As Israel violates the ceasefire with relentless attacks on Gaza, The Grayzone’s Aaron Maté sits down with senior Hamas negotiator Basem Naim in Doha, Qatar. Naim survived the Israeli military’s attack on a gathering of Hamas officials in September. He discusses the UN-endorsed demand that Hamas disarm without a path to Palestinian self-determination; faltering efforts to unify Palestinian political factions; the bid to free political prisoners including Marwan Barghouti; the new Syrian governme...
Dec 13, 2025•49 min
The new President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, aka Mohammed al-Jolani, is in New York for what is widely being described as the first visit by a sitting Syrian president to the US in nearly six decades. But even more significant is another fact: it’s also the first state visit to the US by a leading veteran of Al Qaeda and ISIS. Just last year, al-Sharra/al-Jolani – the founding leader of Al Qaeda in Syria and a former deputy leader of ISIS -- was on the US terrorism list with a $10 million reward...
Sep 22, 2025•57 min
Benoit Paré is a former French defense ministry analyst who worked as an international monitor in eastern Ukraine from 2015 to 2022. In his first interview with a US outlet, Paré speaks to The Grayzone's Aaron Maté about the hidden reality of the Ukraine war in the Donbas region, where the US-backed Kyiv government fought Russia-backed rebels following the 2014 Maidan coup. Russia now demands that Ukraine accept its capture of the Donbas as a condition for ending the war. When it comes to which ...
Aug 18, 2025•1 hr 35 min
International legal expert and ex-UN Office of Human Rights Commissioner whistleblower Craig Mokhiber joins the Grayzone's Aaron Mate and Max Blumenthal to discuss the ICJ's landmark ruling ordering Israel to prevent genocide by its forces in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Jan 27, 2024•1 hr 58 min
Norman Finkelstein, historian and scholar, joins Aaron Maté for a live discussion about Israel's war on Gaza, the meaning of Hamas' atrocities, the question of genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and U.S. complicity. Recorded live in NYC on Nov. 7th, 2023.
Nov 11, 2023•1 hr 19 min
A new report offers the most thorough exposé to date of the OPCW’s Syria cover-up scandal, in which the world’s top chemical watchdog manipulated an investigation to baselessly accuse Syria of a chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma. In April 2018, after dozens of dead victims were filmed at the scene, the US, UK, and France alleged that the Syrian government had dropped gas cylinders on Douma and launched airstrikes in purported retaliation. But leaks from inside the Organisation for the...
Sep 19, 2023•1 hr 4 min
John Mearsheimer, the eminent political scientist who has warned for years that NATO's Ukraine policy would lead to disaster, joins Aaron Maté to assess the state of the Ukraine proxy war and the dangers ahead. Guest: John Mearsheimer. R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
Jul 30, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Former Ukrainian government official and diplomat Andrii Telizhenko joins Aaron Maté to discuss how, in his view, powerful US figures including Joe Biden have used Ukraine for personal corruption and the geopolitical aim of bleeding Russia -- all to the detriment of Ukrainians. Telizhenko worked for the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office in Kyiv before moving to Ukraine's US Embassy in 2015. He went on to work for Blue Star Strategies, a Democrat-run lobbying firm that represented Burisma, th...
Jul 13, 2023•1 hr 23 min
In closing remarks at a United Nations meeting, Aaron Maté of The Grayzone notes that no one disputes the fact that a probe by the Organisation For the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of an alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria was censored. Yet powerful states, including the US and UK, oppose any effort to address the suppression, including hearing from dissenting inspectors on the OPCW's Douma team. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
Apr 01, 2023•16 min
At a United Nations meeting that addressed a Syria cover-up scandal at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Aaron Maté of The Grayzone responds to a challenge from British diplomat Thomas Phipps. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
Mar 30, 2023•19 min
In a geopolitical shift, Brazil has come out in favor of accountability for the OPCW's Syria cover-up scandal. At a meeting of UN Security Council members on March 23rd, Brazil criticized the OCW's “poor” handling of the issue and rebuked the UK and other states for blocking the testimony of veteran Brazilian diplomat Jose Bustani, the OPCW’s first Director General. In response to remarks from The Grayzone's Aaron Maté, Ambassador João Genésio de Almeida Filho, the Deputy Permanent Representativ...
