Failed State Update
137 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★ - 15 ratingsStories and conversations from the end of America.
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My book NEW AGE GRIFTER: THE TRUE STORY OF GABRIEL OF URANTIA AND HIS COSMIC FAMILY is available for preorder *now* from Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/new-age-grifter-the-true-story-of-gabriel-of-urantia-and-his-cosmic-family/9781627311106 Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/failedstateupdate/support
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Episodes
75. The Occult Aspects of the Failed State: Livestream w/Anima Noira
September 07, 2022 01:36 - 1 hour - 39.9 MBThe United States is failing fast, taking many of its most storied institutions with it. As a child of the former Soviet Union, occult artist @AnimaNoira has seen this all before. Watch us discuss magick and decline live tonight! Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glqt06mGrco Sign up for the Failed State Update Newsletter: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnimaNoira Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anima.noira/ website: http...
74. The King of Stolen Valor and Other Weird Stories w/Oki
June 30, 2022 18:39 - 53 minutes - 30.7 MBOki is a Canadian documentarian with a keen eye for unusual subject matter. We spoke to him back in January when he infiltrated a cabal of conspiracy theorists who use hypnosis to "prove" that there is a secret space program operating throughout the universe. His latest doc, The King of Stolen Valor, is a must-see. It is the story of Jonathan "Jack" Idema, a former U.S. Army non-commissioned officer who was found guilty of running a private prison in Afghanistan and torturing Afghan citizens...
73. Ravi, Mind Control Victim in Silicon Valley
June 29, 2022 03:40 - 42 minutes - 24.1 MBRavi lives in Silicon Valley, he's a former Google employee, and he’s a Targeted Individual. That is, he believes he has been the subject of high-tech surveillance and harassment. Whatever the cause of the trauma he has experienced, the trauma is very real. “I felt like committing a crime” at one point, he says. “I felt like avenging what happened to me.” But after learning that there is a whole community of people like him out there, he doesn’t feel so alone anymore. Besides, to do somethi...
72. Lucien Greaves on the Satanic Temple, fire bombing, modern day witch hunts, and more
June 24, 2022 01:31 - 1 hour - 39.9 MBLong-time friend of the show Lucien Greaves will be on FSU tonight. What will be talking about? The arson at the Satanic Temple's HQ? Probably. Sovereign Citizen death threats? Youbetcha. Satanic Panic? That is to be expected. Lucien Greaves on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucienGreaves Failed State Update on Twitter: https://twitter.com/failedstatenews Check out Failed State Update, the website: http://failedstateupdate.com Sign up for the newsletter: http://lennyflatley.substack.com -...
71. A Failed Coup and a Failed Reality TV Show with Rocco Castoro and Emily Molli
June 16, 2022 01:35 - 1 hour - 49.8 MBWe keep hoping that the Trump administration will become old news, but the stories of its incompetence and corruption keep coming. One of our favorites is Seven Days in January, a new podcast about Mark Burnett and Elizabeth Koch's failed attempt to turn the Presidential Inauguration into a reality series for Amazon Studios. According to our guests, the deal "evaporated as quickly as it appeared, leaving ominous questions to linger around F.T.C. oversight of Amazon’s $8.5 billion MGM Studios...
70. Jack Brewer's UFO Trail (livestream)
June 13, 2022 22:27 - 1 hour - 35.7 MBJack Brewer is a freelance writer with a longtime interest in the UFO genre. He maintains the blog "The UFO Trail," where he posts credible info on incredible topics. Brewer is the author of "The Greys Have Been Framed: Exploitation in the UFO Community," in which he explores how public perception of the UFO phenomenon has been distorted by the intelligence community and suspect researchers. Neither a debunker nor a believer, Brewer integrates objectivity and critical thinking into his writi...
