Iraq

It’s another EmMajority Report Thursday! She hosts Matthew Connolly, professor of international and global history at Columbia University, to discuss his recent book The Declassification Engine: What History Reveals About America’s Top Secrets. Then, Emma speaks with Orly Noy, editor at Local Cal...
Sam hosts Spencer Ackerman, columnist for The Nation and author of the Forever Wars newsletter on Ghost, to discuss his recent piece ”The Unlearned Lessons From the War in Iraq”.  Sam begins by running through updates on the IPCC’s report on catastrophic warming levels, a brand new Fox lawsuit, t...
Sam and Emma are back with news and reflection on the Invasion of Iraq. First, they run through updates on Trump’s impending arrest in New York, UBS acquiring Credit Suisse, debates over rolling back the Dodd-Frank rollbacks that let the SVB collapse slide, Wyoming’s crackdown on the abortion pil...
Emma hosts Alex Press, writer at Jacobin, to discuss her recent pieces on the burgeoning labor movement countrywide and Eric Adams’s homelessness policies. Then Emma is joined by Daniel Bessner, co-host of the American Prestige podcast on SubStack, to discuss his recent brief for the Quincy Insti...
Sam and Emma host Amanda Montell, linguist and host of the Sounds Like A Cult podcast, to discuss her recent book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, on the social role of cults, how it has changed, and the influence it has on our language today. They start off by looking at the discourse around...
Sam hosts Russ Feingold, President of the American Constitution Society and former United States Senator from Wisconsin, to discuss the legacy 9/11 has had on the American national security state, and what to expect going forward, to discuss the legacy 9/11 has had on the American national securi...
Sam and Emma host Spencer Ackerman, author of the Forever Wars newsletter on Substack, to discuss his recent book Reign Of Terror: How The 9/11 Era Destabilized America And Produced Trump. Sam, Emma, and Spencer jump off of a Charlie Kirk nativist clip to dive into the start of the war on terror ...
Sam hosts Heather “Digby” Parton to discuss the week’s top stories, including the infrastructure negotiations, SCOTUS decisions to gut voter rights, and more. Then, WGA East Executive Director Lowell Peterson joins to discuss the unionization efforts at MSNBC Digital. Digby and Sam start off the ...
Sam is joined by Alex Pareene (@pareene) of the New Republic and Brendan James (@deep_beige) of the new Iraq War podcast “Blowback,” to recap the week’s news and most important stories.
Happy Friday! On today’s show, Benjamin Dixon (@BenjaminPDixon), host of the Benjamin Dixon Show. Sam and Ben begin their conversation considering the conclusion of the “Clinton Investigation,” which will end in the coming weeks “with no criminal charges or other known impacts,” according to the ...
Sam is out today, Michael Brooks hosts Professor Djene Bajalan to discuss the growing protests in Iraq and Iran.
Betsy DeVos is asked by Bernie Sanders if she would be nominated without campaign contributions and Al Franken demonstrates that she has almost no idea what she is talking about.
Professor Juan Cole of the University of Michigan and the creator of Informed Comment Blog explains the different factions fighting ISIL in Mosul. How ISIL is using Civilians as human shields. How many ISIL fighters are there in Mosul? The future of ISIL after it loses territory. What is Turkey’s...
Colin Powell has his emails leaked and we find out what he really thinks about Benghazi and Donald Trump. Bob Woodward is actually not a great journalist. Colin Powell and Condi Rice trash Neocons for getting Iraq wrong over email. New leaked documents reveal the incredible power of corporate mon...
Chilcot condemns Tony Blair and Tony Blair is still sociopath. David Cameron hums an amazing tune after he resigns as Prime Minister. What Bernie Sanders has contributed force the Democrats in a more progressive direction. Bernie Sanders endorses Hillary Clinton and praises to the Democratic Plat...
Rebecca Gordon, author of American Nuremberg: The U.S. Officials Who Should Stand Trial for Post-9/11 War Crimes, explains the origins of the Nuremberg tribunals. The political and practical implications of Nuremberg. The United States and the ICC. The ICC and political stability. What are war cr...
Sam remembers the September 11th attacks and how and why we harmed ourselves after them. Cliff Schecter joins Sam to discuss the fourteen anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Why the stolen 2000 election, the September 11th attacks and the invasion of Iraq were the three terrible events tha...
Journalist Guy Lawson, author of the forthcoming book, Arms and the Dudes: How Three Stoners from Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History, explains how two stoners in Miami Beach who broke into the global arms industry. The stunning realities of the Bush Administration. Insurge...
The Nation’s John Nichols explains the power and importance of Bernie Sanders push for debt free college. Why progressive politics means creative politics. Can Hillary be progressive. Why fighting austerity is the defining question. Also why the TPP is all about corporate power and 1980s economic...
