Panelists: Kyle Anzalone, Kelley Lane, Joanne Leon, Dan Wright. A panel discussion about the war in Afghanistan and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, most of whom will be settling in the United States. There is a bonus “After Hours” segment where we let loose on the foreign policy establishment “Blob” of idiots, the profiteering, the pivot to China and more.
FOLLOW @KyleAnzalone_, @Kelleyswords, @JoanneLeon, @DanSWright
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Recorded on August 27, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Guest: Matthew Hoh. Hosts: Joanne Leon and Dan Wright. A wide ranging discussion about the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the response to losing the war, the media coverage over the past 20 years and the bad actors we were allied with throughout the war but now upon leaving, the outrage and sudden concern for the Afghan people. Over the years, so many lies were told that the whole war seems like a big lie. We also talk about why the evacuation went so badly, the national security council, the British freak out and more. In a bonus segment we talk about the opium trade in Afghanistan and the Taliban pledge to shut it down.
Matthew Hoh is a Senior Fellow with the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC and a member of the Eisenhower Network. He’s a disabled veteran, a former US Marine Corps officer and Department of Defense and State Department official. Matthew was in the Iraq War with the Marines and in both Afghanistan and Iraq with State Department teams. He is on the Boards and Advisory Boards of a number of organizations including Expose Facts, Institute for Public Accuracy and Veterans For Peace. He writes and speaks regularly on issues of war and peace, has appeared on numerous media networks and his work has been published by a wide array of online and print media
FOLLOW Matthew on Twitter @MatthewPHoh and Facebook. Find his recent writings at CounterPunch, antiwar.com and on his website https://matthewhoh.com
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Recorded on August 26, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- What critics of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan get wrong, Matthew Hoh, CNN
- “I Was Living Like Scarface”: The Ludicrous Costs of the War in Afghanistan Revealed in New Documents, Testimonies, MintPress News, Alan MacLeod
- Around the Empire: Ep 154 Afghanistan Papers and the Culture of Lying feat Matthew Hoh
Guest: Ray McGovern. Hosts: Joanne Leon and Kelley Lane. We talk about Ray’s recent article calling for military generals to be held accountable this time, for this 20-year March of Folly called the War in Afghanistan. If they are not held accountable, there will be still worse to come. In a bonus episode, we talk about Biden’s battle with the media, the intelligence complex and the whole “MICIMATT” (an acronym that Ray has coined for the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think-Tank complex, the same complex that worked so hard to put him in the White House.
Ray McGovern is a retired CIA analyst who served as Chief of the Soviet Foreign Policy Branch and preparer/briefer of the President’s Daily Brief. Prior to that he served as an infantry/intelligence officer in the 1960’s. He is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), an activist, a prolific writer and a frequent guest on various media outlets.
FOLLOW Ray on Twitter @raymcgovern, find his website at https://raymcgovern.com
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Recorded on August 23, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- Hold the Generals Accountable This Time, Ray McGovern
- Welcome to Vietnam, Mr. President, Ray McGovern
- $10,000 Invested in Defense Stocks When Afghanistan War Began Now Worth Almost $100,000, Jon Schwarz
- Book: The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, Barbara W. Tuchman
Guest: Connor Freeman. We talk about the escalation ladder of hostilities with China and how it developed under the last four presidents and how we seem to climb further up that ladder every day.
In a long bonus episode we talk about the fall of Saigon moment in Afghanistan, playing out right now. We recorded this episode less than 48 hours ago but things are changing so rapidly that I added an update at the end of the bonus episode.
Connor Freeman is a writer at the Libertarian Institute, primarily covering foreign policy. He has been featured at Antiwar.com and Counterpunch and the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. He is a frequent guest on the Conflicts of Interest podcast.
FOLLOW Connor at @FreemansMind96 and find his work at The Libetarian Institute, Antiwar.com, The Ron Paul Institute and other media outlets.
