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Georgina Godwin
You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 29 December 2025 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U.
Yossi Meckelburg
Hello.
Georgina Godwin
This is the Globalist broadcasting to you live from Midori House in London. Just a brisk 30 minutes today. I'm Georgina Godwin. On the show ahead, we discussed all.
Yossi Meckelburg
The aspects of the peace framework which.
Georgina Godwin
Includes and we have great achievements. 20 point peace plan, 90% agreed. And US Ukraine security guarantees 100% agreed. We bring you the analysis from the Ukraine peace talks between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky. We'll have a rustle through today's front pages and get a roundup of news from the Pacific.
Emma Nelson
And then Boddo would become symbolic of a kind of sexual abandon and a French womanhood that endures even today.
Georgina Godwin
The iconic French film star has died at the age of 91. We pay tribute to her life. All that right on the Globalist. With me, Georgina Godwin. Over the last few days, Russia has fired over 21,000 drones, 800 aerial bombs and 94 missiles on Ukraine. As Zelenskyy arrived in Florida for a meeting with Donald Trump at his Mar A Lago estate yesterday, he said the attack on Kyiv showed Putin doesn't want peace at a time where he confirmed a 20 point peace plan. Dr. Was 90% ready. Meanwhile, Putin warned that Moscow would accomplish all its goals by force if Ukraine did not want to resolve the conflict peacefully. Well, to bring some clarity to all of this, we're joined by Gurana Grgic, who is Monocle's security correspondent. She's in our Zurich studio, Guarana. Good morning to you. Many thanks for joining us. What was the main takeaway then from the Zelensky Trump meeting?
Gurana Grgic
Good morning, Georgina. And you're absolutely right that we've seen some progress, but this is definitely not a finished peace deal by any means. What I think we need to really emphasize is that there has been progress on the US Ukraine security guarantees. I think that this is something if we compare it to just, you know, some 10 months ago when President Trump met President Zelensky for the first time in the White House There was basically very little hope that there would be any progress there or any sort of credit, credible commitment from the US Side. But the hardest issue that remains is the issue of territorial concessions or potential territorial concessions, the status of Donbas more broadly, which remains unresolved. And it will remain unresolved until it's given democratic license through the parliamentary approval or a referendum in Ukraine.
Georgina Godwin
And has there been any official comment from either Trump or Zelenskyy after the meeting?
Gurana Grgic
Well, we heard both presidents spoke at this joint news conference. They seemingly seemed more upbeat, but also somewhat vague. So it is really about kind of what you want to read into it, given that Trump said that they're getting closer to a deal, but they may be very close, but also they might not be as close. So it depends. I think what we also have to say is that we've heard from people who haven't been necessarily present at the opulent Mar A Lago ballroom. So European leaders welcome progress. And we've heard some plans for concrete contributions from the coalition of the willing, which should be meeting in just a couple of days time, basically in Paris.
Georgina Godwin
And anything from Putin?
Gurana Grgic
Well, Kremlin aligned voices were publicly positive about Trump's mediation. We know, of course, Putin spoke with Trump before Zelensky actually came to Mar A Lago. This is something that keeps on happening kind of regularly now, the kind of sequencing where Putin seems to be in Trump's ear before Zelensky. And what we've keep on hearing from Putin and again, what we've heard from your intro. This is all happening while Moscow's positions remain firm and while we've seen, again, some of the worst attacks on the capital of Ukraine and, you know, a constant barrage of missiles and drones attacks on various locations all around Ukraine.
Georgina Godwin
I mean, this is also not the only conflict that Donald Trump's attempting to solve tomorrow or in fact, today, I think think he meets with Israel's leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. What are your expectations for that?
Gurana Grgic
Well, this meeting is taking place as we see that there are numerous reports of violations of the ceasefire in Gaza and the peace deal from both sides. And it's taking place as we should be moving from phase one to phase two of the ceasefire plan. And phase two was all about formation of the Interim Authority of International Stabilization Force, where basically United States would play this major role. So Trump is going to try to push to advance phase two in Gaza. But at the same time, there are a lot of issues where the United States is getting frustrated with Israeli government's breaches of the ceasefire, as well as potential future military activities and interventions that Prime Minister Netanyahu has already flagged, whether it's dealing with Hezbollah in Lebanon or actually dealing with Iran, which Prime Minister Netanyahu has said is accelerating its ballistic missiles production and is saying that basically what happened earlier this year in summer is somewhat of an unfinished business when it comes to the attack nuclear facilities in Iran.
Georgina Godwin
Trump has trailed the fact that he's got some big announcements coming up. Are these to do with Gaza?
Gurana Grgic
Apparently these would be the ones that at least what we heard from some of the reporting. I think Axio said this story that this would be a kind of more durable kind of deal that has to do with Gaza about this sort of complex multilateral implementation of the peace deal. But I think we should again think about Trump's style when it comes to all of this peace mediation, which is, you know, announcements of big kind of deals, big headlines. But whether they actually translate into durable peace doesn't depend on a single meeting in Mar a Lago. So there is a little bit of theatrics there. But again, it fits into this whole narrative of him now claiming that he solved about eight conflicts so far. Again, you know, context of Thailand, Cambodia and similar.
Georgina Godwin
Yeah, I mean, how is that self nominated role or self perceived role as world peacemaker playing at home? Do you think he'll have to make some kind of big domestic announcements to appease the growing discontent within the MAGA base over his involvement in foreign affairs?
Gurana Grgic
That's exactly the right question, especially as 2026 is, we know, the midterms year. So all issues when it comes to US Politics will need to domestic issues rather than these sort of big international sort of deal making kind of theatrics and similar. And you are absolutely right, when it comes to his own base, MAGA has originally been more about sort of withdrawal rather than deep engagement in the world. So as long as there are issues in the United States when it comes to, again, the kind of affordability, you know, dealing with economic problems there, the kind of aftermaths of the inflation that the United States has been experiencing and so on, some that has been kind of unforced errors, others that have been more sort of structural, those things are going to be much more front and center and things that the Democrats for sure will use as potential ammunition in this sort of political sparing rather than, you know, what Trump might be doing abroad. And this is exactly what some of the base have been been saying that Trump wasn't elected actually to do these sort of international tours, but rather to improve the lives of his base.
Georgina Godwin
Guraana. Thank you very much indeed. That was Gurana Grgik, Monocle Security correspondent, speaking to us from our Zurich studio. And this is the Globalist.
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Georgina Godwin
Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. China has begun major military drills around Taiwan involving air, naval and missile forces and simulating the seizure of key areas. Taiwan says its military is on high alert, warning the exercises risk further destabilizing the region. Polls have closed after the first day of voting in Myanmar in elections widely criticized as neither free nor fair. The military, which seized power five years ago in jailed opposition figures including Aung San SUU Kyi, is expected to retain control as violence continues across much of the country. And a 72 hour ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia appears to be holding. After weeks of escalating border fighting, evacuees have begun returning home, though tensions remain high along the disputed frontier. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned. Let's continue now with today's newspapers. And joining me in the studio is Yossi Meckelburg, who is senior consulting fellow at the Middle east and North Africa program at Chatham House. You'll see what a glamorous new year having. It's not exactly New Year's Day, but it's that, what do they call it in betwixtmas?
Yossi Meckelburg
Is it? Yeah, I mean, try to recover from all, you know, celebration of Christmas, moving into the New Year. So what's better than being here in the Monocle Studio?
Georgina Godwin
Well, I agree with you, but you were just lamenting the fact that we were in a pretty chilly studio and not in Florida, where, where of course, Netanyahu is today.
