In This Mad World

Episode 14 - The Mad King's Mad Gaza Plan

In this episode, recorded on the 5th of February, 2025, Andrew and Chelsey break down the unhinged press conference held by President Trump unveiling his ‘Gaza Plan’ while receiving his first visit from a foreign leader, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu. The plan’s headlining-grabbing details were for the United States to “take” and “own” Gaza and to turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” But the Palestinians? Oh, not to worry, says Trump, they’ll simply “leave.” We bring you clips from the press conference and do some analysis (and ridiculing) in between.

Episode 13 - Is Trumpism a Brand of Fascism?

In this episode, the first of 2025, Andrew and Chelsey take a look at the first few days of the Trump administration, and ask and explore the question as to whether or not Trumpism reflects a kind of modern-day version of fascism. They examine this question by going through some of the historical precedents of fascism, analyzing defining features and processes of fascist movements and compare them to the present circumstances. In a time when the word has often been misused and abused to the point where it can mean anything to anyone, it's best to go to the history so that we can better understand what fascism is, and whether we are seeing it take shape in the United States today.

Episode 12 - South Korea's Political Crisis (with a Side of Canada)

In this episode, recorded on December 18, Chelsey G and Andrew Marshall take a look at the past couple weeks of crisis in South Korea, prompted by the president's shock declaration of martial law and the subsequent dramatic fallout, leaving Asia's fourth largest economy in a state of political chaos. We inadvertently also take an analogy detour in looking at some of Canada's own recent political chaos with the ruling Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau facing its largest internal crisis in years.

Episode 11 - A Week of Global Chaos

This episode was recorded on December 4, four days before the Syrian rebels took over Damascus and President Assad fled the country. In this episode, Chelsey G and Andrew not only discuss the previous week’s events in Syria, but they also take a step back and look at numerous events around the world that inspire a sense of chaos, including the 6-hour declaration of martial law in South Korea, the collapse of the French government, and the so-called “ceasefire” in Lebanon, which Israel had routinely violated. On Syria, they begin with some background on the civil war to help lay out the context for recent events, which were clearly very fast moving.

Episode 10 - Criminal Proceedings

In this episode, recorded November 21, Chelsey G and Andrew Marshall update listeners on two major news items related to yet another UN vote for a ceasefire which was vetoed by the United States, and the happy news of ICC arrest warrants being issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Episode 9 - The Trump Dump

In this episode, recorded on November 13, Andrew Marshall and Chelsey G provide a post-election wrap-up, with a look at some of the new Trump appointments to cabinet positions, and taking a look back at Trump’s first term to get some clues about his priorities and preferences in different regions of the world, looking at the consequences for Europe, NATO, Ukraine and Russia; at China and Taiwan; and at the Middle East with the primary focus on relationships with Israel and Saudi Arabia and the likely antagonism toward Iran.

Episode 8 - American Empire in the Middle East - Part 1

In this episode, the first of a series, Chelsey G and Andrew Marshall take a look at the actual historical record, starting from the end of World War II and going up until the late 1950s. We examine some key documents from within various US administrations, outlining their interests and objectives in the region, ranging from oil resources, transit routes, and Israel. From the 1948 Israel-Arab War, the development and rapid growth in Arab Nationalism, the role of the British (and French), the rise of Nasser in Egypt, the 1953 CIA coup in Iran, to the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Eisenhower Doctrine, and the Jordan and Lebanon crises in July 1958, resulting in the deployment of British and American forces into the region, with America’s 1958 deployment to Lebanon being the first U.S. military intervention in the Middle East. But certainly not the last. We bring documents from the 1950s to the present context, and help explain how and why America’s role in the region evolved over the past eighty years.

Episode 7 - The General's Plan

In this episode, recorded on October 24, Chelsey and Andrew discuss the so-called General’s Plan for northern Gaza, the Israeli plan to ethnically cleanse the northern part of the Strip, the plans of extremist settlers to move in and settle the area, the expanded war in Lebanon, UN Resolution 1701, the role of Syria, and wider regional geopolitics.

Episode 6 - America and Israel - Who is in Charge?

In this episode, Andrew and Chelsey ask the question: what is the nature of the relationship between Israel and America? Is Israel a US puppet, or is America Israel’s puppet? Or… neither? Both? This episode takes a look at the nature of patron-client imperial relationships, with past and present examples, and bringing it back to the present war in the Middle East, focusing on the context of changing nation-to-nation relationships of an America in decline and an Israel going insane.

Episode 5 - Israel's Quest for a Wider War

In this episode, recorded a day after the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1, Chelsey and Andrew discuss the escalating war and crisis in the Middle East, including the expanded war in Lebanon, the potential Israeli response to Iran, the views of Arab regimes, America’s interests in Israel as an outpost of empire, Iran’s deterrent strategy, Israel’s Iron Dome defense, strategic considerations and the role of ‘credibility’ and reputation in war, and comparing Israel to the nation-state equivalent of a serial killer.