The Socialist Program

New financial disclosure documents reveal the extent of Trump’s profiteering through the office of the presidency. Trump made over $2 billion his first year back in office, including more than $1 billion from his promotion of a Trump cryptocurrency alone. Professor Richard Wolff and producer Nicole Roussell discuss.

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Join the The Socialist Program community at http://www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get exclusive content and help keep this show on the air.

The Supreme Court just gave Trump the ability to dismiss the heads of supposedly independent agencies — overruling 91 years of precedent — with the exception of the Federal Reserve. Professor Richard Wolff and producer Nicole Roussell discuss the meaning of this ruling, as well as the birthright citizenship and campaign finance SCOTUS decisions this week.

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Join the The Socialist Program community at http://www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get exclusive content and help keep this show on the air.

Socialist History is an in-depth, immersive podcast that uncovers the real story of US imperialism through a socialist lens, told from the perspective of the people who fought back. 

Hosted by Layan Sima Fuleihan and Brian Becker, each episode reopens a hidden chapter of US imperialism and shows how it still shapes the world today. 

Don't let the empire whitewash its history. Get the Socialist History.

The first four episodes are streaming now. Join The Socialist Program community at⁠ www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram⁠ to get access to the next episodes in this series, more exclusive content, and help keep this show on the air.

Episode 1: 'Operation Ajax' in Iran: The CIA's Original Sin

Episode 2: 'Operation Mongoose': Washington's Secret War on Cuba

Episode 3: 'NSC-68': The Blueprint for Permanent War

Episode 4: 'Project Iceworm': The Secret Nuclear City Under the Ice

Series link: https://open.spotify.com/show/033dcMLvgGT1GKmSY8BtQP?si=4a3ad0bebd01411a

In 1959 the US Army began building a base beneath the Greenland ice sheet, presented to the press, to Congress, and to the Danish government as a scientific research station. This was a cover story. The real plan, code-named Project Iceworm, was to bury a network of tunnels housing up to 600 nuclear missiles under the ice, invisible to Soviet satellites, on land taken from Indigenous people who were never consulted, in a country that had declared itself nuclear-free.

In this episode we take a deep dive into the breathtaking scale of the classified plan, why the moving ice ultimately defeated it, the radioactive waste left behind, the straight line to Trump's push to take Greenland today, and more.

This is part of the first season of Socialist History, our new series on The Socialist Program. In each episode we unpack a different CIA or Pentagon operation, each of which was given its own code-name as Project Iceworm was.

This is a preview of this episode. Join The Socialist Program community at www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get access to this and the next episodes in this series, more exclusive content, and help keep this show on the air.

Archival notes (included in this preview only):

0:01 - Documentary on Camp Century, narrator voiceover (1964)

1:31, 1:49 - Documentary on Camp Century, narrator voiceover (1961)

3:54 - President Donald Trump speaking at press conference (2025)

4:21 - Documentary on Camp Century, narrator voiceover (1961)

5:17 - Newsreel on the United States Strategic Air Command (SAC), narrator voiceover (1965)

Most empires never write their plans down, but the American empire did. In 1950 a top-secret government document called NSC-68 laid out the blueprint for permanent war: a militarized economy, a nuclear buildup without limit, and a posture of global confrontation that would outlast the men who wrote it. It is the founding doctrine beneath every operation in this series.

In this episode we take a deep dive into how NSC-68 was written and by whom, and its role in shaping the trillion-dollar war economy still running today.

This is part of the first season of Socialist History, our new series on The Socialist Program. In each episode we unpack a different CIA or Pentagon operation or document that shaped US imperialism.

Join The Socialist Program community at www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get access to the next episodes in this series, more exclusive content, and help keep this show on the air.

