Podcast appearances and mentions of alex rubinstein

Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (5/16/24). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth is, or claiming they have the answer, is likely leading you astray, for one reason or another. Stay Vigilant. !function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src="https://rumble.com/embedJS/u2q643"+(arguments[1].video?'.'+arguments[1].video:'')+"/?url="+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+"&args="+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, "script", "Rumble");   Rumble("play", {"video":"v4t6jel","div":"rumble_v4t6jel"}); Video Source Links (In Chronological Order): (21) Alex Rubinstein on X: "Twitter/X has upheld its decision to ban one of the most impactful investigative journalists, my friend and co-host @KitKlarenberg, after he got mass reported by Zionists. This is not an app for free speech. Raise hell. https://t.co/Z06aRTw6rg" / X Justice Department formally moves to reclassify marijuana | AP News schedule iii drugs - Brave Search (21) The Last American Vagabond on X: "https://t.co/68M0fyi4PU "The available information and data indicate that the ready-to-use mRNA vaccine Comirnaty contains DNA impurities that exceed the permitted limit value by several hundred times and, in some cases, even more than 500 times, and that this went unnoticed https://t.co/FqcCsPImTM" / X https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380457155_Methodological_Considerations_Regarding_the_Quantification_of_DNA_Impurities_in_the_COVID-19_mRNA_Vaccine_ComirnatyR Health expert fears vaccine theories affecting uptake (19) The Last American Vagabond on X: "Pretty damning move for those still pretending we weren't lied to." / X New Tab (21) Ryan Grim on X: "Here's the Israeli report on what appears to be the same incidence. Five killed and 7 wounded, and tank fire, not Air Force, according to this report https://t.co/CjpJWLglzS" / X (20) 99% Johnny Graz on X: "Looks like Israel finally managed to kill some terrorists. https://t.co/3djMdnXHqH" / X 5 Israeli soldiers killed, 7 injured in northern Gaza after IDF tank mistook them for enemy | The Times of Israel (20) Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده on X: "Breaking: Israeli airstrike on a residential block in the middle of Jabalia refugee camp. https://t.co/ME615jrUtW" / X New Tab (20) Omar Shakir on X: "Breaking: New 100-page report by @unitedforrights & human rights centers at Yale, Cornell, University of Pretoria & Boston University finds that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza & calls on govts to avoid complicity & act to bring end to this grave crime. https://t.co/G1Oa0Re8hP" / X Genocide in Gaza — University Network for Human Rights New Tab Twitter Video Downloader - Download twitter videos & GIF Online The Shocking Origins Of The Debunked Claim That The UN "Revised" Gaza Death Toll (23) The Last American Vagabond on X: "UN spokesman debunks the lie about the Gaza death toll being “halved”. This easily verifiable lie went viral due to countess influential corporate “journalists” and nearly every major Israel supporter either lying or failing to do basic due diligence. https://t.co/2jJMOwMMmX" / X Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel - reported impact | Day 222 | United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - occupied Palestinian territory UN Says Overall Death Count in Gaza Remains Unchanged After Revising Source of Data - Israel News - Haaretz.com Did the UN revise down its Gaza death toll? - Truth or Fake (13) David Collier on X: "Becoming clearer by the day: @SkyNew...

Alex Rubinstein is an independent journalist who has shared live  coverage of social movements in the United States including Black Lives  Matter, Standing Rock, Charlottesville, the inauguration protests  against Pres. Trump, and from inside the besieged Venezuelan Embassy in  Washington, DC. He currently lives in Mexico City.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our entire premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast    Briahna is joined by Senegalese development economist Ndongo Samba Sylla, who focuses on Fair Trade, labor markets, social movements, democratic theory, and monetary sovereignty; and Alex Rubinstein, contributor to The Gray Zone, to discuss last month's coup in Niger, neo-colonialism, and the new "NATO" proxy war. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube to access our full video library. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram.   Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands)

Kit Klarenberg and Alex Rubinstein are investigative journalists who work with the Grayzone and who decided to make Serbia their home. We discussed the ethical and practical aspects of their work, propaganda, whataboutism, regime media, Serbian conspiratorial culture and what is the point in sacrificing your life for a scoop in the world that just wants to be entertained. Support Pokretači at patreon.com/belgrade and paypal.me/sgarcevic Notes: https://twitter.com/KitKlarenberg https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi https://twitter.com/TheGrayzoneNews

GUEST OVERVIEW: Alex Rubinstein is an investigative independent Journalist.

Viagra-fueled Russian rampage? Journalists Wyatt Reed and Alex Rubinstein join Max Blumenthal to discuss the return of a deception deployed by the US at the United Nations to justify the disastrous NATO intervention in Libya. After falsely claiming Gadhafi's troops were popping Viagra pills and raping their opponents, Washington is pushing the claim that Russian soldiers are doing the same in Ukraine. Watch the video on YouTube ||| The Grayzone ||| Find more reporting at https://thegrayzone.com Support our original journalism at Patreon: https://patreon.com/grayzone Facebook: https://facebook.com/thegrayzone Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegrayzonenews Instagram: https://instagram.com/thegrayzonenews Minds: https://minds.com/thegrayzone Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@thegrayzone Max Blumenthal: https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal https://rokfin.com/MaxBlumenthal Wyatt Reed: https://twitter.com/wyattreed13 Alex Rubinstein: https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi

How NAFO troll farm fundraises for war criminals and extremists Journalist Alex Rubinstein joins The Grayzone to discuss his multi-part investigation on the NAFO troll farm which harasses critics of the Ukraine proxy war while raising money for the Georgian Legion, a notoriously brutal militia filled with mercenaries, atrocity enthusiasts and violent extremists. Watch the video on YouTube ||| The Grayzone ||| Find more reporting at https://thegrayzone.com Support our original journalism at Patreon: https://patreon.com/grayzone Facebook: https://facebook.com/thegrayzone Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegrayzonenews Instagram: https://instagram.com/thegrayzonenews Minds: https://minds.com/thegrayzone Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@thegrayzone Max Blumenthal: https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal https://rokfin.com/MaxBlumenthal Alex Rubinstein: https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi

Pathetic progressives retract Ukraine negotiations letter The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate are joined by journalists Wyatt Reed and Alex Rubinstein to discuss the pathetic capitulation of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to pro-proxy war pressure just hours after releasing a letter calling for direction negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Watch the video on YouTube ||| The Grayzone ||| Find more reporting at https://thegrayzone.com Support our original journalism at Patreon: https://patreon.com/grayzone Facebook: https://facebook.com/thegrayzone Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegrayzonenews Instagram: https://instagram.com/thegrayzonenews Minds: https://minds.com/thegrayzone Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@thegrayzone Max Blumenthal: https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal https://rokfin.com/MaxBlumenthal Wyatt Reed: https://twitter.com/wyattreed13 Alex Rubinstein: https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi

This audio is taken from the Youtube video version found here: What do Ukrainians Think? Maidan, Separatism and War. 21 Years of Data From KIIS. #ukraine - YouTube It utilizes data reaching back to 2001 from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology to put the voices of actual Ukrainians front and center. Too often discussion regarding Ukraine ignore the voices of Ukrainians in favor of geopolitical or ideological discussion. The findings from these polls "which include occupied areas of Donbas" are surprising and do not align with western media tropes whether it be legacy media or alternative media personalities such as Max Blumenthal (The Grayzone) Glenn Greenwald, Alex Rubinstein, Jackson Hinkle et al,  #ukraine #ukrainerussiawar #russianukrainianwar  Below are highlights and not every single poll discussed. Intro 0:3:54 Kyiv International Institute of Sociology 0:5:00 Narratives and Misinformation 0:11:00 2008 Poll on Crimean autonomy 0:14:00 2008 Poll Perceptions of Russia 0:16:00 2006 Poll on EU alliance vs. Russia/Belarus 0:17:16 Discussion/polls regarding tolerance of ethnic groups (Russians in Ukraine) 0:21:00 Discussion/polls regarding Maidan and regime change 0:25:25 Discussion/polls regarding Separatism in Donbas 0:38:05 Discussion/polls regarding eastern Ukrainian views of Russian military entering Ukraine 0:42:05 2017 polls regarding EU vs. Customs Union and NATO 0:45:07 2002, Russian invasion. Polls shift dramatically 0:48:00 Eastern Ukrainians views on joining NATO/EU skyrocket 0:52:27 Perceptions of various aspects of the Russian-Ukrainian War 0:56:00 2022 Poll Perceptions of Russia 1:00:00 Emotional background in regional dimension to Russian war 1:01:25 Security, Territorial concessions and negotiation (NATO/EU/Territorial concession polls are mixed throughout the following minutes) 1:08:00 2022 Poll on NATO 1:11:50 2022 Poll on EU 1:13:28 How do Ukrainians self-identify? (regions/ethnicity) 1:15:36 Why do media narratives not match these numbers? Consider subscribing to support this channel. No paywalls, no patreon, no funding. I make these videos for educational purposes. Subscribing helps visibility on YouTube.

MOATS is an alternative media internet sensation. Hosted by former MP and master speaker George Galloway, each week he discusses the biggest stories not in the news with the best independent journalists in the world.This week's guests include:Alex Rubinstein of The Grayzone on the UkraineWar escalation. Katie Halper from the useful idiots podcast on being cancelled and being one of the most censored women on the internet Journalist and Broadcaster Garland Nixon on the next great American idiotIf you aren't already subscribed, it's really easy for you to subscribe to the patron-only feed. From the device where you want to listen, click here https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/785426 to sign in to your Patreon account, hit “Allow” to enable delivery of the content, then select your podcast app of choice to subscribe. This works with Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Downcast, Podcast Addict, Acast and dozens more podcast apps.Thanks for your support! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Aimee talks to Alex Rubinstein and Mila Ghorayeb of the Pro-Democracy Pod. To listen to the full episode, become a patron at patreon.com/whatsleft Suggested reading Alex's substack: https://substack.com/profile/6825370-alex-rubinstein Mila's substack: https://ghorayeb.substack.com/ Alex Rubinstein, "New Gates Foundation trustee led plot to overthrow Zimbabwean leader alongside US gov't," https://thegrayzone.com/2022/01/31/gates-foundation-trustee-overthrow-zimbabwean-covert-us-uk-govt/

Originally recorded during the 10/30 Episode of How Did We Miss That?, found here: https://youtu.be/V12wCprXwD0 https://www.facebook.com/indleftnews/videos/363430955467102 https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1191836903 https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1YpKkZRajWXxj Story 1 - Build Back Bull**it 10/25 AM

Niemat Ahmadi, President of the Darfur Women Action Group, joins us to talk about the evolving situation in Sudan where the military have apparently ousted the caretaker government in what is more and more looking like a coup d'etat. We talk about how former ruler Omar Al-Bashir still casts a long shadow in the country, with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan consolidating his power by placing Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, his wife and other ministers under arrest, arguing that civilian political infighting represented “a threat” to the country, the timing of these arrests, and whether a potential investigation into crimes committed by the military in the past years may have played a role in this power grab. Alex Rubinstein, investigative reporter and co-host of the podcast Pro-Democracy Pod, joins us to talk about how dozens of media outlets are collaborating on what is now being called The Facebook Papers project, how Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has been cultivated and legally represented by an organization led by former intelligence insiders with close ties to the US national security state, how this colors her statements to Congress and the reaction by those in power, and whether there is a long term project to increase surveillance in social media platforms in the guise of security concerns. Jamal Muhammad, host of the Luv Lounge radio show and the Old School Lunch Bag Mix on Square 1 radio, joins hosts Michelle Witte and Bob Schlehuber to talk about the trial around "Unite the Right" rally, where dozens were injured and one person died in the chaos, to decide whether organizers planned for a violent showdown from the start. We also talk about the issue of money in politics, with a New York mayoral debate where several candidates who are on the ballot weren't allowed to be part of the debate because they hadn't raised and spent the required nearly $200,000 at the time, as well as Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen still out promoting their podcast and their book, and the limits and pitfalls of celebrity politicians.

To hear the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/TrueAnonPod ----------- We’re joined by Alex Rubinstein to talk about the leaked phone call between CIA director George Tenet and former President of Yemen Saleh—allegedly pressuring Saleh to release Anwar Al-Awlaki. realalexrubi.substack.com/p/leaked-cia-pressured-yemen-to-release

Alex Rubinstein is an independent journalist who has shared live coverage of social movements in the United States including Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, Charlottesville, the inauguration protests against Pres. Trump, and from inside the besieged Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, DC. He currently lives in Mexico City. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/district34/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/district34/support

To listen to the full 2 hr episode, become a patron at patreon.com/whatsleft Aimee is joined by journalist Alex Rubinstein to discuss his article on the weaponization of wokeness, the American empire under Biden, abolishing the police, and more. Alex's article: https://realalexrubi.substack.com/p/intersectional-imperialism-a-wholesome

Journalist Alex Rubinstein, a contributor to The Grayzone as well as MintPress News, joins Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola to discuss the "woke imperialism" of President Joe Biden's administration. He published a report this week that examined how the administration is weaponizing diversity at the Pentagon, CIA, State Department, and other agencies. It wokewashes the endless wars of the US government and helps the empire rebrand itself. During the episode, Alex highlights a couple slick promotional videos from the Pentagon and NATO that are examples of this deployment of intersectionality. Rania and Alex also have an in-depth conversation about the YPG, a Kurdish militia in Syria, and how they have wielded identity to build support for war.

