In this additional segment from Mike Prysner and Spenser Rapone, hosts of the "Eyes Left" podcast, we talk about the U.S. military's colonization of sports, particularly the NFL.

Then we discuss the Veterans Affairs Department and why it is important to care about the dysfunction and systemic problems with the agency.

Finally, Prysner updates listeners on the status of "Empire Files" with Abby Martin. He is a producer on the show, and the show recently lost all funding from Telesur in Venezuela as a result of sanctions from President Donald Trump's administration.

Hosts of the "Eyes Left" podcast join the show to talk about creating the conditions for more resistance within the United States military.

Spenser Rapone, known as the "Commie Cadet," spoke out for NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and expressed his support for left-wing politics. He was issued an other-than-honorable discharge nearly one year ago.

Michael Prysner is an antiwar activist, who enlisted in the military following the 9/11 attacks, and a producer of the "Empire Files."

Together, they share their thoughts on antiwar organizing under President Donald Trump and whether the terrain has shifted considerably since President Barack Obama was in office. They share their back stories, address the never-ending war in Afghanistan, discuss U.S. support for a right-wing coup in Venezuela, and more.

In this week's episode, hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola discuss latest developments in Idlib in Syria, where al Qaida "rebels" face attacks from Syrian government forces supported by Russia. President Donald Trump's administration, especially through US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, has pounded the table constantly in the past week and threatened war if those forces are attacked.

Later in the show, the hosts talk about national security adviser John Bolton and his attack on the International Criminal Court. Particularly, the hosts focus on how the U.S. government has never really supported the court and Bolton is, for the most part, hostilely expressing a policy that has been long-held by the government.

In Part 2 of our interview with investigative journalist Yasha Levine, we discuss the power Silicon Valley corporations like Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc, are claiming to engage in censorship and how troubling it is to see liberals cheer corporations.

Later in the show, Levine recalls attacks he experienced for investigating the Tor Project, a popular tool for protecting one's privacy on the internet. He addresses the issue of journalists and how they should respond to constant surveillance enabled by tech corporations.

Levine argues there needs to be a political solution that shifts the culture around privacy, but that cannot and will not come from Silicon Valley.

Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola interview investigative journalist Yasha Levine about his book, "Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History Of The Internet," which was released this year.

There are two parts to the interview. In Part 1, Levine describes how the origin of the internet is rooted in the United States military. It was developed for counterinsurgency and anti-communism efforts. This is a narrative that is typically missing when the history of the internet is told.

Later in the segment, Levine gives a brief history of Google and talks about the CIA's support for Google Earth. He also discusses the amazing power that Google's search streams give the corporation.

[NOTE: Part 2 will be posted for patrons later tonight. It will be made available for all listeners of the show on Wednesday.]

Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola spend most of the episode assessing the media coverage of John McCain's death from brain cancer. They focus on the myth of McCain that was promoted and pretty much adopted across the spectrum from Republicans to progressive Democrats.

They read a few examples of the worst hagiography. Like did you know he wasn't only a "war hero" but also a "climate hero"? And he was even an "anti-racist hero" too?

Toward the end of the episode, Gosztola talks about the national prison strike, and in particular, media coverage by the Marshall Project that promoted the organization's bias against prisoner-led resistance.

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Thank you to our patrons. At the end of August, we had 182 patrons. We're 18 patrons shy of our goal of 200 patrons. We believe we can get there by October. And we'll plan a special edition for patrons if we reach this goal.

On the "Unauthorized Disclosure" weekly podcast, hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola are joined by Sarah Smith, a Democratic Party candidate running for Congress in Washington's 9th District. She recently beat the Republican to qualify for the general election against the incumbent, Democratic Representative Adam Smith.

Sarah Smith is both a member of the local Democratic Party and Democratic Socialists of America. She's run a scrappy grassroots campaign that consists of all volunteers. She also has garnered a reputation as a rare antiwar candidate in the 2018 midterm elections because she views foreign policy as a top issue.

For Part 2 of our interview with Sarah Smith, she discusses her views about the Democratic Party, what she thinks about Democrats who claim corporate money does not influence them, and how she views the Democratic National Committee's recent decision to encourage donations from the employer political action committees of fossil fuel companies.

Later, she shares what she thinks about Democrats, who believe in climate change but will not act meaningfully to combat disruption to the climate. She also talks about why disability rights is a top issue for her campaign.

Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola are joined by Sarah Smith, a Democratic Party candidate running for Congress in Washington's 9th District.

She recently beat the Republican to qualify for the general election against the incumbent, Democratic Representative Adam Smith.

Sarah Smith is both a member of the local Democratic Party and Democratic Socialists of America. She's run a scrappy grassroots campaign that consists of all volunteers. She also has garnered a reputation as a rare antiwar candidate in the 2018 midterm elections because she views foreign policy as a top issue.

In Part 1 of our interview with Sarah Smith, we talk about why she decided to run, why foreign policy is so important to her campaign, and what she thinks about the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel for its occupation of Palestine.

Later, the show's hosts get her thoughts about the war economy, Puerto Rico, and the head tax proposal in Seattle to raise funds for affordable housing, which Amazon defeated.

*Part 2 will be posted on August 22.

Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola discuss the latest bloodshed caused by Israeli military forces and the Saudi Arabia-led coalition backed by the United States, which continues to wage war on Yemen. They wonder if there's some kind of competition.

The episode highlights the assassination attempt against Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, as well as the media coverage of the attempt.

Later in the show, the hosts talk about Alex Jones and the several platforms that banned him and the recent round of primaries, which much of the media treated as a signal that socialism was rejected by voters.

In the final minutes, Rania and Kevin review the August 5 episode of Sacha Baron Cohen's "Who Is America?".

Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola welcome journalist Max Blumenthal, the editor of the Grayzone Project and co-host of the podcast, Moderate Rebels. He recently returned from a reporting trip in Nicaragua.

Nicaragua has experienced violence over the past months, as opponents of President Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas launched an insurrection back in April.

The U.S. government, as Blumenthal reported, laid the groundwork for what has unfolded. He also interviewed Ortega.

Blumenthal describes how he was shocked by the "extent of sadistic violence that was meted out against average supporters of the Sandinistas during the period in which the national police were ordered to stay in their barracks."

He recalls meeting one person after another who was tortured, beaten, or kidnapped and how their stories were overwhelming.

Blumenthal also outlines what he found out about the students who Western media have treated as leaders of democratic uprising, when that is not really the case.

Later in the interview, Blumenthal breaks down how opposition groups set up roadblocks to establish zones of control and strangle the country economically.

Blumenthal goes on to discuss how right-wing Republicans, like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, have helped meddle in Nicaragua, and the impact that U.S. sanctions have had.