DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas

Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas "deprogram" the latest domestic and international news and trends so you can see through the spin in the headlines to the raw truth you need to know.

Ted's immersion in the media—prize-winning cartoonist and columnist, radio host, editor at Forbes and United Media, and the veteran of bruising First Amendment legal battles—informs analysis that cuts through the spin.

Jamarl's experiences as a podcaster who has broadcast from around the globe grounds his international, humanist perspective as he helps you break down what's happening, what it means, and what's coming next.

"DeProgram" offers fast-paced, entertaining analysis you can't get anywhere else.

LIVE Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 10 AM Eastern Time:

Streaming on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DeProgramShow

Streaming on Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow

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285 episodes
Updated Yesterday

Episodes285

Newest first

Dec 29, 2025 · 1 hr 58 min
Swiss Miss | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Special TWO-HOUR SHOW! Starting 10 AM EST, we're taking your voice calls. Tune in early for a full explanation for how to talk to Ted and John LIVE. Today we discuss: • Switzerland’s army chief says his nation can’t defend itself against a Russian invasion, calls for a massive boost in military spending. Are the Russians really coming? • A recent power outage crippled Waymo’s San Francisco fleet. Emergency vehicles would have been stuck behind them in an earthquake. Are UAVs ready for prime time? • Israel recognizes Somaliland. The EU is angry at Israel. • Trump slashes the US contribution to UN humanitarian aid.
Dec 29, 2025 · 2 hr 8 min
Deportation Industrial Complex | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Special TWO-HOUR SHOW! Starting 10 AM EST, we're taking your voice calls. Tune in early for a full explanation for how to talk to Ted and John LIVE. Today we discuss: • The Trump Administration plans to hold more than 80,000 immigrant detainees at a time. Migrants would be booked into processing sites for a few weeks before being funneled into one of 7 warehouses holding 5,000 to 10,000 people each, where they would be staged for deportation. • The U.S. bombed an ISIS camp in northwest Nigeria to protect Nigerian Christians. • Zelensky and Trump about to meet. Also, Zelensky wishes for Putin to perish.
Dec 24, 2025 · 59 min
No Place for Mom | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Poor staffing and conditions at American nursing homes is highlighted by an explosion that killed two people at a Bristol County PA facility that has repeatedly been cited for failure to comply with regulations. • Ukraine suggests a DMZ in the east. A 20-point US/Ukrainian plan includes NATO-style security guarantees and a road toward EU membership. Meanwhile, two Moscow cops are killed by a bomber near the site of the car bombing of a Russian general. • German lawmakers accuse far-right AfD lawmakers of spying for Russia. • Libyan general and 7 others die in a plane crash in Turkey.
Dec 23, 2025 · 58 min
Cruzin’ for a Bruisin’ | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Will the GOP Presidential Nomination Race for 2028 come down to a face-off between Ted Cruz and JD Vance? • 30 US ambassadors are being recalled abruptly, no reason given, with little notice. • Trump wants Greenland for Christmas. He’s appointed a special envoy, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, to the Danish territory. • ICE is targeting “at risk” unaccompanied minors as they check in for their 18th birthdays.
Dec 22, 2025 · 1 hr
Nothing To See Here! | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • In a classic late Friday “media dump,” DOJ has released the Epstein Files. Well, some of them. And those have been heavily redacted. Members of Congress are threatening Attorney General Pam Bondi with contempt of Congress. • The civil war in the MAGA movement broke wide open at the Turning Point confab. Is this a party pulling itself apart? Or healthy airing of disagreements? • Peace in Ukraine by Christmas? US-Ukraine meet in Miami. Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov blown up by car bomb. Ukrainian intelligence services suspected. At the same time as war with Venezuela? • Did Bari Weiss censor a “60 Minutes” segment on CECOT?
Dec 19, 2025 · 59 min
Brown and MIT Shootings Linked | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Trump reacted to the news that the alleged shooter at Brown and MIT by suspending the Green Card Lottery the suspect used to enter the U.S. Meanwhile, Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan found guilty of felony obstruction. • Lessons Unlearned: DNC Chairman Ken Martin quashes its 2024 election autopsy. • Trump reclassifies cannabis as a less dangerous Schedule III drug. • More than half of $18 billion in taxpayer funds spent on 14 Medicaid programs in Minnesota were probably stolen since 2018.
