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The west's liberal world order has collapsed and the hegemony it sought to maintain and expand. The conflict in Ukraine is a proxy war, the real target is Russia and indirectly China. The law of unintended consequences is in play. In the end, it will be Europe that pays the highest price. CrossTalking with John Laughland, Patrick Lawrence, and Nebojsa Malic.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. James Robinson, a political scientist and economist at the University of Chicago's Harris School for Public Policy. He discusses the nationalistic motivations behind Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the severe economic cost to Russia and whether increased trade with China can cover the damage, negotiated neutrality for Ukraine on the question of NATO membership before Putin resorts to “hideous” violence, the Ukraine war's implications for China's attempts to reunify with Taiwan, and much more.

Russia's special military operation in Ukraine continues. This is widely agreed upon. Beyond that, media reporting on this conflict could not be more polarized and politicized. In the West, this conflict is black and white, good vs evil. No context is provided, which of course is done on purpose. CrossTalking with George Szamuely and Dmitry Babich.

There seems to be one rule for me yet another for thee. It's this hypocrisy that the author Charlie Robinson takes on in his most recent book: Hypocrazy. His argument is clear: as much as the powers-that-be tell us that things are normal, there is no alternative, and this is the natural order of events – it really isn't. None of what we are experiencing is ‘normal' and, more importantly, there is an alternative.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin. She discusses how Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has strengthened NATO & given it purpose after embarrassment in Afghanistan, her concerns about sanctions against Russia hurting the working people, not just oligarchs, Russia's assault as an “illegal invasion of a sovereign country,” the confiscation of $7 billion of Afghan Central Bank assets, the war in Yemen, and much more. Finally, we speak to Luckson Zvobgo, chapter scientist to and author of the 6th IPCC Assessment, Africa. He discusses the findings of the report and the closing window of time that the world has to fight climate change, climate change becoming a cause of a growing migration crisis, the role of technology in fighting the climate crisis, the effects of climate change on Africa, and much more.

More than a century ago, the German historian Carl Hempel pronounced that history doesn't recognize any “ifs”, even though he himself was obsessed with finding the general laws of the historic process. The conflict in and over Ukraine came as a huge shock to most of us, but, given the imperatives and impediments of the sides involved, was it really such a big surprise? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the former US ambassador to the UN and national security adviser to Donald Trump (2018-2019), John Bolton. He discusses Russia's invasion of Ukraine, arguing that the US and EU need to further sanction Moscow to cripple its oil and gas industry, and that Biden has done ‘too little too late' to deter Vladimir Putin and arm the Ukrainian military. He also predicts whether Putin will seek to occupy all of Ukraine, and discusses rising tensions with China over the growing anticipation that it will seek to reunify with Taiwan by unleashing a military assault.

The West's massive sanctions war against Russia is having a profound impact on the global economy. Instead of just punishing Russian citizens, consumers in the West and the developing world will also experience economic pain. Globalization itself is being interrupted. The Great Separation is upon us. CrossTalking with Daniel Lazare, Michael Hudson, and Brad Blankenship.

Russia's military operation in Ukraine has changed the world in many ways. It is forcing the US and its allies to rethink and reassess global security. This is as it should be. After all, the post-Cold War era is over. What will replace it is still a question mark. CrossTalking with Ted Seay, Daniel McAdams, and Maxim Suchkov.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Brahma Chellaney, an Indian geostrategist and professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. He discusses India's abstention from the UN Security Council vote condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the balancing act Narendra Modi's government has to play between Washington and Moscow, the country's close relations with both, catastrophic miscalculations by US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, India's growing tensions with China, and much more.

Amid a wave of firms canceling services in Russia, cryptocurrency exchanges are standing by what they call “financial freedom.” Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine continues to weigh heavy on markets, causing stocks to slump at the beginning of the week. We'll break it all down. And China is facing mounting pressure as the world's second-most-powerful economy in the wake of the Ukraine crisis and trade woes. We'll bring you the latest from the People's Republic.

Anjelah Johnson used to be a cheerleader for the Raiders. She's now a successful stand up comic. Dennis Miller sits down with her as she discusses her latest tour, and how her experiences of bombing on stage made her the great comedian that she is.

Two individuals were awarded the 2021 nobel prize in chemistry for their development of ‘asymmetric organocatalysis.' What exactly is that? I'm not sure but today I'll find out and also learn how it is an environmentally friendly tool to make molecules. Nobel Prize winner David MacMilliam joins William Shatner on this week's episode of "I Don't Understand" to discuss his work on how he is making chemistry 'greener.'

