SaltCubeAnalytics

Thomas Karat

SaltCubeAnalytics offers a critical examination of today's most urgent geopolitical issues, featuring insights from academics, diplomats, and intelligence professionals who challenge the mainstream narrative. Hosted by a behaviour analyst, this podcast delves into complex topics such as the Israel-Palestine conflict, the war in Ukraine, and the pervasive influence of institutionalised propaganda in Western media. Our speakers aren't afraid to question the status quo, providing a deep, nuanced analysis that cuts through the noise. Join us for thought-provoking conversations that reveal the realities behind the headlines and expose the power structures shaping global events.

  1. “If My Father Had Gone to Palestine...”_  Carolyn Gelenter on Zionism and Refusing to Lose Humanity

    2D AGO

    “If My Father Had Gone to Palestine...”_ Carolyn Gelenter on Zionism and Refusing to Lose Humanity

    What happens when history is used as a shield instead of a warning? 🌍 And what gets erased when the world’s attention shifts elsewhere? As war dominates headlines in Ukraine and tensions escalate with Iran, something else quietly slips out of focus:Gaza. The West Bank. Ongoing occupation, displacement, and mass violence. This conversation refuses that drift. 🎙️ My guest is Carolyn Genteler — activist, longtime campaigner for Palestinian rights, and daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She speaks from a position that is rarely given space: inside Jewish history, yet firmly opposed to Zionism and the moral exemptions claimed in its name. This is not a debate about slogans or identity politics. It is a conversation about: 🧠 Indoctrination and how it survives generations ⚖️ Victimhood — real, inherited, and politically weaponised 🚨 October 7th and what it interrupted, not what it began 🧱 Checkpoints, arrests, and the everyday mechanics of occupation 🚓 Criminalising dissent and why peaceful resistance is now labelled extremism 🕯️ The refusal to surrender humanity — even when it would be easier to do so One moment in this interview cuts to the core: “If my father had gone to Palestine instead of Australia, I could be that soldier.The only difference is that I refuse to lose my humanity.” This is a conversation about memory versus conscience, about how easily violence becomes background noise — and how distraction can be as powerful as denial. 📌 If you’re looking for outrage, this isn’t it. 📌 If you’re looking for clarity, discomfort, and moral seriousness — you’re in the right place. 🔔 Subscribe for long-form interviews on power, propaganda, psychology, and geopolitics 📂 Full archives & uncensored work on my Substack: https://karat.substack.com 💬 Join the discussion respectfully in the comments Time stamps: 00:00 Introduction – Identity, Holocaust Legacy, and Why Jewish Voices Are Amplified 11:02 Zionism vs Judaism – Indoctrination, Victimhood, and Internal Jewish Hierarchies 10:34 From Committed Zionist to First Cracks – Israel, Kibbutz Life, and Racism Experienced 31:41 Palestine Witnessing – Checkpoints, Arrests, and the Moment You Cannot “Unsee” 49:33 October 7th – State Knowledge, Manufactured Consent, and Political Utility 57:31 Criminalising Dissent – Palestine Action, Arrests, and the End of Liberal Pretence Send a text Don't forget to follow or subscribe to our Podcasts on your favorite platform so you never miss an update. If you loved it, leave us a review and let us know what you think! You can follow us on YouTube, Twitter (X), TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and many more.

    1h 11m
  2. They Can Sanction YOU Without Trial: Europe's Normalisation of Civil Death with Dr. Alexandra Hofer

    FEB 16

    They Can Sanction YOU Without Trial: Europe's Normalisation of Civil Death with Dr. Alexandra Hofer

