Moderate Rebels

Moderate Rebels episodes:

• 02.17.2022

  Puerto Ricans rise up against US-imposed austerity, protest poverty wages

  Puerto Rican public workers are protesting the neoliberal policies imposed by US colonialism and Washington's unelected Financial Oversight and Management Board.  I speak with Ángel Rodríguez Rivera, president of the Puerto Rican Association of University Professors, about how teachers are...

  
• 01.28.2022

  Inside Ethiopia and Eritrea, facing war and sanctions, with journalist Rania Khalek

  Journalist Rania Khalek talks about her reporting trip to Ethiopia, where armed group the TPLF is waging war on the central government, apparently with Western support, and Eritrea, one of the world's most sanctioned countries. We discuss the geopolitical...

  
• 01.26.2022

  Introducing Multipolarista – New podcast reporting on end of US unipolar hegemony

  Moderate Rebels has ended as of January 2022, but this show will be continuing under the new name Multipolarista, hosted by Benjamin Norton. The show will report once or twice a week on the end of US unipolar hegemony and...

  
• 01.23.2022

  Doctor explains CIA's 'Havana Syndrome' conspiracy is mass hysteria - not Russian ray gun attacks

  For years corporate media outlets accused Cuba, China, Russia, and other US adversaries of attacking spies and diplomats with hi-tech "pulsed microwave weapons" or "directed-energy weapons." But now the CIA has admitted that "Havana Syndrome" is not caused by attacks...

  
• 01.14.2022

  US-Russia talks fail. Is war on horizon? Impact on Ukraine and Europe?

  Pepe Escobar discusses the failure of the US-Russia talks in Geneva, NATO's refusal to make any diplomatic concessions, and if war could be on the horizon. We address the impact on Ukraine, Europe, Germany, and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline....

  
• 01.14.2022

  Is failed Kazakhstan coup attempt end of US 'color revolution' era?

  Geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar discusses the violent coup attempt in Kazakhstan, and its crucial importance as an ally of Russia and the center of China's Belt and Road Initiative. He also addresses US, British, and Turkish meddling, and why this...

  
• 01.04.2022

  What's causing the inflation crisis? Economist Michael Hudson explains

  Economist Michael Hudson discusses the global inflation crisis and how the US Federal Reserve has given trillions of dollars to large banks. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=m7eAbbVMr_4

  
• 12.21.2021

  Far-right Pinochet supporter loses Chile's election. Will the neoliberal system change?

  In Chile's presidential election, far-right Pinochet dictatorship supporter José Antonio Kast, the son of a German Nazi, was defeated by young center-left social democrat Gabriel Boric. Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak with journalist Pablo Vivanco about what this victory...

  
• 12.10.2021

  Is Russia really planning a war in Ukraine - or is Washington?

  The US government claims Russia is planning to invade Ukraine, but is this true? Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak with analyst and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter about Western governments' dubious claims, and NATO's designs for the region....

  
• 12.10.2021

  Nicaragua recognizes China, breaks ties with Taiwan. Is a Panama Canal alternative coming soon?

  Nicaragua's Sandinista government has broken diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognized the People's Republic of China. We discuss the historic decision and its huge geopolitical implications. A Chinese company plans to build an inter-oceanic canal in Nicaragua, to challenge the...

  
• 11.23.2021

  Venezuela's socialists win elections in landslide - so US tries to discredit them

  The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won the November 21 mega-elections in a landslide, getting more votes in 20 of 23 states and the capital Caracas. So the US government responded by trying to discredit the vote. Venezuelan journalist...

  
• 11.21.2021

  Nicaragua explains why it’s leaving OAS, responds to US attacks on its elections

  Nicaraguan diplomat Michael Campbell Hooker speaks with Ben Norton about why they are leaving the Organization of American States (OAS), which he says is a “failed,” “coup-plotting” organization dominated by Washington. Campbell also responds to US attempts to discredit Nicaragua’s...

  
• 11.16.2021

  New US war on Nicaragua's Sandinistas: OAS rejects elections, Biden imposes sanctions

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss Washington's new hybrid war on Nicaragua's Sandinista government, the US/EU/OAS refusing to recognize the election results, Congress passing the RENACER Act, and Biden imposing sanctions. We speak with British journalist Steve Sweeney of the...

