Aaron Maté talks about the latest with the Russian collusion investigation, which he looks at skeptically. He observes that the aim of the investigation does not seem to be to get to the truth, but rather to scare people, which generates clicks and views for the media and helps justify the existence of the military-industrial complex. Maté also points out that factually the case doesn’t add up—certain incidents might seem plausible, like Russian hacking of the DNC email server, but each of the...

Sharon Tennison of the Center for Citizen Initiatives tells her incredible story of citizen diplomacy in the 1980s, when she made dozens of trips to the Soviet Union hoping to meet and befriend regular Russian civilians. She reminds us that over 90 percent of Russians were not Communist Party members—by and large they were just like the average American, and were eager to get along with American visitors. Although Tennison’s focus was not on Russian politicians, she did meet some, including a...

Philip Weiss of Mondoweiss.net joins the show to talk about the Israel Lobby’s influence over Bill Clinton’s 1992 defeat of George Bush Sr., and the ways the lobby continues to assert itself in American politics. Weiss tells the story of Bush deliberately standing up to Israeli lobbyists, thinking he didn’t need their support to win, but ended up realizing that the move probably cost him the election—to this day the lobby has a tight hold on the Republican Party, and even many democrats....

Eric Margolis gives an update on the “yellow vest” protests in France over recent fuel taxes announced by President Macron. The protests have caused Macron to back down from some of his policies, which Margolis says has left him looking weak. Macron’s future as leader of France looks uncertain. Margolis explains that Americans, conservatives in particular, have a skewed image of the French, remembering only that America “saved them” in two World Wars—never mind the fact that U.S. intervention...

Michael Klare joins Scott to talk about his recent article, “Alexa, Launch Our Nukes!”, about the dangers of a future where our weapons systems are controlled by artificial intelligence—indeed they already are to an ever greater extent. Computers of course have a big advantage over humans in processing lots of data quickly, so they can conceivably do a much better job calculating when and where to fire weapons, running simulations of different battle scenarios, distinguishing valid targets...

Mark Perry joins the show to talk about President Trump’s bombshell news that he plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. Perry says most people in the military think this is absolutely the right move, despite many loud claims to the contrary from pundits on both left and right. Perry considers it eminently reasonable to take the position that American military presence probably can’t singlehandedly shift the political landscape in Syria—not to mention the fact that our presence endangers the...

William Hartung comes on the show to discuss the latest in Yemen, particularly with respect to the political relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. He explains that the Saudis finally have an opportunity to use all the American weapons they’ve been buying for the last few decades, essentially as a stimulus program for America. President Trump loves to claim that these sales are great for the economy, but the deals aren’t nearly as big as he sometimes claims, in reality supporting only...

Reese Erlich talks to Scott about the war in Yemen and about his latest article on the Russiagate controversy. Erlich thinks we can be cautiously optimistic about Yemen now that public pressure against the war is mounting (a recent poll found that 75% of Americans oppose it), and with the senate passing its resolution invoking the War Powers Act. This resolution doesn’t actually make the war illegal, but politically it may force President Trump’s hand. The same poll that showed public...

Nasser Arrabyee gives the latest on the war in Yemen, following the recent peace talks in Sweden where the UN negotiated a ceasefire in Hodeidah. Despite only moderate political pressure from the United States to end the war, Arrabyee thinks that increased media attention and public awareness of the war has helped create pressure on Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and the UN. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman started this war to help make his reputation as a strong leader, explains Arrabyee, but now...

Ted Snider details Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s intriguing and complex past helping to steal nuclear parts from America, for which he is now being investigated in Israel. Although most of the investigation and press coverage focuses on the associated corruption scandal and not the truly shady history, Snider believes Netanyahu could be in real political trouble. Even if he gets removed from office, neither Snider nor Scott thinks it likely that much will be made of Israel’s secret nuclear...

Jonathan Hafetz of the ACLU joins the show to talk about one of their clients, an American citizen detained in Iraq for over a year without charges because of allegations of his being an enemy combatant. Thanks to the efforts of Hafetz and his organization, this man is finally going free. Discussed on the show: U.S. Citizen, Detained Without Charge by Trump Administration for a Year, Is Finally Free Habeas corpus Anwar al-Awlaki Jonathan Hafetz is a senior staff attorney at the ACLU Center for...

Peter Van Buren comes on the show to talk about his latest article on the Mueller investigation, which he believes is more conspiracy theory than truth. He points out that there’s still no evidence of blackmail based on personal matters, and that none of the supposed Trump Tower business deals in Russia have been shown to be illegal. Moreover, if the Russians really have Trump in their pocket, they don’t have a whole lot to show for it since Trump’s policies really haven’t been very friendly...

David Swanson discusses Pearl Harbor with Scott, an event that has become sanctified as a U.S. holiday, and, worse than that, is used as part of the perpetual narrative that America is always the victim and every war we fight is just. Swanson unveils some of the true history of the attack on Pearl Harbor, beginning with the fact that Roosevelt’s administration had numerous warnings and lots of intelligence that the Japanese were planning an attack. Newspapers in Hawaii were even predicting it...

Karen Kwiatkowski was one of the whistleblowers on the malfeasance of intelligence agencies leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, recently documented in Rob Reiner’s film, Shock and Awe. Kwiatkowski explains that the American people are usually inclined toward an anti-war position, and they voted for candidates like Bush Jr., Obama, and Trump in part because all promised less war and no nation-building. She hopes that the obvious reality that none of them follow through on these promises...

Sheldon Richman comes back on the show to talk about his recent article on Ukraine, and another recent Libertarian Institute article on Pearl Harbor. He outlines some of the history of FDR’s involvement in the lead-up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, explaining how much evidence there is for the fact that his administration was looking for a way to get the United States involved in the war, and only chose Japan after failed attempts to provoke an attack by Germany. Many claim that U.S....