Mar 28, 2023•26 min
Speaking to the United Nations Security Council, Aaron Maté of The Grayzone calls out the OPCW's ongoing cover-up of its investigation into the alleged April 2018 chemical attack in Douma, Syria. Aaron also debunks the latest efforts by the OPCW, in a new report put out by the watchdog's Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), to whitewash the scandal. Audio: Aaron Maté's opening remarks to UN Security Council members, March 24 2023. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
Mar 27, 2023•26 min
Seymour Hersh joins Aaron Maté to discuss his report on how the Biden administration bombed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which blew up not only a vital Russian-German infrastructure project but a key off-ramp to peace in Ukraine. Guest: Seymour Hersh. Pulitzer-winning journalist who writes at https://seymourhersh.substack.com/. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
Mar 02, 2023•45 min
In a new four-part series for the Columbia Journalism Review, veteran journalist Jeff Gerth documents US media's journalistic malpractice in covering Russiagate. Guest: Jeff Gerth, journalist who spent three decades as an investigative reporter at the New York Times, where he won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize. His new four-part series about US media’s Russiagate coverage in the “Columbia Journalism Review” is called “The press versus the president.” Read “The press versus the president" by Jeff Gerth ...
Feb 16, 2023•55 min
Author and scholar Norman Finkelstein on how the Left undermines class politics from within; the legacy of Barack Obama; censorious culture within US academia and his new book, “I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It." Guest: Norman Finkelstein. Author and scholar whose new book is “I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It." https://www.sublationmedia.com/product-page/i-ll-burn-that-bridge-when-i-get-to-it-print-edition https://www.normanfinkelstein.com/ Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.pa...
Feb 11, 2023•1 hr 18 min
Matt Taibbi joins The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté to discuss his reporting on internal Twitter files exposing US government pressure on the social media giant to validate Russiagate propaganda — and censor dissenting voices. Guest: Matt Taibbi, https://taibbi.substack.com/. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
Jan 15, 2023•1 hr 32 min
Scholar Nicolai Petro discusses the overlooked influence of Ukraine's far-right nationalist movement and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's recent admission that the Minsk Accords -- the international formula for ending the post-2014 Donbas civil war -- "was an attempt to give Ukraine time" to prepare for a conflict with Russia, rather than make peace. Petro is the author of the new book, "The Tragedy of Ukraine." Guest: Nicolai Petro. Professor of political science at the University of Rh...
Dec 19, 2022•39 min
After a 12-day visit, UN expert Alena Douhan calls for the lifting of US-led sanctions on Syria, where 90% of the population lives below the poverty line, 12 million grapple with food insecurity, millions are internally displaced, and electricity is scarce. The impact of the sanctions are compounded by a US military occupation of areas containing Syria's oil and wheat. Guest: Alena Douhan. UN Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures and human rights. Support Pushback: https://www.patre...
Nov 23, 2022•54 min
After accusing Russia of firing missiles into Poland -- and triggering calls from Ukraine for direct NATO military intervention -- US officials are now acknowledging that Ukrainian air defenses were likely responsible. Douglas Macgregor, a retired Army Colonel and former senior Pentagon adviser, says the Poland scare underscores why the US top military officer, Gen. Mark Milley, has split from White House bureaucrats to call for diplomacy with Russia in order to end the Ukraine war. Guest: Dougl...
Nov 16, 2022•40 min
As Russia escalates attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines and the Ukrainian attack on the Kerch bridge, diplomacy is nowhere to be found. Scholar and author Richard Sakwa on the latest in the Ukraine crisis. "The human losses are appalling," Sakwa says. "And yet, the language of peace cannot find an adequate expression." Guest: Richard Sakwa. Emeritus Professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent. His books includ...
