Peter Van Buren is back for a conversation about President Biden’s foreign policy, especially regarding Iran. Van Buren explains the way that the JCPOA, signed under the Obama administration, lengthened the amount of time that it would take Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, thus removing an excuse long used by Iran’s enemies as a threat of war. Trump, of course, backed out of this deal to appease his anti-Iran allies, but Biden was expected to rejoin—after all, he was part of the team that...

Scott talks to Hans Kristensen about nuclear proliferation. Ever since the U.S. government backed the coup in Ukraine in 2014, he says, we’ve been flying bombers near Russia and the Baltic states in what are ostensibly “training exercises,” but which in reality are meant to intimidate America’s enemies. Kristensen explains that even though these bombers don’t have nuclear capabilities, they are a demonstration of U.S. reach into Eastern Europe. Of course the obvious danger with this kind of...

Max Blumenthal begins by discussing the immense power imbalance between Israel and Palestine, which has led to enormously one-sided violence by the Israelis. The Palestinians, to be sure, have fought back, but Blumenthal says there’s a crucial difference between people defending their own territory, even when it sometimes results in civilian casualties, and an aggressor who moves in on other people’s land and deliberately targets families. Of course, with international support overwhelmingly...

Scott talks to Ryan McMaken about nuclear proliferation. McMaken describes two lessons that other countries have learned from the U.S. about nukes: (1) America will use the threat of an emerging nuclear program as an excuse for invasion, as it did in Iraq and threatens to do in Iran, and (2) America has so far been unwilling to make serious threats against any nuclear-armed country. Although the first trend seems like it would be an obstacle for any country wishing to protect itself from the...

Eli Clifton discusses the Biden Administration’s Afghanistan study group, a panel of national security experts and former officers giving recommendations on whether the U.S. should get out of Afghanistan on the Trump administration’s withdrawal timeline. Some of these experts have recommended that we pull troops out soon, but the majority have counseled against a hasty withdrawal—which of course in practice could very well mean staying indefinitely. Clifton points out the obvious problem with...

Ray McGovern talks with Scott about the lies and malfeasance of the national security state during the “Russiagate” fiasco. McGovern begins by rehashing the FBI’s lies that first led to a FISA warrant on Carter Page, who they failed to disclose to the court was already a CIA asset who was delivering them information about the Russians. McGovern also reminds us that Comey himself lied about the reliability of the evidence in the Steele dossier, which in private he revealed that he knew to be...

Scott interviews Gareth Porter about his coverage of the recent and widespread claims of a Chinese genocide of the Uyghurs. Many of these accusations have relied on the work of one man, Adrian Zenz, whose research Porter calls into question. Porter wrote a piece with Grayzone collaborator Max Blumenthal covering the many instances of data manipulation on Zenz’s part, all of which undermine the case that the Chinese government is perpetrating a genocide. To be clear, says Porter, China is an...

Scott talks to Ben Wizner of the ACLU about the ongoing Julian Assange saga. Assange’s attempted prosecution under the Espionage Act is practically unprecedented, says Wizner. While it’s true that many leakers of government secrets have been charged for violations of secrecy agreements, no journalist or publisher has ever been successfully prosecuted for putting those secrets out to the public. The Obama administration considered going after Assange, but realized that to do so would set a...

Nathan Robinson shares his story of being fired from the Guardian after posting a sarcastic tweet about Israel. After joking about the amount of military aid the U.S. government sends to Israel, Robinson was immediately labeled an anti-semite and swiftly fired from his position as a columnist at the Guardian. He is hardly the first to endure such treatment. Robinson points out how ironic the favorable treatment of the state of Israel is by world governments and the mainstream media, all while...

Phil Weiss is back to discuss Israel, beginning with the observation us that now that the two-state solution is essentially off the table for good, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that Israel is an apartheid state that has enshrined in law its subjugation of the Palestinians. Part of this growth in Israel’s boldness can be lain at the feet of Donald Trump, who was unusually loyal to Israel, even by the standards of American politics. But Weiss doesn’t expect much in America’s Israel policy...

Scott talks to Mike Swanson about some of the problems in the U.S. economy and what we can expect in the near future. Scott points out the emerging real estate booms in places like Austin, Texas, as wealthy residents of states with severe lockdowns seek relief in states with less strict policies. These price spikes represent real demand, no doubt, but they come at the expense of local residents who can no longer afford to live in their home cities. Swanson adds that the real unemployment...

Nasser Arrabyee discusses the heavy fighting going on outside of Ma’rib, the last stronghold of the Saudi-backed government in Yemen. The Houthi “rebels” are closing in on the city, says Arrabyee, and may capture it within a few days—doing so could give them the bargaining chip they need to finally negotiate an end to Saudi aggression against their country and their people. Arrabyee hails the recent announcement of an end to American support for Saudi “offensive operations” as very good news,...

Scott interviews Patrick Jaicomo of the Institute for Justice about the case of José Oliva, a Vietnam veteran who was assaulted by police officers at a VA hospital in 2016. Because of doctrines like qualified immunity, it has taken years just to reach the point where Oliva can make his case against the officers in civil court. In America, government officials are virtually immune from civil prosecution, even in cases like this that seem so obviously unjust. Jaicomo and his group work...

John Kiriakou discusses an alarming new trend in the government and the media, in which the American right is freely compared to some kind of domestic terrorist or insurgent movement. Kiriakou describes the way that a small group of radicals like those who stormed the U.S. Capitol in January are being used to justify a crackdown on anyone on the right. So far this crackdown has manifested mostly in the controlling of speech online and calls for Donald Trump and his allies to be held directly...

Scott talks with Danny Sjursen about President Biden’s foreign policy moves during his first few weeks in office. Most notably, the administration has announced an end to all support for “offensive operations” in Yemen. Sjursen agrees that this is great news, but urges some caution so that we don’t too readily accept a declaration that could still allow loopholes. The news isn’t all good: the Biden administration has also hinted that they will cancel the Afghanistan withdrawal deal that was...