Country music rapper Breland talks to Dennis Miller about his musical influences, the process of blending musical dramas, and his upcoming tour.

The US and its allies have moved to implement new sanctions against Moscow, as Russia's central bank moves to double interest rates, while the ruble sees it worst day on record. We'll discuss the latest central bank action, and whether it will soon include the Federal Reserve. Plus, we'll take a look at how the new measures are already impacting global markets. And the latest tensions sent oil prices back to $100 per barrel. We'll break down why the markets are concerned, and how long the latest rally is likely to last.

All this geopolitical hot air was always going to be about gas, and, predicting that, before all the horse trading and brinkmanship began, we caught up with two independent energy experts, Irina Slav and Ben Aris. They cut through the noise and give some useful context to the fundamental problems Europe and the UK now face to – quite literally – keep the lights on.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Antony Loewenstein, author of ‘Disaster Capitalism: Making a Killing Out of Catastrophe' and co-founder of Declassified Australia. He discusses the failed attempts of the US and other allied occupiers of Afghanistan to plunder Afghanistan's resources, the original Soviet desire to exploit the vast mineral wealth, Erik Prince's attempts to convince Donald Trump to privatize the Afghan war and run Afghanistan with a private army, economic catastrophe for the people of Afghanistan and the disappearance of Western concern for Afghans following their exit after the Taliban victory, Biden's plan to split $7 billion of frozen Afghan central bank assets to benefit families of victims of 9/11, and much more.

We are told Russia's special military operation in Ukraine is to ‘demilitarize' and ‘denazify' the country. Negotiations are likely to start soon. What kind of Ukraine can we expect after the special military operation has come to an end? CrossTalking with Patrick Henningsen and George Szamuely.

While Ireland has been an independent country for a very long time, old ties between Britain and the Republic have remained tight. Millions of Irish people live in Britain, can vote in British elections, and travel freely back and forth without let or hindrance. But the strains are now starting to show. The Irish government hybrid of once fierce enemies Fine Gael and Fianna Fail is in clear trouble, and beset by all kinds of scandals. We asked Chay Bowes, a campaigner and entrepreneur based in Dublin, to tell us more. Glasgow's Upper Clyde Shipbuilders' “work-in” back in 1971-2 was the opposite of a strike. The British government had ordered the men to down tools, but the workers insisted they work on to save their jobs in an industry that was in slow decline. The movement's leaders – Jimmy Reid, Jimmy Airlie, Sammy Barr, and Sammy Gilmour – led 8,500 workers in a protest about under-investment in Scotland's shipyards and, in doing so, captured the country's imagination. Now, to mark the work-in's 50th anniversary, a new musical, ‘Yes! Yes! UCS', telling their story, is about to go on tour across the UK. We invited playwright Neil Gore and actor/musician Janie Thomson aboard Sputnik to fill us in.

On the show, Chris Hedges discusses America's inner and outer wars and its nexus with capitalism and empire with Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History at New York University Nikhil Pal Singh. The internal violence in the United States, militarized police, and the largest prison system in the world, along with America's endemic racism, are mirrored in the foreign wars that have been fought almost continuously by the United States since the end of the 19th century. These inner and outer wars, argues historian Nikhil Pal Singh, are intimately connected. The gunning down of unarmed black people in American cities is expressed outside our borders in the gunning down of unarmed Muslims in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia, often by militarized drones. The prison-industrial-complex at home is given form in the myriad of overseas black sites where victims, kidnapped and transported to other countries by the CIA, are held in secret, tortured, and killed. What happens internally and what happens externally are part of the same racial ordering of capitalism and empire, an organic whole. The ‘war on drugs' and the ‘war on terror' are the logical conclusion of the racial wars that stretch back to the European invasion and conquest of North America. “Foreign policy and domestic politics develop in a reciprocal relationship and produce mutually reinforcing approaches to managing social conflict,” Singh argues. There is a cross-pollination between those who manage our inner and outer wars. William Casey oversaw the Phoenix Program, which “neutralized” over 26,000 suspected members of the Viet Cong through torture and assassinations, and went on to help found the Manhattan Institute that formulated the ‘broken windows' policing strategy in poor communities, used to justify heightened police surveillance, daily harassment, brutality, over-arrests, and the dehumanization of poor people of color. Search and stops by police at home are no different from ‘cordon and search' operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Night raids in Fallujah look like night raids in Oakland. The photos of brutalized prisoners at Abu Ghraib have their corollary in the photos taking by white lynch mobs in the south. Richard Zuley, accused of torturing prisoners in Guantanamo, was a member of the Chicago police unit that tortured black suspects in the Chicago police department's own secret black site. Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo in his 2003 memo seeking to justify torture turned to an 1873 case of Modoc Indian prisoners for a legal precedent. The code name for the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden was, not accidentally, Geronimo. America has from its founding made war on racialized enemies, always described as subhuman and condemned as incapable of being civilized. Nikhil Pal Singh's new book is ‘Race and America's Long War'.

