What if everything you’ve been told about the military — “fighting for freedom,” “protecting democracy,” “serving your country” — was a lie? In this explosive episode of "The Watchdog," British-Iraqi artist and host Lowkey sits down with former Army Ranger and intel insider Greg Stoker, who saw the beast from the inside and walked away from it. Stoker breaks the silence on: How the U.S. military breaks young men to serve the empire Why most soldiers join out of economic desperation, not patrioti...
Jun 27, 2025•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 13
On this powerful episode of "The Watchdog," Lowkey sits down with Ahmed Alnaouq, a Palestinian writer, journalist, and co-founder of We Are Not Numbers—a collective that amplifies Palestinian voices through storytelling. Alnaouq joins from the U.K. to talk about his best-selling new book, "We Are Not Numbers," a humanizing collection of 74 stories written by 59 Palestinians, two of whom have since been killed during Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. Alnaouq speaks with urgency about the genocide unf...
Jun 09, 2025•36 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In this powerful episode of "The Watchdog," host Lowkey speaks with Palestinian-American author and activist Susan Abulhawa about her firsthand experiences inside Gaza during the ongoing Israeli assault. As one of the few Western-based voices to enter the besieged enclave during the genocide, Abulhawa shares her deeply personal account of life under bombardment, the psychological toll of witnessing mass devastation, and the political cost of speaking uncomfortable truths in Western institutions....
May 30, 2025•40 min•Season 2Ep. 11
It was a pogrom, the likes of which have not been seen in Europe since the days of World War Two. Or at least that is how corporate media across the world presented last month’s violence in Amsterdam, as Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv came to play Ajax in football’s Europa League. In total, five people were hospitalized, with a few dozen more minor injuries. And yet, the event generated hysteria across the West. President Biden, for example, described the supposed attacks against Israelis as “des...
Dec 04, 2024•34 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Israel’s attack on its neighbors could not be sustained without support from the West. And much of that support comes from the United Kingdom. Only a few hundred kilometers from Gaza, the British military base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, serves as the “heartbeat” of the Israeli assault. Israeli warplanes fly there to be serviced and repaired, while Western supply planes fly into the base before making the final trip to Israel. “Almost no one in this country [the United Kingdom] had heard about it befor...
Oct 25, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 9
In less than one year, Israel has managed to turn Gaza into rubble. A recent estimate by a global health expert suggested that around 335,000 Gazans could have been killed as a result of the Israeli attacks. Today, “Watchdog” host Lowkey speaks to one of the survivors of the Israeli bombing, Ahmed al-Naouq. Ahmed al-Naouq grew up in central Gaza and moved to the United Kingdom to attend Leeds University. In 2015, he co-founded We Are Not Numbers , a non-profit group that seeks to tell the storie...
Sep 27, 2024•51 min•Season 2Ep. 8
On this episode of The Watchdog, host Lowkey is joined by three guests to discuss how progressive or radical change is blocked in the U.S. and the U.K. by our political establishment, specifically by the Democratic and the Labour Parties. Chris Williamson and his communications officer, Ammar Kazmi, join the show to discuss the political situation in the U.K. Between 2010 and 2019, Chris Williamson was a Labour member of parliament and was a shadow cabinet minister under Labour leader Jeremy Cor...
Sep 23, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 7
The British public has spoken, and they have collectively let out a sigh of apathy. The latest election results might have produced a landslide for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party. But going beneath the surface, Britons appeared less than pleased with the options they were given. Turnout was among the lowest seen since the 1880s when women (and most men) could not vote. The notorious British press relentlessly promoted the far-right Reform U.K. party, but to little avail: Reform U.K. ended up wi...
Jul 30, 2024•57 min•Season 2Ep. 6
While the Labour Party may have triumphed in the recent British parliamentary elections, the real victors may have been Israel. Israel and its lobby have deep connections to the British Labour Party, headed by Sir Keir Starmer, and are likely pleased to see him come to power. On today’s episode of “The Watchdog,” Lowkey is joined by John McEvoy to discuss his work uncovering Israel’s surprisingly firm grip over the British political system. John McEvoy is an investigative journalist for Declassi...
Jul 23, 2024•56 min•Season 2Ep. 5
A surprise general election has been called in the United Kingdom, and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is the overwhelming favorite to become the next prime minister. But today’s guest is looking to upset that grim future. Andrew Feinstein is standing against Starmer for his Holborn and St. Pancras seat in central London. Feinstein is an expert in the arms trade, a former member of the South African parliament under Nelson Mandela, and a tireless activist, who Watchdog host Lowkey describes as ...
