MintCast by MintPress News

MintCast co-host Whitney Webb interviews author, investigative journalist and poet Doug Valentine about his extensive work on exposing the dark underbelly of the CIA and some of the agency’s most notorious covert programs. 

Webb and Valentine begin the interview discussing how Valentine’s journalistic work on the CIA led him to be spied on and even threatened by the agency and how being a dissident journalist in the 1990s compares to being one in the present. Valentine argues that, in the present, efforts to illegalize criticism of the state of Israel are like a gateway that will soon lead to the prohibition of criticism against the U.S. government and its intelligence agencies, the CIA among them.

Valentine then touches on some of the themes covered in his book, The CIA as Organized Crime: How Illegal Operations Corrupt America and the World,  including his assertion that the CIA operates as “the organized crime branch of the U.S. government” and how its activities have been influenced by its decades-long relationships with organized crime networks in the United States and throughout the world.

Lastly, Webb and Valentine discuss the CIA’s long-standing interest in manipulating the media and how those efforts also extend to alternative media, not just mainstream media outlets. Valentine discusses the methods the CIA uses to target alternative, independent media and how we are seeing their efforts take place in real time.

Follow Doug Valentine on Twitter or visit his website to learn more about his work.

MintPress donors and patrons: Stay tuned later this week for a patron-exclusive extension of this podcast with Doug Valentine, which will discuss his work on the War on Drugs and the Drug Enforcement Agency and how both are key to unconstitutional, covert CIA programs. You can become a patron via Patreon or through our website.

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MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

MintCast hosts Whitney Webb and Alan MacLeod recently interviewed investigative journalist Yasha Levine about his most recent book Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet and his most recent articles on the xenophobia that lies beneath Russiagate and how this new anti-Russia fervor has impacted the Russian-American immigrant community at the national level.

In discussing his exhaustively researched book Surveillance Valley, Levine details how the growing nexus between Silicon Valley monopolies like Google and Facebook and the U.S. government as well as today’s scandals over internet surveillance and warrantless spying are actually the logical consequence of the Internet's origins as a U.S. military project aimed at predicting future insurgent behavior by means of covert spying.

Also, discussed is Levine’s controversial but invaluable work on the hidden face of the Tor Project, which is included in Surveillance Valley. Levine summarizes his research on the Tor Project, noting that -- far from being the browser that is the ultimate tool against government surveillance -- it has long been funded and continues to receive most of its funding from the U.S. government. In addition, leaders and top advocates of the Tor Project have been caught colluding with the U.S. government, particularly the government agencies funding the project, on more than one occasion, greatly undermining its carefully crafted public image as an anti-government surveillance-busting tool.

Lastly, Levine describes his most recent work on the Russiagate scandal, highlighting the often overlooked impact of the media-driven hysteria on Russian-Americans and Russian immigrants to the United States. As Levine notes, much of this rhetoric in recent years has implied that ethnic Russians have undesirable “genetic” traits or are all secretly connected to Russia’s current leader, Vladimir Putin, who is often portrayed by some mainstream media outlets as a supervillain. As a result, Levin argues that many Russian-Americans have become alienated from the Democratic Party and have either embraced Trump or complete disillusionment with both parties.

Follow Yasha Levine on Twitter and check out his latest work on his website.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

MintCast hosts Alan MacLeod and Whitney Webb discuss the latest current events including how U.S. political reactions to Trump’s Iran policy reveal the true motivations behind the Russiagate scandal and how big tech firms are teaming up with government players to suppress and intimidate journalists around the world. 

Also discussed is the U.S.’ secretive military base in the Chagos Islands. Attention is given to how the native islanders have fought for decades for the right to return to their lands, how the U.S. and the UK colluded to expel the Islanders and why the military base on the Chagos Islands, known as Diego Garcias, is so important to U.S. empire and the dangers it poses to international law.

In the concluding segment, MacLeod and Webb add John Bolton to the MintCast’s Hall of Shame and Bolton’s long and storied history of hawkishness and dishonesty is discussed at length.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

MintCast co-hosts Alan MacLeod and Whitney Webb recently spoke to Robbie Martin (@FluorescentGrey), a filmmaker whose recent documentary series A Very Heavy Agenda explores how prominent Bush-era neo-conservatives have continued to dominate the Washington foreign policy debate and have been instrumental in creating and fomenting Russiagate and Cold War 2.0. 

Neoconservatives, or Neocons, have been a key force in Washington for decades and seem to maintain their influence regardless of what political party controls the presidency or Congress. MintCast’s discussion with Martin first focuses on the origins of the term and the movement and follows its trajectory to the present. Martin makes the case that the ultimate goal of the neoconservative movement is to gain favor from both the establishment left and establishment right in order to indefinitely dominate U.S. foreign policy, and that the neocons are closer to that goal now more than ever. 

MacLeod, Webb and Martin then discussed the role of the neocons in creating what is now known as “Russiagate” years before Trump was even a presidential candidate and how a top neoconservative donor in the Republican party was largely responsible for the controversial “Steele dossier” despite the fact that the president and other prominent Republicans have since accused Democrats of having been exclusively responsible for promoting the Russiagate narrative.

