Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Click here for the full interview with former CIA counterterrorism officer John Kiriakou.After CIA officer John Kiriakou blew the whistle on US torture, no one in the CIA was arrested for their crimes. Except, of course, John Kiriakou.John became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act. He served 23 months in prison as punishment for his opposition to the Bush administration’s torture program.This week, he joins Useful Idiots to speak (freely this time) about the torture and war crimes of the US Government, the sickening purpose of Guantanamo Bay and its continuing crimes against humanity, and the hardest question of all:Who’s worse – The CIA or the FBI?Don’t worry, John’s got a lot of dirt on each. It’s one of the most jarring, sickening, revealing, scary, and funny episodes of Useful Idiots, which is why you’re probably going to want to watch……the extended interview, in which Kiriakou uncovers the CIA’s sadistic psychedelics testing, the hawks in the mainstream media who are gunning for war with China, and his last words spoken to Keith Olbermann and Alec Baldwin:“Fuck you, Olbermann.” and “Fuck you, Baldwin.”And don’t miss this week’s Thursday Throwdown on Hollywood's New "It" Couple: Volodymyr Seanpenskyy.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Shahid Buttar.Advocate, artist, lawyer, organizer, musician, and former politician Shahid Buttar joins Useful Idiots to explain why Democrats are failing. Why is he a former politician, you ask? Well after running a campaign against Nancy Pelosi and getting buried by racist attacks from liberals, Shahid realized a sad truth about politics:“Politicians, as well as journalists and lawyers,” he told us. “Are all about careerism. People care about their careers more than the principles of their profession.” And so self-proclaimed non-racists like Pelosi use racist attacks against opponents of color, like Shahid and Nina Turner, to keep their claws sunk deep into power, shielding themselves from any review of their own anti-democratic voting records.But Shahid doesn’t put all the blame on these power-hungry, corporate vultures for choosing power over human values: “It’s impossible not to in a fascist country.”Shahid continues to explain how corporate Democrats cover up their power-hungry policy through distraction, claiming Donald Trump and January 6 are the real threats to democracy — all so that Americans are too beaten down from hearings to realize our government is busy overthrowing democracies around the world and spying on us at home.Plus, watch the full interview to hear how Shahid got arrested for confronting former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper: “Why are you above the law for perjury and mass surveillance while Eric Garner lies dead in the street?”And catch yesterday’s Thursday Throwdown: Media Wants No $$ for Workers, More for FBIIt’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full interview with Ukrainian Professor Ivan Katchanovski.Ivan Katchanovski, Ukrainian-Canadian political scientist who teaches at the University of Ottawa, is exposing US media lies about the Ukraine proxy war. And, like many Useful Idiot guests, no one will report on his story.This week, Katchanovski shares his research on the Maidan Massacre, a mass killing of Ukrainians protesting the Yanukovich government in February 2014. The US and opposition leaders blamed Yanukovich, triggered a coup and the ensuing civil war that radically escalated with Russia’s invasion eight years later. But when Professor Katchanovski dug into video, witness testimony, and other evidence which reveals who really committed the massacre — including footage that CNN tried to bury — he was ignored by mainstream media for attempted disruption of the approved narrative.But now he’s joining the Useful Idiots to tell us what really happened: the massacre, he argues, was carried out by pro-Maidan snipers. Watch the full interview with Professor Katchanovski for his take on who committed the massacre, how the US media is covering it up, and that weird interview between David Letterman and Volodymyr Zelenskyy:“We did a survey,” Zelenskyy told Letterman. “It showed that 98% of our country’s population today would rather stay without electricity and water as long as they are free from Russia.”Ivan responds to that seemingly impossible statistic.Plus, catch this week’s Thursday Throwdown on how our “free press” is really just US-state media.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full end of year special on Ukraine, Guantanamo Bay, and Meet the Press’s cringiest moments.2022 is nearly dead! Last year in our year recap with Thomas Frank, we asked “WTF will happen in 2022?” While we predicted correctly some brutal Jan 6 hearings and a nightmare midterm year, none of us thought the biggest news of the year would be a proxy war in Ukraine.So in our 2022 end of year special, Aaron and Katie deep dive on the latest in Ukraine, Zelenskyy’s Churchillian visit to Congress, Pelosi’s weird kiss, and all the insane politicians, generals, and corporate journalists who can’t seem to stop saying the quiet part out loud.And now that the year is over, we’re asking you: WTF will happen in 2023? Let us know your craziest theories in the comments.Subscribe for the full end of year special.Plus, miss our full interview with Irish members of European parliament (and Useful Idiot rockstars) Claire Daly and Mick Wallace? We’re giving everyone the full extended interview for free.It’s the Useful Idiots 2022 end of year special. Thanks for sticking with us all year, it’s been a wild ride. Let’s keep mourning and laughing into 2023.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full interview with Miko Peled on Israeli apartheid, US hypocrisy, and why we ignore Palestinians while funding billions in weapons for Ukraine.Miko Peled, author of “The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” is the son of an Israeli general and former family-friend of Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, he’s an anti-Zionist fighting for Palestinian rights.He joins Useful Idiots to warn about Israel’s new far-right government, headed by Netanyahu and far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, whose positions give them newfound power over occupied Palestinians.“The lives of Palestinians are going to be governed by two men who are dedicated more than anyone to the expulsion and terrorizing of all Palestinians,” Peled says.“Palestinians are going to be looking back at the years leading up to this government as the good old days. This year has been a record year in terms of killing of Palestinians. But they’re going to be looking back at this year as the good old days. What is coming up is the worst that Palestinians have ever suffered.”Subscribe to hear the full interview with Miko Peled on Israeli apartheid, US hypocrisy, and why we ignore Palestinians while funding billions in weapons for Ukraine.Plus, watch our Thursday Throwdown where we say goodbye to CNN’s Barbara Starr, the Pentagon’s most aggressive cheerleader, and join the holiday Absurd Arena to give presents to this year’s suckiest politicians.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full interview with Luhansk Deputy Foreign Minister Anna Soroka.War in Ukraine did not start with Russia’s February 2022 invasion. Ukraine has been at civil war since 2014, when the US backed a coup to overthrow President Viktor Yanukovych. When the new post-coup government cracked down on ethnic-Russian Ukrainians and their Russian culture, Ukrainians in the eastern Donbas region rose up in rebellion, leading to the creation of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.Anna Soroka, joining the Useful Idiots from Ukraine, is the former Deputy Foreign Minister of the Luhansk People's Republic. She joins Useful Idiots to share what it’s like being on the other side of a civil war that has now escalated into a full-blown proxy war with Russia.Sometimes discussions about war can become abstract, but it’s important to go “behind enemy lines” and hear from real people on the other side.It’s a perspective that you don’t get to hear at all in the NATO states. Unless you follow shows like Useful Idiots.Plus, watch our Thursday Throwdown where Biden completes his transformation into Trump as he kills Bernie's bid to stop the Saudi war on Yemen.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full interview with Matt Kennard on the crimes against Julian Assange and the right to free speech.“It’s a complete stitch up,” Matt Kennard, author and co-founder of Declassified UK, tells Useful Idiots about Julian Assange’s extradition case. “None of the rules of the game apply.”Assange, who has been jailed and tortured for nearly a decade for releasing documents which shed light on the crimes of the US government, now faces an extradition trial teeming with corruption.But after a crucial witness admitted to lying, the US government was caught plotting an assassination, and UK judges were revealed to have major conflicts of interest, the case is somehow still continuing on. “It doesn’t seem like anything can come out that will stop it.” Kennard says.