The John Batchelor Show

1914 BUCKINGHAM CASTLE
World War One Entry
Neil Lanctot, Part Two: Lanctot’s second part details America’s drift into World War I and its aftermath. Following the 1916 Sussex crisis and Wilson’s narrow presidential victory over Charles Evans Hughes, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. Coupled with the intercepted Zimmermann Telegram, Wilson delivered his 1917 war declaration despite opposition from antiwar progressive politicians. The narrative concludes with Versailles Treatynegotiations, Theodore Roosevelt’s death, and Jane Addams overcoming Red Scare surveillance to receive the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize. (2)

1913 WILSON'S INAUGURAL MARCH
Progressive Leaders Foreign Rivalry
Neil Lanctot, author of The Approaching Storm: Roosevelt, Wilson, Addams, and Their Clash Over America’s Future, Part One: Lanctot’s opening part examines how prominent progressive leaders Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jane Addams fractured over foreign policy during World War I. Starting with the 1912 presidential campaign, the narrative traces Addams establishing the Women’s Peace Party and undertaking European citizen diplomacy. Meanwhile, Roosevelt fiercely championed military preparedness, while Wilson maintained precarious American neutrality following the 1915 Lusitania sinking, prompting principled Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan’s dramatic cabinet resignation in protest. (1)

1593
Women In Roman Power
Daisy Dunn, Part Two: Dunn’s second hour analyzes influential women navigating late Roman Republican and imperial politics. It details Cornelia educating the reformer Gracchi brothers, Servilia’s relationship with Julius Caesar, and Cleopatra VII using multilingual intellect and strategic alliances with Caesar and Mark Antony. It highlights Fulviainstigating the Perusine War, Cleopatra’s suicide avoiding Roman humiliation, Empress Livia guiding Augustus to establish the imperial dynasty, and Agrippina the Younger exercising political power beside her teenage son Emperor Nero. (2)

1621
Women In Ancient Civilizations
Daisy Dunn, author of The Missing Thread: A Women’s History of the Ancient World, Part One: Dunn reexamines ancient history by highlighting women’s foundational contributions across classical Greco-Roman civilization. This initial hour explores mythological origins involving Phantasia, Leda, and Helen of Troy, while noting archaeological destruction at Troy. It details Andromache advising Hector, Briseis’s captive role, and Sappho’s poetic legacy, exile, and rival school on Lesbos. Furthermore, it examines Etruscan dentistry and romance, the Sabine women, Lucretia ending Roman monarchy, and Queen Dido using an oxhide trick to found Carthage. (1)

1980 GOP CONVENTION
Presidency And Cold War
Max Boot, Part Two: Boot’s second hour evaluates Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaigns, White House governance, and international legacy. It details his narrow 1976 primary loss to Gerald Ford, 1980 victory over Jimmy Carter, surviving a 1981 assassination attempt, and enacting Reaganomics tax cuts. Managed by Jim Baker’s Troika, Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor, forged pivotal Cold War summit diplomacy with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, weathered the severe Iran-Contra political scandal, and left an enduring optimistic conservative national legacy. (2)