For today’s chat, I speak with Alex about his new piece on “intersectional imperialism” and the use of progressivism to sell war. Alex Rubinstein is an independent journalist currently based in Mexico City. He has shared live coverage of social movements in the United States including Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, Charlottesville, the inauguration protests against Pres. Trump, and from inside the besieged Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, DC, and has published reporting with Mint Press News and The Grayzone.Alex’s new article and Substack can be found here.Subscribe to Alex’s Substack: https://realalexrubi.substack.comFollow Alex on Twitter @RealAlexRubi Get full access to All That to Say at ghorayeb.substack.com/subscribe

Alex Rubinstein, filmmaker, jourmalist and activist discusses the narco-kleptocracy of Honduras and the struggle against US sanctions in Venezuela

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo opens up about the Venezuelan opposition, saying keeping it united "has proven devilishly difficult," while opposition leader Juan Guaidó has been seizing control of state assets to starve the government of funding. The saga in Venezuela continues, even though it's not on the front pages of American media. During a closed-door meeting in New York City last week with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Pompeo spoke honestly about the challenges the Trump administration is facing in its attempts to overthrow the democratically elected president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. The US narrative has been that the opposition is strong, united and legitimate.Speaking Thursday ahead of his trip to Normandy, France, US President Donald Trump said he had made clear to Mexico that he was prepared to follow through on his threat to levy 5% tariffs on Mexican exports starting June 10, rising to 25% by October. But he added: “We're having a great talk with Mexico . . .  something pretty dramatic could happen.” This was a marked change of tone from Wednesday night, when he tweeted that “not nearly enough” progress had been made. I've been asking: is the threat of further tariffs a negotiating ploy? All of this while the New York Times on Thursday published an analysis titled "Which States Will Be Hit Hardest by Trump's Tariffs on Mexico."In his recent MintPress News article, "Following US Lead on Assange, Australia Goes on Assault Spree Against Free Press," Alex Rubinstein says, "The current Australian crackdown follows the example of the United States in its charges against and attempt to extradite Julian Assange. Since the United States charged journalist Julian Assange with 17 counts of Espionage Act violations — charges that could see Assange facing the death penalty — Australia appears to be following America's lead and cracking down on free press, particularly journalists and publications that publish government secrets." What's really going on here?GUESTS:Ricardo Vaz — Writer and editor at Venezuelanalysis.com. Teri Mattson — Activist with the Campaign to End US and Canadian Sanctions Against Venezuela.Linwood Tauheed — Associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Alex Rubinstein — MintPress News analyst and journalist.

On this episode of The Critical Hour, Dr. Wilmer Leon is joined by Daniel Lazare, journalist and author of three books: "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup" and "America's Undeclared War." On the second day of his three-day state visit to Britain, US President Donald Trump spoke with UK Prime Minister Theresa May while protesters mobilized in London. He said Tuesday that he believed Brexit would eventually happen, adding that Britain is “a very, very special place, and I think it deserves a special place.” During the press conference he also spoke on on a trade deal, Huawei, his critics and tariffs on Mexico. What are we to make of all of this? Trump says tariffs on Mexican imports will take effect next week, despite Mexican optimism for a deal, but Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell is eyeing the potential for Trump's trade war to inflict damage on the United States economy, saying that the central bank is prepared to act to sustain the economic expansion if needed. How does all of this uncertainty portend for the US's economic future? "WOLA's hawkish stance on Venezuela may seem surprising for a 'human rights' organization, but it is less of a surprise for those familiar with WOLA's history." That comes from another great MintPress News story by writer Alex Rubinstein. He writes, "The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a self-described 'human rights' NGO, has been circulating a June 1 press release ostensibly urging the return of democracy to Venezuela." What's the significance of them taking this position?GUESTS:Daniel Lazare — Journalist and author of three books: "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup" and "America's Undeclared War." Linwood Tauheed — Associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Teri Mattson — Activist with the Campaign to End US and Canadian Sanctions Against Venezuela.

Guest: Jeb Sprague. We discuss the hybrid war being waged on Venezuela with an end goal of regime change. We also talk about recent events at the Venezuelan embassy under siege in Washington and the Venezuelan opposition figures who operated outside to help with a seizure in violation of the Vienna Convention. Jeb Sprague lectures at the University of Virginia and formerly taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Globalizing the Caribbean: Political Economy, Social Change, and the Transnational Capitalist Class (Temple University Press, 2019) and Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti (Monthly Review Press, 2012). In addition, he has authored and co-authored a number of scholarly articles, and is the editor of Globalization and Transnational Capitalism in Asia and Oceania (Routledge, 2016). He is a founding member of the Network for Critical Studies of Global Capitalism (NCSGC) and has taught sociology in the Caribbean, East Asia, and North America. Find his articles at The Grayzone, MintPress News, The Canary and at his website jebsprague.blogspot.com. FOLLOW Jeb Sprague @JebSprague and find his writing at The Grayzone, MintPress News, The Canary and at his website jebsprague.blogspot.com. Visit him at Jeb Sprague CV. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on May 21, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Who’s Behind the Pro-Guaidó Crowd Besieging Venezuela’s D.C. Embassy?, Jeb Sprague, Alex Rubinstein, Mint Press News Washington’s hybrid war on Venezuela – a very 21st-century attempt at regime change, Jeb Sprague, The Canary

Conversation with founder of Woon Kitchen, Keegan Fong.

