BT’s Rania Khalek paid a visit to the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, also known as ELAM. Cuba’s socialist government foots the bill for students, who come from all over the world to study medicine for free. Tuition, accommodation and board are free, and they even throw in a government stipend for students to live on. The one condition? Graduates have to return to serve in low-income communities. A testament to Cuba's commitment to internationalism, ELAM is one of - if not the ...
Feb 03, 2022•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Breakthrough News was on the ground in Havana, Cuba where Rania Khalek spoke with Johana Tablada, General Deputy Director of US affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry. They discussed the US blockade hampering the country’s development, how socialism makes Cuba’s survival possible, why Cuba has such a strong anti-imperialist foreign policy, how Cuba sees the recent left victories across Latin America, Cuba’s vaccine leadership, “Havana Syndrome,” how Cuba’s medical brigades connect to an internati...
Jan 28, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Transcript available on Metacast All things having to do with Russia are seen in the West through a renewed Cold War prism, with simplistic portrayals more befitting a Hollywood villain. Western media has been in a panic about an impending Russian invasion of Ukraine, while they celebrated a countrywide uprising in Kazakhstan that after a few days was put down. So what's really happening? Is it all right-wing color revolutions provoked by the West? Local anger manipulated by elites? Perhaps a bit of both? What are the loca...
Jan 13, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Transcript available on Metacast As Israel enters its 74th year of occupying Palestine, labeling all its critics as antisemitic, world public opinion is finally changing. But is it shifting fast enough for those being pushed off their land? What is the relationship between, and relative importance of, Western public opinion in connection with regional resistance? How should we deal with the new brand of political leaders who claim solidarity with Palestinians while campaigning but then disappoint when in office? Also, is a mult...
Jan 07, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2018, the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran, but if you follow mainstream media you’d think Iran was responsible for the deal’s collapse. In the recent seventh round of negotiations to restore the deal, the U.S. government added new sanctions on Iran while Biden was urged to “restore Iran’s fear” with military build-ups. Meanwhile, Israel continues to threaten war. But how do Iranians see all this? Here to explain is Prof. Mohammad Marandi, an advisor to the Iranian n...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast The U.S. government has tried to destabilize the tiny island nation of Cuba for 60 years all as punishment for Cuba daring to have a revolution and forge a path independent of U.S. capitalism. Yet Cuba has survived, and even thrived, most recently developing its own highly effective COVID vaccine while dispatching doctors around the world. How did Cuba keep the revolution alive even as socialist projects in other Global South countries failed with the collapse of the Soviet Union? What was the r...
Dec 03, 2021•2 hr 39 min•Transcript available on Metacast China is imposing harsh regulations on private education, big tech, and billionaires. The new Cold Warriors in the U.S. government and media call these moves authoritarian, leftward tyranny, and bad for business. But Chinese president Xi Jinping calls it part of a “common prosperity” agenda to create a more equitable society on the road to building socialism. To help understand the Chinese point of view, Rania Khalek was joined by Tings Chak, a writer and researcher with Dongsheng News and the T...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Why is the coverage of the war in Ethiopia so one-sided? What’s really happening on the ground? And how does it compare to the narrative being presented in U.S. media? Rania Khalek is joined by Jemal Countess, a photojournalist with Getty Images and Redux Pictures who was formerly based in Ethiopia and has reported from around the country since the war started. He is currently based in the United States.
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Lebanon has endured constant attacks and pressure from Israel, America and their allies for decades, sometimes in the form of direct military confrontation and more recently through a hybrid war involving sanctions, propaganda, violent provocations, social media, western NGOs and embassies -- all to weaken Hezbollah. To discuss all of this Rania Khalek is joined by researcher and journalist Julia Kassem, who has a masters degree from the American University of Beirut and is a contributor to the ...
Nov 19, 2021•2 hr 32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Why does capitalism need imperialism? What is the magnitude of colonial and imperial theft of resources from the Global South? How did global capitalism adapt after World War II and in the neoliberal era? And how is it fueling neofascist movements today? Rania Khalek was joined by renowned Marxist Economist Utsa Patnaik. She is co-author of "A Theory of Imperialism" and the more recent "Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present," with Prabhat Patnaik....