“That for me is the scariest thing. If certain powerful forces within the deep structure of our country want to get you, they can, and none of the principles we’re taught at school apply. They will get you and you will be ruined and the message will be sent that you can’t play at this level again.”Subscribe to hear the full interview with Matt Kennard on the crimes against Julian Assange and the right to free speech, and why corporate media like the New York Times is suddenly backtracking its stance against the journalist.Plus, Katie and Aaron deep dive into the Twitter Files and mainstream media’s vitriolic reactions to Matt Taibbi in this week’s Thursday Throwdown.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full interview with locomotive engineer Michael Paul Lindsey and host of Working People Maximillian Alvarez.Congress and Joe Biden are pushing through a contract backed by the rail companies and rejected by workers. Michael Paul Lindsey, a locomotive engineer for Union Pacific, and Maximillian Alvarez, editor in chief of the Real News Network and host of the podcast Working People, join us to explain why this standoff is a dangerous step backward for all working people.“The rail carriers are going to take it as a sign that they can keep doing what they’re doing and we are all going to be worse off for it.” For the rail workers, this has included denying even a single sick day.“Gradually over the years they got tighter and tighter and stingier until it became you’re straight up asking for permission. They believe that they own a right to your life 24/7.”And ‘Union Joe’ Biden, who calls himself a pro-labor president, continues to side with the companies.“This is what happens when the reigning philosophy is to eliminate the cost of treating your workers like human beings. If you treat workers like faceless meatbags and no one stops you, you can exploit the shit out of them.”And corporate media, doing what it does best, all but blames the workers, warning viewers that a rail strike could mean economic catastrophe and cripple the economy — ignoring the crippling conditions the workers face.During the interview, news broke that a Congressional proposal for seven sick days, a meek bill that would do the bare minimum to help workers, would fail.Michael Paul, who’s worked 17 years for the rail industry, laments: “Anyone who works for a living just lost ground on better pay and benefits. You lost today.”So how do we fight for workers’ rights?“This is such a systemic problem for working people and we cannot rely on politicians to just bequeath us some sort of solution to this. Working people need to band together and assert their needs as an independent working class.”Subscribe for the full interview with Michael Paul and Max.Plus, catch this week’s Thursday Throwdown on how the US decides to censor itself (but only when it accidentally tells the truth).It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the brand new part 2 of our 2-hour interview with Norman Finkelstein.If you heard the free version of Part 1 on Nov 11, the interview continues at 28:50.In Part 2 of the interview, Norman X Finkelstein previews his new book, "I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It," which unleashes his fiery analysis on identity politics and President Obama. To write it, he first had to do some mandatory reading from the experts in those fields.“I felt in order to write [the book],” Norm tells us, already exasperated, “I should sit down and read this new leftist cancel culture. So I sat down, I read Ta-Nehisi Coates, I read Kimberley Crenshaw, I read Ibram X Kendi, I read Robin DiAngelo, and it’s impossible not to conclude that this stuff is intellectually vacuous and worthless.”But it isn’t meaningless in today’s politics. Far from it: “My conclusion was that identity politics is fundamentally a weapon of the Democratic party to derail, deflect, and diffuse a radical class-based politics.”Norm, a classical scholar who understands Left history like the back of his hand, shares proof of his analysis when he quotes Leon Trotsky, who “talked about all these people who pretend to be radical, but when a moment of truth comes, you see their real colors.” “I felt that moment of truth came with the Bernie Sanders campaign. Crenshaw, Coates, Angela Davis, all these people went out and started to attack Bernie Sanders. They all, in the moment of truth, backed the Democratic party establishment and sought to derail and discredit the Bernie Sanders candidacy.”He goes on, even more fired up here, to take down the one politician who is so brazen to flaunt that he won an election by standing for nothing, the “hollow vessel” known as Barack Obama. Norm’s taking no prisoners, and you’re not going to want to miss it.It’s Part 2 of Norm Finkelstein on Useful Idiots. Check it out.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full interview, where Kit Klarenberg reveals plots from UK operatives to blow up Ukrainian bridges, more Western destruction of peace talks, and how the US uses Britain to spread propagandaJournalist Kit Klarenberg’s latest article at the Grayzone, “FTX partnership with Ukraine is latest chapter in shady Western aid saga,” sheds new light on the money-grabbing schemes emerging from the Ukraine proxy war.The report details how Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX, the crypto exchange that saw its valuation implode from $32B to $0 in a single day, used a Ukraine fundraiser to raise $60 million from donors. This was followed by the mass selloff of FTX currency and a declaration of bankruptcy from the scam company. This raises the question: where did the money for Ukraine go?Kit Klarenberg joins the Useful Idiots with the scoop.He, along with his fellow Grayzone writers, has been the subject of multiple attacks for uncovering stories like this and his other new piece: “Leaked documents: British spies constructing secret terror army in Ukraine.” It seems that when government officials and the corporate media don’t want the truth uncovered, they don’t argue against the story but make personal attacks against the writer as character assassination.And sadly, it works all too often.One such corporate official, Useful-Idiot-favorite of Scary Poppins fame Nina Jankowicz, went after Klarenberg on Twitter. Kit describes the online beef in the extended episode. (turns out we can’t see those tweets because…)Subscribe to hear the full interview, where Klarenberg reveals plots from UK operatives to blow up Ukrainian bridges, more Western destruction of peace talks, and how the US uses Britain to spread propaganda.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.Plus, catch our Thursday Throwdown on the near-nuclear Armageddon, Trump’s big announcement, and Aaron getting canceled by Olena Zelenska.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot. Hear the extended interview and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Norm Finkelstein.Norman “X” Finkelstein returns to Useful Idiots, fired up and with a scathing critique of Bernie Sanders and The Squad.He begins with a definition of radicalism and The Left, citing the writing of Rosa Luxemburg: “The whole job of The Left is to constantly point out the conflict of interest between the ruling elite, the capitalist class, and yourself. To constantly point out: ‘Their interests are not your interests. Don’t be fooled.’”Historically, he says, Bernie Sanders has upheld this left tradition, calling out the crooks who steal your money.But when it came to Ukraine, “the bunch of crooks metamorphosed into a band of angels. You’re telling me the same people who are cheating you day in and day out, stealing your wealth, stealing your labor, those same people are suddenly heartbroken by what’s happening to the Ukrainian people?”Norm does not pull any punches in his assessment of The Squad and Sanders:“The day the squad and Bernie voted for war credits for Ukraine, that whole progressive enterprise turned into a rotting corpse.”Plus, subscribe to hear the full interview where Norm dissects the midterm election results, the Israel election, and the weaponization of identity politics.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot. Hear the extended interview and support independent media. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Ken Klippenstein on the DHS leak.“This isn’t a Biden story. It’s not a Trump story either. This is a national security state story.”This week Ken Klippenstein and Lee Fang at The Intercept broke a huge story: Leaked Documents Outline DHS’s Plans to Police Disinformation. Ken joins Useful Idiots to share how he uncovered the bombshell revelation, what it tells us about our powerful security state, and his predictions for the dark future of information censorship.The story, which reveals collusion between tech companies and the US government, massive CIA incompetence, and Orwellian levels of surveillance, is not a partisan issue, Klippenstein argues. It’s an issue of national security.And yet looking at the headlines from corporate media following The Intercept’s publishing, there was immediate political spin. The Washington Post told its readers that only conservatives would “go after DHS counter-disinformation work,” which means good Democrats should celebrate speech censorship. Meanwhile, as Ken writes in his story, Republicans claim we’ve defeated disinformation by taking down Biden’s disinformation governance board, ignoring that the same DHS tactics happened under Trump.“It’s crammed into this partisan framework,” he explains, “that doesn’t reflect the reality that when someone’s in power they tend not to care about free speech.”And the scariest part, Ken tells us, “this is not formalized in statute. There's no law saying ‘we're going to create the disinformation team.’ They can do this administratively without sign off from Congress. And they probably have beyond what I'm able to report because I'm only able to get details that my sources have access to. We don't know what else might exist.”It’s a huge story that, as with most issues you see on Useful Idiots, is dangerously underreported. Subscribe to hear the full interview with Ken Klippenstein as he shares the government secrets we know about and what still remains covered up.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get the extended interview with Jemima Pierre, Thursday Throwdowns, and a chance to have your question answered on the show in the Absurd ArenaWhile independent media like Useful Idiots try to cover all the important news that corporate media purposefully ignores, Haiti is an especially overlooked story. The US, with its hooks deep in Haiti’s elections, businesses, agriculture, and daily life, has slowly drained the country of autonomy.Jemima Pierre, associate professor at UCLA and the Haiti-America coordinator for the Black Alliance for Peace, joins us this week to explain what is actually happening in Haiti.She tells stories of US coups against the government, the purposeful destruction of the Haitian rice and pig industries to prop up those of the US, threats to activists calling for sovereignty, and even a door in the Haiti palace marked: “US OFFICIALS ONLY.”Jemima also points out that Haitians have begun flying Russian flags:“Unlike the people in the US who believe everything they hear in the mainstream media about Ukraine, I think everyone outside of the US understands that what's happening in Ukraine has everything to do with pushing and maintaining US power. Haitians see Russia as a counterweight to US imperialism.”For $5 a month, subscribe to hear the full interview with Jemima Pierre, plus get exclusive access to Thursday Throwdowns and the Absurd Arena where you can get your questions answered by Katie and Aaron on the show.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Medea Benjamin on the AOC protest and the benefits of activism.With AOC (and the Squad by extension) being recently heckled for their support of sending weapons to Ukraine and prolonging the proxy war, Useful Idiots had anti-war activist Medea Benjamin on to explore the question: when did US progressives become pro-war?Benjamin, known for such bold acts as announcing “Here comes the war criminal!” as Donald Rumsfeld entered the White House Correspondents Dinner, is the founder of Code Pink, a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism.She discusses how building an anti-war movement was easier during the Iraq War, while the left now has become more divided and often in support of proxy wars like Ukraine. This, she explains, stems from US demoralization efforts:“During the Iraq War, we were able to build a movement that got hundreds of thousands of people out into the street. The problem is, that did not change Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, and so many people were demoralized. It made people question putting their energies in front of this war machine.”But Benjamin urges us not to give up hope.“We have to recognize that it is our absolute responsibility right now. And I do feel as I travel around the country that there are many people recognizing the need to go in front of the offices of their representatives and protest, to educate their friends and families, I think we are in the midst of building up again.”And, importantly, we need to “keep the pressure up on the Biden administration.”To educate yourself, your friends, and family, Medea Benjamin’s book and short video are great learning tools. And follow Code Pink to support their activism and their coalition Peace in Ukraine.Plus, this week we announced two new features:* Thursday Throwdowns: Our new mini-episodes premiering each Thursday to get your exclusive dose of midweek media madness. This week, we watched the Tapper/Biden interview.* The Absurd Arena: The Useful Idiots discussion board for people who think you can talk back to a podcast. Share your opinions and get your questions and comments read on the show.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Wyatt Reed.“Welcome to Donetsk. You survived your baptism by fire.”Wyatt Reed, a US journalist who writes for Sputnik, a Russian-state media outlet, is reporting from the front lines in Ukraine. His hotel was bombed by a Ukrainian strike just hours after he had arrived there — and while he was just steps away. He shares with us his videos of the attack and describes what it’s like in the war zone.In Donetsk, Reed reports, the war is in every moment of daily life. He details the choice of which direction to face when choosing a seat at a restaurant, taking into account which way the bombs will come from, which way the shrapnel will fly. “This is something that people here just live through.”And yet western media refuse to cover these deadly parts of Ukraine. Donetsk, home to many ethnic Russians, is one of the breakaway republics that has fought the Ukrainian government since a US-backed coup in 2014. For them, the war didn’t start when Russia invaded this past February, but eight years earlier. Reed tells us that he can count the number of western journalists in Donetsk on one hand, and that Useful Idiots is one of few western outlets that would share his story. The people just want to be heard, he explains, telling the story of a man who “through tears, said ‘I wish that these so-called western journalists that are saying all this about the situation would have to spend just one day in my shoes.’”But these days, reporting on a perspective from the other side only gets you labeled a Kremlin propagandist. It is important to note that Reed works for a Russian state outlet when analyzing his reporting. But it is impossible to fully assess the situation if you don’t hear from both sides.And Reed is sharing the perspective of the people of Donetsk: “It’s really unimaginable until you come here and you understand this is what people have been enduring for nearly a decade.”Note: We apologize for the poor quality of the interview, wifi and war zones don’t seem to mix well.Subscribe for the full interview with Wyatt Reed.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Col. Macgregor on Russian and Western war strategies, his views on “globalism”, and his prediction for the future of NATO.Who bombed the Nord Stream pipeline? Will we have nuclear war?These are today’s two big questions puzzling journalists (and not really bothering Western politicians, it seems). So who better to break down the walls than former army Colonel and senior Pentagon advisor Douglas Macgregor.“In this war, for which nobody voted, you have to set aside rationality,” Macgregor says. “We’re not dealing with reasonable people.”So let’s analyze what we do know.“I think it’s very clear that when President Putin began this campaign, he fully expected that when he demonstrated he was serious, he would have a negotiating partner. He thought Washington would be interested in negotiating an end to the fighting. I don’t think he appreciated the level of ideological commitment and hatred in support of a war with Russia.”And then comes the daunting prediction. Although he doesn’t think that Russia will use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, he does think that the conflict could get far worse. “If ]Putin] has no success and no one will talk, I think he’s going to unloose hell.”Plus, subscribe for the full interview where Col. Macgregor explains Russian and Western war strategies, his views on “globalism”, and his prediction for the future of NATO.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Assal Rad on why Biden won’t reenter the Iran nuclear deal, the historic suppression of the Iranian left stemming from the Cold War, and how sanctions are crushing Iranian workers.“The state is responsible. Period. There’s just no question.”Author and historian Assal Rad joins Useful Idiots to discuss the Iranian protests over the case of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died after being detained by Iran’s “Morality Police” for not adequately covering her hair. “She shouldn’t have been detained in the first place,” Rad says. “The fact that there is this law, this dress code, that doesn’t allow women a basic form of free expression is the problem.”Amini’s death has sparked protests across Iran and the west, with politicians and celebrities weighing in from around the world.“This is a human rights issue,” Rad says. “But so were the sanctions on Iran during the pandemic. It’s problematic when you only cite human rights organizations and international law and the UN when it serves your purpose.”Today, crippling sanctions on Iran are starving its people, and women are affected the most. But Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber aren’t posting on Instagram about it. The West chooses when to call out human rights abuses against women and when to ignore them.“And that’s why outside powers having any kind of intervention is so problematic. They’re not doing it in the interest of those civilians, they’re doing it in their own national interest,” Rad says. “This is why listening to and supporting voices in Iran is so important.”Assad Rad’s new book is “The State of Resistance Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran.”Plus, subscribe to hear the full interview on why Biden won’t reenter the Iran nuclear deal, the historic suppression of the Iranian left stemming from the Cold War, and how sanctions are crushing Iranian workers.