Claims that Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny has been poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok are threatening a new standoff between Russia and NATO states, with calls for punitive measures against Moscow, including cancelling the Nordstream 2 German-Russia pipeline. Navalny's opposition activism is "marginal in Russian politics -- it's not currently a threat to the Kremlin," says Fred Weir, a veteran Moscow correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor. "Navalny is little more than a n...
Sep 05, 2020•32 min
David West, a retired two-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA Champion, discusses the NBA walkout over racist police violence; the challenges of activism in pro sports; his involvement in a new league challenging the NCAA's exploitation of young players; the neocon attacks on the NBA over China, and more. Guest: David West. Retired 15-year NBA player; two-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA Champion; and chief operating officer of the Professional Collegiate League. Support Pushback at Patreon: ht...
Sep 01, 2020•43 min
Attorney and writer Malaika Jabali reports from Kenosha, Wisconsin, where a 17-year old right-wing white militant killed two people during the protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. "I think the problem is that we live in a right-wing country," Jabali says. "There will always be ways to justify gun violence. But if you go anywhere else in the world, it's absurd that you can have an armed vigilante just walking around with an assault rifle willy-nilly in public spaces like this. It's a...
Aug 30, 2020•26 min
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, discusses the connections between the global US empire and the record US death toll during the coronavirus pandemic. "We're really not doing anything very well or right, and that's a consequence in part at least of our fascination with an attempt to maintain and even expand this empire that we've created since 1945," Wilkerson says. He also discusses the breakdown of US-Russia talks on expanding a key nuclear weapons treaty, and new...
Aug 25, 2020•26 min
In a new article for Foreign Affairs, scholar Joshua Landis and former Obama administration official Steve Simon write that US sanctions on Syria "further immiserates the Syrian people, blocks reconstruction efforts, and strangles the economy that sustains a desperate population during Syria’s growing humanitarian and public health crises." Landis, a leading expert on Syria, joins Pushback. Guest: Joshua Landis, Sandra Mackey Professor of Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Suppor...
Aug 21, 2020•27 min
In his new book "A Case for the American People," former House Judiciary Committee attorney Norman Eisen tells the inside story of the Democrats' impeachment efforts against President Trump. Eisen joins Aaron Maté to debate and discuss the Mueller probe, Ukrainegate, and Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Guest: Norman Eisen, former special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, including for the impeachment and trial of President Trump. Previously served under President Obama as e...
Aug 14, 2020•45 min
At the funeral for John Lewis, former president Bill Clinton disparaged Stokely Carmichael's (later Kwame Ture) leadership role in the black freedom struggle of the 1960s. "There were two or three years there where the movement went a little bit too far towards Stokely," Clinton said, "But in the end, John Lewis prevailed." Dr. Peniel Joseph, professor at University of Texas at Austin and author of "Stokely: A Life", responds to Clinton's comments and discusses Carmichael/Ture's legacy as a blac...
Aug 12, 2020•29 min
The catastrophic explosion in Beirut followed years of ignored warnings by government officials about the ammonium nitrate stored at the port. Lecturer and activist Rania Masri says that the disaster is the product of a corrupt, sectarian political system maintained by foreign powers. Guest: Rania Masri, lecturer and activist. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
Aug 07, 2020•26 min
A long-awaited UK government report finds no evidence of Russian meddling in British domestic politics, including the 2016 Brexit vote. But that hasn't stopped the fear-mongering: the report claims the UK government didn't find evidence because it didn't look for it, and backs increased powers for intelligence agencies and media censorship as a result. Afshin Rattansi, a British journalist and host of RT's "Going Underground", responds. Guest: Afshin Rattansi, British journalist and host of RT's...
Jul 25, 2020•30 min
House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi is being challenged on the November ballot by democratic socialist Shahid Buttar, who is running on a staunch progressive platform for Pelosi's Congressional seat in California. Buttar joins Pushback to discuss his campaign against the country's most powerful Democrat. Guest: Shahid Buttar, Congressional candidate challenging Nancy Pelosi in CA-12. https://shahidforchange.us/ Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
Jul 16, 2020•27 min
A new open letter signed by prominent pundits and intellectuals warns of a growing problem with cancel culture. The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal discusses how many of its prominent signatories have spent their careers trying to silence dissenting voices on critical issues such as Israel-Palestine and Syria. They are also part of a growing establishment "hyper-liberal" cancel culture that elevates identitarian issues at the expense of class ones; promotes reactionary projects like Russiagate by co-o...
