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. 1d ago

    "RETALIATING”: Journalist Warns Iran’s Tanker War ESCALATION

    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/ Read more of Elijah Magnier's work here: https://ejmagnier.com/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.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 Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serve Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the ad-free interview with Elijah Magnier: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ad-free-iran-is-retaliating-journalist?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: JD Vance Just Called Out Trump on Joe Rogan 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. There is chaos in West Asia as a result of Trump continuing his war on Iran: The latest US strikes on Iran hit near a children’s cancer hospital, forcing patients to flee; Israel continues to break the MOU by destroying and stealing more land in Lebanon; and Iraq is back in the picture as Trump cuts off its money in an attempt to break their support of Iran. In order to make sense of the pandemonium, we spoke with veteran journalist and war correspondent Elijah Magnier, who gives his analysis of the expanding conflict, reacts to JD Vance’s thinly-veiled callout of Trump for getting tricked by the Israelis to oppose diplomacy, and explains why Trump is powerless when it comes to taking the Strait of Hormuz or Kharg Island. Elijah Magnier: Threatening to occupy an island is very easy for US forces to do with a heavy bombardment on several days. But they can’t stay because the cost will be extremely heavy: Iran has the ability to bomb this island or to bomb the Strait of Hormuz or anywhere in the Gulf. Therefore, this plan is actually not feasible.Donald Trump doesn’t have an offer to really propose to end the war in a way that everybody comes out not a loser. He wants to be the winner, and the Iranians aren’t allowing him to be. Iran doesn’t need to win. Iran is not losing because it’s defending itself.And by Donald Trump threatening Kharg Island or the Strait of Hormuz, it means he doesn’t really know the consequences and, militarily speaking, what can be credible or not. His plan in this way is not credible because he can’t hold on to what he potentially can occupy. And then he cannot face the Americans with such a heavy bill.Watch or listen to the full interview with Elijah Magnier where we react to Trump getting called out in JD Vance’s Joe Rogan interview, mocking Syria’s President (and former al-Qaeda founder) Ahmed al-Sharaa to his face, and embarrassing Iraq’s Prime Minister over the Trump-ordered assassination of an Iraqi military leader. 00:00 Intro 02:34 The Massie Amendment STOPS Aid to Israel 05:09 The Dems Who Voted PRO-ISRAEL 08:45 Worse than Netanyahu 13:07 Elijah Magnier interview 17:12 Fmr CENTCOM Commander wants Trump to take the Strait of Hormuz 45:08 Trump's disastrous meetings with foreign leaders 54:16 JD Vance throws Trump shade on Joe Rogan Our Sponsors: * Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS * Check out Chilipad and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  2. 5d ago

    The guy who wanted to nuke Gaza and fight Russia to the last Ukrainian is no longer alive

    Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war "Their Blood, Our Bullets": https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ 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. Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.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 Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serve Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the ad-free interview with Jeremy Scahill and Sami al-Arian: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ad-free-iran-strikes-us-bases-and?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Analysis: Establishment Dems are seizing the Graham Platner scandal to slander progressives across primary elections 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 Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS * Check out Chilipad and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  3. Jul 10

    Iran Strikes US Bases & Israel’s Secret Nuclear Plot w/ Jeremy Scahill & Sami al-Arian

    Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war "Their Blood, Our Bullets": https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ 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. Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.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 Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serve Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the ad-free interview with Jeremy Scahill and Sami al-Arian: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ad-free-iran-strikes-us-bases-and?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Analysis: Establishment Dems are seizing the Graham Platner scandal to slander progressives across primary elections 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 have a powerhouse panel on Useful Idiots: Professor Sami al-Arian and investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill of DropSite News, who join us to analyze Trump’s wars in West Asia. The breaking news is that Trump is renewing the bombing of Iran, insulting its leaders, and threatening to take out more civilian infrastructure, all while Israel is allowed to continue its genocide in Gaza as well as steal and destroy land in Lebanon. Useful Idiots: Trump has said the deal is likely over. So where are we with the state of war against Iran?Sami al-Arian: The deal was basically an admission by the United States that it’s been defeated. It is surrender in all points. And I think the Zionists have upped the pressure against this administration, which has been beholden to it for whatever reason. They were trying to find justification to renege on this deal.But regardless, there is nothing that the US could do to defeat Iran. There is nothing that it could do to achieve its objectives, which is basically regime change, regime collapse, breakup of the country, and to reverse its advanced scientific achievements in nuclear power or in missiles or even to stop its support of its allies in the region.None of these objectives were reached in the first thirty-nine days of the war and they are very unlikely to be reached again.Jeremy Scahill: What we’ve seen since Trump took this deal is that he has not been able to effectively spin his victory-narrative on this thing. This is the latest iteration of the Trump pattern, which is that he’s flailing around like a child throwing a tantrum and threatening.And the more he escalates it, the more it becomes clear that he is in the quagmire of all quagmires in this situation. One thing that we have to be always concerned about is that Trump is a very erratic character. I wouldn’t put it past him to authorize a much more significant escalation of the bombing against Iran.My understanding from Iranian officials is that if that happens, if a Rubicon is crossed and it becomes a full-blown war again, that Iran’s response to this in the Persian Gulf and aimed at Israel is going to exceed what it did in the initial weeks when it fought the United States and Israel to a point where Trump was the one essentially begging for some kind of a deal.Watch our full, unpaywalled interview with Professor Sami al-Arian and Jeremy Scahill. Please consider subscribing to support our work and watch the ad-free version of the show. 00:00 Intro 01:05 Aaron's new book 03:16 CNN manufactures a scandal with Netanyahu to hurt Michigan's el-Sayed 09:35 Jeremy Scahill and Sami al-Arian interview 15:38 Could Israel use its nukes? 28:08 Jeremy's sources in the Iranian government 42:56 Who really benefits from this war? Our Sponsors: * Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS * Check out Chilipad and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  4. Jul 3

    Abby Martin Exposes Palantir CEO and US Military’s “Disturbing” Secret

    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. Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.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 Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serve Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Watch Abby Martin's new film OUT TODAY: https://createsend.com/t/i-96F446CD3620EF692540EF23F30FEDED Support our work and get the extended interview with Abby Martin: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/full-interview-abby-martin-exposes?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/cnns-jake-tapper-humiliated-for-zohran?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. Friend-of-show Abby Martin, journalist and filmmaker behind the Empire Files, Gaza Fights for Freedom, and Cuba After Castro, returns to Useful Idiots on the premiere day of her bold new film: Earth’s Greatest Enemy. The new documentary examines how the Pentagon, exempt from international climate agreements or emissions laws and rarely scrutinized in mainstream reporting, is the world’s single largest institutional polluter—spewing carbon, contaminating water, and scarring landscapes across the globe. Martin went deep into Washington as well as into the communities and ecosystems it destroyed in order to expose the truth about the US military and put pressure on its most powerful conspirators, from bought-out politicians like Nancy Pelosi to squirming army officials to corporate profiteers like Palantir’s Alex Karp. In this interview, Abby recounts the most shocking discoveries she and her team made while unraveling the story and filming where the military didn’t want them to be filming. She also reveals bonus secrets she uncovered that aren’t in the documentary, explains why a movie on such a serious topic is filled with biting gallows humor, and the real way that AI data centers are “going to literally kill us all.” To watch our full interview with Abby Martin on what she found on her reporting trip to Israel (and the most racist Israelis she caught on camera), the truth about the US history of violence on Cuba and how she became the first US journalist to be granted a sit-down interview with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and what Israeli military officers are doing in Venezuela after the US coup and a devastating earthquake in Caracas, please subscribe to our show. 00:00 Intro 04:12 Jake Tapper Humiliated for Zohran Mamdani Meltdown 08:16 Fraudfather Jonathan Greenblatt gets mocked for antisemitism rant 09:27 Abby Martin interview 13:08 Confronting Nancy Pelosi 19:53 Palantir's Alex Karp wants to kill the Earth 27:56 Exposing the most RACIST ISRAELIS Our Sponsors: * Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS * Check out Chilipad and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  5. Jun 29

    Let's bomb Iran to make sure the ceasefire holds

    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. Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.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 Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serve Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the extended interview with Ross Barkan and Liza Featherstone: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-interview-aipac-panics-after?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: CNN IS MELTING DOWN AS PROGRESSIVES TAKE OVER https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/cnn-is-melting-down-as-progressives?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 Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS * Check out Chilipad and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  6. Jun 27

    "The chance of AI World War is now 50% in the next 30 years"

    Click here to watch the full chat with God Test author Robert Wright: https://usefulidiotspodcast.com 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. Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.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 Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serve Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the extended interview with Ross Barkan and Liza Featherstone: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-interview-aipac-panics-after?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: CNN IS MELTING DOWN AS PROGRESSIVES TAKE OVER https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/cnn-is-melting-down-as-progressives?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 Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS * Check out Chilipad and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  7. Jun 26

    AIPAC Panics After Zohran Mamdani’s Election Sweep

    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. Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.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 Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serve Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the extended interview with Ross Barkan and Liza Featherstone: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-interview-aipac-panics-after?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: CNN IS MELTING DOWN AS PROGRESSIVES TAKE OVER https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/cnn-is-melting-down-as-progressives?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. On this week’s show we’re analyzing the Mamdani Sweep in New York City where progressive, populist, pro-Palestine candidates, backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, won important elections across the board in a huge rebuke to AIPAC and Israel. So as AIPAC and the entire Democratic establishment freak out about the electoral loss, we’re speaking with journalists Ross Barkan and Liza Featherstone to dissect what went right for the left and how progressive stars like Mamdani and Hasan Piker can leverage this victory into a more controlling stance in the Democratic Party. Useful Idiots: What’s your one-sentence takeaway from the elections?Ross Barkan: It was a great night for Zohran Mamdani and he is emerging as the new political boss of New York politics.Liza Featherstone: I wondered whether the left should have gone even bigger. Zohran won every single race that he endorsed and DSA won almost all of them. None of their incumbents were taken out and almost all their challengers won. If you’re not losing more, are you really trying hard enough?Useful Idiots: Establishment Democrats are freaking out about these progressive winners, including Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier who sparked controversy with a now-deleted tweet saying “F**k Kamala Harris.” What’s your response to this?Liza Featherstone: I would just like [these establishment Democrats] to actually spend a day gathering petition signatures for a candidate. When I did that for Zohran Mamdani in Bed-Stuy, a Democratic stronghold, the biggest obstacle was people saying, ‘f**k the democrats.’I would lead with ‘are you a registered democrat?’ and even normie, middle-aged ladies, white ladies, black ladies, you know, who are normally the base of the Democratic Party, would be like, ‘no, f**k them.’ Everyone’s fed up. Everyone’s fed up.To see the full interview with Ross and Liza on why Trump has more respect for Zohran’s game than Dems do, responses to CNN fear mongering that Jews are no longer safe in New York City after the election, whether Brad Lander is actually a progressive or just establishment-in-disguise, and where AOC was while Mamdani was endorsing candidates, please subscribe to our show. 00:00 Intro 02:00 Dana Bash's Zionist Meltdown 07:49 Sean Hannity cries over Brad Lander 09:02 Ross Barkan and Liza Featherstone interview 09:42 What the Progressives MISSED this week 16:07 Is it GOOD Zohran can't run for president? 30:05 Why wasn't AOC there? Our Sponsors: * Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS * Check out Chilipad and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

  8. Jun 22

    The US-Israeli relationship continues to break as the Trump Admin moves forward with Iran deal

    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. Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serve Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFUL Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the ad-free version of our episode: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/bombshell-jd-vance-turns-on-israel?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Even Hillary Clinton is Turning On Israel https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/even-hillary-clinton-is-turning-on?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 Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS * Check out Chilipad and use my code USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/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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