In this episode we detail the rise of detached "who's winning and who's losing" political analyses that reduces high stakes life and death issues to fodder for ESPN-style navel-gazing. With guest Jack Mirkinson.

Episode 229: Sociopathic 'You Got To Hand it To 'Em' Punditry and the Rise of Politics as Sport

Roger Waters joins the show to talk about Gaza, the UN, free speech & what he wants the president of Colombia to do. Plus, he reacts to the latest crackdowns on speech, the war in Ukraine, & why some musicians are such cowards when it comes to Israel. 

For the full discussion, please join us on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-full-140151702

But first, we're joined by Vaniya Agrawal & Hossam Nasr, two former Microsoft workers who helped pressure the company to bar the Israeli military from using Microsoft services to spy on millions of Palestinian civilian phone calls made each day in Gaza & the occupied West Bank & stored in Microsoft’s vast Azure cloud computing platform. But there's more work to be done, as Microsoft continues to collaborate w/Israel in other ways. 

Of course, we can't leave you hanging on Trump's deal so we will ALSO be joined by Mouin Rabbani & Craig Mokhiber who will break down what's really happening in Gaza.

Roger Waters is a singer, songwriter & musician, best known for being a member of the legendary rock band, Pink Floyd. He's also an outspoken activist for peace, a free Palestine & several other causes that get him in trouble. 

Vaniya is an organizer w/No Azure for Apartheid & ex-Microsoft worker who was terminated for protesting at Microsoft's 50th anniversary keynote event, where she disrupted a panel of current & former Microsoft CEOs including Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, & Steve Ballmer. Since then, she has continued organizing w/NoAA to apply pressure on Microsoft executives to meet workers' demands. Most recently Vaniya was arrested twice last month for participating in encampments on Microsoft campus, & occupying the office of Microsoft President Brad Smith at Microsoft's global headquarters. 

Hossam Nasr is the co-founder of No Azure for Apartheid & a former Microsoft worker. He worked at the company for 3 years before being fired in October last year for organizing a vigil on Microsoft campus for the Palestinians killed in Gaza. Since then, he has organized w/NOAA to pressure Microsoft to end its relationship w/the Israeli military & confronted executives at company events. Most recently Hossam was arrested twice last month after participating in the Liberated Zone encampment on Microsoft's campus & the sit-in at Brad Smith's office.

Mouin Rabbani is a researcher, analyst & commentator specializing in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-Israeli conflict & the contemporary Middle East. He has among other positions previously served as Principal Political Affairs Officer w/the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Head of Middle East w/the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, Senior Middle East Analyst & Special Advisor on Israel-Palestine w/the Int'l Crisis Group. Rabbani is Co-Editor of Jadaliyya & a Contributing Editor of Middle East Report.

Craig Mokhiber is an American former United Nations (UN) human rights official & a specialist in international human rights law, policy, & methodology. On October 28, 2023, Mokhiber stepped down as the director of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In his final letter to High Commissioner, he harshly criticized the organization's response to the war in Gaza, calling Israel's military intervention a "textbook genocide" & accusing the UN of failing to act.

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Roger Waters on Gaza, the UN & Israel’s Final Battle + Trump's Gaza Plan & Microsoft Victory

We're joined by Palestinian novelist, writer and activist Susan Abulhawa, political scientist John Mearsheimer and Dr. Dhiaa Daoud, MD, an emergency medicine physician currently aboard a humanitarian flotilla to Gaza, joining healthcare workers, journalists, and international parliament members to break the siege and shed light on the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

For the full discussion, please join us on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-full-dr-140709512

Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian-American writer and activist whose novels, including Mornings in Jenin and Against the Loveless World, have been translated into dozens of languages and widely acclaimed. She is also the founder of Playgrounds for Palestine and the Palestine Writes literary festival.

John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and a leading realist scholar of international relations. A West Point graduate and former U.S. Air Force officer, he is the author of numerous influential works on U.S. foreign policy and power politics.