A conversation about the new application, Squabble with founder and CEO Michael Egenthal

The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in a big case involving the US Census. The Commerce Department wants to include a question in the census about US citizenship. Critics say that will tamp down participation in the census and will result in an inaccurate population headcount. The census helps determine how congressional districts are drawn, as functions of population. According to the Washington Post, the Supreme Court's ideological divide was on full display Tuesday, and it seemed from their questioning that the court's conservatives were likely to defer to the Trump administration on adding a question concerning citizenship to the 2020 census form sent to every American household. How important is this issue, what does it mean for the country, and what does it say about the court?Alex Rubinstein has a great story in MintPress News, entitled "With US on the Warpath, Iran's Press TV the Latest Target for Google's Political Censorship." According to Alex, Press TV — the Iranian government-funded TV news outlet — has been “shut down” on Google's platforms, including YouTube and Gmail. The move coincides with similar action taken against HispanTV, an Iranian Spanish-language channel. With increasing repression of Iran's official vehicles of communication to the world, the country's voice is stifled in front of international audiences — and that's the goal. “The Google account for [Press TV] was disabled and can't be restored because it was used in a way that violates Google's policies,” the company told the outlet in an email. What's really at stake here? The US seems to be pulling out all the stops and using all technologies on the countries that it has issues with.Journalist and activist Kevin Zeese is part of a group opposed to the prospect of the Venezuelan opposition taking over the country's embassy in Washington, DC. He writes that the group's members "have been living inside the building for the past two weeks, working side-by-side with the skeletal Venezuela diplomatic staff that has been told by the State Department that they must leave by April 24. Calling ourselves the Embassy Protection Collective, we have been working in the embassy during the day, holding educational events every evening, making banners and signs, and sleeping on couches at night. The evening events have included seminars on Julian Assange, US foreign policy in Africa, the history of Venezuela, and updates on Honduras and El Salvador." He states, "The Collective has good reason to believe the embassy is under attack. On March 18, representatives of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido took over the military attaché building on 2409 California St. in Washington, DC, with the help of the DC Police and Secret Service. On that same day, they also took over the Venezuelan Consulate in New York City." What's going on here, and what's behind their fight?GUESTS:Leslie Proll — Civil rights lawyer, advisor to the NAACP on judicial nominations, former NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund policy director and former Alabama director of the US Department of Transportation. Kevin Zeese — Co-coordinator of Popular Resistance, whose work is at popularresistance.org. Chris Garaffa — Web developer and technologist.

MintPress News reporter and returning TNNE champion Alex Rubinstein (@RealAlexRubi) joins Dan Ackerman (@DarnArckerman) and Peter Ronson (@Parenthestein) this week! Together, we catch up on the arrest of Julian Assange and walk through Alex's latest Max Blumenthal collab, a series of articles on the eBay billionaire, sole shareholder in The Intercept, and virtual-reality-obsessed doomsday prepper Pierre Omidyar. NOTE: PLEASE read Part 3 of Alex's series. We didn't get to talk about the NXIVM connection, and we're kicking ourselves. Follow Alex's advice and contribute to consumer-funded journalism today!: www.patreon.com/thenewsneverends Timestamps: 0:00: The GOAT sings us in 2:34: Intro 4:33: Julian Assange and Wikileaks 25:41: Pierre Omidyar and Alex's articles 49:48: We fall down the Syria hole and talk about how various funding models influence journalism Links: Part 1: How One of America's Premier Data Monarchs is Funding a Global Information War and Shaping the Media Landscape https://www.mintpressnews.com/ebay-founder-pierre-omidyar-is-funding-a-global-media-information-war/255199/ Part 2: Pierre Omidyar's Funding of Pro-Regime-Change Networks and Partnerships with CIA Cutouts https://www.mintpressnews.com/pierre-omidyar-funding-of-pro-regime-change-networks-and-partnerships-with-cia-cutouts/255337/ Part 3: Pierre Omidyar: A Billionaire Prone to Reclusiveness and his Trove of State Surveillance Secrets https://www.mintpressnews.com/pierre-omidyar-a-billionaire-prone-to-reclusiveness-and-his-trove-of-state-surveillance-secrets/255439/ Weird Al, "eBay" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKtlK7sn0JQ Whitney Webb on Assange and Ecuador https://www.mintpressnews.com/with-assange-arrest-ecuador-creeps-further-towards-authoritarianism/257381/ Webb on the IMF as a "weapon" of US foreign policy https://www.mintpressnews.com/leaked-wikileaks-doc-reveals-how-us-military-uses-of-imf-world-bank-as-unconventional-weapons/254708/ Glenn Greenwald on NPR https://vimeo.com/329855329 Historic.ly thread on Wikileaks revelations https://twitter.com/historic_ly/status/1024158368691314688 MintPress livestream of the "alt" book launch for Blumenthal's The Management of Savagery https://www.facebook.com/MintpressNewsMPN/videos/2268039386749747/ Max's cool joke https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1042117000351371264 Theme song credit: "Robobozo" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

On this episode of The Critical Hour, Dr. Wilmer Leon is joined by Alex Rubinstein, MintPress News analyst and journalist. Federal Judge Claude M. Hilton in Alexandria, Virginia, has ordered Chelsea Manning, the former US Army intelligence officer and whistle-blower who served seven years in prison for passing information to WikiLeaks, to be held in jail for refusing to answer questions before a grand jury. Manning will be held until she testifies or until the grand jury concludes its work, the judge ruled in the closed contempt hearing earlier today. What's going on with Chelsea Manning?It started as a resolution condemning anti-Semitism. Then, anti-Muslim bias was added in. After that came white supremacy. And by the end, it cited “African-Americans, Native Americans, and other people of color, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, immigrants and others” victimized by bigotry. Notably absent were Catholics who don't like puppies and Protestants who don't like re-runs of "Barney Miller." The resolution condemning “hateful expressions of intolerance” passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming 407 to 23 vote late yesterday afternoon. Twenty-three Republican lawmakers voted against the resolution, arguing the measure was “watered down” and failed to properly condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-MN) recent controversial remarks on US-Israel relations.The sentencing of Paul Manafort was highly anticipated, but it was an unlikely candidate to become the latest example of a conflict that has vexed legal professionals and activists for decades: systemic inequality in the criminal justice system. It's interesting to me that it takes this sentencing to raise this issue. For example, in 2009, Judge T.S. Ellis III was the judge in the corruption case of former United States Representative William J. Jefferson, who was indicted and convicted of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. On August 5, 2009, he was found guilty of 11 of 16 corruption counts. On November 13, 2009, Jefferson was sentenced to 13 years in prison, the longest sentence given to a congressman. He began serving his sentence in 2012, and in 2017, Judge Ellis addressed Jeffersons's appeal, throwing out seven of his convictions; in December of that year, Jefferson pleaded guilty to three charges in a retrial, and Ellis sentenced him to time served, making Jefferson a free man. Yet, as Judge Ellis handed down Manafort's sentence in a jam-packed Alexandria, Virginia, courtroom Thursday, and observers digested the judge's decision — 47 months — Manafort's case was immediately perceived as a high-profile instance of the justice system working one way for a wealthy, well-connected man, while working in another, harsher way for indigent defendants facing lesser crimes.During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Thursday, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio condemned Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as a “clear danger” and a “threat to the national security of the US.” As was to be expected, the hearing was filled with plenty of threats and talk of flipping “military elites” and enforcing tougher sanctions. At the same time, Venezuela was suffering one of its most severe power outages in recent history, which stretched into a second day Friday, with hospital patients languishing in the dark, most supermarkets closed, and phone service largely out in the oil-rich but economically collapsing country. Maduro blamed the outage on sabotage by the US government, which has backed an opposition effort to force out the leader. He offered no evidence for the claim and ordered schools and offices closed Friday because of the blackout. But perhaps unexpected was just how out in the open and brazen were Rubio's own admissions of how far he's willing to go in promoting regime change in Caracas. In public testimony, he called on the US to promote “widespread unrest” in Venezuela in order to eventually bring down the Maduro government.GUESTS:Alex Rubinstein — MinstPress News analyst and journalist. Jim Kavanagh — Political analyst and commentator and editor of The Polemicist.Daniel Lazare — Journalist and author of three books: "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup" and "America's Undeclared War."