Jul 13, 2020•33 min
Multiple US outlets, citing anonymous intelligence officials, are claiming that Russia offered bounties to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan and that President Trump has taken no action. The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal breaks down the story's flaws and how it continues a Russiagate-era push of the Democratic Party to the right. "The constant flow of Russiagate disinformation into the bloodstream of the Democratic Party and its base is moving that party constantly to the right, while pushing the US d...
Jun 30, 2020•33 min
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set a date of July 1st to begin Israel's annexation of major parts of the Occupied West Bank. A group of 47 independent UN legal experts call the annexation plan "a vision of a 21st century apartheid." Author and scholar Norman Finkelstein argues that Netanyahu is exploiting a brief window of opportunity under Trump and will use the deadline to swallow up valuable West Bank while pretending to be making a compromise because he does not seize the enti...
Jun 23, 2020•25 min
Veteran civil rights activist Larry Hamm discusses the national uprising against systemic racism and police violence as well as his primary challenge to Democratic Sen. Cory Booker. "The challenge that faces us is to develop strategies and tactics that will sustain our movement over the long haul," Hamm says. Guest: Larry Hamm, chair of the People's Organization for Progress and candidate for the Democratic Senate nomination in New Jersey.
Jun 20, 2020•23 min
As Syria tries to recover from a nearly decade-long conflict, the US has imposed crippling new sanctions that explicitly target reconstruction. "For Syrians, sanctions on reconstruction and on oil and gas are likely to be felt most acutely," the Washington Post reports. "The Caesar Act will probably limit the government’s ability to procure oil, further hurting the already low quality of life." The new sanctions follow earlier coercive measures that had already hurt Syrian civilians, compounding...
Jun 18, 2020•27 min
The families of black victims of police violence are calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to open an investigation of what they call an "unfolding grave human rights crisis" in the United States. Relatives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, and Michael Brown urge the UN to probe the killings of their loved ones and the government crackdowns on anti-racism protests. The letter's co-drafter, Gay McDougall, a legal scholar and former UN expert on racial discrimination,...
Jun 10, 2020•22 min
Historian and author Gerald Horne discusses the US uprisings against police brutality and systemic racism sparked by George Floyd's killing; the devastating impact of the US government's decades-old war on the black freedom struggle; the ongoing "Russia-baiting" of the protests; and how, amidst the suffering and repression at home, the U.S. government, in bipartisan fashion, continues to attempt to impose its will on countries abroad, from China to Venezuela. Guest: Dr. Gerald Horne, Moores Prof...
Jun 02, 2020•31 min
The Trump administration continues to undermine global arms control and increase the threat of a nuclear weapons race with Russia and China. The U.S. has announced plans to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, which allows participants to launch joint surveillance flights in a bid to avert military conflict. Trump officials have also rejected talks on renewing New START and reportedly discussed conducting the first US nuclear test since 1992. All this comes as Trump's arms control envoy said tha...
May 25, 2020•24 min
In his latest Grayzone exposé, Max Blumenthal reveals how the US surveilled and targeted Wikileaks founder Julian Assange inside Ecuador’s London embassy, all while working with Trump mega-donor and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s security team and a Spanish company that had initially been hired to protect the embassy. Drawing on court testimony and internal documents, Blumenthal details how the CIA sabotaged an asylum plan for Assange; installed software that allowed it to directly monitor him...
May 18, 2020•43 min
Crowdstrike, the firm that accused Russia of stealing DNC emails in 2016, has made a bombshell admission. In newly released Congressional testimony, Crowdstrike president Shawn Henry said that "we did not have concrete evidence" that alleged Russian hackers actually took the emails from DNC servers. "There's circumstantial evidence, but no evidence that they were actually exfiltrated," Henry said. Aaron Maté breaks down Henry's testimony and why it adds new doubt about the core allegation at the...
