s episode of London Calling, James and Toby engage in a bit of throat-clearing about James’s meeting with Jason Miller, CEO of Gettr, then get to the main event – Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – which they disagree about. James is sceptical about the fact that so much of the MSM is “hot for war,” as he puts it, while Toby argues that the reason there is almost universal condemnation of...
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This week Toby Young talks to the man in the street. Our man James Delingpole is literally on the streets of London – complete with the occasional car horn, siren and gusts of wind – but the show must go on. Toby wraps up his trip with tales of Mexico and then, staying in North America, they take on Justin Trudeau and the Canadian Crackdown. Who is calling the shots? Is it the the PM or Klaus...
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The US Navy’s recruiting slogan used to be, “It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure!” Sometimes that applies to this podcast, too. This week Toby comes to us from Mexico City and James from rural England where broadband is non-existent and hard drives go to die. After taping on Monday, James’ computer committed seppuku, leaving us without a show. But we’ve gotten the band back together and we’re...
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Jump up in the cab, good buddies, look’s like we got ourselves a convoy… James and Toby discuss the Freedom Convoy, which has restored their faith in Canadians and then touch on the Jimmy Carr joke imbroglio. Carr, who has made a living telling tasteless jokes (and avoiding taxes, but that’s another story) has caused various left-wing comedians to demand that he and his Netflix special be...
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The last time we heard from our intrepid duo, Toby and James were making plans to go shooting together. It seems they fought off all temptation to take aim at one another because they’re back – hail, hearty and full of game. There is, of course, the continuing sagas of our times: Partygate, who’s really in charge of Covid policy and the inglorious end of the NHS vaccine mandate. In America there’s...
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In this week’s episode of London Calling is very sobering – literally. Before James and Toby talk about who’s to blame for the crisis in Ukraine, Toby’s Dry January turned very wet over the weekend. Then they take on Putin, Biden, NATO and Ukraine and why they can’t bring themselves to spell Kiev “K-Y-I-V.” On the home front, would Boris be better to cling to nurse for fear of something worse...
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In this week’s London Calling, James and Toby argue about whether the global pandemic is over (Toby thinks it is, while James thinks it’s a false dawn) and discuss the Johnny-come-latelies who claim to have been lockdown sceptics all along. They compare them to repentant Communists after the fall of the Berlin Wall. They also worry that it may be all over for their old friend Boris (well...
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Guess who has Covid – again? One half of our intrepid duo, that’s who. After that personal update its off to the Madness Down Under and Men’s Tennis #1 Novak Djockovic’s battle with the immigration authorities over his vaccine status and his spot in the Australian Open. On the UK domestic front there’s the prospect of two new political parties (Jeremy Corbyn’s “ Peace and Justice Party” and Gina...
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In this week’s episode of London Calling, Toby collects his 50 quid and then he and James debate whether 2022 will be the year we return to normal or “The Great Reset” will continue apace. What lies ahead in politics? What’s the line of succession in Scotland, what does the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell hold for the powerful around the world and what are the chances of Boris surviving until the...
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It’s our last show of 2021, in the 52nd week of another Covid year. And it’s a real Twixmas special! Toby and James discuss Boris’s postponement of D-Day, being ridiculed by their families over Christmas, their best Christmas gifts of 2021 and Toby’s public shaming on Twitter last week. And for a side of surprise James throws Donald Trump aside. In Culture Corner Toby touts The Rescue (Disney+)...
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To begin the week James sketches out his worst case scenario: Delingpole v. the NHS. In the review of the week we start with the good news: the landmark free speech victory won by former constable Harry Miller (aided by the Free Speech Union) in the Court of Appeals. Then on to Omicron; Monday afternoon the PM announced that he won’t be imposing any more restrictions – for now – but may impose...
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As Boris talks the status of “Plan B,” James and Toby talk the status of “The Bet.” The other big question is centered around the PM’s ability to remain in Number 10. Two years ago the Tories were celebrating securing an 80-seat majority and now the House is in rebellion and a by-election is scheduled for Thursday. We touch on London Mayor Sadiq Kahn’s latest assault on our freedoms as he tries to...
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This afternoon in the House, Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that community transmission of the new Omicron variant has taken hold in England. So far, this version seems to be relatively mild, which leads us to wonder why, instead of trying to suppress infection from Omicron, why aren’t we holding Omicron parties? And speaking of parties, James and Toby also question the government’s new...
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This week our intrepid duo is armed and dangerous. The first segment of the show is dedicated to shooting and the hunt. After the fun we return to the news of the day which, of course, is dominated by Covid both at home and abroad. In an abbreviated Culture Corner, James reviews the new Beatles documentary Get Back from director Peter Jackson and Disney+ and Toby sees Belfast from writer/
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James and Toby start out with their own Brideshead Revisited moment as they look back on their days as students at Oxford before getting into the news of the day, including the introduction of mandatory jabs in Austria, the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, the forthcoming trial of Ghislaine Maxwell and the Prime Minister losing his place in a speech to the Confederation of British Industry.