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Ben Abelow where the expert plays political chess to show the previous and predicted moves of these cold war leaders.Researcher and writer Dr. Ben Abelow, a scholar who lobbied Congress on nuclear arms policy, joins Useful Idiots to explain, as his new book argues, how the west brought war to Ukraine.“The goal of the US,” Abelow says, “is not to save Ukrainians but to degrade Russia’s military until they won’t be able to fight in the future. And while some say stopping Russia is a humanitarian goal, the way one would degrade Russia’s military is to keep an extended war going and fight to the last Ukrainian.”Abelow analyzes the history of this cold war, the aggression by each side, and the hypocrisy of the argument that Ukraine has a sacrosanct right to join NATO.“The right to join NATO is the right to place a western military arsenal on Russia’s border. If Russia made a military alliance with Canada or Mexico, US leaders would not be talking about their right to do so.”And on this week’s news of Putin announcing military escalation and giving a thinly-veiled threat of nuclear war, Dr. Abelow warns:“I hope it’s taken seriously.” These are scary times. So buckle up, cook some Nyquil chicken, and get ready for this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out now. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Matt Taibbi: Matt and Aaron ask why hasn’t Hillary Clinton been questioned for her Russiagate involvement, Matt remembers pranking General Secretary Gorbachev, and we take Matt’s new media quiz.Once a Useful Idiot, always a Useful Idiot.Matt Taibbi, who’s taken a hiatus from this pod to write his next book (he gives a sneak peek in the extended interview), just can’t stay out of the game. He’s back to talk about Democrats and Republicans sucking, the weird and terrible media, and the scary stories that are ignored by the mainstream.His newest article on taint teams sheds like on a dark new phenomenon. The FBI has given itself the power to raid lawyers, take all of their documents, and then give itself permission to use the stolen documents in unrelated cases. It’s an easy way to skip getting a search warrant, and gives the government unprecedented power to bury its enemies. Matt explains the ominous story in detail.And subscribe for the full interview: Matt and Aaron ask why hasn’t Hillary Clinton been questioned for her Russiagate involvement, Matt remembers pranking General Secretary Gorbachev, and we take Matt’s new media quiz.Taibbi’s back this week, and you’re not gonna want to miss it. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Katrina vanden Heuvel on her friend Mikhail Gorbachev.“We need to not treat the idea of peace as subversive.”Katrina vanden Heuvel, publisher and editorial director of The Nation, predicts a dark cold war ahead if our leaders continue their craven militarism. The first step, she says, is talking about it openly, which, sadly, the media won’t do. “The crisis is on us. And there’s a lack not only of preparedness but of thinking about the crisis.”Katrina, who was close with the late Mikhail Gorbachev, shares the leader’s personal thoughts on peace, nuclear weapons, and the worsening relationship between US and Russian presidents. She calls Gorbachev “a great reformer in his country’s tormented history.” And shares some private stories about him too. And she reflects on her late husband, scholar Stephen Cohen, when we react to a video of him offering a very prescient analysis of the new Cold War.Plus, Biden does fascist Roger Waters, Liz Truss wants to nuke you, and the latest in terrible Trump-themed drinks.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full interview with comedian Kurt Metzger.Emmy-winning comedian Kurt Metzger, who wrote for Who is America? and Inside Amy Schumer, stops by to talk comedy with the Useful Idiots.We figured since August is wrapped, it’s probably time we all had a Summer Friday. So instead of talking death in Ukraine and poverty in the US, Kurt shares stories of running from Chinese cops, illegal standup comedy in Shanghai, joining (and then ditching) the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and, most importantly, how he’d look with Katie’s hair.When the Useful Idiots decide to go silly, we’re no-nonsense about it. So we also enroll in the new college major Lesbian Dance Theory, chat about stoned (and dry-diapered) President Brandon in a fighter jet, and announce a watch party for the new off-the-wall Hunter Biden movie (watch the trailer with us in the four food groups).And subscribe for the full episode, including the extended interview with Kurt Metzger on call-out culture, YouTube suppression, and whatever the hell is going on with that “robot with salmon eyes” Mark Zuckerberg.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview in which Noam Chomsky explains his worst fear if the Republicans took control of Congress, calls out politicians against forgiving student loans, and attacks the US response to climate change.Professor Noam Chomsky has a stark prediction for the future of humanity if the US refuses to cooperate with other countries:“It is absolutely necessary for the great powers to cooperate if there’s going to be any hope for survival,” he explains. “China, the US, Russia, they have to be cooperating on the major issues of the day: climate, nuclear war, pandemics. You work on them together or you all fall over the cliff together.”And while cooperation sounds like a smart idea, Chomsky doubts the US will go along.“The US orders allies to follow its rules-based international order while China calls for the UN-based international order. And the US doesn’t accept that for a very good reason: the UN rules out US foreign policy explicitly. The UN charter bans the threat or use of force in international affairs. Can you think of a US president who hasn’t engaged in a threat or use of force?”This sparks an analysis of US censorship and how the government can suppress the truth without throwing us in gulags.“Read things carefully that do come out: the Washington Post had a long, comprehensive article in which they reviewed in great detail the background for the war. Nothing in it about possible negotiations. They don’t want it on the agenda.”Plus, subscribe for the extended interview in which Noam Chomsky explains his worst fear if the Republicans take control of Congress, calls out politicians who oppose forgiving student loans, and criticizes the underwhelming US response to climate change.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview where Chairman Yeshitela describes the full raid, the dark history of American colonization, and how he and the APSP are making real change — not “malign influence” — in cities all around the country.“It’s the US’s attempt to crush the Black liberation movement.”On July 29th, members of the African People’s Socialist Party were raided by the FBI. At the St. Louis home of APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela, armed agents threw flash grenades, drones swooped in to spy, and snipers trained lasers on their targets’ chests — all while the FBI taped over the ‘smart doorbells’ of neighbors to avoid being filmed. Anyone have 1984 bingo yet?And the purpose of the raid? To bust the Russians for, in the FBI’s eyes, secretly running the African People’s Socialist Party. The raid came in conjunction with an indictment that day of Russian national Aleksandr Ionov for an alleged “malign influence campaign” against the United States.“There’s this insidious assumption in the mind of most white people globally that African people are too stupid to know what our own interests are, that somebody else must’ve come and told us that we are mistreated in the United States,” Chairman Yeshitela tells us. “So if Black people are saying something is happening to us, it’s not because it’s happening, it’s because Russia is talking through us. That is what they constructed.”Now, Yeshitela and his team of activists are under intense legal threat from the US government. They’re trying to raise awareness, but very few in the media are covering it.Every American knew about the Trump raid that happened weeks later, and calls to defund the FBI were solely in defense of the former president. No one talked about the Black activists threatened and raided.“Generally speaking,” the Chairman explains, “Americans are the most backwards people in the world in terms of living right in the heart of the most oppressive system while being the most ignorant about what it is that this government does.”Subscribe for the full interview, where Chairman Yeshitela describes the full raid, the dark history of American colonization, and how he and the APSP are making real change — not “malign influence” — in cities all around the country.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.For more information on the African People’s Socialist Party and Uhuru, visit https://apspuhuru.org/Upcoming events to support the movement:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/inpdum-2022-convention-defending-the-black-community-tickets-38818995560714th annual Black People’s March on the White House is happening November 5 and 6. Info will be posted at https://blackisbackcoalition.org/Thumbnail photo courtesy of https://www.theburningspear.com/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Vijay Prashad on the US expanding control over South America and why Jordan Peterson needs a hug.