Episode Archives

The Witcher, Wokeness and Bad TV

January 10, 2020 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 00:46:29
“Evil is Evil. Lesser, greater, middling… Makes no difference. The degree is arbitary. The definition’s blurred. If I’m to choose between one evil and another… I’d rather not choose at all.”
~ Geralt of Rivia
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
In this first edition of 2020, Nic talks about his Christmas break of watching a load of TV, and how it’s made him want to rant about wokeness.
From the film Mary Queen of Scots, and it’s jarring historical inaccuracies to BBC’s His Dark Materials, which is just plain bad, we talk about what you should and shouldn’t do with a character, and whether changing history makes something science fiction.
But it’s not all bad as Netflix’s The Witcher proves to have a lead character with a great moral compass, along with great acting and story, and production values that leaves His Dark Materials, well… in the dark.
After Ricky Gervais’s savaging of Hollywood wokeness in the Golden Globes, is it time for more libertarian characters in film and TV?
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Photo by Daniel Lee on Unsplash

Cherán, Mexico – How One Town Expelled The State

December 20, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 00:42:00

In 2011 the residents of a small municipality in Mexico rose up against politicians, the police and illegal loggers associated with the drug cartel La Familia Michoacana. Expelling the corruption and driving those responsible from the town, the crime rate in Cherán has dropped off a cliff.

What can we learn from their unique example? Do you really need the state?

Is centralised control really the best way of achieving any kind of good outcomes?

Or is decentralisation and self control the way forward?

The Libertarian Manifesto by Murray Rothbard can be downloaded for free, here: https://mises.org/library/new-liberty-libertarian-manifesto

The Machinery Of Freedom by David D. Friedman can be downloaded for free, here: http://www.daviddfriedman.com/The_Machinery_of_Freedom_.pdf

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Election Results 2019 – Who and what were the real winners?

December 13, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 00:42:50

It’s results day 2019!

In this episode, we discuss the UK General Election results. We look at statistics, trends, vote share and debate who, & what, were the real winners and losers this time around.

We may be relieved, but is the result actually bittersweet?

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General Election 2019 and the Current State of British Politics

December 11, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 01:11:52

It’s that time again! It’s polling day tomorrow, so we couldn’t record anything but a General Election special.

We discuss the latest YouGov MRP (whatever that stands for…), trends amongst other polls and the state of the current crop of political parties.

Just how close do we think the result will be? Will we be heading for a strong Tory majority? Or will we face another hung parliament? Are we really in a time of unprecedented political turmoil?

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Democracy, Libertarianism and the Trouble with Voting

December 5, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 01:12:23

Recorded straight after the last edition, we follow on with a discussion on the problems of our democratic system and whether we only have a choice of the “least worst” from here on in.

We talk about whether voting matters in a “safe seat”, and whether we have been unwittingly encouraging others to vote on twitter by pointing out how dangerous the Labour Party policies are.

Should Nic hold his nose and vote Tory to stop the Communists? Where do you draw the line with Socialism? Should you always vote for the least Socialist party?

We discuss all of this, and a hypothetical Libertarian Party that would have the power to dismantle all of it…if only they were voted in.

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The Leftwards Drift of UK Politics

December 2, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 01:09:54

In this episode we analyse the manifestos of all major UK parties. And the Greens.

Andrew reached for the short straw this week when he had to read all parties’ manifestos for the upcoming UK General Election on December 12th.

Why are they all so similar? Why is it so hard to tell the difference, these days? Is any party doing anything new?

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A La Cartism, Boris and the next UK General Election

November 14, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 00:50:00

Has Boris found the magic centrist formula for winning the election with his championing of both the free market and the public sector? Or will the Conservatives desire to spend, spend, spend, cause them to look like Labour Lite?

After writing this blog post before there was a general election set, has anything changed?

We review Boris’s first campaign video and discuss whether this is all very smart politics, or if by shifting the Overton window ever statewards without making practical and moral cases for shrinking the state and getting out of our lives, it’s only a matter of time before a Communist gets into power.

Blog Post in the intro – https://soundingboard.com/boriss-a-la-cartism-is-exactly-what-the-public-will-vote-for/

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The Berlin Wall Fell 30 Years Ago

November 7, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 00:34:25

It’s the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – a crucial moment in the late 20th century that signalled the end of the Cold War and the retreat of Communism.
So what has changed since then, and do people born after this moment have different sensibilities when it comes to who the “bad guys” are?
We discuss whether terrorism was the replacement of communism as that perceived enemy, and how it impacts popular culture, and today’s political debate.

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Does a General Election Mean we Finally Get Brexit?

October 30, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 01:15:01
We’re finally having a general election.  But will it really solve the parliamentary problems we are currently experiencing?
Why are we in the situation we are in? Why are we having a General Election at all?
In this edition, Andrew and Nic discuss the craziness of the last couple of weeks in UK politics and that we have finally arrived at an early General Election.
Is it good for Boris and Tories, or are we about to see Jo Swinson swept to power on a tide of remain?
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Thought Experiment: Privatising the Public Sector

October 23, 2019 Andrew Elliott Podcasts 1:02:37

What if everything the government does was privatised? Not the law making, but all of the other functions and agencies and quangos.

Could it be done quickly? What would be the consequences, and should we start with something small first… like the NHS.

As we discuss going the whole hog, we realise we never started the podcast wanting to talk about any of this, but ended up having what we think is an interesting discussion.

But were we always on the same page? We also analyse our thought processes around the conversation, and how we constructed our arguments in order to communicate with each other effectively. We are always interested in improving how we think critically, so this was a revealing retrospective on the conversation, that wouldn’t normally be aired.

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