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We open the week with Toby and the terrible winter cold he’s got – which he tells us is far worse than his bout of Covid-19 last year. While he’s on the road and sounds a bit subdued, we throw our best sniffle filter into the mix and the show must go on.
Leading the news is the scuppering of the COP26 coal deal by India and China and the slim prospect of Greta Thunberg now turning her fire on the Chinese Communist Party, plus shoutouts to both David Perry, the hero taxi driver who prevented a suicide bomber from detonating a bomb outside a Remembrance Day Service in Liverpool and to John Cleese, who came to the defence of art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon who got into trouble for imitating Hitler at the Cambridge Union.
In Culture Corner James reaches the halfway mark of 60(!) hours of The Brothers Karimazov, Toby is into The War of the Wolf, and video-wise James recommends Community.
Opening sound this week is Russ Jackson, the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit Chief.
As usual, check out the latest Delingpod here and The Daily Sceptic here.
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First up this week is a bevy of Covid stories including David Starkey’s assertion that vaccines should be compulsory; the new head of NHS England’s misleading claim that there are currently 14 times as many Covid patients in hospital as there were this time last year (when, in fact, there are fewer) and former Health Minister Matt “I Snogged at the Office” Hancock’s Telegraph comment piece saying the case for insisting all health workers are vaccinated is “unanswerable.”
We also talk about the ‘unholy trinity’ of moral causes – Covid, Climate and Social Justice – being used by governments to exert more and more control over their populations and before Culture Corner we find out why our producer never seems to get a reply to his emails to James.
Finally, we take in Midnight Mass (Netflix), Invasion, season two of The Morning Show (both Apple TV+) and American Crime Story: Impeachment.”
This week’s opening sound is former US President Barack Obama at COP26.
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CNN’s Wolf Blitzer somewhere “near” COP26.
The world has gathered in Glasgow or, in CNN’s case, Edinburgh. (At 76 kilometers it’s as close as CNN comes to being right these days…) This week is a COP26 special in which we discuss our Glorious Leader’s speech, the bizarreness of Greta and her loud army of protestors and a hypocrite-of-the-week contest.
In Culture Corner, we discuss Dune, King Richard (both Warner Bros.) and Succession (HBO).
Opening sound of this week is the Prime Minister’s opening remarks from Glasgow.
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Cartoonist Michael Leunig has been sacked by The Age over this image. Source: Instagram/leunigstudio
Ladies and Gentlemen, place your bets. After our intrepid duo review Toby’s great success in shooting, the conversation turns to the case of Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig who was dismissed from The Age for comparing resisting mandatory vaccination to the fight for democracy in Tiananmen Square.
James and Toby then place a £50 bet on whether or not the Government will implement “Plan B” (mask mandates, vaccine passports, working from home directives) before January 1, 2022.
We also touch on the so-called David’s Law, named after Sir David Amess that proposes to make anonymity on social media illegal.
In Culture Corner, we touch on the return of Succession, The Brothers Karamazov and Purgatory’s Shore.
This week’s opening sound is of The Australian media writer Sophie Elsworth on Sky News Australia’s The Kenny Report.
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The murder of Sir David Amess, MP casts a large shadow over the proceedings this week. After assessing the implications for the future we take on happier topics, starting with James’ Delingpod adventure with Laurence Fox.
Speaking of Lozza, we also drop a zed and cover the rapper Loza Alexander and his new song, Let’s Go, Brandon. We also cover the billionaire race, the dancing Greta, and the humiliation of Matt Hancock at the UN.
In Culture Corner, a more in-depth look at The Squid Game, the birthday boy takes in the new James Bond film and James finally gets to the end of Crime and Punishment.
This week’s opening sound is Mark Francois, MP (Rayleigh and Wickford) paying tribute to Sir David in the House.
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It’s a Battle of Team James v Team Toby as we open up this week’s episode with Toby’s participation in the The Battle of Ideas Festival in London this past weekend.
We cover Rotten Tomatoes disabling the ‘Audience Score’ button for the new Disney+/National Geographic documentary Fauci, Toby’s encounter with fellow journalist Lynn Barber, the introduction of vaccine passports in Wales following a botched vote in the Senedd, and the New York Times’ correction regarding the number of kids in the US who’ve been hospitalised with Covid. Oh, yeah, Toby’s been nominated for the 2021 Contrarian Prize.
In Culture Corner we debate actually seeing the new Bond film, James finally finishes Crime and Punishment, plus The Guilty and the series The Squid Game (both on Netflix.)