Yossi Meckelburg
Some people know how to have better weather at least. But you know, Netanyahu is to have the long, the long route to the United States this day because of the ICC arrest warrant. So everyone is following his airplane from Tel Aviv all the way to, to, to Florida to make sure it doesn't fly over countries that might. They probably won't decide to stop him or force the airplane to land there and arrest him. But in the meantime, he's going to meet President Trump in Florida. I mean it seems that during the holiday the capital of the United States is and on weekends moving to Florida. And after the meeting yesterday with Zelenskyy in dealing Ukraine moving back to second phase Gaza, Iran see what's next. It seems more and more that phase two on Gaza is delayed. And one of the way for Netanyahu to deflect from Gaza, the West bank, then Lebanon, probably Syria is to talk Iran. And that's because if you listen to some of what his minister says about the defense minister talk about building settlements in north Gaza. So this is again the chief of staff Eyel Zamir that talk about the yellow line being deadlined, you know, the defense line. So meaning permanent presence of Israel of the IDF at least and in addition civilians if they are building settlements in Gaza taking more than 50%. So the question what Trump is going to say to Netanyahu about it, whether it's really ADAMANT that the 20th going ahead or Netanyahu being Netanyahu made to deflect to Iran.
Georgina Godwin
And of course the FT is saying today that Iran's president says that they're in an all out war with the U.S. europe and Israel. I'm not sure Europe's noticed.
Yossi Meckelburg
Yeah. But you know back in September Europe invoked the snapback which means now there are sanctions on Iran from all directions. So I think what you know, the President Pascharin said, they don't know our country to stand upright and are surrounding us from all sides, economically, culturally, politically and from security perspective it's a very kind of running cry war. You see we are all surrounded, we attack, we were physically attacked. The forget that also launched missile at Israel at the time, caused quite a bit of damage. But they are, they're all against that. And in many ways, you know, it's between two things. A, yes, Iran feel isolated more than for a very long time. But at the same time when the regime is in trouble, you know, inflation is high, unemployment is high, nothing, you know most revolutions do that even 40, more than 40 years after this is, you know, we are under attack. So it allows them also to be more oppressive internally, domestically, just to keep the regime going. Because actually one of the things that he mentioned in his speech that they don't want only to stop us from developing nuclear weapons. What they really wanted back in June is regime change. So this is kind of rally the troops that support the regime in order to fend up opposition from within, but also pressure from the outside.
Georgina Godwin
Yeah, you found this wonderful piece in the New York Times about what America might look like with zero immigration. I found it so fascinating. Tell us more.
Yossi Meckelburg
Yeah, it's quite eerie because the Trump administration already removed or expelled 600,000 people. That's many people, you know, removing. So in some community, of course you feel it's more than others. We know that the percentage of foreign born in the United States right now is more than 14%. Compared to the 1970s, that it was 4%. So it means if you start removing many people, you feel it in different communities, especially in more agricultural communities with many of them work in care homes in other places. So that for instance, that in some places the local, as they call it, soccer league, what we call football league, you know, children are not showing up. It's also the thing is that not showing up because they're afraid of fight. They will come and round them up in the next thing they are on airplane to wherever they send them back home or other places, as we've seen before. I think it's going to have huge impact, not only obviously on the economy, but also the society, the culture of the United States. One of the beautiful the United States. You know, I mentioned Florida earlier. You talk about Little Havana, for instance. I know you visited not a long time ago. So because this is, this is the United States. It's a country of my country, you know, all through.
Georgina Godwin
Absolutely.
Yossi Meckelburg
And now it's going to change it by removing it's as economic impact as they're aging society. Some claim, you know, it makes the communities less vibrant. But I'm afraid this is the token and going to change the United States if it continues beyond the Trump administration because Vice President Vance, who might become the president in three years time, think exactly the same. This is the time to reduce immigration. The question if from employers point of view it would be also backlash and also we feel we'll see in the midterm if there is a backlash as a result.
Georgina Godwin
One person who really in all likelihood is not going to be president is Bernie Sanders. But he has been speaking out about AI. He says it's the most consequential technology in humanity.
Yossi Meckelburg
Yeah. And you know, probably the, the train of him becoming a president has left the station already, but is still, you know, the same Bernie Sanders that looks not, you know, everyone looks at wealth creation in the sense of the very rich people are becoming richer and AI will make them even richer. And what he says, have we ever thought he said, we haven't have any serious discussion in Congress about the consequences for ordinary people. So if AI is going to take all These jobs and more people are going to be unemployed as a result of it. What does it mean for them paying for their health premium? What is it meaning for them making a living? So and he said this is Bernie Sanders, always a very straight talker. And he said, listen, the people that are planning all this AI and making bigger and bigger and I saw actually yesterday a chart that says that 40% of growth in the United States last year came from AI and some say even bigger than that mean that job creation focusing or concentrate a very specific part of the economy, which means that others don't go at the same rate. What's going to happen to these people? And he, as he says at the end of the day, you know, not going to change humanity. The people that plan it deep think about getting richer. They don't think how what is going to do to our society. And also one other thing that raises there is the emotional impact. You know, are we actually prepared how that we deal more and more with machines and less less with people. It might improve for instance in the medical profession, in other areas interpretation. But what happens to us the need to human interaction. That and the fact that he says that there was not a single discussion in Congress is unbelievable.
