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The John Batchelor Show

The John Batchelor Show

The John Batchelor Show (Monday - Sunday from 9 PM-1 AM) is an essential tool for understanding the new order in the 21st Century. Each week John brings listeners breaking news with a carefully cultivated team of sources and correspondents around the worl

The John Batchelor Show · Audioboom

1,589 episodesEN-US

Show overview

The John Batchelor Show has published 1,589 episodes during 2026. That works out to roughly 260 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a near-daily cadence.

Episodes typically run under ten minutes — most land between 6 min and 11 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language News & Politics show.

The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed yesterday, with 1,589 episodes already out so far this year. Published by Audioboom.

Episodes
1,589
Started
2026
Median length
9 min
Cadence
Near-daily

From the publisher

The John Batchelor Show is a hard news-analysis radio program on current events, world history, global politics and natural sciences. Based in New York City for two decades, the show has travelled widely to report, from the Middle East to the South Caucasus to the Arabian Peninsula and East Asia.

S8 Ep1066: ChatGPT and "The Blip." Guest Author: Keach Hagey. The final segment focuses on the viral success of ChatGPT and the resulting internal conflicts at OpenAI. Hagey notes that as ChatGPT's popularity grew, Altman's focus shifted from early safety warning

Jun 28, 20265 min

S8 Ep1066: Stanford, Loopt, and Y Combinator. Guest Author: Keach Hagey. Altman's career accelerated at Stanford, where he dropped out to co-found Loopt, a pioneering location-tracking startup. Although Loopt achieved visibility—including a famous appearance at an A

Jun 28, 202614 min

S8 Ep1066: Formative Years in St. Louis. Guest Author: Keach Hagey. This segment explores Sam Altman's childhood in St. Louis during the 1980s and 90s. Hagey describes Altman's parents: Jerry, an idealistic real estate developer focused on affordable housing, and Co

Jun 28, 20267 min

S8 Ep1066: The Founding of OpenAI. Guest Author: Keach Hagey. In this opening segment, Keach Hagey discusses the January 2016 founding of OpenAI as a nonprofit research lab. Key figures included co-founder Greg Brockman and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, a renowned

Jun 28, 202610 min

S8 Ep1065: The Death of a Legend at Kealakekua Bay. Guest Author: Hampton Sides. Cook returned to Hawaii in 1779, arriving during the Makahiki festival. The Hawaiians perceived him as the god Lono, and Cook played along to restock his ships. Tensions rose after the

Jun 28, 20269 min

S8 Ep1065: The Perils of the Northwest Coast. Guest Author: Hampton Sides. Cook mapped the coastline from Oregon to Alaska, enduring foul weather and perpetual fog. While the Spanish sought to arrest him for encroaching on their territory, Benjamin Franklin ordered

Jun 28, 20269 min

S8 Ep1065: The Discovery of Hawaii. Guest Author: Hampton Sides. In late 1777, Cook accidentally discovered the Hawaiian Islands, starting with Kauai. The Hawaiians, who had never seen smoking or pockets, dubbed the sailors "volcano people." Cook realized these were

Jun 28, 20268 min

S8 Ep1065: Rage on Moorea and Farewell to Mai. Guest Author: Hampton Sides. Tensions escalated on the island of Moorea during the "Goat Incident," where the theft of a pregnant nanny goat triggered a "scorched earth" campaign from Cook. He destroyed huts and canoes

Jun 28, 20269 min

S8 Ep1065: Tahiti and the Challenges of Resettling Mai. Guest Author: Hampton Sides. The expedition arrived in Tahiti in August 1777, where the crew was eager for recreation. Cook's primary task was finding a home for Mai, who had returned from England with a hoard

Jun 28, 20265 min

S8 Ep1065: Tahiti and the Challenges of Resettling Mai. Guest Author: Hampton Sides. The expedition arrived in Tahiti in August 1777, where the crew was eager for recreation. Cook's primary task was finding a home for Mai, who had returned from England with a hoard

Jun 28, 202614 min

S8 Ep1065: Crewing the Expedition and Erroneous Science. Guest Author: Hampton Sides. The mission involved two ships: the Resolution and the Discovery. Key officers included Charles Clerke, who commanded the Discovery while suffering from tuberculosis, and James Kin

Jun 28, 20268 min

S8 Ep1065: Preparation and the Lure of the Third Voyage. Guest Author: Hampton Sides. In 1776, a retired Captain James Cook was living a comfortable life at Greenwich Hospital after two legendary voyages. However, a dinner with Lord Sandwich and the prospect of find

Jun 28, 20269 min

S8 Ep1064: The Controversial Legacy of Plato's Letters. Guest Author: Professor James Romm. Much of this history comes from thirteen letters attributed to Plato, though their authenticity is debated. Romm accepts five as genuine, including the detailed Seventh

Jun 28, 20268 min

S8 Ep1064: Justice and the Allegory of the Philosophic King. Guest Author: Professor James Romm. Plato spent his final decades in Athens, completing The Republic. He categorized governance, placing tyranny at the bottom as a system driven by base appetites. He argue

Jun 28, 202611 min

S8 Ep1064: Timoleon and the Exile of Dionysius in Corinth. Guest Author: Professor James Romm. Dionysius the Younger eventually reclaimed his fortress, but Syracuse turned to Corinth for aid. Corinth sent Timoleon, a retired man leading a meager mercenary force. Sur

Jun 28, 20265 min

S8 Ep1064: The Liberation of Syracuse and the Fall of Dion. Guest Author: Professor James Romm. Dion invaded Syracuse with a liberation force but faced internal chaos as populist passions erupted. He clashed with the radical democrat Heraclides, whom he eventually h

Jun 28, 202612 min

S8 Ep1064: The Invitation to Educate a Young Tyrant. Guest Author: Professor James Romm. Following the elder tyrant's death, Dion invited Plato back to tutor Dionysius the Younger. Dion hoped to transform the immature ruler into an enlightened monarch. Plato's arriv

Jun 28, 202612 min

S8 Ep1064: Plato's Intellectual Roots and First Visit. Guest Author: Professor James Romm. Plato's early life was shaped by the reign of the 30 Tyrants in Athens, including his relative Critias. The execution of his teacher, Socrates, further disillusioned him with

Jun 28, 20266 min

S8 Ep1064: The Rise of the Dionysian Dynasty in Syracuse. Guest Author: Professor James Romm. Syracuse, a Corinthian colony, rose to power under Dionysius the Elder during the 4th century BCE. Starting as a clerk, he became a demagogue by attacking elite leaders acc

Jun 28, 202610 min

S8 Ep1063: SCHEDULE FOR THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 6-26-2026.

Jun 27, 20265 min