90 Seconds to Midnight
The Doomsday Clock is the symbolic countdown to human extinction; a universally recognised, annual indicator of the world’s vulnerability to man-made global catastrophe. If the clock strikes midnight, the world will have ended.
Today, the clock sits as close to midnight as it has ever been – just 90 seconds away.
And is it any wonder?
Ongoing wars in the Ukraine and Middle East. The continued expansion of nuclear arsenals around the world. The advance of generative AI and its potential for disinformation. The climate crisis. The list of potentially world-ending dangers feels increasingly – and depressingly – long.
The Doomsday Clock is set annually, but, given the scale of the challenges facing humanity on a daily basis, as of September 5, we will be setting our own version of the clock each week.
Welcome to 90 Seconds to Midnight: the Daily Mail’s new weekly global news podcast, promising listeners informed analysis, discussion, and on-the-ground reporting about the week’s most influential geopolitical flashpoints. Hosted by the Mail’s Special Correspondent David Patrikarakos, every episode ends with one question: are we closer, or further away, from midnight?
Episodes
13: Putin Facing 'Death By A Thousand Cuts' with Syria Offensive
The Syrian rebels' advance in Aleppo and Hama has been nothing short of astonishing. But what does it mean for the conflicts and tensions around the world, and especially for Russia?
In this episode of 90 Seconds to Midnight David talks to chemical weapons expert and long time visitor to Syria Hamish de Bretton Gordon to understand just what Putin's collapsing 'Southern Flank' in the country means for the war in Ukraine and his personal position.
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Izzy Bougeard
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Host: David Patrikarakos
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05/12/24•44m 40s
12: Will Putin's Nuclear Threats Spark WW3?
In this episode of 90 Seconds to Midnight, David Patrikarakos talks to US investigative journalist Michael Weiss to discuss the huge escalation in the war in Ukraine over the last week. The pair unpack what Russia's launch of a hypersonic missile for the first time ever really means, if Putin may just be saving face and why the new Trump administration's appointment of the likes of Elon Musk is so dangerous for the conflict.
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Izzy Bougeard
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Host: David Patrikarakos
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28/11/24•44m 32s
11: Iraq: Is ISIS on the rise again?
In this episode of 90 Seconds to Midnight, David Patrikarakos sits down with Iraqi political expert Lawk Ghafuri in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq to discuss the dangerous situation in the country.
Ghafuri explains just how significant Iran's influence in the country is, what the incoming Trump administration may mean and why the planned US withdrawal of all remaining troops is a major geo-political flashpoint for 2025.
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Alex Graham
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Host: David Patrikarakos
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22/11/24•34m 37s
10: Dispatch from Tblisi: the frontline of Russian interference?
In this episode David is in Tbilisi, Georgia to speak with former Prime Minister and opposition leader Giorgi Gakharia about the country's recent heavily disputed election result. David and Gakharia discuss everything from intense Russian interference in the country, why Georgia is a key battleground State between Western and Russian influence and what the election of Donald Trump may mean for both sides.
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14/11/24•40m 46s
9: Historian Simon Schama: Trump 'gets off on tariff porn'
After perhaps the most extraordinary election result in US history, David Patrikarakos speaks to famed historian Sir Simon Schama to unpack what on earth happens next.
The pair also discuss how a second Trump term will push America toward authoritarianism and why Ukraine may be the biggest casualty of the result.
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07/11/24•39m 57s
8: Trump expert Michael Wolff: ‘He's on the edge of freaking out!’
On the eve of the US Presidential election the foremost chronicler of Trump’s first term, Michael Wolff, speaks with David Patrikarakos to share what is really going on in Trump’s camp; what is really driving the former President and why his son-in-law may become one of the most influential figures in global geo-politics.
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31/10/24•37m 42s
7: How billionaires Putin and Xi are funding war
Despite years of intense sanctions, regimes like Russia and Iran are not only surviving but thriving at keeping the money rolling in.
What makes it worse is that we can’t blame it all on Tehran or Moscow. The uncomfortable truth is that much of this network of corrupt finance was created by us in the West… London being a primary culprit.
In this episode David Patrikarakos speaks to Pulitzer Prize winning historian Anne Applebaum about how these countries are using shadow financial networks to earn and launder hundreds of billions every year, how it's having an increasingly dangerous effect on global geo-politics and why the West is partly to blame.
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Alex Graham
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Host: David Patrikarakos
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24/10/24•41m 8s
6: Inside Iran: Does it really want to take on the West?
David Patrikarakos speaks to Iran expert Holly Dagres to unpick one of the most complex countries on earth – Iran. The two discuss whether the Islamic Republic really wants to wipe out the West; just how stable it is; and, why its huge Gen Z population may prove to be the most significant factor in long term geopolitics of the Middle East.
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Alex Graham
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Host: David Patrikarakos
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17/10/24•43m 4s
5: Dispatch from Tel Aviv
One year on from the October 7th attacks on Israel, David Patrikarakos is in Tel Aviv to hear how that day sparked one of the most dangerous and uncertain periods in the recent history of the Middle East.
First, David talks to IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Reserve Peter Lerner to get the latest on the Israel’s military operations in both Gaza and Lebanon, before sitting down with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to hear why he thinks Benjamin Netanyahu is the biggest obstacle to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and the safe return of the hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Alex Graham
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Host: David Patrikarakos
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10/10/24•45m 16s
4: Niall Ferguson on an escalating global conflagration
David Patrikarakos is joined by Niall Ferguson to discuss the latest events in the Middle East; why the US is irrelevant in the calculations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu; and, how Israel is likely to retaliate against Iran.
They also discuss the ‘Axis of Ill Will’ comprising China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea; why Ferguson believes that we are in the early stages of a second Cold War and the probability of this escalating into World War III; and whether the US will discover the true meaning of deterrence.
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Chelsey Ranore
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Host: David Patrikarakos
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03/10/24•38m 51s
3: Dispatch from Beirut
Beirut local Ronnie Chatah talks to 90 Seconds to Midnight about the latest developments on the ground in Lebanon and how likely an all-out war is between Israel and Hezbollah.
Ronnie also explains whether Israel's motives are different against Hezbollah compared to Hamas and the shadowy role and aims of Iran in this escalating conflict that is threatening to engulf the Middle East.
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Chelsey Ranore
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Host: David Patrikarakos
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27/09/24•38m 19s
2: Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Exploding Pagers, Hezbollah and Putin
Foreign Secretary David Lammy talks Special Correspondent David Patrikarakos about the pager attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon and escalating tensions across the wider region; the latest from Ukraine; and how we know that Putin is rattled...
We also hear from defence expert Andrew Fox about the ramifications of the attacks against Hezbollah and the potential for a wider regional war in the Middle East.
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Chelsey Ranore
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Host: David Patrikarakos
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19/09/24•38m 51s
1: The War in Ukraine - A Watershed Moment?
In this, the first episode of 90 Seconds to Midnight, the Daily Mail’s Special Correspondent David Patrikarakos is in Kyiv to meet legendary Ukrainian war reporter Illia Ponomarenko. In a wide ranging discussion, the two catch up on the recent Ukrainian counter-offensive into Russian territory; what any potential peace between Russia and Ukraine might look like; and, the breaking news of further American support for Ukraine from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Producer: Max Bower
Editor: Chelsey Ranore
Executive Producer: Bella Soames
Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini
Host: David Patrikarakos
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12/09/24•43m 54s
Introducing... 90 Seconds to Midnight
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06/09/24•1m 20s
