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

April 13 · 1 hr
Trump Joins Iran’s Blockade | 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: • In one of the most bizarre gambits in military history, Trump responds to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz with his own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. You can’t blockade—I blockade! Oil futures are soaring; stocks are down. (Tune in Tuesday as oil-markets expert Prof. Mark Barteau of Texas A&M joins to explain the economics of global oil markets and this game of economic brinkmanship.) • Peace talks in Islamabad collapse over the U.S. “take it or leave it” demand that Iran stop enriching uranium and surrender its stockpile, Israel’s war against Lebanon, sanctions, reparations, and control of the Strait of Hormuz. Is there still hope? • The 55-to-38 defeat of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, by Peter Magyar, leader of the center-right Tisza party, should deliver a sharp jolt to one of America’s two major political parties—the Democrats. 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 10 · 59 min
Target: The Far Left | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime: Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • In an unusually expansive way, Sebastian Gorka, senior counterterrorism director on the National Security Council, is designating leftist groups in Greece, Germany and Italy as terrorist organizations, to pressure foreign allies to investigate them and to search for connections with leftists here so they can surveil, investigate and imprison American opponents of Trump. • Melania Trump denies connections to Jeffrey Epstein and that Epstein introduced her to Donald. Why? • Trump warns Iran ahead of planned negotiations this weekend, to comply abide by terms he says were agreed on for a ceasefire, or he’ll order large-scale attacks on the country. 6 ships—no oil tankers—passed through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. JD Vance, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will attend peace talks in Islamabad. After a surge of suspicious trading on prediction markets, the White House tells staff not to use insider information on the Iran war to bet on financial markets. • If someone wants to break into your Signal chats, they might find a way to do so. The FBI recently extracted incoming Signal messages from a defendant's iPhone. The user had deleted the app, but the FBI scraped incoming messages from the push notification database, even though those messages were set to disappear. 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 9 · 1 hr
Dire Strait | 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: • Iran says Hezbollah and Lebanon were part of the ceasefire deal. Pakistan, the mediator, confirms Iran’s understanding, as do France and the UK. Israel keeps bombing anyway. Now Iran says the Strait of Hormuz, open for ten minutes, is closed indefinitely. Is this a ceasefire, a fragile ceasefire, or all-out war, and will scheduled talks happen in Islamabad on Saturday? • Desperate to end the war he started, Trump drafted an X post in which Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif pretended to ask the US and Iran to negotiate a ceasefire. But Sharif derped—and posted it with “*Draft - Pakistan’s PM Message on X*.” Iran is emboldened and Pakistan’s role as neutral arbiter has been exposed. • Americans oppose the war by a 2-to-1 margin. Trump also suffers from a credibility gap; a majority think he is lying about Iran. Republicans worry that Trump’s attempts to end his war with Iran are too little, too late to save them from losing the House and Senate. • For the first time, American men ages 18-26 will automatically be registered for the military draft by December. 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 9 · 1 hr 11 min
Q&A | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
LIVE 12:00 noon Eastern time, Streaming Anytime: Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Have a question for Ted and/or new 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 8 · 59 min
Two More Weeks | 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: • As we predicted, Trump TACOed again in the final hour, extending last night’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and agreeing to a ceasefire for another two weeks to allow the U.S. and Iran to hash out an end to the U.S.-Israeli War Against Iran. Israel, with a history of scuttling ceasefires, says it will continue to invade and bomb Lebanon, and is reported to have attacked an oil refinery on the country’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf. • Sticking points include: the US demanding zero uranium enrichment on Iranian soil with full dismantlement of capabilities and stockpiles versus Iran's insistence on its sovereign right to enrich; Iran seeking immediate full lifting of all US sanctions and asset releases versus the US offering only phased relief tied to verifiable compliance; disputes over Iranian control versus unrestricted access through the Strait of Hormuz; the US pushing limits on Iran's ballistic missiles and an end to support for regional proxies like Hezbollah and the Houthis versus Iran's refusal to negotiate these defensive elements; and Iran's demands for US non-aggression pledges, possible troop withdrawal, reparations, and a binding UN resolution. • Gulf countries are being forced to re-evaluate their relationships with Israel, Iran and the United States — their main security guarantor — now that the war has exposed the vulnerability of their oil fields, water desalination plants, hotels and airports. • ICE shot another man, Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, in Patterson, 80 miles east of San Jose. ICE claimed Hernandez is a member of the Los Angeles 18th Street gang and was wanted for questioning in El Salvador related to a murder. In a video, three ICE agents were seen flanking a black sedan pinned between two other vehicles – respectively at its front and back – with flashing police lights. As the officers reached into the vehicle, the black sedan reversed with its right passenger door open. That door collided with the car behind it. The agents had their weapons drawn as the car reversed. 