Georgina Godwin
It's pretty shocking, isn't it? You'll see very quick look at the Bayer tapestry. Yeah, it's being insured for what is it? 800 million.
Yossi Meckelburg
So it's coming home because allegedly it was actually this was actually the tapestry was made in England. It's beautiful. Anyone that's been there and I, I was lucky enough to be in Bayeux and see it there. It's like 70 meters long and 50 centimeters tall and tells the story of the Normans and the conquest of the Duke of Norman and the Battle of Hastings. But now they renovate the museum back in Bayonne. It's coming here and it's worth it's 900 years old. It regards one of the achievements of the Nomad Romanesque and it's 900 years in actually wonderful condition. So no one wants it to happen anything for that. But if it happens, they estimate that it's worth £800 million, I think. And the question if this is the best way to spend taxpayer. It's an open question some probably will ask.
Georgina Godwin
Absolutely. Yossi, thank you very much indeed. That's Yossi Meckelburg there. And this is the globalist on Monocle Radio.
Yossi Meckelburg
Foreign.
Georgina Godwin
You're back with the globalist on Monocle Radio. I'm joined now by Natalia Sutherland, who's a reporter Based in New Zealand, but now here with me in the studio for a Pacific News roundup. Good morning to you, Natalia.
Natalia Sutherland
Good morning.
Georgina Godwin
Now we are looking back at the Bondi beach attack, but specifically at the guy, Ahmed Al Ahmed, who saved lots of lives by grabbing the gunman. He's given his first interview.
Natalia Sutherland
Yeah. So last night he gave his first interview to CBS News in America. It was the first time we got to see him in a sit down interview. Obviously he's been interviewed a few times from his hospital bed following the tragic attack in Bondi on 14 December. But this was the first time I could really ask him about his heroic actions on that day. For those of us, most of us have seen the story already, but on the 14th of December there was spectacular footage that came out of this man, this 44 year old man who risked his life to rush towards one of the gunmen who were shooting down people who were just celebrating on the beach for Hanukkah that day. And there was extraordinary mobile footage of him rushing towards him, grabbing the gun, taking the gun off the man and then placing the gun down to stop the shooting. He addresses this in the interview. This is what we wanted to really know from him in a sit down interview from him, which was why he did it. And as to be expected of a man who risked his life for others, he's quite humble and he says it was his soul that told him to go forward and to save people. He just wanted to stop the shooting and the killing that he was seeing.
Georgina Godwin
Because he was an ex policeman, wasn't he? I think.
Natalia Sutherland
Well, he was from Syria, Yes. Yeah, he immigrated to Australia in the mid 2000s and he was working in a grocer. But yes, that was his background. So he knew the risks that he was taking and you could see it was quite calculated for him what he was going to do. But he also knew that he was putting his life on the line, but he knew that he wanted to save others. He also spoke in the interview that he did also address the gunman saying that he wanted this killing to stop and he told the man to stop shooting. As we know now, the man that he did tackle did get shot down by police because he continued to shoot at the crowd. This is like quite a huge story in Australia for them. He is quite the hero. He did pay a price. He got shot five times. He did speak about that in the interview as well, but he also downplays that as well. But he had three surgeries following that and there's no sign of him going back to work as he recovers. But Australia being Australia has raised around 2.5 million Australian dollars, just over 1 million pounds for him. But he's just one of many stories from that day. He has become a symbol and this story that came out last night is a symbol of all the heroic acts that took place that day.
Georgina Godwin
Let's go back to a story that happened 10 years ago. It's hard to believe it was this long ago. Flight MH370 which of course vanished into thin air. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The search is going to resume again.
