Janine Jackson talks about Chelsea Mannings re-incarceration for her refusal to testify in Julian Assange’s Wikileaks case. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for her leaking of classified state department information, but had her sentence commuted by President Obama after seven years, still the longest sentence served by any whistleblower in America. Jackson lambasts the mainstream media for their failure to support Manning and Assange, since the real purpose of journalism should be...

Joe Lauria joins the show for an update on Julian Assange, who was arrested this morning at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Lauria explains why it’s so dangerous for governments to prosecute Wikileaks, which is nothing more than a platform for information. This precedent would open any media outlet that publishes government information to prosecution. Discussed on the show: “Risk (2016)” (IMDb) Joe Lauria is the editor-in-chief at Consortium News. He is a former UN correspondent and wrote at...

Scott talks to Ramzy Baroud about the Palestinians’ March of Return and their broader struggle for civil rights in Israel. Discussed on the show: “‘The Essence of Being Palestinian’: What the Great March of Return is Really About” (Counterpunch) Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict “Netanyahu Unaware of the Camera ‘America can easily be moved'” (YouTube) Oslo Accords Ramzy Baroud is a US-Arab journalist and is the editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle. He is...

Scott talks to John Kiriakou about Chelsea Manning, who is refusing to testify against Wikileaks. Kiriakou explains that she probably doesn’t want to incriminate herself by forgetting things while rehashing details of previous testimony. Scott and Kiriakou both agree that the prosecution of Wikileaks as an intelligence organization is extremely dangerous for the ability to hold government accountable. Discussed on the show: “Chelsea Manning’s ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ Moment” (The American...

Medea Benjamin joins the show for a rundown of some of the democratic presidential candidates’ positions on war and the military-industrial complex. Some candidates, like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are better now than they once were, perhaps due to increased public awareness of atrocities like the war in Yemen. Others, like Tulsi Gabbard, have always been principled in their opposition to unnecessary wars. But for the most part, of course, democrats want foreign wars and big military...

Scott talks to Joanne Leon of Around the Empire about all the left-leaning journalists who were skeptical of the mainstream “Russaigate” narrative all along, which, as opponents of President Trump, went against their interest in a certain sense. These people held an unpopular opinion because they believed the principle was right, and they deserve recognition now that it’s pretty clear there’s no evidence of collusion with the Russians. Discussed on the show: “Foreign Policy Follies: Russiagate...

Scott talks to journalist Bette Dam about her new book, Searching For An Enemy: The Secret Life Of Mullah Omar. Dam also reflects on how journalists may need to rethink the ways they report on the terror wars. Bette Dam is a journalist and the author of A Man and A Motorcycle: How Hamid Karzai Came to Power and Searching For An Enemy: The Secret Life Of Mullah Omar. Find her on Twitter @BetteDam. This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles...

Ryan McMaken joins the show to explain the economics of central banks—specifically the way our Federal Reserve destroys people’s savings by inflating the money supply and causes the boom/bust cycle through its manipulation of interest rates. People will often object, says McMaken, that without a central bank unbridled capitalism would take the U.S. back to the economic dark ages, but he points out that we have had one for most of America’s worst financial crises, including the great depression...

Scott talks to Matt Agorist of the Free Thought Project about the recent shooting in New Zealand and the tactics used by the killer to intentionally sow political division. The point of radical action is often to provoke an equally violent political backlash, explains Scott, as it surely was in this case. Is it any wonder, ask Scott and Matt, that America’s killing of civilians abroad has done nothing but cause an increase in terrorism? Discussed on the show: “NZ Terrorist Used ISIS Tactics to...

Aaron Maté discusses the aftermath of the Russia investigation and what it’s revealed about mainstream American journalists. In addition to seriously undermining media credibility, the obsession with possible Russian influence over the president has made it next to impossible for Trump to do anything that might be seen as helpful for Putin, like pulling troops out of Syria or pushing for nuclear detente. Discussed on the show: "07/25/16 – Jeffrey Carr" (The Scott Horton Show) Many, Many...

Scott talks to Robert Naiman from Just Foreign Policy about the continued efforts to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war and starvation campaign in Yemen. Naiman explains the complexities of the various types of bills and resolutions in the house and senate, and why it’s been so hard to pass this kind of thing in the past. He says that if people want to help, the best thing they can do is to make phone calls to their senators and congressional representatives. Discussed on the show: War...

Scott interviews Miles Lagoze about his film, Combat Obscura, which he produced and directed. The film details the war in Afghanistan through the eyes of soldiers on the ground. Miles Lagoze is a filmmaker and marine veteran. Obsessed with the film Full Metal Jacket while growing up, he enlisted as a Combat Camera in the Marines when he was 18 and deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. After getting out of the military he began working on Combat Obscura while attending film school at Columbia...

Phil Giraldi talks about his recent article, “An Iranian April Surprise?” and the possibility of America provoking a war with Iran. President Trump withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal, the purpose of which was to take pretense for war off the table. Now the neocons in the Trump administration are doing what they can to promote such a war. Discussed on the show: “An Iranian April Surprise?” (The Unz Review) October surprise “3/26/19 Ray McGovern was Right About Russiagate” (The Libertarian...

Scott talks to Elijah Magnier about Israel, Palestine, Iran, Syria, and the United States’ apparent inability to learn from its foreign policy mistakes. Discussed on the show: ““A Dinosaur With A Bird’s Brain”: US Policy Failure Reopens Iran-Beirut Road” (The Iranian) Six-Day War Elijah Magnier is a Senior Political Risk Analyst with over 32 years’ experience covering Europe & the Middle East. Find him at his website, ejmagnier.com or on Twitter @ejmalrai. This episode of the Scott Horton...

Scott interviews MIT professor Ted Postol about the series of alleged chemical attacks in Syria. Postol has carefully reviewed the evidence in each of the three high-profile attacks, pointing out that in all three cases there is good reason to doubt the accepted narrative. Syrian rebels not only have the means to perpetrate such attacks, they also have a strong motive, in provoking U.S. military intervention against the Assad government. Scott and Postol also discuss the dangers of nuclear...