Unauthorized Disclosure

In the season 5 premiere of "Unauthorized Disclosure," hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola interview Mickey Huff, who is the director of Project Censored. He is co-host of "The Project Censored Show" and works on an annual book that includes the Top 25 Censored Stories each year.

Huff describes the work of Project Censored for those unfamiliar the effort. He discusses the issue of Facebook, Google, and these massive conglomerates that control technology we depend on to get news and information. He addresses the prevalent issue of "fake news" but notes it has existed for decades as propaganda.

We dive deeper into how the media continues to move the goalposts in its allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election and why it has such a stranglehold over political discussions.

Later in the show, Khalek and Gosztola highlight two examples of "Censored" stories from the 2016-2017 book that was released last year.











Direct download: S5E1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:07am EDT

Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola bid farewell to 2017 in the season's finale.

During the show, the hosts talk about Donald Trump's foreign policy and what liberal imperialists and neoconservatives disliked about Trump's first year.

We celebrate what parts of Trump's agenda grassroots resistance was able to stall while addressing where opposition really faces an intense struggle.

At one point in the show, Rania takes a true-false quiz based on the Trump administration's environmental policy.

Happy New Year!















Direct download: S4E42.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:06am EDT

Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola interview Todd Miller, the author of Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration, and Homeland Security. It was published by City Lights Books in September and was praised by Bill McKibben, Christian Parenti, and Dahr Jamail, who has appeared on this podcast multiple times.

Miller traveled to the Philippines, Honduras, Guatemala, the Mexico-Guatemala border, the United States-Mexico border, and Paris. There he observed and met individuals witnessing the escalating impacts of climate change on their communities. He also attended multiple expos or conventions, where people from the security-industrial complex spoke about how they are preparing for climate change—in order to control borders and make profits off future calamities.

During the hour-long interview, Miller discusses the "21st Century Border," as well as the concept of "Prevention Through Deterrence"—how countries deter migration by increasing the potential for death. He highlights what he observed in the Philippines and recalls his experience at Milipol, a massive Homeland Security expo he attended in Paris days after ISIS attacked the city and around the time the Paris climate agreement was deliberated over by much of the world.

Direct download: S4E41edit.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:31am EDT

Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola discuss President Donald Trump and his administration's plans to move the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. They also comment on the tax bill and react to Senator Al Franken's resignation over sexual harassment allegations.

Khalek, who is involved in a new project called Redfish, is currently based in Berlin. She talks about what she is working on for the project and the culture shock she is experiencing as she adjusts to Germany.

Finally, the show's hosts raise the issue of Patreon's changes, which will shift the fees creators were paying to patrons. It is outrageous, and they mention a way patrons will be able to support the show without going through Patreon.










Direct download: showedit-e40.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:09am EDT

Dan Berger, author of Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing In the Civil Rights Era, is our guest on the show this week. He joins the show to talk about his contribution to Rebellious Mourning: The Collective Work Of Grief. This is the second interview in a current series on grief and loss in organizing.

Berger describes prison as a "grievous institution" and talks about the AIDS organizing that went on in prisons in the 1980s. It was revolutionary and saved countless lives and contains many lessons for a political moment in which grief and loss seems to surround us all to a greater extent every day.

In the discussion portion, Kevin Gosztola talks about the tax bill that passed through the Senate and how we should be mindful of the fact that Democrats have been in this situation before. They could not stop corporate tax cuts under President George W. Bush, and most of what passed was never repealed.

Direct download: S4E39.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:52am EDT

Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola start the show talking about the Keystone XL pipeline, which gushed 210,000 gallons of oil into South Dakota because, who knew that was probably going to happen?

It is a rather bleak open that leads into a conversation about Russia Today and the Justice Department coercing the foreign media outlet to register as a foreign agent. Then, they talk about the frenzy around Donald Trump Jr's correspondence with WikiLeaks that was terribly overblown and dominated by what the CIA would like the public to think about the media organization.

Finally, the show's hosts address the rising flood of sexual assault allegations but begin with the cautionary example of Jordan Chariton of Young Turks, who was falsely accused of rape this past week. The Huffington Post did a story based upon vindictive allegations that they later had to take down from their site.

Direct download: S4E38.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:35am EDT

Arab American professor and activist Rania Masri joined the show from Lebanon to talk about Saudi Arabia and how they are holding Saad Hariri, the Lebanese Prime Minister, captive.

In the interview, Masri, a guest for the full episode, breaks down what has unfolded, briefly outlines political responses in Lebanon, what King Mohammed bin Salman may be seeking to accomplish, and how media is whitewashing the regime by treating Salman as a "reform king." She also addresses the blaming of Iran by the Saudis, Israel, or the United States to justify the escalation of tensions among countries.

Later in the show, she recaps the first year of Donald Trump's presidency and how the administration has reinforced the agenda of the Saudi regime.

Direct download: S4E37_RaniaMasri.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:15am EDT

Host Rania Khalek has mostly finished a transition to a new journalism project and returns to the show.

On this week's episode, hosts Khalek and Kevin Gosztola discuss 2016, a year that seemingly will never end. The election remains a constant conversation, with the past week dominated by allegations against the Democratic National Committee from Donna Brazile. They both talk about the anniversary of Donald Trump's election or Hillary Clinton's miserable failure.

Later in the show, Khalek discusses Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's resignation in Saudi Arabia and what that may mean. She also addresses the CIA's dump of Osama bin Laden files so it could propagandize people into believing al Qaeda is tied to Iran.

The show concludes with talk about the EPA, climate change, and Joe Ricketts, a vulturous billionaire who shut down DNAinfo.com and The Gothamist because staff at one of the offices successfully unionized.

Direct download: S4E36.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:30am EDT


Cindy Milstein, the editor of Rebellious Mourning: The Collective Work Of Grief, joins the show for an interview on why we should not bury or make private our pain when we are grieving from death or loss as a result of injustice or systemic oppression. She talks about creating space for open grieving, as well as the authoritarian manners in which many citizens are expected to grieve.

Milstein contends that grief can open cracks in the walls of the system and create possibilities for contestation and reconstruction, intervulnerability and strength, empathy and solidarity."

It is the first in a series of interviews from contributors to the collection of essays available from AK Press

Direct download: S4E35edit.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:21am EDT

Max Suchan, a director of operations and co-founder of the Chicago Community Bond, joins the show to talk about the fund's latest work.

Cook County recently adopted reforms to money bond. Bond, like most parts of the United States, disproportionately affects poor black people.

During the interview, Suchan describes how judges are failing to properly execute an order issued by Chief Judge Timothy Evans that was supposed to help individuals who cannot afford bond. Suchan later highlights how the fund decides who to help and the kind of cases that are typical when it comes to money bond.

In the discussion part, Kevin Gosztola addresses President Donald Trump's phone call to Sgt. La David Johnson, which consumed media during the past week. He puts the focus on the issue of why U.S. troops are even in Niger in the first place.
Direct download: S4_E34.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:17am EDT