Natalia Sutherland
I know it's amazing to think you're probably working that day. I was working that day in a newsroom when that information came through that there was a plane that just vanished into thin air literally on that day. And it's hard to believe that it's 10 years since that plane went missing and we still don't have any answers. But as you were mentioning today, UK Time Ocean Infinity, a UK and US based robotics company will resume their search now. They began in April with the backing of the Malaysian government to search for the wreckage. But due to bad weather they had to call that off, obviously going into the winter season down there. So today they're hoping to start their 55 day search. They haven't said where they're going to be searching in the Indian Ocean and they haven't spoken about how their operation will work. But it is a no find to no fee operation. So they are doing this off the bat of trying to find the plane. This isn't the first search, obviously. There was quite a long, extensive search run by the Australians and obviously international partners as well that didn't find any part of the wreckage. So it, it is a bit of a. I suppose a. Yeah, as a whether they'll find anything. It's hard to, to tell. So the families have spoken out saying that they are very hopeful that, that they will find something. Obviously there has been parts of wreckage that have appeared in the African coast and other Pacific islands. But it still remain one of the biggest aviation mysteries of our lifetime at least.
Georgina Godwin
And finally, let's go to your home country of New Zealand where festivals are facing the toughest summer yet. Why is this?
Natalia Sutherland
Well, as much as we don't like to talk about it, it is purely down to Covid. During the lockdown period of about two years in New Zealand, there were no festivals. Thankfully they've come back over the last couple of years. But with the cost of living crisis, there's obviously A lot of people unemployed in New Zealand at the moment. Ticket sales have been down for the last couple of years and with the losses that they made during the COVID lockdown, it's really difficult for these festivals to survive. So a lot of them have either postponed or cancelled. Obviously the one that's making the headline is Splore, which is quite a famous festival during summer in New Zealand as an alternative music festival. They have completely stopped all festivals here henceforward just due to ticket prices in New Zealand, which is clearly disappointing because people are back in the festive spirit. It's summer at the moment, people want to go to the festivals, but there just isn't enough people going to keep these festivals running.
Georgina Godwin
That's so sad, isn't it? Luckily the the Auckland Writers Festival continues. I know it's something both you and I have.
Natalia Sutherland
Yes, it's fabulous. And there are like the government is stepping in, they have got a fund in place. But unfortunately for these festivals such as Splore, that have run at a loss over the last couple of years, they aren't giving them any funding. They're trying to fund new festivals to get international visitors across and obviously like the arts festivals as well. So there is hope that there is some stimulus going into the festival season, but it is just a bit of a disappointment. Those classic festivals no longer.
Georgina Godwin
Natalie, thank you very much indeed. That's Natalie Sutherland there. And this is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. And finally on today's show, we look to France. Yesterday, a grande dame of French cinema passed away at the age of 91. Brigitte Badot leaves behind a legacy of beauty, independence and cultural influence. Emma Nelson looks back at her life and legacy.
Emma Nelson
When Brigitte Bardot's Curves hit Cinema screens in 1956, in Roger Vadim's and God created Woman, no one expected it to cause what Le Monde called an earthquake, a revolution. Boddo would become symbolic of a kind of sexual abandon and a French womanhood that endures even today. But her legacy will be a complicated one, with the second half of her life dominated by outspoken comments that turned one of the most fated symbols of France into a darling of the far right whose comments landed her on the wrong side of the law. The woman that would simply become known by her initials, Bibi, was born Camille Javal into a comfortable family in Paris on 28th September 1934. Her mother was described as a very good mother, backward looking, but who thought herself modern. Her father was an engineer with a creative side publishing award winning poetry. Later, Bardot would attribute her rebellious nature to a Catholic upbringing with live in nannies. At 15, she said, all of a sudden I wanted to free myself, myself to erase this bourgeois stain. But that bourgeois upbringing would be her foundation. Bardot was accepted into the Conservatory of Dance and her mother, recognizing her daughter's remarkable looks, lined her up for a career in modelling. In May 1950, she made her first appearance on the front cover of Elle. This was spotted by the young director Roger Vadim. He would go on to become her acting coach, her husband and the director of the movie that would launch her career career. Bardot's parents, however, disapproved of the match. But the pressure on the teenage Brigitte were already visible. There were reportedly several suicide attempts. So an engagement was agreed upon on the conditions that Vadim, the son of a Russian emigre, would convert to Catholicism and that he had a salary which he earned at Paris Match. The couple married in 1952, less than three months after Bardot's 18th birthday. By now her film career was rising modestly, with appearances as pretty yet unremarkable love interest interests. But the Svengali, like Vadim, then announced his plans for her. You will be the impossible dream of married men, he reportedly said. And it was Vadim's film and God created Woman that changed Bardot's life and cinematic culture for good. Her performance as an 18 year old orphan who shamelessly enjoys her sexuality exploded the moral order of the 1950s cinema. Bardo's body plays as powerful a role as any speaking part.
