Cynical Talk: Recent Episodes
Thomas Brancato
A freewheeling roundup & commentary of news, current affairs and the occasional spy story provided by your cynical co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft. New upload every week!
Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week, from the vault, we are releasing a conversation with Shakir McClean which was recorded during the political storm resulting in the eventual resignation of Mr. Kwarteng and eventually the PM Liz Truss. Although politics has progressed in leaps and bounds since, we felt this snippet of political recent history might still be quite relevant today. At that time, Liz Truss' future seemed very uncertain, and we soon discovered that meant the end of her premiership. A future episode will deal with the ramifications of her short tenure and the arrival of PM Rishi Sunak. But rather than leave the episode in the vault of outdated 'furniture', we thought much of the discussion surrounding David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss was still relevant and timely. Let us know what you make of 12 years of Tory rule. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.
Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week, we cover US President Joe Biden's presidency as we approach the crucial mid-term elections. We discuss his speech addressing the legal case between the US Government vs Donald Trump, electoral differences between them, appealing to the crucial swing voters, his focus on long-term infrastructure commitments, addressing polarisation, student loan relief package, the political party system in America, prospects for the next election, electoral costs of Biden's personal brand, withdrawal from Afghanistan, and his legacy thus far. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.
Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week, we discuss the sea of troubles surrounding former US President Donald Trump and the ongoing judicial case stemming from sensitive top secret documents retrieved from his Mar-A-Lago retreat. We discuss the Espionage Act, parry politics, his undeterred base of supporters, confidentiality, polarisation, prospects for the next US presidential and midterm elections, and more. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.
Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week, we discuss the past, present and future of Hong Kong as it completes 25 years since the United Kingdom's handover of the city to China. We go over the infamous NSL (National Security Law), the effects of Covid-19 clampdown on civil rights, draconian quarantine measures on arrivals, depopulation, migration, cost of living crisis, loss of its prestige internationally, its similarity with prospects over Taiwan, the dearth of democracy and lastly, its future relationship with the Western world. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.
Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. We discuss increased tension between China and the United States over the status of Taiwan, including US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to the island, the legal status of Taiwanese sovereignty, a brief history of Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War, Taiwan's democracy, comparison to other breakaway regions such as Kosovo, the principle of self-determination in international relations, the "Two China" system and US foreign policy, the burden of a world hegemon, redrawing world maps, threat of conflict between the United States and China in the midst of the Ukraine invasion, the defensibility of Taiwan, risk of a catastrophic World War, China's policy objectives, demographic and other concerns for Chinese officials, domestic dissidence in China, and lastly the problem of rash decision-making in autocracies. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.
Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This time around, Dr. Jozef Hrabina (Ph.D.) is invited to step in as co-host for a special Cynical Talk podcast. Jorge and Jozef discuss how the recent grain deal signed in Turkey, the global food supply crisis, the Russian economy post-USSR, Russian resurgentism, the souring of relations with the United States, the end of unipolarity, the impact of technological advances and the "Great Game" of diplomacy, the failure of maintaining the Warsaw Pact bloc, the legacy of 2014, a victory in Ukraine, and the rebuilding Russian military strength shape Russian grand strategy today. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.
Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week we take a look at developments in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including the recent deal on grain shipments signed in Turkey, an overview of deals/laws/conventions in wartime, diplomacy and game theory, bilateral relations during war, the question of Russia's mobilisation and plausible explanations, the feasibility of de-escalation manoeuvres, energy security in Europe, and finally we summarise whether peace is more likely by this winter or not. Cynical Talk is a more light-hearted spin on the main M.I.Cynic series, with an impromptu and provocative take on contemporary topics. Every Friday, expect us to sound off on a variety of topics centred around current affairs and the news cycle. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.
Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week we take a look at the sudden and shocking downfall of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his legacy and personality, the race for the next leader of the Conservative Party, the media spectacle, Brexit, and flaws in the electoral system. Cynical Talk is a more light-hearted spin on the main M.I.Cynic series, with an impromptu and provocative take on contemporary topics. Every Friday, expect us to sound off on a variety of topics centred around current affairs and the news cycle. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.
Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week we take a look at the Global LGBT Divide. We discuss & critique London Pride 2022 (including corporate practices), differences in global attitudes towards acceptance of homosexuality (including Islamic-majority nations), historical sodomy laws (Oscar Wilde, Alan Turing), the conflation between homosexuality and the West, colonial-era laws, the failure of exporting human rights, recent backlash including the "Buzz Lightyear" film & Saudi ban on rainbows, ignorance of homosexuality in international politics, the legacy of colonialism translating to inaction on transnational LGBT issues, Pride and the Trans movement, identity and biological sex, finally landing on gender reassignment surgery vis-à-vis State duties. Cynical Talk is a more light-hearted spin on the main M.I.Cynic series, with an impromptu and provocative take on contemporary topics. Every Friday, expect us to sound off on a variety of topics centred around current affairs and the news cycle. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.
Welcome fellow cynics and please jump in to join your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft as we continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk! Every Friday, expect us to sound off on a variety of topics centred around current affairs and the news cycle. This week, we round off our discussion on the British Monarchy. We discuss royal spies and espionage, the monarchy's connection to fascism, maintaining the Crown's PR, tabloid-mania, MI5, Sir Anthony Blunt, their influence on politics and foreign relations, and our concluding thoughts on it. Cynical Talk is a more light-hearted spin on the main M.I.Cynic series, with an impromptu and provocative take on contemporary topics. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.
Welcome fellow cynics and please jump in to join your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft as we unveil the launch of our new weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk! Every Friday, expect us to sound off on a variety of topics centred around current affairs and the news cycle. This week, as we conclude the month of the Platinum Jubilee, we briefly touch down on what the Crown means from a British perspective - how it impacts the national character, politics, history, society, class, economics, and more. Cynical Talk is a more light-hearted take on the main M.I.Cynic series, with a more jovial and less studied take on contemporary topics. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoyed piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.