Archival notes:

0:10 - Alex Jones, host of Infowars (2017)

0:16 - Pres. Donald Trump speaking at a rally (2018)

2:13 - Pres. Harry S. Truman speaking at his inauguration. Includes newsreel narrator voiceover (1949)

3:40 - Interview with Paul H. Nitze, former US government official and author of NSC-68 (1996)

6:03 - US Army documentary on the end of World War II, narrator voiceover (1945)

6:44 - Gen. Douglas MacArthur speaking at the signing of Japan’s surrender in World War II. Includes newsreel narrator voiceover (1945)

8:04 - Newsreel on soldiers returning home at the end of World War II, including narrator voiceover and source audio (1945)

10:24 - Pres. Franklin Roosevelt addresses Congress on World War II (1943)

11:06 - Newsreel on Soviet heroism in World War II, narrator voiceover (1942)

11:25 - Newsreel on the formation of the United Nations, narrator voiceover (1945)

11:49 - Newsreel on the formation of the International Monetary Fund, narrator voiceover (1944)

12:29 - Newsreel on the bombing of Dresden in World War II, narrator voiceover (1945)

14:39 - Newsreel on US industrial transition to wartime, narrator voiceover (1943)

15:30 - Pres. Harry S. Truman radio address (1945)

16:35 - Documentary on economic transition after World War II, narrator voiceover (1945)

17:10 - Cold War propaganda cartoon (1949)

18:30 - Newsreel on the formation of NATO, narrator voiceover (1949)

19:34 - Source audio of first Soviet nuclear weapon test (1949)

19:46 - Newsreel on first Soviet nuclear weapons test, includes narrator voiceover and source audio of reporters questioning Soviet Foreign Minister Vyshinsky (1949)

20:33 - Documentary on Chinese Civil War, narrator voiceover (1950s)

22:25 - Interview with Paul H. Nitze, former US government official and author of NSC-68 (1996)

25:25 - Interview with US Ambassador George F. Kennan (1993)

29:21 - Interview with Paul H. Nitze, former US government official and author of NSC-68 (1996)

31:50 - Newsreel on development of the hydrogen bomb, narrator voiceover (1950)

35:11 - Newsreel on outbreak of the Korean War, narrator voiceover (1950)

36:46 - Interview with Dean Rusk, Asst. Sec. of State during the 1950 division of Korea (1988)

37:38 - Interview with Donald MacDonald, official in the US military occupation government in South Korea (1988)

38:09 - Interview with Gregory Henderson, US Vice Consul in Korea 1948-1950, on the South Korean police (1988)

39:07 - Interview with Ko Wan-soon, survivor of the Jeju Massacre (2022)

41:37 - Newsreel on Gen. Douglas MacArthur meeting John Foster Dulles, narrator voiceover (1950)

42:39 - Interview with Paul H. Nitze, former US government official and author of NSC-68 (1996)

44:46 - Pres. Harry S. Truman speech, after outbreak of Korean War (1950)

46:01, 46:50 - Interview with Yan Von Sik, soldier in the Korean People’s Army (DPRK [North Korea]), on his experience in the Korean War (1998)

48:15 - Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower on Korean War armistice. Includes newsreel narrator voiceover (1953)

1:02:55 - Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address (1961)

In 1961 the United States launched the largest covert operation of the Cold War against a single country, a campaign of sabotage, terror, and assassination aimed at destroying the Cuban Revolution ninety miles from Florida. It was code-named Operation Mongoose. Alongside it, the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up Operation Northwoods, a plan to stage terrorist attacks on American citizens and blame them on Havana in order to manufacture a pretext for a full-scale invasion.

In this episode we take a deep dive into how Mongoose and Northwoods were conceived and authorized at the highest levels of the US government and how the embargo and regime change logic still operate today.

This is part of the first season of Socialist History, our new series on The Socialist Program. In each episode we unpack a different CIA or Pentagon operation, each of which was given its own code-name as Operation Mongoose was.

Join The Socialist Program community at www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get access to the next episodes in this series, more exclusive content, and help keep this show on the air.