69. Douglas P. Horne on Operation Northwoods and lies the Pentagon tells us
June 09, 2022 00:49 - 1 hour - 38.8 MBDouglas P. Horne is a former staffer for the Assassination Records Review Board and the author of several books, including Inside the Assassination Records Review Board. In this episode of Failed State Update, J.G. and Douglas discuss Operation Northwoods, the Pentagon's (very real) plan to down aircraft, blow up ships, or possibly kill American civilians as a pretext for an invasion of Cuba. President Kennedy, wisely, thought the whole thing was nuts and prevented it from happening. Northw...
68. Gabriel of Urantia Warns of the Apocalypse… But This Time We're Afraid He Means It
May 06, 2022 16:24 - 50 minutes - 34.9 MBIn Tumacácori, Arizona, a stone’s throw from the U.S. border with Mexico, roughly 85 “destiny reservists” await their fate. They are the followers of Gabriel of Urantia. Born Anthony J. Delevin in Pittsburgh in 1946, Gabriel’s life work is a community known as the Global Community Communications Alliance (GCCA). They live in a compound in the desert where they raise animals, harvest hemp, and study their prophet’s teachings. This is all in preparation for the end of this world, and the comin...
67. Failed State (Cult) Jukebox with Mark Jacobson (Pale Horse Rider) and Shy Boyz
April 22, 2022 22:18 - 1 hour - 63.7 MBWe had so much fun doing the Failed State Jukebox a few weeks ago that we thought we'd try it again. Thanks to my (Lenny's) terrific administrative skills, J.G. Michael wasn't on the call. But don't worry, he'll be back next week! With author and journalist Mark Jacobson as our guide, we prevailed through 90 minutes of cult music, including: TaliasVan & the Bright & Morning Star Band: Let's Be Lovers (live) Jeremy Spencer: Can You Hear The Song Charles Manson: Cease to Exist The Beach ...
66. Daniel Muessig, "real-life Saul Goodman" going to prison
April 08, 2022 17:17 - 2 hours - 90.1 MBDaniel Muessig is a Pittsburgh folk hero, mostly because of his over-the-top ad for his law practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_iaugcJW7Q Any day now he will go to prison for five years for conspiring to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and possession of marijuana. He was busted by an FBI task force who ID'd him through a wiretap. Of course he broke the law, but should we be sending anyone to jail over marijuana? The fact is, even though we live in a world where marij...
65. Edward Ahmed Mitchell on the Private Surveillance of Muslim-Americans
March 24, 2022 01:03 - 41 minutes - 28.7 MBIn this episode of Failed State Update, J.G. Michael speaks with Edward Ahmed Mitchell, Deputy Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations about a scandal involving CAIR's Ohio chapter and a right-wing outfit called the Investigative Project on Terrorism. There is evidence that IPT has been spying on Muslim-American activists and working with the state of Israel to target American students activists. It's a bombshell story, one that's only going to get crazier as more details emerg...
64. Failed State Jukebox with Charles Ochelli and J.G. Michael
March 10, 2022 02:16 - 1 hour - 48.5 MBFailed State Jukebox is a regular item on the Failed State Update website where we look at dystopian pop music. Usually, it's far-right or conspiracy-themed, which is both disturbing and hilarious. These are fun articles, but there's a point to them. The right-wing culture industry tells us something about a sector of the American public usually ignored by the mainstream. In today's episode of the podcast, co-hosts J.G. Michael and Joseph L. Flatley are joined by Charles Ochelli, the host o...
63. Fuck A War with Eric Draitser, J.G. Michael
February 25, 2022 21:21 - 42 minutes - 29.5 MBRussia has invaded Ukraine, and what more is there to be said, besides: Fuck war and fuck imperialism. (Well, there is a little more than that to be said, and J.G. Michael has Eric Draitser on the show to say it.) Eric Draitser is an independent political analyst and host of CounterPunch Radio. You can find his exclusive content including articles, podcasts, audio commentaries, poetry, and more at patreon.com/ericdraitser. He can be reached at @stopimperialism on Twitter. Please be sure ...
