Unauthorized Disclosure

Host Kevin Gosztola talks with journalist Andy Worthington about news involving 9/11 plea deals and President Joe Biden's legacy when it comes to the Guantanamo Bay prison. Andy has long been known for his work reporting on the nearly 800 men, who were detained, tortured, abused, and sent to Guantanamo as part of the global "war on terrorism." We discuss the continued secrecy by the CIA around their confinement, the men who remain indefinitely at the military prison, and the disreputable military tribunal system.

Host Kevin Gosztola welcomes Israeli journalist Gideon Levy to the "Unauthorized Disclosure" podcast to discuss his new book from Verso, "The Killing Of Gaza: Reports On A Catastrophe" (available here).

He is a distinguished and well-known dissenting voice in Israeli media. During the conversation, he describes how there are very few journalists who show interest in the ongoing war in Gaza.

Gideon also addresses attacks on press freedom within Israel, such as the shutdown of Al Jazeera. He recalls how he was banned from a popular liberal-leaning current affairs program because he said Israel's treatment of Palestinian prisoners is as bad as Hamas' treatment of Israeli captives—or worse.

Matthew Hoh, a a former United States Marine, a former State Department official who resigned in protest against the Afghanistan War, and the associate director for the Eisenhower Media Network, returns to the "Unauthorized Disclosure" podcast to discuss the latest terrifying developments in the Middle East.

Norman Solomon, co-founder of RootsAction.org, returns to the "Unauthorized Disclosure" podcast to talk about the afterword for his book "War Made Invisible: How America Hides The Human Toll Of Its Military Machine," which is now available in paperback.
The book is a follow-up to his 2005 book "War Made Easy: How Presidents And Pundits Keep Spinning Us To Death."

In 2023, Norman discussed the book on the podcast. But it was released before Israel launched its genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza. We spend the hour discussing how the US government has worked to make US involvement in the war invisible.

Norman responds to Israel blowing up pagers in Lebanon—twice. This was an act of terror that killed dozens and wounded thousands of civilians. The explosions occurred far away from any battlefield. It was hardly "precise" warfare.

Later in the show, Norman briefly departs from the topic of the war on Gaza to address Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other U.S. officials granting Ukraine permission to launch deadly military strikes deep inside Russia with arms from the U.S. or NATO.

The Movement Media Alliance is a newly-formed "coalition of grassroots-aligned social justice-driven journalism organizations." Each organization in the coalition is committed to growing support for "accurate, transparent, accountable, principled, and just media."

Host Kevin Gosztola interviews Jeff Schuhrke, labor historian, journalist, union activist, and author of Blue Collar Empire: The Untold Story Of US Labor's Global Anticommunist Crusade.
Renewed "great power" rivalries threaten billions of lives, along with a host of planetary crises. Within that context, Schuhrke provides an overview of labor history that involves the partnership that the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) had with the CIA, the State Department, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Note: This is the free edition of the episode. For the full version, become a patron at patreon.com/UnauthorizedDisclosure or subscribe at TheDissenter.org

Kevin Gosztola interviews Andy Thayer, a longtime grassroots activist and organizer in Chicago. He is part of a coalition called Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws that obtained a permit for the first protest that will take place on Sunday in opposition to the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Andy discusses the formation of Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws and why the coalition is marching against the DNC. He also addresses the rich history of Chicago police attacking protesters and trampling on people's First Amendment rights.

And Andy highlights several additional demonstrations that will take place during the DNC and how the city, even under progressive Mayor Brandon Johnson, frustrated requests for march permits.

On July 29, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was re-elected president in a democratic election. The United States government, however, immediately declined to recognize the result and then came out days later with a statement that erroneously claimed Edmundo González, the opposition candidate, had won. González is now effectively the country's new Juan Guaidó.

The movement for fair and equitable policies in United States jails and prisons notched a major victory a little more than a week ago: prison and jail calling rates were cut dramatically by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

On this week's edition of the "Unauthorized Disclosure" podcast, host Kevin Gosztola talks with Juan Betancourt and Larry Hebert, who are both United States Air Force members who applied to become "conscientious objectors."