Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

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How Obama's War on Terror Led to Trump Sep 03, 2021

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Subscribe for the full interview at http://usefulidiots.substack.com “That was what the unity after 9/11 really concealed: who it was aimed against.” Next week marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. And as usual, Obama’s apology-free drone strikes, the domestic racism, the enhanced government surveillance, and curtailed civil liberties will be downplayed, if not completely ignored. “The longer this war on terror circumstance goes on,” says Spencer Ackerman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the new book Reign of Terror, “the more and more it's going to be indistinguishable from domestic American politics. And the more the tools of the war on terror are going to be used against Americans.” Will the corporate media outlets discuss liberal complacency and hawkishness in their 20-year-anniversary-paloozas? Will they discuss the fear felt by Americans who were racially profiled not just by other citizens, but by the FBI? Ackerman, whose book lays out how Trump capitalized on the disguised racism in the violent policies of the Obama and Bush admins, worries they won’t. So listen here for the darker side of American unity, and read Spencer’s Substack Forever Wars here. Plus, Texas Republicans try to strip our rights away with their restrictive abortion and voting laws, and new Useful Idiots hero Charles Jaco mocks right-wing teabaggers. It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Afghanistan Vet on Biden Pullout: "I'd Change Nothing" Aug 27, 2021

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Subscribe for full interviews at http://usefulidiots.substack.com After 9/11, the US government jumped into war in Afghanistan, giving shells of reasons for their aggression. But at least they still gave reasons. However, after Bin Laden was killed in 2011, even the illusion of a reason for this war was gone. It’s been time to come home for a while. In an April interview with Matt, Adrian Bonenberger, author and veteran, predicted that Biden would execute the withdrawal from Afghanistan. And like Biden, he didn’t expect the immediate collapse in the region. But still, says Bonenberger, Biden made the right decision. This was a pointless effort wasting time, money, and lives, and after two tours of duty and much reporting in the area, it became clear to him that US presence was doing nothing productive. Ok, so it’s time to leave. But why is it going so poorly? This, he continues, is more of a problem with the State Department than with Biden: “The system is not set up to get people from Afghanistan or Russia or Mexico or China to America. There needs to be some type of capability that we can switch on, some emergency act.” And without that, this extraction was doomed. But Bonenberger, and your Useful Idiots, believe it’s a necessary move. So hear us say it today, because who knows when we’ll say it again: “Good job, Joe.” Plus, we don’t forget Biden’s terrible side in his nomination of Rahm Emanuel, we watch Newsmax’s racist coverage of “Afghani” men, and we side with the woman who’s deep in an affair with a chimp. It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The Deadliest Coverup of the 20th Century Aug 13, 2021

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Subscribe for full episodes and extended interviews at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Lesley Blume is a journalist. She married a journalist. Her father wrote for Walter Cronkite. Her whole community is journalists. So, in 2016, when Trump rose to power, her community was suddenly under attack. “All of a sudden to see your entire community be under assault like that and be designated as enemies of the people was so shocking and demoralizing, and it felt like an all hands on deck moment.” The best way to fight back, she decided, was to write a book that proved to America just how crucial reporters are in democracy, to “reinstate this idea that journalism at its best serves the common good.” “And so,” she explains, “when I came across Hersey’s story, which had been shockingly untold, I knew that I had my story.” John Hersey, a Pulitzer-prize-winning pioneer reporter who saw combat to cover World War II, wrote what some consider the most important work of journalism of the 20th century: Hiroshima. In her book, Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World, Blume uses painstaking research to document how the US government obfuscated its role in the deadliest attack in history and comes to the realization that dropping the bomb was not justified, despite what we’re taught in school. Plus, future-ex-Governor Cuomo couldn’t take the heat from last week’s Useful Idiots review, how Trump’s big beautiful tax cut actually (surprise) helped the rich, and the world burns from climate change. It’s all this, and more, on this week’s (gloomy) episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Cuomo's Kiss Compilation & Dystopian Media "Bullshit" w/ Walter Kirn Aug 06, 2021

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Subscribe for the full interview at http://usefulidiots.substack.com “America finally had enough media awareness after being taught in high school to look for bias that they suddenly were able to see, with new eyes, just how slanted and silly and contradictory and boring [corporate media is.]” Thus spoke Walter Kirn, writer for Time magazine and author of eight novels including Up in the Air (which was turned into a George Clooney movie), on this week’s Useful Idiots. And, like Matt and Katie, Kirn ditched the mainstream and made the move to Substack. where you can check him out. Years ago, Walter tells us, he would complain that every Time article ended the same way: “Some experts believe this while others believe that, but one thing is for sure, the issue is not settled and only time will tell." But now he yearns for the days of yore when the media would take the burden off of itself and leave readers with vague cliches. But at least the readers were left with a chance to think for themselves. Today there is no two sides. There is no debate. They tell you what to think. And at that point, can it still really be called journalism? The answer to that question is hard to say. Some experts believe it can, others believe it can’t, but one thing is for sure, it’s all a lot of bullshit. Plus, after reading 165 pages of the attorney general’s report on Andrew Cuomo, Katie and Matt come to the (hot take) conclusion that the Governor is, indeed, a sexual harasser and dick. And we mourn the loss of Nina Turner’s congressional campaign. Oh yeah, and a bunch of penis stuff. It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out now and stand by for the Substack-only portion where Kirn talks about the novel he’s working on, his parents’ divorce, and the fall of Stephen Colbert. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Nina Turner Takes on the Establishment in Run for Congress Jul 30, 2021