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Recorded on August 12, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
Next on the Agenda: War With China, Connor Freeman
Guest: Jon Lancelot. Hosts: Joanne Leon, Kelley Lane. A wide ranging discussion on hybrid warfare, cybersecurity, cyberdiplomacy, democracy, technocracy and more. In a bonus segment we talk about creeping fascism and what went wrong with the progressive movement.
Jonathan Lancelot is a cybersecurity analyst at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and principal policy analyst for the OSET Institute focused on election cybersecurity in the context of national security. He has a Master of Diplomacy with a focus on cyber-diplomacy and has been published in several journals. He also has an extensive technical background in computer science and has worked for Apple, the U.S. Senate and the US Department of Defense.
FOLLOW Jon on Twitter at @lancelotpolitic
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Recorded on July 21, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- Human Crisis in Mozambique in the age of Cyber-Diplomacy, Jonathan Lancelot, Small Wars Journal
- Russia Today, Cyberterrorists Tomorrow: U.S. Failure to Prepare Democracy for Cyberspace, Jonathan F. Lancelot, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law
- Cyber-diplomacy: cyberwarfare and the rules of engagement, Jonathan F. Lancelot, Journal of Cyber Security Technology
Guest: Margaret Kimberley. We talk about the recent assassination and leadership change in Haiti and the campaign for US military intervention. The details of the assassination are important but the fundamental issue is the undermining of Haiti’s sovereignty and who is really dominating and determining the rulership of the country.
From Black Alliance for Peace:
Who rules Haiti? Certainly, neither the Haitian people nor Haitian civil society. Instead, in the two weeks since President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated, the absence of Haitian sovereignty and the hollow nature of Haitian independence has been cynically exposed.
“A rogue’s gallery of international actors—supposed “friends” of Haiti—have intervened in the republic’s internal political affairs, handpicking the face of Haiti’s government, while determining who best can serve Haiti’s imperial masters,” says Jemima Pierre, Haiti/Americas Coordinator for the Black Alliance for Peace.”
In a bonus segment, we talk about the relentless regime change operations in Cuba and the current events happening there, from a perspective of self determination for a decades long target of imperial powers.
Margaret Kimberley is the author of the book Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents and she’s the co-founder, editor and senior columnist for Black Agenda Report (BAR). She also writes on her own FreedomRider blog and is a member of the Coordinating Committee at Black Alliance for Peace.
FOLLOW Margaret on Twitter @freedomrideblog Find her work at the Black Agenda Report and at her FreedomRider blog.
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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.
Reference Links:
- Black Alliance for Peace - Haiti section
- Black Alliance for Peace July 19 Twitter thread on Haiti
- Who Rules Haiti? Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Undermining of Haitian National Sovereignty
- Black Agenda Report - Haiti section
Guest: Tom Luongo. We talk about the financial aspect of war and foreign policy, central bank wars between the Fed and the European Central Bank, the World Economic Forum and the Great Reset. In the bonus segment we talk about how the sanctions and trade disputes with China were condemned when Trump was in office but have been resurrected under Biden and it now seems that trade war with China is back in fashion.
Tom Luongo is an analyst, writer and a former research chemist. His specialty is markets analysis informed by geopolitics. He publishes a blog Gold Goats ‘n Guns, a podcast and a monthly investment letter. He contributes at Newsmax Media and is published by and does commentary for many other media outlets.
FOLLOW Tom at @TFL1728. Find his work at Gold, Goats ‘n Guns, on Youtube, Odysee and other platforms.
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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.
