The Norms They Are A-Changing

Chris describes watching Mississippi Burning with his son, how that brought back memories of his time as a local reporter in Mississippi in the 1980s, and how the themes of the film resonate with today. The social norms that have been in place since the 90s that have, piecemeal and to an incomplete degree, made overt expressions of racism and sexism unacceptable are in the process of being swept away for a far darker set of norms. In the second half of the episode, Chris and Jim discuss the fast-moving situation with respect to Ukraine. Whilst Trump has succeeded in slamming his fist down on the board, knocking all the pieces over, a genuine peace deal requires them to be placed back in a stable position and it is far from clear, to put it mildly, that Trump has the insight or the patience to do that. Whilst it is encouraging to hear talk of peace, we might instead be seeing a great power carve-up of Ukraine's mineral wealth. In the meantime the Europeans talk about peace whilst increasing spending on weapons, Russia watches as the US advocates for all its favoured positions, and the war grinds on. Nevertheless, and despite its non-standard nature, a diplomatic process involving Russia, Ukraine, the US, and the EU is beginning to assert itself. 

Details on the resource issue discussed by Chris and Jim are available here -

https://warontherocks.com/2025/02/trump-needs-a-plan-on-ukraines-buried-treasure/

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