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

Subscribe Listen in podnod RSS feed Show website

283 episodes
Updated Friday

Episodes283

Newest first

May 6 · 1 hr 1 min
Q&A | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
May 6 · 1 hr 1 min
The Forever 60-Day Wars | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Trump has used up his 60-day window to attack Iran without Congressional approval under the War Powers Act, so he’s resorting to a novel argument. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Operation Epic Fury is over, and the US has begun Operation Freedom instead—which is now on hold just 48 hours in. Will the US wage its unpopular wars in 60-day increments? • Axios reports Iran and the US are close to agreement on a one-page MOU. The deal would end the current war and launch a 30-day negotiation period for a full deal. Iran would accept a 12-15 year moratorium on uranium enrichment (negotiating duration), commits to no nuclear weapons or weaponization, removes highly enriched uranium, allows enhanced/snap UN inspections, and avoids underground nuclear sites. US agrees to gradually lift sanctions and release billions in frozen funds. Both sides ease restrictions on Strait of Hormuz shipping. • Elections in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan showed that Trump still dominates the Republican Party, and that Democrats seem to have the momentum ahead of November’s midterm elections. In Indiana, where he backed primary challenges against seven Republican state senators who rejected his redistricting plan, five of the president’s candidates won. In Michigan, a Democrat comfortably won a state Senate race in a bellwether district. • Senate Republicans proposed $1 billion to pay for new White House security measures, with lawmakers and White House officials disagreeing over whether the legislation would cover Trump’s planned ballroom. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
May 5 · 1 hr 2 min
Iran War Is Go Again | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Iran issued warnings after two U.S. destroyers, closely followed by two merchant vessels, came under attack during successful transits of the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE reported an Iranian assault on an energy hub that caused a fire. Oman’s state media reported an attack in the country but did not identify a perpetrator. Iran fired cruise missiles and drones at the U.S. naval and commercial vessels. Iran also sent six fast boats after the commercial ships, but U.S. forces fired on and destroyed the vessels. This is not what a ceasefire looks like. • A federal magistrate judge, Judge Zia Faruqui, tore into officials from the DC jail for mistreatment of the man who allegedly attempted to assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Cole Allen’s placement in severe lockdown — including being fully restrained by a five-point shackling system and a temporary suicide watch that required 24-hour-a-day placement in a padded, lighted cell without access to phone calls, books, religious material or recreational time — appeared to be unfairly punitive and not based on any known medical assessment. • A car driven by Cornell’s President Michael Kotlikoff bumps into students after a confrontation over Gaza. After a debate over the war, students say the university president hit them with his vehicle. He says he was the victim. • Trump declares that the US will withdraw 5,000 – and probably many more – troops stationed in Germany, after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the US handling of the Iran conflict, saying Tehran had humiliated Washington. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
May 4 · 1 hr 6 min
Trump in Trouble | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Trump approval reaches new low, a Post-ABC-Ipsos poll finds. Democrats now hold a 5% advantage in support for Congress, up from 2% in February. Americans disapprove of him on Iran by 66% to 33%. He is down 7% on the economy, to 34%. He has fallen 5% in that time to 27% and his lowest rating comes on perceptions of his handling of the cost of living, with 23% approving vs. 76% disapproving. • Oil traders doubted the effectiveness of a plan by Trump for the US to guide neutral ships out through the Strait of Hormuz. The US move was meant to enable vessels that have been stranded by the war with Iran to pass through the waterway. A tanker reported being hit by projectiles 78 nautical miles north of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said. • Rudy Giuliani is in critical condition. • Spirit Airlines shuts down, stranding travelers. Republicans blame Biden. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
May 1 · 1 hr 1 min
Epstein’s Swan Song | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time. Today we discuss: • A suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in a Manhattan jail has been kept secret for nearly seven years, locked up in a New York courthouse. A cellmate said he discovered the note in July 2019, after Epstein was found unresponsive with a strip of cloth around his neck. Epstein survived but weeks later was found dead. • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tells Congress that Trump does not have to comply with the War Powers Act requiring presidents to seek congressional authorization to continue a war beyond 60 days because the cease-fire agreement reached with Iran has paused the clock. • Trump issued an executive order that expands access to retirement accounts for workers who don’t get 401(k)s. 54 million Americans lack access to an employer-based retirement plan. • Labor unions, Democratic organizations and community groups march to commemorate May Day, International Workers Day. May Day Strong organizers are calling for “no school, no work, no shopping”, in protest of government policies that put billionaires’ needs above those of workers. JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLE https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow FOLLOW TED: https://rall.com/ https://x.com/tedrall LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall
April 30 · 1 hr
