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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, it's all one great big Zoom meeting. They're making decisions for 7 Billion people there. Are you watching? (Xi Jinping is here, the concert film is here.) On the culture side, James is giving a thumbs down to Raised by Wolves (HBO Max) and looking forward to Russell T. Davies' It's a Sin (Channel 4 in the UK with future release in the US on HBO and Amazon Prime in Canada). For Toby, he's recommending Homecoming with Julia Roberts (Amazon Prime) and suggests avoiding Season 3 of the Billy Bob Thornton lawyer series, Goliath. Opening sound this week is Klaus Schwab opening the Davos Conference online. Sponsored by Bambee, Stamps.com, PS.Coach, Yellow Bear Financial Consultancy LLP Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/the-great-reset/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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 said to try and discredit the lockdown sceptics' cause (and blaming Toby for things that James said on past episodes.) Maybe this is a 77th Brigade op? The bottom line is, do we need to care about what anyone says about us on Twitter or should we all be more like James who seems to be content being seen as the "marginal frootloop freak" as long as everyone continues to read and listen? Then it's on to this week's culture picks. James has taken in series two of A Discovery of Witches (on Sky in the UK and AMC+ in the US) and also watched the new Marvel Studio's series WandaVision (Disney+), but cannot understand it and is too embarrassed to ask his kids to explain it to him. Opening sound this week is from Lord Sumption's controversial appearance on BBC One. Sponsored by PS.Coach Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/everybody-hates-james-and-toby/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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, "What's in your downstairs loo?" Opening sound this week is California Rep. Devin Nunes on Big Tech, courtesy of Fox News. Sponsored by Yellow Bear Financial Consultancy LLP Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/on-thin-ice/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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*) the BBC and he recommends The Serpent, the story of serial killer Charles Sobhraj. (It's a BBC/Netflix co-production so American listeners will presumably get it shortly after the Beeb is done with its run.) Toby is so disgusted with this year's Bafta offerings (Have we ever mentioned that Toby is a Bafta member?) that he's gone back to revisiting older films such as SPECTRE and Star Trek: Beyond. This week's opening sound is of BBC health correspondent Dominic Hughes on Covid-19's "mutant" strain.     Sponsored by Indeed Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/poison-pen/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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, but you're free! Is this enough to judge Boris Johnson a success or will his response to the pandemic find him wanting in the judgment of history? With Christmas 2020 in the books, James and Toby look back at their top presents, and Toby starts to wade through his Bafta DVDs (Did we ever mention Toby is a Bafta member?) including Wonder Woman 1984 and The Prom. The next time we see you it will be 2021 and we'll know if we made the Queen's New Year Honours. This week's opening sound is the PM's Brexit announcement. Sponsored by Bambee, Yellow Bear Financial Consultancy LLP Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/control-every-jot-and-tittle/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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. After that James reveals he is on a diet, Toby talks turkey and - if you promise not to tell - they talk about what they're getting their wives for Christmas. This week's opening sound is from the PM's press conference announcing the Christmas lockdown, and our closing sound is Christmas Greetings from the PM in 1941. And so, in God's mercy, a Happy Christmas to you all! Sponsored by Bambee, Express VPN, Yellow Bear Financial Consultancy LLP Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/and-so-in-gods-mercy-a-happy-christmas-to-you-all/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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, as Eaton teacher Will Knowland has his appeal denied. Toby and the Free Speech Union vow to fight on, even if it takes an act of Parliament. Wednesday Night at Midnight (UCT) London will enter Tier 3 Covid restrictions. The Government claims they have discovered a new strain of the virus. Viruses mutate, it's what they do and The Beeb is playing it up. We round out the show with our usual cultural recommendations. (Have we mentioned that Toby is a member of Bafta?) Toby picks a Gary Oldman double feature, one old (The Contender, 2000) and one new, Mank, plus the Apple TV series, Defending Jacob. James counters with a Japanese import, Midnight Diner starring Tony Ka Fai Leung. This week's opening sound is the ever present Health Secretary Matt Hancock announcing new restrictions in the House.     Sponsored by 3Ci, Bambee Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/fighting-our-dystopian-future/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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 clinical trials. If it all goes wrong who will be held liable? To round things out Toby gets us up to date on the latest on the Free Speech front and the crucial difference between respecting things and tolerating them, plus as Brexit negotiations continue with Brussels we wonder if this is the Prime Minister's last chance to re-invent himself as a political force or has his fate been etched in stone? The viewing recommendations lean heavily on Deutsche Kultur as James returns to Babylon Berlin for Season Three and Toby touts Generation War, which according to war correspondent Sean Langan, has some of the most realistic battle scenes ever committed to film. This week's opening sound is health secretary Matt Hancock's announcement of the vaccine approval in the House. Sponsored by Bambee, Indeed, Theragun Gen 4 Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/talk-a-little-conspiracy/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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 go against the current political orthodoxy. It's a case that has reverberations for lovers of free speech everywhere - including the campus of the University of Chicago. To wrap things up listeners get a preview of Toby's January Spectator column. It seems it's