62. Wayne Madsen on Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, and the Fascist Fourth Reich
February 24, 2022 00:24 - 1 hour - 52 MBWayne Madsen is an investigative journalist, the author of twenty-one books, and the publisher of The Wayne Madsen Report. His latest book is The Rise of the Fascist Fourth Reich: The Era of Trumpism and the New Far-Right. Stories about Wayne Madsen on Failed State Update: "Did Wayne Madsen uncover a 2016 ‘Stop the Steal’ Plot?" "Wayne Madsen on the New Fourth Reich" Make sure you check out J.G.'s other podcast, Parallax Views. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify....
JG and Lenny stop by the Ochelli Communications Worldwide Studio
February 11, 2022 21:31 - 58 minutes - 33.5 MBOn February 10, Failed State Update co-hosts Joseph L. Flatley and JG Michael appeared on The Ochelli Effect live to discuss current events, conspiracy theories, JFK, Ozzy Osbourne, and more. Unfortunately, someone messed up the recording of the after-show that we did (that person being Joseph L. Flatley), but we do have the show itself here for your listening pleasure. If you dig it, please check out Chuck Ochelli's podcast, The Ochelli Effect, live at ochelli.com or on your podcast app of ...
61. the CIA, FBI, UFOs and NICAP... and Jack Brewer
February 10, 2022 02:49 - 1 hour - 39.2 MBWhat do UFOs, the CIA, the conflict in Ukraine, and the Philadelphia Experiment have in common? Tune in to find out! Jack Brewer writes "The UFO Trail", a blog dedicated to publishing credible info on incredible topics. Brewer's research interests include the UFO subculture, the intelligence community, and related social dynamics, and he's here to discuss all these topics as well as his new book Wayward Sons: NICAP and the IC. NEW! INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT: https://roundtable.io/failed-state-u...
60. The Finders: The Movie featuring Boys' Bible Study (the podcast) (BONUS EPISODE)
February 08, 2022 21:13 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBIn this episode of Failed State Update, Joseph L. "Lenny" Flatley goes toe-to-toe with the hosts of the Boys' Bible Study podcast. The Bible Boys, as we like to call them, wade deep into the murky waters of the Christian pop culture industry, reviewing the weirdest and most interesting independently produced films with a certain message. Since that message often includes far-right and Christian nationalist propaganda, their reviews should be of particular interest to Failed State Update list...
59. Spencer Sunshine on Oath Keepers, militias, and left antisemitism
January 27, 2022 04:08 - 1 hour - 46.8 MBYou're in for a treat! For this edition of Failed State Update: The Podcast, J.G. Michael interviews author and extremism expert Spencer Sunshine on the Oath Keepers' role in January 6, the militia movement in general, and what happens when antisemites infiltrate leftist politics. Also, Joseph L. Flatley tells you about his recent reporting on sovereign citizens (and Satanists), and JG tells you what you can find on his other podcast, Parallax Views. Failed State Update: The Website: https...
58. Alfred W. McCoy: To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change
January 11, 2022 00:22 - 1 hour - 60.9 MBRegular listeners of Failed State Update are in for a real treat. Our guest, Alfred W. McCoy, is an American historian and educator. Currently the Fred Harvey Harrington Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he specializes in the history of the Philippines, foreign policy of the United States, European colonization of Southeast Asia, the illegal drug trade, and CIA covert operations. His most recent book is To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change. An...
57. John Zerzan: When We Are Human
December 19, 2021 14:54 - 53 minutes - 49 MBIs the United States collapsing, or is all of civilization collapsing? To explore that question we bring you John Zerzan, an anarchist and primitivist author whose work has been compared to Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, of all people. His books offer an alternative vision of history that focuses on the destructive nature of technology. And more importantly — and this is why we spoke to him — his work suggests a possible future free of the alienation and control of capitalism-run-amok. His most r...
