The John Batchelor Show

The John Batchelor Show

 

On September 12, 2001, the day after the fall of the Twin Towers, WABC-AM in New York City recruited John Batchelor to go on the air until Osama bin Laden was either killed or captured. John has been on ever since, offering insightful commentary on such issues as the war on terrorism, the presidency, the national and global economies, and defending our civilization. On March 12, 2003, one week before the attack on Iraq, ABC Radio Networks invited John to bring his expertise to syndication. Since then John has reached out nationwide, focusing his concerns on a world at war.

The John Batchelor Show is an essential tool for understanding the new order in the 21st Century. The world is now facing a dangerous and fanatical enemy determined to destroy Western civilization on both political and military fronts. In this, the first great ideological battle of the new millennium, it is imperative to know the major players and the theaters in which they operate.

The John Batchelor Show features a multitude of distinctive elements. John's themes cover every detail - from military battles, presidential campaigns, planetary exploration, and Hollywood politicos to his own international travel. John has broadcast from many corners of the world and in his program he calls out to all points, including New York, Jerusalem, Des Moines, Kazakhstan, Orlando, Manchester, Morocco, Boston, Taipei, Washington, and Baghdad.

John is a veteran novelist, author of seven political romances as well as a short history of the Republican Party. Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in 1948, John attended Lower Merion High School and Princeton University. In 1976 he was graduated from Union Theological Seminary. John is married and has two children.

S8 Ep147: Wildlife Intelligence: Magpie Alliances and Cockatoo Defense — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis discussed his dog Dallas, who has become a skilled magpie whisperer, having cultivated alliances with five distinct magpie families throughout the neighborhood. Dallas dem

S8 Ep148: First Ashes Test in Perth: Lopsided Victory and Food Surplus — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis detailed the first Ashes test match in Perth, which concluded rapidly due to Australia's dominant performance, resulting in a severely lopsided victory over England. The u

  1. First Ashes Test in Perth: Lopsided Victory and Food Surplus — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis detailed the first Ashes test match in Perth, which concluded rapidly due to Australia's dominant performance, resulting in a severely lopsided victory over England. The unexpectedly brief match duration created massive oversupply of prepared catering and concession food, which event organizers successfully redirected to Osh Harvest charity for community distribution. Zakis noted significant weaknesses in both teams' batting and bowling performances as they prepare for the subsequent test match in Brisbane, highlighting areas requiring tactical adjustment and personnel evaluation.
1906


S8 Ep147: Alarming Urban Home Invasion: Venomous Brown Snake in Canberra — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis reported on a concerning home invasion in Canberra involving a highly venomous great eastern brown snake, one of Australia's deadliest species. The family discovered the

Alarming Urban Home Invasion: Venomous Brown Snake in Canberra — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis reported on a concerning home invasion in Canberra involving a highly venomous great eastern brown snake, one of Australia'sdeadliest species. The family discovered the dangerous reptile in their residential hallway; the snake subsequently relocated to the toilet bowl, effectively trapping itself and facilitating safe capture. Experts characterized this unusual urban behavior as potentially symptomatic of snakes seeking cooler refuge as ambient temperatures rise during Australian summer, suggesting climate-driven habitat displacement.
1916 GARDEN OF EDEN

S8 Ep147: Bureau of Meteorology Website Renovation Fails — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis reported on the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), which failed to accurately predict the La Niña weather cycle and subsequent rainfall patterns. A $96.5 million website renovation

Bureau of Meteorology Website Renovation Fails — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis reported on the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), which failed to accurately predict the La Niña weather cycle and subsequent rainfall patterns. A $96.5 million website renovation project resulted in a broken, non-intuitive digital platform that systematically downplayed rainfall severity in visual representations. The project's exorbitant cost, attributed partly to expensive consulting fees and extensive testing protocols, has prompted investigation by the Australian federal government regarding waste and contract oversight.

1913 BRISBANE

S8 Ep146: 8/8 Trauma, Memory, and the Silence of "Eating Bitterness" — Tanya Branigan — Branigan characterizes the CR as a collective convulsion or "Maoist hysteria." Mental health infrastructure was historically underdeveloped in China, and psychology was official

 8/8 Trauma, Memory, and the Silence of "Eating Bitterness" — Tanya Branigan — Branigan characterizes the CRas a collective convulsion or "Maoist hysteria." Mental health infrastructure was historically underdeveloped in China, and psychology was officially condemned as "bourgeois pseudoscience." The pervasive cultural idiom "eating bitterness" reflects fatalistic endurance of suffering without complaint. Severe trauma fractured survivors' memory systems, producing lasting psychiatric consequences including psychotic episodes and dissociative disorders. The national silence surrounding the CR results from both deliberate state suppression and the widespread personal psychological devastation experienced by millions of survivors.
1967


