Guests: Hosts of the ADVChina YouTube channel and podcast Winston Sterzel (aka Serpentza) and Matthew Tye (aka C-Milk/laowhy86) lived and traveled through most of China for more than a decade. They started a custom motorcycle business and did most of their traveling on those motorcycles and they produced two documentary films. Their video and podcast content (they have individual channels as well as the ADVChina channels) is broad ranging but mostly about life in China from a westerner’s perspective and the more recent content has a lot of information about how things have changed. Both Winston and Matt married and have extended families in China and in their home countries of South Africa and the United States and they left China for the United States in the past couple of years after witnessing a significant transformation in China. We talk about that transformation, what life in China was like when they first moved there and how things are now. We talk about the real estate bubble, the Evergrande crisis, and Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, Xinjiang and the Uyghurs. We then discuss the escalating hostility between China and the United States and its allies. In a bonus episode we discuss whether or not China is becoming an imperial power “with Chinese characteristics”. And more. 

FOLLOW Winston on Twitter at @serpentza, follow Matt at @laowhy86. Subscribe to their YouTube channels ADVChina, ADVPodcasts, Serpentza, laowhy86 and find their work on their website advchina.net

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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Reference Links:

1. ADVChina: Why is Everything in CHINA FALLING APART?
2. ADVChina: China's Biggest Ghost City - The Military Chased us Out!
3. ADVChina Documentary: Conquering Southern China
4. ADVChina Documentary: Conquering Northern China
5. ADVPodcast
6. Associated Press: Terror & Tourism: Xinjiang eases its grip, but fear remains
7. Around the Empire: Ep 207 Chinahawks’ Uyghur Genocide Narrative feat Gareth Porter
8. Around the Empire: Ep 216 Indy Media Chinahawks (Swapcast) Patrick MacFarlane
9. Around the Empire: Ep 181 Xinjiang and the Uyghurs feat Peter Lee

Panelists: Peter Castagno, Gumby, Joanne Leon, Robbie Martin, Dan Wright. A panel discussion about the questions that are still unanswered 20 years after 9/11. This is part two of an ongoing series where we talk about the anthrax attacks. We are honored to have such a knowledgeable and talented line up in this panel. 

Joanne Leon and Dan Wright are co-founders of Around the Empire. Peter Castagno is the co-owner of the Citizen Truth independent media website covering international politics. He is an independent writer & researcher with an MA in International Conflict Resolution.

Gumby is an independent researcher, well known for his research threads on Twitter and podcast appearances under the pseudonym @gumby4christ (a handle that he chose years ago in jest but then became a brand). Robbie Martin is documentary film maker (see his film A Very Heavy Agenda at AVeryHeavyAgenda.com), a musician, researcher and the host of Media Roots Radio. 

FOLLOW @JoanneLeon, @DanSWright, @gumby4christ, @petercastagno_, @fluorescentgrey.

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Reference Links:

1. Timeline: Anthrax Timeline by Barbara Hatch Rosenberg
2. Timeline: NJ.com timeline of the anthrax case
3. Timeline: NY Times Anthrax timeline
4. Unlimited Hangout/Whitney Webb: 20 Years After Anthrax with Robbie Martin
5. MediaRoots Radio: Amerithrax 20th Anniversary: St Petersburg Letters, Bruce Ivins' Bilocation & the Anthrax Timeline
6. MediaRoots Radio: Kathy Nguyen the Anthrax Victim FBI Called a Terrorist & Swabbing Hijacker Remains in Shanksville
7. MediaRoots Anthrax Cache, Anthrax Cache Addition 1, Anthrax Cache Addition 2
8. NYT 2001: Florida Man Dies of Rare Form of Anthrax
9. NYT 2001: Anthrax Found in NBC News Aide
10. Letter to Brokaw traced
11. Anthrax Now Discovered in Bellmawr P O
12. Anthrax At Belmawr Post Office?
13. Another regional N.J. post office is closed after employee develops possible skin anthrax
14. AP: Man [Hatfill] in Anthrax Probe Bragged of Ties
15. Bioweapon expert denies anthrax involvement
16. Anthrax Epizootic in Zimbabwe, 1978-1980: Due to Deliberate Spread? By Meryl Nass, MD
17. Vanity Fair / Don Foster: The Message in the Anthrax
18. NYT: Scientist Is Paid Millions by U.S. in Anthrax Suit
19. Newsweek: Steven Hatfill's Strange Trip From Accused Terrorist to Medical Adventurer
20. Anthrax victim's family sues U.S. government
21. FBI Amerithrax or Anthrax Investigation
22.  nj.com Holt remains skeptical about conclusions in anthrax investigation
23.  nj.com Report requested by Holt found gaps in FBI's investigation of anthrax attacks
24. Unlimited Hangout/Whitney Webb: Head of the Hydra: The Rise of Robert Kadlec

