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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

James vs the Volcano

Today was the day to begin day drinking in the UK (at least in public.) Pubs and retail stores may resume operations but with restrictions, of course. We would be remiss not to address the loss of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. We take note of this interview he gave to Afternoon Plus in 1984. Then we simply have to share this from a Telegraph columnist: The real burning... Source

Apr 12, 202159 min

Classical Gas

The Easter holiday comes to an end and with it the deprivations of Lent. When will the deprivations of lockdowns go with it? James is convinced his generation is waving the white flag of surrender for traditional liberal Western values while Toby blames their corruption on the power we’ve handed them. (To understand the forces at play here he recommends Power Broker from the Lockdown Sceptics’... Source

Apr 05, 202148 min

Happy Monday!

We start the week by doing the weekly shopping with James and Toby – without masks, of course. According to the government today is “Happy Monday,” with a limited return to outdoor sport and tea in the garden with the neighbors. But that’s always “the variants” lurking around the corner… lurking like a balloon animal stuffed with walnuts coming after your puppy. (That story has a better ending... Source

Mar 29, 202154 min

We Few, We Happy Few

James attended this past weekend’s anti-lockdown protests in London with Reclaim mayoral candidate Laurence Fox and managed not to get arrested. But how many people were in attendance is certainly up for debate, and debate is what James and Toby do. Who is the biggest impediment to getting the adult population of Europe vaccinated? Is it people like our intrepid duo or is it really “leaders” like... Source

Mar 22, 202145 min

A Long Walk Off a Short Piers

We took a ride on the Technical Struggle Bus this week. Someone was throwing some electrical interference James’ way (we think MI-5 has finally caught up to him) and Toby was coming in a little bit hot… Apologies in advance. But content-wise we have plenty of good stuff in here. After a small bit of self-congratulations (We’re Number Three! We’re Number Three!) we tackle the suspension of the... Source

Mar 16, 202146 min

Royal Victims

What did you expect one day after CBS flooded our screens with Meghan and Harry and Oprah? Toby and James review the allegations, the whining and the greater themes of royal victimhood and racism. Then they’re on to Laurence Fox’s entrance and Nigel Farage’s exit from electoral politics. (You can catch Fox on the Ricochet Podcast here or the video here.) And then we have a Covid update that casts... Source

Mar 08, 202134 min

Uriah Heep Sycophants

This week James and Toby are naming names. James Corden, Graham Norton, Natascha McElhone, Peter Hitchens and, of course, Harry & Meghan. Could a couples therapy be in the offing between our hosts and Oprah? We continue weaving our way through the Bernard Cornwell oeuvre, talk a little French television (including Marseille with Gérard Depardieu) and Toby flips his wig – literally. Source

Mar 01, 202149 min

A Roadmap to Where?

Congratulations to us. We have a podcast! Last week, due to some technical problems on Toby’s end we lost not one, but two attempts at production. This week we pulled out all the stops, put several redundant systems in place and, of course, none of it was needed. Go figure. After lamenting that which could have been, we’re on to the matter at hand: Monday was D-Day for the Johnson Government. Source

Feb 22, 20211 hr 1 min

Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?

This week James “Scorched Earth” Delingpole and Toby “Forgive and Forget” Young square off about attacking all of James’ former allies (including Dan Hannan and Chris Snowdon) and in this week’s pandemic news, is “ Zero Covid” really a workable idea? Culturally we cover The Dig (Netflix), the story of the UK’s greatest archeological find at Sutton Hoo, the Israeli series Losing Alice (AppleTV+)... Source

Feb 08, 202152 min

Winning The Virtual Debate

This week James and Toby recount their doings in support of The Great Reopening… and the deeds of others, too. (Protests have erupted here, here and here.) Delingpole goes walkabout in his area of the country and comes away a bit disappointed, but others are fighting such as this Edinburgh shopkeeper or this salon owner in Oakenshaw who has racked up £27,000 ($36,888 US) in fines so far. Toby... Source