The Re-Parent Trap | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time. Ted is out today; Robby West fills in. Today we discuss: • RFK Jr. is haunted by 2024 arguments about “reparenting” American children, especially Blacks, on wellness farms, which he proposed building in rural communities across the US. “Every Black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence,” Kennedy has said. “Those kids are going to have a chance to go somewhere and get reparented and live in a community,” he said. • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the biggest adversary the US faces is not Iran, but the “feckless and defeatist words” of Democrats and some Republican lawmakers. He repeatedly stressed that the war was necessary because Iran posed an “existential threat” to the United States. “I know the American people support that mission, despite your loose talk and words like ‘quagmire.’” • A historic drop in representation by Black members of Congress may be on the way after the Supreme Court's landmark decision to further weaken the Voting Rights Act. JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLE https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow FOLLOW TED: https://rall.com/ https://x.com/tedrall 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
April 29 · 1 hr 3 min
Attack of the Normies! | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Social media profiles attributed to Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old Californian charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump over the weekend, are not radical. He’s centrist, moderate liberal. The same could be said of Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering the CEO of United Healthcare. Are we becoming radicalized—or are average people resorting to radicalized tactics? • FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is reconsidering the broadcasting licenses of Disney’s 8 TV stations for “early renewal” years ahead of their due dates — suggesting the action was spurred by Disney’s DEI policies. The announcement comes one day after Trump and first lady Melania demanded that Disney-owned ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke about them. • The world is threatened by a “suicidal” model of capitalism that is leading to war and the potential extinction of humanity, Colombian President Gustavo Petro says, as he convened 57 governments to address the climate crisis. “There is inertia in the power and the economy of this archaic form of energy – fossil fuels – that lead to death. Undoubtedly, that form of capital can commit suicide, taking with it humanity and [other] life,” he said. “The question that needs to be asked is whether capitalism can truly adapt to a non-fossil energy model.” The former economist said the world was in a perilous position: “We are heading towards barbarism. And barbarism is the prelude to, or the very essence of, fascism.” MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 28 · 1 hr 4 min
First Class Grift | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Low-cost airlines are asking the Trump administration for $2.5 billion to offset some of the cost of fuel, which has surged because of the war with Iran. Spirit Airlines is negotiating a loan of up to $500 million from the government; the government would have the right to purchase ownership stakes in the airline through financial instruments known as warrants. The government could end up owning as much as 90% of the Spirit, in its second bankruptcy in two years. • A joint offensive by Tuareg separatists of the Azawad Liberation Front and JNIM militants linked to Al Qaeda represented a major setback for Mali’s military junta and its Russian paramilitary partners. Defense minister Lt. Gen. Sadio Camara, a key liaison between the Malian Army and Russian paramilitary forces, was killed in the coordinated attacks. • Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of former Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov, went on trial in absentia in Switzerland in connection with alleged bribery and money laundering involving assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. She is in a “prison colony” in Uzbekistan. Swiss prosecutors say Karimova developed and ran a crime ring known as “The Office” that involved several dozen people and multiple companies. She is accused of depositing funds “of criminal origin” in Switzerland and abroad, and arranging for safe deposit boxes for the deposit of cash, jewelry and other valuables. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 27 · 1 hr 1 min
Q&A | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 27 · 1 hr 3 min
Aw, Shoot! | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Cole T. Allen, 31, is accused of trying to assassinate President Trump and other officials at the White House Correspondents Dinner. A CalTech graduate and a teacher with a close-knit family, Allen allegedly issued a manifesto that indicates a highly intelligent articulate would-be assassin with specific political grievances about Trump’s genocide in Gaza, murders of Venezuelan fishermen, etc. Is America breeding a new kind of presidential assassin? • The U.K.’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s state visit to the U.S. comes at a time of heightened domestic and geopolitical tension. • The centrist leader of Israel’s opposition, Yair Lapid, and a right-wing former prime minister, Naftali Bennett, will combine forces in elections later this year. The merger is an apparent bid to reconstitute a partnership that temporarily unseated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu five years ago. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 24 · 51 min
German Militarization: What Could Go Wrong? | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Germany plans to become the strongest “conventional army in Europe” by 2039—the 100th anniversary of the German invasion of Poland that began World War II. Titled “Verantwortung für Europa,” or “Responsibility for Europe,” the military strategy identifies Russia as the primary threat and sets out scenarios for possible attacks on NATO territory. Former Axis partner Japan has also begun remilitarization. • A leaked Pentagon internal email proposes that the US should reassess its support for Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands because the UK did not do enough to help the US/Israeli war against Iran. It argues that the US could review a policy of endorsing European claims to longstanding “imperial possessions.” It also argued that Spain should be suspended from NATO for refusing to allow US war planes to be based in or fly over. • Since agreeing last week to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, the Israeli army has been leveling neighborhoods in towns and villages near the Lebanese-Israeli border. The military says it destroys buildings that were used as outposts by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 23 · 58 min
