American Exception

This is the first of two episodes featuring Aaron’s interview with two luminaries of US anti-imperialism—Daniel Ellsberg and Peter Dale Scott. Daniel Ellsberg was an analyst for the Pentagon and RAND before he made the fateful decision to leak the Pentagon Papers—a top secret study on the US involvement in Vietnam from Truman to LBJ. Ellsberg is the author of two memoirs—Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, and The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. He is also the subject of The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, an Oscar-nominated documentary that Edward Snowden credited for inspiring his own act of whistleblowing. Peter Dale Scott is a former Canadian diplomat and retired UC Berkeley Professor of English. He is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, including The War Conspiracy, Coming to Jakarta, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, Cocaine Politics (with Jonathan Marshall), Drugs, Oil, and War, The Road to 9/11, American War Machine, and The American Deep State. This interview was originally recorded in October of 2018 at Marin College during Project Censored’s Media Freedom Summit. Big thanks to everybody at Project Censored who helped with this, especially Mickey Huff, Anthony Fest, Dennis Murphy and John Bertucci! Special thanks to Dana Chavarria for producing the episode! Music: “The End of the World” by Mock Orange

Professor Peter Dale Scott discusses the Reagan era and how its dawning was the catalyst for a psychic crisis that Peter resolved through poetry—Coming to Jakarta, specifically. This is the 16th installment of our oral history series with the prolific poet, historian, and political theorist who gave us parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach. Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "East Side Song" by Mock Orange

Special Guest hosts Robert Skvarla and Hailey Rounsaville give us the second part of a series on Jimmy Carter. Presented and produced by Seamus McGuinness! Music: "Feel it Now” by Mock Orange

We look at HBO’s new series, White House Plumbers. Bryce Green and our own Seamus McGuinness join Aaron to review this strange production. Bryce Green is a graduate student at Indiana University in Bloomington. He also writes for FAIR—Fairnesss and Accuracy in Media. Check out his latest article, “Report Shows How Military Industrial Complex Sets Media Narrative on Ukraine.” Special thanks to Seamus McGuinness for producing the episode! Music: "Til the Mornin" by Mock Orange

Professor Peter Dale Scott discusses his Iran-Contra era experiences, including his work on the Kerry committee as well as his involvement with Gary Webb and the film, Kill the Messenger. This is the 15th installment of our oral history series with the prolific poet, historian, and political theorist who gave us parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach. Check out: The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis  COVER UP: Behind the Iran Contra Affair  Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "12 O'clock Call" by Mock Orange

Special Guest hosts Robert Skvarla and Hailey Rounsaville give us the first of a two-part series on Jimmy Carter. (Aaron is away at a family memorial service for his younger sister and will return very soon) Presented and produced by Seamus McGuinness! Music: "This Nation" by Mock Orange

Dick Russell joins us to talk about his new book, The Real RFK Jr: Trials of a Truth Warrior. Russel is the author of fifteen books including two ground-breaking books on the JFK assassination: The Man Who Knew Too Much - about JFK assassination figure Richard Case Nagell On the Trail of the JFK Assassins - new edition to be released in November 2023 Russell is currently serving as a researcher and commentator for a 10-part podcast series about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, hosted by Rob Reiner and Soledad O’Brien to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary. Additionally, he has co-authored five books with former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, three of which became New York Times Best-Sellers. Special thanks to Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: “Roll Your Eyes” by Mock Orange

Professor Peter Dale Scott discusses his seminal work on Indonesia 1965. He began researching the subject in the 1970’s, with his research culminating in a landmark 1985 academic article, “The United States And The Overthrow Of Sukarno, 1965-1967” as well as a public event in which Peter and dissident ex-CIA officer Ralph McGehee debated the subject with retired CIA director William Colby. This is the 14th installment of the series with prolific poet, historian, and political theorist who gave us parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach. Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: “Tell Me” by Mock Orange

Kit Klarenberg and Ben Howard join us to discuss new revelations about the CIA’s criminal mischief prior to 9/11. In particular, we discuss Kit’s recent GrayZone article “Bombshell filing: 9/11 hijackers were CIA recruits.” Also relevant to this discussion is the article by Ben Howard, Aaron Good, and Peter Dale Scott, “Why Did Key U.S. Officials Protect the Alleged 9/11 Plotters?” Kit Klarenberg is the Editor of Grayzone UK. His work explores the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. Ben Howard is an independent researcher and our resident 9/11 expert. Special thanks to Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "Stuck In” by Mock Orange

After nearly a one year hiatus, Professor Peter Dale Scott returns to resume our Minding the Darkness, Minding the Light oral history series. We pick up where we left off, in the aftermath of Watergate. This is the 13th installment of the series with  prolific poet, historian, and political theorist who gave us parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach. Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "Tell Me" by Mock Orange