Archival notes:

1:10 - Newsreel on Cuban Revolution (1958)

1:29 - Newsreel on nationalization of Cuban industries (1960)

1:49 - Interview with Jorge Risquet, Cuban Revolutionary Army Captain. Includes narrator voiceover (1998)

2:57 - Interview with Samuel Halpern, CIA officer 1947 to 1974, on Op. Mongoose (2003)

7:02 - Documentary on Cuban Revolution, voiceover (1964)

9:43 - UN Special Rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin on Guantanamo detention center (2023)

10:33 - US Army internal education film on Latin America (1960s)

11:05 - Cuba travelogue (1933)

11:32 - Newsreel on Fulgencio Batista’s coup in Cuba (1952)

12:12 - Newsreel on Cuban Revolution (1959)

13:25 - Interview with Ricardo Alarcón, Pres. of Cuban Natl. Assembly, on Cuba Revolution (2003)

15:40 - Fidel Castro speaking at Harvard Law School (1959)

16:51 - Interview with Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., former advisor to Pres. John F. Kennedy, on Bay of Pigs. Includes narrator voiceover (2003)

17:18 - Interview with Fabian Escalante, Cuban Intelligence officer. Includes narrator voiceover (2003)

18:25 - Pres. John F. Kennedy speaking to press on the Bay of Pigs (1963)

18:32 - Interview with Theodore Sorensen, former Special Counsel to John F. Kennedy (1998)

19:06 - Interview with Richard M. Bissell Jr., Deputy Director of the CIA during the Bay of Pigs invasion. Includes narrator voiceover (1965)

20:19 - Interview with Samuel Halpern, CIA officer 1947 to 1974, on Op. Mongoose. Includes narrator voiceover (2003)

26:35 - News report on John Roselli testimony to Church Committee (1975)

27:51 - Robert Maheu, CIA mafia contact, speaking to press. Includes narrator voiceover (1975)

29:55 - John F. Kennedy in presidential debate (1960)

30:45 - Interview with Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., former advisor to Pres. John F. Kennedy, on Op. Mongoose (2003)

36:26 - Interview with Robert McNamara, US Sec. of Defense 1961-1968, on Cuban Missile Crisis (2003)

36:41 - Interview with General William Y. Smith, former Air Force Staff Assistant during Cuban Missile Crisis. Includes narrator voiceover (1998)

38:03 - Interview with Fidel Castro on Cuban Missile Crisis (1998)

39:46 - Pres. John F. Kennedy’s televised speech on the discovery of Soviet missile sites in Cuba (1962)

41:51 - Phone call between Pres. John F. Kennedy and former Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1962)

42:55 - Interview with Theodore Sorensen, former Special Counsel to John F. Kennedy, on the Cuban Missile Crisis (1998)

43:39 - Interview with Robert McNamara, US Sec. of Defense 1961-1968, on Cuban Missile Crisis (2003)

44:09 - Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting with Gen. Curtis LeMay and Pres. John F. Kennedy on Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). Includes narrator voiceover.

45:40 - Interview with Robert McNamara, US Sec. of Defense 1961-1968, on Cuban Missile Crisis (2003)

47:44 - Phone call between Pres. John F. Kennedy and former Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1962)

In 1953 the CIA secretly organized a coup to overthrow the democratically elected leader of Iran. This was the CIA's first regime change operation — code-named 'Operation Ajax' — becoming the playbook for later CIA operations. Its consequences are still reverberating around the world.

In this episode we take a deep dive into how Operation Ajax was planned and executed, its motivations, the political context locally and globally, what happened in Iran after 1953, its impact on US-Iran relations up to today, and more.

This is part of the first season of Socialist History, our new series on The Socialist Program. In each episode we unpack a different CIA or Pentagon operation, each of which was given its own code-name as Operation Ajax was.

Join the The Socialist Program community at www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get access to the next episodes in this series, more exclusive content, and help keep this show on the air.

Archival notes:

0:01 - News report on declassification of Op. Ajax (2013)

1:35 - Interview with Kermit Roosevelt Jr., leader of Op. Ajax, on how then Secretary of State John Foster Dulles briefed his team in 1953

2:21 - Newsreel on nationalization of Abadan oil refinery, narrator voiceover (1951)

3:12 - British Petroleum (BP) ad, narrator voiceover (early 1980s)

3:36 - Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Britain, speech to Parliament in 1940 (recorded in 1949, the original speech was never recorded).

