CovertAction Bulletin

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer film made a huge $174 million internationally on its opening weekend. The three-hour biopic of the so-called “father of the atomic bomb” dives into the personal and professional relationships of J. Robert Oppenheimer. It’s centered around the 1945 Trinity test in the Jornada del Muerto desert of New Mexico and the development of the Manhattan Project that led up to it; and second the 1954 Atomic Energy Commission hearing that led to Oppenheimer’s security clearance being withdrawn.

On this episode, we welcome Greg Mello, Executive Director of the Los Alamos Study Group, to talk about the film, the hidden history of the U.S. nuclear program, and the terrifying reality that the U.S. government continues to develop these weapons today, threatening the very survival of the planet.

Find the Los Alamos Study Group at lasg.org.

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A recent Washington Post article titled “A North Korean defector captivated U.S. media. Some question her story” highlights the many appearances Yeonmi Park has made on right-wing news outlets over the past few years. Scholars and solidarity activists have been pointing out the serious holes in Park’s stories since she started getting attention. But even the Post has pushed her propaganda, running an op-ed by her in 2014 that they admit was co-written with a fellow at the Koch-founded right-wing Atlas Network, calling for a capitalist counterrevolution in the country. Park is part of a long tradition of outright US lies about North Korea, which it is still at war with.

To get deeper into the history, we’re joined by Derek Ford. He's an author, visiting professor at Korea University in Tokyo, and organizer with the Global Peace forum on Korea. He also led the last delegation of US citizens to the DPRK before the travel ban. 

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The AUKUS trilateral military and intelligence partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and United States doesn't get much attention in the U.S. media. It's yet another element of the US quest for world domination. The first pillar of AUKUS focuses on getting Australia nuclear-powered submarines, and the second enhances technology and information sharing. The US government has recently said it’s open to expanding the partnership.

To expose the aims and dangers of AUKUS, we’re joined by Murray Horton, organizer of the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa. Read his latest for CovertAction Magazine, Military Initiative by Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS) is Another Major Step in Prospective War on China.

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The June 23 coup attempt in Russia by the Wagner Group seemed to end almost as quickly and suddenly as it started. Yevgeny Prigozhin specifically targeted the Ministry of Defense and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and within hours Wagner forces had entered the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and entered the grounds of the command of the Southern Military District headquarters in the city.

Wall-to-wall news coverage in the US wondered what a post-Putin Russia would look like, featuring so-called experts on television and the Internet declaring a coup and a new day for Russia.

Joined by Walter Smolarek, editor of LiberationNews.org, we discuss the history of Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner group in the context of the fall of the Soviet Union, why Prigozhin criticized Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and more. We also talk about how the US might be looking to use this crisis to further its own goals in the region.

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We begin today’s show with a remembrance of whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who passed on June 16 at the age of 92.

Then, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his recent trip to China with a 35-minute meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 19th. Blinken had also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and top diplomat Wang Yi over the weekend. 

Despite the State Department and the media talking about opportunities for peace, the actions of the US show that peace is the last thing it wants.

The trip comes just a few weeks after the US military tried to stoke the flames of war against China once again by misrepresenting situations in which US and Canadian war ships came into close contact with Chinese military ships in the Taiwan Strait. And it had originally been scheduled for February, but was delayed after the Pentagon and US media claimed that Chinese weather balloons were spying on the US.

To talk more about recent developments with China, we’re joined by Mika Nhondo Erskog, researcher at TriContinental Institute for Social Research and one of the hosts of The Crane, an Africa-China podcast by the Dongsheng Collective.

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In early June, cities in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the US were blanketed by smoke from wildfires in Canada, some hundreds of which are still burning. Air Quality Index levels reached nearly 500 in New York City at one point, well into the “hazardous” range. In fact, New York City was briefly the world’s most polluted city during that time. New York does not normally fall in the worst 3,000 global cities for air quality. 

Incidents like the wildfire smoke bring attention to the problem of global climate change, but the proposals put forward by the private sector and major industrialized governments don’t solve the issue - and in fact they put the burden on the rest of the world. So what’s happening, and what are some real solutions?

We’re joined by Brandon Wu, Director of Policy and Campaigns at ActionAid USA.

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Pride month is here in the US. It’s a time for LGBTQ people to celebrate, to build community, to honor our elders, and to continue the tradition of protest for recognition, safety and equal rights. In the face of “don’t say gay” laws, book bans, street harassment, attacks on trans athletes and drag shows and laws targeting trans healthcare and even families who provide gender-affirming care for trans children, Pride has a stronger meaning and spirit behind it this year.

These renewed attacks by the right wing in the US have been joined by PR campaigns and boycotts against Target, Bud Light and more. But even though these companies might put a rainbow on their logo for a month, they can’t be the basis of resistance to these ongoing attacks against LGBTQ people.

The history of Pride in the US is one of resistance. So how have these corporations gotten involved? What is the right wing actually trying to achieve? And how does the idea of rainbow capitalism tie into all of this?

We also discuss the hidden US-based influences behind the “Kill the Gays” bill recently sign in Uganda. Far-right Christian organizations have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into evangelical operations in Africa alone over the last decade.

We’re joined by Karleigh Webb, a journalist, socialist and organizer focusing on LGBTQ liberation. She’s also a Grand Marshal of the 2023 Middletown Pride Fest in Middletown, CT.

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What is the real impact of Biden’s anti-immigrant policies on the border and where is the outrage?

On May 11, the U.S. government’s Title 42 regulation expired. It had been in place for three years and prevented nearly all people who sought asylum in the United States from applying for it. 

The Biden administration continues to militarize the border with 1,500 new National Guard soldiers. The so-called “transit ban” would block anyone who comes through a third country between their own and the United States. As the U.S. places harsher sanctions on countries like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, the impact can be seen at the border.

To give us the real insight of the actual impact of Biden’s asylum ban, we speak with Rachell Tucker and Kaden Thaxton, grassroots journalists and activists based in San Antonio who visited the Matamoros encampment right across the border from Brownsville Texas.

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To mark the occasion of the coronation of King Charles the III, Julian Assange wrote a scathing public letter to the new monarch from his cell at Belmarsh prison, where he’s been held for over four years. The coronation cost £100 million of tax-payer funds, and many across the country have been outraged that public funds are being spent on such pomp and circumstance during a cost of living crisis.

We also discuss the recent killing of Jordan Neely, 30-year-old homeless man who was choked to death by ex-marine Daniel Penny. We explore the real fear many New Yorkers feel on the subway, and how the right-wing is using this vigilante murder to justify violence against the poor.

To talk about this and more, we are joined by Natalia Marques, writer at Peoples Dispatch

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