Shadowproof Presents

Best-selling author Barry Eisler talks about his latest novel "The Gods Eye View," exploring issues of whistleblowing and mass surveillance. For one hour, Kevin Gosztola and Barry Eisler discuss Eisler's fiction book set in the present-day, where the government will hunt down and kill whistleblowers and journalists to protect secret worldwide surveillance programs. They talk about Eisler's key inspiration for the book, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, and other sources of inspiration for the story. They also have a conversation about the culture within the global security state, which is reflected in Eisler's novel.

Filmmaker Robbie Martin discusses his documentary series, “A Very Heavy Agenda.” For one hour, Martin joins Shadowproof for a conversation about how the film series tackles the rise of the neoconservatives after 9/11, which stoked public fears of another terrorist attack to further their agenda for regime change and interventions abroad. He also examines the rise of a new, younger line of neocons permeating the media landscape today.

Project Censored's Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth discuss "Censored 2016: Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2014-2015." With host Kevin Gosztola, they talk about "junk food news," "news abuse," and other concepts Project Censored promotes to improve the public's understanding of news citizens consume. Both highlight some of the key censored stories from the past year, which range from methane gas contributing to climate change to the NSA having its own Google-style search engine to staggering developments related to global wealth inequality. Huff and Roth also take some time to address recent news trends, like Vox and Buzzfeed's practice of publishing news explainers. The conversation wraps with a discussion of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh and how the establishment press has transformed him into a pariah because they reject his work on Syria and Osama bin Laden.

Shadowproof journalist Kevin Gosztola interviews journalist and author Antony Loewenstein about his book Disaster Capitalism. In the book, Antony trav­els the globe to discover how companies such cash in on or­ganized misery in a hidden world of privatized detention centers, militarized private security, aid profiteering, and destructive mining.

Shadowproof journalist Kevin Gosztola interviews Kris Hermes, author of Crashing The Party. The two discuss police tactics to suppress protest in the years since the 2000 Republican National Convention.

In the second part of an interview with Mnar Muhawesh, the founder and editor of MintPress News, Shadowproof managing editor talks to Muhawesh about infotainment and "fast food headline-driven" news media. We discuss how the news media spends such an exorbitant amount of time covering the presidential election and how this perpetuates the two-party system. Muhawesh also calls attention to Terry Burke, a disruptor in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, who has targeted her at many of her speaking events for opposing intervention in Syria. 

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks and blasts in Beirut, it seems very likely that Western countries will overreact and play into the hands of the Islamic State. It also is clear there will be little reflection on how Western countries, including France, created a climate that fueled the radicalization of individuals, who would want to target locations in Paris.  I interview Mnar Muhawesh, founder and editor-in-chief of MintPress News (MPN), and asked to her to react to how Western countries are responding to the attacks in Paris. She also addresses the media's ignorance and dehumanization of people who were killed in blasts in Lebanon. We also discuss how MPN has been critiqued for its coverage of Syria and how there are journalists, who have somewhat ridiculously fashioned themselves as sleuths and gone after MPN.       

Andy Worthington, known for his work campaigning and writing about Guantanamo Bay, is also a musician. He has a band called "The Four Fathers," which produced a major song that was used in the U.K. to campaign for the release of Shaker Aamer, "Song for Shaker Aamer." His band recently released an album, "Love and War," with eight songs. As part of Shadowproof's "Protest Music Project," Andy spends 40-plus minutes talking about his music, what inspired him to write songs about austerity, Shaker Aamer, CIA torture architects, etc, and what kind of protest music has influenced him. Clips of Andy's music play throughout the interview, and at the end of the interview, Andy discusses one of his favorite protest songs of all time.   

Shadowproof journalist Brian Sonenstein interviews Mary Buser, author of Lockdown On Rikers. The two discuss mental health and solitary confinement in one of the nation's most notorious jail complexes.