Into the Grey Zone Episode 8 This episode looks at the invasion of Crimea as Russian-backed forces took control of airports and parliament, then rushed through a referendum to orchestrate the biggest land-grab since WW2 without a shot being fired. But when they tried the same thing in Ukraine, it didn’t work as 21century drones met with traditional tanks and military machinery. In Grey Zone war, it’s not just missiles; the effect of missiles and misinformation is amplified by social media and there is no need for territorial invasion because this is asymmetrical rather than conventional battle. The episode winds back the history of Crimea, going back to the 2014 Maidan revolution which turned violent against the protestors, followed by a succession of pro-European presidents (which Russia says were funded by the CIA). The Russians took over the media, then communications and announced a referendum about Crimea’s sovereignty in which 97% supposedly supported Russia’s action. However, the referendum gave no option for Crimea to remain part of Ukraine. Meanwhile the world was shocked at the Skipral poisoning in Salisbury which proved how easy it was for the GRU to smuggle poison into England.
The Rest is History. Episode 681: Brazil: The Emperor’s Anthem This time Dominic and Tom look at the Brazilian national anthem, which I had never heard before. Slavery was not abolished in Brazil until 1888, after 4-5 million African slaves had been brought into the country, with a life expectancy of 25 years. This anthem is not a reflection of a nationalistic story: instead, the fact that it had no lyrics for years is a reflection of the instability in the country. In 1807 Napoleon invaded Portugal, and the royal family fled to Brazil, where they ruled the Portuguese empire from exile. After Napoleon had been defeated and after Brazil had declared independence in 1822, Dom Pedro I stayed on in Brazil where he wrote his own anthem with 8-10 verses of bad lyrics. By 1831 there were riots in Rio and on 7 April 1831 Dom Pedro I abdicated in favour of his son Dom Pedro II. Francisco Manuel da Silva presented a new anthem that he had written with a new tune and his own bad anti-Portuguese lyrics. So bad that they decided to forego lyrics altogether and just have the music. An American musician and composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk had a go and came up with two anthems. With the declaration of a republic in 1889 they had a competition which was won by Leopoldo Miguez, with lyrics by Medeiros e Albuquerque. but they decided to stick with the old lyric-less one. By the 1920s the need for an anthem was highlighted by hosting the World Expo and they finally came up with some pretty generic lyrics (a nod to Dom Pedro, the Southern Cross and the Brazilian flag etc. etc.)
The Rest is Politics The Greatest Threat Humans Can’t Stomach with Yuval Noah Harari This was Part I of the discussion, and you have to be a TRIP member to get Part II. But I really enjoyed this discussion of how humans cannot stomach the idea of an alien intelligence- but I didn’t enjoy it enough to become a TRIP Plus member.
The Economist- Tocqueville Road Trip Episode 5 Hour of Strife (subscriber only). I guess it’s only human that you only take notice of what’s going on for other people when it affects you. Toqueville predicted that the question of who gets to call themselves an American would have a long and troubled future, and he always feared federal overreach and soft despotism. Donna Hughes-Brown never thought that question would apply to her, until ICE showed up. She had been born in Ireland and had never taken up citizenship because she never felt the need to. She generally supported Trump’s policies. But on returning from a trip to Ireland, she was arrested at Chicago airport and found herself sent to Kentucky under ICE detention. Because she was white, articulate and had access to lawyers etc. she was able to get out after some time, and now she works for other detainees who don’t have her advantages.