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
April 7 · 1 hr
TACO Tuesday 2.0 | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Tick, tock…8 pm Eastern tonight is Trump’s self-chosen deadline for U.S. forces to begin destroying Iran’s bridges and power plants unless the Islamic Republic agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. With all indications that Iran is not only winning but becoming a major economic player as a result of the Trump-Netanyahu attack, will Trump TACO out again? • Iran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal. “We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told the AP. In return, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran would also impose a fee of roughly $2 million per ship that it would split with Oman. Iran would use its share reconstruct infrastructure destroyed by American and Israeli attacks. • Australia charged Ben Roberts-Smith, once Australia’s most decorated soldier, with five counts of “war crime — murder” in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012, A former patrol commander of the Special Air Service Regiment, he received Australia’s top two military honors and was named Australia’s Father of the Year in 2013. In one version of events, one victim was a laborer who was handcuffed and kicked off a cliff. • Another ICE Lie: After an immigration agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis this winter, the federal government cast the injured man as an attempted murderer and the agent as the victim of a brutal beating. A video contradicts the agent’s claim that assailants had beaten him with a shovel and broom before he opened fire. The video lasts about 12 seconds and shows two men struggling with the agent—no shovel. Prosecutors did not watch the footage until nearly three weeks after they filed charges. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JohnKiriakou 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
April 6 · 1 hr 7 min
Q&A | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Have a question for Ted and/or new 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. Beginning today, Q&A will be every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
April 6 · 1 hr
Crazy Bastard | DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Political cartoonist Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. A Major Announcement this morning! Tune in to find out. Today we discuss: • On Easter Sunday, Trump threatens Iran with war crimes against civilian infrastructure: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards!” Deadline is 8 pm tomorrow. US politicians have reacted with alarm and are questioning the president’s mental state. Oil prices are up, stocks are down. Is it 25th Amendment time? • OPEC Plus warns about the toll the war with Iran is taking on global oil supplies and energy infrastructure: “restoring damaged energy assets to full capacity is both costly and takes a long time.” The group, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait, also said that it would raise its oil production quotas by 206,000 barrels a day next month, a largely symbolic move because Iran’s virtual blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has obstructed their shipping of oil to world markets. • Trump’s mounting frustration with NATO allies over their refusal to join the Iran war has policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic bracing for change. He would need congressional approval to officially withdraw, but there are other steps he can take to curb cooperation, and Europeans say his threats alone are badly weakening NATO. • Germany wants to require men aged up to 45 to get permission from the armed forces before any significant stay abroad, even in peacetime. • Lebanon's government says at least 54 health workers are among more than 1,400 people killed by Israel during the current invasion. Some human rights groups say first responders are being targeted by the IDF. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JohnKiriakou 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
April 6 · 59 min
Bye Bye Blondi | DeProgram with Ted Rall and…
