Going Underground Hosted by Afshin Rattansi

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago for our final episode of the year and season. He discusses Donald Trump’s foreign policy failures of 2025, the 12-day Israeli war on Iran, the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and how his former defence lawyer Alan Dershowitz attacked him for exposing the Israel lobby, the threat the Israel lobby poses to freedom of speech in the United States, the damage the Gaza genocide has done to Israel’s image abroad, whether a second US-Israel war on Iran is likely, Donald Trump’s growing disdain for Europe and the likely reduction of the US military presence in Europe, the European strategy of trying to prolong the proxy war on Russia through Ukraine, the likely conclusion of the Ukraine proxy war being a frozen conflict, the fate of the global nuclear arms control infrastructure, and much more.

NewsPolitics On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Philip Pilkington, Senior Research Fellow at the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs and Author of ‘The Collapse of Global Liberalism’. He discusses how the Ukraine proxy war has completely upended the Western economic and geostrategic calculus, the failure of the West’s logic in military procurement as proven in Ukraine and the Israel-Iran war, the collapse and dysfunction in Western European cities, the failure of markets and capitalism to solve the West’s problems, the origins of liberal capitalism and the evolution of imperialism, the rediscovery of civilisational roots among the non-Western powers, the dark future Europe faces as it sits in the chaos of the collapse of liberalism.

Prof. Richard B. Spence, Professor Emeritus of History specializing in intelligence and secret societies, dives deep into the hidden worlds of elite power. He defines secret societies and reveals the intriguing origins of the Bohemian Grove, where influential figures network. The discussion covers the Bilderberg Group's secretive political vetting and the Trilateral Commission's foreign policy maneuvers. Spence also explores the dark legacy of Jeffrey Epstein, highlighting how he used leverage against the elite, the looming risks for political leaders like Trump, and the cultural memes of power.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Max Blumenthal, Editor in Chief of The Grayzone. He discusses the Trump Administrations’ fabrications of left-wing terror plots to justify further repression, the Bondi Beach massacre in Australia and how Israel is exploiting it for furthering its aims of cracking down on anti-Zionist activism and pursuing a second war on Iran, how Israel’s campaign to portray itself as the global voice of Judaism has fuelled anti-Semitism as the Gaza genocide continues, the Epstein Files scandal and its damage to Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and the neocon wing trapping Donald Trump in escalation in Venezuela and Syria, President Nicolas Maduro strategy of defying the US media and Trump Administration, why Russia and China are not taking more action to stop the looming US regime change war on Venezuela, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou. He discusses why the CIA is involved in drug trafficking and the purposes it serves, how the CIA works with Hollywood and the media to ensure the CIA is portrayed in a positive light, the mass control of the media by just 5 corporations and its effects on the American people, why there is no Gaza Peace Deal or even peace in the Middle East with Israel continuing its region-wide warfare, why US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee needs to be urgently fired, the CIA’s program of torture which he exposed and the outsourcing of torture and abuse, the fact that the CIA does not spy on Israel and everything the US does in Israel having to be approved by Mossad, the lack of arrests or indictments of any deep state officials under Donald Trump such as John Brennan, the looming war on Venezuela and the war in the Republican Party between neoconservatives and America First Republicans, the US’ warped view of Latin America which leads to continuous foreign policy failures, Venezuela’s military still being on the side of President Nicolas Maduro and the obstacles this poses, the CIA’s bases in Ukraine and whether there is a risk of escalation as Russia advances, why we may never see a full release of the Epstein Files, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Carlos Ron, Former Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister for North America. He discusses the mood in Venezuela as the threat of regime change attack from the US looms over the country, the new type of warfare being used against Venezuela by Washington, the lies being told by the Trump Administration and the media about Nicolas Maduro being the head of a narco-trafficking cartel, the exclusion of Venezuela from BRICS reportedly by Brazil’s President Lula Da Silva, the right-wing governments of Latin America being sustained by the US’ financing and repression, the prevailing strength of the Bolivarian Revolution and unification of the country behind defiance of Donald Trump’s threats, the treatment of Venezuelan migrants by the Trump Administration and the possible refugee wave that would come from a US attack on Venezuela, the brave history of resistance in Latin America and why the US will be surprised by the level of resistance shown by Venezuela, CIA Asset Maria Corina Machado’s close ties and links to Israel in contrast to the Bolivarian Revolution’s solidarity with Palestine, Corina Machado’s history of sabotaging Venezuela and representing the system of exclusion that impoverished most Venezuelans, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Ahmed Alnaouq, Co-Founder of We Are Not Numbers and Co-Editor of the We Are Not Numbers anthology. He discusses the purpose of the organisation to fight against the dehumanisation of Palestinians by the mainstream media, US-UK-EU-armed Israel’s slaughter of much of his family during the Gaza genocide, the mass destruction of Palestinian centres of culture and knowledge by Israel, why Israel killed Co-Founder of We Are Not Numbers Refaat Alareer, the lack of sympathy or empathy from mainstream media when interviewing him, whether ‘peaceful’ resistance against a genocidal Israel has failed, whether the Palestinian bourgeoisie is to blame for the fragmentation of the resistance, how the Gaza genocide proved the West’s values as hypocritical, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Steven Simon, NSC Senior Director for Transnational Threats under President Bill Clinton and NSC Senior Director for Middle East and North Africa under President Barack Obama. He discusses his reaction to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee meeting convicted Israeli spy Jonathon Pollard responsible for the biggest breach of US intelligence in history, the lack of any real set compass for Donald Trump as regards foreign policy with constant u-turns, Russia’s standing in the Middle East following the fall of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria, and Trump’s welcoming of Al-Sharaa/Al-Jolani to the White House. In the second half of the interview Afshin Rattansi challenges him on why the US had been meddling in Syria leading to more bloodshed and the infamous admission by Jake Sullivan that the US was on Al Qaeda’s side in Syria. The conversation then moved into Iran realising that negotiations with the US over its nuclear program are pointless and the threat of attack by the US and Israel again, how long Jolani/Al-Sharaa can remain in power, and more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Dr. Dmitri Trenin, Member of Russia’s Foreign and Defence Policy Council and Former Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. He discusses why the Ukraine proxy war is far more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis with the world at the precipice of nuclear war, the possibility of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons should current negotiations with the US fail, whether there are splits in the approach to negotiations in the Russian and US leadership, the leak of the Ushakov-Witkoff phone call and who could be behind it, why Donald Trump keeps caving to demands from the European countries on Ukraine, Trump’s approach to pressuring both Russia and Ukraine into agreeing to a peace deal, Vladimir Putin’s aim to help the US distance itself from Ukraine, the tenets of the ‘28-point-plan’ and whether Russia is likely to accept it, the potential of Russian strikes against European targets in the event of Western provocations and false flags to torpedo a future peace agreement, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Susan Miller, Former Chief of the CIA’s Station in Tel Aviv. Afshin Rattansi asks her about the close relationship between the CIA, Mossad and Shin Bet, Israel’s level of influence over US foreign policy, Israel and the CIA’s involvement with ISIS and Al Qaeda in Iraq and Syria, Syria’s Al-Sharaa/Al-Jolani being welcomed to the White House by Donald Trump, the CIA’s role in the assassination of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani, whether the CIA’s policy of assassinations are actually successful in furthering US foreign policy objectives, the Trump Administration’s bogus pretext of narco-trafficking for pushing regime change against Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, the CIA’s own history of being involved in drug trafficking, and much more.