Both US President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, have arrived in Vietnam today for their second summit to discuss denuclearization. Trump and Kim will officially meet Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi, Vietnam. Our Brian Becker is in Hanoi and filed this report with Loud & Clear's Walter Smolarek.The US House of Representatives will vote Tuesday on a bill to block President Trump's national emergency declaration regarding the border. While many Republicans are expected to vote against the resolution, the Democratic-controlled House is expected to easily pass the measure, which would block the president from accessing some funds to construct a wall on the southern border. Trump has promised to veto it should it reach him, which would be his first presidential veto since assuming the office.The resolution, offered by Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas, would then be taken up by the Senate in the next couple of weeks, while multiple lawsuits contest Trump's authority in court to build barriers for an emergency that plaintiffs argue doesn't exist. It is not yet clear how many Republicans would vote for the resolution in the Senate, but it is very possible that it could pass the upper chamber, where Republicans hold a majority. That would amount to a major rebuke of the president, even if he vetoes it. What does this mean in terms of real politics and symbolically as well? Have any of you have asked yourselves: who is billionaire eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, and what's his broad sweep of influence over global media and surveillance enterprises? Max Blumenthal and Alex Rubinstein have done a three-part piece in MintPress News that explores this issue. Part 1 examines Omidyar's use of investment to build a vast and tangled web of influence in NGOs and media outlets around the world; part 2 illuminates his involvement with regime-change networks and the surveillance state; and part 3 looks at how Omidyar has placed himself in the rare position of being able to support both the national security state and at least part of its self-proclaimed opposition. How did Omidyar build this web of influence, and why should people care? President Donald Trump's former fixer and attorney Michael Cohen is slated to discuss publicly for the first time Trump's alleged role in some of the crimes Cohen pleaded guilty to last year. Cohen is scheduled to appear before three congressional committees in three consecutive days, starting today, with one public and two private sessions. What are we to expect form this testimony? GUESTS: Brian Becker, John Kiriakou — Hosts of Loud & Clear on Sputnik News with producer Walter Smolarek.Shermichael Singleton — Writer and political analyst. Alex Rubinstein — MintPress News analyst and journalist. Garland Nixon — Co-Host of Fault Lines on Sputnik News.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Ford Fischer, the founder of the media startup News2Share, and Alex Rubinstein, a writer for MintPress News. Overnight, Facebook deleted hundreds of pages that it said were run by employees at Sputnik. 75 Sputnik employees have been blacklisted for posting on these pages. The reason that Facebook gave is that they promoted anti-NATO views. Is Facebook continuing its war on independent and alternative media? Thursday’s weekly series “Criminal Injustice” is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, join the show. President Trump announced his Missile Defense Review today at the Pentagon. This includes 20 new ground-based interceptors but also a space-based missile defense layer as the Trump administration pushes ahead with its dangerous militarization of outer space. Brian speaks with Prof. Karl Grossman, a full professor of journalism at the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury, the author of six books, and the host of a nationally aired television program focused on environmental, energy, and space issues. American citizen and journalist Marzieh Hashemi has been detained and held by the FBI since Sunday. She is not charged with any crime, but is being held because she is a “material witness.” Hashemi is an anchor for Press TV, an Iranian news outlet, and was detained at the airport when she flew to the US to visit her children and work on a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement. Glen Ford, the executive editor of Black Agenda Report, joins the show. Veterans for Peace is Thursday’s regular segment about the contemporary issues of war and peace that affect veterans, their families, and the country as a whole. Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister who refused orders to deploy to Vietnam and lived in exile in Canada and Sweden for 6 years, organizing with other U.S. military deserters and draft resisters against the Vietnam war, and for amnesty for U.S. war resisters, joins the show. He has been a peace and solidarity activist for almost 50 years and has served on the Board of Veterans For Peace for the last 6 years, currently as national president. Two Democrats and two Republicans introduced a bill yesterday that would ban sales of US technology like phone chips to Chinese companies ZTE and Huawei. Despite ongoing negotiations between U.S. and Chinese trade officials, the campaign to stop China’s economic rise continues. David Ewing, the chair of the San Francisco chapter of the US-China People’s Friendship Association, joins the show.This week mainstream media exploded over meetings between President Trump and Russian President Putin without a US translator. But this is not without precedent -- the hosts take a look at the history of presidential diplomacy. Brian speaks with Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov, a professor of history and author of the new book “The Russians Are Coming, Again: The First Cold War as Tragedy, the Second as Farce.”

