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Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Useful Idiots, LLC
Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté
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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    Israel CAN’T BEAT Iran in Lebanon War

    2026/06/05 | 46 mins.
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    The Trump Administration just announced their latest achievement: it’s a ceasefire in Lebanon!
    One problem: they excluded from their ceasefire talks Israel’s main target, Hezbollah, and the US is fully backing Israel’s continued assault on the group, which has included the bombing of civilian infrastructure in nearly every attack so far, killing over 3,000 people since March and displacing over 1.2 million.
    What this means for the so-called ceasefire: Hezbollah must withdraw from its own territory in the south of Lebanon and Israel has no terms. Unsurprisingly, Hezbollah has rejected this deal, declining the opportunity to freely hand over their own territory to the invading Israeli army.

    While corporate media has reported this simply as Hezbollah refusing peace, we’re digging deeper into the story to find out what’s actually happening in Lebanon: where is Israel attacking, what is Hezbollah’s goal, to what extent will Iran back Hezbollah, and why are the US and Israel failing to take control in Lebanon.
    To do this, we speak with Michael Young, senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Center and author of The Ghosts of Martyrs Square. He is based in Lebanon.
    Michael has a different perspective on Hezbollah and Lebanon than most of our guests, but rather than giving you the same perspective every week, we want to feature different voices who may disagree with us, which gives us a fuller picture of the conflict. So speaking from Lebanon, Michael Young gives his take on the dilemma that Lebanon faces and what he thinks is the best way to stop Israel’s illegal invasion.
    00:00 Intro
    03:49 An Assault on Capitol Hill!
    10:09 Fetterman celebrates Israel blinding kids (and gets a big laugh from the crowd)
    10:53 Michael Young interview
    14:57 The ceasefire's a JOKE
    29:26 Debunking Marco Rubio

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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    Trump Accidentally Admits His Strikes Haven't Damaged Iran's Military At All

    2026/06/01 | 1h 3 mins.
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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    Ukrainian Journalist DESTROYS Zelensky for Nazi Support

    2026/05/29 | 49 mins.
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    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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    Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Brave Student Journalist Calls Out CBS (While Getting an Award from CBS!) https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/brave-student-journalist-calls-out?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    “WORST CASE SCENARIO” Leaked in Secret Cuba Files—Here’s What They Hid

    2026/05/22 | 50 mins.
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    Read Peter Kornbluh's latest reporting: The CIA Goes to Cuba https://www.thenation.com/article/world/cia-cuba-trump-regime-change-sanctions-military-threats-havana/
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    After starting two regime change wars in Venezuela and Iran, Donald Trump is now ramping up his campaign to overthrow the government of Cuba, and in the process impose serious misery on its people by tightening his blockade and deepening the country’s humanitarian crisis.
    And much like in Venezuela and Iran, there are suddenly reports of an imminent threat from Cuba, the tiny, starving island off the coast of the United States: Members of the Trump administration have begun claiming that Cuba has hundreds of Russian and Iranian drones that they will use to attack Florida.
    It seems to be the same exact playbook each time: claim an “imminent” threat, increase sanctions, take out the leader, and start a regime-change war.
    And as if to prove to the world that this is indeed the game plan, the CIA just made an uncharacteristically overt trip to Cuba.
    CIA
    So to discuss the humanitarian crisis and potential regime-change war in Cuba, we’re speaking with Peter Kornbluh, Director of Cuba and Chile Documentation Projects for the National Security Archive, who has been unearthing classified documents showing the reality of US foreign policy in Cuba.
    In his latest piece, The CIA Goes to Cuba, Kornbluh examines the CIA’s aggressive operation in Cuba, detailing how CIA Director John Ratcliffe gave a “do or die” ultimatum to the Cuban government, how Marco Rubio seeks to benefit from a false flag attack, and reveals documentation that proves US officials “don't believe Cuba is an imminent threat, or actively planning to attack American interests.”
    It’s the latest in Trump’s “empire-building” scheme that now spans across the globe, all fueled by neocons like Marco Rubio, and would be a sizable “Cold War trophy” to boost Trump’s imperial ego. Watch and share Peter Kornbluh’s full analysis (ad-free version):
    00:00 Intro
    03:39 He just said they need to use "Jewish money" to oust politicians...
    09:40 These MAGA people are getting destroyed by Trump's war on Iran
    13:38 What's happening in Cuba?
    16:47 Peter Kornbluh interview
    19:18 Trump on Cuba
    34:12 "Marco Rubio is wrong about everything"

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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    Lindsey Graham: "The Iran War is worth losing my job" (and how to make that happen)

    2026/05/18 | 1h 8 mins.
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    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Is Genocide Worth It If We Get To Have Cherry Tomatoes? https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/is-genocide-worth-it-if-we-get-to?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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    From Lindsey Graham’s mouth to God’s ears: when asked on Meet the Press if the Iran War was worth losing the midterms over, Senator Lindsey Graham proclaimed: “It’s worth losing my job!”
    Finally, something to agree with arch-Zionist warmonger Lindsey Graham on!
    And speaking of God’s ears, Trump held a Christian Nationalist party to celebrate the US’s 250th birthday, where speakers claimed that it took God two centuries to bring us Donald Trump so that he could finally put a ballroom in the White House. That’s not a joke they really said that.
    From Lindsey Graham to Mike Johnson to John Fetterman to former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, we’ve got a Monday Mourning that oscillates between the importance of bombing civilian infrastructure in Iran to the importance of that ballroom. It’s a ridiculous and jam-packed episode.

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About Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté
Useful Idiots is an informative and irreverent politics podcast with journalist Aaron Maté and podcaster/writer Katie Halper. Episodes feature analysis of the political news of the week and exclusive interviews, with humor, commentary and dissection of why both Republicans and Democrats suck. Join Aaron and Katie as they examine important stories that have slipped through the cracks and what the media got wrong – and laugh about whatever is left to laugh about.
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