Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Don’t miss our weekly recap of the craziest moments in corporate media:Watch this week’s Monday Mourning here:Thanks for supporting independent media! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.comSubscribe for the full interview at the bottom of the page. Watch a free preview here:Subscribers also get our Friday Free-for-All:On this week’s show we find out that when you launch an unprovoked regime-change war against a big country like Iran, it turns out that not only is it a bad idea militarily, but it might also tank your economy.The US debt just hit a record-setting $40 trillion, rising $3.6 trillion in the last twelve months alone. That high mark being more than double what it was in 2016. Check out the graph:With a ballooning military budget for Pete Hegseth’s flailing Department of War and a strangled oil market from Iran’s continued control over the Strait of Hormuz, the US and global economies have been sent reeling.Our guest, Middle East analyst Sharmine Narwani, explains why Iran’s surprise military strength has shocked both US commanders and economists, and gives her prediction that comes out quite bleak for the future of American interests on a global scale:“Major financial institutions around the world are talking about the US potentially losing its position, and the dollar losing its position as a global reserve currency. When that happens, the house of cards falls apart. You cannot finance wars. Nobody wants the dollar. Nobody’s stocking it. You can’t hold other countries to anything if they’re trading in other currencies. If it doesn’t go through New York, you don’t have eyes on things anymore. You lose control.”Subscribe for the full interview here, an extra 40-minute discussion with Sharmine Narwani.And check out Ground News, an awesome tool we found that helps us sift through the news and compare headlines to expose media bias. For an example, watch our comparison of two stories about US sanctions in today’s episode. Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.comSubscribe for the full interview at the bottom of the page. Watch a free preview here:Subscribers also get our Friday Free-for-All:This week, returning guest Sina Toossi joins us to check in on Trump’s regime change war on Iran: Trump is pausing the bombing campaign in an attempt to walk away from the war after realizing the total disaster it is for the US, falsely claiming that he controls the Strait of Hormuz, hoping that will let him save face and hide back home.Now, he’s reverting to traditional neocon policy of suffocating Iran from afar, crippling Iran’s economy through murderous sanctions and hoping it submits.Sina Toossi: It’s a strategic catastrophe for America as the global empire. This war has shown America to be weaker than countries around the world thought. And this is very significant in geopolitical calculations and alliance building and countries that depend on the US to provide for their security or to be in the US block.The US war machine is not necessarily all it was made out to be despite the trillion dollar military budget. Iran was a mid-tier power that held its own and was able to inflict all these costs and destroyed a lot of US bases in the region.Hear Sina Toossi’s full analysis of the US strategy in Iran and subscribe to hear our full interview with Michael Lange on Abdul El-Sayed, Zohran Mamdani, Francesca Hong, and the battle between liberal Democrats and progressives.And check out Ground News, an awesome tool we found that helps us sift through the news and compare headlines to expose media bias. For an example, watch our comparison of two stories about the US military in today’s episode. Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.

Don’t miss our weekly recap of the craziest moments in corporate media:Watch this week’s Monday Mourning here:Katie and Aaron react to Trump’s disastrous war on Iran as GOP senators rush to corporate media in a desperate attempt to hide just how much the US is losing.Plus, this week in Michigan, progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed takes on Haley “Israel comes to me in my dreams” Stevens. We watch the corporate media meltdown as El-Sayed takes the lead.Thanks for supporting our work, please subscribe to keep us going! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

Don’t miss our weekly recap of the craziest moments in corporate media:Watch this week’s Monday Mourning here:Trump met up with Meet the Press’s Kristen Welker for a literally and metaphorically stormy interview in which he failed to defend his disastrous war on Iran and insisted that he never promised to be an anti-war president.Right from Welker’s welcome, Katie and Aaron turn on the gas and don’t let up on the lying president, right up to the point where he storms out of the interview.It’s a beautiful takedown, watch the full, free episode on YouTube. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe