Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Useful Idiots, LLC

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. 2D AGO

    Fanfiction Fearmongering: Watch the Worst People We Know Sell You the War on Iran

    "Palestine 36" screening in New York City, Tuesday March 17: Aaron will be doing a Q&A with director Annemarie Jacir. Ticket here: https://angelikafilmcenter.com/nyc/sessions/72557/HO00008114 Read Professor Behrooz Ghamari's excellent new book: The Long War on Iran https://orbooks.com/catalog/the-long-war-on-iran/ Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan. 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Click here for the full interview with Iranian Professor Behrooz Ghamari: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/full-interview-israel-shocked-after?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Jake Tapper: Iran Wants Us to Bomb Them! https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/jake-tapper-iran-wants-us-to-bomb?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&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: https://quince.com/USEFUL Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 17m
  2. 5D AGO

    Israel SHOCKED After Iran Mounts “Surprise” Resistance w/ Iranian Professor Behrooz Ghamari

    Read Professor Behrooz Ghamari's excellent new book: The Long War on Iran https://orbooks.com/catalog/the-long-war-on-iran/ Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan. 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Click here for the full interview with Iranian Professor Behrooz Ghamari: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/full-interview-israel-shocked-after?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Jake Tapper: Iran Wants Us to Bomb Them! https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/jake-tapper-iran-wants-us-to-bomb?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&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. This week we’re speaking with Iranian Professor Behrooz Ghamari, whose unique history gives him an important perspective that challenges Trump’s regime-change war-of-choice in ways few others can. In the 1980’s, Ghamari was sentenced to death by the Iranian government for being part of a Marxist group trying to overthrow the Islamic Republic. He was held in Evin Prison’s death row, where countless political prisoners have been tortured, and was denied cancer treatment for his worsening lymphoma. But, Ghamari explains in his excellent new book, The Long War On Iran, four decades after getting freed from a place he never thought he’d outlive, Israeli airstrikes hit the prison, along with over 17,000 other civilian sites. Ghamari “had this feeling as if my home was attacked.” Today, we’re asking him why, after the horrible treatment he endured, does he still reject US regime change of a government he fought to oppose. Useful Idiots: It’s fascinating that you were literally scheduled to be executed, you were on death row, you were deprived of cancer treatment, and yet your analysis is so clear-eyed. You are able to criticize regime change. You are even able to give credit to this government that wanted you to be killed.Behrooz Ghamari: A political project cannot be the extension of your own trauma. We need to transcend that trauma in order to advance a political project. Unfortunately, I see a lot of people who are celebrating these military attacks. They’re supporting Israel bombing Iran, supporting President Trump bombing Iran.There are actually people who use the trauma of others to justify their own celebration, which is a very bizarre kind of logic.But I think it’s a sign of political maturity if one tries to transcend these things and understand: what price are we willing to pay? Because that’s the main question.People always cite Immanuel Kant, saying ‘dare to know and speak truth to power.’ But people usually forget the second part of it: ‘Speak the truth to power and be willing to lose your head for it.’ And so I challenge those people who are celebrating in the US, if they’re willing to speak the truth and also willing to lose their head for it. Because they stand at a distance and are quite ambivalent about loss of life in Iran.Subscribe to hear our full discussion with Professor Ghamari where we ask him to respond to the Iranian diaspora claims about foreign regime change, Iran’s treatment of its own people, and why Iranians should have to “pay the price for Palestine.” 00:00 Intro 01:26 Steve Witkoff TRICKED Trump into Saying Iran Nuke Lie 06:50 Professor Behrooz Ghamari interview 11:53 Iran War update 20:00 Oil is raining from the sky 29:50 Why should Iranians "pay the price for Palestine?" Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFUL Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    32 min
  3. MAR 9

    It's like the Iraq War But Stupider

    Watch our Iran Update with Iran experts Trita Parsi and Negar Mortazavi: https://youtube.com/live/G9X2saz2HpI?feature=share Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan. Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFUL Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Click here for the full interview with Iranian Journalist Ali Alizadeh: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-israels-plan-backfires?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Let's talk about the Democrats who gave Trump a standing ovation for bombing Iran https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/lets-talk-about-the-democrats-who?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&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: https://quince.com/USEFUL Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 47m
  4. MAR 2

    IRAN WAR: Aaron and Katie DEBUNK Corporate Media's Propaganda – EXTENDED EPISODE

    Check out Ali Alizadeh's excellent YouTube show Jedaal: https://www.youtube.com/@JedaalEnglish Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan. Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFUL Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Click here for the full interview with Iranian Journalist Ali Alizadeh: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-israels-plan-backfires?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Let's talk about the Democrats who gave Trump a standing ovation for bombing Iran https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/lets-talk-about-the-democrats-who?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&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: https://quince.com/USEFUL Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 26m
  5. FEB 27

    Israel’s Plan BACKFIRES, Iranians Rally Around Government

    Check out Ali's excellent YouTube show Jedaal: https://www.youtube.com/@JedaalEnglish Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan. Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFUL Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Click here for the full interview with Iranian Journalist Ali Alizadeh: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-israels-plan-backfires?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Let's talk about the Democrats who gave Trump a standing ovation for bombing Iran https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/lets-talk-about-the-democrats-who?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&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. The big question hanging over the world right now is whether Trump, the guy who campaigned against endless wars, especially in the Middle East, is about to launch another endless war in the Middle East, assembling the largest military deployment there since the Iraq War and threatening to bomb Iran. There have been indirect talks in Geneva between the US and Iran, but the Trump Administration is still talking as if it wants to go to war because it sounds a lot like the Bush Administration when they were making the case to go to war with Iraq. Just this week, Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff claimed, without evidence, that Iran is a week away from having enough uranium for a nuclear weapon. Which means the WMD hoax is back in full swing. To understand all this, we spoke with Iranian journalist Ali Alizadeh, host of the excellent YouTube show Jedaal. Useful Idiots: There has just been a third round of indirect talks held between the US and Iran in Geneva. Based on what you’ve heard so far, what is your assessment of these talks?Ali Alizadeh: Americans have claimed they don’t want Iran to ever reach nuclear weapons, and Iranians have provided something which can give them such guarantee.But then if you just listen to the Americans, just before the two sides were supposed to sit at the negotiation table, it seems that they are cheating. Vance talked about the fact that the president has all the options on the table, and again threatened Iran militarily. Marco Rubio suddenly said Iran’s missiles and navy are a threat to the peace and security of America.Since when has Iran’s navy has been a threat? Iran has a navy in its own waters, which is called the Persian Gulf, and it’s been called that since 2,500 years ago.And then your navy and your aircraft carriers have come from 15,000 kilometers away to their land. So how can the Iranian Navy be a threat to your security? And so they are constantly adding pressure and trying to squeeze other things into the negotiation, which in my opinion can sabotage the deal.Useful Idiots: Do you think there’s a chance of an actual deal being reached?Ali Alizadeh: If Iran and America were sitting at a negotiation table, I think Iran could have given Trump something which was stronger than the JCPOA and would send him home happy so he could sell it to his people that he did something better than Obama.But is Iran negotiating with the United States? Or is it negotiating with Israel? Who is Steve Witkoff? Who is Jared Kushner? Because it seems that Israel has a completely different agenda, which is constantly pushing Trump. And now Trump, I think because of his lack of expertise in diplomacy and politics, despite what he thinks of himself, has badly cornered himself.Useful Idiots: You spoke about how you think that Trump miscalculated the strength of the Iranian government and how he’s actually strengthened the government, because the actions of the United States and the actions of Israel, flaunting the role of foreign intervention in people’s faces, has actually rallied the masses around the government. Can you talk more about that?Subscribe to watch our full interview with Ali Alizadeh on what actual Iranians want to change about their government, Nancy Pelosi’s murderous threat to working-class Iranians, and an update on the Geneva talks from an Iranian official. 00:00 Intro 00:59 JD Vance WMD Hoax 02:32 Marco Rubio CONTRADICTS Trump 03:24 Sen. Markwayne Mullin does the dumb version of warmongering 05:39 Does he really not know who the leader of Iran is? 06:14 Ali Alizadeh interview 08:56 Israel is trying to sabotage US-Iran talks 11:46 Marco Rubio makes up a threat 23:58 EMBARRASSING moment in Congress with the National Endowment for Democracy 34:40 Do Iranians like their government? Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFUL Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    36 min
  6. FEB 20

    “He’s a piece of sh*t”: Journalist DESTROYS Iran’s Self-Appointed Crown Prince

    Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan. Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFUL Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: We Can't Take the Risk of Not Going to War with Iran http://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. We’ve got two interviews for you this week: first up we’re talking about Iran. Trump is threatening another regime change war in the Middle East, ordering the largest US military deployment since the Iraq War. To get an understanding of what’s happening in Iran, we spoke with independent journalist Bushra Shaikh. Bushra went viral for a video from a recent trip to Tehran in which she walked through a rally without wearing a hijab. She explains that this is a common occurrence, and that so much of what we hear about Iran in Western media turned out to not be true. Bushra Shaikh: This picture that’s created in the West is more of a very old-school type of Iran. There is a movement in Iran that is taking shape. And it’s purposely being censored from the West.I was walking in that rally. It was such an amazing place to be because there were hundreds of thousands of people coming out in support of their government. I was there without a hijab on. And honestly, it was it was just one of those experiences that I thought I would never have. And given the propaganda in the West, I was even confused because when I got there, I was like, ‘Bushra, you’ve been propagandized.’So having that experience for myself really was an eye-opener.Useful Idiots: And what do you think is happening on the ground?Bushra Shaikh: What’s happening on the ground is you have a large community at the moment who are very worried about the prospect of a war, of being illegally attacked in their country.One of the main concerns that a lot of people spoke about were the sanctions. They told me, ‘We just want to live good lives and we want to prosper and we want to be able to enhance our economy, build good ties with other countries. And these sanctions need to be lifted.’So most of people’s real concerns were sanctions. It wasn’t changing who’s in charge of their country.For our second interview, we’re discussing the life and message of civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died this week at the age of 84. He worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He then ran for president in 1984 and 1988, pushing to cut the Pentagon budget while increasing domestic spending on education, housing, and healthcare. Jackson was also active in international struggles and campaigns, ranging from the anti-apartheid movement to supporting rights for Palestinians. Jesse Jackson also visited Palestine, and of course he was criticized for defending Palestinian rights. To hear firsthand stories of the Reverend, we spoke with Eric Easter, former press secretary to Jesse Jackson for the National Rainbow Coalition, and Albert Mokhiber, who worked on Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign in 1984. Watch or listen to our full, unpaywalled interview with these great guests. Thanks for supporting independent media. If you’d like to help keep us running, please consider supporting us with a subscription. If you do, you’ll get our weekly recap, the Friday Free-For-All: We Can’t Take the Risk of Not Going to War with Iran 00:00 Intro 01:25 Jared Kushner's creepy Board of Peace 03:23 The Democrat who's on board with bombing Iran 06:38 Fmr Obama/Biden official BACKS TRUMP in trashing nuclear deal 08:30 Bushra Shaikh interview 09:02 What's Tehran actually like? 10:43 The impact of santions 12:01 Nancy Pelosi wants to inflict pain on ordinary Iranians 14:27 In Tehran without a hijab 29:21 Interview with Jesse Jackson's former comrades 47:43 Listen to this awesome Jesse Jackson speech Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFUL Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/useful-idiots-with-katie-halper-and-aaron-mate/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 2m
4.5
out of 5
4,418 Ratings

About

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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