    🧠 What happens when state power no longer needs courts? In this wide-ranging conversation, I speak with Dr. Alexandra Hofer, Assistant Professor of Public International Law, about the quiet transformation of power in Europe — and why sanctions, digital infrastructure, and executive authority are beginning to converge in ways that should concern anyone who values due process and free expression. We start with EU sanctions — not against states, but against individuals. Journalists. Academics. Commentators. What does it mean when financial access can be frozen, travel restricted, and digital life disrupted without a trial? ⚖️ Dr. Hofer describes modern sanctions as something that has been called a “civil death penalty” — imposed administratively, often without meaningful judicial review. From there, we zoom out: 💳 Financial control and asset freezes 🆔 Digital IDs and conditional access 🌐 Speech, dissent, and “misinformation” frameworks 🏛️ EU executive power vs. democratic accountability 🔥 Double standards in international law (Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Iran) 🧩 Why many international lawyers are experiencing a crisis of faith in the rules-based order This is not a partisan conversation. It’s a structural one — about how authority now operates, how exceptional measures become normalized, and how quickly legal safeguards can erode once power shifts from courts to councils. If you care about sovereignty, civil liberties, free expression, or the future of democratic systems in a digitized world, this conversation is for you. 👉 Follow my work on Substack (https://karat.substack.com):  My YouTube reach is increasingly throttled, while Substack remains direct, uncensored, and uninterrupted. 🔔 Subscribe • 👍 Like • 💬 Comment — and share if you think this discussion matters. Time Stamps: 00:00 Intro 04:07 Introduction to Dr. Alexandra Hofer 06:05 Understanding State Power and Sanctions 10:20 The Evolution of EU Sanction Policies 14:12 Consequences of Sanctions on Individual Rights 18:00 The Future of State Power and Totalitarianism 22:01 Digital IDs and Central Bank Digital Currencies 26:18 Censorship and Information Control 30:07 Trump's Influence on International Relations 34:04 Conclusion and Reflections on Global Power Dynamics 35:02 Economic Policies and Their Consequences 38:21 The Shift from State Power to Corporate Power 41:46 The Role of Data and Surveillance in Society 43:34 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Statehood 48:40 International Law: Hypocrisy and Double Standards 55:47 The Crisis of Faith in International Law 60:58 The Future of the Dollar and Global Power Dynamics 🧠 Long-form interviews, media analysis, and power structures — beyond headlines. Send a text Don't forget to follow or subscribe to our Podcasts on your favorite platform so you never miss an update. If you loved it, leave us a review and let us know what you think! You can follow us on YouTube, Twitter (X), TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and many more.

    1h 4m
  3. Egypt, Gaza, and the Limits of Peace: A Former Diplomat on What the Headlines Miss

    FEB 11

    Egypt, Gaza, and the Limits of Peace: A Former Diplomat on What the Headlines Miss

    Arab diplomats almost never get to explain the Middle East in their own words.This interview breaks that pattern. In this conversation, I speak with Mohammed Elsoukkary, former Egyptian diplomat and deputy ambassador, about how Egypt actually sees the region it operates in — Israel, Gaza, Iran, and the United States — stripped of Western framing and moral theater. Rather than slogans about “peace” or “escalation,” we talk constraints: why the Egypt–Israel peace treaty still functions as a strategic necessity, why normalization with Israel carries real domestic risks across the Arab world, and why Gaza represents a non-negotiable red line for Cairo. We also explore something rarely discussed publicly:  how AI is beginning to shape diplomatic decision-making — and how efficiency can quietly turn into strategic blindness. This is not a debate. It’s a reality check. Further Links: Mohammed’s Substack: https://substack.com/@souks Thomas Karat’s Substack: https://karat.substack.com The Gathering Storm: https://karat.substack.com/p/manufacturing-consent-before-the Time Stamps: 05:18 Introduction and Background of Mohammed Elsoukkary 08:12 Egypt's Current Geopolitical Landscape 11:19 The Evolution of Egypt's Political Landscape 14:19 Egypt's Strategic Relationship with the United States 17:18 The Role of the Egyptian Foreign Service 20:08 The Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty: A Lasting Agreement 23:25 Normalization of Relations with Israel: Arab Perspectives Send a text Don't forget to follow or subscribe to our Podcasts on your favorite platform so you never miss an update. If you loved it, leave us a review and let us know what you think! You can follow us on YouTube, Twitter (X), TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and many more.

    1h 21m
  4. The World After the Rules Stopped Working — Dan Perry on Trump, Gaza, and Power

    FEB 5

    The World After the Rules Stopped Working — Dan Perry on Trump, Gaza, and Power

    What happens when a veteran from the Associated Press and a behavior analyst sit down—not to agree, but to think out loud? In this wide-ranging conversation, Dan Perry, former AP chief for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean, joins Thomas S. Karat for an unscripted, sometimes uncomfortable, but deliberately honest exchange about where the world finds itself now—not where it was supposed to be. This is not a checklist interview. It’s a collision of perspectives. Starting from the shockwaves of Trump’s return to power and the strangely insulated atmosphere at Davos, the discussion moves through deeper structural questions: who actually holds power today, which institutions still constrain it, and which ones are quietly eroding. Tariffs, courts, executive authority, and the role of so-called “middle powers” are not treated as abstract policy issues, but as signals—symptoms of a global order that no longer behaves as advertised. The conversation then turns, inevitably, to Israel–Palestine. Not in slogans, not in absolutes, but in hard contradictions. Gaza, Hamas, Israeli politics, resistance, legitimacy, and the narrowing space for political imagination are examined without pretending there are clean answers. Karat presses on how narratives are formed; Perry pushes back from long experience inside global media institutions. At times they agree. Often they don’t. That tension is the point. Running beneath everything is a shared concern—even when conclusions diverge—about democracy under pressure and journalism’s role in that struggle. What happens when media no longer mediates reality but filters it? When courts become political terrain? When public discourse collapses into moral binaries? This interview is for viewers who are less interested in being told what to think, and more interested in understanding how serious people think under conditions of uncertainty, power, and conflict. If you’re looking for comfort, this isn’t it.If you’re looking for clarity through friction—you’re in the right place. 🔔 Subscribe for long-form interviews and behavioral analysis of global politics 🧠 Thomas S. Karat Substack: https:// karat.substack.com 🧠 Dan Perry Substack: https://predictivehistory.substack.com 💬 Join the discussion in the comments (disagreement welcome, slogans not required) Send a text Don't forget to follow or subscribe to our Podcasts on your favorite platform so you never miss an update. If you loved it, leave us a review and let us know what you think! You can follow us on YouTube, Twitter (X), TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and many more.