Yossi Meckelburg
Set in the pagan paradise of the French Riviera swirls the fast moving, fascinating story of a demon driven temptress who thought the future was invented only to spoil the present.
Emma Nelson
The film flopped in France. The reaction to its release the following year in the US however was totally different. Different because the film turned Bardot into what the Guardian newspaper described as France's most sensational cultural export. She was, in effect, it said, the French Beatles, a liberated, deliciously shameless screen siren who made male American moviegoers gulp and goggle with desire. The film marked an end to decades of cinematic censorship, replacing 1950s modesty with what Variety magazine described as youthful, pouty nubile boy blondes becoming staple in cinema. And this rage for youth and female sexuality on screen has never gone away. And her style? Bedhead hair, eyelids thick with liner, inexpensively yet coquettish clothing, plus that Gap toothed pout that would be and are still copied world over. It's no coincidence that her initials BB sound like the Word for baby, Bibi, when said aloud in French. Divorce from Venice. Three more marriages, lovers and a son would follow and inevitably attracted the press. But having adored their attention early on, Bardot grew to hate the paparazzi. She called them passion killers.
Yossi Meckelburg
I hate it, and I'm very disturbed.
Emma Nelson
When that kind of publicity. I try to have a life like everybody. Her fame outgrew the role she played in often mediocre films. In 1969, she became the first celebrity celebrity to be used as a model for Marianne, the internal national symbol of the French Republic. She featured in a dedicated TV special, Le Chaux Bardot, with the opening titles portraying her wearing nothing more than side boots and the trickle of flag. There was an affair and an album with Serge Galsbourg. But by the end of the 60s, arguably her decade, Bardot had had enough. At age 39, in 1973, Bardot quit cinema to focus on life as an animal rights campaigner. The decisive moment reportedly came when she was making her final film and was horrified to hear that a goat belonging to an extra was destined for a barbecue. Bardot bought the goat. I gave my beauty and my youth to make men, she was quoted as saying, and now I'm giving my wisdom and experience the best of me to animals. The New York Times described her devotion as a kind of radicalism not often displayed by celebrities. Her home in Saint Tropez became an animal sanctuary, neighbors reporting the associated smells. In 1986, she sold most of her belongings to help fund the Brigitte Bardo foundation, an animal protection charity. She campaigned to keep a wild boar as a pet. And when Karl Lagerfeld used fur in his couture show for Fendi, she wrote to his cat Schupet, wanting to highlight what she called Lagerfeld's incoherence. He bends over backwards for his cat, she said, but doesn't care an ounce for the animals sacrificed for his collections. Her comments then became more extreme, to the point of breaking the law. The targets were ethnic minorities, immigration, Islam and homosexuality. They landed her in trouble. She was fined repeatedly, and at one point a court ordered her to pay €20,000 for calling residents of the Reunion island degenerate savages. She strongly believed only the far right could save the soul of France, the nation of which she had once been such a powerful emblem of sexual freedom. The tributes from the far right voices have been generous and loud following her death. Countless biographers have stressed the caliber of Bard films never ranked that highly. But this is arguably missing the point. It was never what role she was playing, but rather what she stood for, a direct challenge to stereotype and a woman who embodied one of France's three founding values, that of freedom. For Monocle, I'm Emma Nelson.
