Whisky, Free Speech and Discrimination Law

EAfter receiving our first ever gift from a listener of a bottle of scotch, Andrew explains how whisky is made and what makes a good one. We then talk about free speech and whether it’s ever right to have any restrictions on it. The Darren Grimes incident of the last week shows just how far...

Circuit Breaker Or Will Breaker?

EThis week, Nic notices that there has been a noticeable change in the political landscape, with the two main parties finally diverging over lockdown policy. But is this a good thing or not? Certainly when all political parties agree then alarm bells should ring, but if one goes even further, even more authoritarian, will that...

Fear As A Virtue

EIs fear the latest virtue that must be signalled? As we discuss Trump’s recovery and Andrew’s wife experience with the NHS, we ask whether it’s now trendy to show just how fearful you are. We also talk about social media censorship, and whether you’d end up with even more liars, as all the proof they...

Office outbreak, Trump tests positive and what about the roads?

ESome actual infections have finally occurred in Nic’s office, and of course, everyone is fine, but wouldn’t it have been better for this to happen in the summer months rather than trying to suppress until the changing of the seasons when all the other bugs appear again? Trump also tests positive, along with his wife...

Is Democracy A Check On Power?

EThe biggest encroachment on civil liberties has taken place in 2020, and under a Conservative government. How did this happen without any scrutiny? Democracy was one of the first things to be suspended, so how can it be used to check the power of those at the top? Do opposition parties ever oppose when it...

Exam Grades, the Rule of Six and Our Growing Police State

ENic is back from Cornwall after cancelling his trip to Corfu, but how much of a holiday was it, being herded through one way systems, with mask nazis everywhere? He also shares his recent experiences with masks and how its stopped him attending medical appointments. We cover the exam grading debacle, where yet another computer...

Virtue Broadcasting

EFurther to Andrew’s recent blog post about Virtue Broadcasting, we take the topic further. We discuss virtue signalling in general, before moving on to the louder, shoutier form that is broadcasting. We talk about different forms of signals, from Twitter bios to mask wearing to clapping like a trained chimpanzee every Thursday evening. We talk...

The Chocolate Episode

EIn this edition we review some of the latest polling and see just how crazy the numbers are for people supporting the unprecedented government interventions of 2020. Does it very much if you are a Labour or Tory voter or are they all happy to be authoritarian in an pandemic. Andrew tells the story of...

Left Leaning Language and Grievance Signalling

EIs a common language enough any more or do you need to somehow signal your political or woke intentions? How does that work when the Overton Window shifts so frequently? We talk about the evolution of terms such as “Coloured People” and “People of Colour” to define groups of people, and whether its a feature...

Hackonomics: Market Forces and Unethical Behaviour

EWith the recent hacking attacks at Twitter and Garmin, Nic explains the detail behind another attack on a company called Blackbaud. They claim to have stopped a cyberattack, but they are explicit that they paid the ransom demand. Can companies really guarantee their data is not going to be released or sold after paying the...