56. Tom Mellett on Arthur Young, Pseudoscience (or not), and the Cult of UFO Twitter
October 31, 2021 00:22 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBTom Mellett is a retired high school teacher of math and physics who delights in trolling UFO Twitter and Facebook because their emotional maturity is at a 9th grade level (as he puts it). He is also a cat butler in Los Angeles. We got on the phone after my story "The New Intergalactic Cold War" caused a (quite brief) firestorm on Twitter last week, and fortunately I recorded the conversation, because it really is podcast gold. On this episode of FAILED STATE UPDATE Tom and I discuss the ph...
55. Sherry Shriner’s Deadly Anti-New World Order Online Doomsday Cult
October 16, 2021 16:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBAnthony Russo is the author of Dragged Into the Light: Truthers, Reptilians, Super Soldiers, and Death Inside an Online Cult, and for the next fifty-three minutes we'll discuss his book about Sherry Shriner, an online cult leader in rural Ohio who preached a bizarre combination of reptilian conspiracies, orgone energy pseudoscience, and discredited "bible code" theories. She briefly made headlines in 2017 when one of her followers was murdered by another former follower. Shriner died earlier...
54. Havana Affair (feat. the CIA, crickets, and conspiracy theorists)
October 04, 2021 19:46 - 51 minutes - 47.2 MBHavana Syndrome is back in the news. On the one hand, it's clearly a psychogenic illness that's being misdiagnosed as the result of commie death rays. On the other hand, by treating it as an attack by America's enemies, politicians can use it to help further their foreign policy objectives. Which side do you think the media is going to take? Robert E. Bartholomew is a native New Yorker who teaches history at Botany College in Auckland, New Zealand. His many books include The Martians Have L...
53. R. Kelly Found Guilty Of Racketeering And Sex Trafficking
September 28, 2021 01:13 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBREPOST: After decades of accusations and a weeks-long federal trial, R. Kelly has been found guilty of charges including sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, racketeering and sex trafficking that will put him in prison from 10 years to life. I figure now is as good a time as any to repost this interview with journalist Jim Derogatis, who did as much as anyone to put him in jail. For fifteen years, DeRogatis was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. It was while there that Jim ...
52. The Lyndon LaRouche Cult of Intelligence w/Marley Clements
September 20, 2021 21:12 - 59 minutes - 54.3 MBThe subject of political cults continues with Marley Clements, a writer, producer, and documentary filmmaker whose work includes Active Measures (2018) and QAnon: The Search for Q (2021). Her company Bunker Crew Media is responsible for the Kremlin File podcast. Kremlin File: https://pod.co/kremlin-file Erica Duggan on Lyndon LaRouche & the Mysterious Death of Her Son Jeremiah Duggan (Parallax Views podcast): https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/ep-62-erica-duggan-on-lyndon-larouche-the-mys...
51. MOVE (the cult) w/former member Kevin Price (3/3)
September 17, 2021 20:00 - 1 hour - 100 MBMOVE is a radical Black communal organization founded in 1972 in Philadelphia, best known for the 1985 firebombing in which 11 members (including 5 children under the age of 14) were murdered by law enforcement. These days, the group lives on as a "political cult," as former member Kevin Price reveals in his blog, Leaving MOVE. In part one of the series, Kevin gives the true history of the group as it morphed from what was considered to be a Black liberation group to a political cult. In par...
50. MOVE (the cult) w/former member Kevin Price (Part 2)
September 12, 2021 23:00 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MBMOVE is a radical Black communal organization founded in 1972 in Philadelphia, best known for the 1985 firebombing in which 11 members (including 5 children under the age of 14) were murdered by law enforcement. These days, the group lives on as a "political cult," as former member Kevin Price reveals in his blog, Leaving MOVE. In part one of the series, Kevin gives the true history of the group as it transformed from what was considered to be a Black liberation group to a political cult. In...