Recorded on July 16, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- Podcast Episode #75 – Davos and the Week That Changed Everything Part 1, Tom Luongo
- Podcast Episode #76 – Davos, Ukraine and the Week That Changed the World Part II, Tom Luongo
- Podcast Episode #77 – Davos, The Fed and the 5 Basis Points That Moved the World Part III, Tom Luongo
- US issues sanctions, warns businesses of risks in China and Hong Kong as Beijing promises to 'respond strongly', CNN
- Reuters: Britain carves out exemption for gold clearing banks from Basel III rule
- Someone Is Buying Up Power Plants and Critical Infrastructure in 22 Countries. The Trail Leads to JPMorgan – a Bank Repeatedly Charged with Rigging Markets, Wall Street on Parade
Guest: Scott Horton. We talk about the war in Afghanistan, a landlocked country with rough terrain and the diverse groups of people who live there. We talk about the reasons why we lost that war and have to withdraw. We also discuss the news and footage from the withdrawal in progress and the reactions to the various factions who support and oppose that, and the dishonesty and hypocrisy that happen when people try to justify long wars and occupations like this one. In a bonus episode, we discuss the possibility for destabilization of the entire region around Afghanistan, the impact and involvement of China, Russia and Iran, and how things are likely to play out.
Scott Horton is the author of the book Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan and his most recent book Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism. He’s the managing director of the Libertarian Institute, editorial director at Antiwar.com, host of Antiwar Radio on KPFK and the host of the Scott Horton Show podcast. Scott has spent the past two decades giving voice to ardent anti-war and anti-interventionist activists, experts and reporters from across the spectrum and has done more than five thousand interviews. Find his work at LibertarianInstitute.org, antiwar.com, ScottHorton.org, and FOLLOW him on Twitter at @scotthortonshow.
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Recorded on July 15, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
Book: Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism, Scott Horton
Book: Fool's Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan, Scott Horton
Guest: Dr. Neda Bolourchi. We talk about the recent election in Iran: a deep dive about the background, the people involved, the consolidation of power and the outlook for the future. In a bonus segment we talk about the US shifting priorities toward great power competition and what this means for policy and strategy with respect to Iran.
Dr. Neda Bolourchi is an assistant professor and Associate Director of Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Her research travels include years in Iran, Syria, and Armenia, has peer reviewed work on religion, politics, legal systems, and the modern Middle East and She also has a J.D. in International Law and her legal work includes international and comparative analysis of human rights violations in the Middle East.
Find Neda at LinkedIn and find her work on her Rutgers University Center for Middle Eastern Studies web page.
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Recorded on July 2, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- In Focus South Asia | Iran’s Presidential Elections | Episode 164 | Indus News
- The who’s who of Iranian players behind the new president, Muhammad Sahimi
- "Seeing Red, Hearing the Revolution" (chapter by Neda Bolourchi) Losing Our Minds, Coming to Our Senses: Sensory Readings of Persian Literature and Culture by Leiden University Press
As a holiday special for 4th of July, a researcher who is well known on Twitter and goes by the pseudonym Gumby4Christ and Joanne talk about his research on the Covid origins lab leak theory, the pandemic in general and how basic freedoms and rights in our society have been impacted by the response to all of it.
FOLLOW @gumby4christ on Twiitter.
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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.
Recorded on July 4, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19’s Origins, Vanity F
- RFK Jr The Defender podcast: Fauci's Smoking Gun with Dr. Meryl Nass
- MediaRoots podcast: Libs Love Lab-Leak, Geopolitical Sting Op & the Wuhan Coincidence w/ gumby4christ
- MediaRoots podcast: The Oswald Institute of Virology, COVID-19 Origins & US Military Biowarfare w/ gumby4christ
- In-Depth Interview: Author Kris Newby and Prof. Mark Crispin Miller Talk About Chronic Lyme Disease, and Its Likely Origins, Peter B. Collins
- Documents from gumby4christ FOIA request CDC FOIA: USAMRIID
Guest: Jeremy Kuzmarov. We talk about Jeremy’s new article in Covert Action Magazine, titled How Organized Crime Infiltrated American Business After WW II and Corrupted National Politics from Truman to Trump. In it, he talks about a book by Jonathan Marshall, titled Dark Quadrant: Organized Crime, Big Business, and the Corruption of American Democracy. In a bonus segment, we talk about the January 6th riots.
