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, the LA school system heading into a 3-day strike, Biden blocking the DC […]

Emma hosts Dr. Annelle Sheline, Middle East Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, to discuss her recent piece “Ending Counterproductive U.S. Involvement in Yemen.” First, Emma runs through updates on Bernie launching a vote to subpoena Howard Schultz in the wake of their egregious and widespread anti-union practices, Blinken’s conversations with Russian representatives, the Havana […]

Sam and Emma host Adam Weinstein, Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute, to explore the status of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and what the region might look like moving forwards. They look into why the Pentagon might want a quick withdrawal now that they are committed to withdrawing at all, and whether or not […]

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 role in Iraq?  What Iraq’s government […]

Intercept co-founder, journalist and author of the new book The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government’s Secret Drone Warfare Program, Jeremy Schaill explains the leaks delivered to the Intercept that reveal the Obama Administration’s global assassination program. How the Obama Administration’s metric for measuring deaths in drone strikes excludes measuring civilian deaths. The documents that reveal how […]

Guardian columnist and author of the new book Disaster Capitalism: Making a Killing Out of Catastrophe (buy it on Jet.comor Amazon) Antony Lowenstein explains what “disaster capitalism” means. Privatization and the European and American strategy to make life harder for refugees. How Western policy feeds the refugee crisis in the Middle East. The corporations who benefit from disaster capitalism. Colonial […]

Padraig O’Malley the author of  The Two-State Delusion: Israel and Palestine – A Tale of Two Narratives will explains why the conflicting narratives of Israelis and Palestinians undermines political solutions. How fear and humiliation define the conflict. Why the Two States solution is almost impossible and why the Occupation needs to end now. On The Fun Half: […]

We lost Cliff Schecter due to a bad phone connection. But, no problem, Sam explains the historic importance and power of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of marriage equality. Justice Kennedy’s decision and the Living Constitution. Justice Scalia throws a tantrum and the House passes Trade Adjustment Assistance. Filmmaker, Giovanni Zelko, explains the thinking […]

Journalist Trudy Lieberman, explains why opponents and supporters of the Affordable Care Act are both spreading myths about the ACA. Is Obamacare unaffordable for many middle class consumers? Debating the costs of healthcare. How many families are choosing to take the penalty because the costs are to high? Why the Medicaid expansion is the best […]

Journalist Nida Khan explains the importance of Bill Maher’s Gaza and women beating tweet, how opinion on the Middle East is shifting through social media, the death toll in Gaza, creating space for progressive Israeli voices in American media and the possibility of a ceasefire. Also the latest on the shooting down of flight MH17 […]