In 1939, Winston Churchill defined Russia as "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." In 2022, not so much.  Show notes to follow on Reddit.

We are back with a new name for our podcast, so let's get caught up with what's happening on the world stage.

Included in today's discussion were the following:

Musk challenges Putin to ‘single combat’ over Ukraine, Russia responds: 'Weakling'
Putin allows Russian airlines to fly $10 billion worth of foreign-owned planes domestically
U.S. holds ‘intense’ 7-hour talks with China amid Russia’s war in Ukraine
International Reserves of the Russian Federation as of February 18, 2022 accounted for $643.2 billion.
The Russian Central Bank is running out of options
Russia reveals exact amount of reserves frozen by West
‘We had no choice’: over 8,000 Russians seek US refuge in six-month period
Sparta's last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae
The West should offer Putin a 'golden bridge' out of conflict
"Putin's Brain" Aleksandr Dugin: 'We have our special Russian truth' (video)
Anti-Liberal Russian Philosopher Dugin: 'Glory To Novorossiya! The Second Great Slavic Reconquista Has Begun'
Miranda Devine: 21st Century EU “Values” (video)
The Spillover In Central Asia From Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine (podcast)
Russia temporarily bans grain exports to ex-Soviet countries
Putin tells ex-Soviet republics: Ukraine was an exception
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid Ukraine crisis
Fox News Reporter In Ukraine Rebuts Colleague Greg Gutfeld's Ugly Take On War Coverage
Fox News star Greg Gutfeld’s mother-in-law escapes Ukraine

Let's get ready for 2022!

This bonus episode goes with Episode 11, The End of the Experiment?

In The Storm Before the Storm, Mike Duncan chronicled a short period of intense upheaval between the years 146-78 BC. Necessary social and economic reforms were blocked by the senatorial class and after an episode of unprecedented political violence, self-rule of the Roman Republic gave way to autocracy and caesars.

There's literally a song for everything. This one by "heartland rock" star John Cougar (Mellencamp) dropped in April 1982 when the United States was truly in dire economic shape, but the Boomers were still young then and powered the country ahead to the good times in the 90s and 2000s. How did they lose their way, and what does COVID19 got to do with it?

*Marked explicit since one of us uttered a couple of swear words.

On a November day in 1721, a small bomb was hurled through the window of a local Boston Reverend with the message, “Cotton Mather, you dog, dam you! I’ll inoculate you with this; with a pox to you.’’ 300 years later, the nation has come full circle. Nobody ever learns.

What does the stock market, Star Trek, reading and prospect theory have to do with Afghanistan? Let's discuss.