DOJ vs. SPLC | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Trump’s Justice Department charged the SPLC civil-rights group with a financial crimes, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment focused on its past use of paid informants to infiltrate far-right groups. Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, accused the SPLC of “manufacturing racism to justify its existence.” • When is a Blockade not a Blockade? Lloyd’s List Intelligence says “a steady flow of shadow fleet traffic” has passed the U.S. blockade, including 11 tankers with Iranian cargo that have left the Persian Gulf since April 13. “The dilemma for the U.S. is: The tighter the blockade, the greater the pain is in the global oil market, so there are conflicting priorities there, and it seems there is a policy of not intercepting every single shipment of Iranian oil,” Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, says. Almost all that oil is going to China, and the U.S. has to manage that relationship as well, with Trump planning to visit from May 14 to 15. • Navy Secretary John Phelan is fired. • For the first time in decades, the U.S. could be experiencing negative net migration — more people leaving than entering. Brookings estimates net migration turned negative in 2025, the first time in at least half a century. People born in the U.S. who move abroad make up a small portion of those numbers, but influencers on social media are helping bring wider visibility to the shift. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 22 · 57 min
Same Time Next Year | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • So, there IS more “Mr. Nice Guy.” Trump blinked again by extending the ceasefire with Iran. His critics are mocking another TACO Tuesday. But the derision is better than risking more Iranian and US lives by doubling down to preserve his tough-guy persona. Inside Iran, though, Trump’s threats of military escalation lack credibility. The challenge for diplomats, from Pakistan and elsewhere, will be to find a way for Trump to claim some kind of win. • Leaked documents reveal details of a secret Saudi Arabia–Pakistan Mutual Defense Pact, now that Pakistan is playing a key role mediating the US-Israel-Iran War. We dig into this entanglement with journalist Murtaza Hussain, who broke this story for DropSite News. Hussain is a journalist specializing in national security and foreign policy. A former Intercept reporter now at Drop Site News, he offers commentary on U.S. interventions, human rights, and global affairs. He appears regularly on CNN, BBC, and MSNBC. • Trump asks Congress to increase the Defense budget by 42% (2/3 over Biden’s last one), to $1.5 trillion. Trump is seeking a 10% cut in discretionary domestic spending, chopping medical research, job training, home heating assistance, environmental protection and disaster relief after hurricanes. At a private Easter luncheon, Trump said: “We’re fighting wars,” he said. “It’s not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare.” Will Trump get his way? MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 21 · 1 hr
Wild Things | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Between Pete Hegseth, Kristin Noem and Kash Patel, the Trump Administration was staffed with some real party animals! Now Lori Chavez-DeRemer is out at Labor for boozing it up on the job while boning a subordinate. How did teetotaler Trump wind up with such a posse of wild right-wingers? • The US State Department will host a second round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday. Joining “Deprogram” to explain the latest in Israel’s invasion of Lebanon is Dmitri Lascaris. Dimitri Lascaris is a Canadian lawyer, journalist, and activist based in Montreal and Kalamata, Greece. A former Wall Street and class-action securities litigator, he now reports independently on foreign affairs, human rights, and global politics via his YouTube channel Reason2Resist, often from conflict zones, including Lebanon. • Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says Iran is “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield” after Trump threatened Iran with “problems like they’ve never seen before” if the two-week ceasefire expires tomorrow without a deal. There is no official confirmation on whether Iran will take part in talks in Islamabad. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 20 · 1 hr 9 min
Q&A | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 20 · 59 min
Pirates of Petulance | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Hours after the US and Iran announced a ceasefire deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump took to social media with insulting, triumphantalist messaging that reneged on America’s promise to suspend its own blockade of Iranian ships. The Strait closed again, Iran attacked two ships and the U.S. attacked and took over an Iranian cargo vessel. Peace talks are supposed to start Wednesday—but will US envoys be talking to themselves? • Republicans have few days left to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). But Trump, GOP leaders and White House officials have failed to come up with a workable framework for months—and there is no agreement. • Progressive Bulgaria, the party led by former President Rumen Radev, wins general elections in Bulgaria with 44.7%, a better-than-expected performance and one of the largest parliamentary mandates by any party in recent years. Warmer relations with Russia are likely. • Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says that Canada's strong economic ties to the US were once a strength but are now a weakness that must be corrected. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 17 · 58 min
