Going Underground
Two times a week Afshin Rattansi and his team go underground to discover the stories that aren’t being covered by the mainstream UK media. From GCHQ to Occupy protests, and everything else in between, Going Underground is here to bring a fresh perspective to our audiences around Britain.
Shor’s Algorithm: Can it save the world from disaster? (Prof. Peter Shor)
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Peter Shor, the originator of Shor’s algorithm. He explains the algorithm’s method of factoring large numbers and how it could bring a revolution in quantum computing, what quantum computing is, and what differentiates it from regular computing. He also discusses the current technology of RSA encryption and why it is inefficient and expensive, why Shor’s algorithm can open the door to major advancements in medicine, chemistry, energy production and other major issues humanity faces today, why it is taking so long to mass-produce effective quantum computers, and more.
USA at a tipping point: American workers vs The elites amid Trump-Biden rematch (Hamilton Nolan)
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to labor journalist Hamilton Nolan, author of ‘The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor’. He discusses the soaring popularity of trade unions in the US and why the country may be at a tipping point to reclaim worker power, why US President Joe Biden has been disappointing for workers despite being the ‘most pro-union President in history’, the decades of decline of union power and why US laws incentivise union busting practices by companies, whether the AFL-CIO should be dismantled and replaced with a new labor federation, the successful drive by Starbucks workers to unionize stores one by one, why Donald Trump and the Republicans are a non-starter for trade unions in the 2024 election race, the relationship between America’s unions and the military-industrial complex, why new union organizing may be the only way to bridge the polarization gap in the US, and much more.
AI extinction: Why the rise of artificial intelligence could bring doomsday for humans
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Roman Yampolskiy, author of ‘AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable’ and an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Louisville. He discusses what makes AI different from AGI, the ‘AI control problem’, the high likelihood of Artificial Intelligence becoming out of control, why AI security parameters will not be enough to contain Artificial General Intelligence, why humans cannot even comprehend the kinds of threats AI could pose, the coming danger of AI increasingly becoming a part of warfare, why advanced Artificial Intelligence will pose a threat to humans no matter who builds it, the danger of AI replacing labor and ending economics as we know it, the race among big tech companies to create the ‘best’ AI while they have no concrete plan for controlling their creation, and much more.
Gaza & Ukraine: Redacted’s Natali Morris slams US foreign policy – ‘no respect for life’
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the co-host of ‘Redacted’, Natali Morris. In the interview, she slams US foreign policy as having nothing to do with respect for life and discusses the Ukraine proxy war and continued US support for Zelensky, the US-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, the increasing censorship against alternative news sources such as Redacted as corporate media seeks a total monopoly on narratives, crumbling infrastructure in the US, and much more.
Charles Glass slams Biden’s Iran hypocrisy, calls Julian Assange one of the bravest men he’s met
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to award-winning foreign correspondent and author of ‘Soldiers Don’t Go Mad’, Charles Glass. He discusses his new book focusing on the soldier-poets of World War One, such as Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, who recounted the horror and trauma of war through poetry. He also explores whether World War 3 has begun, as the Gaza genocide and Ukraine proxy war wage on, the New York Times’ restrictions on reporting on Palestine and their ‘abysmal’ reporting on Gaza, the widespread support for a Palestinian state in the US which is ignored by Congress and the political establishment, why Julian Assange is being persecuted by the USA and UK, and why he is the ‘bravest man he has ever met’, his visit to Belmarsh Prison and the state of Julian Assange’s health, his campaign to jointly sue former CIA director Mike Pompeo for bugging his mobile phones when he visited Julian Assange, the failure of Israeli propaganda as their rhetoric contradicts the reality on the ground in Gaza, the perilous future for the Middle East with the Gaza genocide still raging and Iran-Israel tensions at an all-time high, President Joe Biden’s hypocrisy on Tehran responding to Israel’s bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, and much more.
‘It’s time to try to end the war’ - Dr. Morton Halperin on the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine
On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Dr. Morton Halperin, who supervised the assembling of the Pentagon Papers, which revealed the extent of the disaster in the US’ imperial war on Vietnam, and served as a former Director of Policy Planning at the State Department. He discusses the effect the Pentagon Papers had on the Vietnam War and the work of Daniel Ellsberg in helping bring the Vietnam War to an end, the continued persecution of Julian Assange under the Espionage Act, and why the act in its current form is too broad, and why Henry Kissinger bugged his phone when he served in the National Security Council. Later in the interview, Dr. Halperin and Afshin Rattansi debate the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine, where Halperin discusses what concessions should be offered to Russia to end the conflict. Dr. Halperin also discusses Israel’s genocidal slaughter in Gaza and much more.