Dec 18, 2025 · 59 min
Big Border Patrol is Watching You | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Orwellian, much? The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American citizen drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems “suspicious.” A secret network of cameras scans and records your vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags cars based on their route. Federal agents then flag local police. Cops cite speeding, failure to signal, the wrong window tint or even a dangling air freshener blocking the view. • Trump delivered a prime-time address to the nation and promised $1,776 checks to troops. The same day, the White House attached a predecessor-trolling Walk of Fame to the outside of the building. • Centrist Republicans revolt, join Democratic discharge petition on ACA subsidies. • Farmers block roads in Brussels to protest EU-Mercosur free-trade deal. The accord, which would eliminate tariffs on nearly all goods traded between the EU and five Mercosur nations — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia — over 15 years, faces mounting resistance.
Dec 17, 2025 · 58 min
Blockade! | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Declaring the Venezuelan government a terrorist organization, Trump imposes a naval blockade of sanctioned oil tankers. • D.C. is talking about Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ candid assessments of her White House colleagues, including the president, in Vanity Fair. • WarSec Pete Hegseth is refusing to release that controversial double-tap killing by the US military of boat-bombing survivors. What’s he hiding? • Citizens of 35 countries are now restricted from travel to the U.S. 5 are banned entirely. Will they retaliate? • Who shot a prominent nuclear physics professor at MIT and why?
Dec 16, 2025 · 55 min
Fly the Fiendish Skies | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • A JetBlue pilot accuses the US military of recklessly flying over Venezuelan airspace without active transponders, endangering thousands of civilian air passengers and causing a near miss. • Running against crime and illegal immigration, rightist José Antonio Kast defeats a communist candidate for the Chilean presidency. Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador are all governed by right-wingers. • Trump designates street fentanyl as a WMD. Meanwhile, the US military blows up three alleged drug boats in the Pacific, killing eight unknown civilians. • Blaise Metreweli, first female head of MI6, emphasizes threat from Russia and the war in Ukraine alongside high-tech/AI intelligence. JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLE! https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow FOLLOW TED: https://rall.com/ https://x.com/tedrall FOLLOW JOHN: https://www.instagram.com/realjohnkiriakou https://x.com/JohnKiriakou LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall
Dec 15, 2025 · 59 min
Bloody Weekend | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Bloody weekend: Australia Bondi Beach massacre claims 15 at Hannukah event, gunman kills 2 Brown students and injures 9, director Rob and wife Michele Reiner killed at their L.A. home. • “Dewoked” coins commemorating the 250th anniversary of the US canceled Frederick Douglass and shackled and unshackled hands, women’s suffrage and a “Votes for Women” flag and the civil rights movement and desegregation. Instead, we’ll get the Mayflower Compact, Pilgrims, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and the Gettysburg Address with Lincoln. • A tale of two presidential libraries: Awash in donations, Trump will probably use a foundation to avoid National Archives scrutiny. Biden has raised enough money to purchase a modest home on the beach. • Dude, Where’s My Nuke? A CIA nuclear device loaded with plutonium has been missing in the Himalayas since 1965. Now the glacier where it was lost is melting. What could go wrong?
Dec 12, 2025 · 58 min
Call-In Friday | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Got a question for CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou and/or political cartoonist Ted Rall? Today's your chance to bend their ear about the news of the day or anything else you feel like! It's a Rumble-only exclusive where you can call in live. Be pithy, be quick, be brilliant on DeProgram!
Dec 12, 2025 · 58 min
It’s Piracy Time! | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • The U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a dramatic escalation in President Trump’s pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela. Is this why we’re spending $900 million a year on defense? • The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday in a highly contentious decision. The split among policymakers suggested that the central bank may be done lowering borrowing costs for the time being unless there are clear signs that the labor market is weakening further. Meanwhile, President Trump is trying to persuade the public that the economy is strong. • The University of Alabama has suspended the publication of two student-run magazines — one primarily focused on Black students and another on women’s issues — citing recent federal guidance against diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses. • Australia’s landmark new social media age law is set to go into effect, barring anyone under 16 from holding an account as the government moves to enforce one of the world’s strictest online safety measures. Scott Stantis, cartoonist for The Chicago Tribune, is filling in for John.
