Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and a chance to have your comment read on the show in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and a chance to have your comment read on the show in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Click here for the full interview: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-episode-inside-the-ukraine?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Journalist Kit Klarenberg’s latest article at the Grayzone, “FTX partnership with Ukraine is latest chapter in shady Western aid saga,” sheds new light on the money-grabbing schemes emerging from the Ukraine proxy war. The report details how Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX, the crypto exchange that saw its valuation implode from $32B to $0 in a single day, used a Ukraine fundraiser to raise $60 million from donors. This was followed by the mass selloff of FTX currency and a declaration of bankruptcy from the scam company. This raises the question: where did the money for Ukraine go? Kit Klarenberg joins the Useful Idiots with the scoop. He, along with his fellow Grayzone writers, has been the subject of multiple attacks for uncovering stories like this and his other new piece: “Leaked documents: British spies constructing secret terror army in Ukraine.” It seems that when government officials and the corporate media don’t want the truth uncovered, they don’t argue against the story but make personal attacks against the writer as character assassination. And sadly, it works all too often. One such corporate official, Useful-Idiot-favorite of Scary Poppins fame Nina Jankowicz, went after Klarenberg on Twitter. Kit describes the online beef in the extended episode. (turns out we can’t see those tweets because…) Subscribe to hear the full interview, where Klarenberg reveals plots from UK operatives to blow up Ukrainian bridges, more Western destruction of peace talks, and how the US uses Britain to spread propaganda. It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Plus, catch our Thursday Throwdown on the near-nuclear Armageddon, Trump’s big announcement, and Aaron getting canceled by Olena Zelenska. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and a chance to have your comment read on the show in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Click here for the extended interview with Norm Finkelstein: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-episode-norm-finkelstein?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Norman “X” Finkelstein returns to Useful Idiots, fired up and with a scathing critique of Bernie Sanders and The Squad. He begins with a definition of radicalism and The Left, citing the writing of Rosa Luxemburg: “The whole job of The Left is to constantly point out the conflict of interest between the ruling elite, the capitalist class, and yourself. To constantly point out: ‘Their interests are not your interests. Don’t be fooled.’” Historically, he says, Bernie Sanders has upheld this left tradition, calling out the crooks who steal your money. But when it came to Ukraine, “the bunch of crooks metamorphosed into a band of angels. You’re telling me the same people who are cheating you day in and day out, stealing your wealth, stealing your labor, those same people are suddenly heartbroken by what’s happening to the Ukrainian people?” Norm does not pull any punches in his assessment of The Squad and Sanders: “The day the squad and Bernie voted for war credits for Ukraine, that whole progressive enterprise turned into a rotting corpse.” Plus, subscribe to hear the full interview where Norm dissects the midterm election results, the Israel election, and the weaponization of identity politics. 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/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and a chance to have your comment read on the show in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Click here for the full interview: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-episode-leak-us-government?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web “This isn’t a Biden story. It’s not a Trump story either. This is a national security state story.” This week Ken Klippenstein and Lee Fang at The Intercept broke a huge story: Leaked Documents Outline DHS’s Plans to Police Disinformation. Ken joins Useful Idiots to share how he uncovered the bombshell revelation, what it tells us about our powerful security state, and his predictions for the dark future of information censorship. The story, which reveals collusion between tech companies and the US government, massive CIA incompetence, and Orwellian levels of surveillance, is not a partisan issue, Klippenstein argues. It’s an issue of national security. And yet looking at the headlines from corporate media following The Intercept’s publishing, there was immediate political spin. The Washington Post told its readers that only conservatives would “go after DHS counter-disinformation work,” which means good Democrats should celebrate speech censorship. Meanwhile, as Ken writes in his story, Republicans claim we’ve defeated disinformation by taking down Biden’s disinformation governance board, ignoring that the same DHS tactics happened under Trump. “It’s crammed into this partisan framework,” he explains, “that doesn’t reflect the reality that when someone’s in power they tend not to care about free speech.” And the scariest part, Ken tells us, “this is not formalized in statute. There's no law saying ‘we're going to create the disinformation team.’ They can do this administratively without sign off from Congress. And they probably have beyond what I'm able to report because I'm only able to get details that my sources have access to. We don't know what else might exist.” It’s a huge story that, as with most issues you see on Useful Idiots, is dangerously underreported. Subscribe to hear the full interview with Ken Klippenstein as he shares the government secrets we know about and what still remains covered up. 