50. MOVE (the cult) w/former member Kevin Price (2/3)
September 12, 2021 23:00 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MBMOVE is a radical Black communal organization founded in 1972 in Philadelphia, best known for the 1985 firebombing in which 11 members (including 5 children under the age of 14) were murdered by law enforcement. These days, the group lives on as a "political cult," as former member Kevin Price reveals in his blog, Leaving MOVE. In part one of the series, Kevin gives the true history of the group as it morphed from what was considered to be a Black liberation group to a political cult. In par...
49. MOVE (the cult) w/former member Kevin Price (1/3)
August 31, 2021 11:41 - 59 minutes - 54.9 MBMOVE is a radical Black communal organization founded in 1972 in Philadelphia, best known for the 1985 firebombing in which 11 members (including 5 children under the age of 14) were murdered by law enforcement. These days, the group lives on as a "political cult," as former member Kevin Price reveals in his blog, Leaving MOVE. In part one of the series, Kevin gives the true history of the group as it morphed from what was considered to be a Black liberation group to a political cult. In par...
49. MOVE (the cult) w/former member Kevin Price (Part 1)
August 31, 2021 11:41 - 59 minutes - 54.9 MBMOVE is a radical Black communal organization founded in 1972 in Philadelphia, best known for the 1985 firebombing in which 11 members (including 5 children under the age of 14) were murdered by law enforcement. These days, the group lives on as a "political cult," as former member Kevin Price reveals in his blog, Leaving MOVE. In part one of the series, Kevin gives the true history of the group as it transformed from what was considered to be a Black liberation group to a political cult. In...
48. New Age Grifter: Joshua Lilly (preview)
August 26, 2021 12:00 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBJoshua Lilly is a former follower of Gabriel of Urantia, the subject of my book New Age Grifter. He’s also something of a “fan favorite,” so — due to popular demand — I am giving him an (almost 2 hours long!) episode of the FAILED STATE UPDATE podcast to tell us about his life and times in (and out of) a religious cult. This is a preview of an episode for FAILED STATE UPDATE newsletter subscribers. To subscribe for free, go to: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/ My book on the group, title...
47. New Age Grifter: The True Story of Gabriel of Urantia
August 24, 2021 12:00 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBNew Age Grifter is the story of Gabriel of Urantia, a self-proclaimed holy man who currently presides over a spiritual community (some call it a cult) in the desert of Southern Arizona. In a fenced-in compound, three generations of the Global Community Communications Alliance soak in Gabriel's teachings as they wait for the end of the world. My book on the group, titled New Age Grifter: The True Story of Gabriel of Urantia and his Cosmic Family is out today. Amazon link: https://www.amazo...
46. The Socioeconomics of Cults and QAnon
August 19, 2021 01:55 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBLess than a week until my book NEW AGE GRIFTER: THE TRUE STORY OF GABRIEL OF URANTIA AND HIS COSMIC FAMILY is released, and to get you in the mood I'm sharing a conversation that I had today on, of all things, the YouTube Grassroots #YangGang Show. We discussed the book a little bit, as wells things like: "What is the difference between conspiracy theory and conspiracy fact?" "How is Alex Jones a con artist?" And my favorite, "Does poverty lead to cults and QAnon?" Check out the rest of the ...
45. Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick Director Steven Intermill
August 15, 2021 20:31 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBRaymond Buckland founded The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick in 1966. After visiting the late Gerald Gardner and his collection on the Isle of Man, Raymond was inspired to start a collection of his own. While working for British Airways, he was able to acquire many of the artifacts in this collection from all around the world. He initially displayed his museum on a few shelves in the basement of his Long Island, N.Y. home. However, over time, Raymond’s witchcraft collection rapidly ...
44. Danny Casolaro and the Surveillance State
August 02, 2021 02:23 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBJoseph Daniel Casolaro (everyone knew him as Danny) was a journalist who died in Martinsburg, West Virginia, thirty years ago this August. He was in town working on a book tentatively titled The Octopus, which promised to tie together damn near every conspiracy theory of the decade: including the October Surprise, Iran-Contra, and the FEMA concentration camps. When Casolaro was found dead in room 517 of the Sheraton Hotel, his wrists slashed with a razor blade, the medical examiner ruled th...
