American Exception

We talk with Jefferson Morley about the outstanding work he has put into the JFK case for several decades.

Check out the recent, excellent NY Mag story on Jeff’s work here: "The Secrets of the JFK Assassination Archive"

Jefferson Morley is also the author of several books, including:

• Scorpions' Dance: The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate
• The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton
• Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA

Special thanks to Dana Chavarria for producing the episode!

Music: “Old Movies” by Mock Orange

The special episode commemorates the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas. To mark the occasion, Aaron Good and Bryce Greene speak with two illustrious JFK assassination critics, Professor Peter Dale Scott and our Devil’s Chess Club co-host David Talbot.

Devil's Chess Club is an American Exception production.

Check out these two new articles discussed in the episode:

• "The JFK Assassination at 60: The Public Knows the Truth - Why Won’t the Media Report It?" by David Talbot
• "Six Decades On, It’s Time to Disclose the Truth about the JFK Assassination" by Aaron Good

Peter Dale Scott's JFK assassination books:

• Deep Politics and the Death of JFK
• Dallas 63

David Talbot's JFK assassination books:

• Brothers The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years
• The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government

Peter Dale Scott's two final (maybe) prose books:

• Ecstatic Pessimist: Czeslaw Milosz, Poet of Catastrophe and Hope
• Reading the Dream: A Post-Secular History of Enmindment

Special thanks to:

• Dana Chavarria, production
• Casey Moore, graphics
• Michelle Boley, animated intro
• Mock Orange, music

This special episode features Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. About a year ago, on Groundhog Day 2021, Ellsberg came my peace studies class. He was prepared to answer questions from students, which he did, but only after being surprised by a number of luminaries who had previously agreed to join us. The surprise guests included James Galbraith, Peter Kuznick, Katharine Gun, and Peter Dale Scott.

The class—Peace Studies of the American Century—is one that I developed in collaboration with American University history professor Peter Kuznick and filmmaker Oliver Stone.

Daniel Ellsberg is the author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, and The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. His life story is the subject of The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, the Oscar-nominated documentary that Edward Snowden credited for inspiring his own act of whistleblowing.
Lastly, we are joined by former CIA officer John Kiriakou, the heroic individual who went to jail for blowing the whistle on CIA torture. He was kind enough to offer his own very memorable tribute to Daniel Ellsberg.

Special thanks to Mickey Huff and Anthony Fest of Project Censored, Casey Moore for the episode art, and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!
Music: "End of the World" by Mock Orange

Released in conjunction with the upcoming publication of Peter's "lost" (read "stolen by the CIA in 1970") article originally intended for Ramparts, we present a 2011 debate between the two top experts on the Postwar Southeast Asian heroin traffic: Professors Peter Dale Scott and Alfred McCoy.

I add some context at the beginning which will hopefully be of interest to everybody!

Peter Dale Scott is the prolific poet, historian, and political theorist who gave us parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach.

Alfred McCoy is History Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin and the author of The Politics of Heroin—now in its third edition.

Apologies for the weird noises during the debate. We have no idea exactly what was making that intermittent whirring and clicking noise.

Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!

Music: “Payroll” by Mock Orange

Released in conjunction with the upcoming publication of Peter's "lost" (read "stolen by the CIA in 1970") article originally intended for Ramparts, we present a 2011 debate between the two top experts on the Postwar Southeast Asian heroin traffic: Professors Peter Dale Scott and Alfred McCoy.

I add some context at the beginning which will hopefully be of interest to everybody!

Peter Dale Scott is the prolific poet, historian, and political theorist who gave us parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach.

Alfred McCoy is History Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin and the author of The Politics of Heroin—now in its third edition.

Apologies for the weird noises during the debate. We have no idea exactly what was making that intermittent whirring and clicking noise.

Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!

Music: “Payroll” by Mock Orange

Aaron and Bryce speak with Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate for 2024. We discuss how she came to be the 2024 nominee, the Cornel West debacle, the Gaza Genocide, the collapse of the US Empire, and the urgent need for an American Truth & Reconciliation process.

Special thanks to:

• Dana Chavarria, production
• Casey Moore, graphics
• Michelle Boley, animated intro
• Mock Orange, music