In this week’s episode of The Free Thought Project Podcast, Jason, Matt, and Don sit down with John Kiriakou—former CIA officer turned whistleblower, best-selling author, and one of the few people ever prosecuted for exposing the U.S. government’s illegal torture program. After blowing the whistle on CIA waterboarding, John became a powerful voice for truth, transparency, and accountability in an age of state secrecy and suppression.

We dive straight into the current state of the American police state, discussing the Trump administration’s troubling remarks about suspending habeas corpus, and what that could mean for dissenters and immigrants alike. We explore the alarming normalization of censorship, as the U.S. government continues to universities and punish those who dare to speak out against its narratives.

The conversation then turns to U.S.-Israel relations, as we analyze the theatrical "shift" in Trump’s tone toward Netanyahu and Israel’s influence on American foreign policy. Is it genuine? Or just more Kabuki theater masking business as usual? John gives us some powerful insight on why this may actually be genuine. 

We also examine America’s role in cultivating the opium trade in Afghanistan, and the decades-long hypocrisy of the so-called war on drugs. John offers rare firsthand insight from inside the system—what was said versus what was done—and how that disconnect continues to drive global suffering.

As always, we end on a white pill note, asking John what gives him hope and whether the truth is still worth the cost in a world that punishes it. His answer is as heartfelt as it is encouraging.

This is a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred conversation with one of the bravest voices in modern American history.