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Subscribe at usefulidiots.substack.com for full episodes and extended interviews Even just days before the election in Ohio’s 11th district, Nina Turner is pulling voters to her side. Just this week, an influential city councilman announced he switched his support from opponent Shontel Brown to Turner because on one side he saw angry attack ads, while on the other he saw policy. And this race is centered on policy: Brown, backed by corporate dems like Hillary Clinton and pro-Israel lobbies, represents the moderate side of democrats, while Turner, supported by Bernie Sanders and AOC, is part of the progressive swing led by the Squad. Jennifer R. Farmer, a social publicist and campaign surrogate for Turner, joins the Useful Idiots to share what Nina believes in: This is Medicare for all and “ensuring that a health event does not derail a person’s future.” This is affordable college and equal pay for equal work. This is creating “a future that we’re leaving behind for future generations that ensures climate justice.” And on Tuesday, we have an election. Will Nina Turner use her #UsefulIdiotsBump to become the next member of the Squad? Or does the national Democratic Party still have power to reach voters? Watch along with us. Plus, we watch Biden yell at reporters, Republicans pretend America isn’t racist, and Brian Stelter lose his pants. It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The Biggest Government Coverup of the Century Jul 23, 2021

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Join our substack for the full interview and bonus content http://usefulidiots.substack.com Subscribe for clips and full episodes Follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/UsefulIdiotpod The press is a crucial part of democracy, checking on the government and alerting the public to what’s going on. The water supply has been poisoned––that's the kind of thing we depend on the fourth estate to report about. But where have they been? The national press was universally late in reporting on the Flint Water crisis, and quickly dropped the corruption, greed, and mismanagement that poisoned Flint's water and people. But the story continues, though you'd never know it from mainstream media. So is the crisis over? Jordan Chariton and Jenn Dize of Status Coup say no. In their recent article, they uncover mounds of corruption, finding the government guilty of a huge coverup with cleared text messages, piles of thrown away phones, and then-Governor Rick Snyder telling his staff: “Don’t put anything in writing because emails are cannons for our enemies.” They lay out a real case against Snyder for misconduct, willful neglect of duty, and even involuntary manslaughter. But today, he’s facing penalties equivalent to a parking ticket and a potential of up to one year in prison. And no one else is talking about it. In this interview, we examine the evil side of politics and the news that sadly can only be found in the reporting of independent media. Plus, Biden’s no longer is going door-to-door to give you a vaccine, a tribunal for human rights abuses in Cuba, and two important messages: don’t make guns that look like toys and if you’re going to commit bestiality, please make sure the animal is bigger than you. It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Julian Assange's Brother: #FreeAssange Jul 16, 2021

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In the past few weeks of the crucial case for free speech and press, Wikileaks-founder Julian Assange was granted a new appeal on his extradition trial and it came out that a key witness (who is a diagnosed sociopath) admitted to lying, a smear campaign distorted much of what we know, and psychological torture was reported in the prison where he’s being held. Remember all that? You don’t? Well, do you read the New York Times and Washington Post? You do? But do you watch CNN and MSNBC? You watch those too? And they didn’t mention it at all? Hmm. So why does no one cover the story that creates a precedent of criminalizing journalism? Because there’s a narrative that Assange helped Trump. What Assange did do was release court-deemed-pertinent documents on Hillary Clinton before the election. What he did not do is meet with Paul Manafort to brainstorm how to help the Trump campaign. But that’s the evidence-free story they’re going with. So of course liberal media can’t defend a guy who helped Trump! But most importantly, this shouldn’t matter even if he did have any connection to Trump. The charges don’t have anything to do with 2016. They’re about 2010 Chelsea Manning revelations and publications of Afghan and Iraq war logs as well as reports of torture in Guantanamo Bay. It’s a serious trial on first amendment rights. And could have even more serious consequences. Julian’s brother Gabriel Shipton and journalist Kevin Gosztola warn of a dark future: The New York Times may not care now, “but a President Mike Pompeo, who led the charge at the CIA against Wikileaks, if elected” could decide he doesn’t like the leaked material you published and bring the same case against you. And when they start throwing your colleagues in jail, don’t you want to be able to say you were against the Espionage Act back then? It’s an important interview about a case that has worldwide consequences, while also about saving one man’s life. Also in this episode of Useful Idiots: –Art critic Nina Felshin critiques Hunter Biden’s paintings –Greg Abbott’s plan to arrest all the democrats –Miami mayor calls for airstrikes on Cuba –Plus: Is it ethical to murder a drone? It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Black Scholar Adolph Reed DESTROYS Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility & Nice Racism Jul 09, 2021