Feb 01, 202151 min

The Great Reset

Oh, to be in England now that snow has come… as it wreaks havoc on the Delingpole household. Otherwise, everything is going “Great…” as in The Great Reset, The Great Reopening… The Great Revolt. There seems to be two kind of people in the world right now, the compliant and the rebellious. You can guess where our intrepid duo slots in. And it’s not in Davos. Of course nobody’s in Davos this year... Source

Jan 26, 202157 min

Everybody Hates James and Toby

James and Toby open with a discussion of Christopher Snowden’s Quillette article on Lockdown Scepticism and the mauling the lockdown sceptic Lord Sumption has received since his appearance on The Big Questions, and Toby’s censure by the press regulator, Ipso. A special welcome to Conservative MP Neil O’Brien (or his researcher) who is now listening to London Calling and quoting things our men have... Source

Jan 18, 202154 min

On Thin Ice

The show takes a decidedly different tone this week as Toby and James seek to find common ground… er… a common sheet of ice in a cold, raging river of politics. There is a bit of talk of the news of the day, namely the disappearing act the Big Tech giants have pulled on Parler, but mostly it’s dinner parties in New York, seats in the House of Lords, and the ever-burning, sure-t0-divide question... Source

Jan 11, 202154 min

Poison Pen

Disagreement over the lockdown has taken a decidedly different turn in the New Year. This past weekend Toby received a death threat in one of his email accounts and it was deemed that it was serious enough to warrant a police visit. He also got into a very public row with Conservative MP Neil O’Brien (Harborough, Oadby & Wigston). On the culture front, we find James watching (*gasp* Source

Jan 04, 202143 min

Control Every Jot and Tittle

After upsetting the base last week our intrepid duo has called a holiday truce. We’re out of the trenches and playing footy in no man’s land. And speaking of desolate, deadly landscapes, the Government has announced an exit deal with the European Union. Britons are now free! (We know you’ll want to read all 1,255 pages for yourself…) Of course, you’re not allowed to leave your homes... Source

Dec 28, 202052 min

And so, in God's Mercy, A Happy Christmas to You All

What’s the old joke? Oh, yes. “How can you tell when a politician is lying?” Answer: “His lips are moving.” Boris Johnson promised is quickly becoming a joke of its own. The problem is, no one is laughing. Especially Mr. Delingpole. After a contentious discussion about Mr. Young’s latest Spectator column and “The Great Reset,” they tackle Boris and his Tier 4 Christmas plans. Source

Dec 21, 202045 min

Fighting our Dystopian Future

Toby is a busy, busy man. Hence it’s a London Calling Tuesday. We start this week with “The Great Reset,” aka, “Build Back Better.” Will the Technocracy have its way with us? Does the name Klaus Schwab ring any bells? James sees a dystopian future and Toby wonders why anyone would just want to destroy it all. Our weekly roundup on fighting the assault against free speech had a setback... Source

Dec 15, 202043 min

Talk a Little Conspiracy

James has something he needs to get off his chest and opens the show by taking Toby, as the Americans would say, to the woodshed. As far as James is concerned journalistic curiosity is dead. Then it’s on to the major news of the day, the UK has become the first nation to give regulatory approval for one of the new Covid-19 vaccinations. Because of fast tracking, this vaccination has seen limited... Source

Dec 08, 202049 min

The Petri Dish of History

This week, James and Toby reflect on what it’s been like to live through a year of such enormous historical importance and whether their sense of humour has helped them get through it. Who’s really on the “right side of history?” Cancel culture arrived at Eton College, Britain’s poshest school, last week when a popular teacher was sacked for a video he refused to remove from YouTube that dared to... Source

Nov 30, 202053 min

Argy Bargy

This week on the UK’s Fastest Growing Podcast™ Messrs. Delingpole and Young get a little contentious. After reviewing the week’s Covid news they turn their attention to the US Presidential election and words fly. Words such as “Tesla,” “shotgun,” “fragging” and the “C-word.” Things get so heated the bleep machine gets pulled out. Crikey. On the cultural front this week’s recommendations include... Source