The partial shutdown that has impacted a quarter of the US government and some 800,000 federal employees is now 17 days old, with no end in sight. President Donald Trump and his team seem focused on finding a way around Congress by using emergency powers to redirect money for the proposed border wall, which would be challenged in court immediately. The president plans to address the nation over the situation at the southern border on Tuesday and visit the border on Thursday. Meanwhile, the partial government shutdown is extending into its third week, and the fallout is having devastating effects on everyday Americans. A new bill could impose penalties for entities that boycott Israel. In his recent MintPress article titled, "New Senate Anti-BDS Bill Unconstitutional and Ineffective at Curbing Boycotts," Alex Rubinstein writes, "Pro-Israel lawmakers in Washington, undeterred by the partial shutdown of the United States government, are pursuing their agenda full speed with the introduction of the first piece of legislation before the 116th Senate — a bill that aims to stifle the free-speech rights of American critics of apartheid Israel. BDS seeks to place economic pressure on companies and institutions that support Israeli ones operating in illegally occupied areas in Palestine, in order to pressure the Israeli government into compliance with international law and to cease its practices of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and the ongoing encroachment of Israeli settlements." What's going on here, and why is the US so protective of Israel?In the recent Gray Zone Project article, "Senate Report on Russian Interference Was Written By Disinformation Warriors Behind Alabama ‘False Flag Operation,'" writer Dan Cohen states: " ... the authors of one of the reports soon suffered a major blow to their credibility when it was revealed that they had engaged in what they called a 'Russian style' online disinformation operation aimed to swing a hotly contested special Senate election. The embarrassing revelation has already resulted in one of the authors having his Facebook page suspended. The well-funded deception was carried out by New Knowledge, a private cyber intelligence firm founded by two self-styled disinformation experts who are veterans of the Obama administration: Jonathon Morgan and Ryan Fox." What's behind the deception and propaganda, and why isn't mainstream media talking about it?GUESTS:Monica Biscoe — VP of marketing and communications for Maryland Strategic ConsultingDr. Jack Rasmus — Professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California and author of Central Bankers at the End of Their Ropes: Monetary Policy and the Coming Depression, who also writes at jackrasmus.com.Dan Cohen — Correspondent at RT America, filmmaker and director of Killing Gaza, and writer for The Gray Zone Project. Alexander Rubinstein — Staff writer for MintPress News based in Washington, DC. He reports on police, prisons and protests in the United States and the United States' policing of the world. He previously reported for RT and Sputnik News.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Alexander Mercouris, the editor-in-chief of The Duran.Two Ukrainian naval ships along with a tow boat navigated into the Kerch Strait yesterday, a narrow waterway that separates the Black Sea from the Sea of Azov, and were fired on and detained by Russian authorities. This set off a major political crisis, with the Ukrainian President vowing to declare martial law and Russia accusing Ukraine of staging a deliberate provocation by ignoring the procedure that had previously allowed safe passage for Ukrainian ships through the strait. Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules with Chris Garaffa is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa joins the show. Migrants held protests at the border yesterday in Tijuana demanding their right to asylum be honored. When several tried to cross the erected barriers, Border Patrol pummeled the migrants, including children and babies, with tear gas. Brian and John speak with Juan José Gutiérrez, the executive director of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition. Former Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos reported to prison today to begin his two-week sentence for making a false statement to the FBI. Papadopoulos has complained loudly on Twitter in the past few weeks that he had been “set up” and “coerced” by the FBI to take a plea. A judge denied his request to delay his prison sentence. Meanwhile, Jerome Corsi has shed new light onto what he says is a plea deal reached with the Mueller investigation. Alex Rubinstein, a Sputnik news analyst and journalist whose work is on twitter at @RealAlexRubi, joins the show. Monday’s segment “Education for Liberation with Bill Ayers” is where Bill helps us look at the state of education across the country. What’s happening in our schools, colleges, and universities, and what impact does it have on the world around us? Bill Ayers, an activist, educator and the author of the book “Demand the Impossible: A Radical Manifesto,” joins Brian and John. Over the weekend, the European Union formally approved the proposed Brexit plan. As we've covered extensively, it still includes three primary parts: limits on migration, the relationship with the European customs union, and the Irish backstop. The hosts talked with Andy Brennan on Friday and focused on the third element. As Brexit nears, there are fears that the reinstitution of a so-called “hard border” between the Republic of Ireland and the British-controlled north could reignite the long-simmering conflict. Andy Brennan, a journalist with Asia Times and CGTN, joins the show.Syrian news reported that insurgents launched a chlorine attack in Aleppo on Saturday. At least 70 people were injured in the attacks, according to the reports. In response, Russia launched air strikes on Sunday. Brian and John speak with Ambassador Peter Ford, the former British Ambassador to Syria.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, the Paul Manafort guilty verdict and the Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s plea deal is the lead story at the top of the second hour. In the first hour, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Joe Lauria, the editor-in-chief of Consortium News, founded by the late Robert Parry and author of the book "How I Lost, By Hillary Clinton," and Alexander Mercouris, the editor-in-chief of The Duran.Key Senate committees held hearings today amid news that Microsoft has seized six websites that it says were registered by Russia’s military intelligence organization, the GRU, and that targeted Republican think tanks and the US Senate. New US sanctions on Russia take effect tomorrow, and two senators are sponsoring what they are calling “the sanctions bill from hell” that they would pass if the US intelligence community confirms that the Russian government was behind the six suspended websites. Meanwhile, British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt today called on all EU member countries to join the US and UK sanctions.Tuesday’s regular segment is Loud & Clear’s weekly series False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Daniel Sankey, a financial policy analyst, joins the show.The jury has reached its verdict in the trial of Paul Manafort, who was for a brief period the chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the summer of 2016. Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer for more than a decade, was also in court today where he pled guilty to multiple charges. Mumia Abu Jamal has been in prison in Pennsylvania since 1981, after being accused and convicted of killing a policeman. He was on death row until 2011, when his sentence was converted to life without parole. Mumia and his supporters have always maintained his innocence, and he will be in court again next week in Philadelphia. He’ll be in court on August 30 pursuing a new legal strategy that argues that Ronald Castile, a former District Attorney whose office prosecuted his case, was improperly involved in his appeal after he became a state supreme court justice. Dr. Johanna Fernandez, a professor at Baruch College and an activist with Campaign to Bring Mumia Home, and the maker of the film “Justice On Trial,” which you can check it out this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the Maysles Cinema in Harlem, joins the show.American prisoners are going on strike today all across the country. The action will continue through September 9, which marks the anniversary of the deadly uprising at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York. But the strike isn’t necessarily political in nature. Prisoners want to draw attention to prison conditions and exploitative labor practices. And they want their work to be valued by society. Alex Rubinstein, a Sputnik news analyst and journalist whose work is on twitter @RealAlexRubi, joins Brian and John.Today marks the 47th anniversary of the death of George Jackson. The hosts take a look at his legacy and present-day significance. Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history at the University of Houston and author of many books, including “Blows Against the Empire: U.S. Imperialism in Crisis,” joins the show.Voting rights activists in Georgia are decrying a state plan to close two thirds of the polling stations in a predominantly Black county. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a formal protest with the county’s electoral board. Even the Republican nominee for governor has urged officials to abandon the plan. Brian and John speak with Anoa Changa, the director of political advocacy and a managing editor of Progressive Army, and host of the show The Way With Anoa.