Moderate Rebels
164 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 626 ratingsModerate Rebels was a political podcast and video show hosted by journalists Max Blumenthal and Benjamin Norton. It ended in January 2022.
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Episodes
How Vice Media normalizes US empire under hipster guise
January 29, 2018 07:21 - 48 minutes - 45 MBMax Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by filmmaker Robbie Martin to discuss how VICE has transformed from a nihilistic hipster magazine into an enormous media empire that propagandizes on behalf of the US empire, dutifully promoting hawkish American foreign policy with an edgy aesthetic. We address the hundreds of millions of dollars of investment Vice Media has received from the world's largest corporate media conglomerates, including 21st Century Fox and Disney, along with the coterie...
Vice Media, normalizing US empire under hipster guise - with Robbie Martin (Ep. 13)
January 29, 2018 07:21 - 48 minutes - 45 MBModerate Rebels episode 13 (Part 1 of 2) - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by filmmaker Robbie Martin to discuss how VICE has transformed from a nihilistic hipster magazine into an enormous media empire that propagandizes on behalf of the US empire, dutifully promoting hawkish American foreign policy with an edgy aesthetic. We address the hundreds of millions of dollars of investment Vice Media has received from the world's largest corporate media conglomerates, including 21st Cen...
Understanding Iran's protests, and the dangers of foreign meddling, with Mazda Majidi (Ep. 12)
January 07, 2018 05:47 - 1 hour - 62 MBModerate Rebels episode 12 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Iranian-American activist Mazda Majidi to discuss the protests in Iran. We analyze the reasons behind the demonstrations, including neoliberal economic policies, internal political contradictions, and crippling US sanctions. This episode details the different factions jockeying for power in Iranian politics, including the Reformists and Principlists, and looks at reactionary opposition forces like the MEK and pro-shah...
Jerusalem, Palestine, and Israelgate, with Ali Abunimah (Ep. 11)
December 14, 2017 09:28 - 1 hour - 64 MBModerate Rebels episode 11 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by journalist Ali Abunimah to discuss Trump's recognition of illegally occupied Jerusalem as the supposed capital of Israel. We also address the situation on the ground in Palestine, and the complicity of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt. We highlight Israelgate: the actual scandal featuring Jared Kushner and Russia. And Ali likewise stresses the importance of independent media in this increasingly restricted pol...
India's specter of fascism: Modi, Hindutva, and the anti-Muslim "war on terror", with Shehla Rashid (Ep. 10)
November 28, 2017 09:20 - 1 hour - 66 MBModerate Rebels episode 10 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Indian activist Shehla Rashid Shora, a leader in the student movement and a prominent leftist organizer. Shehla discusses the growing influence of Hindutva, the far-right Hindu nationalist movement, under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP, and the Nazi-inspired RSS. We analyze the alliance between the far-right governments in the US, India, and Israel, which are all united in their anti-Muslim ...
Zionism and anti-Semitism: Joseph Massad on the sordid historical alliance (Ep. 9)
November 17, 2017 21:37 - 1 hour - 67.4 MBModerate Rebels episode 9 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Columbia University Professor Joseph Massad, a leading expert on Israel-Palestine and Arab politics and intellectual history. Massad details the long history of collaboration between anti-Semites and Zionists. We discuss how Zionism was promoted by Western imperialist governments as a bulwark against socialism, communism, and other leftist movements, and how far-right racist movements look to the Israeli ethnostate as a ...
Puppy memes & Pokemon: How Russiagate went off the rails, with Aaron Maté (Ep. 8)
October 25, 2017 19:58 - 1 hour - 72.9 MBModerate Rebels episode 8 - Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal discuss how the narrative of Russian "hacking" of US politics has gone off the deep end, with supposedly serious news reports on how the Kremlin purportedly used puppy memes and Pokemon to undermine American democracy. We are joined by journalist Aaron Maté to discuss the madness. This episode also features an ad for an upcoming documentary film series, "Russia's Plot to Make America Racist."
South Koreans resist US military presence and war with DPRK (Ep. 7)
October 13, 2017 17:42 - 41 minutes - 39.4 MBModerate Rebels episode 7 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss Donald Trump's genocidal threats against North Korea and the growing anti-war protests in the South against the deployment of the THAAD system and the presence of 28,000 US troops. Max reports on the ground from South Korea capital Seoul, where he interviews Gayoon Baek and Wang-Soon Young, organizers from the activist group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy. They detail how the US has militarized the Korean pe...
Understanding North Korea and US militarization: Dispatch from Seoul, with Wol-san Liem (Ep. 6)
September 21, 2017 07:27 - 58 minutes - 54 MBModerate Rebels episode 6 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss North Korea, the Trump administration's genocidal threats, the bloody history of the "forgotten" Korean War, and how the US has militarized South Korea. Blumenthal reports on-the-ground in Seoul, where he interviews labor organizer Wol-san Liem on anti-war activism, THAAD protests, government repression, and the potential for peace and reunification in the Korean peninsula. TOPICS 0:00 to 15:34 - North Korea 15:34 to 2...
Orb of Evil: Trump's embrace of Saudi Arabia, with Mohammed al-Nimr (Ep. 5)
September 01, 2017 08:29 - 1 hour - 56.9 MBModerate Rebels episode 5 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss how Saudi Arabia is at the heart of Donald Trump's Middle East policy. We are joined by activist Mohammed al-Nimr, the son of the executed dissident Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, to discuss the Saudi regime's attack on the Shia community of Awamiya. Blumenthal and Norton also introduce the semi-regular segment Thought Loser, starring Brookings Institution senior fellow Shadi Hamid, a staunch supporter of NATO and its catastrophic 201...
The war comes home: The racist right after Charlottesville, with Eugene Puryear (Ep. 4)
August 18, 2017 09:26 - 1 hour - 64.1 MBModerate Rebels episode 4 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by activist and author Eugene Puryear. We discuss the white supremacist fascist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and the terror attack on anti-racist protesters. Blumenthal, Norton, and Puryear detail what exactly the alt-right is, how it originates in neo-Confederate politics and the long history of white supremacy in the US, what fuels it, and how it ultimately serves powerful billionaire interests — even while prete...
The sordid history of US proxy war in Syria, with Gareth Porter (Ep. 3)
August 11, 2017 19:45 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBModerate Rebels episode 3 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton interview Gareth Porter, an award-winning investigative journalist who has done extensive reporting on the US proxy war in Syria, and how the CIA program arming and training rebels strengthened al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other extremist Salafi groups. We discuss the military-industrial complex and how billionaire-backed think tanks funded by arms manufacturers and fossil fuel corporations fuel the permanent war state. And we address the h...
End of CIA's Syrian ghost war and al-Qaeda's renaissance (Ep. 2)
August 08, 2017 18:30 - 59 minutes - 54.3 MBModerate Rebels episode 2 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the billion-dollar CIA program arming and training rebels in Syria, detailing how it strengthened extremist groups including ISIS and al-Qaeda. We use mainstream media reports and government documents to conclusively show how the US knew it and its allies Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey were fueling genocidal Salafi militants. Blumenthal and Norton also address how the inability of mainstream liberal parties and politicians ...
Democrats and the Russiagate delusion (Ep. 1)
August 03, 2017 07:56 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBModerate Rebels episode 1 - Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the Democratic Party's obsession with Russia, how this fixation is used to prevent progressive change, the lack of evidence for ambiguous accusations of "Russian interference," and how the neoliberal Resistance™ actively cheers on Trump when he is bombing the Middle East. Show notes: http://moderaterebelsradio.com/russiagate-democrats-episode-1-show-notes/