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Economist Mark Thornton of the Mises Institute returns to the show for a quick look at the state of the economy. He and Scott zoom out and try to determine where in the cycle between artificial booms and recessions we find ourselves. 

Discussed on the show:

• Anatomy of the Crash
• Extractive Psychology – Minor Issues Podcast with Mark Thornton

Mark Thornton is a senior fellow at the Mises Institute. His most recent book is The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economists Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Century. Follow him on Twitter @DrMarkThornton 

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Roberts and Robers Brokerage Incorporated; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; Libertas Bella; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

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Scott interviews Annelle Sheline about her work on the war in Yemen. Sheline says that negotiating an end to the war has proven difficult, since both the UN framework and the U.S.-Saudi mentality is totally inconsistent with the situation on the ground. Neither will confront the fact that the Houthi “rebels” have actually been in control of most of the country for the last few years already, and the Hadi “government” is really a group of men in a hotel room in Saudi Arabia. Asking for concessions from the Houthis at this stage simply isn’t realistic. And so the status quo continues: a near-total blockade, supposedly to stop weapons from getting into the hands of militants, but which really just prevents food and basic medicine from getting to a civilian population suffering from a devastating famine and multiple outbreaks of otherwise easily preventable illnesses.

Discussed on the show:

• “Washington Has Yemen Policy Backward” (Foreign Policy)

Annelle Sheline is a Research Fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute and an expert on religious and political authority in the Middle East and North Africa. Follow her on Twitter @AnnelleSheline.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott interviews Gareth Porter about his coverage of a recently-released document liberated by Daniel Ellsberg when he originally leaked the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s. This document, Porter explains, shows how in 1958 the military wanted to use tactical nuclear weapons against China over the offshore islands crisis. It was only Eisenhower’s intervention that stopped the Joint Chiefs from going ahead with the plan, though ironically, it was Eisenhower’s own efforts to combat the military-industrial complex by reducing conventional military forces that helped lead to an increased focus on nuclear weapons as a primary military tool in the first place. Ellsberg has released this document because the idea that the U.S. might go to war with China over Taiwan has thrust this issue to the fore once again. Nuclear brinksmanship, he says, remains one of the greatest threats not just to American national security, but to the very survival of the human race. The idea of an all-out war with China as in any way a legitimate possibility must be vehemently opposed before we ever come to the point of using nuclear weapons again.

Discussed on the show:

• “Eisenhower rejected military chiefs’ demand for nuclear war on China, classified account of ’58 Taiwan Strait crisis reveals” (The Grayzone)
• The Doomsday Machine
• “Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says” (The New York Times)
• “Risk of Nuclear War Over Taiwan in 1958 Said to Be Greater Than Publicly Known” (The New York Times)
• “US military considered using nuclear weapons against China in 1958 Taiwan Strait crisis, leaked documents show” (CNN)
• National Security Archive

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state. He is the author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare and, with John Kiriakou, The CIA Insider’s Guide to the Iran Crisis. Follow him on Twitter @GarethPorter and listen to Gareth’s previous appearances on the Scott Horton Show.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott interviews Max Blumenthal about the recent violence that has thrust Israel-Palestine into the national spotlight. On one hand, there is a growing recognition—thanks to reports from organizations like Human Rights Watch—that Israel is essentially an apartheid Jewish state with second-class Palestinian citizens. On the other hand, there has been a great deal of concern about a supposed rise in anti-semitic violence around the world, and especially in America, in response to the coverage of Israel’s crimes. Blumenthal says this latter claim is actually extremely overblown—if you look into the supposed incidents, many turn out to be as benign as a Palestinian solidarity march or a speaker advocating for equal rights for Palestinians. Jews have been victims in many societies throughout history, but today, says Blumenthal, they are doing very well in America and are much safer here, on the whole, than in Israel. And the Israeli government, unfortunately, has now become the perpetrator of a great deal of injustice and abuse in its own right.

Discussed on the show:

• “To distract from Gaza slaughter, Israel lobby manufactures antisemitism freakout” (The Grayzone)
• “Eisenhower rejected military chiefs’ demand for nuclear war on China, classified account of ’58 Taiwan Strait crisis reveals” (The Grayzone)
• Defamation
• Coming to Palestine
  
• 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East
  
• “Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution” (Human Rights Watch)
• “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid” (B’Tselem)
• America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History
  

Director and writer of “Killing Gaza,” Max Blumenthal is a senior editor of the Grayzone Project and the author Goliath, Republican Gomorrah and The 51 Day War. Follow him on Twitter @MaxBlumenthal.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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John Kiriakou discusses the case of hero whistleblower Daniel Hale, who helped expose the White House’s secret drone assassination program during the Obama administration. Hale has pled guilty to one charge under the espionage act, in an effort to win the mercy of the court, but he still faces four other charges, which at the moment the Justice Department is refusing to back down from. Hale is now facing at least some time in prison, but could be given a much longer sentence, depending on how things go in the coming months. Scott and Kiriakou remind us that, of course, Hale shouldn’t be facing any charges at all: the secret activities he exposed—namely the killing of civilians—are criminal, and therefore can’t be classified in the first place under U.S. law.