“The jaws of Hell have opened wide.”Historian and author Vijay Prashad is worried about the next war that the US will provoke. Nukes in Ukraine, a new missile crisis in Taiwan, destabilizing sovereign South American nations, asserting control in Africa. All in the name of US hegemony.He focuses in on China: what if Xi Jinping flew to Guam like Nancy Pelosi flew to Taiwan? What would the US do?There are 29 US military bases in Africa. How many Chinese military bases are there? None.The US is expanding NATO to bypass the UN treaty in an attempt to rule the world. Is China to blame?Prashad, who has a new book co-authored by Noam Chomsky, analyzes the US’s increasingly dictatorial role in the world from Russia to China to Cuba to South America:Colombia just elected a new left president. One of Gustavo Petro’s first moves was to call for an end to the US-led, so-called “war on drugs.” Subscribe for the extended episode to hear Vijay discuss all of that, plus how capitalism has destroyed the ability of people to control their own lives; the nonsensical decision to place Cuba on the state sponsor of terrorism list; and why Jordan Peterson needs a hug.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Lindsey Snell, journalist at ishgal.com, crossed the Ukraine border to talk to soldiers and civilians. What she found surprised her:There are Ukrainian forces who are “openly Neonazis, and we’re still giving them weapons and calling them something that they’re not.” All across the frontlines Lindsey found swastikas, SS symbols, and Wolfsangels. But negative news in Ukraine undermines the West’s mission to bleed Russia and sell more weapons, so corporate US media paints over it.Lindsey also found that while the western mercenaries who flew over to kill Russians are loving the war, most of the Ukrainians she spoke to, both soldiers and citizens, want it to end.“The corruption and lack of equipment is worse in Ukraine than anywhere I’ve been, Syria, Iraq, Libya. It’s just so bad.” And for the Ukrainians who are starving, losing their homes, and dying, “there’s no end in sight.”What’s worse — as is the norm with guests on Useful Idiots — no one in western media will report on Lindsey’s story. “Journalists come and see how corrupt everything is and that the soldiers have nothing, but none of is is reflected in mainstream reporting. It’s very well known but it’s just not getting past the filter of western media.”Plus, subscribe for the full interview, where Lindsey shares the story of getting kidnapped in Syria, how the war is hurting Europeans, and Turkey’s potential invasion of Syria (that you probably won’t hear about).It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended episode, including the full interview where Claire and Mick discuss abortion rights in Ireland and the US, mainstream media’s constant attacks and misinformation about them, and why our government and media are too afraid to talk about Assange, the realities of the Ukraine proxy war, and US hegemony.“Democracy is about having a say in how your country is run. Right now, that’s not happening. The way the system works, the politicians don’t feel under pressure to answer to the majority of the people.”Mick Wallace and Clare Daly, members of the European Parliament, are Irish progressives. This means they speak out against the proxy war in Ukraine, Julian Assange’s torture, and the Syria dirty war. Elected progressives in the US are quite different.“From what we can see,” they tell us. “You don’t have any left politics in the US. The Democrats are indistinguishable from the Republicans and Bernie would be seen as just right of center in Europe.”And what does it take to get actual progressives like Clare and Mick in office?“Until people take to the streets, it’s going to be very hard for any left wing party to show its head in America.”Plus, subscribe for the extended interview where Claire and Mick discuss abortion rights in Ireland and the US, mainstream media’s constant attacks and misinformation about them, and why our government and media are too afraid to talk about Assange, the realities of the Ukraine proxy war, and US hegemony.As Mick always says, “democracy means you can say what you like, but you’ll do what you’re told.”And that’s this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full interview with Michael R. Jackson on the culture war, racism on Broadway, and his next musical. Plus, Aaron’s heated call with the Guardian’s Mark Townsend.Michael R. Jackson had no idea that a monologue he wrote two decades ago would turn into a Broadway musical that would win countless awards, including a Tony and Pulitzer Prize. And when he criticized the political establishment, including Obama, he had no idea that Michelle Obama would be one of the countless celebrities who would flock to see the show. Nor did he imagine that Aaron Maté would fall in love with his musical and play it on loop. The musical A Strange Loop is about a Black, queer writer who has written a musical about a Black, queer writer and it’s all written by Michael R. Jackson, a Black, queer writer.Michael dishes on whether he would talk to Tucker Carlson if he came to his show, subverting the Broadway world while becoming a part of it, and how he wrote his Tony-and-Pulitzer-winning musical.Watch the interview then go see the show or listen online. And subscribe to hear the full interview where Michael talks about the culture war, racism on Broadway, and his next musical.Plus, Aaron calls Guardian journalist Mark Townsend, who recently named him the “most prolific spreader of disinformation” on Syria, to ask why he wasn’t contacted for the story. Townsend’s cowering response is a must hear.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.Hear our favorite songs from “A Strange Loop” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full interview where Chris talks psychedelics, paradigm shifting experiences, and how the government is lying to us.Chris Ryan, author of Civilized to Death and Sex at Dawn, as well as host of the podcast Tangentially Speaking, wants to help you live happier.He’s studied hunter gatherers; our closest relatives in the animal kingdom; and human philosophy/history to learn why we do what we do, what makes us want to live, and what we’re doing wrong today. Of course we ask him how all this shapes media and politics, but Chris also shares practical tips for any Useful Idiot to meaningfully improve their mindset on life.These include helping others, living less alone, spending less money of stuff we think makes us happier, and saying screw it and jumping into cold rivers. He’s got the science and philosophy behind all of it.And subscribe for the full interview where Chris talks psychedelics, paradigm shifting experiences, and how the government is lying to us.It’s all this, and more, on a transformative episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Professor Wolff on how to stop inflation.Finally! A Marxist economist you can show to your parents and say “See?”Class is in session with economics Professor Emeritus Richard Wolff. He’s here to teach us about inflation, what steps could be taken to tame it, and why the hell no one’s doing anything about it.He doesn’t want to scare you with the alarming future our leaders are pushing us toward, but if he didn’t, he’d be lying. So buckle in for a fantastic lecture in which Wolff uses economic history to shine a light on the dark road ahead.And subscribe for the full interview, where Professor Wolff shares what can stop inflation: “I’m gonna give you two things that we could do that will get us through the worst of it; one from a conservative Republican and one from a progressive Democrat.” Can you guess who?Plus, Biden wants you to earn the right to not get shot, Laura Ingraham discovers that mass shootings are because the kids are all smoking weed, and another Kamala stoned moment.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Briahna Joy Gray, where we pick 2024 candidates, rank the squad, and Briahna and Aaron debate the importance of Jan 6 hearings.Host of Bad Faith podcast and Rising and former Bernie Sanders press secretary Briahna Joy Gray explains why dems are rapidly losing voters:Trump gets mocked for failing to put up his wall, but his supporters watched him try the whole time, putting up pieces of wall and getting blocked. He showed them what he will do if they get him more votes. So they’ll vote harder.Democrats have given their voters failures on Build Back Better, healthcare, gun safety, and now Roe v. Wade, with little evidence of trying to fulfill these promises. Why would dems keep voting for that?As a former lawyer, Gray explains the legal side of the Supreme Court’s decision and what can be done to protect the rest of our privacy rights, like contraception and marriage equality.And subscribe for the full interview, where we pick 2024 candidates, rank the squad, and Briahna and Aaron debate the importance of Jan 6 hearings.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Ryan Grim.The Intercept’s Ryan Grim shares his new article Elephant in the Zoom, which explains how internal struggles have progressive advocacy groups at a standstill during a critical political moment. He argues that workplace problems, while important to deal with, are distracting these groups from the issues they were created to fight for.And while progressives are doing internal evaluations, do you think Republican groups are analyzing their micro-aggressions or are they busy seizing power?Plus, Grim ‘calls out’ the left’s call-out vs call-in problem, explains why the left is ditching their anti-war stance to escalate the proxy war in Ukraine, and why journalists are fine with the recent extradition of Julian Assange, which is, of course, an attack on a free press. Subscribe and watch the full interview to get it all.Oh yeah, and Aaron’s now a top conspiracy theorist, according to the great journalists at The Guardian.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.Aaron’s article on Matt DussRestorative Injustice by Ryan Grim This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