The former evil empire standing up to the empire of lies. When Vladimir Putin announced his decision to demilitarize Ukraine, he wasn't just resurrecting the ghost of the Cold War, he made it clear that US-Russian animosity never really ended. How hot and bloody could it get? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Timofei Bordachev, programme director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

On this episode of Going Underground, Afshin Rattansi challenges the former vice chairman of the International Affairs Committee of Russia's Duma, Natalya Narochnitskaya, over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The challenges posed to the former Russian politician include the Kremlin assuring the world Russia was not going to invade Ukraine, whether Putin's Russia is acting like the US and NATO in their wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria, the painting of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's government and part of the population as neo-Nazis, why Putin didn't answer Zelensky's efforts for talks before the invasion, civilian casualties in Ukraine, and more.

The US economy is struggling and everyone seems to have a different understanding of why. Lee Camp looks into the causes of the current labor struggles, some of the wackier symptoms of an economy in collapse, and a potential policy-based solution. Camp also reports on a new religious crusade against the LGBTQ community, Google's admission that they're still spying on us, and much more. Naomi Karavani reports on an abortion pill available since the 80s that could help address some of the US women's rights movement's issues if it were made more widely available. Finally, Jaffer Khan looks into the latest move from the mercenary capitalist Erik Prince.

Russian forces move into Ukraine. Was this to be expected after decades of its concerns being ignored by NATO? Historic inflation and supply chain snafus send rent prices through the roof nationwide.

“The View's” Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar claim that Trump would have made things very easy for Russia, had they decided to move on to Ukraine while he was in the White House. Easier than Biden has made it? We'll take a closer look. Walk-Away Campaign Founder Brandon Straka was at the Capitol on January 6th, and he was recently sentenced to probation. But a lot has happened in between, and he will be here to tell us about it. The Supreme Court will hear a case that could spell the end for affirmative action and the media can't take it. We'll explain it all. MSNBC contributor says ‘America hates black people.' What did he base his opinion on? We'll show you.

As nations around the globe pour sanctions on Russia after its operations in Ukraine, Western nations have been hesitant to remove the nation from the SWIFT banking system. We'll discuss. And with the possibility of using cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions, could we soon see regulation in the fintech space? We analyze the situation with a true expert in the field.

Jesse Ventura and Mollye Barrows discuss political payback for Florida school districts that mandated face masks, plus border towns pushing back against militias. Law professor and author Eric Segall talks about his book, ‘Supreme Court Myths: Why the Supreme Court Is Not a Court and Its Justices Are Not Judges'.

On the show, Chris Hedges discusses George Washington, the fallible human being and one of the principal architects of the United States, with author Nathaniel Philbrick. As America fractures into ideologically hostile camps, it colors how we interpret and remember our past. Perhaps few historical figures are as divisive as the country's first president, Washington, who with his wife owned more than 300 slaves and oversaw brutal military campaigns against Native Americans. A statue of Washington in Portland, Oregon was spray-painted with the words “genocidal colonist” and torn down in 2020. Students at the University of Washington in Seattle have called for the removal of his statue on the campus. At the same time, school districts and Republican-controlled legislatures in states such as Texas are banning books that explore racism and the ugly side of colonialism, as well as sex and gender identity. Nathaniel Philbrick in his new book ‘Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy', retraces the former president's lengthy excursions throughout the new colonies to reflect on the origins of the United States, on Washington's character, and on what our country was and has become. His portrait of the first president is not always flattering. Washington could be cruel to human beings he considered his property and Native Americans. But he was, undeniably, a brilliant military leader in the war for independence against the British, and unified the fractious colonies into a coherent nation. He was determined to protect America's very flawed democracy, which excluded blacks, women, Native Americans, and men without property, rather than recreate, as many suggested, a monarchy built around himself. He was in his lifetime venerated by whites as a father figure. Sigmund Freud, in writing about the infantile fantasies that children ascribe to their fathers, could have been writing about how many viewed Washington. “They obliterate,” Freud wrote of those who look up to these father figures, “the individual features of their subject's physiognomy, they smooth over the traces of his life's struggles with internal and external resistances, and they tolerate in him no vestiges of human weakness or imperfection. Thus, they present us with what is in fact a cold, strange, ideal figure instead of a human being to whom we might feel ourselves distantly related.” Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of ‘Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy'.