The discussion concludes with a focus on neoconservatism in the Trump era, with a special focus on National Security Advisor John Bolton and the push for war in Iran and Venezuela. Here, Martin asserts that Trump and Bolton are playing “good cop” and “bad cop”, respectively, with Trump casting himself as a dove compared to Bolton’s hawkishness as a foreign policy negotiating tactic and as a means of placating his base domestically.

If you enjoyed this episode of the MintCast, please consider supporting future episode by donating to MintPress News at Patreon.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

MinCast hosts Alan MacLeod and Whitney Webb discuss the week’s top stories, including U.S. attempt to escalate the situation in Iran, the unjust re-imprisonment of Chelsea Manning, Microsoft’s new ElectionGuard product and get a first-hand account of the Venezuelan Embassy Protection Collective from Alex Rubenstein.

Segment 1: Is a War with Iran Looming?

With the failed Venezuela coup, the US turns its attention to war with Iran. John Bolton reportedly ordered the military to prepare an invasion force of 120,000 troops. Could an accident or a false flag send us to war in the Middle East again!?

Segment 2: Chelsea Manning back in Jail, Monsanto vs. Venezuela and Elections controlled by Microsoft and DARPA

Hosts Alan MacLeod and Whitney Webb discuss a judge ordering whistleblower Chelsea Manning back to jail, agrochemical giant Monsanto’s shady role in driving US policy towards Venezuela and Microsoft’s new product, ElectionGuard, developed in conjunction with the US military to supposedly safeguard us from foreign interference.

Segment 3: MintPressNews journalist Alex Rubenstein joins us to discuss his time covering the Venezuelan Embassy Protection Collective in Washington DC, the efforts by authorities to force them out the building, and the strange collaboration between pro-coup protestors and the police.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

MintCast co-hosts Alan MacLeod and Whitney Webb were recently joined by Matt Kennard, a journalist at the Latin American Bureau in London who was previously a reporter for the Financial Times and has written for the Guardian, the New York Times and Mother Jones. The discussion focused first on Kennard’s 2015 book The Racket: A Rogue Reporter vs the Masters of the Universe, which recounts Kennard’s experiences as a reporter with the Financial Times and how the media is a key part of the “racket” that aids and abets the global elite.

Kennard, MacLeod and Webb then discussed the current situation of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning and what it heralds for the future of journalism, truth-telling and the public’s right to know. The interview was recorded prior to Manning’s release from prison late Thursday evening. 

Finally, Kennard -- who has traveled and reported from across Latin America -- discusses the situation in Venezuela as well as Ecuador and the current crises facing other Latin American countries that are often left untouched by mainstream media, especially if those countries maintain positive relations with the United States.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

In this installment of MintCast, Alan MacLeod and Whitney Webb discuss recent MintPress headlines such as efforts to exploit the Sri Lankan Easter bombings, next steps for the Yellow Vest movement in France, and the tightening nexus between social media companies and the U.S. government. Special attention is given to the recent failed coup attempt in Venezuela and its implications for Venezuela, U.S. foreign policy, and Latin America as a whole.

After reviewing the latest in current events, MacLeod and Webb discuss the U.S. atrocities committed during the Korean War, sometimes called the “forgotten war.” These include the devastating bombing campaign that resulted in the U.S. committing a litany of war crimes, and Washington’s’ decades-long efforts to cover up the evidence that the U.S. used biological weapons that killed thousands of Korean civilians as well as American soldiers during the conflict. 

In the last segment, former Vice President and recently announced presidential candidate Joe Biden is added to MintCast’s “Hall of Shame.” MacLeod and Webb examine Biden’s history of whitewashing notorious racists like Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms, as well as his history of opposing racial integration and helping create the current racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

MintCast recently interviewed Lisa Pease, a researcher, former UN expert witness, and author of the recently released book A Lie Too Big To Fail, which has been hailed as the “Magnum Opus of Robert F., Kennedy assassination research.” She spent 25 years researching this book and her research skills and exhaustively documented findings have even been praised by members of RFK’s family such as by his son Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and, more recently, the Washington Post.

In the first part of this interview, MintCast co-hosts Alan MacLeod and Whitney Webb spoke to Lisa about the compelling evidence of Sirhan Sirhan’s innocence, how Robert F. Kennedy’s son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also maintains Sirhan’s innocence, and how the assassination’s investigation was covered up by powerful forces in the Los Angeles Police Department and elsewhere. 

In the second part of the interview, the discussion turned toward the role of the mainstream media and the long-standing connections of many media outlets to the CIA as well as the role of Israel in the Robert F. Kennedy assassination and how the senator’s death was exploited to push the left to support unfettered U.S. military aid to the Israeli state and demonize Palestinians -- as Israeli media and pro-Israel pundits have since labeled Sirhan Sirhan the “first Palestinian terrorist.” 

The interview concludes with a discussion of why the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement should consider taking a look at the compelling evidence of Sirhan’s innocence in order to right a historical wrong that has been used to demonize Palestinians to the American public for decades, as well as the importance of revisiting the high-profile assassinations of the 1960s in order to better understand how those murders have so greatly shaped our world and current political reality.

Lisa Pease can be followed on Twitter and her new book is available at Amazon.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

Whitney Webb and Alan MacLeod discuss this week’s headlines, including Venezuela leaving the OAS, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election in Israel on the anniversary of the Deir Yassin Massacre and Lenin Moreno’s move towards authoritarianism in Ecuador. 

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.