  
• 11.06.2021

  Julian Assange's fiancée Stella Moris discusses CIA threats and US extradition dangers

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak with Stella Moris, the fiancée of imprisoned WikiLeaks journalist Julian Assange, about CIA threats, the appeal hearings in the US extradition case, and how this scandal threatens freedom of the press around the world.

  
• 11.05.2021

  US govt-backed social media companies blatantly meddle in Nicaragua's elections

  Remember Russiagate claims of "Kremlin meddling"? Well, the US government is blatantly interfering in Nicaragua's elections. Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal discuss how, mere days before Nicaragua's November 7 elections, Meta/Facebook/Instagram, Twitter, and Google/YouTube purged thousands of pro-Sandinista journalists, activists,...

  
• 10.30.2021

  How US-imposed austerity and privatization schemes are crushing Puerto Rico

  Ben Norton speaks with Ángel Rodríguez Rivera, president of the Puerto Rican Association of University Professors, about the devastating neoliberal economic policies forced on Puerto Rico. Washington imposed an unelected fiscal control board, called the junta, to control Puerto Rico's...

  
• 10.16.2021

  Super Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire with Michael Hudson

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak with economist Michael Hudson about his book "Super Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire." Professor Hudson just published a 3rd edition that updates his analysis for the 21st century, discussing the new cold...

  
• 10.08.2021

  Are US spies behind the Pandora Papers? Why are no American politicians included?

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the Pandora Papers, how zero US politicians or oligarchs were implicated, and the CIA's growing use of "hack-and-dump" operations. The group behind the Pandora and Panama Papers, the ICIJ, is the anti-WikiLeaks. It is...

  
• 10.08.2021

  Shady Facebook 'whistleblower' wants more censorship and crackdown on US adversaries

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss shady Facebook "whistleblower" Frances Haugen and how her testimony only helps US spy agencies, justifying further government censorship while demonizing Washington's Official Enemies, from China to Iran, Myanmar to Ethiopia. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ilOl9bLfFgc

  
• 10.01.2021

  CIA plotted to kidnap and kill WikiLeaks journalist Julian Assange

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the CIA's plot to assassinate or kidnap WikiLeaks journalist Julian Assange, which was first reported by The Grayzone in 2020.

  
• 10.01.2021

  Debunking 'Havana Syndrome' propaganda: CIA mass hysteria plus crickets

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the absurd media propaganda about "Havana Syndrome," claiming without any evidence that Cuba, Russia, China, Vietnam, and Official Enemies of the US government are supposedly attacking CIA spies with microwave energy, or...

  
• 09.22.2021

  Biden's UN speech shows further US commitment to war and meddling, not 'diplomacy'

  Ben Norton analyzes the lies and misleading claims in US President Joe Biden's speech at the United Nations, and shows how the corporate media coverage is very misleading. VIDEO: https://rokfin.com/post/53970/Bidens-UN-speech-shows-further-US-commitment-to-war-and-meddling-not-diplomacy

  
• 09.17.2021

  Is Bolsonaro's Brazil planning a far-right military coup?

  Ben Norton speaks with journalist Brian Mier of independent news website Brasil Wire about the fascistic Jair Bolsonaro government in Brazil, the far-right's attacks on democracy, and the rumors of plans for a military coup to prevent popular leftist former...

  
• 09.11.2021

  20 years after 9/11, millions of victims of 'War on Terror': Reflection with Prof. Asad AbuKhalil

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks with Professor Asad Abukhalil, and the millions of victims of the "War on Terror." We speak about US imperialism's constant meddling in the Middle East,...

  
• 09.08.2021

  US hybrid warfare in Latin America, the new phase of imperialism: Behind Nicaragua coup attempt

  Ben Norton was invited to give this talk on US hybrid warfare in Latin America. He analyzes how imperialism has evolved in the 21st century, and looks at Washington's interventionist campaigns across the region, from Bolivia to Venezuela. Then Ben...

