Nathan Fuller of the Bradley Manning Support Network discusses the latest developments in Manning's trial; the prosecution's so-far unconvincing attempt to show that Manning worked on behalf of WikiLeaks; and the Civil War-based precedent of the government's "aiding the enemy" charge.

Mark Thornton, Senior Fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, discusses the increasingly popular and mainstream Austrian school of economics; how sound economic theory leads to a thorough understanding of foreign and monetary policy; why central bankers are liars; Ben Bernanke's escapades beyond the Federal Reserve's traditional mandates; the Goldman Sachs alumni in high level government positions; and the wisdom of owning gold and silver.

McClatchy journalist Jonathan Landay discusses President Obama's crackdown on government leaks; the Insider Threat program that has federal employees spying on each other; official protection for government whistleblowers - as long as they stay within the chain of command; and the over-classification of information.  

Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, discusses the remaining prisoners in Guantanamo who will never get charged with a crime or receive a trial - yet are force-fed by the US government to stave off mass suicide; the Congressional hawks who have no incentive to close Guantanamo; and the foot soldiers from Afghanistan (don't call them terrorists) who have been caught up in a decade-long travesty of justice.

Radio host Alan Butler discusses why Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is losing control of the economy; how the Fed came to be the largest holder of Treasury bonds; big banks getting into the landlord business; and the bogus official numbers on inflation and unemployment rates.

Peter Ludlow, professor of philosophy at Northwestern University, discusses his article on the jailing of journalist and unofficial "Anonymous" spokesman Barrett Brown; Brown's "Project PM" journalistic operation of crowd-sourcing the contents of millions of emails taken from tech security/intel companies HB Gary and Stratfor; why nearly every American has committed a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act; and the credulous judges who have no clue about computers or technology...

Jason Leopold, author of News Junkie, discusses his Guantanamo tour; the death of "Runaway General" journalist Michael Hastings; smart journalistic practices in a time of total government surveillance; the long overdue autopsy report of Guantanamo "suicide" victim Adnan Latif; and the stupid euphemisms used by Guantanamo officials that have George Orwell spinning in his grave.

Daniel Ellsberg, author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, discusses Bradley Manning's selective leaks that informed the public of criminal government behavior without endangering lives; Edward Snowden's bravery in the face of Obama's unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers; why it's safe to assume the NSA records every single electronic communication; evidence that Robert McNamara kept LBJ in the dark about the true nature of the Gulf of Tonkin incident; why Obama...

Sheldon Richman, vice president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses his article "Motives Aside, the NSA Should Not Spy on Us;" why patriotic zealots are more dangerous than self-dealing crooks; the NSA's justification for its spying programs; and the inter-agency rift between CIA-NSA that the centralizing Department of Homeland Security was supposed to fix.

Thomas C. Mountain, an independent journalist based in Eritrea, discusses the fake democracies and bogus elections throughout Africa; the UN-approved president of Liberia who won a Nobel Prize while failing to provide running water or electricity in the nation's capital; the curious correlation between Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's death and the end of piracy in the Horn of Africa; the billions in foreign aid going to Ethiopia; shortcomings in Jeremy Scahill's reporting on Africa;...

Muhammad Sahimi, co-founder of Iran News & Middle East Reports, discusses "moderate conservative" Hassan Rouhani's victory in Iran's presidential election and the golden opportunity for a US-Iran deal on nuclear enrichment and sanctions.

Ezekiel Edwards, director and former staff attorney at the ACLU, discusses the Supreme Court's ruling that Maryland police can extract DNA samples from those arrested (not convicted) for "serious crimes;" Justice Scalia's impressive dissent; the racial disparity of marijuana possession arrests; and the 5th Amendment-shredding SCOTUS decision in Salinas v. Texas.

Greg Mitchell, daily blogger for The Nation, discusses the new edition of his book on whistleblower hero Bradley Manning; the biggest revelations in the Wikileaks Iraq and Afghan war logs; how Manning's leaks helped speed up US withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan; and how the Arab spring revolutions were inspired in part by the leaked State Department cables.

Eric Margolis, journalist and author of American Raj, discusses the Obama administration's decision to directly arm Syrian rebels; the "old colonial lusts" of Britain and France; disagreement on whether the Syrian government or the rebels used chemical weapons; and Obama's rather arbitrary "red line."