About this episode

The episode discusses Britain's geopolitical tensions with Argentina, the impact of climate on culture, and the implications of labor scarcity on innovation.

No guest at the airlock this week — no radar contact at all, in fact, because Tom is patching in from a French heatwave, leaving Calum alone in the captain’s seat. Domestic matters first: the long-foretold big score has finally materialised (34 runs, since you ask), and England are in a World Cup semi-final. Which turns out to be geopolitically relevant, because Britain’s principal adversary this century could well be Argentina. The last country to declare war on us has a standing claim on the Antarctic Peninsula and a date circled for 2048, when the treaty system parking everyone’s claims comes up for review. Elsewhere: Tom, broadcasting from a continental-sized armpit at nearly forty degrees, discovers France is having a full culture war about air conditioning while Britain quietly makes cooling near-impossible to permit and calls the heat character-building. And a new Acemoglu paper hands the show a victory lap on a long-running thesis: labour scarcity forces innovation. The episode explores: * Why Britain’s principal adversary this century might be Argentina, with 2048 circled in the diary * “The Antarctic Peninsula is British and it shall remain British. I am sending a task…

People in this episode

Hosts: Tom Ough, Calum Drysdale

Topics covered

• geopolitics
• sports
• climate
• innovation
• international relations

Keywords

• Argentina
• Britain
• Antarctic Peninsula
• World Cup
• climate war
• innovation
• Harry Kane

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Argentina, Britain, Antarctic Peninsula, France, Chagos Islands, Diego Garcia

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