Topic: Eurostar

Eurostar cancelled all train services between London, Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam after a rail tunnel under the River Thames flooded. The disruption, caused by Storm Gerrit, left thousands of holiday travelers stranded at St Pancras station due to what officials called unprecedented infrastructure failure.

French customs officers are conducting a "work-to-rule" strike, strictly applying every regulation to cause massive delays for Eurostar passengers. This tactic has resulted in six-hour queues and travel warnings. The slowdown is intended to demonstrate the potential chaos of a post-Brexit border.

The show concludes with a discussion on the rapid advancement of facial recognition technology being tested by Eurostar and the FBI. John Dvorak recounts a personal experience in Portugal where he was unable to "beat" a facial recognition system despite making faces and wearing hats. The hosts propose a "Turing test" for the software using old photos of Rachel Maddow before signing off from Silicon Valley.

Following the Icelandic volcanic ash crisis, the hosts analyze a perceived media push to transition travelers from planes to trains. They critique an NPR report sponsored by Siemens—a major train manufacturer—which highlights the reliability of rail travel during flight cancellations. Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic is cited as criticizing the flight bans as unnecessary and financially devastating to the aviation industry.

A host won a three-day family trip to Disneyland Paris in a raffle but considered giving it away to a "worthy" listener of the show. The prize includes Eurostar transportation, making it most suitable for a UK-based recipient. The idea of creating a "Nobel Prize" style award for people making a real difference in the world is proposed.