This week’s opening sound is of Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales on the new vaccine passports courtesy of ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
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James and Toby spend more time on the road than Hope and Crosby but unfortunately it’s not together.
This week we’re all about James’s return to grey old England after his glorious week in Croatia and Toby’s trip to Scotland (in which he fails, spectacularly, to shoot a deer). After the personal preliminaries we touch on the redaction of the emails from Sir Patrick Vallance (the UK’s version of Anthony Fauci) about the Wuhan lab leak, and a discussion of who is more like Jimmy Saville – Toby or James (Hint: Neither one.)
In Culture Corner it’s book week with Purgatory’s Shore by Taylor Anderson and The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw (movie trailer here). Next week: A Bond special.
This week’s opening sound is The Sun Travel Editor Lisa Minot on UK travel changes courtesy of GBNews.
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A midweek release for this episode as James has been on the “last holiday” with his family and comes to us from Croatia and the shores of the Adriatic.
The big story this week is Britain’s fuel “crisis” and the PM’s decision to “bring in the army.” The blame, of course, is directed at Brexiteers, justified or not.
London Calling fans greet Toby as he participated in a lockdown debate this week and we speculate whether or not those that approached him are really “Team Toby” or just saying that to spare his feelings. And finally, who has jumped the shark into woke silliness more? Scientific American for the demonisation of the Jedi for being “white saviours”or the season two of Ted Lasso?
In Culture Corner, James rediscovers the late novelist Irwin Shaw (The Young Lions, Rich Man, Poor Man) and the glories of the printed page in a real book.
Opening sound this week is of the PM addressing the petrol situation courtesy of GB News.
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The announced easing of travel restrictions between the US and citizens of the UK get us going – but our producer, “Evil Brian,” isn’t sweating it because James will still need the double-jab to show up at his front door.
On the international front they cover (or stumble through) the Canadian Parliamentary election, the AUKUS security deal, and whether James is contaminating Toby’s “brand” by making people think he’s an anti-vaxxer.
In Culture Corner, James raves about The Many Saints of Newark (Warner Bros.) while Toby praises American Crime Story: Impeachment(FX in the US, BBC airdate TBA).
This week’s opening sound is French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian opining on the Australia-US-UK submarine deal.
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Excuse the nationalistic pride, but James and Toby celebrate Emma Raducanu’s triumph in the U.S. Open Women’s Final but bemoan the way it was immediately politicised. But that gives way to the despair of this government’s Covid policy with passports and vaccines for healthy children.
In Culture Corner Toby watches THE Suicide Squad while James recommends Lovesick on Netflix (which was called Scrotal Recall during its first season run on Channel 4) and the Sussex clan gets bad news on the Emmy front.
This week’s opening sound is of U.S. Open Champion Emma Radacanu courtesy of the US Open/ESPN.
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We start the week in County Durham where James travels to see Kynren, the outdoor show that’s “a romp through 2,000 years of English history from the masks of the Roman invaders to the masks of Arthurian legend to the masks of Queen Victoria. Did we say that they were all wearing masks?
Then it’s on to the more serious: the Government’s incomprehensible decision to press on with its vaccine passport plans and the horror of vaccinating healthy 12-15 year-olds in the teeth of their parents’ opposition.
In Culture Corner we cover Shang-Chi and The Legend of the 10 Rings (Marvel/Disney), the new submarine drama Vigil (BBC One), and The Chair (Netflix).
This week’s opening sound is of JCVI member Adam Finn on vaccinating children courtesy of The Guardian.
Addendum: The link to the Control Group Study.
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This week in Covid news, Michael Gove, the Minister for the Cabinet Office was recorded dancing in an Aberdeen nightclub over the weekend while the PM’s office barrels ahead in implementing its medical passport scheme, a 17-year old girl from Newport, South Wales takes heat over her Twitter postings and Mary Bousted of the National Education Union fires a shot across the bow for a possible teacher’s walkout.
The debacle in Afghanistan then takes center stage and our duo debate about what it all means. Is this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end for Western Civilization? Will it all come crashing down with the murder of Geronimo the Alpaca?
This week’s opening sound of alpaca owner Helen Macdonald courtesy of the Guardian.
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We have a full, full plate this week. We talk about Trump’s speech in Alabama, how the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan has also deteriorated the “special relationship,” the non-stop death spiral of freedom in Australia in the name of zero-Covid (They shoot dogs, don’t they?) and the new rainbow “anti-hate” cop cars in the UK.
In Culture Corner, Toby returns to the cinema by taking his family to see Free Guy (20th Century Studios) with Ryan Reynolds and then goes really old school with a Preston Sturges flick from 1941, Sullivan’s Travels with Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake.
This week’s opening sound is of Met Police Deputy chief constable Julie Cooke courtesy of The Daily Mail.
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