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/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and a chance to have your comment read on the show in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com While independent media like Useful Idiots try to cover all the important news that corporate media purposefully ignores, Haiti is an especially overlooked story. The US, with its hooks deep in Haiti’s elections, businesses, agriculture, and daily life, has slowly drained the country of autonomy. Jemima Pierre, associate professor at UCLA and the Haiti-America coordinator for the Black Alliance for Peace, joins us this week to explain what is actually happening in Haiti. She tells stories of US coups against the government, the purposeful destruction of the Haitian rice and pig industries to prop up those of the US, threats to activists calling for sovereignty, and even a door in the Haiti palace marked: “US OFFICIALS ONLY.” Jemima also points out that Haitians have begun flying Russian flags: “Unlike the people in the US who believe everything they hear in the mainstream media about Ukraine, I think everyone outside of the US understands that what's happening in Ukraine has everything to do with pushing and maintaining US power. Haitians see Russia as a counterweight to US imperialism.” For $5 a month, subscribe to hear the full interview with Jemima Pierre, plus get exclusive access to Thursday Throwdowns and the Absurd Arena where you can get your questions answered by Katie and Aaron on the show. 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/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Medea Benjamin: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-episode-why-are-us-progressives?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get extended interviews, Thursday Throwdowns, and a chance to have your comment read on the show in the Absurd Arena at http://usefulidiots.substack.com With AOC (and the Squad by extension) being recently heckled for their support of sending weapons to Ukraine and prolonging the proxy war, Useful Idiots had anti-war activist Medea Benjamin on to explore the question: when did US progressives become pro-war? Benjamin, known for such bold acts as announcing “Here comes the war criminal!” as Donald Rumsfeld entered the White House Correspondents Dinner, is the founder of Code Pink, a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism. She discusses how building an anti-war movement was easier during the Iraq War, while the left now has become more divided and often in support of proxy wars like Ukraine. This, she explains, stems from US demoralization efforts: “During the Iraq War, we were able to build a movement that got hundreds of thousands of people out into the street. The problem is, that did not change Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, and so many people were demoralized. It made people question putting their energies in front of this war machine.” But Benjamin urges us not to give up hope. “We have to recognize that it is our absolute responsibility right now. And I do feel as I travel around the country that there are many people recognizing the need to go in front of the offices of their representatives and protest, to educate their friends and families, I think we are in the midst of building up again.” And, importantly, we need to “keep the pressure up on the Biden administration.” To educate yourself, your friends, and family, Medea Benjamin’s book and short video are great learning tools. And follow Code Pink to support their activism and their coalition Peace in Ukraine. Plus, this week we announced two new features: Thursday Throwdowns: Our new mini-episodes premiering each Thursday to get your exclusive dose of midweek media madness. This week, we watched the Tapper/Biden interview. The Absurd Arena: The Useful Idiots discussion board for people who think you can talk back to a podcast. Share your opinions and get your questions and comments read on the show. Get it all at http://usefulidiots.substack.com 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/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview with Wyatt Reed: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-episode-us-journalist-on?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web For $5 a month, become a Useful Idiot! Get access to extended interviews and bonus content here: http://usefulidiots.substack.com “Welcome to Donetsk. You survived your baptism by fire.” Wyatt Reed, a US journalist who writes for Sputnik, a Russian-state media outlet, is reporting from the front lines in Ukraine. His hotel was bombed by a Ukrainian strike just hours after he had arrived there — and while he was just steps away. He shares with us his videos of the attack and describes what it’s like in the war zone. In Donetsk, Reed reports, the war is in every moment of daily life. He details the choice of which direction to face when choosing a seat at a restaurant, taking into account which way the bombs will come from, which way the shrapnel will fly. “This is something that people here just live through.” And yet western media refuse to cover these deadly parts of Ukraine. Donetsk, home to many ethnic Russians, is one of the breakaway republics that has fought the Ukrainian government since a US-backed coup in 2014. For them, the war didn’t start when Russia invaded this past February, but eight years earlier. Reed tells us that he can count the number of western journalists in Donetsk on one hand, and that Useful Idiots is one of few western outlets that would share his story. The people just want to be heard, he explains, telling the story of a man who “through tears, said ‘I wish that these so-called western journalists that are saying all this about the situation would have to spend just one day in my shoes.’” But these days, reporting on a perspective from the other side only gets you labeled a Kremlin propagandist. It is important to note that Reed works for a Russian state outlet when analyzing his reporting. But it is impossible to fully assess the situation if you don’t hear from both sides. And Reed is sharing the perspective of the people of Donetsk: “It’s really unimaginable until you come here and you understand this is what people have been enduring for nearly a decade.” Note: We apologize for the poor quality of the interview, wifi and war zones don’t seem to mix well. Subscribe for the full interview with Wyatt Reed. 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/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview: https://usefulidiots.substack.com/p/extended-episode-col-doug-macgregor?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Become a Useful Idiot for extended interviews and bonus content at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Who bombed the Nord Stream pipeline? Will we have nuclear war? These are today’s two big questions puzzling journalists (and not really bothering Western politicians, it seems). So who better to break down the walls than former army Colonel and senior Pentagon advisor Douglas Macgregor. “In this war, for which nobody voted, you have to set aside rationality,” Macgregor says. “We’re not dealing with reasonable people.” So let’s analyze what we do know. “I think it’s very clear that when President Putin began this campaign, he fully expected that when he demonstrated he was serious, he would have a negotiating partner. He thought Washington would be interested in negotiating an end to the fighting. I don’t think he appreciated the level of ideological commitment and hatred in support of a war with Russia.” And then comes the daunting prediction. Although he doesn’t think that Russia will use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, he does think that the conflict could get far worse. “If ]Putin] has no success and no one will talk, I think he’s going to unloose hell.” Plus, subscribe for the full interview where Col. Macgregor explains Russian and Western war strategies, his views on “globalism”, and his prediction for the future of NATO. 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/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full interview with Assal Rad: https://usefulidiots.substack.com/p/extended-episode-iranians-protest?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Become a Useful Idiot for extended interviews and bonus content at http://usefulidiots.substack.com “The state is responsible. Period. There’s just no question.” Author and historian Assal Rad joins Useful Idiots to discuss the Iranian protests over the case of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died after being detained by Iran’s “Morality Police” for not adequately covering her hair. “She shouldn’t have been detained in the first place,” Rad says. “The fact that there is this law, this dress code, that doesn’t allow women a basic form of free expression is the problem.” Amini’s death has sparked protests across Iran and the west, with politicians and celebrities weighing in from around the world. “This is a human rights issue,” Rad says. “But so were the sanctions on Iran during the pandemic. It’s problematic when you only cite human rights organizations and international law and the UN when it serves your purpose.” Today, crippling sanctions on Iran are starving its people, and women are affected the most. But Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber aren’t posting on Instagram about it. The West chooses when to call out human rights abuses against women and when to ignore them. “And that’s why outside powers having any kind of intervention is so problematic. They’re not doing it in the interest of those civilians, they’re doing it in their own national interest,” Rad says. “This is why listening to and supporting voices in Iran is so important.” Assad Rad’s new book is “The State of Resistance Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran.” Plus, subscribe to hear the full interview on why Biden won’t reenter the Iran nuclear deal, the historic suppression of the Iranian left stemming from the Cold War, and how sanctions are crushing Iranian workers. 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/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full episode: https://usefulidiots.substack.com/p/extended-interview-how-the-west-provoked?r=je5va&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web How the West Brought War to Ukraine: https://www.amazon.com/How-West-Brought-Ukraine-Understanding/dp/0991076702 Become a Useful Idiot for extended interviews and bonus content at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Researcher and writer Dr. Ben Abelow, a scholar who lobbied Congress on nuclear arms policy, joins Useful Idiots to explain, as his new book argues, how the west brought war to Ukraine. “The goal of the US,” Abelow says, “is not to save Ukrainians but to degrade Russia’s military until they won’t be able to fight in the future. And while some say stopping Russia is a humanitarian goal, the way one would degrade Russia’s military is to keep an extended war going and fight to the last Ukrainian.” Abelow analyzes the history of this cold war, the aggression by each side, and the hypocrisy of the argument that Ukraine has a sacrosanct right to join NATO. “The right to join NATO is the right to place a western military arsenal on Russia’s border. If Russia made a military alliance with Canada or Mexico, US leaders would not be talking about their right to do so.” And on this week’s news of Putin announcing military escalation and giving a thinly-veiled threat of nuclear war, Dr. Abelow warns: “I hope it’s taken seriously.” These are scary times. So buckle up, cook some Nyquil chicken, and get ready for this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Click here for the full episode: https://usefulidiots.substack.com/p/extended-episode-matt-taibbi-returns?r=je5va&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Become a Useful Idiot for extended interviews and bonus content at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Once a Useful Idiot, always a Useful Idiot. Matt Taibbi, who’s taken a hiatus from this pod to write his next book (he gives a sneak peek in the extended interview), just can’t stay out of the game. He’s back to talk about Democrats and Republicans sucking, the weird and terrible media, and the scary stories that are ignored by the mainstream. His newest article on taint teams sheds like on a dark new phenomenon. The FBI has given itself the power to raid lawyers, take all of their documents, and then give itself permission to use the stolen documents in unrelated cases. It’s an easy way to skip getting a search warrant, and gives the government unprecedented power to bury its enemies. Matt explains the ominous story in detail. And subscribe for the full interview: Matt and Aaron ask why hasn’t Hillary Clinton been questioned for her Russiagate involvement, Matt remembers pranking General Secretary Gorbachev, and we take Matt’s new media quiz. Taibbi’s back this week, and you’re not gonna want to miss it. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy