Show Notes
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.
More from London Calling
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.