To clear up the confusion, Aaron and Max’s livestream on the Grayzone got censored from Youtube. Youtube is still allowing this episode of Useful Idiots. So check it out now! And click here for the full interview.In secret meetings and leaked emails, Paul Mason and Nina Jankowicz work to silence journalists who don’t promote the approved message. In public, they complain that journalists bully them, and do vile things like publish past things they’ve said.And who does Youtube side with? The supercalifragicensors.The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal is here to explain.Leaked emails show that Paul Mason, a prominent UK journalist, privately discussed plans to collaborate with UK intelligence to “deplatform” independent journalists like The Grayzone and target UK’s Corbynite, anti-war left. As #Masongate trends on Twitter, Mason nonetheless got his wish: YouTube removed Max and Aaron’s livestream about it.So, fellow Useful Idiots, listen, learn about Mason, and then tweet the hell out of #Masongate.And hear the full interview where Max discusses deeper censorship plots, leaked emails, and a shameless 60 Minutes promotion.Plus, Aaron just got accused of being a top Russian-influenced Twitter account for such offenses as “promoting a general mistrust in institutions and elites.” It gets crazier every week.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Max on leaked emails, Bellingcat, and 60 minutes.In secret meetings and leaked emails, Paul Mason and Nina Jankowicz work to silence journalists who don’t promote the approved message. In public, they complain that journalists bully them, and do vile things like publish past things they’ve said.And who does Youtube side with? The supercalifragicensors.The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal is here to explain.Leaked emails show that Paul Mason, a prominent UK journalist, privately discussed plans to collaborate with UK intelligence to “deplatform” independent journalists like The Grayzone and target UK’s Corbynite, anti-war left. As #Masongate trends on Twitter, Mason nonetheless got his wish: YouTube removed Max and Aaron’s livestream about it.So, fellow Useful Idiots, listen, learn about Mason, and then tweet the hell out of #Masongate.And hear the full interview where Max discusses deeper censorship plots, leaked emails, and a shameless 60 Minutes promotion.Plus, Aaron just got accused of being a top Russian-influenced Twitter account for such offenses as “promoting a general mistrust in institutions and elites.” It gets crazier every week.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Glenn Greenwald on Jan 6, Ukraine, and Biden’s failures.There’s a whole lot of terrible stuff going on which means Glenn Greenwald has a whole lot to say:•Biden’s failure at the Summit of the Americas: Latin American leaders are boycotting Biden’s summit because he refused to invite the dictatorships of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Meanwhile, Biden’s packing for his big trip to the dictatorship of Saudi Arabia…•Jan 6 in Prime Time: “I don’t think dramatizing this three-hour protest from 18 months ago will do very much at all other than underscore the fact that this is the only strategy the Democrats have.”•More Russiagate developments: “When I heard that first ad where Hillary Clinton had that sinister music playing and said, ‘What is this relationship between Donald Trump and the Russians?’ to me it just immediately sounded like the kind of McCarthyite toxicity I had spent many decades abhorring.”Subscribe to hear the full interview with Glenn where we deep dive on January 6, play Trump vs Bernie vs Chomsky, and hear about Glenn’s animal shelter run by unhoused people in Rio.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, with the Ali Abunimah extended interview on Israel’s racist and violent flag marches, the Biden administration’s hypocritical policies, and the collapsing support for Israel around the world.After another Israeli murder of a Palestinian journalist, The Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah shares a scary truth:“The message Israel drove home with the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh was that no matter who you are, how famous you are, or what religion you are, no Palestinian is safe from Israel.”With US backing, Israel has been free to kill with impunity. But seeing the Palestinian people unite in protest after each massacre, Ali has hope.“Palestinians are coming back together with every Israeli atrocity, and that is really terrifying for Israel because divide-and-rule has always been their strongest and most successful tactic.”They don’t have the US government on their side, or deadly US weapons, or any truth from US corporate media, but their growing anger and spirit is creating a stronger, unified Palestine.And subscribe for the extended interview, where Ali discusses Israel’s sickening actions at Shireen Abu Akleh’s funeral, racist and violent flag marches, the Biden administration’s hypocritical policies, and the collapsing support for Israel around the world.Plus, Biden’s getting smothered, Marjorie Taylor Greene in a peach tree dish, and 15,000 pounds of hot dog paste.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Become a Useful Idiot to get the extended interview, where Mike Prysner interrupts George Bush and explains how US violence abroad breeds violence at home.Amid growing scrutiny of the police response to the Uvalde school massacre, Mike Prysner, producer of the Empire Files and Iraq war veteran, tell us:“In a way, they were accomplices to the mass shooter. The number of dead was aided by the police.”Perhaps through cowardice or racism, Prysner says, the police stood outside and subdued parents while their kids were shot inside. “With car accidents, there are steps you can take to protect your child,” Prysner explains. “There’s nothing you can do to protect them from guns other than move to Canada as a refugee of US violence.”Hear Prysner’s full take on the shooting and guns in America, an important perspective from a veteran who once loved guns. Plus, in the extended episode Mike explains why he yelled at George Bush and how Memorial Day is only another militaristic holiday to whitewash a deadly and racist history.And watch Mike and Abby Martin’s episode on the true history of Memorial Day, Used & Betrayed, and their important documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Lev Golinkin on disinformation, weapons manufacturers, and Aaron’s fight with a Nazi denier.The Nation’s Lev Golinkin has an important message that most people in mainstream news can’t seem to wrap their heads around:“Russia is committing war crimes. That is true. And not everyone who is fighting Russia is a good guy. That is also true.”And some of these bad guys are Nazis.Lev, who sees his home country being terrorized by Russia while also by it’s own neo-Nazi extremists, brings a new perspective to the war that is rarely shared.And why is his voice stifled? Because of disinformation launderers like Nina Jankowicz, Orwellian head of Biden’s (now-paused) Disinformation Board, who have a pro-war agenda, whitewash Nazism, and smear anyone who disagrees with them.Read Lev’s articles at the Nation, read his memoir, and watch Useful Idiots. It’s the last stand against the supercalifragicensors.And become a Substack subscriber to see the full interview where we discuss disinformation, weapons manufacturers, and Aaron’s fight with a Nazi denier.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Alan MacCleod and fan suggestions for military-grade baby names.This week, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces. The way the New York Times reported it was that she “die[d]”:The Times, CBS News, the Associated Press, and more corporate media outlets all referred to the incident, in which Israeli military opened fire on journalists, through words like “clash,” “conflict,” or other misleading terms to cast doubt on who the attackers were.Multiple eye witnesses confirmed the Israeli military shot and killed Abu Akleh.Journalist Alan MacCleod of MintPress News joins the Useful Idiots to expose media bias and propaganda that’s become increasingly difficult to dig through. (We highly recommend following his twitter to stay informed)In the extended interview, Alan uncovers the dark truth of TikTok’s shady executives and a Ukrainian news source that’s become a favorite of western corporate media but isn’t what it seems.And unfortunately, as we learned with Mnar Adley last week, MintPress’s journalism is at stake after sites like PayPal decided to wipeout the accounts of dissenting voices.