Dr. Dhiaa Daoud is a Palestinian-American emergency physician and humanitarian. His work in Gaza during the 2024 war inspired him to found the Doctors for Hope Foundation, which provides medical care and rebuilds essential infrastructure. He is currently aboard a humanitarian flotilla to Gaza.

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John Mearsheimer on the End of Israel, Susan Abulhawa on October 7

Katie catches up with Palestinian-American physician Dr. Dhiaa Daoud, who joined the show last week from the freedom flotilla, to talk about being kidnapped and tortured by the IDF. They're also joined by Tommy Marcus, a Jewish-American activist and the creator of the viral Instagram account Quentin Quarantino who was also kidnapped and tortured from another flotilla. But first Katie talks to Palestinian-American grandmother and activist Janine Ali and her lawyer, Palestinian-American free speech attorney Jenin Younes. Janine is being falsely accused of choking a member of the zionist extremist organization Betar, which is famous for harassing, doxxing and presenting people with pagers, in a reference to Israel's terrorist pager attack in Lebanon. 

For the full discussion, please join us on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-full-dr-141249387


At 73, Janine Ali is a dedicated activist and proud Palestinian American. A retired professional, she is the mother of four and the grandmother of eleven, cherishing her family while passionately advocating for peace. Since the 1980s, Janine has been a vocal advocate for peace, speaking out against the bombings in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the war in Iraq and Bosnia. She has volunteered in many Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and Lebanon, providing support and compassion to those in need. Janine was also part of the 24/7 peace vigil in front of the home of then Secretary of State Antony Blinken from January 26- July 26 2024. Since October 7, she has spent her time demonstrating against the genocide in Gaza, working tirelessly to bring awareness to the American public about the atrocities being committed by Israel and striving to educate others and foster understanding. Janine channels her energy and experience into making a positive impact in her community through peaceful means.

Jenin Younes is a civil liberties and free speech attorney and is National Legal Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.  She is on the defense team representing Janine Ali.

Tommy Marcus is the creator of the viral Instagram account Quentin Quarantino. He set out to create a meme page during the pandemic, but has since used his Instagram fame to raise more than $30 million for humanitarian causes. He was aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying aid to Palestinians when they were arrested by Israeli naval forces. Tommy and his fellow Jewish-American friend David Adler were singled out and forced to be filmed with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir when the convoy was intercepted. Tommy spent 5 days in an Israeli prison and returned home to Los Angeles on Friday. 

Dr. Dhiaa Daoud is a Palestinian-American emergency physician and humanitarian. His work in Gaza during the 2024 war inspired him to found the Doctors for Hope Foundation, which provides medical care and rebuilds essential infrastructure. He recently returned from a humanitarian flotilla to Gaza.


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Israel's DESPERATE Final Attack With Jenin Younes, Quentin Quarantino, Janine Ali & Dr. Dhiaa Daoud

In this News Brief, we are joined by Matthew Cunningham-Cook to discuss his recent media analysis of "embedded reports" of ICE raids that prime the public for brutal crackdowns on undocumented immigrants. 

News Brief: Media Helps Sell ICE Raids with Zero Dark Thirty Ride-Along Schlock

Katie speaks to Human Rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber about the Gaza Tribunal being held in Istanbul October 23-26, which Craig helped organize and Katie will be covering. Katie will also be delivering testimony on the media’s complicity in the genocide. Then Katie speaks to three people arrested for protesting the UK’s Draconian Terror Laws, which make it illegal to support proscribed organizations like Palestine Action, a direct action group from the UK and has targeted and sabotaged the Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems factories. All three are Jewish and the descendents of Holocaust survivors: Colonel Chris Romberg is a former Army officer and  defence attache with the UK embassies in Jordan and Egypt. His family fled Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938. Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi is a Jewish activist and former Labor Party electee, as well as the cofounder of Jewish Voice for Labour. Carolyn Gelenter is a longtime activist since the Vietnam war and is also the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

For the full discussion, please join us on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/posts/israels-veterans-141778520

Craig Mokhiber is an American former United Nations (UN) human rights official and a specialist in international human rights law, policy, and methodology. On October 28, 2023, Mokhiber stepped down as the director of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In his final letter to High Commissioner, he harshly criticized the organization's response to the war in Gaza, calling Israel's military intervention a "textbook genocide" and accusing the UN of failing to act.