Nov 01, 2022•43 min
Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Dennis Kucinich, who led Congressional opposition to the Iraq war, reacts to the Congressional Progressive Caucus retracting a letter calling for diplomacy with Russia. "If we don't believe in diplomacy," Kucinich asks, "then where do we go as a country?". Guest: Dennis Kucinich. Former Congressmember (D-Ohio) and former Mayor of Cleveland.
Oct 29, 2022•41 min
Jeffrey Sachs joins The Grayzone's Aaron Maté and Max Blumenthal to discuss escalating nuclear rhetoric in Ukraine proxy war, the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines, and why a diplomatic off-ramp is more urgent than ever. Sachs also addresses the investigation into the origins of Covid-19. Guest: Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He has also served as chair of the Lancet CO...
Oct 09, 2022•49 min
Former Swiss intelligence officer and NATO adviser Jacques Baud on the next phase of the Russia-Ukraine war and new allegations that the US and UK undermined a peace deal that could have ended it. The West's aim "is not the victory of Ukraine, It's the defeat of Russia," Baud says. "The problem is that nobody cares about Ukraine. We have just instrumentalized Ukraine for the purpose of US strategic interests -- not even European interests." Guest: Jacques Baud. Former intelligence officer with t...
Sep 27, 2022•53 min
Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate A recent article in The Guardian parroted a US state-funded group's evidence-free allegations that The Grayzone’s Aaron Maté -- who has reported extensively on the OPCW’s Syria cover-up scandal -- is "the most prolific spreader of disinformation" about Syria among a "network" of "conspiracy theorists." Aaron called Guardian reporter Mark Townsend on the phone to ask him to substantiate these defamatory claims, and why he didn’t reach out before...
Jul 19, 2022•31 min
Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate In a live interview with CNN, former senior US official John Bolton admitted that he has "helped plan coups d’etat" in a number of foreign countries, including Venezuela. Fulton Armstrong, a former senior US intelligence official, has a unique perspective on Bolton's coup confession. In 2002, Bolton unsuccessfully tried to have Armstrong removed from his post after the US intelligence community refused to back Bolton's allegations of an advance...
Jul 15, 2022•37 min
The Grayzone's Aaron Maté and Max Blumenthal interview Michael Tracey live from Madrid, where NATO meets to plan a major escalation in the Ukraine proxy war and admit Sweden and Finland as members. Guest: Michael Tracey. https://mtracey.substack.com/ Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
Jul 03, 2022•2 hr 6 min
In this live stream, Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate discuss The Grayzone's report exposing UK journalist Paul Mason's collusion with a shady intelligence contractor to enlist the UK state in a plot to destroy this outlet and neutralize the British grassroots left. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Read more: https://thegrayzone.com/2022/06/07/paul-masons-covert-intelligence-grayzone/
Jun 11, 2022•2 hr 30 min
Historian and author Dr. Gerald Horne joins The Grayzone's Aaron Maté and Max Blumenthal for a live stream on the political and historical context behind the recent wave of mass shootings in the US; new revelations of the imperial plunder of Haiti; and the state of US hegemony amid a spiraling proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. Guest: Dr. Gerald Horne, Moores Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. Author of more than three dozen books, including "The Co...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 30 min
In this livestream, former CIA officer and longtime antiwar activist Ray McGovern joins Aaron Mate and Max Blumenthal on new revelations of Hillary Clinton's direct involvement in Russiagate lies, the demise of DHS Minister of Truth Nina Jankowicz, how Bernie Sanders backed a giant giveaway to the arms industry in the form of Ukraine aid, and the latest on the Russian-Ukrainian war.
May 25, 2022•2 hr 13 min
The US House has approved another $40 billion for the proxy war in Ukraine, all while the realities on the ground are being concealed. Seth Harp, an investigative journalist and US Army veteran who recently reported from Ukraine, on the hidden realities of the dangerous conflict. Guest: Seth Harp. Journalist, contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and US Army veteran who served in Iraq. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
May 13, 2022•42 min