“If you are going to challenge the government or challenge power in any way,” MacCleod explains. “You might want to remove your money from PayPal because it could get zapped at any point just like it happened to me.”Plus, Biden ditches Covid relief to spend more money on weapons for Ukraine, Lindsey Graham’s war-mongering speech, and a funeral proposal.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended episode with Mnar Adley, proof that Nancy Pelosi doesn’t care about Roe v. Wade, and a bonus Biden Stoned Moment.MintPress News’ Mnar Adley has bravely reported on Israel, Ukraine, and national security agents running TikTok. In response, PayPal shut down MintPress’s account and threatened to take their money.PayPal has begun doing this with multiple independent media outlets who don’t fall in lock-step with the Biden administration’s policies. And it’s gone nearly unreported. Google “PayPal” and you’ll mainly see why you should buy their stock today (!).And as the MintPress name gets attacked, notice that the people calling MintPress News “fake news” are the ones tampering with the Wikipedia page to slander their name.Check out the site and read their journalism for yourself. And hurry, because the way censorship has been trending, you may not be able to read them for long.Plus, Rep. Gaetz and Justice Alito lead Republicans in the Roe v. Wade decision, Biden and Pelosi refuse to do anything about it, and in case anyone forgot, Amazon doesn’t care about its workers.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out.Plan C for safe, at-home abortion access: https://www.plancpills.org/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Michael Hudson.We asked economist and “futurist” Michael Hudson, economic advisor and professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, his thoughts on the people who have run our country for the 50 years he’s studied US politics.“They’re sociopaths. They think it’s a game. They don’t care about the things you and I care about.”He shares a dark story of the Carter administration’s strategy to cause a drought that would raise American grain prices so they could pay for higher priced oil. This, plus the constant racist, elitist sacrifice of people in third-world countries, caused him to leave his post as economic advisor.And nearly 50 years later, the US strategy in Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Africa, and all over hasn’t changed. It’s all about money and power.“I won’t say that Biden and Trump are Chinese agents,” he says in a scathing review of the presidents. “But if they were, they couldn’t have done anything to serve China more.”Hudson is the next in a long line of Useful Idiots guests to take down President Joe. And after last week’s explosive clip of Biden mocking a former marine, we’re pretty sure a lot of people are beginning to agree.Plus, Taibbi exposes defense contractors on MSM, Greg Abbott accidentally helps migrants, and we help you get out of your next boring zoom meeting. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including an explosive extended interview with Scott Ritter.Former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and Chief UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter resigned his post in protest of US war mongering. Immediately, he was mocked by Joe Biden. And when the FBI came after him, well, as he puts it, it went something like:So when he joined the Useful Idiots to discuss Joe Biden, he (like many of our recent guests), didn’t have much nice to say.“The marine in me says he stinks. He went to war knowing it was a lie and his chief of staff told me he knew it was a lie. And yet he held a hearing that lied to the American people about a threat that put marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen’s lives at risk. People died. And not just our people, Iraqis. They didn’t deserve this, but they got it.“And the person that gave it to them? Joe Biden. He’s the President of the United States today, and I have zero use for the man. That’s about as honest as I can get.”He details Biden’s terrible approach to the war in Ukraine and the simple steps he’d need to end the whole thing and reach peace. But of course, Biden’s gonna Biden.And hear the extended episode where Ritter shares some explosive takes and seething views of the government whose war crimes have led to countless deaths.Oh, and if you want to win our hearts, take advice from Scott Ritter with quotes like:“You guys probably get far more viewers than CNN does, so you’re far more influential.” He’s right, especially after CNN+ officially shut down this week (thanks to viewers like you).Plus, Biden’s Trumpian approach to Assange, an MSNBC pundit joins the war, and Katie and Wilson debate whether Ted Cruz meant that Mickey would be “going at it” with Pluto or with Goofy.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including an extended interview with Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly.Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly, professor at Carlton College, coordinating committee member of the Black Alliance for Peace, and author of many books including the upcoming Black Scare/Red Scare, has had it with liberals pretending to care about regular people.Biden promises to help people with student loans while prosecuting bankrupt people in courts. Obama pretended to fight for civil rights while shutting down protests in Ferguson. Kamala Harris claims to help migrants while blaming them for underlying causes and telling them not to come. Liberal media calls to aid Nazis in Ukraine while ignoring genocides in other countries.And just this month we got the newest liberal win:“Ketanji Brown Jackson said Bush and Rumsfeld should be tried for war crimes, but that’s easy to say in retrospect. She didn’t say Joe Biden should be tried for war crimes, or Obama, or Kamala Harris.”And to all the people who do criticize Obama, she’s not cheering them on either.“Obama’s an easy target now, but where were your antennas in the moment?”The scholar goes through a history of liberal lies and war crimes and comes to the stark conclusion that “liberalism has always been amenable to fascism.”Plus, Dr. Charisse shares her reading list of books by Black scholars, and when it comes to controversies over CRT and the 1619 Project and other issues of race, she only has one piece of advice: just read Gerald Horne.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with David Sirota and a Biden Stoned Moment.David Sirota, whose site Daily Poster is now The Lever, returns to Useful Idiots as an Academy-Award nominee for his movie Don’t Look Up. And he’s got a message for the Oscars:We’ve got to do something today about climate change. It’s like a giant comet is headed towards earth and no one seems to care.“The movie’s giant audience proves that you don’t have to choose between focusing on important things and not having a big audience, or focusing on stupid, silly things and getting a big audience.”In this interview, David gives us the fun stuff: a tour of his celebrity sitings and stories; and then the dark stuff:Fossil fuels: “Why are we preserving an industry and jobs if in 10 or 20 years, the livable ecosystem that supports all human life is going to be significantly deteriorated or gone?”And student debt: “Student debt and Joe Biden are a 40-year story. You have to understand how motivated he has been, how much he believes in the idea of student debt. He has been a sculptor of the laws in this country that govern debt for 40 years.”To put it lightly, David Sirota doesn’t trust Joe Biden.“If you want to tell people not to believe anything politicians say, if you really want to deeply disillusion people to not believe the government will ever do something concrete and permanent to help, that seems to be the message that Joe Biden is trying to deliver.“This is how you turn a country into the joker.”Plus, dems are confused why drug prices (that they set) are so high, Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks we’re pro-pedophile, and a total jerk-off on a flight.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the the full episode, including an extended interview with Larry Wilkerson on why the FBI is tailing him and why others don’t stand up to the machine.Larry Wilkerson, former US Army Colonel and high-ranking member of Bush’s White House as Colin Powell’s chief of staff, has spent his post-government career criticizing our war-mongering policies.Wilkerson discusses the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the US response from an inside-the-government perspective: He’s worked with Biden and understands his motives. He knows the US oligarchs whose wallets will be hurt if Russian oligarchs are hit. He’s been through the army and Washington and understands why the current strategy isn’t designed to help anyone but the US.So we think he’s a good person to listen to. We also think that may be why the FBI is suddenly following him around.And, it seems that Wilkerson’s advice on drone strike information doubles as a pretty good characterization of some of the politicians in power today:“Your intelligence is never as good as you think it is.”Plus, Dems are ripping up the shelters of the unhoused while Republicans are having cocaine orgies. Oh yeah, and @usefulidiotpod is now #truthing on Truth Social.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