Georgina Godwin
Thank you very much to Emma. And as Bardot once famously said, I leave before being left. I decide. So long, Brigitte. And that's all for this edition of the Globalist. Thanks to our producers, Hassan Anderson, Chris Chermack and Desiree Bandley. Our studio manager was Mariella Bevan. After the headlines, there's more music on the way. And the Globalist returns at the same time tomorrow. I'm Georgina Godwin. Goodbye and thanks for listening.
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Episode Date: Monday, 29 December 2025
Host: Georgina Godwin
Key Contributors: Gurana Grgic, Yossi Meckelburg, Natalia Sutherland, Emma Nelson
This brisk 30-minute episode of The Globalist delivers in-depth analysis of ongoing peace negotiations between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, diplomatic moves in the Middle East, and notable current affairs across Europe and the Pacific. The team examines the evolving state of international mediation, reviews diplomatic headlines, and pays tribute to the late French cinema icon Brigitte Bardot.
(01:19 - 10:15)
Both Trump and Zelensky “seemed more upbeat, but also somewhat vague.” The outcome's ambiguity reflects both leaders' political needs and the complexity of the conflict. Trump claimed the parties are “getting closer to a deal, but they may be very close, but also they might not be as close. So it depends.” (04:02)
European leaders express cautious optimism; Paris set to host a “coalition of the willing” to advance the process.
(06:03 - 14:32)
Netanyahu's travel was closely monitored due to potential ICC arrest warrants, affecting flight routes.
“Everyone is following his airplane from Tel Aviv all the way to Florida…to make sure it doesn’t fly over countries that might…force the airplane to land there and arrest him.” — Yossi Meckelburg (12:40)
Meckelburg notes the Israeli government hints at both permanent military presence and civilian settlements in North Gaza, which could further complicate peace efforts.
(11:03 - 20:38)
Meckelburg discusses a New York Times piece imagining "zero immigration" America, warning against the loss of vibrancy and sustainability for an aging society.
“One of the beautiful [things about] the United States…is a country of…immigration…If you start removing many people, you feel it in different communities.” (16:25)
Bernie Sanders calls AI “the most consequential technology in humanity,” expressing concern over job losses, lack of congressional debate, and emotional toll of technological replacement.
“Not a single discussion in Congress [about AI] is unbelievable.” — Meckelburg summarizing Sanders (20:38)
(22:22 - 29:17)
with Natalia Sutherland
Ahmed Al Ahmed, Syrian immigrant and grocery worker in Australia, gave his first full interview regarding his actions to disarm a gunman during the Bondi Beach attack on December 14th, becoming a national symbol of heroism. He was shot five times during the event but remains humble:
“He says it was his soul that told him to go forward and to save people. He just wanted to stop the shooting and the killing he was seeing.” — Sutherland (22:49)
Al Ahmed's modesty and resilience have sparked public fundraising totaling over 2.5 million AUD for his recovery.
(29:53 - 36:58)
with Emma Nelson
Bardot transformed cinema and cultural norms with her breakout in Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman (1956). “Bardot would become symbolic of a kind of sexual abandon and a French womanhood that endures even today. But her legacy will be a complicated one…” — Nelson (29:53)
Bardot became an international icon, her image likened to the "French Beatles." After cinematic stardom and controversy, she transitioned to animal rights activism, founding a notable foundation and liquidating personal assets to fund it.
In later years, Bardot’s far-right views and inflammatory statements provoked legal consequences, alienating some former admirers but solidifying her as a figure of uncompromising independence.
“I gave my beauty and my youth to men. Now I’m giving my wisdom and experience, the best of me to animals.” — Brigitte Bardot (quoted by Emma Nelson) (34:02)
The episode is measured and analytical, mixing brisk news summaries with nuanced discussions and flashes of wit. The panel maintains a thoughtful, balanced engagement, especially on contentious geopolitical shifts and social issues, while ending the show with an evocative tribute to an enduring—and controversial—cultural icon.
Summary prepared for listeners seeking a comprehensive yet concise overview of The Globalist’s December 29, 2025 episode, focusing on international affairs, diplomacy, current events, and cultural milestones.