Political cartoonist Ted Rall, and today producer Robby West, deprograms you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Sinking in the polls, Trump fired AG Pam Bondi, frustrated over her handling of the Epstein files and her failed efforts to prosecute his political enemies. Trump is also unhappy with Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the labor secretary, and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. • Trump attacks civilian infrastructure. A U.S. attack caused at least a partial collapse of a major highway bridge in Tehran, killing at least 8 people. • Sri Lanka and Myanmar are rationing fuel. The Philippines has instituted 4-day workweeks. Bangladesh briefly closed universities. In India, families and restaurants are cooking over wood fires. Airlines are canceling flights. This week, the final deliveries of oil and liquefied natural gas to Asia that passed through the Strait of Hormuz are expected to arrive. The last tanker shipments to Europe should land by mid-April. The price of oil could soar as high as $200 a barrel. This is worse than the 1970s. • As thousands of Oracle employees were laid off this week, the tech company filed for roughly 3,126 petitions to employ H-1B workers in 2025-26. Amazon, which axed 16,000 corporate employees, filed for 2,675 H-1Bs after firing 14,000 corporate workers last fall. 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 2 · 1 hr
With a Victory Like This... | 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 his first major speech about his war, Trump said U.S. military objectives were “nearing completion” in Iran, and repeated that it would end “shortly” without offering a timeline. He said that there would be more strikes on Iran and that in the next two to three weeks, “we’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages.” There were more questions than answers. • Trump repeated his call for other nations to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. • A majority of Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of the Trump administration's argument against birthright citizenship. 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
April 1 · 57 min
Q&A | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Have a question for Ted and/or John? 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. Beginning today, Q&A will be every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time.
April 1 · 57 min
Regime Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes | 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. John is out this morning, but will be co-hosting for the new Q&A-only show starting today at 12 noon Eastern time, and, from now on, Mondays and Wednesdays at 12 noon ET. Today we discuss: • Regime change is a forced transformation of government or leadership that results in structural alterations in policies, politics and governance. In Iran, the theocratic leadership remains in place. Yet the White House—looking for a way out of the war it began—claims regime change has occurred. “This new regime, because regime change has occurred, should be wiser than the last,” says Hegseth. “We’ve had regime change, if you look, already because the one regime was decimated, destroyed,” says Trump. • Trump is considering a military mission to seize Iranian uranium that has been enriched to 60%. It could be “one of the most risky and difficult operations the US military has undertaken since the Second World War.” • Trump says said the United States could stop attacking Iran within two to three weeks, with or without reopening the Strait of Hormuz. • The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatens to target American tech and defense companies operating in the Middle East, including Cisco, HP, Intel, Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, IBM, Dell, Palantir, Nvidia, Tesla and Boeing, among others. • Palestinians in the occupied West Bank worry that their jailed relatives could be hanged without due process under a new law making the death penalty the default sentence for Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks. The U.N. said the legislation violates international humanitarian law. The law mandates execution specifically by hanging within 90 days of sentencing, with no right to clemency, a provision included over concerns Israeli doctors would refuse to conduct lethal injections. It would generally require execution. Military courts in the West Bank, where only cases involving Palestinians are heard, have a 96% conviction rate ⁠and a history of extracting confessions under duress or torture. • The Trump administration may demand that the University of Pennsylvania turn over information about Jews on campus as part of a federal investigation into discrimination at the school, a federal judge rules. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JohnKiriakou 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
March 31 · 59 min
Israel Legalizes Lynching | 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: • No one can question that Israel is a far-right apartheid state now that the Knesset has made death by hanging the default sentence for murder—but only for Palestinians. Jewish Israelis who commit the same crimes like West Bank settlers who lynch Palestinians to steal their land, will get to live. Execution by hanging will occur within 90 days of sentencing, with some right to delay but no clemency. Israel abolished the death penalty for murder in 1954. The only person executed in Israel after a civilian trial was Adolf Eichmann, in 1962. • Spain blocked U.S. military aircraft involved in the Iran War from using its airspace, marking the latest rupture between Washington and Madrid. Spain already had refused to allow use of the strategically critical Rota and Morón bases in southern Spain, installations long viewed as key hubs for American military operations into Europe, Africa and the Middle East. • Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker anchored at Dubai port, with the