Lee Camp is joined by journalist and host of Multipolarista, Ben Norton, to break down what is going on between Ukraine and Russia. They look to the real causes of Russia's actions in Ukraine beyond the Western war propaganda. The story goes back to the '90s and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when the NATO powers guaranteed Moscow that they wouldn't expand toward Russian borders. They broke that promise. Then the story moves to a US-backed coup in Ukraine in 2014 and the fallout after separatist movements tried to secede. Norton outlines the history and most important context for this moment of insecurity. Naomi Karavani reports on a story about the US' failing medical system. A Wisconsin hospital sued to stop some of their nurses from leaving for better-paying jobs. The decision to stop them from switching jobs only held for a short time until another judge overturned the decision. The story highlights the farce of income disparities between healthcare workers and executives. Finally, Anders Lee goes back into the history of the board game Monopoly. It was invented under the name The Landlord's Game to explain the brutal reality of capitalism. Then, in true capitalist fashion, the idea was commodified by big business and turned into a celebration of our exploitative system.

The world is hitting Russia with a swath of sanctions following its military action in Ukraine. We'll bring you a full round-up. The latest tensions have sent global energy prices soaring with oil surpassing $100 per barrel. Just how high will it go? We'll discuss. Plus, the move is rippling through markets on Thursday as the situation weighs heavily on equities around the globe. We take a spin around international stocks.

Moscow repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate Ukraine being used by NATO to threaten Russia's national security. Those warnings were not taken seriously, even dismissed out of hand. What we are now witnessing is a Cuban Missile Crisis in reverse. And this could have easily been avoided. CrossTalking with Alessandro Bruno and Don DeBar.

Cultures all over the world glorify love as the greatest creative power. But it also has the greatest evolutionary value. We talked about this with Dr. David Buss, professor of psychology at the University of Texas.

Actor Joe Mantegna sits down with Dennis Miller to discuss his new show 'As We See It', which follows a group of young people living with autism. He explains how he has been affected by autism and how this show gets it right.

In this episode of Keiser Report, Max and Stacy discuss the hypocrisy of Canada, where bank accounts are being frozen with the intent of depriving protesters of access to funds that they need for food and shelter. In the second half, Max chats to Nomi Prins about her forthcoming book, PERMANENT DISTORTION, and how the central bank policy has created a vast divide between the markets and the real economy.

As Western nations continue to hit Russia with sanctions in the wake of its recognition of the Donbass republics, the nation has begun to look east to bolster its trade. We'll discuss the growing economic bond between Russia and China. And the Kremlin's move has shaken global markets, which have slumped since Russia's announcement. We'll break down the tremors ringing through markets. But it's not just stocks taking a dive on the Donbass recognition – Bitcoin has taken a beating as well, as its price is still sitting below 40,000.

Cable news and defense industry war-hawks stoke tensions over Ukraine. Biden diverts $3.5 billion from Afghanistan's central bank to the families of 9/11 victims. Prince Andrew settles Virginia Roberts Giuffre's sex assault case.

Sir Vince Cable, former leader of the UK Liberal Democrats, tells Alex Salmond why Chairman Deng Xiaoping is, in a study of 16 world leaders, the one who most shaped the economics of the modern world. Despite serving as a cabinet minister in a coalition government with the Tories, Sir Vince also argues, that the time is now ripe for an understanding on the centre-left of UK politics.

Actor LaMonica Garrett sits down with Dennis Miller to discuss Paramount +'s new drama '1883' and the toll that acting like a cowboy has on one's body.

Russia's official recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics as independent states formally puts to an end what was known as the Minsk peace process. This recognition also creates a new political reality on the ground. And there is nothing NATO can do about it. CrossTalking with Joe Lauria, Anna Matveeva, and Scott Ritter.

Ben Aris, editor-in-chief of bne IntelliNews, discusses Vladimir Putin's motivations for recognising the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, NATO expansion causing major security concerns for Russia, Ukraine's Zelensky declaring that he won't implement the Minsk agreements – a trigger point for Putin, Ukraine tensions posing the biggest crisis for the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis, the severity and effects of forthcoming Western sanctions on Russia, and much more.

Germany says it's putting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on hold amid pressure from the US and the EU to announce sanctions against Russia. We'll discuss the latest. And in response to the latest tensions, oil prices are getting even closer to hitting $100 per barrel. We'll take a look at the factors driving the latest rally, and who is benefitting from it. Plus, as markets in the US have taken a dive since the start of the year, investors are looking for other options. We take a look at the next frontier for investing in collectibles.

