For years corporate media outlets accused Cuba, China, Russia, and other US adversaries of attacking spies and diplomats with hi-tech "pulsed microwave weapons" or "directed-energy weapons."

But now the CIA has admitted that "Havana Syndrome" is not caused by attacks by a foreign hostile power, but rather stress or natural causes.

Benjamin Norton interviews Doctor Robert Bartholomew, a medical sociologist and leading expert on mass hysteria and social panics, explains how he predicted this in his 2020 book "Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria."

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LnpaqWVi76U

Robert Bartholomew's website: https://rebartholomew.com

Read my article "CIA's 'Havana Syndrome' conspiracy implodes: Here are media's worst fake news stories": https://benjaminnorton.substack.com/p/cias-havana-syndrome-conspiracy-implodes

Doctor explains CIA's 'Havana Syndrome' conspiracy is mass hysteria - not Russian ray gun attacks

Abby and Robbie discuss the bizarre liberal commemoration of January 6th that rehabilitated Dick Cheney and brought the cast of Hamilton to perform. In the second half of the episode, Abby talks about getting Covid and discussed with Robbie their general thoughts about the pandemic response, vaccinations and increasingly polarized debate over the last two years.

Be sure to listen to part two, about the lockdowns, Robert Malone and exploring the "Great Reset" theory at www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio

Patreon subscribers at the $5 tier get access to an exclusive bonus episode per month.

FOLLOW // twitter.com/AbbyMartin // twitter.com/FluorescentGrey //

Rehabilitating Cheney, Jan 6 QAnon Casualties, Getting Covid Pt 1 of 2

On today's episode Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss the increasingly unstable political environment, as Dr. Wolff writes about in his newest article. He argues that some politicians are denying there are any problems while some find a scapegoat where they can direct people's anger--and both of which are symptoms of the political elite desperately trying to protect the capitalist system.

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can check out his work at rdwolff.com, and read the article here: https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/capitalism.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

An Empire in Decline: Why the Ruling Class Blame Game Will Fail

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is moving ever closer to Russia’s border. Russia views this as an existential threat – and a historic betrayal of key guarantees it was given by the west as the Soviet Union disintegrated. As Biden sends thousands of additional troops to Eastern Europe, the threat of war is growing by the day.

Brian is joined by Eugene Puryear, author and activist, host of the BreakThrough News podcast The Punch Out, and co-host of the BT live video show The Freedom Side.

Watch the video edition of “The Real Story” on BreakThrough News!

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

The Untold History of NATO and Case for Its Abolition

After the triumph of the Soviet Union over fascism in World War Two, world politics was completely transformed. No longer allies in the war against the Axis states, the “democratic” capitalist countries turned on the USSR and formed a global bloc of all the imperialist powers to confront the rising tide of socialist revolution. 

In Part 4 of The Socialist Program’s multi-part series on the history of the Soviet Union, we discuss the emergence of the global class war known as “the Cold War” and key milestones in its early years. This includes the advent of nuclear weapons; the revolutions in China, Korea and Vietnam; the formation of NATO, and more. 

Watch the video edition of “The Real Story” on BreakThrough News!

Brian is joined by Carlos Martinez, author of “The End of the Beginning: Lessons of the Soviet Collapse,” co-founder of the No Cold War Campaign, and editor of the political analysis site Invent-The-Future.org.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Revolution vs. Counter Revolution after World War Two — Lessons of Soviet History, Part 4

With a diplomatic boycott by Western governments, corporate media propaganda has demonized China over the 2022 Winter Olympics. Britain's Financial Times openly declared, "Beijing Winter Olympics: the new front line in the US-China cold war."

Actual China expert Carl Zha joins Multipolarista to pick apart the propaganda and explain what's really happening.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=tysrspp7KOU

Follow Carl on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CarlZha

You can support Carl's Silk and Steel Podcast on Patreon at https://patreon.com/silknsteel

Beijing Winter Olympics: Front line in new cold war on China - with Carl Zha

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how war mongering propaganda against Russia has reached a fever pitch as the United States pushes the crisis in Ukraine to the brink. They also discuss Johnson & Johnson’s decision to halt vaccine production, the attempted lynching of a Black FedEx driver, more racist disenfranchisement, and other stories showing the hollow nature of  so-called democracy under U.S. capitalism. Plus, this episode covers the far-right “trucker protest” in Canada.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

The Fraud of Capitalist Democracy

Puerto Rican public workers are protesting the neoliberal policies imposed by US colonialism and Washington's unelected Financial Oversight and Management Board. 

I speak with Ángel Rodríguez Rivera, president of the Puerto Rican Association of University Professors, about how teachers are rising up, after the minimum wage hasn't increased in 13 years.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=hCKxWXuEYUc

Puerto Ricans rise up against US-imposed austerity, protest poverty wages

On today's In the News roundtable, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss the latest on the dramatic situation unfolding in Ukraine. They also discuss two important historical anniversaries: Richard Nixon visiting Mao Zedong in Beijing 50  years ago, and the assassination of Malcolm X 57 years ago. The panel also covers the far right convoy in Canada, a shooting at a protest in Portland, Daunte Wright’s killer's sentencing, methane plumes seen from space, and more.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Crisis in Ukraine

For the entire discussion, bonus content & to help make the show happen, please join us on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/thekatiehalpershow

Direct link to this broadcast's Patreon podcast (patreon-only content begins at 29min09sec, start there to pick-up where you left off)

Journalist and historian Vijay Prashad (https://twitter.com/vijayprashad) talks about the current conflict in Ukraine and the history that got us there, especially the role of NATO. He also discusses what the Left should be doing right now. 

Then join our callin where Katie will be taking some of your questions [https://www.callin.com/room/ukraine-what-should-the-left-do-about-it-hxuXjCtKXb]

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter (https://independentmediainstitute.org/globetrotter/). He is the chief editor of LeftWord Books (https://mayday.leftword.com/) and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research (https://t.co/evQYuwZXRJ). He is a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (http://en.rdcy.org/). He has written more than 20 books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest book is Washington Bullets, with an introduction by Evo Morales Ayma.

Vijay Prashad on Ukraine, Russia, NATO & The Media

As the Russia-Ukraine war opens a new phase in the Donbas, scholar Richard Sakwa on the absence of diplomacy; the Western media's veneration of Zelensky; the European Union's self-implosion over the war; and the crackdown on dissent in both Ukraine and Russia. 

Guest: Richard Sakwa. Professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent. His books include "Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands” and his latest, “Deception: Russiagate and the New Cold War."

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


Links: 

"'One less traitor': Zelensky oversees campaign of assassination, kidnapping and torture of political opposition"
https://thegrayzone.com/2022/04/17/traitor-zelensky-assassination-kidnapping-arrest-political-opposition/

"Siding with Ukraine's far-right, US sabotaged Zelensky's mandate for peace"
https://mate.substack.com/p/siding-with-ukraines-far-right-us?s=w

"'Al Qaeda Is on Our Side': How Obama/Biden Team Empowered Terrorist Networks in Syria"
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2022/04/20/al_qaeda_is_on_our_side_how_obamabiden_officials_helped_create_a_safe_haven_for_terrorists_in_syria_827477.html

US weapons, European supplicants block peace in Ukraine

News and views about the world for those who want to change it, with Brian Becker

An Empire in Decline: Why the Ruling Class Blame Game Will Fail

The Socialist Program with Brian Becker