🎧 Season 2 Episode 5 The Prime Minister and the Prof | Revisionist History

Listened to Season 2 Episode 5 The Prime Minister and the Prof by Malcolm Gladwell from Revisionist History

How does friendship influence political power? The story of Winston Churchill’s close friend and confidant — an eccentric scientist named Frederick Lindemann — whose connection to Churchill altered the course of British policy in World War II. And not in a good way.
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Winston Churchill (second from right) with his scientific advisor Lord Cherwell (extreme left), watching a display of anti-aircraft gunnery in 1941.

Several interesting ideas in this episode:
* What unseen influence do friends and advisors have on political leaders? Should this be better disclosed?
* Did Churchill, while trying to stop the atrocity of the Holocaust, cause one of his own in India through inaction and selfishness?

The famine caused in India is not too dissimilar to the havoc and death wreaked in Puerto Rico following the hurricane in late 2017 for which the US Government very likely did not do enough to mitigate the aftermath.