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.
Professor Hasan Ünal: Iran’s victory marked a STRATEGIC DEFEAT for Israel and the United States
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Hasan Ünal, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Ankara’s Başkent University and Host of the Strategic Compass podcast. He discusses Türkiye’s position on the US-Israeli war on Iran and the anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiment of the Turkish public, Türkiye’s intelligence sharing with Iran to combat US-backed Kurdish groups who would have been Trump’s regime change ground troops, the US’ use of Incirlik Air Base and the presence of US troops in the country, Türkiye’s ultimatum to the US over the war on Iran, the view in Israel that the next target after Iran will be Türkiye, why Türkiye helped overthrow Bashar Al-Assad in Syria despite him being a leader against Israel, Türkiye’s supplying of Ukraine with weaponry while calling Russia a partner, why he believes NATO will crumble in the multipolar world, and much more.
Gabor Maté: Netanyahu is the most egregious expression of Zionist dehumanization of Palestinians
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Gabor Maté, Holocaust survivor and renowned trauma specialist. He discusses why the last few years have been particularly tough to watch with the Gaza genocide, Israeli war on Lebanon, and war on Iran, how the era of social media has changed people’s responses to the horrors happening in the world, the increasing opposition of young Jews to Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu’s premiership being the culmination of Zionism’s dehumanization of Palestinians, the segment of the Iranian diaspora that opposes the US-Israeli war on Iran and why diaspora populations from Cuba and Iran support the US’ wars against their home countries, the dehumanization of the victims of American and Israeli wars and selective empathy, his advice for the survivors of the US’ and Israel’s wars, and much more.
Iran disaster: ‘Trump sees Israel as a tool to conquer the world’ – ex-Trump lawyer Robert Barnes
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Robert Barnes, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and host of the Viva and Barnes podcast. He discusses Anthony Fauci’s testimony in Congress and the allegations against him, the lack of prosecution against Biden administration officials as was promised in Trump’s 2024 campaign over Russiagate, how the deep state is intertwined with the Israel lobby as the US war on Iran rages on, how Trump is trapped in an escalation cycle against Iran, Russia, and China, Trump’s irritation at J.D. Vance since everything Vance had predicted about the Iran war was proven right, why Trump has “lost his mind across the board,” the Trump administration’s delusions about Russia in the Ukraine proxy war and Iran, how Ukrainians have become the US deep state’s grey army, the Trump family’s ‘oligarch island’ plans from Albania and Gaza, and much more.
‘War is bringing Iran closer to a nuclear bomb’— Ex-Chief of Israel’s Shin Bet Ami Ayalon
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to former Director of Shin Bet Admiral Ami Ayalon. He discusses why Israel’s wars against Palestinians and the Arabs are wars that Israel wants, why the perpetual conflict will hasten the end of the Zionist project, why he supported the JCPOA nuclear deal in opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government, the failures and shameful actions of Benjamin Netanyahu from Gaza to Lebanon to Iran, Israel’s financial support for Hamas prior to 2023, why he feels Israel does not understand its enemy: the Palestinian people, why the US-Israeli war on Iran has brought Iran closer to making the decision to build a nuclear weapon, Israel’s treatment of whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, who exposed Israel’s nuclear weapons program, why Israel has never been attacked by Al Qaeda or ISIS, and much more.
Israel is using up US power as the unipolar world ends – former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy. He discusses the state of the Trump-Netanyahu relationship as the Iran quagmire deepens and why the frustrations haven’t made a difference to US foreign policy, the Israel-Lebanon deal and how it overwhelmingly favors Israel, the reasons for the failure of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, why Israel has not been involved in this round of the Iran war so far, J.D. Vance’s political calculations behind his recent comments against Israel, how Israel is trying to strengthening its regional ambitions using up US power as the unipolar world ends, the unpopularity of the Iran war in the US, and much more.
Donald Trump knows Iran has won the war and is risking a global depression – Doug Bandow
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Doug Bandow. Former Special Assistant to Ronald Reagan and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He discusses the risk of a global Great Depression following the resumption of the war on Iran and the looming prospect of a catastrophic energy shock in the US, why Donald Trump knows he must end the war on Iran quickly, whether the echo chamber of neocons around Trump can tell Trump he made a mistake by starting the war, the Gulf States’ view of the war on Iran and their defense against Iranian capabilities, whether Iran could already have a nuclear weapon, Trump’s potential pivot to Ukraine as the NATO-Russia proxy war continues to escalate, and much more.