Omar was undoubtedly the most intriguing character in The Wire, not least for his legendary reposte: “You come at the king, you best not miss”. Christopher Luxon is hardly a gun-toating gay Baltimore gangster, but he is a survivor of sorts.
Bernard Hickey and I will talk — mostly in the second half of the show — about the Luxon showdown and the not-very-OK corral of the National caucus. We have legendary commentator Fran O’Sullivan of the New Zealand Herald in to give her perspective on what history tells us about leaders and their challenge(r)s.
In the first half, Dr Cathrine Dyer will discuss how our climate targets seem to be slipping further away and look at two reports that question the entire idea of whether economic growth is sustainable if we are to survive the climate crisis. Do tune in to learn about “Jevons Paradox” and a surprise entrant in the no-growth fanbase.
Iran is the centre of our section on international affairs with a general assumption that it has checkmated the United States and especially Donald Trump, arguably with Tehran playing chess against someone who is at best an impatient checkers player.
We will have our frequent guest Professor Robert Patman from Otago University and our occasional guest, author, historian, and former Reuters bureau chief in Tehran, Jonathan Lyons. Jonathan is fired up to put the now nearly six-month-old conflict in context, right back to the origins of Shia Islam and the Achaemenid Empire.
Who needs the Rest is History or the Rest is Politics when you have the Hoon? See you on YouTube at Bernard’s channel if you wish — live between 17:00 and 18:00 NZ time on Thursday or with a better-edited version on your podcast platforms on Friday.