all about a close friend who won't come to terms with Donald Trump's loss in the late Presidential election. Any relationship between the friend and other persons associated with this podcast is definitely not coincidental. This week's opening sound is from the documentary film Inside Eton (1995). Sponsored by Bambee Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/the-petri-dish-of-history/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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 The Ides of March, Baron Noir, When Heroes Fly and Suburra. One of these is in English, too. (That is, if you call what the Americans speak English.) Our opening sound for this episode is from the PM's virtual appearance in the House on Monday - where things did not go well technically. Sponsored by Bambee, Express VPN Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/argy-bargy/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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. Every element of society seems to be lining up to criminalise dissent. In the Culture Corner James has been watching The Queen's Gambit on Netflix while Toby goes the book route reviewing Robert Harris' V2 and a 2010 book, Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre. James counters with the audio book version of Agincourt by Bernard Cromwell. Finally, does Toby qualify as a "celebrity?" Get me out of here! This week's opening sound is Deputy leader writer at The Sun Olivia Utley courtesy of The Mike Graham Show on talkRADIO. Sponsored by CareerGoldminer, Bambee Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/on-a-short-lead/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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, full speed ahead!" (We'll let you guess which is which.) So exactly who was Donald Trump referencing as "Britain's Best?" We have an idea.       Sponsored by Bambee, Indeed Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/britains-best-the-deling-poll/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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 History.         Sponsored by Bambee Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/place-your-bets-2/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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 memory in Toby's gambling life. And somehow along the way our gentlemen take time to appreciate their wives - and the total indifference they show in their professional lives. In the kultur portion of our show Toby leads off with Barbarians, a German-Netflix co-production on the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, while James choses To the Lake, an end-of-civilization-due-to-pandemic tale from Russia. (One reviewer called it a very good show at a very bad time.) This week's opening sound is from To the Lake, courtesy of Netflix.     Sponsored by Bambee, Theragun Gen 4 Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/strangers-on-a-train/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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. (the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies), which at this point should probably be renamed C.Y.A.. In the end it has made James and Toby relieved to be married (although not to each other,) especially given that Boris's new lockdown rules mean couples that live apart can only meet outside. We also have an update on the Darren Grimes free speech case and Gary Lineker is our "Tosser of the Week." On the cultural front the disappointing wokeness of Season 2 of The Boys and a disagreement about Tehran. Sponsored by Bambee, Indeed Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/boris-nookie-ban/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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 article in the Daily Mail over the weekend. There is hope in the Great Barrington Declaration, that is, if Big Tech decides not to find a reason to squash it. And that's not the only speech on the chopping block. This week Scotland Yard decided that if someone said something considered "hateful" in an interview then it must be the fault of the interviewer. And to round out the show Toby decides to censor himself. The cuck. This week's opening sound is from the PM's press conference.   Sponsored by Bambee, Fast Growing Trees Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/do-not-pass-go/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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 Steal the Election by Allum Bokhari) We talk about Amnesty International's report on Covid and Care Homes in the UK and a German lawyer's blueprint to sue governments over their pandemic response. To wrap the Covid coverage, Sir Graham Brady (MP for Altrincham and Sale West) scores a victory for democracy in the House. Finally, a new biography of the PM will hit UK bookstores on the 15th: Boris Johnson The Gambler by Tom Bower. The press previews have been interesting. Opening sound this week is the Prime Minister's appearance Sunday morning on BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show.   Sponsored by Bambee, Indeed Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/its-grim-up-north/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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 future? How about Laurence Fox's new party? Also, Toby praises Tehran on Apple TV+ and James finally gets stuck into The Boys Season 2. Sponsored by Bambee Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/lockdown-madness/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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 learn Toby almost fell into the hands of Britain's most notorious serial killer. Sponsored by Bambee Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/the-end-of-an-illusion/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

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. It's gotten to the point where a Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View, Johnny Mercer, has taken to Twitter to call James the "C" word. Also, why has the Pitt Rivers Museum taken down its shrunken head exhibit? And the the love affair with Cobra Kai continues. This week's opening sound of the Home Secretary stammering through a defense of the new Covid rules is courtesy of Sky News. Sponsored by Bambee, Fast Growing Trees Join the conversation and comment on this podcast episode: https://ricochet.com/podcast/london-calling/the-obi-wankers/.Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing: https://ricochet.com/membership/.Subscribe to London Calling in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.