London Calling - podcast cover

London Calling

Ricochetricochet.com
James Delingpole and Toby Young discuss and explain British and European politics and culture for their American audience.
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Episodes

Anti-Establishment Rebels

Ready for the Second Wave of Covid? The one that may never come? After our weekly update from the Lockdown-Sceptic-in-Chief, James and Toby ridicule the idea that Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter protestors are street-fighting, working class rebels. In fact, they’re white, privileged, privately-educated members of the ruling class, which is why the police stand idly by and watch them... Source

Sep 08, 202043 min

Embarrassing Dads

James and Toby have officially passed the hero stage with their kids and are firmly entrenched as “the embarrassment.” The Delingpole lad thinks James is nothing more than a dancing monkey performing for his Twitter followers, while Toby reveals his daughter has changed her surname to avoid being associated with him. Meanwhile, there’s the latest news and culture to deal with. Piers Corbyn... Source

Aug 31, 202036 min

Fool Brittania!

This week James reports in from an undisclosed location (his evil genius lair, no doubt) and he and Toby review the week’s doings, from the latest on the Covid lockdowns to the foolishness of the multi-culti wokeness of the BBC and their plans for this year’s Proms. We get their views on the Biden-Harris ticket (or is that Harris-Biden?) and the prospect of Donald Trump’s re-election... Source

Aug 24, 202048 min

Sophisticated Lab Rats

Eighty years ago the United Kingdom and her Commonwealth stood alone against fascist tyranny – defiant and resolved to preserve their liberty. Now, all across the Anglosphere the citizenry is meekly abiding by all sorts of arbitrary and capricious dictates in the name of safety, including the postponement of elections. What’s happened? If the Johnson government has cocked up its response to Covid... Source

Aug 17, 202041 min

Back to School

The time for the fall term is quickly bearing down on us and James and Toby are itching to get kids back in the classroom. But others aren’t so sure. Said the Prime Minister this weekend, “Now that we know enough to reopen schools to all pupils safely, we have a moral duty to do so.” Also on tap (literally and figuratively) this week: Getting back into the pubs, the new dating forum on Lockdown... Source

Aug 10, 202046 min

Mea Culpa

About yesterday… We didn’t exactly miss our Monday record date, we just missed Toby pushing the record button. Stuff happens. But we’re back for another go. And go we do. It’s not just a missed recording that James and Toby apologise for this week, it’s also having urged people to support Boris Johnson. The PM’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis has been appalling and now they urge their friend... Source

Aug 04, 202044 min

Shagadelic Unmasked Heroes

Everyone is back at their home base this week (barely) and James braves his way through the podcast, ignoring the terrific pain from the torn muscle in his shoulder. Toby wraps up his trip and recounts the procedure of getting the family home from Italy. Then it’s on to the news of the day and the implementation of the mask requirements in England. James tested the waters and then conducted a... Source

Jul 27, 202048 min

Veni, Vidi, Venice

The view from the Young villa in Italy. This week on the UK’s Favorite Podcast (well, in the Top 100, anyway…) Toby calls in from Italy (complete with kids and traffic) where he tells James about his trip to Venice, which has been great because it’s been mostly tourist free. Back on the homefront, James takes great pains to walk us through yesterday’s anti-mask protest at Hyde Park. And we do mean... Source

Jul 20, 202052 min

New Royal Orders

James is back from holiday and has some suggestions for the Royal family: First, we need a new Order of Knighthood. Second, Harry has sent us all a hostage video and it may be time for an extraction. Exactly what is Meghan’s hold over the Prince? Let’s put this way, we Googled the “Shanghai Grip” so you wouldn’t have to. And what’s all this about? The cultural portion of our show reviews the new... Source

Jul 13, 202043 min

The Founders Lives Matter

James was a bit jealous of Toby’s Covid-19 antibody test results last week, so he went to get his own – and that was after dropping more than a few quid on one just a couple months ago. But the results were so important James interrupted his holiday to share them with us. After those preliminaries, Toby enthuses about Hamilton (now streaming on Disney+) as the perfect rebuttal to the BLM/ Source