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Stephanie Kelton, a prominent economist who advised Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign, professor of public policy and economics at Stony Brook University, and former chief economist on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, and Jim Kavanagh, editor of thepolemicist.net.Mainstream capitalist economic theory has increasingly been called into question since the global economic crisis of 2008 exposed the gaping holes in neoliberal orthodoxy. One new school of thought that’s emerged in recent years is modern monetary theory. The hosts talk with experts on the theory. This is part one of two interviews. Millions of Pakistanis went to the polls today to elect a new government. And as usually happens there during elections, dozens of people were killed in related violence, including three in a bombing attack on a polling station in Quetta. Opinion polls show that the two frontrunners are former international cricket star Imran Khan and disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. And international observers say they are seeing blatant attempts to manipulate the polls. Marvin Weinbaum, the Scholar-in-Residence and director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Pakistan and Afghanistan Studies, joins the show. Beyond Nuclear with Kevin Kamps is Loud & Clear’s regular Wednesday segment, which looks at nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Today the hosts go back to basics on nuclear weapons. Brian and John speak with Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell. Markies McGlockton, a father of three, was shot and killed by Michael Drejka in front of a convenience store in Clearwater, Florida last week. Drejka was causing a disturbance—something he has been fined for in the past—and McGlockton had gotten out of his car to confront him when Drejka pulled a gun and began firing. Now the Sheriff of Pinellas County has said his hands are tied because of the state’s stand your ground law, and that he won’t make an arrest. This is part one of this story. , joins the show. Part two finishes the story about Markies McGlockton’s murder and the stand your ground defense in Florida. Markies McGlockton, a father of three, was shot and killed by Michael Drejka in front of a convenience store in Clearwater, Florida last week. Drejka was causing a disturbance—something he has been fined for in the past—and McGlockton had gotten out of his car to confront him when Drejka pulled a gun and began firing. Now the Sheriff of Pinellas County has said his hands are tied because of the state’s stand your ground law, and that he won’t make an arrest. Brad Schlesinger, an appellate attorney licensed to practice in the Supreme Court, and Michele Rayner, the attorney who is representing the family of Markies McGlockton, join Brian and John. ISIS fighters carried out a major suicide bombing and initiated subsequent fighting in the southern Syrian town of Sweida this morning, killed at least 150 people. Sweida is controlled by the Assad government, which only recently dislodged ISIS fighters from it. Meanwhile, Israeli forces went on alert today—and air raid sirens sounded—for fear that the fighting could approach the Golan Heights, Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967. Sputnik News analyst and producer Walter Smolarek joins the show.Maria Butina, the Russian graduate student being accused of failing to register as an agent of a foreign government appeared in court in Washington today to schedule a trial date and associated hearings. Brian and John speak with Alex Rubinstein, a Sputnik news analyst and journalist who is on twitter at @RealAlexRubi and attended today’s hearing.The European Union is preparing to impose $20 billion in new tariffs on American cars in response to President Trump’s tariffs on European goods two weeks ago. The EU’s trade chief said in advance of a meeting with Trump that the EU does not want a trade war, but would match US tariffs dollar for dollar. Meanwhile, Trump said the he was willing to provide midwestern farmers hit by the EU tariffs with $12 billion in cash assistance. Dr. Jack Rasmus, a professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California and author of a recent article in the World Review of Political Economy titled “Trump’s Déjà vu China Trade War,” joins the show.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history at the University of Houston and author of many books, including “The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America.”A few years ago, Dr. Gerald Horne wrote a book called “The Counterrevolution of 1776” in which he argues that the American Revolution was a conservative reaction to changes in the British views toward slavery. Abolitionist sentiment was running high in London, and the only way to keep Africans enslaved in the colonies was to revolt. False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey, L&C’s regular Tuesday economic segment, focuses on big banks getting big breaks and what society could do with extra wealth from automation, versus what companies will do with it—namely, lay off workers. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey joins the show. A new study shows that Uber and Lyft drivers are being pushed into poverty by the companies that force them to work long hours with no breaks and no benefits, oftentimes for less than the minimum wage. The National Employment Law Project and the Partnership for Working Families found that Uber and Lyft bullied legislators in the vast majority of states to overrule regulations and strip drivers of their rights. Brian and John speak with Bhairavi Desai, executive director of New York Taxi Workers Alliance.A year ago, big tech company Google said it would stop letting outside parties scan gmail inboxes for data to use for advertising. But according to a Wall Street Journal investigation, it hasn’t. Dr. Robert Epstein, the Senior Research Psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, joins the show.US hospitals have experienced a medicine crisis over the past few years. One of the primary drug manufacturers, Pfizer, has not been producing cheap older drugs like morphine with the regularity that hospitalized people need—but they have been raising their prices on big money-makers like Viagra and blood pressure medication. So why can’t hospitals get what they need? Dr. Margaret Flowers, the co-coordinator of Popular Resistance at PopularResistance.org, joins Brian and John.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has completely reversed course to save her coalition. She’s fully capitulated to Interior Minister Horst Seehofer’s demands to hold in custody migrants who have applied elsewhere for asylum. What does this mean for European migration and for her hobbled government? Berlin activist and journalist Diani Baretto joins the show.As you’ve heard on this show and elsewhere for several days, leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the Mexican presidential election this past Sunday. Polls showed that he was in the lead by 20 and 30 points, and he has been popular in the country for decades. But some media and political analysts are delivering credit for his win to none other than...Russia. How DID Andres Manuelovich get elected? Brian and John speak with Alex Rubinstein, Sputnik news analyst and journalist whose work is on Twitter at @RealAlexRubi.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Randy Credico, who is an activist, comedian and former director of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice.Special Counsel Robert Mueller casts a wider and wider net in his investigation, he’s apparently looking at whether Donald Trump was somehow aided in the 2016 election by Wikileaks and Julian Assange. Congressional investigators allege that the contact was brokered by Republican political consultant Roger Stone. And they allege further than Stone was introduced to Assange by Randy Credico. Randy has been subpoenaed to testify today before the House Intelligence Committee, where he intends to plead the fifth.It’s crunch time for the Republicans as both the House and Senate prepare to vote on the tax bill. But several Republican senators are saying that they will or may vote no. What does the final version of this bill mean for poor and middle class Americans? Dean Baker, the co-director of the Center for Economic Policy and Research, joins Brian and John.A federal judge yesterday threw out felony riot charges against six people involved in anti-fascist demonstrations on inauguration day. The defendants still face a myriad of other charges, which has led to calls that the Justice Department is trying to criminalize dissent. Brian and John speak with freelance journalist Alex Rubinstein, who was arrested while covering the demonstration, and Chip Gibbons, policy and legislative counsel for Defending Rights & Dissent.Prosecutors in Charlottesville, Virginia have upgraded to first degree murder a charge against a white supremacist who plowed his car into a group of peaceful protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and wounding dozens. Phil Wilayto of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality joins the show.European Union leaders clashed in Brussels last night over how to reform defunct asylum rules. Two years after more than a million refugees flooded Greece on their way to Germany, many Eastern European members of the EU don’t want to host any refugees at all.Prosecutors in Minneapolis, Minnesota announced yesterday that they do not have sufficient evidence to prosecute a police officer for shooting and killing an unarmed woman who had called 911 to report hearing an assault in progress behind her home. We’ll talk about the nationwide trend of cops killing unarmed civilians and, in most cases getting away with it. Kofi Ademola of Black Lives Matter Chicago joins the show.

