American Exception

This is the first part of Minding the Darkness, Minding the Light—our oral history series with the brilliant historian, political theorist, and poet--Professor Peter Dale Scott. Accompanied by Ben Howard and Aaron Good, Peter reflects upon his early years prior to his arrival at the University of California at Berkeley. Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "Mind Is Not Brain" by Mock Orange

In this episode, Aaron is joined by Anthony Monteiro. They discuss the Black Radical Tradition in the context of US empire and capitalism. They focus especially on the towering figure of W.E.B. Dubois. After many years as university professor--mostly at Temple University--Monteiro continues to work as a scholar and activist at the Saturday Free School in Philadelphia and at Black Agenda Report. Check out Abby Martin's Empire Files episode: The Black Radical Tradition with Cornel West, Mumia Abu-Jamal  Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "East Side Song" by Mock Orange

This is Part 2 of our Battleground Indonesia collaboration with TheKultureDotTV. Aaron, Hailey Rounsaville, and Mike Oldfield cover the tumultuous period from the end of World War II and the Sukarno-led victory over the Dutch which established Indonesian independence. They then trace the imperial intrigues which unfolded throughout the  Eisenhower years. Most notably, they discuss how American deep statesman Allen Dulles played the long game to seize control over the Indonesia's vast resource wealth. This is the audio version. The episode was produced as a video which you can watch here. Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music by Subtropics

Aaron is joined by our man in Belgrade, Kit Klarenberg--an investigative journalist exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. We spoke about a number of subjects related to his recent GrayZone piece, "Propagandist for Syria terror proxies compromised Amnesty International, leaked docs show." The article was a follow-up of sorts to a previous article that Klarenberg co-authored with Max Blumenthal, "Leaked files expose Syria psyops veteran astroturfing BreadTube star to counter Covid restriction critics." Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "Payroll" by Mock Orange

This is Part 1 of our Battleground Indonesia series--a special project produced in collaboration with TheKultureDotTV . In this episode, Aaron delivers the first part of a presentation on the Great Game to seize the staggering resource wealth of Indonesia. He is joined by Hailey Rounsaville and Mike Oldfield. This is the video version. The audio only version is here. If there is any problem with the Patreon video player, this link should let you download the file: "A Mountain of Gold on the Moon" This is Part 1 of our Battleground Indonesia series--a special project produced in collaboration with TheKultureDotTV . In this episode, Aaron delivers the first part of a presentation on the Great Game to seize the staggering resource wealth of Indonesia. He is joined by Hailey Rounsaville and Mike Oldfield.   Watch the video at our Patreon for free!

Aaron talks with Catherine Liu and Dan Kovalik about the Professional Managerial Class, "cancel culture," and US empire. Liu is a professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of California at Irvine and the author of Virtue Hoarders: The Case Against the Professional Managerial Class. Daniel Kovalik is the author of Cancel This Book: The Progressive Case Against Cancel Culture. He is also a human rights lawyer, labor rights lawyer and peace activist. He has contributed articles to CounterPunch, The Huffington Post, and TeleSUR. He teaches International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Follow Catherine Liu on Twitter: @bureaucatliu  Check out Dan Kovalik's author page at Amazon  Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!   Music: "Song in D" by Mock Orange

This special episode features Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. About a year ago, on Groundhog Day 2021, Ellsberg came my peace studies class. He was prepared to answer questions from students, which he did, but only after being surprised by a number of luminaries who had previously agreed to join us. The surprise guests included James Galbraith, Peter Kuznick, Katharine Gun, and Peter Dale Scott. The class—Peace Studies of the American Century—is one that I developed in collaboration with American University history professor Peter Kuznick and filmmaker Oliver Stone.  Daniel Ellsberg is the author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, and The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. His life story is the subject of The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, the Oscar-nominated documentary that Edward Snowden credited for inspiring his own act of whistleblowing. Lastly, we are joined by former CIA officer John Kiriakou, the heroic individual who went to jail for blowing the whistle on CIA torture. He was kind enough to offer his own very memorable tribute to Daniel Ellsberg. Special thanks to Mickey Huff and Anthony Fest of Project Censored, Casey Moore for the episode art, and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!   Music: "End of the World" by Mock Orange

Legendary filmmaker Oliver Stone talks about his new JFK assassination documentary with special guest host Abby Martin. Stay tuned after the interview for a postscript detailing how the JFK assassination was an Establishment or deep state production that must be placed in the context of the post-World War II US imperial project for global dominance. Part 9 of our Destiny Betrayed series on the JFK assassination, this episode also features Hailey Rounsaville of TheKultureDotTV. Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!   Please check out: Abby Martin at The Empire Files and Media Roots Radio. James DiEugenio's fantastic website: Kennedys and King Aaron's book: American Exception: Empire and the Deep State The American Truth and Reconciliation Committee Episode Music: "Too Good Your Dreams Don't Come True" by Mock Orange

In this episode, Aaron is joined by Daniel Bessner to discuss propaganda in the USA. Bessner is co-host of the American Prestige podcast and a professor in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a Contributing Editor at Jacobin. In 2019-2020, he served as a foreign policy advisor to Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Daniel is an intellectual historian of U.S. foreign relations and  the author of Democracy in Exile: Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense Intellectual. After the interview, this episode also features a discussion on materialism, ideology, and propaganda with Our Man in Boston, Ben Howard! Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!   Music: "This Nation" by Mock Orange

In Part 8 our Destiny Betrayed series on the JFK assassination, Aaron continues his discussion with James DiEugenio. They cover Vietnam and other key aspects of President Kennedy's foreign policy.  Collectively, JFK's plans to end the Cold War and his support for Third World nationalism represented a radical break from the imperialist Acheson-Dulles consensus which had prevailed since the end of World War II. Unfortunately, Kennedy's visionary plans placed him in the cross hairs of the US Empire's beneficiaries. These amoral members of the American power elite commanded the world's leading corporate, military, and political organizations. James DiEugenio is the screenwriter and co-creator of Oliver Stone's new documentary JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass as well as JFK: Destiny Betrayed, the four-hour cut of the film coming to the US in late February. Jim is also the author of Destiny Betrayed: JFK, Cuba, and the Garrison Case and The JFK Assassination: The Evidence Today. Additionally, he runs the fantastic website Kennedys and King and makes regular appearances on Len Osanic's BlackOp Radio.  Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Please check out: Aaron's book: American Exception: Empire and the Deep State Project Censored Homepage The American Truth and Reconciliation Committee Music by Mock Orange