3:59 - Newsreel on British navy (WW2 era)

4:28 - Newsreel on nationalization of Abadan oil refinery, narrator voiceover (1951)

5:52 - Documentary on oil, narrator voiceover (1950s)

6:19, 6:29 - Aramco corporation documentary, narrator voiceover (1950)

6:52 - Documentary on Saudi Arabia, narrator voiceover (2005)

9:17 - Newsreel on nationalization of Abadan oil refinery in Iran, narrator voiceover (1951)

11:07 - Sir Gladwyn Jebb, United Kingdom rep. to the United Nations, speaking on Iran oil nationalization at UN Security Council (1951)

11:48 - Newsreel on UK-Iran oil nationalization conflict, narrator voiceover (1951)

13:30 - President Harry S Truman, speech on Korea (1950)

14:10 - President Harry S Truman announcing surrender of Japan (1945)

15:18, 15:39 - Newsreel on war in Korea, narrator voiceover (1950)

16:14 - Newsreel on Cold War, narrator voiceover (1950s)

19:23, 20:07 - Interview with Alan Dulles, former CIA Director (1965)

21:23 - Newsreel on communist protests in Iran (1951)

22:35 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower addresses Congress (1953)

24:52 - Interview with John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State 1953-1959, (1952)

26:20. 26:39, 26:50 - Interviews with Kermit Roosevelt Jr., leader of Op. Ajax, on Op. Ajax

27:41 - Interview with Stephen Kinzer, former NYT correspondent, on Op. Ajax

29:10 - Interview with Kermit Roosevelt Jr., leader of Op. Ajax, on Op. Ajax

29:56 - Documentary on Op. Ajax, narrator voiceover

30:09 - Newsreel on coup in Iran, narrator voiceover (1953)

31:01 - Interview with Prof. Richard Cottam, former CIA officer in Iran

32:01, 32:40, 33:00 - British newsreel on coup in Iran, narrator voiceover (1953)

33:14 - Newsreel on coup in Iran, narrator voiceover (1953)

33:53 - Interview with Alan Dulles, CIA Director 1953-1961, CIA Deputy Director 1951-1953 (1965)

36:15 - Newsreel on coup in Iran, narrator voiceover (1953)

36:32, 36:37 - Newsreels on trial of Mohammad Mosaddegh, narrator voiceover (1953)

39:00, 39:34 - Interview with Kazem Allah, former Iranian political prisoner under the Shah

40:40, 42:11, 43:40 - Iranian students protesting the Shah in Washington, DC (1975)

44:35 - President Jimmy Carter’s toast to the Shah (1978)

44:51 - Documentary on 1979 Iranian Revolution, narrator voiceover and source audio

45:22 - Protests in Iran, source audio (1979)

47:02 - News report on Ruhollah Khomeini’s return to Iran (1979)

48:09 - News report on US Embassy takeover in Tehran (1979)

Big Tech stocks lost hundreds of billions in just two days. Prof. Richard Wolff and Brian Becker examine the multiple, cascading crises that are destabilizing the capital system.

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Join the The Socialist Program community at http://www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get exclusive content and help keep this show on the air.

According to a recent national survey, 62 percent of Americans aged 18–29 say they hold a “favorable view” of socialism, and 34 percent say the same of communism. Why is this happening inside the very center of the world capitalist system? And what does it mean for the future? Professor Richard Wolff and Brian Becker discuss.

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Join the The Socialist Program community at http://www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get exclusive content and help keep this show on the air.

Iran is outmaneuvering the United States and Trump is furious. Professor Richard Wolff and Brian Becker discuss the current war in Iran and the future of the globe – as Russia, China, Iran, and other countries start to pry control from the United States.

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Join the The Socialist Program community at http://www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get exclusive content and help keep this show on the air.