43. Lucien Greaves on multiple personalities, TikTok, and conspiracy therapists
July 28, 2021 12:00 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBA story crossed my desk recently: "Inside TikTok’s booming dissociative identity disorder community" (Input Magazine, July 6). The author, Jessica Lucas, looks at the unique world of social media influencers with multiple personalities. While it provides a unique look at a fascinating subculture, it does not portray the truth about Dissociative Identity Disorder (the clinical name for multiple personalities) and how the diagnosis has been abused by therapists over the years. Not only are t...
BONUS EPISODE: Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention
June 28, 2021 18:17 - 10 minutes - 9.27 MBMy book Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention: Manchurian Candidates, Recovered Memories, and the Dark Side of Conspiracy Culture is finally available as an audiobook! From the back cover blurb: Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention looks at the role that conspiracy theories play in American life and the current political climate. The audiobook begins at a convention for therapists who uncover “memories” of past lives, extraterrestrials, and government mind-control operations. From ...
42. Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention
June 28, 2021 18:17 - 10 minutes - 9.27 MBMy book Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention: Manchurian Candidates, Recovered Memories, and the Dark Side of Conspiracy Culture is finally available as an audiobook! From the back cover blurb: Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention looks at the role that conspiracy theories play in American life and the current political climate. The audiobook begins at a convention for therapists who uncover “memories” of past lives, extraterrestrials, and government mind-control operations. From ...
41. What to expect from President Biden (feat. War and Corruption)
February 19, 2021 18:21 - 55 minutes - 51.3 MBIn the first half of this episode, I speak with Branko Marcetic, a staff writer for Jacobin magazine and a 2019-2020 Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting Fellow at In These Times. He is the author of Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden. After the flip, I speak with Jeremy Kuzmarov, J.P. Walker assistant professor of history at University of Tulsa and the author of The Myth of the Addicted Army: Vietnam and the Modern War on Drugs and Modernizing Repression: Poli...
40. Payday Report w/Mike Elk
February 01, 2021 22:02 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBIt's the big FOUR-OH! and today I'm speaking with Mike Elk, labor reporter and the founder (in 2016) of Payday Report, a crowdfunded news agency focusing on labor and union news. In this interview we talk about the importance of independent media, getting past the over-intellectualization of left-labor reporting, and the shocking reality of sexual harassment in unions. Payday Report website: https://paydayreport.com/ Mike Elk on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeElk Joseph L. Flatley websi...
39. Lucien Greaves on that NY Mag whitewash of dangerous pseudoscience
January 20, 2021 03:19 - 1 hour - 57.5 MBThe notion of "repressed memories" has been widely discredited, yet it stubbornly persists—on trash TV, in poorly researched self-help books, and now on New York Magazine's website. In this episode of Failed State Update, Lucien Greaves, the co-founder of The Satanic Temple, breaks down "The Memory War" by Katie Heaney, a weird example of pro-conspiracy theory agitprop that has more to do with QAnon than legitimate reportage. "The Memory War" by Katie Heaney: https://www.thecut.com/amp/arti...
38. Mark Jacobson: QAnon, crisis cults, LSD cults, and more
January 17, 2021 23:28 - 1 hour - 63.8 MBThe return of Mark Jacobson. We expand on our previous conversation to talk about the zeitgeist. We get into QAnon, the Ghost Dance, and of course, Bill Cooper. Mark Jacobson on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/palehorseriderbook/ Pale Horse Rider music video by William Cooper (the rapper): https://youtu.be/Mp5pSU5jYC0 Joseph L. Flatley website: https://www.lennyflatley.net Joseph L. Flatley twitter: https://twitter.com/lennyflatley Coming soon! My latest book, New Age Grifter. Ava...
