The Joe Rogan/Spotify controversy is still going on and has only gotten more vitriolic and intense. Claims that Spotify must walk away from its $200 million contract with the world's most popular podcaster for promoting vaccine misinformation have sparked a lot of debates about freedom of speech, online censorship, what exactly those terms mean, and whether they can be correctly applied to the practice of Silicon Valley deplatforming.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Let's Back Up A Sec And Ask Why Free Speech Actually Matters

The Associated Press has published yet another article based on unevidenced assertions by anonymous government officials about the scary horrifying frightening Russian menace, this time to accuse another media outlet of promoting propaganda. Without a trace of irony.

"U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday accused a conservative financial news website with a significant American readership of amplifying Kremlin propaganda and alleged five media outlets targeting Ukrainians have taken direction from Russian spies," AP reports. "The officials said Zero Hedge, which has 1.2 million Twitter followers, published articles created by Moscow-controlled media that were then shared by outlets and people unaware of their nexus to Russian intelligence. The officials did not say whether they thought Zero Hedge knew of any links to spy agencies and did not allege direct links between the website and Russia."

"The officials briefed The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence sources," AP adds, repeating the refrain we're all familiar with now which is always used to justify a complete absence of evidence or accountability for incendiary claims about governments the United States doesn't like.

Article with relevant hyperlinks: https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/russian-propaganda-means-disputing

Reading by Tim Foley.

"Russian Propaganda" Means Disputing US Propaganda

It's not that the US elects incompetent leaders who make bad decisions that kill millions of people with warfare, it's that the global US empire is held together with military violence and the threat thereof. It's an intrinsically evil institution and you should always oppose it.

It's not that the US government has done evil, it's that the US government is itself evil. The very way it has set itself up to operate in the world necessarily means it must exert endless violence and oppression to keep populations functioning in its interests. That's evil.

The Mafia hasn't happened to make bad decisions throughout its history that resulted in the unfortunate demise of certain individuals, it's an institution explicitly set up to reap profits by exerting and threatening violent force. The US empire is exactly the same. Same evil.

It's not that the American people keep accidentally electing warmongering thugs, anymore than it's an accident that the Mafia is always led by men who are willing to bully and kill. The US empire is an intrinsically thuggish and violent institution, and needs that kind of leader.

The US empire is just a rich man's mafia. And you should want it gone for the exact same reason you don't want your neighborhood to be tyrannized by violent mobsters.

Reading by Tim Foley.

The US Empire Is Evil And You Should Want It To Fail

This discussion was recorded on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, the morning before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Guests:

Michael Kimmage is a History professor at the Catholic University of America. He specializes in the history of the Cold War, in twentieth-century U.S. diplomatic and intellectual history and in U.S.-Russian relations since 1991. From 2014 to 2016, he served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He’s published many books and articles. His most recent book is The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy published by Basic Books.
Marlene Laruelle is the Director, Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at the Eliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University. She’s published many books, most recently Is Russia Fascist? Unraveling Propaganda East and West published by Cornell University Press.
Fyodor Lukyanov is Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs, Chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, the Research Director of the Valdai International Discussion Club and a Research Professor at Higher School of Economics, Moscow. He is the editor of Russia in the Middle East: Viewpoints, Policies, Strategies published by East View.

Russia, Ukraine, and the West

I am convinced that mainstream culture's fascination with World War II has made us all dumber. Everyone just lives in this dopey children's cartoon now where every US enemy is Hitler and they're the brave hero who is fighting Hitler.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Every US Enemy Is Hitler

The Pad Bank Flip it Challenge N° 257
additional drums and bass recorded by meorkat

CXNCLUSIXNS [The Pad Bank Flip it Challenge N° 257]

We're risking a very fast, very radioactive third world war defending the "democracy" of a regime who just banned eleven opposition parties.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Defending Ukrainian "Democracy"

Censorship is supposed to happen in other places, not in the US. – But big tech, in alliance with the state, is silencing Black and other left voices in media. The war in Ukraine is bringing this process into high relief and making a mockery of claims of freedom of expression. Jacqueline Luqman, co-host of the Sputnik program, By Any Means Necessary, explains. Joe Biden traveled to Europe and seemed to advocate for regime change against Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson goes through the confirmation process upon being nominated as a Supreme Court justice.

Black Agenda Radio - April 1, 2022

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters a new phase, former Swiss intelligence officer, senior United Nations official, and NATO advisor Jacques Baud analyzes the conflict and argues that the US and its allies are exploiting Ukraine in a longstanding campaign to bleed its Russian neighbor.   

Guest: Jacques Baud. Former intelligence officer with the Swiss Strategic Intelligence Service who has served in a number of senior security and advisory positions at NATO, the United Nations, and with the Swiss military.   

Jacques Baud's article on the Ukraine war: https://www.thepostil.com/the-military-situation-in-the-ukraine/


Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

US, EU sacrificing Ukraine to 'weaken Russia': fmr. NATO adviser

East New York Community Land Trust reports on NYPD use of vacant land, John Parker's fact finding trip to Russia and Ukraine, and a Greenville, North Carolina organizer explains the significance of African Liberation Day.

Black Agenda Radio May 27, 2022

We live in a time of short-term imperatives and long-term consequences for our actions, with just a few years left to avert climate catastrophe, but a planet transformed for millennia if we fail.

Author Roman Krznaric’s work reflects on these vast timescales and on our place within them. How can we navigate the tension between the need for immediate action and the long view of all human life? How can we, borrowing a phrase from Horace, ‘seize the day’ – not just as individuals, but collectively? What does it mean to be a good ancestor to all those who come after?

In a conversation spanning the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, the poetry of Cicero and the Japanese ‘Future Design Movement’, Aaron Bastani talks to Roman about the conclusions of his book The Good Ancestor.

Novara Audio: Radio for a Different Politics

NovaraFM: How to Be A Good Ancestor w/ Roman Krznaric

Readings of all Caitlin Johnstone's articles, usually by her co-writer Tim Foley.