strike damaging the vessel’s hull. Is Iran is trying to lure the U.S. into a ground war, knowing prolonged involvement could force Trump into a more favorable deal for Tehran? Dual chokepoint disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb could cripple up to ~45% of global oil supply, potentially sending prices toward $150–$200+ and pressuring the global economy. Gas in the US is now an average of $4/gallon. • Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, signed a bill saying Palm Beach international airport is being renamed to the President Donald J Trump international airport. Trademark applications are pending for extensive lists of merchandise — clothing for people and pets, bags, watches, jewelry, umbrellas, tie clips and socks, along with airport lounges. Trump also posted a video of a rendering of his presidential library, set to dramatic music, which showed an enormous mirrored skyscraper emblazoned with his name and the American flag. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JohnKiriakou 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
March 30 · 1 hr
Going to Ground | 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: • Middle East War: The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, U.S. officials said, as thousands of American soldiers and Marines arrive in the Middle East for what could become a dangerous new phase of the war. Trump says he might attack Kharg Island and claims the U.S. might steal Iran’s oil. Yemen’s Houthis threaten Bab-el-Mandeb, an alternative shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz via the Red Sea. • Cuban Crisis: The U.S. allows a Russian tanker to deliver oil to Cuba. The Castros step back into the breach. The U.S. blockade of medical supplies is killing Cuban medical patients. • Pope Leo says that God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and have “hands full of blood,” and called the Middle East conflict “atrocious” and said Jesus cannot be ⁠used to justify any wars. The proselytizing Christian campaign of Pete Hegseth violates norms, risks unconstitutionality, and undermines the bonds of mutual respect between troops that are essential, especially in wartime. • Pickax CEO Jeff Dornik joins to discuss free speech online. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JohnKiriakou 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
March 27 · 1 hr
TACO Toos-Day | 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 TACOs on Iran. After demanding “unconditional surrender” and then extending a deadline to today before bombing Iran’s power plants, the President—spooked by roiling financial markets—has extended the deadline again, by another 10 days, to April 6th—at the request of Iran, he claims. • Trump TACOs on the partial government shutdown: After the President said he would sign an emergency executive order to pay TSA, the Republican-controlled Senate passes Homeland Security funding, with no money for immigration enforcement. • Trumpmanbashi: The President becomes the first to have his signature on US paper currency. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JohnKiriakou 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
March 26 · 1 hr
The Bad War | 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: • Most American wars begin with high approval ratings and lose support as the conflict drags on. Mere weeks into the U.S.-Israeli War Against Iran, most Americans already say it was a mistake (59%) and disapprove (61%) of Trump’s handling of it. More Americans say the U.S. is losing (45%) than winning (25%). • Air travelers in the U.S. are dealing the longest TSA security wait times ever recorded because a partial government shutdown has caused thousands of officers to miss work, producing lines of four hours and raising the risk of airport closures. • A crude oil tanker sailing from the Russian port of Novorossiysk to Istanbul was hit by a naval drone near Istanbul's Bosphorus strait this morning. The incident was one of several ⁠in recent months involving Western-sanctioned vessels heading to or from Russian ports. • Étienne Davignon, a 93-year-old former Belgian diplomat, will stand trial for war crimes related to the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected leader of Congo. The CIA station chief gave a green light to the Jan. 17, 1961 torture and execution of Lumumba by a firing squad of Congolese soldiers commanded by Belgian officers. His body was later dissolved in a barrel of sulfuric acid. Davignon was a 27-year-old trainee diplomat at the Belgian Embassy in Léopoldville, junior in rank but with direct access to Congolese political leaders. The US has neither apologized nor opened the Congo files. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JohnKiriakou 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
March 25 · 59 min
