Sheldon Richman, vice president of The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses why the US isn't leaving Afghanistan in 2014 as long expected; Benjamin Netanyahu's appeal to all the world's Jews to oppose US-Iran rapprochement; and the blatant lies told by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

Jennifer Turner, Human Rights Researcher for the ACLU's Human Rights Program, discusses the ACLU report "A Living Death: Life Without Parole for Nonviolent Offenses;" the broad support for reforming mandatory minimum sentencing laws; extreme racial disparity in sentencing; and the excessive power of prosecutors.

Michael Ostrolenk, National Director of the Liberty Coalition, discusses the unlikely liberal-conservative alliance looking to tame the Pentagon's enormous budget; why cutting spending doesn't mean sacrificing national defense; and why you should call your senator and tell him/her to keep the sequester spending cuts in place.

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern discusses the New York Times' dismissive attitude toward Iran's sovereign and NPT right to enrich uranium; how the US intelligence community prevented the Bush administration from starting a war with Iran in 2007; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dempsey's refusal to back up Obama on Syrian intervention following the deadly gas attack in Damascus; and why Israel continues sabotaging any US diplomatic overtures with Iran.

Robert P. Murphy, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism, discusses how the Federal Reserve manipulates interest rates and exacerbates boom-bust cycles and why unprecedented money creation hasn't led to extreme price inflation.

John Glaser, editor of Antiwar.com, discusses the Israel lobby's tenacious opposition to an Iranian nuclear deal and the sticking points in negotiations for US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Michael Boldin, founder and executive director of the Tenth Amendment Center, discusses why Congressional reform of the NSA is doomed to failure while Dianne Feinstein remains on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and using state-level legislation to shut down NSA facilities by denying them electricity and water.

Andrew Cockburn, author of Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy, discusses why John Kerry's "Secretary of State" title doesn't mean he conducts anything resembling foreign policy; how Obama's personal dislike and jealousy of Kerry could be holding up an Israel-Palestine agreement; and why politics has always been ugly, stupid and shortsighted - no matter what the official court historians say.

Gareth Porter, an independent investigative journalist and historian, discusses why Iran nuclear talks failed and why they will get tougher; the lousy deal ultimately offered up to Iran - probably from Israeli pressure; and the overconfidence in the US's negotiating position.

Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, discusses how Dick Cheney helped make torture an official US government policy; former Guantanamo inmate Omar Khadr's fight for justice in a Canadian prison; and how torture has poisoned America's soul.