Jack P Taylor's Political And Historical Curiosities

In today's episode on French politics I consider how: The French President gets elected, The President's powers, The French Prime Minister's powers,  The structure of the French Parliament, How French Parliamentarians are elected, and, The important information on the upcoming elections.

In today's episode I cover the history of the UN from 1957 to 1967 covering: Nation building in Africa, Gary Powers and the U-2 Crisis, The Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Council expansion, The Cyprus conflict, The Kashmir conflict, and, The six-day war.

In this episode I say "velvet divorce" a lot. I also cover a brief history of Czechoslovakia, How the dissolution came to be, The issues that the dissolution faced Issues that arose (both major and minor) The current situation

In today's episode I consider 1946-1956 in the bodies history. The first use of the veto Palestine and Israel An Oscar win The Berlin Blockade Chinese representation The Korean war The new UN Building and The Suez canal crisis  

 In a first I'm covering the actual news. What is article 50? How was it invoked? Has the UK now left the EU? How will we know how it's going? What will the EU Parliament be doing? How would an agreement be reached? What does an agreement look like? When we have an agreement what next? What happens if anyone votes no? Mystery 10th question. Sorry for the poor audio quality I had 2.26 MB of space left on my LibSyn account so I had to compress heavily. 

Over the four terms of FDR's presidency he would deliver approx. 30 fireside messages, they have been credited for his immense popularity and are still today are unique type of address. Thanks to the FDR presidential library I have been able to use recordings of the address throughout this podcast for one I'm immensely proud of!

In this episode I consider the Dumbarton Oaks, Yalta, and San Francison conferences, and the first meetings of the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council.

I'll consider why Scotland joined England & Wales in 1707, how the fortunes of independence and home rule movements have ebbed and waned, and the state of play today

In this episode I consider what came before the United Nations, how the term United Nations first referred to a military alliance, and what each of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin aimed to secure from the organisation as it was established.

I’ll discuss the six desks the Presidents have used in the Oval Office: detailing who used which, the history of their creation, and debunking National Treasure 2 Where to buy a Resolute desk of your own: http://www.resolutedesk.com/prices/

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation accounts for 70% of the world’s defense spending. I’ll discuss how it was founded, how it expanded, its operations, and it’s current role in the world. Joe Sacco’s Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-95 – http://amzn.to/2miZmO5 (US – Affiliate link) or http://amzn.to/2mLYnJp(UK – Affiliate link) 

In this longest episode yet I discuss:  how nuclear weapons were first developed, when different nations started their programmes,  the largest bomb ever exploded, a whose who of nuclear countries, and finally South Sudan’s nuclear weapons programme.

In this episode I’ll discuss how the President is given the power to pardon, it’s uses throughout the years, and the MOST CONTROVERSIAL PARDONS OF THEM ALL!

This week I’ll discuss how the EU began, how it became what we know today, its expansion through the years, and where next.

What is a knighthood? When did it all start? What do I need to do to get an honour? Are you able to turn down an honour? Apologies for part of my recording rig deciding to make an onimous noise at 15 mins.

In this part 2 of my look at the White House I consider how President’s get their stuff in on moving day, how President’s change the famous building from adding kitchens to hot tubs, and talk about a naked Ronald Reagan.

In this episode I strive to explain the basics of the US court system – from a state level to the US Supreme Court. I also talk quickly about how judges get selected.

With Vice President Pence recently making history by being the 1st VP to be needed vote for a President’s cabinet I discuss the role of the VP in Senate, and historical instances of VPs being needed to vote on tie-breaks.

With Trump’s staff struggling to work the light switches I decided to do a two-parter focusing on the White House. This week I go through how the White House was built and then extended, how it fell into disrepair, and how Truman and Kennedy made the White House great again. Next week join me for a look at how Presidents have put their own personal touch on the White House