Discussed on the show:

• “JOHN KIRIAKOU: Duping a Whistleblower” (Consortium News)
• Stand with Daniel Hale
• “The Drone Papers: Secret documents detail the U.S. assassination program.” (The Intercept)
• The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government’s Secret Drone Warfare Program
  
• “National Bird (2016)” (IMDb)
• The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers (Facts on File Crime Library)
  
• The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner
  
• “Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says” (The New York Times)
• “Podesta Email Leak” (WikiLeaks)
• “State Department Cables” (WikiLeaks)

John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer and author of The Convenient Terrorist: Two Whistleblowers’ Stories of Torture, Terror, Secret Wars, and CIA Lies and Doing Time Like A Spy. He is the host of Loud and Clear on Sputnik Radio. Follow him on Twitter @JohnKiriakou.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott talks to the great Tom Woods about the latest happenings in Libertarian Party politics. Scott, Tom and many other committed libertarian activists have decided to join the LP recently in an effort to re-energize the movement and spread the principles of liberty. Much of this new energy is thanks to Michael Heiss of the Mises Caucus, who’s been spent the last few years organizing events with the likes of Tom and Scott, and has big things planned for the future.

Discussed on the show:

• “The American Lenin” (lneilsmith.org)
• “Scott’s Talk to the Colorado Libertarian Party Convention, May 22, 2021” (The Scott Horton Show)
• “Scott Horton’s Speech at the Pittsburgh Mises Caucus Convention” (Libertarian Party Mises Caucus)
• “Dave Smith 5/14/2021 – LP Mises Caucus “Take Human Action Bash” – Pittsburgh” (YouTube)

Tom Woods is the host of the Tom Woods Show and the author of numerous books including Real Dissent. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEWoods.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott interviews Jeremy Hammond about the real history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, focusing on the fact that, counter to the mainstream narrative, Israel has encouraged the rise of Hamas all along as a useful foil. Israel, Hammond explains, has never wanted a two-state solution, and when the PLO renounced terrorism and openly began supporting the idea of a two-state solution in the late 1980s, Hamas provided a convenient excuse for Israel to claim it couldn’t negotiate with the Palestinians at all. Hammond also refutes the claim that the Palestinians have repeatedly refused to negotiate peaceful settlements to the conflict, by going through all the supposed deals that they turned down.

Discussed on the show:

• “Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal | Charlie Rose” (YouTube)
• Oslo Accords
• Camp David Accords
• “The Palestine Papers” (Al Jazeera)

Jeremy R. Hammond is an independent journalist, political analyst, and author. He wrote Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, along with many other books. Follow him on Twitter @jeremyrhammond.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott and Pete Quinones talk about all the other libertarian and antiwar podcasts you should be listening to. Some are big names that every libertarian needs to know about, others are lesser-known up-and-comers that need all the support we can give them.

Discussed on the show:

• “Pete | The Libertarian Institute” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “Conflicts of Interest | The Libertarian Institute” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “Year Zero on Apple Podcasts” (Apple Podcasts)
• The Tom Woods Show
• “Part Of The Problem” (GaS Digital Network)
• “Anti-Neocon Report” (Google Podcasts)
• “Ron Paul Liberty Report” (Apple Podcasts)
• Lions of Liberty
• Free Talk Live
• For Canon Sake
• Thaddeus Russell
• “5/20/21 Gareth Porter on the Increasing Power Shift Toward Hard-Liners in Iran” (The Libertarian Institute)
• The Bob Murphy Show
• “The Human Action Podcast” (Mises Institute)
• The Managerial State: Power, Politics and Ideology in the Remaking of Social Welfare
  
• Human Action
• Man, Economy, and State
• What Has Government Done to Our Money?
• The Case Against the Fed
• AnarchoChristian
• “Liberty Lockdown Podcast” (SoundCloud)
• The Sharpe Way Show, Hosted by Larry Sharpe
• RADICAL
• “Biting The Bullet” (Apple Podcasts)
• “No Way, Jose!” (Jose Galison | Listen Notes)
• Fortress On A Hill Podcast
• Legalman (@USlawreview) on Twitter
• A Neighbor’s Choice
  
• “The Liam McCollum Show” (Apple Podcasts)
• THE COALITION
• Reed Coverdale (@ReedCoverdale) on Twitter
• Free the People
• The Statist Quo
• “Timeline Earth” (Apple Podcasts)
• Run Your Mouth with Robbie Bernstein
• “Rebel With A Cause” (Apple Podcasts)
• “Counterflow with Buck Johnson” (Apple Podcasts)
• “Pushback with Aaron Mate” (Apple Podcasts)
• The Fight For Liberty Podcast
• “The Agora” (Apple Podcasts)
• “Will Grigg’s Freedom Zealot Radio” (The Libertarian Institute)
• No Quarter: The Ravings of William Norman Grigg
• “Break The Cycle w/Joshua Smith” (Apple Podcasts)
• “Adam Kokesh” (Podchaser)
• “Blackbird with James Jenneman” (Apple Podcasts)
• “The Brian Nichols Show” (Apple Podcasts)
• “The System is Down with Dan Smotz” (Audible)
• Tenth Amendment Center
• GodArchy Podcast
• “It’s Too Late with Alan Mosley” (Apple Podcasts)

Pete Quinones is managing editor of the Libertarian Institute and hosts the Free Man Beyond the Wall podcast. He is the author of Freedom Through Memedom: The 31-Day Guide to Waking Up to Liberty and is co-producing the documentary, The Monopoly On Violence.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Kalmen Barkin is back for an update on Israeli politics. In the last two weeks, Knesset opposition leader Yair Lapid got the opportunity to form a coalition government, and possibly oust Prime Minister Netanyahu for the first time since 2009. But just afterward, as Barkin explains, violence erupted at the al-Aqsa mosque, in response to Palestinian protests about settlements in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. These events have thrown Israeli politics into turmoil, and it’s not at all clear what will happen going forward. If Netanyahu can hold onto power, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s done so by leveraging uncertain circumstances and supposedly temporary powers. Barkin also explains much of the history that has led the Israelis and Palestinians to this point of conflict.

Discussed on the show:

• “Israeli Party Leader: Hamas is a Strategic Asset” (Antiwar.com)

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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