Latest Michael isikoff Podcast Episodes
Skullduggery's Jan. 6 Farewell (w/ Rep. Jamie Raskin and Judge J. Michael Luttig)
Skullduggery - December 24, 2022 05:32 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 2K ratingsMaryland Congressman Jamie Raskin laid out the four criminal referrals the January 6th Committee made to the DOJ recommending that Donald J. Trump and others be investigated for the events relating to the attack on the US Capitol. The report included some startling new disclosures inclu...
JFK: The Mother of all Conspiracy Theories (w/ Phil Shenon & Jeff Morley)
Conspiracyland - December 22, 2022 16:13 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 1.8K ratingsIn the Pantheon of American conspiracy theories, the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy is the gift that keeps on giving. For nearly 60 years it has been dissected and debated by partisans of countless conspiracy theories. So what does the newly released material on the matter show? ...
JFK: The Mother of all Conspiracy Theories (w/ Phil Shenon & Jeff Morley)
Skullduggery - December 16, 2022 23:41 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 2K ratingsIn the Pantheon of American conspiracy theories, the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy is the gift that keeps on giving. For nearly 60 years it has been dissected and debated by partisans of countless conspiracy theories. So what does the newly released material on the matter show? ...
The Autocrat in your Phone (w/ Ron Deibert)
Skullduggery - December 16, 2022 00:32 - 41 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsOn this episode of the podcast, we sit down with Ron Deibert, who runs the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, to discuss the “mercenary spyware” industry - and its proclivity for providing “almost god-like” spyware programs to governments who’ve been proven to use them to surveil “opp...
The Wild World of Marjorie Taylor Greene (w/ Robert Draper & Marquise Francis)
Skullduggery - December 08, 2022 03:10 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 2K ratingsThe violent insurrection at the Capitol last year was a sobering day for American democracy, and yet many people thought that - at the very least - it would break the fever that had overcome the Republican Party and push it to separate itself from Trump and move on from his repeated lie...
Buried Treasure: Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis (w/ Adam Hochschild)
Skullduggery - December 02, 2022 19:47 - 53 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratings“I have been accused of having obstructed the war. I admit it. I abhor war. I would oppose the war if I stood alone. I believe in free speech, in war as well as in peace.” So said Eugene Debs on September 12th, 1918 to members of a jury tasked with deciding whether he had, as prosecutor...
World Cup Iran Moment (w/ Jason Rezaian)
Skullduggery - November 30, 2022 22:28 - 45 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratings“Every so often over the past quarter-century, analysts have predicted that Iran was on the cusp of major change. They always turned out to be wrong. Now, unrest is engulfing the country yet again.” So writes Jason Rezeian in a recent piece for the Washington Post about the threats the ...
Garland's Special Council Bombshell (w/ Michael Zeldin & Sarah Leah Whitson)
Skullduggery - November 19, 2022 02:44 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 2K ratingsAttorney General Merrick Garland on Friday announced what amounts to a legal bombshell in the two most high profile investigations being carried out by his department. He's appointing a Special Council to oversee the ongoing probes into whether Donald Trump illegally sought to overturn ...
Molly Jong-Fast Unplugged
Skullduggery - November 17, 2022 01:02 - 58 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsDonald Trump on Tuesday night announced to no one’s surprise that he will once again run for President. By Trumpian standards he seemed subdued as he described America’s decent into war, crime, and economic catastrophe ever since he left the White House twenty-two long months ago and Jo...
The House GOP’s Circular Firing Squad (w/ Juliegrace Brufke)
Skullduggery - November 11, 2022 21:06 - 48 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsEven while still reeling from their disappointing performance in Tuesday's election, Republicans are bracing for more turmoil, as they prepare to likely take over the House of Representatives with the thinest of majorities. Instead of celebrating the election results as he had expected,...
The "Red Wave" that wasn’t (w/ Matt Bai and Andrew Romano)
Skullduggery - November 09, 2022 20:33 - 50 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsFor weeks the conventional wisdom in Washington couldn't have been clearer. There was a red wave coming that would sweep Republicans to a historic victory. Winning back control of the US House by wide margin and potentially control of the Senate as well. But then the voters spoke and th...
How dangerous is Elon Musk? (w/ Vivian Schiller)
Skullduggery - November 05, 2022 20:23 - 43 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsWhen Vivian Schiller signed on as a Senior Executive at Twitter in 2013, she was excited to be joining a company that seemed poised to remake the world. It was a heavy time for the social media start-up. Just a few years early, it had been messages on Twitter that connected Democracy ac...
The Case for Diplomacy in Ukraine (w/ George Beebe)
Skullduggery - November 02, 2022 15:02 - 55 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsThis week, thunderous explosions rocked the Ukrainian Capitol of Kiev, as Russian forces unleashed another blistering attack of cruise missiles on the city and other regions throughout the country. The attacks targeted energy facilities and other critical infrastructure, cutting off the...
Supreme Court Time Bombs (w/ Leah Litman & Jess Bravin)
Skullduggery - October 29, 2022 01:07 - 53 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsThere may be no institution in American more consequential or divisive than the United States Supreme Court. Under the leadership of Justice John Roberts, the court has upended campaign finance laws, undermined the 1965 voting rights act, affirmed a previously unrecognized constitutiona...
Dems Midterm Blues (w/ Mark Mellman and Brian Robinson)
Skullduggery - October 26, 2022 15:30 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 2K ratingsA few month ago, Democrats were upbeat, believing fervently that they had a decent chance of beating the historical odds and retaining the control of the United States congress. The Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning Roe v Wade had energized women across the country, while Preside...