V-I (in his Imagination) Day | 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: • It’s V-I Day—Victory in Iran Day! “We've won this. This war has been won,” Trump declares. Or maybe more like Victory in his Imagination. Iran thinks it is winning in its form of asymmetric warfare, at least 2,000 Marines and the 82nd Airborne are headed to the war—er, victory/peace, zone. Also, Israel to keep fighting Iran several more weeks. • After demanding “unconditional surrender,” the U.S. sends Iran a 15-point peace plan proposal. Highlights: full dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, a permanent commitment to never pursue nuclear weapons and a requirement that any already-enriched uranium be handed over. • Airports are the new Minneapolis. After video of ICE agents manhandling a 41-year-old Guatemala and her 9-year-old daughter at San Francisco Airport went viral, it turns out TSA is handing passenger lists to ICE for arrests and detentions. Is it safe to fly? • Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen emerges battered from Denmark’s election, yet with a path to retaining power. Social Democrats’ performance reflects a pattern across Europe, where the center-left is showing renewed fight. In recent votes from Castilla y León in Spain, to Marseille and Paris, to Slovenia and now Denmark, standing up to Trump-style politics, or Trump himself, can be a winning strategy. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JohnKiriakou 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
March 24 · 59 min
Unfriendly 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: • ICE agents began supplementing airport security. ICE officers seen yesterday were not wearing masks or screening passengers. The Trump administration says they'll help man security checkpoints, but mostly they were standing around as lines remained long. Former White House strategist Steve Bannon says it’s a “test run” for posting ICE at the voting stations in November. Travelers and the TSA union say they’re scared and angry at the ICE presence at airports. • Reports say Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is talking to Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi; Iran calls it fake news as more, bigger missiles strike Israel. The EU refuses to use military force to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Even Iranians who oppose the government say they are angry and in despair about the chaos and destruction unleashed by the bombing campaign. • New research finds that the rate of global warming has nearly doubled over the last decade. Many of the consequences of global warming — such as more intense storms, warming oceans and melting glaciers — are arriving faster and more powerfully than many scientists had expected. This week, extreme weather pushed temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of California and the Southwest, even as it is still winter, and the duration and intensity of heat waves is accelerating. At the same time, blizzard conditions whipped the upper Midwest and severe thunderstorms moved east from Arkansas to the Gulf. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JohnKiriakou 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
March 24 · 1 hr
Iran to US: 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: • As the US/Israeli war against Iran enters its 4th week, Iran has little interest in diplomacy and is escalating attacks on its neighbors, betting it can increase global economic pain faster than the US and Israel can blow up targets. Trump gave Iran a 48-hour deadline that expires today to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to “obliterate” the country’s civilian power plants—a war crime that says Iran would avenge regionally. Stocks will plunge 1% today; oil futures are at $111/barrel, up 67% since pre-war, as Iran threatens to mine the Strait and strike Gulf State water facilities. • As LaGuardia investigates a plane crash and remains closed, ICE is being deployed to US airports to assist TSA and, according to Trump, arrest illegal immigrants. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said ICE at airports is “the last thing that the American people need ... potentially to brutalize or in some instances, kill them.” • The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, says that the crisis in the Middle ⁠East has had a worse impact on oil than the two oil shocks of the 1970s combined, and a worse effect on gas than the Russia-Ukraine war. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JohnKiriakou 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-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504
March 20 · 59 min
F&#k You! And Pay Me $200 Billion | 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 Defense Dept. asks Congress for $200 billion for an Iran War they were never asked about. Will Congress pay anyway? • Iran is gaining the upper hand as it squeezes the global economy. Iranian attacks on Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG facilities slashed Qatar’s export capacity by 17% and will take 3-5 years to repair, as oil rose to $108/barrel. The U.S. may lift sanctions on Iranian oil at sea and release more oil from its strategic reserves to lower prices. Netanyahu says Israel acted alone in its attack on a gas facility in Iran. Saudi Arabia threatens Iran. A tanker operator paid $2 million for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. • Mediators have given Hamas a “take it or leave it” proposal to hand over all weapons, leaving an undefined new authority in charge. Hamas will wait to see the outcome of the Iran war before replying. • Worried that he might be hobbled by the unpopular Iran War, JD Vance might not run in 2028. 65% of Americans think Trump will order a large-scale ground war in Iran— just 7% are in favor, a Reuters/Ipsos poll finds. Trump's broader approval is 40% • Denmark prepared to deploy troops to Greenland to sabotage Greenland’s airstrips with explosives and flew in blood supplies amid fears of a potential U.S. invasion earlier this year. 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