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As PC culture, led fearlessly by Miss Woke 2021 Robin DiAngelo, moves deeper into decreeing what terms and actions count as racist, Professor Adolph Reed has a warning for us: “Both the discursive and institutional have emerged around a systemic disposition to find ways to evade talking about class and economic inequality, then it just grows in that dark environment with other fungi and so forth and so on.” That’s “historian of ideologies” talk for a simple yet important concept which he explains further: When we focus too much on the struggle against racism and prejudice, what recedes from view is the struggle against specific policies that cause essential problems of economic inequality. In his return to Useful Idiots, Professor Reed judges excerpts from DiAngelo’s new book Nice Racism, shares stories of civil rights history, and does something basic yet suddenly important in a time when both racism and faux-anti-racism seem to be growing: he simply defines racism. It’s an important episode which also turns out to be one of the funniest ones yet. Here’s what else you’ll get: –Katie Halper’s NBA Finals Predictions –Poor Saudi Arabia tries to defend itself against Yemeni children –Biden and Republicans finally find a chastity belt for their mouths –And of course, it sucks to Zuck It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Subscribe at usefulidiots.substack.com Follow us on twitter @usefulidiotpod for clips, games, forums, and more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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How to Discharge Your Student Loans with Austin Smith Jul 02, 2021

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What do you do when your congressman is an a**hole who celebrates the January 6 insurrection and uses it to try propel himself to governor of New York? You run against him and f*cking beat him. At least that’s what attorney and former Onion writer Austin Smith plans to do. And he’s using his “furious, blood-boiling” anger toward Lee Zeldin and the rest of Trump’s losers to help the people of New York’s first district to finally get a decent guy to represent them. Smith, who previously worked for the campaigns of both John McCain and Hillary Clinton, has a clear mission in Congress once he unseats Zeldin: help people understand and navigate the ridiculous stupidity of student loans. He discusses his lawsuits against the deceitful companies who keep people buried in debt and shares well-hidden secrets for people who might not know they’re eligible to discharge their loans. Listen here to what he has to say and then support his intellectual and for-the-people campaign here. Or just send him your junk (no, really). Also in this week’s episode of Useful Idiots: –Nina Turner gets the much-coveted “Jim Clyburn backs the other candidate” bump –Katie goes from inviting a NYT writer onto the show to cursing him out in a record-setting 7 minutes –Republicans love their ugly confederate heroes –And Matt laughs louder than he ever has on Useful Idiots It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Norm Finkelstein on Cancel Culture Jun 25, 2021

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Subscribe at usefulidiots.substack.com Norman Finkelstein, the prolific (and widely canceled) political scientist, and author of 11 books, joins the show to give us a sneak preview of his new book on cancel culture and identity politics. He explains what makes today's cancel culture new, what makes it not so new, and why it’s worse, in some ways, when the Left does it: “Obviously there’s cancel culture on the right. But the cancel culture on the right, or the mainstream, the establishment, whatever you want to call it, for a person of the left, is a given. That’s a part of what it means to be on the left. The true Left. You’re going to be marginalized, ignored. That’s the history of the Left.” He critiques MSNBC's Bernie-bashing and identity-politics-weaponizing—Joy Ann Reid and her body-language expert, who diagnoses Bernie Sanders’ self-incriminating “turtling,” in particular— gives Noam Chomksy his due credit and sings the praises of W.E.B. DuBois. Finkelstein also directs his formidable fire at White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo: “And what's her message to white people? Her message to white people is every white person... who's laying out in the street because he or she is homeless, which there are quite a lot in my neighborhood. Every white person from that person to Jeff Bezos, they all profit from racism. And then they, the CEOs, they get to play the enlightened ones because they give money to Black Lives Matter. So, the message to white people is be careful what you're willing to give up, because you're benefiting from this system. Every white person benefits from the system. If you let them climb one rung higher, you are going to go one rung lower. So it's a warning to white people to be cautious, careful, wary, of the demands of black people.... ” Plus, Katie and Matt lament the way Andrew Yang sabotaged his own campaign, depriving himself of what could have been a game-changing “Useful Idiots Show Bump,” and review some important penis-representation-related news stories. Stand by for the substack-only section of the interview where Norman talks more about Angela Davis, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and reveals an early crush. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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