M.I.Cynic Thomas Brancato

Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week, from the vault, we are releasing a conversation with Shakir McClean which was recorded during the political storm resulting in the eventual resignation of Mr. Kwarteng and eventually the PM Liz Truss. Although politics has progressed in leaps and bounds since, we felt this snippet of political recent history might still be quite relevant today. At that time, Liz Truss' future seemed very uncertain, and we soon discovered that meant the end of her premiership. A future episode will deal with the ramifications of her short tenure and the arrival of PM Rishi Sunak. But rather than leave the episode in the vault of outdated 'furniture', we thought much of the discussion surrounding David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss was still relevant and timely. Let us know what you make of 12 years of Tory rule. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.

Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week, we cover US President Joe Biden's presidency as we approach the crucial mid-term elections. We discuss his speech addressing the legal case between the US Government vs Donald Trump, electoral differences between them, appealing to the crucial swing voters, his focus on long-term infrastructure commitments, addressing polarisation, student loan relief package, the political party system in America, prospects for the next election, electoral costs of Biden's personal brand, withdrawal from Afghanistan, and his legacy thus far. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.

In this week's episode, Ahmed Patel and I unravel the relationship between Islam and terrorism. We discuss his shock when news of his brother-in-law's (Mohammed Siddique Khan) involvement in the 7/7 London bombings, the role of grievance and victimisation in terrorist motives, the factor of substance abuse and mental health, the role of social media and the internet, differences in radicalisation for ultranationalist and Islamist terrorists, comparisons to Christianity's history of violence, and more. Join us for deep dive into Islam's demons.

Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week, we discuss the sea of troubles surrounding former US President Donald Trump and the ongoing judicial case stemming from sensitive top secret documents retrieved from his Mar-A-Lago retreat. We discuss the Espionage Act, parry politics, his undeterred base of supporters, confidentiality, polarisation, prospects for the next US presidential and midterm elections, and more. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.

Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. This week, we discuss the past, present and future of Hong Kong as it completes 25 years since the United Kingdom's handover of the city to China. We go over the infamous NSL (National Security Law), the effects of Covid-19 clampdown on civil rights, draconian quarantine measures on arrivals, depopulation, migration, cost of living crisis, loss of its prestige internationally, its similarity with prospects over Taiwan, the dearth of democracy and lastly, its future relationship with the Western world. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.

Welcome back fellow cynics as your co-hosts Thomas Brancato and Jorge Shaft continue our weekly roundup series, Cynical Talk. We discuss increased tension between China and the United States over the status of Taiwan, including US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to the island, the legal status of Taiwanese sovereignty, a brief history of Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War, Taiwan's democracy, comparison to other breakaway regions such as Kosovo, the principle of self-determination in international relations, the "Two China" system and US foreign policy, the burden of a world hegemon, redrawing world maps, threat of conflict between the United States and China in the midst of the Ukraine invasion, the defensibility of Taiwan, risk of a catastrophic World War, China's policy objectives, demographic and other concerns for Chinese officials, domestic dissidence in China, and lastly the problem of rash decision-making in autocracies. We hope you enjoy tuning in as much as we enjoy piecing these together! Drop us a comment anytime, anywhere.