Nov 16, 2021•2 hr 41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Chile is set to have its first elections following the 2019 uprising, which was provoked by growing inequality and fueled by a violent and deadly police response. But as the left has made gains, so too has the far right in Chile. Here to break it all down and discuss how it fits into the broader Latin American scene, including Peru and Argentina, is Renato Vélez, a left-wing Chilean activist and researcher currently completing a PhD in Latin American studies.
Nov 11, 2021•2 hr 31 min•Transcript available on Metacast When we think of Palestine we think of the struggle for liberation against occupation, settler colonialism, and brutal military oppression. What often gets left out is how this fits into neoliberal capitalism. Adopting private development and neoliberalization under Israeli occupation not only failed to promote Palestinian sovereignty but instead it led to further subjugation to israel. To delve into this topic, Rania Khalek was joined by Kareem Rabie, an assistant professor of anthropology at t...
Nov 11, 2021•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast November 4 is the one year anniversary of the TPLF attacks on the Ethiopian government's Northern Command base, kicking off a brutal war. The TPLF is now advancing towards Addis Ababa, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency. The U.S. government has continued to condemn Ethiopia for fighting back against the TPLF insurgency, leading many Ethiopians to believe that Washington is supporting a violent coup in their country. Hermela Aregawi is an Ethiopian-American journalist o...
Nov 06, 2021•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Lebanon can’t catch a break. Amidst the worst economic collapse in the modern era, the Saudis and their regional allies are punishing the tiny country over comments criticizing the war on Yemen. To make matters worse, October saw clashes in Beirut on a front line that dates back to the civil war of the 1980s, with a Saudi and U.S.-backed Christian militia opening fire on Shia protesters affiliated with Hezbollah. Why is all this happening now? Does it have anything to do with the Lebanese civil ...
Nov 02, 2021•2 hr 44 min•Transcript available on Metacast As tensions heat up over Taiwan, everything the U.S. does is depicted as defensive while everything China does is framed as menacing, aggressive and authoritarian. But the island’s history has been totally left out of the coverage. How did Taiwan come to be? Is it part of China? How has the U.S. used Taiwan as a weapon against China both historically and today? Is there a similar situation with Tibet? With Xinjiang? With Hong Kong? Is this really about supporting self-determination and independe...
Oct 28, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is there a growing resistance to the unipolar imperial order? Is the US an empire in decline? Will the future be a multipolar one? If so, what does that mean ans how should the left in the imperialist core respond? To discuss this and more, Rania Khalek was joined by Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and author of “Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations.”
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Venezuela’s special diplomatic envoy, Alex Saab, was extradited to the U.S. on Oct. 16 after 491 days of detention and imprisonment in Cape Verde. His alleged crime? Helping the Venezuelan government evade crippling US sanctions to procure fuel, medicine and food. His detention sets a dangerous precedent in violation of all diplomatic protocol and kicks off a new, disturbing phase of the US hybrid war on Venezuela.
Oct 22, 2021•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast The U.S. and EU have accused Ethiopia of every atrocity imaginable and now they’re preparing sanctions. The Ethiopian government insists that it’s legitimately fighting a separatist group, the formerly ruling TPLF, which is attempting to regain power through violence and terrorism. Who’s telling the truth? What explains the one-sided media coverage? How do Eritrea and Sudan fit into it all? What’s driving Washington’s destabilizing policies in the Horn of Africa, which have alienated a longtime ...
Oct 15, 2021•2 hr 59 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the American mind, Russia is associated with the Soviet Union — the red menace — and long standing Russophobia clearly echoes in the coverage of Putin today. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) officially received 19 percent of the vote, but the KPRF claims their vote totals were suppressed. What explains the recent election results, does Putin remain popular, and how does American interference influence Russian politics? Rania Khalek was joined by Russian leftist, journalist...