Jeremy Kuzmarov is Managing Editor of CovertAction Magazine. He is the author of four books on U.S. foreign policy, including Obama’s Unending Wars (Clarity Press, 2019) and The Russians Are Coming, Again, with John Marciano (Monthly Review Press, 2018).
FOLLOW Jeremy at @jkuzmarov and find his work at Covert Action Magazine.
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Recorded on June 16, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- How Organized Crime Infiltrated American Business After WW II and Corrupted National Politics from Truman to Trump, Jeremy Kuzmarov
- Was January 6th a Dress Rehearsal for Coup d’État in the U.S.? Jeremy Kuzmarov
- Book: Dark Quadrant: Organized Crime, Big Business, and the Corruption of American Democracy, Jonathan Marshall
Joanne from Around the Empire and Hrvoje from Geopolitics and Empire get together for a wide ranging discussion about the Great Game, the Great Reset, the pandemic lockdowns and other responses, the ramping up of hostilities with Russia and China, withdrawal from Afghanistan and the sudden permission to speak about the lab leak theory.
FOLLOW Hrvoje at @Geopolitics_Emp SUBSCRIBE to the Geopolitics and Empire podcast on podcast apps, Youtube, Odyssey and other platforms and find the website at geopoliticsandempire.com
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Recorded on June 7, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Guest: Sharmine Narwani. We talk about Gaza, the Resistance and the differences between attacks on Gaza in past years and what is happening now, who really needs a ceasefire the most and why a ceasefire with no real change does not really help the Palestinians. We talk about reactions from other countries in the region to the latest attack on Gaza and Sharmine provides an update on the current situation in Lebanon which has fallen out of the news of late but is still in crisis and still deals with foreign interference. Lastly we talked about a new media project that Sharmine will be launching soon. In a bonus question, we talk about the evolution of the map of Palestine and Israel since World War II and how that map might change going forward -- essentially the future of Israel and Palestine.
FOLLOW Sharmine @snarwani and find her work at her website mideastshuffle.com
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Recorded on May 18, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- When Fighting Erupts Between Israel and Hamas, the Question of War Crimes, New York Times
- Human Rights Watch: A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution
- (2014) Another ceasefire in Gaza? No, thank you, Sharmine Narwani
Guest: Craig (Pasta) Jardula. Hosts: Joanne Leon and Kelley Lane. We talk about the latest developments in the election integrity arena surrounding the 2020 election, especially the Arizona audit. There have been a lot of claims about audits in various states but the term “audit” means a lot of different things in American elections (as in some “audits” are really not audits). However, the audit that is happening in the state of Arizona right now is a real audit, which is important for a lot of reasons that we discuss in this episode. Around the Empire’s main focus is not electoral politics or any politics in particular. But politics are at the center of all wars and foreign policy and the presidential elections in the United States are at the center of most wars and foreign policy in today’s world.
Craig (aka Pasta) Jardula is a host on the Convo Couch show, an independent media show focused on politics, rooted in progressivism and one that strives to stand up for the little guy against the machine. They’ve done extensive work with candidates and investigation of elections and election systems.
FOLLOW Pasta on Twitter at @yopasta and @theconvocouch, and find their show on YouTube, Rokfin and other platforms.
Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.
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Recorded on May 8, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- Video Clip: Craig Jardula interview Ken Bennett (Twitter)
- Justice Dept. Letter on Arizona Audit
- Democrats Lied About the Georgia Senate Bill, The Truth About The Election Integrity Act, Fiorella Isabel
- Convo Couch Live Inside Arizona Audit 5/5/21
- Convo Couch LIVE: Maricopa Audit @ Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5/5/21
- Convo Couch LIVE Outside Coliseum Interviews with Brandon Slayton & John Brakey #ArizonaAudit #AZAuditPool 5/6/21
- Convo Couch Mark Finchem discusses Arizona Audit and Election Integrity 5/8/21
- Convo Couch LIVE AZ State Senator Sony Borrelli joins The Convo Couch to talk #AZAudit #Arizona #AZAuditPool
- Convo Couch What’s Really Happening At The Maricopa County Audit? (Rokfin)
Guest: Danny Sjursen. We talk about reasons for the 2011 regime change in Libya, the complex power struggle and foreign intervention that has ensued ever since and the importance of that story in understanding everything else in the Sahel areas of Africa and the broader region. We also discuss the 21st century American-enabled version of the French and British empires, European influence in African countries and how military operations in Africa are largely hidden from the citizens of the NATO countries who are driving them.
In a recent article, Sjursen wrote about the impact:
Conflicts are catalyzed, authoritarianism accelerated, human rights go to hell-in-a-hand-basket, and the cycle runs on repeat like a skipping (non-) strategy record. Generally, at least in Franco-America’s African adventures, it’s all done so secretly, sleazily, and – because hidden from the pesky public’s peepers – almost silently. Only sometimes the most wretched walking evidences of criminal complicity have a nasty habit of dying on us, and, for a moment the conspirators stand exposed. That’s when the linguistic-apologia indecency starts.
In a bonus question we talk about NATO, how its priorities are set and how its mini-empires are sustained.
Major Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.) is prolific writer and speaker and a leading expert voice among veterans. He is a Director of the Eisenhower Media Network, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, contributing editor at Antiwar.com, the co-host of the Fortress on a Hill podcast and the author of two books: Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge, his new book Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War.
FOLLOW @SkepticalVet, SUBSCRIBE to the Fortress on a Hill podcast and buy his book Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War published by Heyday.
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Recorded on April 29, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- Our ‘Dear Friend’ Deby Is Dead – Yea, About That…, Danny Sjursen
- Deby’s Death, Chad’s Crisis, and the Ghosts of Libyan Fiascoes Past, Danny Sjursen
- New Hillary Emails Reveal Propaganda, Executions, Coveting Libyan Oil and Gold, Brad Hoff (2016)
- State Department FOIA Archives, Clinton email December release
Guest: Dan Kovalik. We talk about his op-ed “The West’s sole prerogative is that Russia has no right to self-defense... even when the threat is right on its border”
Daniel Kovalik teaches International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and is author of the book: No More War: How the West Violates International Law by Using “Humanitarian” Intervention to Advance Economic and Strategic Interests.
FOLLOW @danielmkovalik and find his book at Skyhorse Publishing.
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Recorded on April 27, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
Guest: Alan MacLeod. We discuss his article “Support the Tropes: How media language encourages the left to support wars, coups and intervention” and how how media is used as an instrument to manufacture consent for regime change and various acts of war, especially targeting left-leaning audiences. In a bonus segment we talk about Alan’s research on Bellingcat and his article How Bellingcat Launders National Security State Talking Points into the Press.
Dr. Alan MacLeod is an academic, an author and a journalist who does work on media analysis and politics with a focus on social media, Latin American politics and propaganda. He writes for MintPress News and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and he has written two recent books, Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent.
FOLLOW Alan on Twitter at @AlanRMacLeod. Find his work at MintPress News and look for his books Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent.
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Recorded on April 26, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- Support the Tropes: How media language encourages the left to support wars, coups and intervention, Alan MacLeod, FAIR
- Humanitarian Imperialism: How corporate media sell regime change, Intervention and war to progressive audiences, Alan MacLeod, FAIR
- How Bellingcat Launders National Security State Talking Points into the Press, Alan MacLeod, MintPress News
Guest: Alison McDowell. We talk about her research into Agenda 21, the transformation of education, the natural systems being financialized, the biosecurity state, stakeholder capitalism and more. In a bonus question we talk about why the “great reset” or new normal agenda seems to have been fast-tracked and if there are common threads in the institutions and entities who are behind it.