The Lincoln Project Gunslingers w/ (Fisher Stevens & Karim Amer)
Skullduggery - October 20, 2022 11:42 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 2K ratings"We don't have a client, we weren't here to move some legislative agenda item. We were here to kick the s**t out of Donald Trump." That's from veteran political consultant Rick Wilson talking in a new five part documentary about the groundbreaking SuperPac he and a handful of other Repu...
Any Given Tuesday (w/ Lis Smith)
Skullduggery - October 18, 2022 01:46 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 2K ratingsWith three weeks before the midterms, the outlook for control of the US Senate and possibly even the House, remains as it's been for some time. A jump ball in which either party can yet prevail. But there is little doubt that there is growing anxiety among Democrats, with inflation, gas...
Jan. 6th Committee's Closing Arguments (w/ Matt Miller)
Skullduggery - October 14, 2022 20:00 - 43 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsLiz Cheney, Wyoming's Congresswoman, revealed the January 6th Committee's final card at yesterday's hearing. Subpoena to Donald Trump to testify and to provide documents about his role in the events that lead to the attack on the US Capitol. It was a surprise move by the panel at the en...
Sen. Murphy on the Saudis and Sandy Hook
Skullduggery - October 13, 2022 17:12 - 30 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsPresident Biden in an exchange with CNN's Jake Tapper, vowed there will be consequences for Saudi Arabia in light of their decision to join with Russia in cutting back oil production, a move guaranteed to help Vladimir Putin and his war with Ukraine, while at the same time, jacking up g...
Walker & the GOP Abortion Crisis (w/ Roger Sollenberger & Dahlia Lithwick)
Skullduggery - October 08, 2022 01:54 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 2K ratingsIt may have been the biggest investigative scoop of this year's election. This week, The Daily Beast reported that Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate for the US Senate in Georgia and a staunch opponent of abortion rights, paid for a girlfriend's abortion in 2009 - sighting docume...
Putin’s Nuclear Threats (w/ Joe Cirincione)
Skullduggery - October 03, 2022 19:14 - 48 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsIt may be the most pressing question facing the world at this perilous moment. Is Vladimir Putin bluffing or not when he threatens to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine? Nuclear weapons analyst Joe Cirincione says we need to take the Russian president seriously. "We should believe Putin t...
Trump: The Divider in Chief (Susan Glasser and Peter Baker)
Skullduggery - October 01, 2022 10:00 - 54 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsThe election of Donald Trump six long years ago began an unimaginable period of time in our history, when the United States was lead for the first time by a President who neither knew or subscribed to the fundamental tenants of our Constitution. And frequently acted to undermine them. S...
BONUS: Conspiracyland S4 EP3 - "It’s Not What We Thought It Was"
Skullduggery - September 24, 2022 15:00 - 38 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsThe third and final installment of the series recounts how senior U.S. officials became increasingly dubious about sensational claims about Havana Syndrome pointing to the lack of any hard evidence that a secret microwave weapon even exists. It features interviews with Fulton Armstrong,...
BONUS: Conspiracyland S4 EP2 - "The Mystery of the Moscow Signal"
Skullduggery - September 24, 2022 13:00 - 31 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsThe second installment of the series examines the Cold War mystery over suspected microwave attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and how Pentagon fears about such bombardments heavily influenced the initial response to Havana Syndrome. It features interviews with John Fitzsimmons, the ...
BONUS: Conspiracyland S4 EP1 - "A Broken Heart"
Skullduggery - September 24, 2022 11:00 - 39 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsIn the first installment of the series, Isikoff and his producer Mark Seman travel to Cuba where they interview Johana Ruth Tablada de la Torre, the deputy director for U.S. affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry about how the reports of Havana Syndrome were viewed by the country's leade...
What Happened to Rudy Giuliani (w/ Andrew Kirtzman)
Skullduggery - September 21, 2022 19:11 - 59 minutes ★★★★ - 2K ratingsIn the fall of 1974, a young ambitious prosecutor was grilling a powerful US Congressman on trial for corruption. The prosecutor's cross examination was unforgiving. He had confronted the Congressman with checks from business interests that he had promoted and bombarded him relentlessly...
S4E33: Bonus Episode 3: "A Havana Travelogue"
Conspiracyland - September 16, 2022 22:30 - 23 minutes ★★★★ - 1.8K ratingsIn Bonus Episode 3, A Havana Travelogue, Isikoff talks with Conspiracyland producer Mark Seman about our wild, surreal experiences in Cuba and veteran Cuba watcher, journalist Patrick Symmes, about how the story of Havana Syndrome -- and the events it triggered-- fits into the long Cold...
How the GOP Went Crazy (w/ David Corn)
Skullduggery - September 16, 2022 20:12 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 2K ratingsNew York Governor Nelson Rockefeller addressed the Republican Convention of 1964, denouncing the extremists that appeared to be taking over his party. Only to be drowned out by boos and shouts by delegates backing that year's nominee Barry Goldwater. Rockefeller's all but forgotten spee...
S4E32: Episode 3: "It’s Not What We Thought It Was"
Conspiracyland - September 16, 2022 08:55 - 38 minutes ★★★★ - 1.8K ratingsThe third and final installment of the series recounts how senior U.S. officials became increasingly dubious about sensational claims about Havana Syndrome pointing to the lack of any hard evidence that a secret microwave weapon even exists. It features interviews with Fulton Armstrong,...
S4E31: Bonus Episode 2: "Henry Kissinger's Radiation Treatment"
Conspiracyland - September 15, 2022 21:00 - 11 minutes ★★★★ - 1.8K ratingsBonus Episode Two: "Henry Kissinger's Radiation Treatment," features an interview with Peter Kornbluh, of the National Security Archive who describes the years of Cold War conflict with the Soviet Union over reports that the Russians were bombarding the U.S. Embassy in Cuba. See Priva...
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