Oct 11, 2021•2 hr 47 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s been 20 years since the US invaded Afghanistan. As the US finally withdrew, Taliban control over Afghanistan has been portrayed as inevitable. But what happened to the other political forces in the country? The war on Afghanistan didn’t really start in 2001. US meddling goes back to the 1970s and British meddling even further. Most people don’t know that there have been liberal, secular nationalist, and communist Afghan forces who tried to transform their country but were prevented from doi...
Oct 05, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Western governments along with their loyal media and think tanks warn that China is colonizing, exploiting, and forcing Africa into a debt trap. Is this true? Or is it Cold War propaganda? What is China’s actual role in Africa and how does it compare with the West’s? To help us understand what's really happening, Rania Khalek was joined by two leading African leftists: Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, an educator and researcher with Pan Africanism Today, a researcher at the Tricontinental Institute, ...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Anti-scientific conspiracy theories are spreading, not just among the right, but even among some segments of the left. To address this issue from a Marxist perspective, Rania Khalek spoke with Rob Wallace, an evolutionary epidemiologist at the Agroecology and Rural Economics Research Corps in St. Paul and author of “Dead Epidemiologists: On the Origins of COVID-19.”
Sep 20, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Saudis, backed by the Americans, have been waging a war against Yemen since 2015, causing massive civilian casualties as well as famine and a cholera epidemic. How did Yemen get here? Yemen’s modern history is fascinating and overlooked, and few are aware of the Marxist republic that existed in South Yemen from 1967 to 1990. To help place recent events in their historical context, Rania Khalek was joined by Helen Lackner, a research associate at SOAS, visiting fellow at the European Council ...
Sep 17, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rania Khalek spoke with writer and conflict mediator Michael Vatikiotis about his latest book exploring the lost history of Europeans fleeing to safety in the Middle East over a century ago. Vatikiotis discusses recent developments in Myanmar, China and Southeast Asia. He is the Asia director at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a leading conflict resolution organization.
Sep 13, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Game of Thrones politics of Kurdistan is fascinating and neglected, involving family and tribal dictators, international intrigue from the likes of Turkey, Iran and Israel, and the elusive PKK. Rania Khalek spoke with Kamal Chomani, a political analyst from Iraqi Kurdistan. They discussed the nuances of the political parties that make up the leadership in Iraqi Kurdistan, their relationship to the Iraqi government and its neighbors, the plight of the Yazidis, the Kurdish issue in other parts...
Sep 10, 2021•2 hr 38 min•Transcript available on Metacast In February, the Chinese government celebrated the eradication of extreme poverty within its borders. This would be a massive achievement for any country, but for China it’s even more so as it is home to some 1.4 billion people and is considered a developing country. China is credited with lifting over 800 million people out of poverty, which accounts for 70 percent of the world’s total poverty reduction. This is an incredible feat and it’s worth understanding how China did it. To discuss this a...
Sep 08, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rania Khalek was joined by @Daniel Dumbrill , a political commentator on China-related issues who is based in Shenzhen, to speak about his experiences in Hong Kong, his recent trip to Xinjiang and how it relates to America's new Cold War.
Aug 31, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the situation in Ethiopia continues to escalate, the war over narratives is in full force. Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Is it even that black and white? Is the TPLF fighting a war for liberation of the Tigrayan people against a cruel government or is it executing a war of aggression to regain power after losing it? And what should we make of recent developments such as the Oromo Liberation Front joining the TPLF in its fight against the state? What does it all mean for the ...
Aug 20, 2021•2 hr 31 min•Transcript available on Metacast All eyes are on Afghanistan as the Taliban has rapidly taken over the entire country. Most coverage is focused on what this means for the US. But in reality, the West is removed and distant, Iran, on the other hand, is Afghanistan's neighbor and hosts about 2 million official or unofficial Afghan refugees and will likely absorb even more. Iran had a bad relationship with the Taliban in the 90s, which killed its diplomat. Iran now has to deal with this new reality on its border. To discuss t...
Aug 18, 2021•2 hr 38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rania Khalek was joined by Daniel Bessner, associate professor of international studies at the University of Washington and co-host of the podcast American Prestige, to talk about US foreign policy under Biden. What’s changed? What hasn’t changed? Is the US empire collapsing? And what should a progressive foreign policy look like?
Aug 14, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
