Twice a week, award-winning journalist Afshin Rattansi and his team go underground to cover geopolitics and current affairs from a perspective you won’t find in the mainstream media, with some of the most high-profile guests.
CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou reveals all on US-Israel alliance, warns of disaster in Venezuela
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou. He discusses why the CIA is involved in drug trafficking and the purposes it serves, how the CIA works with Hollywood and the media to ensure it is portrayed in a positive light, the mass control of the media by just five corporations and its effects on the American people, why there is no Gaza Peace Deal or even peace in the Middle East with Israel continuing its region-wide warfare, why US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee needs to be urgently fired, the CIA’s program of torture which he exposed and the outsourcing of torture and abuse, the fact that the CIA does not spy on Israel and everything the US does in Israel has to be approved by Mossad, the lack of arrests or indictments of any deep state officials under Donald Trump such as John Brennan, the looming war on Venezuela and the war in the Republican Party between neoconservatives and America First Republicans, the US’ warped view of Latin America which leads to continuous foreign policy failures, Venezuela’s military still being on the side of President Nicolas Maduro and the obstacles this poses, the CIA’s bases in Ukraine and whether there is a risk of escalation as Russia advances, why we may never see a full release of the Epstein Files, and much more.
Exposed: The lies and real motives behind the US regime change war on Venezuela (Carlos Ron)
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Carlos Ron, Former Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister for North America. He discusses the mood in Venezuela as the threat of a regime-change attack by the US looms, the new type of warfare being used against Venezuela by Washington, the lies being told by the Trump administration and the media about Nicolas Maduro being the head of a narco-trafficking cartel, the exclusion of Venezuela from BRICS reportedly by Brazil’s President Lula Da Silva, the right-wing governments of Latin America being sustained by US financing and repression, the prevailing strength of the Bolivarian Revolution and unification of the country behind defiance of Trump’s threats, the treatment of Venezuelan migrants by the Trump administration and the possible refugee wave that a US attack on Venezuela would cause, the brave history of resistance in Latin America and why the US will be surprised by the level of resistance shown by Venezuela, CIA Asset Maria Corina Machado’s close ties and links to Israel in contrast to the Bolivarian Revolution’s solidarity with Palestine, Corina Machado’s history of sabotaging Venezuela and representing the system of exclusion that impoverished most Venezuelans, and much more.
We Are Not Numbers: Fighting the dehumanization of Palestinians by Western media (Ahmed Alnaouq)
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Ahmed Alnaouq, co-founder of We Are Not Numbers and co-editor of the We Are Not Numbers anthology. He discusses the purpose of the organization to fight against the dehumanization of Palestinians by the mainstream media, US-UK-EU-armed Israel’s slaughter of much of his family during the Gaza genocide, the mass destruction of Palestinian centers of culture and knowledge by Israel, why Israel killed co-founder of We Are Not Numbers Refaat Alareer, the lack of sympathy or empathy from mainstream media when interviewing him, whether ‘peaceful’ resistance against a genocidal Israel has failed, whether the Palestinian bourgeoisie is to blame for the fragmentation of the resistance, how the Gaza genocide proved the West’s values as hypocritical, and much more.
Aftermath: The US’ dirty war on Syria, and will US-Israel attack Iran again? (Prof. Steve Simon)
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Steven Simon, NSC senior director for transnational threats under President Bill Clinton and NSC senior director for Middle East and North Africa under President Barack Obama. He discusses his reaction to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee meeting convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, responsible for the biggest breach of US intelligence in history, the lack of any real set compass for Donald Trump as regards foreign policy with constant U-turns, Russia’s standing in the Middle East following the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria, and Trump’s welcoming of Al-Sharaa/Al-Jolani to the White House. In the second half of the interview, Afshin Rattansi challenges Simon on why the US had been meddling in Syria, leading to more bloodshed, and the infamous admission by Jake Sullivan that the US was on Al-Qaeda’s side in Syria. The conversation then moves into Iran realizing that negotiations with the US over its nuclear program are pointless and the threat of attack by the US and Israel again, how long Al-Jolani/Al-Sharaa can remain in power, and more.
Ukraine: Europe is bringing the world to the precipice of nuclear war with Russia (Dr. Dmitri Trenin)
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak with Dr. Dmitri Trenin, member of Russia’s Foreign and Defense Policy Council and Former Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. He discusses why, with the world at the precipice of nuclear war, the Ukraine proxy war is far more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis, the possibility of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons should current negotiations with the US fail, whether there are splits in the approach to negotiations in the Russian and US leadership, the leak of the Ushakov-Witkoff phone call and who could be behind it, why Donald Trump keeps caving to demands from European countries on Ukraine, Trump’s approach to pressuring both Russia and Ukraine into agreeing to a peace deal, Vladimir Putin’s aim to help the US distance itself from Ukraine, the tenets of the ‘28-point-plan’ and whether Russia is likely to accept it, the potential of Russian strikes against European targets in the event of Western provocations and false flags to torpedo a future peace agreement, and much more.
Israeli influence, Al-Qaeda, assassination: Afshin Rattansi challenges ex-CIA Tel Aviv station chief
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Susan Miller, former chief of the CIA’s station in Tel Aviv. Afshin Rattansi asks her about the close relationship between the CIA, Mossad and Shin Bet, Israel’s level of influence over US foreign policy, Israel and the CIA’s involvement with ISIS and Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria, Syria’s Al-Sharaa/Al-Jolani being welcomed to the White House by Donald Trump, the CIA’s role in the assassination of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani, whether the CIA’s policy of assassinations are actually successful in furthering US foreign policy objectives, the Trump administration’s bogus pretext of narco-trafficking for pushing regime change against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the CIA’s own history of being involved in drug trafficking, and much more.