AMERICAN STUDIES

ANDREI MARTYANOV—Ridenour’s documenting of the evolution of American Imperialism of the 1960s, to its newer, much less competent and thus more dangerous modern-day version, from US unleashing the bloody war in Syria to a blatant neo-Nazi coup in Ukraine, is excellent. It shows a continuity of American exceptionalist views, based, to a large degree on a complete [and characteristically arrogant] ignorance of Russian history, culture and intentions.

John Hankey, teacher and filmmaker on this films Dark Legacy 1, Dark Legacy 2, and DL3. With undeniable facts supported by 50 years of research, Hankey reveals who the shooters were and who the Big Power Boys were who wanted JFK dead. LBJ was not in on it, but JFK biggest ally. Lots more stunning facts.

The war in Ukraine is entering a new phase. NATO leaders are meeting and are clearly worried that the Zelenskyy government might agree to a negotiated end to the war. Brian Becker and Dr. Gabriel Rockhill discuss the internal politics in Ukraine with a focus on the role of the far right, fascists and neo-Nazis. Brian is joined by Dr. Gabriel Rockhill, Founding Director of the Critical Theory Workshop and Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University. You can check out his latest article on today’s subject at LiberationNews.org, titled, “Nazis in Ukraine: Seeing through the fog of the information war” CORRECTION: The far-right Ukrainian militant shown at 17:15 in this episode is actually Evgeney Karas, not Andriy Biletsky.

The announcement that the Department of Homeland Security would be launching its own Orwellian Ministry of Truth called the “Disinformation Governance Board” was met with scorn and hostility from critics across the political spectrum. Now the Board’s putative head, Nina Jankowicz, has submitted her resignation, the initiative has been put on ice and the Washington Post’s chief social media mean girl, Taylor Lorenz, has written an unhinged piece decrying the online bullying that sent the new agency packing. Jimmy talks to The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal and American comedian Kurt Metzger about the rise and precipitous fall of this ill-advised government censorship project.

We’re living in a time of economic babble, where politicians and economists throw out words like “reform,” “privatize,” and “austerity” to prop up corrupt capitalist opportunists. So says our guest this week, economist Michael Hudson, author of J is for Junk Economics.

Plus, a report from Diverse Filmmaker’s Alliance on the Yemeni bodega workers who went on strike in New York to protest the Muslim Ban. And Laura’s F-Word on why Donald Trump’s new budget isn’t about cuts — it’s about conversions. The budget wants to convert public dollars into private funding for military research and spending, for the only government apparatus that never gets audited.