Guest: Peter Lee aka @chinahand. As Peter said “it’s been a pretty good week for the chinahawks.” In fact, a lot of good weeks lately. We talk about the escalation of tensions with China over Taiwan, the US-led “Asian NATO”l ships sailing through the Taiwan strait and in the South China sea, Chinese military exercises scrambling jets near Taiwan, the issue of Taiwan independence and US defense, the political situation and the prospects for war to break out and more. In a bonus episode I ask Peter what triggered Xi JInping’s crackdown in China and what caused the sudden shift in relations between the US and China, the real estate crisis and why Chinese billionaires had been allowed to thrive for so long.

Peter Lee has decades of experience in East Asia both as a businessman and as a writer. He produces Peter Lee’s China Threat Report and has been published at Asia Times, CounterPunch at his own blog, China Matters. FOLLOW @chinahand.  SUBSCRIBE to Peter Lee’s China Threat Report.

FOLLOW @chinahand.  SUBSCRIBE to Peter Lee’s China Threat Report.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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Reference Links:

1. Peter Lee’s China Threat Report: Taiwan ADIZ Sound and Fury
2. Peter Lee’s China Threat Report: How Do You Spell Cold War 2.0? AUKUS
3. WSJ: U.S. Troops Have Been Deployed in Taiwan for at Least a Year
4. Chinese Foreign Ministry: Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Remarks on Taiwan-related Statement Issued by US State Department Spokesperson
5. Global Times: Op-Ed: Time to warn Taiwan secessionists and their fomenters: war is real: Global Times editorial

Guest: Dr. Isa Blumi. This is a wide-ranging discussion about the political realignments in the Gulf states, new partnerships in the Middle East and Africa, Qatar’s involvement in the withdrawal from Afghanistan, developments in Yemen, quiet military repurposing of strategic island of Socotra, the long and complicated exploitation of East Africa, the Red Sea region and Horn of Africa, the mass of military bases in Djbouti, the Turkey-Russia relationship and more.

For those listening to the audio version of this podcast, we have added many maps and other visual enhancements to the video version that you might find helpful during some of this discussion so if you are interested you can find those versions on Youtube and Rokfin right now and other video platforms in the not too distant future. 

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. 

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Recorded on October 6, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Book: Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World

Panelists: Peter Castagno, Gumby, Joanne Leon, Dan Wright. A panel discussion about the questions that are still unanswered 20 years after 9/11. This is part one of a series. There is an “after hours” bonus segment where we talk about turning this into a series, the fact that dissent from the official 9/11 story is (finally) being discussed more openly and there is strong pressure to make it less taboo, and more. 

Joanne Leon and Dan Wright are co-founders of Around the Empire. Peter Castagno is the co-owner of the Citizen Truth independent media website covering international politics. He is an independent writer & researcher with an MA in International Conflict Resolution.

Gumby is an independent researcher, well known for his research threads on Twitter and podcast appearances under the pseudonym @gumby4christ (a handle that he chose years ago in jest but then became a brand). 

FOLLOW @JoanneLeon, @DanSWright, @gumby4christ, @petercastagno_

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Find everything on http://aroundtheempire.com  and linktr.ee/aroundtheempire

Reference Links:

