The Libertarian Institute - All Podcasts

Robert David English, an Associate Professor of International Relations and Slavic Languages & Literature at the University of Southern California, is the author of the Foreign Affairs article “Russia, Trump, and a New Détente: Fixing U.S.-Russian Relations.” English discusses the Bill Clinton administration’s meddling in Russian elections in order to keep oligarch-friendly Boris Yeltsin in power, and why the foreign policy establishment has either forgotten the past, or steadfastly refuses to acknowledge it. Trump has at least paid lip service to improving relations and rolling back NATO, but has powerful forces allied against any attempt to take pressure off Russia.

Tom Woods, an author, senior fellow of the Mises Institute and host of The Tom Woods Show, discusses the 2nd annual libertarian “Contra Cruise” in October 2017; why Trump is working with former nemesis Paul Ryan on reforming Obamacare instead of the conservative Freedom Caucus; Steve Bannon’s preference for big government programs instead of Austrian free market economics; the wisdom of letting individual states and private capital provide for infrastructure improvements; and the collapse of the Russiagate story – much to the chagrin of Democrats.

Paul Kawika Martin, the Political and Communications Director for Peace-Action.org, discusses why the US and the world’s other nuclear powers are not participating in a UN conference aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons; and the very real danger and disastrous consequences of an accidental or regional (India and Pakistan) nuclear exchange.

Ray McGovern, a CIA analyst for 27 years, discusses his article – co-written by NSA whistleblower Bill Binney – about President Trump’s legitimate concerns that senior US government officials (including himself) are being spied on by the NSA and the details leaked to his political and media opponents. McGovern laments that many formerly good journalists are so blinded by partisan hatred of all things Trump, that they don’t question the Russia-gate story or allow any dissenting opinions (like his) to be heard.

Nasser Arrabyee, a Yemeni journalist based in Sanaa, discusses the large Yemeni protests against the Saudi economic blockade and military aggression; and how President Trump is arming the Saudis far more than Obama was willing to, and enabling them to do whatever they please.

Jess Sundin, a founding member of the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee, discusses 69 year-old Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh’s three year long legal battle with the US government, which charged her with immigration fraud for failing to disclose her conviction of terrorism in an Israeli military court in 1969. She had confessed after being tortured and raped in custody. Now she faces deportation after accepting a plea deal when prosecutors added new charges based on her involvement with a “terrorist organization,” the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer and Executive Director of The Council for the National Interest, discusses FBI Director James Comey’s testimony at the House Intelligence Committee’s hearing on Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia; Trump’s assertion that President Obama ordered a wiretap of the Trump Tower; why private security firm CrowdStrike investigated the DNC server “hack” instead of the FBI; and whether Trump’s foreign policy is focused on taking out ISIS, or just escalating current US conflicts around the world.

Iona Craig, a British-Irish independent journalist, discusses the result of President Trump’s first authorized counterterrorism operation – a SEAL raid on the Yemeni village of al Ghayil that left many civilians dead, including 10 children under 13 years old. The Intercept’s on-the-ground reporting after the raid, combined with eyewitness testimony of surviving villagers, contradict the Trump administration’s claims about the nature and success of the operation.

Grant F. Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy and author of Big Israel, talks about the role of the Israel Lobby in American politics and the great lineup of speakers at his event at the Press Club in Washington, D.C. THIS FRIDAY the 24th of March.

Find out more, and watch the live stream here.

Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, discusses former Obama administration Guantanamo envoy Paul Lewis’s call on Donald Trump to close Guantanamo instead of adding new prisoners; and why existing federal prisons and courts are more than capable of incarcerating and trying terrorism suspects.