Cliff Schecter explains just how disgusting and stunning it is that Republicans are cutting Amtrak spending the day after last weeks Amtrak crash that caused several deaths. Why the Republicans are undermining the American economy. Why more Amtrak funding would have saved lives. Why increasing in...
Boston University Sociology Professor and author of The New Prophets of Capital, Nicole Aschoff, explains how capitalism survives through adopting critiques of capitalism. Why the promoters of “conscious” end up feeding some of the worst tendencies in capitalism. Whole Foods Libertarians. Why it ...
Lily Geismer a assistant professor of history at Claremont McKenna College and author of  Don’t Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party explains how the suburban makeover of the Democratic Party has moved the Party to the right. Where the title “don’t blame us”....
Political strategist Cliff Schecter explains President Obama’s tortured relationship with his AUMF. What authorization President Obama wants in his military campaign against ISIS. War Powers and the erosion of democracy. Mission creep and Iraq. The coming war between House and Senate Republicans....
Michael Macdonald author of  Overreach: Delusions of Regime Change in Iraq and Professor at Williams College explains the core motivations that led the Bush Administration to invade Iraq, why invading Iraq was about creating a neo liberal Middle East, chaos and the goal of market “paradise” in Ir...
The largest day of airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, why the White House is waving its own rules on civilian casualties, the death toll in Iraq and Syria, who is profiting from the new Middle East war, Iraqi Army drops ammo and food for ISIS fighters by mistake, new stunning Secret Service failures, ...
The Koch funded  Americans For Prosperity mails out hundred of thousands of dishonest voter guides, local news bury’s the lead, Bill O’Reilly offended by Stephen Colbert mocking his global fighting force idea, O’Reilly says Colbert has nothing useful to say, American troops will stay in Afghanist...
Professor and writer Vijay Prashad explains the context for the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the myth of sectarian violence in the Middle East, the implosion of Libya and lessons for Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey, why Turkey has been soft on ISIS and why solutions can only be found in s...
Janeane Garofalo reflected on the new war in Iraq and Syria, pro-war pundits and the military industrial complex, changing Democratic opinions on the Middle East, is America at eternal war? Why war criminals get away with it in America, war crimes and the right to be forgotten, how many civilians...
New York University Sociology Graduate student and Jacobin contributing writer Jonah Birch explains where the myth of the “culture of poverty” comes from, the roots of the culture of poverty idea, prison and African American men, racial discrimination  and incarceration, the myths of African Amer...
Investigative Journalist Chris Woods explains when the Iraqi Government requested that the Obama Administration bring drones back to Iraq, the higher rates of airstrikes in Iraq, the Libya model and the fight against Isis, what US airstrikes have focused on so far, who controls the Mosul Dam now?...
Political maestro Cliff Schecter explains what the results of the New York state primary means, Zephyr Teachout’s impressive performance, Andrew Cuomo’s machine, Teachout’s revival of the New Deal anti trust message, the politics of the new gilded age, broadening the progressive coalition, Africa...
President Obama announces strategy against Isis, two witnesses claim Michael Brown had his hands up when he was killed by Darren Wilson, witnesses also claim that Michael Brown was shot with his back turned, Ted Cruz incoherent war plans for Isis and Iran and more evidence of a NFL Ray Rice cover...
Understanding the psychology of domestic abuse the NFL’s disgusting record on domestic abuse, Fox & Friends shocking mockery of the Ray Rice beating video, Fox & Friends demented apology, President Obama set to launch a global war against Isis, did Syrian “moderates” sell murdered journal...
Journalist David Sirota explains the pay to play pension schemes orchestrated by the Chris Christie Administration in New Jersey, why New Jersey taxpayers have paid a billion dollars in fees to Wall Street, how Chris Christie is rewarding campaign contributions from Wall Street, the stunning conf...
Cliff Schecter explains why the Democrats may not keep the Senate, the possible 50/50 Senate split, Mitch McConnell’s war against the minimum wage and self enrichment, what Mitch McConnell thinks his job is, will McConnell’s campaign manager face criminal charges, why Democrats might keep the Nor...
Journalist Patrick Cockburn explains how Isis developed out of Syria and Iraq, the origins of Isis in Al Quada in Iraq, Sunni repression in post Saddam Iraq, what Hillary Clinton misses about arming moderate rebels in Syria, what regional powers support Jihadi fighters, the strategic miscalculati...
Demos Senior Policy analyst Catherine Reutschlin explains how markets the libertarian myth of a color blind free market, how markets can perpetuate racism, private prisons, why the “sharing” economy is not color blind and how race and inequality cannot be separated.