Nov 23, 202046 min

On a Short Lead

There’s been a shakeup at No. 10. Adviser Dom Cummings is out, as is communications director Lee Cain. So who’s calling the shots? Boris? Carrie Symonds? Klaus Schwab? And who’s that measuring drapes? The Young house is getting a rewire (and we hope renovations go better than it did in Chelsea) and the world seems to be getting a “Great Reset” much to the dismay of James and Toby. Source

Nov 16, 202054 min

Britain's Best: The Deling Poll

James and Toby react to the PM’s presser from late Monday afternoon as Pfizer announces a 90% success rate in their Covid-19 vaccine and ask the musical question, “Why Can’t an Englishman be More Like a German?” And then, like everyone else, our intrepid duo has a take on the US Presidential election. One thinks it may be time for a tactical retreat while the other proclaims, “Damn the torpedoes... Source

Nov 09, 202056 min

Place Your Bets

It’s Election Day in the United States (kinda) and Toby and James discuss the bets they’ve placed on a Trump victory. On the domestic front they decry Boris Johnson’s decision to impose a second national lockdown and ridicule the idea that the UK is looking at 4,000 Covid deaths a day. Our intrepid duo then draw up plans for James’s book about his Oxford contemporaries: My Generation: The Worst in... Source

Nov 03, 202048 min

Strangers on a Train

This week our show has a bit of Hitchcockian opening as James recounts his time with Strangers on a Train. That encounter leads us to the recent Dutch study on the effectiveness of masks that seems to have been left homeless – because “science.” Nobody will touch it. With the Presidential election just around the corner everybody gets a call to place their bets, a call that delivers a disturbing... Source

Oct 26, 202046 min

Boris' Nookie Ban

Tuesday evening the PM announced that the greater Manchester area would be given the Third Tier Lockdown treatment. And for Toby and James the one thing this situation has done is highlight the divide between England and the devolved nations of the “United” Kingdom. It has also highlighted the power struggle between the elected and the unelected in government, namely S.A.G.E. Source

Oct 20, 202052 min

Do Not Pass "Go"

On this week’s episode James and Toby react to the PM’s announcement of a second round of restrictions in the fight against Covid-19. There are now three levels of restrictions and – spoiler alert – there are no levels that are free from restrictions. So, we have more lockdowns and at what cost? Cancer specialist Angus Dalgleish recounted the suicide – of not one but two – of his colleagues in an... Source

Oct 12, 202040 min

It's Grim Up North

This week on the UK’s Fastest Growing Podcast® James and Toby ruminate about the relationship between the English and the Scots and lament what the SNP has done to it – and that’s just the beginning of a very full show. What does Donald Trump’s Covid diagnosis mean to the US election and what’s more of a threat – disease or Big Tech? ( #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and... Source

Oct 05, 202042 min

Lockdown Madness

James attended Saturday’s anti-lockdown march in Trafalgar Square and tells Toby about the aggressive behavior of the riot police. The government’s contact tracing app turns out to be a real abomination and university students are now paying for the privilege of being locked in their residency halls with the threat of losing £8,500 (US$10,914) if they stray. Will they really vote Tory in the... Source

Sep 28, 202045 min

The End of an Illusion

This morning in the House, the Prime Minister announced the re-imposition of the lockdown rules in England to avoid what he says is a looming second wave of Covid-19. Now, Toby and James wonder where it all went wrong with Boris and curse themselves for ever having invested any hope in him. Also, leading up to the big grouse hunt James discovers a better way to shoot and in a chilling anecdote we... Source

Sep 22, 202046 min

The Obi-Wankers

This year is like living in a zombie movie. Except it’s worse, because the zombies are running the country. Or maybe it’s The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, because someone has even taken over the usually reliable Home Secretary, Priti Patel, and they won’t give her back. The government has introduced “the Rule of Six” and is urging you to spy on your neighbors and turn them in accordingly. Source

Sep 15, 202042 min
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