    1h 7m
  5. Iran discussed with an Associate Professor , a Behaviour Analyst and a Spy

    FEB 3

    Iran discussed with an Associate Professor , a Behaviour Analyst and a Spy

    What does it look like when a war is being pre-sold—not with one big lie, but with hundreds of small linguistic nudges? In this live conversation, we walk you through a headline-level pattern based on ~230+ articles across multiple countries: Iran is framed as the actor (“threatens,” “refuses,” “days are numbered”), while the U.S. build-up is framed as reaction (“prepares,” “weighs options,” “responds”).  If most people only skim headlines, the headline becomes the policy environment. From there, the discussion widens into something darker: the idea that “information space management” isn’t a metaphor anymore—especially with NATO explicitly discussing “cognitive” domains as a theater of competition. Then Reiner Rupp (Reiner Rupp)—a former insider who knew how alliances message and posture—adds the military-strategic layer: deterrence vs provocation, escalation risk, and why “baiting the first shot” is an old playbook that keeps resurfacing in new packaging. This isn’t a “what to think” episode. It’s a “watch how your attention is steered” episode—where the tempo, the repetition, the missing voices, and the shifting justifications are treated as the real story. Further Readings: 📌 Manufacturing consent before the bombs drop: https://karat.substack.com/p/manufacturing-consent-before-the 🧠 NATO cognitive warfare: https://karat.substack.com/p/cognitive-warfare Time stamps: 00:00 — The “headline dataset” move: why headlines are the battleground, not the footnotes 07:40 — Defensive U.S. / aggressive Iran framing: how verbs do geopolitics for you 18:25 — The urgency drumbeat: “time is running out” as a perception hack 32:10 — IRGC designation + rapid synchronization: when policy steps and media tempo converge 46:30 — Hard constraints behind the rhetoric: missile-defense depletion, procurement limits, and escalation math Send a text Don't forget to follow or subscribe to our Podcasts on your favorite platform so you never miss an update. If you loved it, leave us a review and let us know what you think! You can follow us on YouTube, Twitter (X), TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and many more.

    1h 4m
  6. We’re Entering a New Dark Age: Censorship at Home, Lawlessness Abroad, US Ambassador Chas Freeman

    JAN 21

    We’re Entering a New Dark Age: Censorship at Home, Lawlessness Abroad, US Ambassador Chas Freeman

    We’re entering a new dark age — and the signs are everywhere.Not just in foreign policy, where international law is treated like a PR costume… but at home, where speech is increasingly policed, dissent is stigmatized, and criticism is quietly rebranded as “hate.” In this interview, former U.S. diplomat Chas Freeman argues we’re watching an epochal shift: the end of the post-war promise that conflict would be restrained by rules, institutions, and law. Instead, power is reverting to something older and uglier — coercion, intimidation, and what Freeman calls a kind of “gangster logic.” And here’s the deeper point: lawlessness abroad doesn’t stay abroad.When states normalize impunity overseas, it boomerangs back into domestic politics — as censorship, surveillance, and control — always framed as “security,” “stability,” or “values.” 🧠 In this conversation we explore: why the “rules-based order” is collapsing in real time how international law is being replaced by raw leverage what this means for Europe, NATO, and strategic dependency why “hate speech” narratives are increasingly used to silence legitimate criticism how Western democracies drift toward managed speech and managed reality If you’re tired of propaganda, moral theater, and mainstream narratives that don’t survive basic scrutiny — this interview is for you. 📌 Chapters are included below 🔔 Join me on Substack: https://karat.substack.com 🔔 Join me on Medium for Euro centric Analysis: https://medium.com/@thomas.s.karat 💬 Comment: Do you feel the “dark age” is already here — or still coming? Time Stamps: 00:00 Intro 00:09:35 — The Shooting: What Really Happened (Narrative vs Reality) 00:29:29 — “Mafia Don” Geopolitics (Threats, Leverage, Power Politics) 00:40:07 — Ukraine as the Battleground (Spheres of Influence, NATO Logic) 01:09:19 — Propaganda, History & Political Theatre (Hitler, Cinema, Mass Psychology) Send a text Don't forget to follow or subscribe to our Podcasts on your favorite platform so you never miss an update. If you loved it, leave us a review and let us know what you think! You can follow us on YouTube, Twitter (X), TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and many more.

