Reza Marashi, Research Director for the National Iranian American Council, discusses the promising US-Iran talks that are no longer dominated by hardliners on both sides; the most cohesive Iranian political environment since the 1979 revolution; and George W. Bush's failure to make a deal 10 years ago when Iran's nuclear program was far less developed than it is now.

Flynt Leverett, professor at Penn State University's School of International Affairs, discusses the concessions and guarantees needed to make a deal on Iran's nuclear program; whether the UN Security Council's decrees supersede Iran's NPT/sovereign rights; Obama's willingness (or not) to use political capital to fight obstructionists; and the legal impediments to lifting sanctions, even if Iran capitulated to all demands.

Former FBI agent Coleen Rowley discusses how whistleblowers check excessive government power and secrecy; NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's Russian exile; and Senator Diane Feinstein's claim that the current NSA spying program would have prevented 9/11.

Rachel Levinson-Waldman, Counsel to the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program, discusses what the government does with Americans' data; how the "fusion centers" established after 9/11 to fight terrorism quickly expanded their focus to all manner of criminal activity; whether public backlash can dial back the government's power; and the NSA's lies about oversight and the legality of their spying activities.

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern discusses his trip to Russia to present NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence.

Philip Giraldi, executive director of the Council for the National Interest, discusses CNI's fight against the Israel lobby's undue influence on US foreign policy; why a Syrian solution is not as hard as it seems; and how improved US-Iran relations would greatly reduce Middle East tensions.

John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus, discusses the popular opposition to US intervention in Syria; the difficult job of destroying all of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile; the lessons Obama should have learned from Libyan regime change; and the prospects for a non-interventionist US foreign policy.

David Vine, author of Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia, discusses how Italy became the Pentagon's launching pad for future wars in Africa and the Middle East; the bloody results of the military's effort to keep busy; and the ebb and flow of the US's empire of bases.

Patrick Cockburn, a journalist with The Independent, discusses why the media doesn't cover the chaos and violence in post-Gaddafi Libya; how Libyan sovereignty has been degraded by the abduction of terrorist suspect Anas al-Liby in a US commando raid; and the cascading failures of US foreign policy in the Middle East since the Iraq War.

Mark Thornton, Senior Fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, discusses Ron Paul's plan for an instant $1.6 trillion reduction in the national debt; why we need to lower, not raise, the debt ceiling; the dangers of a depreciating dollar; why the NSA's spy data is more useful for blackmail than fighting terrorism; the Fed's money creation shell game; and why empire is a money-losing proposition.

Jim Lobe, chief of the Washington bureau of Inter Press Service, discusses the neoconservative ideology and its prominent practitioners; the opposition to US-Iran detente; and Obama's weak-kneed consensus-building approach to bitter policy disputes.

Jason Leopold, a writer for Al Jazeera, discusses the human rights groups criticizing Obama's failure to close Guantanamo prison; the just-released documents on prisoner genital searches that the DOJ claimed could help Al Qaeda attack Guantanamo; and the media's failure to cover the still-ongoing hunger strike.

Jeffrey Phillips, director for ADAM VS THE MAN, discusses why libertarian activist Adam Kokesh is still in jail and how you can help support his legal defense.  

Michael Swanson is the author of The War State: The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite, 1945-1963. This is the first interview in a series of in-depth discussions about the book.

Eric Margolis, journalist and author of American Raj, discusses Iran's unwelcome peace offerings; John Kerry and Hillary Clinton's political maneuvering ahead of the 2016 election; the Syria debacle that has embarrassed Obama and boosted Putin's international standing; and Israel's likely involvement in the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist.