Defiance with Miles Taylor, Epstein Book Club RSS drop, Long List at the British Podcast Awards

Even the people paid to defend this administration can’t keep their stories straight today.

Start with Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran, the Mexican tourist killed running from ICE agents in St. Augustine. The right rushed to call him “illegal.” He wasn’t. He was in the country legally, two days into a vacation, with a return flight already booked. And according to an eyewitness, even the people standing there watching didn’t know the men chasing him were federal agents. So how was he supposed to know?

Then there’s Canada, which got quite the two-for-one yesterday. In the morning, Trump’s own ambassador was in Edmonton toasting “friendship, partnership and success” and admitting the U.S. needs three to four million more barrels of Canadian oil a day. By the afternoon, Trump announced 50 percent tariffs and declared Canada can’t survive without us. Somebody might want to loop those two guys in on the messaging.

And then there’s Iran, where the war Trump swore would be quick just got a $37.5 billion price tag and a request for $87.6 billion more. Pete Hegseth told the Senate that without the money, training gets cut, maintenance gets delayed, and paychecks could be at risk. He also admitted Iran still has capabilities hidden underground, which is an interesting thing to say after months of insisting Iran’s military was finished.

We’re joined by Jason Pack of The Disorder Podcast to make sense of all of it, including new reporting that the Pentagon sat on three earlier Iranian attacks in Jordan and quietly updated its injury count to nearly 100 service members. We also get into Kash Patel’s reportedly planned October trip to Russia, hosted by the FSB, for reasons nobody at the FBI or DOJ seems willing to explain.

Next, just as I am going on summer recess and we will be re-running episode this Tuesday and next Tuesday sandwiched by a fresh episode with Florence Gaub.. and old friend and fellow Hurst author… Over at the Epstein Book Club.. they very kindly did an RSS drop of my favourite Epstein content.. our episode with the genius investigative biographer Andrew Lownie. https://www.epsteinfilesbookclub.com/the-british-component-disorder-podcast-cross-post/

If you can buy a royal seal of approval — like Jeffrey Epstein did with former Prince Andrew — you get the keys to some of the most influential people in the world. In today’s crossover episode from our friends across the pond at the Disorder podcast, host Jason Pack is joined by British historian Andrew Lownie, author of the Sunday Times bestseller, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York. The pair look at what made Andrew’s personality so easily corruptible, how Andrew’s narcissism and megalomania were fueled, and why there could be more nasty revelations about what the royals have been up to yet to come. Plus, they discuss making the royal family more accountable, transparent, and better at serving the British people. Elise and Jena will be back next week.

If you haven’t already heard this on Disorder check out the same content hear on the Epstein Files Book Club

https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/shortlist-2026

Interestingly in our politics and podcast category there were no independent podcast selected but only ones produced by the Big British News outlets.. Sky (multiple selections), The Economist, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Private Eye, and Piers Morgan… I think that is a real shame in how these things are judged… there should maybe be a second category or type of award for independent podcasts… as making a podcast with a news outlet (magazine, newspaper, or TV channel) isn’t really the same as making an independent podcast of the type that we do… or even medium size players like Podmasters shows like American Friction that got to the same level as us… well… in short, I am very chuffed that as an owner-operator podcast Disorder did as well as possible and went as far as judges seem to tolerate such small fry to proceed.

Hence given the odds that are seemingly stacked against independent pods both in judging and in listenership outreach we remain very proud with a long list selection:

https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/longlist-2026

Lastly, i’ve written an article on a pressing policy topic that I thought i’d share before I take a two week substack break… but do enjoy the favourite re-runs and the new Disorder latest with Florence Gaub next week. This article is a real life attempt to Order the Disorder and propose solutions for Burnham and his European colleagues

Jason Pack and Mark Davis

The fallout from the Iran War has not been kind to European economies. A UK leadership change presents an opportunity to invest in combatting gas flaring in North Africa, so as to bolster security of supply, and tie ongoing international diplomatic efforts on Libya to that agenda….

For North African producers, reducing flaring and methane emissions is therefore not only about environmental performance but also about improving competitiveness and protecting access to their most important asset: a large export market. For Europe, the same projects strengthen supply resilience while lowering supply-chain emissions.

Capturing flared and vented gas will not solve Europe’s gas security challenges on its own. But it represents one of the fastest ways to unlock additional supply without waiting years for new fields or major infrastructure to be developed. In an era of volatile gas markets and tightening climate regulation, it is a rare example of a solution that aligns economic and environmental interests.

At this moment, when energy security is back at the top of Europe’s agenda, the gas it needs may already be burning in plain sight just across the Mediterranean. When it comes to Libya, the EU and Britain have more than enough political capital to get these objectives over the line, if only they would deploy it.

To read the whole article click here: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/north-africas-flaring-problem-europes-gas-opportunity

And if you want to support what we are doing pls join the payfor substack