    1h 11m
  7. Tehran in Revolt: Inside Iran’s 2026 Uprising and Crackdown. With Oxford Scholar Yassamine Mather

    JAN 21

    Tehran in Revolt: Inside Iran’s 2026 Uprising and Crackdown. With Oxford Scholar Yassamine Mather

    🇮🇷 Iran is spiraling out of control again — and the West is already circling. In this interview, I’m joined by Yassamine Mather — an Oxford scholar and razor-sharp political analyst — to break down the new wave of unrest across Iran, what’s driving it, and why Trump may be preparing the ground for “absolute change” in 2026.  We don’t just talk about protests. We talk about power, propaganda, and the uncomfortable possibility that some actors are trying to engineer the outcome — using everything from sanctions and currency warfare to fake reels amplified by mainstream media. 🎯 In this conversation: Why Trump may see Iran as the next domino The hidden war: sanctions, economic collapse & corruption How the exchange-rate system enriched elites and crushed ordinary Iranians Internet shutdowns, Starlink leaks, and the fog of information war Why “fake news” can become real political reality The Mossad/Pahlavi question — and why protesters reject both Shah and Rahbar The bigger frame: Iran isn’t the target — China is ⚠️ Key question: Is this uprising organic, hijacked, or already being shaped into a controlled “transition”? 📌 More from me Substack: https://karat.substack.com Medium: https://medium.com/@thomas.s.karat 👉 If you want weekly updates that follow the questions to wherever they’re not supposed to go, you’ll find them there. Send a text Don't forget to follow or subscribe to our Podcasts on your favorite platform so you never miss an update. If you loved it, leave us a review and let us know what you think! You can follow us on YouTube, Twitter (X), TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and many more.

    1h 2m
  8. How Western Media Sells War, with Patrick Henningsen

    JAN 20

    How Western Media Sells War, with Patrick Henningsen

    “How Western Media Sells War” is a deep-dive conversation with journalist and broadcaster Patrick Henningsen, founder of 21st Century Wire, on how conflict is packaged, branded, and sold to the public through news and entertainment. We look at: *   How language, imagery, and repetition turn military campaigns into “humanitarian interventions” or “defensive actions”. *   The role of think tanks, PR firms, and political elites in feeding ready‑made narratives into Western newsrooms. *   Why dissenting voices are marginalised, smeared, or algorithmically buried when war agendas are on the table. If this interview opens up more questions, don’t stop here. For global geopolitics and narrative warfare, you can find my long-form pieces on Substack; for a Europe-first, Eurocentric take on power, autonomy, and identity, my essays are on Medium. My Substack: https://karat.substack.com My Medium: https://medium.com/@thomas.s.karat Further Links: Patrick Baab: https://youtu.be/AJZMb8KxGn4 Suzie Dawson: https://youtu.be/Cza4LHImyQM Daniele Ganser: https://youtu.be/DoTUFeKZB5A Erik Andersson: https://youtu.be/91WoRwDsnc0 Article on Libertarian Institute: https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/europe-is-americas-sacrifice/ Your iPhone is spying on you: https://karat.substack.com/p/your-iphones-new-ai-is-spying-on Time Stamps: 00:00 Intro 02:10 Who is Patrick 03:10 Silencing critical voices 13:00 The consensus for war with Russia 26:45 Total transformation of the energy marked 37:35 How Anglo-American interests collide with Europe 48:10 Trump National Security Strategy 01:13:40 NATO Bombs on West Europe Send a text Don't forget to follow or subscribe to our Podcasts on your favorite platform so you never miss an update. If you loved it, leave us a review and let us know what you think! You can follow us on YouTube, Twitter (X), TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and many more.

    1h 31m

Ratings & Reviews

4.4
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

SaltCubeAnalytics offers a critical examination of today's most urgent geopolitical issues, featuring insights from academics, diplomats, and intelligence professionals who challenge the mainstream narrative. Hosted by a behaviour analyst, this podcast delves into complex topics such as the Israel-Palestine conflict, the war in Ukraine, and the pervasive influence of institutionalised propaganda in Western media. Our speakers aren't afraid to question the status quo, providing a deep, nuanced analysis that cuts through the noise. Join us for thought-provoking conversations that reveal the realities behind the headlines and expose the power structures shaping global events.

You Might Also Like