  
• 09.06.2021

  How elite US groups created Afghanistan's neoliberal President Ashraf Ghani, who stole $169 million

  Ben Norton discusses his The Grayzone investigation "How elite US institutions created Afghanistan’s neoliberal President Ashraf Ghani, who stole $169 million from his country": https://thegrayzone.com/2021/09/02/afghanistan-ashraf-ghani-corrupt VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=bgTu7MC3gVc Watch Ben's weekly show Propaganda Today, where he streamed this video, and...

  
• 09.03.2021

  Exposing deceptive defectors and dissidents, from North Korea to Iraq, China to Syria

  On Foreign Agents, Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton expose the biggest frauds recruited as defectors and dissidents to lie about Official Enemies by the US regime, from North Korea's Yeonmi Park to Kuwait's Nayirah to Syria's Bana al-Abed. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pJCY7dS7StU...

  
• 08.28.2021

  How US meddling in Ethiopia & Eritrea is destabilizing strategic Horn of Africa

  We discuss how the US government is destabilizing the strategic Horn of Africa with Eritrean journalist Elias Amare. We talk about the conflict in Ethiopia, the TPLF's attacks on the government in the Tigray region, and the role of the...

  
• 08.21.2021

  Afghanistan: Pipelines, minerals, and CIA opium ratline

  We continue our discussion with geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar of the end of the 20-year US/NATO war in Afghanistan, the opium ratline the CIA used to fund dirty covert ops, the fight over pipelines, and the estimated $1 trillion worth...

  
• 08.20.2021

  Historic US defeat in Afghanistan: Is it 'most important geopolitical event of 21st century'?

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the end to the 20-year US/NATO war in Afghanistan with journalist Pepe Escobar, who has extensive experience reporting in the country and was even arrested by the Taliban. We talk about how the geopolitics...

  
• 08.16.2021

  Meet US govt-backed regime-change guru Gene Sharp, mastermind of soft coups

  Max Blumenthal discusses US government-backed regime-change guru Gene Sharp with scholar Marcie Smith Parenti. They talk about Sharp's NED-funded Albert Einstein Institution; his explicitly neoliberal, pro-corporate, and pro-imperialist politics; and the manuals Sharp wrote teaching people how to do so-called...

  
• 08.06.2021

  US-funded cultural counter-revolution in Cuba: How CIA cutouts use musicians to stir unrest

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss how the US government laid the groundwork for unrest in Cuba, the Biden administration's escalation of the economic war, and how CIA cutouts like USAID and the NED have cultivated a counter-revolutionary cultural network...

  
• 08.06.2021

  US eviction catastrophe and cynical Democrat photo ops

  Max Blumenthal discusses his reporting at the US Capitol on the protests demanding an eviction moratorium, the huge impending economic crisis, the opportunism of the Squad, and how Democratic Party warmongers like Adam Schiff cynically exploited it to do a...

  
• 07.13.2021

  US govt, celebrities, bots fuel astroturfed Cuba protests to push regime change

  We briefly discuss how the US government and corporate media are heavily amplifying small protests in Cuba to destabilize the country. While Washington suffocates the Cuban people with an illegal, 60-year blockade that the entire world just voted against at...

  
• 07.13.2021

  Inside Haiti crisis: Who killed president, and what is role of Colombian mercenaries?

  We discuss the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse with Haitian journalist Nazaire St. Fort and scholar Jeb Sprague. We talk about the "interim" presidency of US asset Claude Joseph, his request for American troops, the history of UN occupation, and...

  
• 07.02.2021

  Judge throws out millionaire's frivolous lawsuit aimed at bankrupting us

  We recount the insane story of how a pampered heiress and journalistic wannabe, enriched by millions of dollars seized from Iran by the US government, sued us for exposing her bogus Hezbollah sources, and hired an influential pro-Israel lawyer to...

  
• 06.16.2021

  Mexico's anti-neoliberal movement grows despite US meddling and media smears

  We discuss Mexico's progressive President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and the left-wing Morena party alliance victory in the June 2021 elections with journalist José Luis Granados Ceja. We also address US meddling via NED/USAID funding for the neoliberal opposition,...

  
• 06.08.2021

  Inside Syria, OPCW cover-up, and Israeli aggression, with Aaron Maté and Mohammad Marandi

  Journalist Aaron Mate and Professor Mohammad Marandi continue talking about the trip they took to Syria, after a decade of Western proxy war. We also discuss the OPCW cover-up of so-called "chemical attacks," as well as the role of Israel...

  
• 06.05.2021

  Report back from Syria after 10 years of Western dirty war, with Aaron Maté and Mohammad Marandi

  We speak with journalist Aaron Mate and Professor Mohammad Marandi, who just took a trip to Syria to see the real-life impact on average people caused by the decade-long Western regime-change war and suffocating US/EU sanctions. PART 1 OF 2...

  
• 05.22.2021

  Roger Waters and Gabor Maté on Israel/Palestine, Gaza war, music, and more

  We were joined by musician Roger Waters and author Gabor Maté to discuss Israel's war on Gaza, the Palestinian resistance struggle, the psychology of Zionism, the music industry, and a variety of other political and cultural issues.

  
• 05.15.2021

  Gaza under attack: Behind apartheid Israel's latest war with Ali Abunimah and Rania Khalek

  Israel is bombing Gaza, while extremists ethnically cleanse Palestinians. We are joined by Ali Abunimah and Rania Khalek, as well as Aaron Maté and Anya Parampil, to discuss the colonial violence - and indigenous resistance. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=-SaqRY7qHV0

  
• 05.14.2021

  Biden admin's intersectional imperialism, 'woke' CIA, wars on Syria and China

  Following his talk on the cultural cold war and the fake left, Ben Norton takes questions and discusses the "woke" CIA ads, the Biden administration's "intersectional imperialist" foreign policy, the Kurdish YPG/SDF and US military occupation of Syria, and new...

  
• 05.11.2021

  How the CIA cultivates a fake left: From the cultural cold war to intersectional imperialism

  Ben Norton was invited to give this talk about the fake left and imperialism. He discusses how the CIA's "woke" recruitment ad is not new; it is rooted in an "intersectional imperialist" history going back to the first cold war,...

  
• 05.05.2021

  Economist Michael Hudson on new cold war, Super Imperialism, Biden, China & Russia, dedollarization

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss with world-renowned economist Michael Hudson his concept of US "Super Imperialism," the new cold war on China and Russia, the Joe Biden administration, and dedollarization - the potential end to the dollar as the...

  
• 04.29.2021

  From Texas to Donbas: Meet the American fighting Ukrainian fascists

  As the anti-Russia hawks in the Joe Biden administration push for more aggressive policies in Ukraine, we speak with Russell Bentley, an American from Texas who moved to the Donbas region to fight on behalf of the breakaway Donetsk People's...

  
• 04.18.2021

  How Ecuador's US-backed fake 'eco-left' helped a right-wing banker win the election

  Ben Norton discusses Ecuador's 2021 election results, and how the US government and intelligence-linked billionaire foundations spent decades funding and cultivating liberal environmental groups and rightist Indigenous leaders to divide the left and weaken the socialist Citizens' Revolution movement launched...

  
• 04.13.2021

  Does US meddling in Myanmar risk Syria/Libya-style war?

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss US meddling in the protests in Myanmar with Brian Berletic, and how Washington seeks to weaken a neighbor of China and key ally in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. We discuss the coup by...

  
• 04.09.2021

  As new cold war on China heats up, US govt funds extremist Uighur armed separatists

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Ajit Singh and Aaron Maté to discuss the new cold war on Beijing, and how the US government is funding far-right extremist Uyghur armed separatists, to try to divide and balkanize China....

  
• 04.07.2021

  As US sanctions suffocate Syrians, regime-change operatives attack anti-war movement in open letter

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Aaron Maté to discuss the dirty war on Syria, how murderous US/EU sanctions have destroyed the country's economy and led to many civilian deaths, and Washington's military occupation of its oil/wheat-rich territory....

  
• 04.06.2021

  Meet the radlib academics using woke post-modernism to defend imperialism

  Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Aaron Maté to discuss the radlibs in academia who pretend to be radical but use anti-materialist post-modern philosophy and neoliberal identity politics to defend Western imperialism, from Ecuador to Syria, China to...