Jul 06, 202046 min

White Men Don’t Matter

After a proper chastising for not being available until Wednesday of last week, Toby redeems himself through his work for the Free Speech Union – and the exoneration of an Isle of Man broadcaster. In the heart of this week’s discussion James and Toby tackle Cambridge’s hypocrisy on free speech. The academy is fine with backing Dr Priyamvada Gopal but not anyone that comes from the right of center. Source

Jun 29, 202050 min

Boris Derangement Syndrome

James and Toby begin the show with the Free Speech Union‘s legal action yesterday against Ofcom (the UK equivalent of the FCC), and their decision to go after anyone that contradicts or questions the government on its Covid-19 policy. But the main discussion centers on the timidity of the Prime Minister – who still won’t accept that Covid-19 is on the wane. James thinks Boris is full of bluster... Source

Jun 24, 202050 min

Come the Revolution

Back before the election in December James and Toby worried about their fate under a Corbyn Government. Now the Cultural Revolution is back with a vengeance and the worries return, particularly if more left-wing college graduates lose their jobs. Also, should we shut down The Guardian because of its links to the slave trade and the row created by Boris’s new race relations tsar. And in the end we... Source

Jun 16, 202032 min

Lawlessness with a Wink and a Smile

Toby and James were appalled by what they witnessed this weekend: Journalists applauding the mob that tore down Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol and the police that let them do it and excused them afterwards. What’s next? Hadrian’s Wall? Also, they start to go over the list of people who have now been cancelled for showing insufficient fealty to the BLM cause. Are you on the list yet? Source

Jun 08, 202029 min

Kim Jong-Nicola

Is Scotland Becoming North Korea? James and Toby discuss the latest authoritarian announcements of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – or, as Toby prefers to call her, Nic Sturge-un. Also on the agenda: Is it now illegal to have sex in England? Who’s behind the riots tearing apart America’s cities? Why is Space Force no good? Source

Jun 01, 202037 min

Cummings Not Going

Not long after breaking lockdown forced Neil Ferguson, the Imperial College boffin behind the Covid-19 death model, to be bounced from advising Number 10, the PM’s closest advisor, Dominic Cummings, was found straying from London himself. Now, James and Toby don’t think Cummings should resign for breaking lockdown, but his head should probably roll for backing the lockdown policy in the first... Source

May 25, 202053 min

Show Me Your Papers

This week the British bed-wetters are doubling down on the lockdown and Toby and James are thinking abut forming a new political party called the Dangerous Party for people who are pro-risk. Speaking of risk, the lads lead off with a recount of James’ near fine and/or arrest for committing an act of journalism as the constabulary questions his presence at the Speaker’s Corner of Hyde Park... Source

May 18, 202050 min

Low Hanging Fruit

The American wit Will Rogers once said, “All I know is what I read in the papers.” And as far as James and Toby are concerned, ol’ Will wouldn’t have known anything about the state of the world today. Why is the mainstream media missing so much during this pandemic and why do you have to turn to obscure websites – like LockdownSceptics.org – to find out what’s really going on? Source

May 11, 202040 min

Professor Lockdown: The Shagadelic Emergency Edition

Right after we wrapped production on our last episode The Telegraph broke the story of the scandal that’s rocked the British Establishment: Professor Neil Ferguson, architect of the lockdown policy, resigned after being caught with his pants down with a married mother of two. So Toby and James are back in a Special Shagadelic Emergency Edition of London Calling, and the only thing we can say is... Source...

May 06, 202024 min

Place Your Bets

As other countries and individual American States open up, Toby laments that his opposition to the lockdown, and his new website, LockdownSceptics.org, is gradually taking over his life. After a promising start with Brexit, James is starting to believe that this Government is the worst of his lifetime. And that’s mostly due to the PM’s early about-face in response to Neil Ferguson and his Imperial... Source

May 05, 202046 min

Georgia on My Mind

The longer the lockdown, the higher the skepticism, especially here on the United Kingdom’s Most Trusted Podcast®. James and Toby kick off the week with another worldwide rundown of pandemic life – who’s opening up and who’s not – and the PM’s decision announced early Monday has produced a Delingfunk. James is looking for an exit destination and has the American South in his sights. Source

Apr 27, 202048 min

BoJo Mojo Good To Go?