**Please support The Katie Halper Show **
For bonus content, exclusive interviews, to support independent media & to help make this program possible, please join us on Patreon -   / thekatiehalpershow  

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Israel’s Ceasefire DESTROYED, Veterans ARRESTED Supporting Gaza w/ Craig Mokhiber & Col. Romberg

In this News Brief, we detail how the AP, Atlantic, Washington Post and New York Times are accepting Trump's framing that his attacks on Venezuela and Colombia are about "going after drug cartels" when it's clear they are—based on Trump's own words—about controlling Venezuela's oil.

News Brief: As Trump Attacks Venezuela, Media Takes His Absurd “Drug War” Pretext at Face Value

UPDATE: Israel has refused to release Mohammed. The next hearing in November 9. Visit https://palestine.salsalabs.org/actionjuly31/index.html to take action to demand his release. 

Katie speaks to Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the African People's Socialist Party, about the two party system, colonialism and white power in Black faces. Plus the 17th Annual Black People’s March on the White House happening November 1st  followed by a conference on Sunday, November 2. This year’s theme: “Don’t Agonize, Organize! Info on the march is here: https://blackisbackcoalition.org/ 

Katie then talks to Zeyad Kadur about his nephew Sayfollah Musallet, a 20 year old American citizen who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and his nephew Mohammed Ibrahim, a 16 year old American Citizen who is languishing in an Israeli prison where he has been kept since early 2025. 

Then Katie speaks to Samuel Biagetti, a historian and host of the Historysplaining podcast about the end of the unipolar world order.

For the full discussion, please join us on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-full-142300885

**Please support The Katie Halper Show **
For bonus content, exclusive interviews, to support independent media & to help make this program possible, please join us on Patreon -   / thekatiehalpershow  

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Israel EXPOSED, Black People’s March & The End of the New World Order,_Sam_Biagetti_&_Zeyad_Kadur_Public_Podcast

In this Live Show Beg-a-Thon from 10/13, we are joined by Justin Feldman to discuss the rise of MAHA, the broader Granola-to-Fascist Pipeline and how corporate-written food policies and our shitty for-profit medical system fuel hucksterism.


Citations Needed Live Show Beg-a-Thon: MAHA, TikTok and the Rise of Health-Branded Fascism

The Katie Halper Show celebrated Zohran’s election night with a flashback to his November 2023 appearence — long before he announced he was running for mayor when he was doing a hunger strike as assemblyman. Katie was at Zohran's election night party in Brooklyn, which you can hear all about at her special livestream on YouTube tonight Thursday November 6th featuring Sumaya Awad and Beth Miller.

**Please support The Katie Halper Show **
For bonus content, exclusive interviews, to support independent media & to help make this program possible, please join us on Patreon -   / thekatiehalpershow  

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Zohran Mamdani on Israel, America & Political Hypocrisy

My nine-year-old memorized my new MMT song less than twenty-four hours after I wrote it. Original:

https://soundcloud.com/peopleconversations/verymodelmmt

[PRE ACTIVIST #MMT] - I Am The Very Model Of A MMT - 9 - Year - Old Squeaky remix

A podcast about real-world economics, including Modern Money Theory, and how life changes when you discover it.

Hosted by third-year MMT activist, Jeff Epstein.

This SoundCloud channel was formerly called People Conversations, by Citizens' Media TV (CMTV). All People Conversations interviews remain intact in this channel. Any MMT articles I write remain hosted on the CMTV website: https://citizensmediatv.wordpress.com/

[PRE ACTIVIST #MMT] - I Am The Very Model Of A MMT - 9 - Year - Old Squeaky remix

Activist #MMT - the podcast