Alison McDowell is a mom, a prolific researcher and producer of network mapping and reporting on her independent media site, wrenchinthegears.com and her Youtube channel.
FOLLOW @Philly852 SUBSCRIBE to her YouTube channel. Find her work at her website wrenchinthegears.com
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Recorded on April 19, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Guest: Michael Vlahos. We discuss his article published at The American Conservative
titled “The Doom Of The Elite: The rise and fall of elites shapes our history and can be predicted”. In a bonus episode we talk about the prospects for a new civil war, Vlahos’ theory that “cancel culture” is a response to the decline, and other warnings from his recent article titled “There Will Be Blood: Beware the Ides of March!”
Michael Vlahos is an author, a military historian and strategist. He has taught war and strategy graduate courses at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the U.S Naval War College, and at Centro Estudios Superiores Navales, D.F. He is the author of the book Fighting Identity: Sacred War and World Change and he is a weekly contributor to The John Batchelor Show.
Michael Vlahos is a writer and author of the book Fighting Identity: Sacred War and World Change. He has taught war and strategy at Johns Hopkins University and the Naval War College and other institutions.
FOLLOW @Michalis_Vlahos and find his blog at anewcivilwar.com.
Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.
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Recorded on April 15, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- The Doom Of The Elite: The rise and fall of elites shapes our history and can be predicted. Michael Vlahos, American Conservative
- There Will Be Blood: Beware the Ides of March!, Michael Vlahos
- Old Civil Wars Never Die: Like Zombies They Are Raised By History to Devour Us, Michael Vlahos
Swapcast with Liberty Weekly / Patrick MacFarlane. In this age of decline of the establishment mainstream media, the pundits and the usual chinahawk commentators aren’t the only ones parroting the hostile and aggressive narratives toward China. A surprising number of independent media personalities with large followings are doing the same thing. Patrick takes note of some of the people and places where this is happening and also does some deep dive research into the Uyghur genocide claims and counterclaims themselves and takes a sober look at the evidence.
Patrick MacFarlane is a practicing attorney in Wisconsin, a libertarian podcaster and a contributor at the Libertarian Institute.
FOLLOW @liberty_weekly SUBSCRIBE to his podcast Liberty Weekly. Find his work at libertyweekly.net and the Libertarian Institute
Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.
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Recorded on April 16, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
Isa Blumi provides some historical background on Turkey and Ottoman empire, some more current history of Turkey and NATO and also an analysis of Turkey’s current involvement in the rising crisis between US/NATO and Russia in Ukraine. We also explore the role of Turkey’s president Erdogan and what it means when people say that he and his political allies have neo-Ottoman aspirations.
Dr. Isa Blumi is an historian, an author and Professor of Global History, Islamic World, Ottoman Empire, Yemen, Albania. His most recent Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World tells the story of the wars in Yemen but also “ultimately tells an even larger story of today’s political economy of global capitalism, development, and the war on terror as disparate actors intersect in Arabia.” He also authored the book Ottoman Refugees, 1878-1939: Migration in a Post-Imperial World
FOLLOW Isa Blumi @IsaBlumi and find his work at Google Scholar and his latest book at UCPress.edu.
Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.
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Recorded on April 14, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Guest: Peter Lee. We talk about the Fiasco in Alaska aka the Alaska Summit talks between the US and China on March 18th where Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security advisor Jake Sullivan met with top Chinese diplomats including Yang Jiechi, the Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office in China. The preaching by the American officials was met with an unexpected clapbac and the whole affair blew up in international media including Chinese social media where the Chinese translator Zhang Jing and the defiant message she relayed was widely celebrated. We also talk about the US Indo-Pacific command’s containment strategy for China, a multi-faceted Cold War on the rise, the situation with Taiwan, Project 2049, and the prospects for war between Taiwan and China. In a bonus episode Peter explains the “who lost China?” narrative that has influenced the military and diplomatic corps for decades. Before we begin the interview, I’ll include some excerpts of the Chinese response to Blinken from the Fiasco in Alaska.