This week, we’re unpaywalling our extended interview with multiple-Oscar-winner Oliver Stone. His new documentary Ukraine on Fire has been censored by Youtube, but you can still see it on Rumble.He wrote and directed multiple classic, culture-defining American movies. He created groundbreaking documentaries, interviewing Putin, debunking Russiagate, and uncovering JFK’s murder. He won three Academy Awards.There was only one thing left for Oliver Stone to do: Become a Useful Idiot.Stone’s new documentary, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, uses newly declassified and reexamined footage to present a case that conspiracy theories about the president’s death are actually “conspiracy facts.”And it creates a big debate on Useful Idiots. Watch the pod, watch the doc, then let us know: do you agree with Matt, Katie, or Oliver? Who really killed President John F. Kennedy?The Oscar-winning filmmaker shares stories of censorship, getting yelled at about Russiagate by Bill Maher (kinda like another Useful Idiot we know), and being pushed out of the mainstream for being a controversial filmmaker, cementing his legacy as a Useful Idiot.Plus, watch Matt’s reaction when one of his all-time favorite directors quotes his “vampire squid” piece. It’s pretty cool.It’s Oliver Stone on Useful Idiots. Don’t miss this one. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Abby Martin, the moment when Abby confronted Nancy Pelosi, the latest dishonest attack from The Young Turks against Aaron Maté, and Biden’s stoned moment.The Empire Files’ Abby Martin returns to Useful Idiots to speak out against censorship and the corporate media’s duplicitous and hypocritical coverage of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Censorship is something Abby knows quite a bit about, given that Youtube has removed every single episode of “Breaking The Set,” the show she hosted at RT from 2012-2014. Abby, who emphatically condemns all wars, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, can’t help but notice how the corporate media is celebrating Ukrainians for doing things they condemn when the people doing it are, say, Palestinian. “I feel like I woke up in an alternate universe,” she says. “Where there’s wall-to-wall coverage of anti-war messaging and everyone decided: ‘We hate war and we support occupied people’s right to resist.’“For people like us who have been sounding the alarm on so many heinous US atrocities that are committed in our names on a daily basis, this… is shocking.”“Why now?” she asks. “Where were you all these years? Because people have been dying this whole time.”Why didn’t Rachel Maddow cry on TV for Palestinians or Yemenis. Because they US supports the occupation of Palestine and the siege of Yemen. And it’s good for the arms industry.And now, Abby, who is bravely calling out the BBC and CNN and New York Times, is, you guessed it, censored. With her videos being scrubbed off Youtube and RT getting banned in so many western countries, it’s scary to think how far this censorship could go.“None of us should be okay with this and none of us should be celebrating this,” she says. “I believe in critical thinking and media literacy and the answer to all of this is not censorship.”And as we head closer and closer to war, the danger (and ignorance) grows:“Censoring media poses a big problem because when you are facing down a conflict that could potentially turn into a hot war with two nuclear-armed powers, don’t you want the Russian perspective? Don’t you want the Chinese perspective?”But say that on TV and you get blacklisted as a Russian apologist.So listen here, because it’s getting harder and harder to find real journalists anywhere else. And until we get taken out too, we won’t stop searching for reporting and analysis that challenges, and doesn’t merely regurgitate, state department talking points.Plus, Trump wants you to lay down your life to fight CRT, Iranian-revenge-killing dating apps, and our new favorite segment: ‘This Week in MSM Nazi Propaganda.’It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended episode, including the full interview with Afshin Rattansi. And don’t miss Aaron’s take on The Young Turks meltdown over him.Afshin Rattansi’s show Going Underground is becoming harder and harder to see as the US, UK, and EU have all censored the RT. But Afshin has some good news for viewers:“With a VPN, you can always say you don’t live in unfree places like the US or Europe or Britain, and say you live in Pyongyang where there is freedom to watch it.”Rattansi, whose channel RT is attacked as pro-Russia propaganda, regularly calls out the Russian invasion and has guests who condemn Russian aggression. But that doesn’t fit with the western narrative for the channel, so we don’t actually get to see him. If only we lived in North Korea.In this interview, we examine the problems that led to the crisis in Ukraine and how world leaders dangerously get history wrong.“Scholars only talk about Putin and Putin’s mind. This is corollary to the idea that WWII was about Adolph Hitler and not the Treaty of Versailles and the impoverishment of the German people after the war of reparations.”Without understanding the structures around leaders, like the hawkish state department and Russian Duma, “we’re in the realm of Marvel comics and Hollywood individual good and evil.”This individualism is what leads people to blindly call for a no-fly zone, which sounds good in terms of good-against-evil, but in reality, will only cause more destruction.Or, as Rattansi puts it: “It’ll be the end of the earth.”In this episode of Useful Idiots, we analyze no-fly zones, media censorship, and the path to peace in Ukraine. And we get treated to a very fun letter from Donald Trump.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the extended episode, including the full interview with Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison.For a while, pundits have been predicting the decline of American superpower. Although some decline is inevitable, don’t expect Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to precipitate it.As the American Prestige podcast’s Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison explain, the US ability to invade another country and commit war crimes that would merit US sanctions if it was any other country, and without any backlash, underscores America’s overwhelming strength.“What would these scholars, who say Russian students should be kicked out of schools and that there are no good Russians, have thought if in 2003, scholars in Russia said there are no good Americans because we invaded Iraq? They would have been aghast.”“They can’t process the thought that those situations are analogous. We’re virtuous and everyone else is evil.”With the war ramping up, US ghoulishness runs rampant. Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, and Nancy Pelosi all giggle at the brink of war while Bucky is left to take the fall.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including an extended interview with Branko Marcetic about Ukraine, Epstein & more, plus a chat about Vaush.Note: This episode was recorded before Russia invaded Ukraine. The interview with Branko Marcetic provides a lot of useful context on how we got here.When we look at the progression of this war, the Biden administration and cable news hosts will tell you that Mastermind Putin foresaw this six moves back in his chess game, and that the only thing we could’ve done was impose more sanctions earlier.They won’t tell you about the US escalating tensions for years, stoking the 2014 coup and aiding neo-Nazi forces for its own benefit.Now, two war-mongering countries, both with bloated militaries, whose people are neglected in favor of entrenched elites, whose politicians profit from war, are back to causing destruction.And Ukraine is stuck in the middle.Jacobin’s Branko Marcetic joins us to break down everything happening in the region and the steps that led to Russia’s deadly attack. See the extended episode for the full discussion on Ukraine plus a look at his in-depth reporting on Jeffrey Epstein’s death.It’s a dark day, but Useful Idiots will always keep speaking the truth. Join us as we follow the news and keep the people of Ukraine in our thoughts.It’s this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out now. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Click here for the full episode, including an extended interview with Rania Khalek.Breakthrough News’ Rania Khalek recounts her horrifying travel nightmare:“So I went to Cuba and it was terrifying… just like Marco Rubio said.”Then she laughs and proceeds to share an enlightening and inspiring story of a country perpetually beat down by the US that still continues to survive. Seeing the stellar healthcare, education, and public safety of a poorer nation only underscores that we’re doing something wrong here.She explains:“When you see how this poor country, which is poor because of the US, spends all of its revenue providing medical care and education for everybody, it really tells you something about the US system.I walked around all of Havana and not one person begged for money. That was astounding to me after being in New York.Plus, Rania, who’s currently based in Beirut, gives her on-the-scene takes on Syria, ISIS, and Ukraine mania. Subscribe now to hear it all.It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe