Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

J.G.
  • 4.5 (133)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED DAILY

A podcast where politics, history, and culture are examined from perspectives you may not have considered before. Call it a parallax view.

  1. 1D AGO

    The Dogs of Mariupol: Russia’s Invasion and the Forging of Ukraine’s Iron Generation w/ Tom Mutch

    On this edition of Parallax Views, journalist and war correspondent Tom Mutch, author of The Dogs of Mariupol: The Invasion of Ukraine and the Future of War, joins the show to discuss his frontline reporting on the Russia–Ukraine war and the hard lessons of a conflict that continues to reshape global politics. We begin by revisiting the shocking first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, when many in Moscow and the West assumed Ukraine would collapse within days. Why did so many analysts underestimate Ukraine’s resilience, and what explains the country’s remarkable ability to withstand Vladimir Putin’s assault? From there, we examine how the war has evolved between 2022 and 2025—highlighting acts of courage by Ukrainian civilians and soldiers, but also the immense human cost of the conflict. Tom reflects on mistakes made by Ukraine and the West, including the absence of a coherent U.S. strategy for aiding Kyiv, and whether Washington’s focus has sometimes been more about weakening Russia than guaranteeing Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty. We also address difficult questions such as the controversial defense of Bakhmut, whether Ukraine committed critical tactical errors, and what the future may hold: negotiations, diplomacy, or total victory. The conversation goes beyond Ukraine as well. We discuss the significance of Nagorno-Karabakh in understanding today’s revived great-power politics, and how the war in Gaza has negatively impacted Ukraine, especially as Israel's actions have come under scrutiny and undermined U.S. moral credibility as an arbiter of the global order. Finally, Tom speaks to audiences split on the war—those skeptical of Ukraine’s continued fight and U.S. military aid, and those who strongly defend Kyiv’s efforts. While Mutch comes from a firmly pro-Ukraine perspective, he offers a nuanced and critical edge that challenges simplistic narratives on both sides of the debate. He also offers criticisms of the American right-wing's views on Ukraine, addresses controversies around the Azov Battalion and the cultural significance of WWII-era far-right figure Stepan Bandera in modern Ukraine, and more.

    1h 11m

  2. 5D AGO

    U.S. Foreign Policy, Gaza Horrors, Multipolarity, & the War State w/ Alex Jordan & Courtney Rawlings

    On this edition of Parallax Views, Alex Jordan and Courtney Rawlings — hosts of the Quincy Institute’s foreign policy podcast Always at War — join the show for a hard-hitting conversation on some of the most urgent global issues. We discuss the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where starvation is setting in and U.S. politicians have failed to halt the suffering or reconsider military aid to Israel. From there, we examine the rise of a multipolar world order, the dangers of unmanaged Great Power competition, and how smaller nations risk being trampled by larger powers. We also break down the role of the U.S. national security state and the foreign policy “Blob” in eroding democratic governance, the connection between endless wars abroad and diminished freedoms at home, and how unaccountable institutions shape policy without public consent. The conversation concludes with a look at the Ukraine–Russia war, its global ramifications, and what it reveals about shifting geopolitical realities.

    1h 28m

  3. AUG 6

    Zero Dark Gaza: Casey-Tyler, McNally Capital, and the Militarized Aid Complex w/ Jack Poulson

    In this explosive episode of Parallax Views, investigative journalist Jack Poulson joins host J.G. Michael to uncover the shadowy post-retirement career of Michael Anne Casey-Tyler, a former CIA official alleged to be one of the real-life inspirations behind Jessica Chastain’s character “Maya” in Zero Dark Thirty. She's also for her controversial role in the CIA’s Bin Laden Issue Station, namely being accused of blocking critical 9/11 intelligence from reaching the FBI. Now Casey-Tyler has resurfaced in the private sector and her latest affiliations are raising eyebrows. Poulson breaks down his bombshell reporting on how Casey-Tyler consulted with McNally Capital, a private equity firm that now has an “economic interest” in Safe Reach Solutions, the security partner behind the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a militarized aid operation accused of facilitating the deaths of over 600 Palestinians and providing cover for Israeli displacement efforts. We dive deep into: Connections between former intelligence officials and militarized humanitarian aid The role of private military contractors like Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions How McNally Capital and Orbis Operations are profiting from crisis zones The controversies around the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is being called a “fig leaf for further violence” by UN officials Is humanitarian aid being weaponized? Is the post-CIA private sector creating a new form of covert empire? And what do these shadowy networks say about the future of war, intelligence, and privatized power?

    56 min

  4. AUG 4

    Epstein Luncheon Attendee Argues It Was an Intelligence Op Honey Trap w/ Eric Margolis

    On this edition of Parallax Views, journalist Eric Margolis returns to discuss his articles "The Honey Trap on East 71st" and, more recently, "The Epstein Scandal". Margolis recounts his experience at a luncheon hosted by Epstein at his palatial residence on East 71st Street in New York City. Margolis was offered a 'massage' soon after arriving at Epstein's house, and was puzzled by it. As someone who'd spent time in Russia and dealt with KGB, he immediately believed that this was a honey trap. That is to say, an operation to get kompromat on prominent, influential, and powerful individuals through sexual liasons. Margolis believes that at the heart of the Epstein scandal is espionage, specifically an intelligence operation, and blackmail. He also speculates that Israeli intelligence fingerprints are all over the case. We discussed all of this as well as the Jonathan Pollard spying case, the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal (which has received renewed attention due to an article entitled "Did Benjamin Netanyahu Blackmail Bill Clinton Over the Monica Lewinsky Sex Tapes?" by Ryan Grim at Drop Site News), and more.

    49 min

  5. AUG 1

    Hulk Hogan & the Myths and Realities of Pro Wrestling History w/ Matt Farmer

    👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. In the wake of Hulk Hogan’s death, this episode of Parallax Views looks past the familiar WWE narrative to uncover the real history of professional wrestling’s popularity—before, during, and after Hulkamania. Wrestling historian Matt Farmer joins us to explore the career of Hulk Hogan—from his early days in Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association and Japan as well as his first WWE run to the meteoric rise of "Hulkmania" as a phenomenon that took America by storm— and assess his legacy as it pertain to the wrestling. Additionally, you'll hear Farmer discuss the days of pro wrestling prior to Vince McMahon's national expansion of the WWE. Farmer gives an insight into the landscape of wrestling before Hogan, how it marked by regional territories run by various promoters, and its overlooked popularity in the pre-Hulkmania era. We examine the massive crowds and box office success of stars like Jim Londos, Rikidōzan, and Bruno Sammartino, who sold out arenas and stadiums long before the WWF’s national expansion in the 1980s. At the same time, Farmer doesn’t deny Hogan’s genuine drawing power. He talks about how Hogan became a cultural icon, one of pro wrestling's biggest box office attraction of all time and played a key role in fundamentally transforming wrestling during the cable TV boom. We'll also discuss the factors that led to Vince McMahon and WWE's national expansion, the target audience of the WWE during the Hulkamania era, how McMahon having access to the New York market gave him a structural advantage in his pursuits, and much, much more. But what did the industry gain—and what did it lose? We look at the audience that faded away after Hogan’s massive rise to superstardom, and why history often forgets them. We also tackle the problem of revisionist history: how simplified corporate narratives rewrites wrestling’s past, erasing earlier eras and larger contexts in favor of a historically inaccurate and imprecise narratives about the profession's storied history. And not all the blame can be placed on WWE. That's part of it, but there's also the issue of how institutions didn't exist after the territories fell to McMahon's national expansion to preserve collective memory. Additionally, Farmer explains how regional wrestling promoters played a role in the profession's history not always being preserved. All that and much more in this edition of Parallax Views that should also be of interest to those interested in case studies of how history is remembered and forgotten as well as the reasons why oversimplified revisionism takes hold. In that sense, it's not just an episode about pro wrestling and Hulk Hogan, but historiography, hagiography, and the ways in which the two often butt heads like a grueling bout in the squared circle.

    1h 2m

  6. AUG 1

    Demystifying New Hollywood: Capitalism & Film Production in 1960s/1970s American Cinema w Matthew Ellis

    👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. On this edition of Parallax Views, Matthew Ellis, a senior instructor in Portland State University's film and media studies program, joins the show to discuss, and more specifically demystify, the much celebrated "New Hollywood" period of American cinema. Don't be mistaken, this episode isn't an attack on the great films that came out of that period: Arthur Penn's Bonnie & Clyde, William Friedkin's Sorcerer, Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, and Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull. It is, however, an attempt to look at the material and economic factors that led to this incredible period in American cinema. In other words, a material analysis. Coming from a Marxist perspective, Ellis is more than equipped to look at the ways in which economic forces influenced the trajectory that gave us New Hollywood. In that sense, this conversation is a look at the myths and realities of New Hollywood. We discuss the birth of the modern blockbuster in the 1970s through Steven Spielberg's Jaws and George Lucas's Star Wars, the uses and abuses of Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory in film studies, the narrative about Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate and the end of New Hollywood, Roger Corman and how B-movies paved the way for A-list 70s movies like Jaws, the auteur theory of cinema and criticisms of it, the Paramount drama series The Offer (which is about the development of Coppola's adaptation of Mario Puzo's The Godfather), the companies behind production and distribution in Hollywood vs. the hired hands (directors), how French director's viewed American filmmakers like John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock, neoliberalism and cinema, capitalism and the production of movies, the 1948 ruling that broke up the Hollywood studio system's monopoly on film production, Old Hollywood's producer unit system of production and the shift to the package unit system in the 1960s, and much, much more

    1h 35m

  7. AUG 1

    A Report on Last Month's BRICS Summit w/ Michael Fox

    👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. On this edition of Parallax Views, we dive deep into the 17th BRICS summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 6–7, 2025. BRICS—originally made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—is an bloc of emerging economies seeking to build an alternative to the U.S. global economic order outside traditional Western-dominated institutions. In recent years, BRICS has expanded to include countries like Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and the UAE, representing an even larger share of the Global South. Journalist Michael Fox joins us to report on what he saw at the summit: Brazilian President Lula da Silva's words at the summit and what it says about BRICS vision, the question of global reform to address pressing international issues balanced with national sovereignty, de-dollarization, and more. We also discuss the newly created BRICS Popular Council, a civil society forum designed to amplify grassroots voices from across the Global South and break down what the official BRICS Leaders’ Declaration tells us about the bloc’s evolving vision.

    1h 2m

  8. JUL 31

    The Final Cut: Film Analysis w/ Albert Lanier

    On this episode of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael is joined by writer and self-described film analyst Albert Lanier to discuss his work on the blog The Final Cut and his Retro Reviews website. We kick things off by exploring why Albert prefers the term “film analyst” over “movie reviewer,” delving into what it means to engage deeply with cinema rather than simply judge it. From there, we dive into his thoughtful takes on: Psycho II, the surprising and often overlooked sequel to Hitchcock’s classic, and how it rethinks Norman Bates for a new era. Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce, a wild blend of sci-fi, horror, and eroticism that could only have come out of the 80s. The heyday of raunchy 80s comedies, what they reflected about the culture at the time, and why they endure (or don’t). Split Image, a lesser-known thriller about cults that holds up as both a tense drama and a cultural artifact of its period. It’s a conversation that ranges from cult cinema (and movies about cults) to the philosophy of film criticism, nostalgia, and why some forgotten gems deserve a second look.

    1h 17m
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About

A podcast where politics, history, and culture are examined from perspectives you may not have considered before. Call it a parallax view.

Information

  • Creator
    J.G.
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2025
  • Episodes
    951
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2018 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

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