How World War II is a British psychosis. Why we don't talk about empire. French universalism vs. British multiculturalism. How the nation state was made up. And a geopolitical utopia out of Star Trek. A freewheeling conversation with author and journalist Jonn Elledge. ? The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything, by Jonn Elledge. Headline, 2021. Buy it here and support Borderline. ? Sign up for the Newsletter of (Not Quite) Everything.? Listen to the Podcast of (Not Quite) Everything.Show notes00:00 Intro02:52 How one of the world's largest countries dumps its migrants on one of the world's smallest05:25 Insular news and why you may never have heard of Nauru07:12 A worldwide obsession with US news08:34 It's appalling how little we knew or know about the EU10:17 How Brexit gave rise to a pro-EU movement13:00 We're finding geopolitical solutions in Star Trek15:12 The nation-state is such a recent mythology19:46 Countries that think too highly of themselves26:02  How WWII mythology shapes current politics31:31 Poppy season is upon us33:32 Newsletter ad35:02 Could we create a global nation state?37:00 French identity, multiculturalism and things I pretend to be an expert in44:20 Britain stopped showing its best features

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