Going Underground Hosted by Afshin Rattansi

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Abby Martin, Creator & Host of ‘The Empire Files’ and Co-Director of ‘Earth’s Greatest Enemy’. She discusses the catastrophic results of the US midterms for the US midterms and the risk of someone worse than Trump rising in the future, how the COP Climate Summit is a farce dominated by fossil fuel and business lobbyists and the serial omission of military emissions, the catastrophic impacts of global military emissions on the climate and why it remains absent in global climate discourse, the genocide turned ecocide in the Middle East, how neoliberalism incubated the next iteration of fascism and the irreconcilable contradiction of a global US military empire and a sustainable planet, how the US’ political system co-opts and neuters insurgent political movements to fit the mould of American imperialism, her disgust at the Democratic Party’s subsidising of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, how the US military acts as a for-profit corporation and discards its veterans to appalling conditions, the suffocation of Cuba by the United States, and much more.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Introduction: COP31 and the War Machine
(00:02:43) - Trump's Midterms Catastrophe and Democratic Duopoly
(00:04:04) - COP31's Farce and Fossil Fuel Lobbying
(00:05:46) - Military Emissions Exempt Since Kyoto Protocol
(00:07:45) - War's Hidden Environmental Costs
(00:09:24) - Trump vs Biden: Honesty About Empire
(00:11:04) - Nord Stream and European Hypocrisy
(00:13:42) - AOC, Progressives, and the Imperial Consensus
(00:16:39) - Gaza Genocide and Democratic Complicity
(00:19:47) - Post-Trump Strategy and Democratic Co-optation
(00:21:58) - Libertarian-Left Alliances and Zionism's Fractures
(00:23:32) - Military's Toxic Legacy on Its Own Soldiers
(00:26:00) - Cuba's Leadership Under Siege
(00:26:55) - Closing Thoughts and Sign-off

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Brandon Weichert, former US Air Force Consultant, Senior National Security Editor of 19FortyFive, and Author of ‘Fortress Americas: A New Monroe Doctrine’. He discusses how the New Monroe Doctrine differs from the ‘Donroe Doctrine’ of Donald Trump, the emergence of a US-Russia-China tripolar world order, the sanctity of the democratic process in the Western hemisphere for a continental system, the need to rely on American economic attractiveness over military force and covert operations, his opposition to any US attack on China in favour of cooperation and an abandonment on the US’ policy of defending Taiwan, how China views the outcome of the US midterm elections, how the US war on Iran has super-charged China instead of hurting it, why nuclear war remains a nightmare scenario for him with nuclear war on Donald Trump’s mind, the possibility of Donald Trump resigning by April next year, who Brad Cooper is: the man tipped to take over the War Department from Pete Hegseth, how Donald Trump’s relationship with Gadi Eisenkot will differ from his relationship with Netanyahu should Eisenkot become Prime Minister, the upcoming potential trilateral Trump-Putin-Xi Summit and its potential ramifications, how the CIA continues running rogue and continuing the Ukraine proxy war, and much more.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Opening Headlines and Global Precarity
(00:01:40) - Introducing Brandon Weichert and Fortress Americas
(00:02:16) - Origins of the Book and Trump's Policy Reversal
(00:03:52) - Multipolar World and Geo-Economics Over Hegemony
(00:05:16) - Spheres of Influence vs Imperialism Debate
(00:07:16) - Continental System and Latin American Cooperation
(00:08:16) - Nationalization, Oil, and US Global Power Questions
(00:09:25) - Monroe Doctrine vs Brzezinski's Grand Chessboard
(00:10:26) - China Policy and Avoiding Confrontation
(00:11:57) - Midterms' Impact on China Strategy
(00:13:35) - China Winning the Silent Race
(00:14:43) - Return from Break and Iran War Reflections
(00:16:21) - Midterms, Trump's Future, and Nuclear Fears
(00:18:52) - Trump's Legal Worries and Possible Early Exit
(00:19:30) - Brad Cooper and Pentagon Power Struggles
(00:20:55) - Netanyahu, Eisenkot, and Israeli Influence
(00:22:50) - JD Vance's Political Failures and Future
(00:23:43) - Trilateral Talks and Democrats' War Stance
(00:27:10) - Closing Remarks and Upcoming Shows

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Bo Loudon, Trump insider and Turning Point USA Ambassador. He discusses what he considers the risk of the Democrats winning the midterm elections, Donald Trump’s achievements and why he believes the Democrats are unable to handle war, how Trump will respond if the Republicans lose the midterms, the need for more civil conversations and debate in American politics, the war on Iran and its consequences, the effect of the loss of Charlie Kirk on the Republican Party, why Donald Trump has done nothing to prosecute the likes of James Clapper, Hillary Clinton, Adam Schiff and others who propagated the Russiagate hoax, ongoing threats to Donald Trump’s life, Trump’s handling of the Ukraine proxy war, Zelensky, and Vladimir Putin, the Epstein Files scandal and his defence of Donald Trump, his view of the polling which paints a dismal picture for the Republicans ahead of the midterms, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Joel Rubin, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Obama Administration. In a heated debate with challenges from Afshin Rattansi, he discusses how he thinks the Democrats will fare in the upcoming midterms in taking the House of Representatives and the Senate, his argument for why the people should vote for the Democrats, what the Democrats’ position on the war on Iran is and if they will do anything to stop the war, how AIPAC has destroyed its reputation with the Democratic Party, why the US continues to send military aid to Israel despite the Gaza genocide and Israel’s wars of aggression, why the Democrats continue to support more military aid for Ukraine while a majority of Americans oppose continued aid for Ukraine, his opposition to ‘isolationist’ American foreign policy, his defence of the Democrats’ foreign policy as Afshin challenges him on the US’ foreign policy record while the American people suffer, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Richard Wolff, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He discusses the causes of the mass protests in France and the rest of Western Europe and the drive by Europe’s leaders to gear up for war against Russia, Europe’s hypocrisy in buying hundreds of billions of euros worth of Russian energy while funding Ukraine’s Zelensky, the solution to Europe’s terminal decline and loss of power, China’s and Russia’s goal being to stay on the sidelines while the US’ unipolar world implodes, whether the US working class can trust progressives and ‘democratic socialists’ ahead of the midterms, what socialism actually means for progressive politicians in the US, how socialism is likely to evolve in the US in the future, how the Israel lobby’s and military-industrial complex’s power over Congress is ultimately their downfall, the two scapegoats in the US being immigrants and Russia, and much more.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Introduction and global context
(00:01:25) - Western Europe's war mistakes and loss of empire
(00:03:27) - Russian energy funding the war and European economic decline
(00:05:04) - Military Keynesianism and the end of colonial empires
(00:08:37) - Churchill, decolonization, and China/Russia's anti-imperialism
(00:12:06) - China's economic rise and strategic patience
(00:13:35) - US progressives, socialism, and the midterms
(00:16:21) - Mamdani, Sanders, and new American socialism
(00:20:12) - Military-industrial complex and medical industry parallels
(00:22:51) - AIPAC, Israel lobby, and shifting US politics
(00:24:09) - Democratic Party, Russia scapegoating, and closing remarks