Programming note: Mark will be here tomorrow, Friday, for another Clubland Q&A taking questions live around the planet at (for one week only) 4pm North American Eastern - which is 8pm GMT.
~As many of you will know, last week I was found guilty by the UK media regulator Ofcom for breaking its "rules" way back in April 2022. GB News has decided not to appeal Ofcom's decision, but I am most certainly going to, in order to get the censorship arm of the British state before a real court and litigate its disastrous "chilling effect" on UK broadcasting these last three years. (There remains one outstanding Ofcom investigation of another Steyn Show from late last year, and that too will be appealed if necessary.) I will have more to say about this in the days ahead.
However, as I mention on tonight's show, GB News - presumably as part of its deal with Ofcom - has taken down the April 21st show. It happened, it was broadcast, but any permanent record of it has been vaporised: under Ofcom's Ministry of Truth, the past has to be scrubbed and memory-holed.
So we have something special for tonight's show, something that in the present censorship climate could not be seen on GB News or any other UK TV channel: the original offending broadcast, complete and unedited, but with an up-to-the-minute intro and outro by yours truly reflecting on Ofcom, its censorship, and the impending litigation.
On its first airing almost a year ago, Gareth Wigmore, a Steyn Clubber from the East Midlands, wrote:
Just watched Thursday's show. WOW. The first 20 minutes were jaw-dropping.
What did I do that was so jaw-dropping? Nothing much: I simply noted the obvious problem with the constraints Ofcom had imposed on broadcasters in the wake of an unknown virus and a draconian and unprecedented state reaction to it. And then I read out various numbers from the UK Health Security Agency's April vaccine surveillance reports. Which apparently is not something that happens on other TV networks.
What follows is also of enduring relevance in a western world still operating under Covid constraints: My friend Leilani Dowding was on hand to comment on Covid's damage to free speech, followed by a former Mr Universe, Eddy Ellwood, who opened his gym in defiance of Matt Hancock et al, and promptly got fined 55,000 quid. Which is outrageous.
We rounded out the hour with Rod Liddle on a largely forgotten and failed prime minister, and with a lesson from Liberia for Boris Johnson's genitals.
To watch the show, simply click above. Per Ofcom's ruling, you will never see it again on UK TV - at least not until after I win my lawsuit.
~Immediately after the show, don't forget the replay of my Serenade Radio Song of the Week - that's at 9pm GMT, or (for this week only) 5pm North American Eastern. You can listen from anywhere on the planet right here.
~The Mark Steyn Show is a production of The Mark Steyn Club. We appreciate that membership is not for everyone, but, if you'd like to find out more about it, please see here. Another advantage of membership is access to our comments section. So, if you take issue with anything either I or my guests said on the show, then feel free to comment away below.
Among the benefits of Mark Steyn Club membership is that you can enjoy The Mark Steyn Show in any medium you desire: video, audio or text. So, if you find me more convivial in non-visual form, please log-in to our Audio and Transcript versions. To listen to the above show, simply click here.