Pope vs. Dope | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time. Today we discuss: • Pope Leo XIV says the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” with nothing for “healing, education and restoration.” “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” Leo said, presumably about Trump and Netanyahu. • Progressive Democrat Analilia Mejia won a special election in New Jersey’s 11th District, by a landslide, allowing Democrats to further narrow Republicans’ razor-thin majority in the House to 217-214. AIPAC had interfered in the primary by going after incumbent Tom Malinowski, a self-described Zionist, because he wanted conditions on aid to Israel. • House conservatives, concerned that warrantless government surveillance of foreign individuals could sweep up data on Americans, shot down an 18-month extension Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. They have 10 days to talk. • Disgruntled employee Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, of Highland, California, is accused of causing $500 million in damage by setting an April 7 fire that destroyed a 1.2 million-square-foot Kimberly-Clark distribution center in Ontario. Abdulkarim, who worked through a third-party logistics provider, filmed himself setting pallets of paper goods ablaze, says the DOJ. “If you’re not going to pay us enough to [expletive] live… at least pay us enough not to do this,” he allegedly says. “I just cost these [expletive] billions,” he texted. “Luigi popped that mutherf---er,” Abdulkarim said in a call, “a lot of people are going to understand.” JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLE https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow FOLLOW TED: https://rall.com/ https://x.com/tedrall 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
April 16 · 1 hr
Fake Gays in the UK | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time. Today we discuss: • Immigration advisers in the UK are charging up to £7,000 to fake asylum claims for Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals to pretend they are gay. • Senior diplomats from Lebanon and Israel met in Washington as their host, Marco Rubio, tried to reach a ceasefire. It was attended by Lebanon’s ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and her Israeli counterpart, Yechiel Leiter. Leiter said they had agreed on a long-term vision that there should be a “clearly delineated border between our countries.” Trump says leaders of the two nations will talk today; Lebanon denies that. • The U.S. launches an online portal next week that lets businesses request refunds for tariffs ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), will boot up CAPE, for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries — so companies can submit claims for up to $175 billion. Customs is putting the burden on the importer. Customs is not figuring it out. • In September 2024, Amandla Thomas-Johnson was a Ph.D. candidate studying in the U.S. on a student visa when he briefly attended a pro-Palestinian protest. In April 2025, ICE sent Google an “administrative subpoena”—not issued by a judge—requesting his data. The next month, Google gave Thomas-Johnson's information to ICE without giving him the chance to challenge the request
April 15 · 59 min
Let’s Talk, Scums! | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • We can’t decide to make nice, or kill you. President Trump told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo he views the war with Iran "as very close to over." The U.S. and Iran could begin a fresh round of peace talks as soon as tomorrow after Trump's administration imposed a blockade on Iranian ports. • Can Lebanon expel Hezbollah? Following the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1993, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter hailed what he called a convergence of opinion about removing Hezbollah's influence from Lebanon. "The Lebanese government made it very clear that they will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah," he said. "Iran has been weakened. Hezbollah is dramatically weakened. This is an opportunity." But nothing can happen without regime change in Iran—and maybe not even then. • Hampshire College, a small liberal arts school in Amherst founded in 1965, is set to close permanently due to low enrollment and financial problems. • Gov. Kathy Hochul proposes a tax on second homes in New York City worth $5 million and more, dubbed a pied-à-terre tax, aimed at the ultra-wealthy. It would affect roughly 13,000 homes, and would bump for homes valued at $15 million and again at $25 million. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504
April 14 · 58 min
Pain-Off! | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Trump is trying to choke off the country’s lifeline with a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. But the Iranians are betting that his tolerance for political pain is limited. • Iran is waging the conflict in the global markets. If no Iranian oil gets through the strait, prices could keep rising over time — some companies say they are planning for $175 a barrel. The Iranians understand the potential political effects of continued inflation in the U.S. less than seven months before midterms. • For expert analysis about the energy markets showdown, we will be joined by Mark Barteau, a renowned chemical engineer and expert in heterogeneous catalysis for fuels, chemicals, and energy processes. He serves as Vice President for Research at Texas A&M University, holding the C.D. Holland '53 Chair in Engineering with joint appointments in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. Previously, he directed energy institutes at the University of Michigan and University of Delaware. A National Academy of Engineering member with over 250 publications, his work advances clean energy and carbon management. • Ramsey County, Minnesota is investigating the arrest of a Hmong American man by ICE as a case of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, officials announced Monday. On Jan. 18, ICE agents bashed open the front door of the St. Paul home of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, 56, at gunpoint — without a warrant — then led him outside in just his underwear and a blanket in sub-zero conditions. Thao is a U.S. citizen. The City of St. Paul is also investigating. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504