37. Mark Jacobson, author of Pale Horse Rider
January 17, 2021 23:11 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBWe are living in a time of unprecedented distrust in America… Faith in the government is at an all-time low, and political groups on both sides of the aisle are able to tout preposterous conspiracy theories as gospel, without much opposition. “Fake news” is the order of the day. This book is about a man to whom all of it points, the greatest conspiracist of this generation and a man you may not have heard of. A former U.S. naval intelligence worker, Milton William Cooper published his mani...
36. Jared Yates Sexton dissects the face of contemporary fascism (repost!)
January 15, 2021 02:27 - 1 hour - 81.5 MBJared Yates Sexton has been an important voice decrying the little Hitler in the White House (for one more week) and the future, not-so-little Hitlers that are on the horizon if we don't wise up quick. His message is more important than ever, so I'm reposting two of his appearances here in case you missed 'em the first time... Check out Jared's Bourbon Talk podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jsexton3 ...and, of course, follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JYSexton Jare...
35. Stuart Schrader / Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing (repost)
January 11, 2021 02:21 - 57 minutes - 52.8 MBStuart Schrader is a Lecturer/Assistant Research Scientist in Sociology at Johns Hopkins University and the author of Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing. In this episode of Failed State Update, we talk about the little-understood facts that the United States is an empire, and that what our police do at home has a striking resemblance to what our military does overseas. Of course, this has some very serious implications for the current resistanc...
34. Vincent Bevins / The Jakarta Method (repost)
January 11, 2021 02:18 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MBClearly, the American Empire is clocking out — it's anybody's guess whether it will go with a whimper or with a bang, but it seems likely that we'll know the answer to that question relatively soon. But what did it take to forge this empire in the first place, and how can it be that so many Americans are unaware that this imperium even exists? In the latest episode of Failed State Update, I will be speaking with Vincent Bevins, a journalist and the author of the recently released The Jakarta...
33. Barbarians at the Capitol Gates w/William Arkin and Vincent Scotti Eirene
January 08, 2021 03:19 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBSo, we couldn't go a week into the new year without a constitutional crisis... I'm disappointed in us, but I'm not surprised. In order to help understand what the hell exactly happened, I spoke to William Arkin, veteran national security reporter and prolific author. He's been on top of this story from the very beginning (indeed, from before the beginning) and you can see his reporting in the pages of Newseek or on its website: https://www.newsweek.com/authors/william-m-arkin-1 In this epis...
32. Get Thee Behind Me, Santa w/Doomsday Prophet Pastor Harry Walther
December 24, 2020 17:30 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBI didn't set out to present a Christmas episode of this podcast, but when the talk got around to the harmful nature of the Santa Claus myth, I knew I had a timely program. Pastor Harry Walther is the founder of The Church of Philadelphia-Internet and host of Doomsday Talk Radio. I met him in 2012 while filming a series of videos for The Verge about American end times beliefs. In this episode of Failed State Update, Harry and I talk about why The End didn't happen on December 21, 2012, and w...
31. Conversation with a Targeted Individual
December 11, 2020 03:23 - 36 minutes - 33.4 MBThere is an internet community of people that call themselves Targeted Individuals. These people claim that they're being surveilled and harassed by the U.S. government or other unknown entities. Sometimes this activity is called "gangstalking" because, unlike traditional stalking, the harassment involves teams of people. Fears of gangstalking seem to me to be motivated by, among other things, the same anxieties that create UFO abduction narratives and QAnon theorists. This episode of FSU ...
30. State of Emergence(y) w/Antero Alli
December 06, 2020 22:24 - 1 hour - 61.7 MBAre we living in a failed state? And if so, so what? Between the environment, pandemic, and everything else that 2020 has given us, I think it's probably high time that we look at ourselves in the mirror and decide what's really important. And if you're of a spiritual or metaprogrammatical bent, you could probably learn a thing or several from Antero Alli. His latest book, State of Emergence, covers his experiments in group ritual. It's one part Jerzy Grotowski, one part Carl Jung, and 100% ...