Jackie chats with childhood friends Dan Fleming and Alex Rubinstein about celebrity splits, close encounters with Caitlyn Jenner and general shooting the shit.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jackie chats with childhood friends Dan Fleming and Alex Rubinstein about celebrity splits, close encounters with Caitlyn Jenner and general shooting the shit.

Claire Van Eijk took a break from packing for a 2 month tour with Against Me! to meet Alex and Dan at Taix French Restaurant in Echo Park. She is a tour manager amongst many other things. We discuss the road that led her to the position she’s in now, what’s required of her as a tour manager, etc. We then spiral into many other topics including monogamy, polygamy & relationships in 2017 - can one have all their emotional needs met by a single person? What happens when the front man of your band goes missing? These questions and more are answered. You can follow up with Claire on Instagram @aceventuralove AND her dog @thatdogmushu

This week Dan Fleming and Alex Rubinstein of Name This Podcast join us to discuss The R Kelly Sex-Cult Scandal, but more importantly they have lived the life I can only dream of and they give us some hot exclusives! Plus, Tarek and Christina El Moussa finally signed the divorce papers, P!nk address her rotten beef with Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga is coming down with a deposition in the Kesha/Dr. Luke scandal, Peter Dinklage vs Game of Thrones fans, The Kardashian’s turn 10, Nathan Coflin started a petition to remove a confederate monument and replace it with a Missy Elliott monument, Cardi B is making chart moves, Serena Williams has healthy pregnancy cravings, Duff Goldman lost a lot of weight, and Jeannie Mai wants to be a gay black man.   Follow Extra Extra on all our social media platforms: Twitter: @2extrapodcast, @jessedontthink, @kmenzizzle Instagram: @2extrapodcast, @northhollywoodjules, @jesse_is_awesome Facebook: @2extrapodcast

Alex and Dan get back to their roots, sitting down for brunch with Blake Spencer at Winsome in Echo Park. They discuss her breath work as well as sensory deprivation (self deprecation) tanks, food meditation, mormonism and much more. Follow or get in touch with Blake here: facebook.com/breathwithblake/ instagram @breathwithblake breathofblake.com (coming soon)

At long last, Alex and Dan managed to book viral sensation, Harry Mack. They discuss the path that lead to Harry’s freestyle video at Venice Beach as well as his impromptu performance for Joey Badass on Power 106 and much more. Tune in through the link in bio and make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Name This Podcast channel. facebook.com/harrymack youtube.com/harrymack soundcloud.com/harrymack twitter @harrymack instagram @harrymack

Alex and Dan have their most scientific interview to date. They sat down with Brandon Taylor, a physical therapist and “healer to the rich and famous”. Due to microphone malfunctions, the podcast dives right into the meat of the conversation. We cover topics ranging from the battle against big pharma, how Brandon got his start in this industry and the future of homeopathic cures. You can inquire further or book a consultation with Brandon here: bodybalancingassociates.com bodybalancingassociates@gmail.com

Alex and Dan sit down at the Rosenberg Family Farm for charcuterie, tequila and good ol’ conversation with Evan Rosenburg and Jake Singer. Evan is a sustainability manager at the Los Angeles County MTA. Jake is a mechanical design engineer in the biomedical field. The discussion opens with Evan making clear on his reputation and follows with an in depth review of coffee, the source of a human’s moral compass, progressive hip hop, spoiler of Fantastic Beasts, implantable medical devices, embarrassing stories and the significance of May 4th, 2007. You can find Evan and Jake on Instagram @domesticswagger / @j_monstah

Alex and Dan sit down with Ryan and Justin Levine from the band Wildling. They discuss touring stories, conspiracy theories, what it means to “rabbit in the bank”, the plight of Kimye, DJ names, the purpose of nipples, musical inspiration, dream venues and much more. Follow Wildling on Instagram @wildlingmusic

Alex and Dan sit down for a late night brunch at Taix in Echo Park with their guest, Jennifer Medina. She is a photographer, musician and all around savant. They discuss New York vs Los Angeles, her Venezuelan origins, Floridian theme parks, childhood disappointments, first kiss, Eyes Wide Wall Street, Instagram photography, ElimiDate, stinky pasta and much more. You can explore deeper into Jennifer's beautiful world through the following: jennifermedinaar.com jennifersvisualdiary.com soundcloud.com/lulannie soundcloud.com/dreamgirlband @lulannie

Alex and Dan enjoy brunch on the go with their guest, Glen Walsh, at his home in Venice Beach. He is a surf instructor, disco DJ, operator of the Glenice Venice Surf Report and arguably Venice's favorite son. We discuss a wide range of topics including his origins, least favorite trends, surfing in the olympics, La Croix, the definition of a fuckboy and much more. You can follow Glen on Instagram @glenice_venice

Alex and Dan sit down with director Ariel Fisher at Square One in Silver Lake. They discuss her upbringing, career, biggest stud and relationship with instant coffee. Find her on Instagram @arielfish as well as arielfish.tv

Alex and Dan take brunch on the go! Recorded at Camp Elsinore's side-yard-chill. Covering our individual experiences with Coachella weekend 1 followed by an interview with Austin Kearns.

Alex and Dan sit down with director, critical thinker and good friend, Cameron Dutra at Winsome in Echo Park, CA