FOLLOW @chinahand. SUBSCRIBE to Peter Lee’s China Threat Report.
Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.
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Twitter @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.
Recorded on March 31, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
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Guest: Mark Sleboda. We talk about the state of affairs in Ukraine with the current Zelensky administration and the new US administration’s policies (which involve a lot of old geopolitical rhetoric). We also talk about the escalation in the Donbas and the Black Sea region. In bonus segment for patrons, we talk about the perils of creating external enemies for political purposes and the reasons behind US sanctions and hostility toward Russia.
Mark Sleboda is an International Affairs & Security Analyst, a US Navy veteran, a university lecturer and a foreign policy realist.
FOLLOW Mark on Twitter @MarkSleboda1 and on Facebook, look for his appearances on RT, Sputnik and other international channels.
Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.
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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.
Recorded on March 26, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- ATE Episode 99 Ukraine feat Mark Sleboda
- ATE Ep 120 Ukraine Political Transformation? feat Mark Sleboda
- ATE Ep 157 Crisis of Confidence in Ukraine feat Mark Sleboda
Hosts: Joanne Leon and Kelley Lane. Guest: Oliver Boyd-Barrett. We discuss Boyd-Barrett’s book titled RussiaGate and Propaganda: Disinformation in the Age of Social Media, which focuses on the Russiagate case in the broader understanding of propaganda. In the bonus episode, we talk about the recent resurrection of the Russiagate saga and the reasons for it.
Dr. Oliver Boyd-Barrett is Professor Emeritus of Journalism and Public Relations at Bowling Green State University and the author of the book: RussiaGate and Propaganda:
Disinformation in the Age of Social Media. He serves on the international advisory board of the Organization for Propaganda Studies and he is currently working on a new book “Conflict Propaganda in Syria: Narrative Battles”.
Find Olivery Boyd-Barrett on Facebook look for his books including RussiaGate and Propaganda: Disinformation in the Age of Social Media and his upcoming book “Conflict Propaganda in Syria: Narrative Battles”.
Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.
SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on Rokfin rokfin.com/aroundtheempire, Patreon patreon.com/aroundtheempire, Paypal paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod, YouTube youtube.com/aroundtheempire, Spotify, iTunes, iHeart, Google Podcasts
FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. FOLLOW Kelley Lane at @KelleysWords
Recorded on March 25, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
- Russiagate as Organized Distraction, Oliver Boyd-Barrett, Consortium News
- The Great Hack (2019 documentary) Brittany Kaiser
Guest: Angela McArdle. Co-hosts Joanne Leon, Kelley Lane and Kyle Anzalone. This is a swapcast for the Around the Empire podcast and the Conflicts of Interest show. It’s a broad discussion about war and foreign policy, interventionism, elections and the handling of the pandemic with lockdowns and other restrictions and its impact on the lives of Americans, the economy and our rights. There is a bonus episode questioning whether censorship and lockdowns can be compared to a modern day gulag.
Angela McArdle currently serves as Chair of the Libertarian Party of Los Angeles County and is seeking the National Libertarian Party Chair in 2022. Angela was a two time candidate for California’s 34th Congressional District. She is a paralegal and legal aid who currently works in litigation focused mainly on real estate and constitutional law. She also has a private practice providing self help legal services to low income clients and she was a key organizer for the 2013 protest in LA against a ban on feeding in public rights of way. Angela believes strongly in the sanctity of personal choice and allowing people to govern their own lives.
FOLLOW Angela at @angela4congress and on her website angelamcardle.com
FOLLOW on Twitter: @KyleAnzalone_ @Con_Interest SUBSCRIBE to the Conflicts of Interest podcast at the Libertarian Institute and on YouTube and LBRY.
FOLLOW Kelley at @Kelleyswords
Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com.
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.
Recorded on March 16, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.