Dec 10, 2025 · 1 hr
Trump to Europe: Drop Dead | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • In a wide-ranging Politico interview, Trump said ideological divisions threaten to fracture Washington's alliances with Europe. “I think [their leaders are] weak, but I also think that they want to be so politically correct. I think they don't know what to do.” Ukraine—where Zelensky says he’s finally ready to hold elections—is the main point of contention. • Russia has long used Mexico as a base for espionage, earning it the nickname “the Vienna of Latin America” during the Cold War. American officials say those efforts scaled up after Russia invaded Ukraine. But the U.S. says Mexico is ignoring the issue. American officials who asked about a list of GRU spies were told the Mexican officials never got it, that it was too vague or that junior officials lost it. • Afghan fighters who served in “Zero Units” led by the CIA spiraled into despair because of inability to work, bureaucratic neglect and abandonment by the U.S. government, driving at least 4 to suicide. One was Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man charged with shooting National Guard soldiers in DC. • Another city goes blue: Miamians elected Eileen Higgins as mayor, the first Democrat in 28 years. Higgins, a former county commissioner, defeated Republican Emilio González, an ex-city manager who had the endorsement of Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, with 60% of the vote. • NYT reports that Trump Administration weighed sending survivors of U.S. attacks on alleged drug boats to CECOT prison in El Salvador, to keep them away from American courts. Lawyers say information disclosed in a court could undermine the legality of the attacks and the political rationale.
Dec 9, 2025 · 1 hr
Japanese Militarism: What Could Go Wrong? | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Japan is threatening China militarily which is "completely unacceptable", Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says, after Chinese jets aimed radar at Japanese aircraft. China has blamed Japan for sending aircraft to repeatedly approach and disrupt the Chinese navy. • Powerful Senate President Hun Sen vowed that Cambodia would carry out a fierce fight against Thailand as a second day of widespread combat drove tens of thousands of people to flee border areas. Is full-scale war at hand? • 200,000 people have fled eastern Congo in recent days, as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels march on the strategic lakeside town of Uvira on the border with Burundi, and battling with Congolese troops and local groups known as Wazalendo. Scores have been killed. Here, too, we’re on the watch for full-fledged war. • A bid by Paramount Skydance Corp. for Warner Bros. Discovery is backed by notable investors like Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority and a less known player, Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Co., founded recently and fully owned by the government. If TikTok is a matter of national security, how about this?
Dec 8, 2025 · 58 min
No More Mr. Nice Guy | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • WarSec Hegseth declares an age of American “utopian idealism” over under the new National Security Strategy, demanding that U.S. allies fend for themselves, and called for a more conciliatory approach to China. • Oral arguments in SCOTUS over Trump v. Slaughter, which will likely strip independence from agencies have regulated American monetary policy and stock trades, transportation systems and election campaigns, consumer product safety and broadcast licenses. • Thailand bombed Cambodia in what it claimed was retaliation, leaving a peace plan presided over by Trump in danger of collapse. • “I’ll be involved in that decision,” Trump says about Netflix buying Warner Bros for $82 billion. Will he scuttle this monopoly?
Dec 5, 2025 · 58 min
Sloppy Russian Spies | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime: Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • The death from exposure to a rare, military-grade nerve agent called a Novichok in Britain of Dawn Sturgess, 44 and a British mother of three, seven years ago, illustrates the consequences of letting spies run amok. A perfume bottle containing the poison had been discarded by a pair of Russian operatives after using it in an attempted assassination months earlier. A new report blames Putin. • Zelensky’s government systematically sabotages oversight, creating the perfect opportunity for corruption. Ukraine has stacked oversight boards with loyalists, leaves seats empty or stalled them from being set up at all. Leaders in Kyiv even rewrote company charters to limit oversight, allowing hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars to be stolen. • Congress is focusing on two deaths in one boat strike. But 9 other people died in that same attack, and the United States has killed 87 in all. Were any of those killings legal? • 55% disapprove/42% approve of Trump’s job performance. Much of his loss is among political independents; 31% approve, down from 41% in July. The president has also lost support among men, particularly white, college-educated men. Can he right the ship? Chicago Tribune cartoonist Scott Stantis fills in for John today.
Dec 4, 2025 · 1 hr
Career Over for Hegseth? | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Admiral Mitch Bradley tries to explain himself to Congress today. As Trump claims each boat bombing saves 25,000 American lives, the man Hegseth blames for the double-tap strike is on the hot seat. Meanwhile, Signalgate is blowing up. Will this weekend mark the end of the former Fox News Weekend host? • Israel is opening the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. Egypt says it doesn’t know anything about it. It will help sick and injured Gaza’s get medical care. But is this the beginning of Israel’s plot to ethnically cleanse and annex Gaza? • Vladimir Putin to visit Narenda Modi in India to boost trade.
Dec 3, 2025 · 43 min
Will Hegseth Resign? | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Pressure is building against Pete Hegseth. The Defense Department claims it was trying to destroy the rest of the boat, not the crew, while Hegseth blames Admiral Bradley for murdering helpless seamen. Is this the end of the line for Hegseth, or do the new neocons win again? • Republicans are gambling that voters won’t resent them in next year’s elections for allowing Obamacare subsidies to expire, sending insurance prices to the stratosphere. Incumbents weigh the risk of a primary challenge for helping Democrats vs. the general election. • Belgium, which holds most of the Russian assets being targeted for seizure as reparations to Ukraine, says its requests to the EU to be indemnified against Russian lawsuits and legal losses, and that other EU nations also agree to participate, are being ignored. • Deep fake “Nudifying” software is out of control in schools around the world, where girls and female teachers are being humiliated by A.I.-generated phony nude images of themselves being passed around on smartphones by students. Schools are at a loss about how to handle it. Would cellphone bans solve the problem?
Dec 2, 2025 · 56 min
Sailin’ From Sudan | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Sudan’s military government has offered Russia what would be its first naval base in Africa and an unprecedented perch overlooking critical Red Sea trade routes, reports the WSJ. • Negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine focused on where the de facto border with Russia would be drawn under a peace deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin — who will meet with President Trump's envoy today — wants the entire Donbas region. • A lawsuit by an immigration judge fired by Trump has the potential to scramble the federal workforce and upend foundational civil rights laws. She says she was dismissed because of her gender, her status as a dual citizen of Lebanon and the fact that she once ran for municipal office in Ohio as a Democrat, all in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the First Amendment. The government has responded by arguing that the president's power to oversee the executive branch under Article II of the U.S. Constitution essentially overrides that core civil rights law. • A small, highly anticipated study shows a glimmer of hope in the long effort to control HIV without medication and search for a cure for a virus that attacks immune cells. In six participants, the virus rebounded slowly and stayed at a low level for months, and one person’s immune system kept the virus in check for more than a year and a half.
Dec 1, 2025 · 58 min
Did Hegseth Just Commit a War Crime? | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • WaPo reports that the Pentagon deliberately launched a “double tap” second bombing strike against the survivors of a boat blown up by the U.S. in the Caribbean. A bipartisan group of Congressmen wants the incident investigated as a serious war crime. Can you commit a war crime in a non-declared war against a fictional entity? • Trump issues ultimatum to Maduro: Leave Venezuela now. • A.I. data centers are driving up electricity rates in Red America. Will the rising price of kilowatt hours be as politically charged as the price of eggs? • Trump blames Biden for the Afghan ex-soldier who shot two National Guardmen in D.C., who was trained by the CIA, even though the suspect was granted asylum in April.