Stand up comedian Donnell Rawlings sits down with Dennis Miller to discuss his first Netflix stand up special and his relationship with longtime friend Save Chappelle. Plus, why he's not backing down in the current comedy culture.

We live in chaotic times and it is easy to get stressed. So how do we get to a place of ‘zen' where we feel at peace when it seems everything else is crumbling around us? Is meditation the answer for us all? Meditation Teacher Susan Piver joins William Shatner on this week's episode of "I Don't Understand" to meditation and its benefits.

On this episode of Keiser Report, Max and Stacy discuss ‘the 14 Families and the 12 Banks' which control the distribution of wealth, and how bitcoin could fix this. In the second half, Max continues his conversation with Dr. Felix Ulloa, the vice president of El Salvador. They discuss the horrible year of 1980, in which many assassinations happened in the country, including that of Dr. Ulloa's father.

Singer Elle King, who shot to fame with her popular song 'Exes and Ohs' is ready to get back on stage after welcoming her first baby. She talks about her persona and how it's changed since being a mom, but tells Dennis Miller that she can't wait to reconnect with her fans.

Russia has made the move to recognize the Donetsk and Lugansk areas of the Donbass region, sending the Russian MOEX index into a spiral. Plus, the Federal Reserve has moved to ban members from trading stocks in an effort to stamp out corruption. And the largest economies in Europe have rebounded as they begin to lift Covid-19 restrictions.

More than 700 years ago, the great Sufi poet Rumi penned one of the most enduring commentaries on the state of the world, comparing it to a “reeling, drunken body” and saying “the caravan of civilization has been ambushed.” With fools in charge everywhere, Rumi's poem implored true leaders to stand up and be the captains of their ships. What does it take to navigate the dire straits of life, first as a world-class athlete and then as a world leader? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Imran Khan, prime minister of Pakistan.

If you listen to Western leaders or the corporate media, you'd believe that Russia is by far the most evil and regressive country on the planet and therefore needs to be sanctioned back to the Stone Age as punishment. But how much of this rhetoric is based on fact rather than the fear of the Russian bear coming out of hibernation into our interdependent multipolar world? Ross Ashcroft is joined by professor of Slavic studies Vladimir Golstein and filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov to discuss Russia's past, present, and future.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the former senior commander of the British military in Libya (2011-12), Rupert Wieloch, author of ‘Liberating Libya: British Diplomacy and War in the Desert'. He discusses the history of Libya from ancient times to 2022, the creation of a post-colonial Libya and the rule of Muammar Gaddafi's predecessor, King Idris, and the reasons for the success of Gaddafi's revolution, the rise of jihadism after the fall of Gaddafi, and more. He is also challenged on Britain's involvement in the war and on the record of Gaddafi, both domestically and internationally.

What we are witnessing is nothing less than dangerous war hysteria. Western countries, particularly the US and UK, make predictions of an alleged Russian invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the security situation within Ukraine is deteriorating. Will Biden and Johnson get their war? CrossTalking with Glenn Diesen and George Szamuely.

On the show, Chris Hedges discusses J. Robert Oppenheimer and the making of the bomb with author Kai Bird. J. Robert Oppenheimer, “the father of the atomic bomb,” was by the end of World War II one of the most celebrated men in America. He was instrumental, as one of the world's leading theoretical physicists, in the massive government effort to build the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But in the post-war anti-communist hysteria he was declared a security risk because of his warnings about the use of atomic weapons and his opposition to the development of the hydrogen bomb as well as the Air Force's plans for massive strategic bombing with nuclear weapons – plans he condemned as genocidal. He was hauled before Red-baiting congressional investigative committees, the FBI tapped his home and office phones and put him under surveillance. Scurrilous stories about his political past were planted in the press and he was put on trial, becoming America's most prominent victim of the post-war anti-communist witch hunts. Oppenheimer was a central figure in the greatest struggles and triumphs faced by the United States in war, science, social justice, and ultimately the Cold War. He oversaw the development of the most devastating weapon in human history and then spent the rest of his life warning that this weapon of indiscriminate terror did not make us safer but more vulnerable. The only effective defense against the nuclear nightmare, he said, was the elimination of nuclear weapons. For this warning he was ruthlessly silenced. “We have had the bomb on our minds since 1945,” E.L. Doctorow observed. “It was first our weaponry and then our diplomacy, and now it's our economy. How can we suppose that something so monstrously powerful would not, after forty years, compose our identity?” The great golem we have made against our enemies is our culture – its logic, its faith, its vision.” Kai Bird, along with Martin J. Sherwin, wrote the Pulitzer-prize winning biography ‘American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer'.