Middle East analyst and commentator Holly Dagres explains why US airstrikes against ISIS are needed, the unique threat that ISIS poses to Iraq, the failures of Nouri al Maliki’s leadership, sectarian violence and Iraq’s future and what are the best policy options moving forward.
Political strategist and weekly guest Cliff Schecter explains why President Obama is the fourth President in a row to bomb Iraq, the human rights crisis in Iraq, the potential goals of military strikes in Iraq, why humanitarian intervention might be justified to save the Yazdi community, the aust...
Journalist Rafia Zakaria explains the brutal track record of the Taliban and ISIS in attacking women, the all female ISIS brigade that monitors women, medieval imagery, Islamic insurgencies, the Orientalist imagination and how to address global human rights systemically.
Professor Juan Cole author of the new book  The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East, explains why most Muslims do not take ISIS proclaiming a Caliphate seriously, the shifting politics of Kurdish independence, why oppression of Sunnis is fueling the crisis in Iraq...
Foreign Policy journalist Ali Gharib explains why President Obama might be planning a drone war in Iraq, Obama’s secret wars, the failures of Bush and Obama’s foreign policies, why no one is addressing the roots of terrorism and what happens next in Iraq.
Cliff Schecter explains why Dick Cheney needs to be in prison for war crimes now, why Dick Cheney was right about Iraq in 1994, why Dick Cheney is even worse than other war promoters,Cheney’s failures as CEO of Halliburton, the Cheney criminal enterprise, Governor Scott Walker accused of engaging...
Terry Bradshaw does not trust Hillary Clinton on Benghazi, why the anti Muslim video really did play a role in the Benghazi attacks, more accountability for stupidity in today’s world, battle for a major oil refinery in Iraq, why Iraq is falling apart, what airstrikes will mean in Iraq, why the O...
Holy Cross Education Professor Jack Schneider explains the implications and the problems with the Vergara v California decision, how and why do teachers improve? The trouble with standardized test scores, how American teachers are not supported, why we don’t invest in professional development for...
Matt Duss of the Center For American Progress explains the roots of Iraq’s current crisis, why the surge and the Sunni awakening did not create a new political culture in Iraq, how Iraq’s Sunni’s are repressed, how powerful is ISIS? Internal Sunni divisions in Iraq, why the Kurds are succeeding, ...
Cliff Schecter explains the shocking defeat of Eric Cantor, how David Brat has fused the religions of Christianity and Libertarianism, why Eric Cantor is such an A Hole, why Republicans will be in greater disarray, Elizabeth Warren to campaign for Alison Lundergan Grimes, Cliff’s pick in the Kent...
UN Dispatch’s Mark Leon Goldberg explains how Iraq’s government Nouri al Maliki, has been unable to stop growing violence in the country, the violent extremism of ISIS and their political and religious goals, Iraq and Syria and the Sunni Shia divide, how wide is support for ISIS? Kurdish independ...
Janeane Garofalo joined us to celebrate the Majority Report’s ten year anniversary, Janeane’s bold stance against the invasion of Iraq, Sam and Janeane discuss aging, Janeane’s disappointment with the Walking Dead finale, Cadillac’s disgusting new ad, advertising and the white/right wing backlash...
Hey folks, today is a Members only show, but we still wanted to give you Freebies a teaser from today’s show. Listen to Sam explain what it was like to oppose the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Thomas Friedman’s “suck on this comment” and CNN still grasping for straws on the Malaysia flight. Members m...
Journalist Chase Madar explained what led Bradley Manning to leak material on human rights abuses in Iraq, why Manning was shocked by Iraqi human rights abuses under the American occupation, the similarities between Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning, why the State Department pressured Haiti to ...
Cliff Schecter explained why Nancy Pelosi pushed hard against the defund the NSA data collection bill, the distinction between establishment and progressive Democrats, the meaning of President Obama’s new economic address, progressives push for an expansion of Social Security, the Groundswell con...
The attacks on the Boston Marathon, the importance of how we define the attack, can we use this attack to develop empathy for victims of violence in Iraq and elsewhere? Fox contributor calls for all Muslims to be killed, ridiculous conspiracy theories from Alex Jones and how our Civil Liberties a...
The New Republic’s John Judis, explained what it was like opposing the invasion of Iraq in 2003, why military and intelligence experts opposed the war, the dangers of a non-transparent intelligence apparatus, has the press learned any lessons from Iraq? and Judis reflected on whether Republicans ...
On today’s Show, Sam remembered the invasion of Iraq, the disastrous consequences of the war and why Janeane Garofalo was vital voice of dissent before the invasion of Iraq and why she needs far more credit today for her willingness to speak out.