S8 Ep146: 7/8 The Unfilial Son and the Trauma of Informing — Tanya Branigan — This segment recounts the 1970 execution of Fu Zhong Mo, a devoted Communist Party member who was denounced following her criticism of Mao. Her seventeen-year-old son, Jiang Hong Bing, in

7/8 The Unfilial Son and the Trauma of Informing — Tanya Branigan — This segment recounts the 1970 execution of Fu Zhong Mo, a devoted Communist Party member who was denounced following her criticism of Mao. Her seventeen-year-old son, Jiang Hong Bing, informed state authorities against his mother, subordinating filial obligation to worship of Mao Zedong. Fu was publicly executed, and her corpse was subsequently moved multiple times by authorities. Jiang lives with severe guilt, characterizing himself as an "unfilial son" and tormented by the knowledge that he and his father directly facilitated her judicial murder.
1967 SHANGHAI

S8 Ep146: 6/8 Impersonators, Nostalgia, and the Fall of Lin Biao — Tanya Branigan — CR nostalgia manifests in organized commemorative groups and the remarkable phenomenon of Lin Biao impersonators. Lin Biao, once Mao's designated successor and principal architect o

6/8 Impersonators, Nostalgia, and the Fall of Lin Biao — Tanya Branigan — CR nostalgia manifests in organized commemorative groups and the remarkable phenomenon of Lin Biao impersonators. Lin Biao, once Mao's designated successor and principal architect of the personality cult, was subsequently vilified following his mysterious plane crash and disappearance. His dramatic downfall fractured revolutionary faith among many Chinese. Former educated youth, who endured severe conditions during rural exile, maintain regular reunion gatherings recalling their youthful experiences with nostalgic fondness, seeking transcendent meaning and harking back to an era they perceive as morally uncomplicated.
1967

S8 Ep146: 5/8 Princelings, Purges, and the Politics of Red Nostalgia — Tanya Branigan — Princelings Bo Xilai and Xi Jinping, both children of senior Communist leadership, were themselves CR victims, experiencing persecution and hardship. Bo Xilai, known for his con

5/8 Princelings, Purges, and the Politics of Red Nostalgia — Tanya Branigan — Princelings Bo Xilai and Xi Jinping, both children of senior Communist leadership, were themselves CR victims, experiencing persecution and hardship. Bo Xilai, known for his conspicuous personal style, strategically exploited CR nostalgia by promoting "red songs" celebrating the revolutionary era. Xi Jinping, though more rhetorically restrained, similarly adopted ideological and sentimental appeals to revolutionary memory. This return to Maoist mythology attracts grassroots constituencies seeking transcendent meaning, ideological purity, and moral certainty amid contemporary economic disruption and pervasive institutional corruption.
1967

S8 Ep146: 4/8 Persecution and Survival: The Composer Wang Xilin's Memory — Tanya Branigan — The biography of composer Wang Xilin, a zealous Communist Party member and peasant-background intellectual, illustrates the regime's betrayal of its devoted followers. Wang

4/8 Persecution and Survival: The Composer Wang Xilin's Memory — Tanya Branigan — The biography of composer Wang Xilin, a zealous Communist Party member and peasant-background intellectual, illustrates the regime's betrayal of its devoted followers. Wang endured systematic persecution including multiple struggle sessions, during which he anticipated execution. Branigan documents that remembering this trauma remains acutely painful; Wangcompared his suffering to Holocaust experiences at Auschwitz. Wang demonstrates extreme anger when questioned about controversial gaps in his compositional legacy, reflecting the profound depth of his unresolved psychological trauma.
1967

S8 Ep146: 3/8 Red August and the Idealism of Teenage Red Guards — Tanya Branigan — Yu Zhangzhen, who became a Red Guard at age thirteen, recalls "Red August" 1966, when Mao Zedong summoned millions of young people to massive rallies, explicitly endorsing the moveme

3/8 Red August and the Idealism of Teenage Red Guards — Tanya Branigan — Yu Zhangzhen, who became a Red Guard at age thirteen, recalls "Red August" 1966, when Mao Zedong summoned millions of young people to massive rallies, explicitly endorsing the movement and exhorting them to destroy the "four olds." Despite witnessing horrific violence, including corpse-filled athletic fields, Yu maintained genuine ideological commitment to the revolutionary cause. For many participants, the CR represented a liberating experience, offering unprecedented personal autonomy, free nationwide travel privileges, and intoxicating liberation from parental and institutional discipline.
1966