May 28, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 4
One of the most sickening aspects of the continued Israeli aggression against the people of Gaza is the near-total support it is receiving from Western governments. That is what our guest today on “The Watchdog” tells Lowkey. “Gaza has also exposed the true hypocritical face of the Western countries and those Western values which they have been claiming for years and years,” Dalloul Neder said, adding: "Values such as human rights, the wartime protection of civilians, the rights of patients, doc...
Mar 22, 2024•44 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Even after more than 100 days of genocidal attacks on Gaza, the Israeli assault continues to rage. The onslaught itself is very well documented by courageous Palestinian journalists who risk their lives daily. However, the role of Western governments in all this is not nearly as widely reported. Joining “The Watchdog” today to talk about this issue is returning guest Matt Kennard , a writer and investigative journalist for Declassified UK . Kennard has broken several stories about secret British...
Feb 12, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 2
For nearly a decade, Professor David Miller has been in the crosshairs of the pro-Israel lobby. But in recent years, their campaign against him has intensified. Miller was fired by Bristol University in the U.K. following a ferocious campaign by the Israel lobby, which even led to direct government intervention in the case. He has been holding the university to account in an employment tribunal and expects the results very soon. In this episode of “The Watchdog”, host Lowkey catches up with Mill...
Jan 31, 2024•53 min•Season 2Ep. 1
The British state – and quite possibly its Israeli counterpart – are attempting to shut down Palestine Action. Since its founding in 2020, the activist group has launched hundreds of operations against arms factories across the United Kingdom, especially Israeli ones. Its goal is to break British complicity in the Israeli military-industrial complex. Palestine Action has already caused serious economic damage to companies like Elbit Systems. Joining Lowkey on this edition of “The Watchdog” is Hu...
Nov 03, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 73
9/11 is a date that will live in infamy. But for much of the world, September 11 conjures up images of another deadly assault against freedom and liberty. Exactly 50 years ago today, the democratically-elected socialist president of Chile, Salvador Allende, was overthrown in a far-right military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet. Today, “Watchdog” host Lowkey talks to two guests who know the story of “the First 9/11” better than almost anyone. Roberto Navarette was a 17-year-old medical stude...
Sep 11, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 72
The world holds its breath. Last month, the Nigerien military overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, declaring an end to his corrupt reign and a new era of anti-imperialist, pan-African struggle. While most Nigeriens actually support the move (a new poll found that 73% of the country wants the army to stay in power) Niger’s West African neighbor Nigeria has strongly objected, and has tried to organize an invasion force to restore Bazoum. The regional body, the Economic Community of West African Sta...
Sep 05, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 71
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is many bookmakers’ favorite to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom. Yet behind the politician’s bland, squeaky-clean image lies an individual relentlessly obsessed with power and how to attain it. From being an ally of socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn as recently as 2019, Starmer has pulled the Labour Party far to the right in an attempt to return them to their position as the red wing of the British oligarchy. Today’s guest on “The Watchdog” with...
Aug 02, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Today in “The Watchdog” studio, Lowkey is joined by Assange’s wife Stella. Stella Assange is a South-African born lawyer and human rights defender. Her most famous case is undoubtedly that of her husband, whom she married in 2022. For years, Stella has tirelessly traveled the world raising awareness of Julian’s situation. Before marrying Julian, she attained degrees from the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) in London and from the University of Oxford. Earlier this year, she met with...
Jul 21, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 69
The election of longtime peace activist and anti-imperialist Jeremy Corbyn to the position of leader of the U.K. Labour Party inspired hope and dread across the nation. Hope from millions of ordinary people, who, for once, saw a politician that represented them, and dread from the British establishment, who feared what a radical like Corbyn could do if he were elected prime minister. Corbyn was subjected to one of history's most prolonged and intense propaganda campaigns. He has been labeled eve...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 59
It is often better to talk about solutions rather than problems. And today, on "The Watchdog," Lowkey talks to British-Palestinian intellectual Ghada Karmi about her new book , "One State: The Only Democratic Future for Palestine-Israel." In "One State," Karmi envisages uniting the land, from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, under one secular, democratic nation, allowing refugees to return to their homeland in safety and enjoy the same rights and securities that those currently living ...
Jun 26, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 58
The truth can’t be racist, wrote British Home Secretary Suella Braverman in April of this year, as she peddled xenophobic and debunked tropes about South Asian men being a particular threat to British children. Braverman’s comments come after nearly a decade of national hysteria about so-called Pakistani “grooming gangs” roaming around the country, sexually abusing white children while overly woke authorities watch on, helpless, too scared to act, lest they be called racist. Braverman, who herse...
Jun 06, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 57
It is now over four years ago that Julian Assange was spirited away from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and detained in Belmarsh's maximum security prison. Being locked in a tiny concrete room for more than 1500 days has taken a serious toll on the Australian publisher; reports from this week suggest that his health is “deteriorating by the minute.” One man who has covered the Wikileaks co-founder’s case closer than almost anyone is Kevin Gosztola. Gosztola is an American journalist, the manag...
May 24, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Even as Israel’s war against Palestine continues unabated, a new movement has arisen in the United Kingdom, challenging the Israeli war machine – and it has been winning some impressive victories. Founded in 2020, Palestine Action is a grassroots activist movement that seeks to end British complicity in Israeli war crimes by shutting down arms manufacturing sites across the U.K. Today, Lowkey welcomes back Palestine Action co-founder Huda Amori to talk about the rise of her organization that has...
May 22, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Israel is currently engulfed in strife, as hundreds of thousands have come out to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial power grab. Netanyahu is attempting to overhaul the judicial system and has dismissed defense minister Yoav Gallant, a move that ignited a storm of indignation. But as returning “Watchdog” guest Asa Winstanley notes, observers should not mistake this for a liberatory movement. “The protests are not for democracy as they claim. They're for preserving ...
Apr 12, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Is your data really safe online? Whether you like it or not, it is likely that much of it is stored by Oracle, a gigantic, U.S.-based company that has become one of the largest and most influential tech corporations in the world. Yet the company’s intimate ties to both the Central Intelligence Agency and the Israeli national security state should be cause for enormous concern, our guest today argues. In episode 56 of “The Watchdog” podcast, Lowkey is joined by returning visitor, Alan MacLeod. Al...
Apr 09, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 53
From hotshot lawyer to head of the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS), Keir Starmer is perhaps not the first person many would associate with the British Labour Party. But the party’s shift in ideological stance under former Prime Minister Tony Blair opened the door for the highly polished Starmer to become the leader. Joining Lowkey on today’s episode of “The Watchdog” is Oliver Eagleton, author and assistant editor of the journal, The New Left Review . Eagleton knows Starmer well; his 2022 biogr...
Mar 30, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 52
The No2Nato campaign was developed to challenge the “consensus in Westminster” and to prevent “a direct war between NATO and Russia.” NATO’s war has led to the death of 100,000 soldiers on each side and at least 6,900 Ukrainian civilians, the displacement of over 14 million and the destruction of at least eight percent of its houses and 50 percent of the country’s energy infrastructure. Despite the staggering loss of life, the United States and at least 27 other countries continue to transfer we...
Feb 24, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Joining Lowkey on this special episode of “The Watchdog” is the creator of the Netflix film, “Farha”, a movie the Israeli government has gone to great lengths to prevent from reaching the masses. Darin J. Sallam begins the episode with a breakdown of her award-winning film… It’s the story of a 14-year-old Palestinian girl whose dream is to get an education in the city…the dream changes from getting an education in the city to surviving in a room that she was locked up in by her father to protect...
Feb 08, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 50
After being chased by racists through London in 1997, Ricky Reel was found dead in the River Thames. For many years, his family struggled to convince the Metropolitan Police to investigate his death. Ricky’s mother Sukdhev was then later informed that SpyCops from the Special Demonstration Squad had spied on the family campaign. Lowkey speaks to the grieving mother still struggling for justice for her son almost 20 years later. “Throughout his 20 years, there hasn’t been a day where I haven’t mi...
Feb 06, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Via the Twitter Files, new Twitter owner Elon Musk has helped to reveal several hair-raising stories about the extent of U.S. national security state operations on social media. However, as today’s guest explains, Musk himself is a key cog in the military-industrial and surveillance states being built by Washington. Joining Lowkey today is return guest Alan MacLeod, a Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News . After completing his PhD in 2017, Alan published two books: “Bad News From Venezuela: Tw...
Feb 01, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 48