We open this episode with Toby’s work on lockdownskeptics.org and whether or not the faith we’ve placed in our scientific experts is well founded or not. Will BoJo – that’s Boris Johnson to you and me – recover his Mojo and end the lockdown or will he go wobbly? Toby is optimistic, but James isn’t. Also, James recommends The Hunt and Toby salivates over Too Hot to Handle. And then at the end of... Source

Apr 20, 202050 min

Boris Has Risen; Glory to the NHS

Toby and James celebrate the resurrection of their old chum Boris Johnson. But there are worries. Will his near-death experience make it harder for him to end the lockdown? And are there any hopes for NHS reform after this? Then there’s our usual cultural roundup including endorsements of Ozarks, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Thor: Ragnorock. And is it just James or is anyone else creeped out by the... Source

Apr 13, 202042 min

Get Well Soon, Prime Minister

Toby’s New Puppy James and Toby send their love to their old chum Boris, now in intensive care, and worry about the decisions the Government will take in his absence. Toby shares his new Twitter strategy and then it’s on to their usual culture reviews including The Tiger King, Unorthodox and the offerings at Disney Plus. Speaking of pluses, there’s Toby’s new puppy, a Cavapoochon. She’s a cross... Source

Apr 07, 202039 min

How Long Have I Got, Doc?

Toby reveals that he’s every man the PM is – he’s sick as a dog, too. He may not make it to next week but he still wants the lockdown to end, especially in light of the way the local constabularies have reacted to the government’s directives. What’s the direction out of this thing? In the meantime, what should we do to bide the time? Anything on the telly? And to fill the void for our American... Source

Mar 30, 202052 min

Peter Hitchens: Liberty in the Age of Covid-19

On March 21st, in his Daily Mail column, Peter Hitchens asked the unaskable: Is shutting down Britain – with unprecedented curbs on ancient liberties – REALLY the best answer? “This is our future,” he wrote, “and if I did not lift my voice to speak up for it now, even if I do it quite alone, I should consider that I was not worthy to call myself English or British, or a journalist... Source

Mar 27, 202045 min

Two Metre Minimum

We are being responsible and maintaining our distance this week as Toby and James say the unsayable and wonder if shutting down the global economy will be worth it in terms of lives saved. Also, the Stasi-like tendencies of the Twitter social isolation police, Boris’s handling of the crisis and whether the pandemic will mean the end of man hugs. Toby hopes it will, James hopes it won’t. Source

Mar 23, 202047 min

My Corona

On this week’s edition of the United Kingdom’s Most Trusted Podcast®, our men revisit the COVID-19 Panic Scale from last week and find a reversal of circumstances (primarily because James thinks he’s already had it.) Compared to how other nations have attacked the problem of this pandemic, how is the Prime Minister doing? Has there been a U-turn or just a slight tack in strategy? And while we’re... Source

Mar 17, 202037 min

The Panic Scale

On a scale of how worried to be about Coronavirus, Toby is on three, but James is on eight. In fact, James thinks he’s got it. As of publication there’s been 373 confirmed cases in the UK and 6 confirmed deaths. Also on the agenda: Britain’s forthcoming green budget from the relatively unknown (but heavily ratioed on Twitter) Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, the no-platforming of former MP... Source

Mar 10, 202044 min

The Boris Baby

The Prime Minister’s partner Carrie Symonds is pregnant and the couple have got engaged, they have announced. This week on the ever-popular, growing by leaps and bounds, London Calling, James sneaks off to Bristol where he goes undercover disguised as a member of Antifa to attend a Greta Thunberg rally. Then James and Toby congratulate their old friend the Prime Minister on the news of his... Source

Mar 02, 202028 min
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