The Assange Problem: Either Set Him Free or Go Full Fascism.

May 7, 2021

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Assange is a complicated figure personally and historically. And he evokes pretty strong reactions on both sides. Mostly though we don’t think about him at all. With the exception of occasional reports whenever there’s an update on his charges or extradition attempts, Assange has been sort of back burnered. Considering the stakes at play for the U.S. media, this should be surprising or even troubling. Today we’re going to review the story of WikiLeaks and put the debate over the fate of Assange in the only context it should be - to answer the question of just how serious we are about our concept of democracy, free speech and the role of the fourth estate.

Pod Love

Intercepted with Jeremy Scahill- Joe Biden's War Powers: https://spoti.fi/3hb95oM

Media Roots Radio with Abby & Robbie Martin- Assange Trial: Torture, Trumped Up Charges & A Warning to Us All w/ Kevin Gosztola: https://spoti.fi/3f4bMGg

News Beat- Chelsea Manning: Collateral Murder Cover-Up: https://spoti.fi/3nVIEVu

News Beat- Espionage Act & The Battle For The Free Press: https://spoti.fi/2R6rt7E

Book Love

Glenn Greenwald- No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State: https://bookshop.org/a/23377/9781250062581

Tariq Ali + Margaret Kunstler- In Defense of Julian Assange: https://bookshop.org/a/23377/9781682192214

If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com.

Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com.

Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week.

Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list.

Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by adding this direct RSS link into your podcast app. Full instructions here.

Unf*cking the Republic is produced and engineered by Manny Faces Media, Original music by Tom McGovern. The show is written and hosted by Immodest Max and distributed by the dark fantasies of Empire.

Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, ‘Unf*cking the Republic.’

Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/memberships

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.