1. 9/11 Independent Commission (Family Steering Committee) - Unanswered Questions
2. Book: Unanswered Questions: What the September Eleventh Families Asked and the 9/11 Commission Ignored
3. History Commons: BBC Reports WTC 7 Collapse Before It Happens
4. BBC Response re: reporting WTC 7 collapse before it happened
5. ClandesTime 114 – An Alternative History of Al Qaeda: Ali Mohamed
6. Porkins Policy Review: Ali Mohamed: The CIA’s Favorite Terrorist (Guest article by Tom Secker)
7. History Commons: Ali Mohamed
8. Covert Action Magazine: The Twenty Year Shadow of 9/11 (Part 1): U.S. Complicity in the Terror Spectacle and the Urgent Need to End It, Aaron Good, Ben Howard and Peter Dale Scott
9. Covert Action Magazine: The Twenty Year Shadow of 9/11 (Part 2): Why Did Key U.S. Officials Protect the Alleged 9/11 Plotters?, Aaron Good, Ben Howard and Peter Dale Scott
10. Covert Action Magazine: Stepping out of the Shadow of 9/11 (Part 3): Start by Ending the Post-9/11 States of Emergency, Aaron Good, Ben Howard and Peter Dale Scott
11. Gumby’s Twitter thread on Pentagon’s special unit DO5 and Pentagon whistleblower codenamed Iron Man
12. Truthout (2011): New Documents Suggest DoD Watchdog Covered Up Intelligence Unit’s Work Tracking 9/11 Terrorists, Jason Leopold, Jeffrey Kaye
13. Truthout (2011): Report: Intelligence Unit Told Before 9/11 to Stop Tracking Bin Laden, Jeffrey Kaye
14. Covert Action Magazine: Anthrax Attacks Directed Against Public Officials Following 9/11 Had all the Markings of a False Flag Operation, Graeme McQueen
15. Slate: How Did I Get Iraq Wrong?, Richard Cohen
16. ProPublica: Colleague Says Anthrax Numbers Add Up to Unsolved Case
17. Washington Post: Justice Dept. takes on itself in probe of 2001 anthrax attacks, Jerry Markon
18. Book: The Watchdogs Didn't Bark: The CIA, NSA, and the Crimes of the War on Terror, Ray Nowosielski, John Duffy
19. Epistemic Vice: A Critique of Quassim Cassam’s “Conspiracy Theories”, Peter Castagno
20. Book: Logical Investigative Methods: Critical Thinking and Reasoning for Successful Investigations, Robert J. Girod
21. Book: Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, Richards J. Heuer Jr.
22. Book: The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation, Philip Shenon
23. A Very Heavy Agenda (documentary series), Robbie Martin
24. Book: Another Nineteen: Investigating Legitimate 9/11 Suspects, Kevin Ryan
25. Guns and Butter: Another Nineteen, Part One thru Five - Kevin Ryan, #287-291
26. Max Keiser interviews Jim Rickards on 9/11 Stock Irregularities on The Keiser Report (RT 2014)
27. Unusual Option Market Activity and the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001, Allen M. Poteshman, University of Chicago Press
28. Was There Abnormal Trading in the S&P 500 Index Options Prior to the September 11 Attacks?, Wing-Keung Wong, Asia University, Department of Finance
29. Detecting Abnormal Trading Activities in Option Markets, Marc Chesney (University of Zurich - Department of Banking and Finance), Remo Crameri (University of Zurich - Swiss Banking Institute ISB), Loriano Mancini (USI Lugano - Institute of Finance; Swiss Finance Institute)

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:

1. What critics of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan get wrong, Matthew Hoh, CNN
2. “I Was Living Like Scarface”: The Ludicrous Costs of the War in Afghanistan Revealed in New Documents, Testimonies, MintPress News, Alan MacLeod
3. 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

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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Recorded on August 23, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Hold the Generals Accountable This Time, Ray McGovern
2. Welcome to Vietnam, Mr. President, Ray McGovern
3. $10,000 Invested in Defense Stocks When Afghanistan War Began Now Worth Almost $100,000, Jon Schwarz
4. 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:

1. Human Crisis in Mozambique in the age of Cyber-Diplomacy, Jonathan Lancelot, Small Wars Journal
2. 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
3. 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. 

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. 

Reference Links:

1. Black Alliance for Peace - Haiti section
2. Black Alliance for Peace July 19 Twitter thread on Haiti
3. Who Rules Haiti? Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Undermining of Haitian National Sovereignty
4. 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.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  

Recorded on July 16, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Podcast Episode #75 – Davos and the Week That Changed Everything Part 1, Tom Luongo
2. Podcast Episode #76 – Davos, Ukraine and the Week That Changed the World Part II, Tom Luongo
3. Podcast Episode #77 – Davos, The Fed and the 5 Basis Points That Moved the World Part III, Tom Luongo
4. US issues sanctions, warns businesses of risks in China and Hong Kong as Beijing promises to 'respond strongly', CNN
5. Reuters: Britain carves out exemption for gold clearing banks from Basel III rule
6. 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. 

