Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Useful Idiots, LLC
  • 4.5 (4.4K)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

Useful Idiots is an informative and irreverent politics podcast with journalist Aaron Maté and podcaster/writer Katie Halper. Episodes feature analysis of the political news of the week and exclusive interviews, with humor, commentary and dissection of why both Republicans and Democrats suck. Join Aaron and Katie as they examine important stories that have slipped through the cracks and what the media got wrong – and laugh about whatever is left to laugh about.

  1. 6h ago

    Cornell Bombshell: Israel's Secret Power Over University EXPOSED

    Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Support Two Pro-Palestinian Activists Targeted by ICE: https://chuffed.org/project/200834-support-deported-activists?utm_campaign=campaign_share&utm_id=01a09598-a023-794c-aa44-bfe0371f4d89&pdm=twitter Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the ad-free, extended interview with Momodou Taal and Chris Godshall: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/bombshell-cornell-suspends-pro-palestine?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: MAGA Congressman Warns that Belligerent, Religious Army is Planning to Destroy the Middle East https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/maga-congressman-warns-that-belligerent?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. A New York prosecutor has reopened a sexual assault investigation at Cornell University after a woman alleged she’d been drugged, assaulted and gang raped by seven former and current members of the Chi Phi fraternity in 2024. The allegations came in a lawsuit filed this month by a woman identified only as “Jane Doe,” who says campus officials and law enforcement failed to take her accusations seriously. None of the alleged attackers have been arrested. To discuss this case, we’re speaking with someone whose case Cornell DID take seriously: Momodou Taal is a Ph.D. student at Cornell University who was suspended twice for joining a demonstration calling on Cornell to divest from Israel and faced deportation from the US. As a result, he left the US but was arrested and detained by the UK government under a law that allows police to question anyone they suspect to be involved in “current, emerging and future terrorist activity.” We speak with Momodou and his lawyer, Chris Godshall, about why Cornell prosecuted the crime of peaceful protest against Israel with such intensity while covering for the seven students accused of rape. Subscribe to watch the extended interview with Momodou and Chris where we discuss Israel’s power over Cornell, the weaponization of antisemitism, and the current state of conversation between Zionist and anti-Zionist students on campus. You’ll also get our Friday Free-for-All: MAGA Congressman Warns that Belligerent, Religious Army is Planning to Destroy the Middle East Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  2. 4d ago

    Iran Officially REJECTS Trump Negotiators: “There is no reason we should go back to diplomacy.”

    Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Join Katie in NYC on Monday 9.28 at the SAY PALESTINE: Book Launch with Assal Rad https://www.eventbrite.com/e/say-palestine-book-launch-with-assal-rad-tickets-2001430016055?aff=oddtdtcreator Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the extended interview with Leonid Ragozin: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-interview-anti-putin-russian?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Beware Iran! The Colony of Reptile Quarterback Hookers! https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  3. Sep 25

    Putin Critic Exposes MAJOR Ukraine Weakness

    Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Join Katie in NYC on Monday 9.28 at the SAY PALESTINE: Book Launch with Assal Rad https://www.eventbrite.com/e/say-palestine-book-launch-with-assal-rad-tickets-2001430016055?aff=oddtdtcreator Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the extended interview with Leonid Ragozin: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-interview-anti-putin-russian?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Beware Iran! The Colony of Reptile Quarterback Hookers! https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. An important update on the Ukraine Proxy War came this week with the Russian parliamentary elections. Contrary to widespread predictions that Vladimir Putin’s days are numbered as a result of prolonged war, his party, United Russia, once again won a supermajority. It’s unclear how much rigging occurred to alter the vote, along with banning of opposition parties, but a sizable turnout gave Putin and the war an endorsement for now, much to the disappointment of neocons globally. To discuss these pivotal elections, we spoke with veteran Russian journalist Leonid Ragozin. Ragozin is very critical of Putin and the Russian government, but also critical of all the western chauvinism directed toward his country and opposes NATO and the US’s murderous proxy war and sanctions on Russia. And he explains that the real country in trouble is Ukraine: Subscribe to keep reading and get the full, hour-long interview with Leonid Ragozin. 00:00 Intro 01:32 Netanyahu jumps on the Hasan Piker craze 07:11 NYC hosts former Al-Qaeda chief 08:58 Leonid Ragozin interview 15:36 Were Russian elections legit? 21:09 Does Putin have support in Russia? 24:30 Zelensky threatens Russia 46:49 Former Zelensky official sounds the alarm Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  4. Sep 21

    Bad News for Israel and the US: The Houthis Just Joined the Fight.

    Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the ad-free interview with FBI Whistleblower Coleen Rowley: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/subscribers-only-ad-free-fbi-whistleblower?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Antisemitism Czar Claims Macklemore is HIJACKING Concerts in Plot to Destroy Israel https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  5. Sep 18

    FBI Whistleblower: The US KNEW about 9/11 Attackers in August 2001

    Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the ad-free interview with FBI Whistleblower Coleen Rowley: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/subscribers-only-ad-free-fbi-whistleblower?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Antisemitism Czar Claims Macklemore is HIJACKING Concerts in Plot to Destroy Israel https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. This week we’re speaking with former Time Person of the Year Coleen Rowley, the FBI special agent who tried to sound the alarm about 9/11 based on FBI intel about the attackers received BEFORE the attacks. Coleen Rowley: I found myself in a very weird position. The life and death type thing that people don’t expect they’ll ever be in. But after 9/11, we realized that in the Minnesota office, the agents had been working on the most suspicious flight student that had ever crossed their paths: Zacarias Moussaoui.They were called by flight instructors separately from a flight school. And this guy had said, ‘I just want to learn how to fly for a joy ride.’ There were pages detailing suspicion of him. The agents then sought emergency, not just the normal Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act request to search his belongings. They actually identified that he could fly into the World Trade Center from the start.Here’s where I come in.After 9/11, FBI Director Mueller went before the cameras and said, ‘We didn’t know any of this. We could have maybe prevented 9/11 if we’d had any intelligence.’ I actually got on the phone and said, ‘That’s not a good thing to say because there was a lot of intelligence.’Dick Cheney had fought tooth and nail against any accountability. But in the spring of 2002, I get this call: ‘Well, Colleen, you’re going to be one of the people called to talk to the investigators of the Joint Intelligence Committee.’And when I got the call, I went, ‘oh my gosh, there’s been a cover up.’ Now you can’t say that. Cover up is a verboten word. You can’t say cover up. But you know what? That’s what it was. After 9/11, no one would admit that they had all this information.Watch our full interview with Coleen to hear how she risked her job, and possibly even her life, to break the information out of the FBI. 00:00 Intro 00:44 Palantir's Alex Karp goes insane trying to sell AI 03:16 Corey Booker can't say no to bombs for Israel 05:31 JD Vance is losing control in Iran 06:48 Coleen Rowley interview: What really happened before 9/11? 21:44 Did you ever fear you'd be imprisoned? Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  6. Sep 14

    “Lying is part of their religion”

    Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the extended interview with former OSCE Monitor Benoit Paré: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-interview-zelenskys-days?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Hillary Clinton Claims Netanyahu KNEW About October 7 Before Attack https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  7. Sep 11

    Zelensky’s Days in Power Are “Numbered,” Ukraine Suffers “Unwinnable” Defeat

    Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. See the film American Doctor, with a Director Q&A moderated by Katie, TONIGHT in NYC: https://americandoctorfilm.com/buy-tickets Read our guests' books: Guerres contre l'Iran by Jacques Baud: https://www.strandbooks.com/guerres-contre-l-iran-9782315028641.html What I Saw in Ukraine by Benoît Paré: https://booksrun.com/9782959860119-what-i-saw-in-ukraine-2015-2022-diary-of-an-international-observer Ukraine: The Great Manipulation by Benoît Paré: https://olivea.savnora.shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=237305594 Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the extended interview with former OSCE Monitor Benoit Paré: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-interview-zelenskys-days?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Hillary Clinton Claims Netanyahu KNEW About October 7 Before Attack https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. This week we hear from two different guests with insider perspectives on the Ukraine Proxy War: first is Jacques Baud, a former Swiss intelligence officer and NATO analyst who published early reports that Ukraine was overmatched in this war and should make peace. For expressing this analysis, the European Union sanctioned him, accusing him of spreading conspiracy theories and pro-Russian propaganda. Jacques is now barred from using his own bank account or even buying himself food. It seems Russiagate truly never ends. Our second guest is Benoît Paré, who was a monitor on the ground for the OSCE after the Maidan Coup in Ukraine from 2014 to 2022 during the civil war which eventually led to the Russian invasion. For our full interview with Benoît, which gets into false flags, civil war, and whether Russia will be able to hold onto its advantage in the next year, please subscribe and support our work. You’ll also get our Friday Free-for-All: here’s a screenshot from today’s episode that gives an idea of the insanity we went through watching an episode of Morning Joe, starring Hillary Clinton and Donny Deutsch. 00:00 Intro 02:20 Hillary Clinton Claims Netanyahu KNEW About October 7 Before Attack 07:40 Aaron's take: Did Netanyahu know? 08:04 Jacques Baud interview 24:00 Why the far-right party in Europe just won elections 36:59 EU Sanctions Jacques for his reporting 48:49 It's illegal to bring Jacques food 57:26 Benoît Paré interview 1:00:10 The greatest media manipulations over the Ukraine War 1:11:07 An argument for the Ukrainian side Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  8. Sep 7

    The State of the Strait: Trump officials panic as Iran tightens its grip over the Strait of Hormuz

    Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the ad-free interview with Hana Masud: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ad-free-israel-loses-control-over?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: JD Vance just admitted Iran was NEVER a nuclear threat in desperate attempt to cover for Trump’s economic meltdown https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/jd-vance-just-admitted-iran-was-never?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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Useful Idiots is an informative and irreverent politics podcast with journalist Aaron Maté and podcaster/writer Katie Halper. Episodes feature analysis of the political news of the week and exclusive interviews, with humor, commentary and dissection of why both Republicans and Democrats suck. Join Aaron and Katie as they examine important stories that have slipped through the cracks and what the media got wrong – and laugh about whatever is left to laugh about.

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