May 13, 2020•14 min
Noam Chomsky joins Aaron Maté to discuss the May Day workers' strikes; how Donald Trump's ineptitude and neoliberal capitalism fueled the COVID-19 crisis; US attacks on China and the WHO; Trump's overlooked escalation of the nuclear arms race with Russia; the question of "lesser evil voting" in the Biden-Trump race; and what the targets of US empire can teach us about resiliency and resistance. Guest: Noam Chomsky, renowned linguist, author and political dissident.
Apr 30, 2020•52 min
The bipartisan US establishment has coalesced around increased hostility to China in response to the coronavirus pandemic. China has faced numerous allegations including that it covered up the pandemic at the world's expense, developed the virus in a lab, and has spread disinformation. Journalist and attorney Ajit Singh debunks some of the most widespread claims lodged against China and analyzes the parallels between the current climate and Russiagate. Guest: Ajit Singh, Attorney and Journalist....
Apr 25, 2020•31 min
An internal investigation has found that top Labour Party officials sabotaged Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, including by trying to lose the 2017 UK election. The report also suggests that the same people who tried to undermine Corbyn were themselves the ones who were slow to respond to allegations of anti-Semitism -- another weapon that was used against Corbyn's leadership. Guest: Asa Winstanley, journalist with The Electronic Intifada. Links: Asa Winstanley: https://electronicintifada.net/people/...
Apr 18, 2020•40 min
Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling is a double whistleblower: as an African-American, he challenged racism from superior officers; he also voiced concerns about a deeply flawed CIA effort to sabotage Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. government retaliated by accusing him, without evidence, of leaking classified information. Sterling joins Pushback to discuss his ordeal. Guest: Jeffrey Sterling, author of "Unwanted Spy: The Persecution of an American Whistleblower." Special thanks to the Allard P...
Apr 14, 2020•28 min
Amazon workers have staged walkouts to protest a lack of protective gear and a failure to properly sanitize their workplace. Chris Smalls, an assistant warehouse manager, was fired after organizing the walkout at Amazon's Staten Island facility. Smalls says that Amazon managers failed to inform workers about coronavirus cases in the building and rejected safety demands. Guest: Chris Smalls, former Amazon employee who was fired after organizing a walkout over unsafe conditions during the coronavi...
Apr 02, 2020•14 min
The Trump administration has unveiled a so-called 'democratic transition' plan that demands the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in exchange for a five-person "Council of State," and threatens "increased" sanctions if Venezuela does not comply. Latin America policy analyst Leonard Flores says that the plan is a non-starter and the latest US effort to starve Venezuelans into submission. Guest: Leonardo Flores, Latin American policy expert and campaigner with CODEPINK. Support Pushbac...
Apr 01, 2020•22 min
The coronavirus pandemic has left millions of US workers without a job and the healthcare that comes with it. Economist Pavlina Tcherneva discusses how the Congressional bailout prioritizes corporate profits instead of building on the successful legacy of the New Deal. Guest: Pavlina Tcherneva, Associate Professor at Bard College and author of "The Case for a Job Guarantee."
Mar 31, 2020•23 min
As Iran struggles to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration has imposed new sanctions that further weaken the Iranian economy and health system. Assal Rad of the National Iranian American Council discusses the sanctions' toll on Iran and how the Trump administration's regime change agenda could lead to bigger catastrophe. Guest: Assal Rad, Research Fellow at the National Iranian American Council.
Mar 23, 2020•17 min
Iran has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, and new US sanctions are making it worse. Alfred de Zayas, a former UN Special Rapporteur, says that intensified US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela during the crisis are "insane", and possibly genocidal. Guest: Alfred de Zayas, former UN Special Rapporteur and law professor at the Geneva School of Diplomacy.
Mar 20, 2020•22 min
With Bernie Sanders poised for a big Super Tuesday, Krystal Ball discusses the Democratic establishment's panic, Elizabeth Warren's attacks on Sanders, and whether DNC elites are once again alienating the working class voters they lost in 2016. Guest: Krystal Ball, co-host of Rising and co-author of the best-selling new book, "The Populist's Guide to 2020." Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate
Mar 01, 2020•23 min