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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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.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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Recorded on July 2, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. In Focus South Asia | Iran’s Presidential Elections | Episode 164 | Indus News
2. The who’s who of Iranian players behind the new president, Muhammad Sahimi
3.  "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. 

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  

Recorded on July 4, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19’s Origins, Vanity F
2. RFK Jr The Defender podcast: Fauci's Smoking Gun with Dr. Meryl Nass
3. MediaRoots podcast: Libs Love Lab-Leak, Geopolitical Sting Op & the Wuhan Coincidence w/ gumby4christ
4. MediaRoots podcast: The Oswald Institute of Virology, COVID-19 Origins & US Military Biowarfare w/ gumby4christ
5. In-Depth Interview: Author Kris Newby and Prof. Mark Crispin Miller Talk About Chronic Lyme Disease, and Its Likely Origins, Peter B. Collins
6. 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. 

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  

Recorded on June 16, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. How Organized Crime Infiltrated American Business After WW II and Corrupted National Politics from Truman to Trump, Jeremy Kuzmarov
2. Was January 6th a Dress Rehearsal for Coup d’État in the U.S.? Jeremy Kuzmarov
3. 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

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  

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

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  

Recorded on May 18, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. When Fighting Erupts Between Israel and Hamas, the Question of War Crimes, New York Times 
2. Human Rights Watch: A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution
3. (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.

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.  

Recorded on May 8, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Video Clip: Craig Jardula interview Ken Bennett (Twitter)
2. Justice Dept. Letter on Arizona Audit
3. Democrats Lied About the Georgia Senate Bill, The Truth About The Election Integrity Act, Fiorella Isabel
4. Convo Couch Live Inside Arizona Audit 5/5/21
5. Convo Couch LIVE: Maricopa Audit @ Veterans Memorial Coliseum 5/5/21
6. Convo Couch LIVE Outside Coliseum Interviews with Brandon Slayton & John Brakey #ArizonaAudit #AZAuditPool 5/6/21
7. Convo Couch Mark Finchem discusses Arizona Audit and Election Integrity 5/8/21
8. Convo Couch LIVE AZ State Senator Sony Borrelli joins The Convo Couch to talk #AZAudit #Arizona #AZAuditPool
9. 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.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  

Recorded on April 29, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Our ‘Dear Friend’ Deby Is Dead – Yea, About That…, Danny Sjursen
2. Deby’s Death, Chad’s Crisis, and the Ghosts of Libyan Fiascoes Past, Danny Sjursen
3. New Hillary Emails Reveal Propaganda, Executions, Coveting Libyan Oil and Gold, Brad Hoff (2016)
4. 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.

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  

Recorded on April 27, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. The West’s sole prerogative is that Russia has no right to self-defense... even when the threat is right on its border, Dan Kovalik

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.

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.  

Recorded on April 26, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Support the Tropes: How media language encourages the left to support wars, coups and intervention, Alan MacLeod, FAIR
2. Humanitarian Imperialism: How corporate media sell regime change, Intervention and war to progressive audiences, Alan MacLeod, FAIR
3. 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

Around the Empire aroundtheempire.com is listener supported, independent media.

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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  

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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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  

Recorded on April 15, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. The Doom Of The Elite: The rise and fall of elites shapes our history and can be predicted. Michael Vlahos, American Conservative
2. There Will Be Blood: Beware the Ides of March!, Michael Vlahos
3. 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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FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  

Recorded on April 16, 2021. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Independent Media Parrots Questionable Uyghur Genocide Claims, Patrick MacFarlane, Libertarian Institute
2. Conflicts of Interest #93 - China's Uyghurs: Genocide Victims or CIA Pawns?
3. ATE Ep 207 Chinahawks’ Uyghur Genocide Narrative feat Gareth Porter
4. ATE Ep 181 Xinjiang and the Uyghurs feat Peter Lee