CovertAction Bulletin
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Top 10 CovertAction Bulletin Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best CovertAction Bulletin episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to CovertAction Bulletin for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite CovertAction Bulletin episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Media Lies, Palestinians Die
CovertAction Bulletin
11/15/23 • 52 min
Malcolm X might have said it best: “The press is so powerful in its image-making role, it can make the criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. This is the press, an irresponsible press. It will make the criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
In the current Israeli attacks on Palestine, we are seeing the US media play that role. From the New York Times and CNN to Fox News and NPR, despite the different places on the political spectrum that these outlets occupy, the coverage ranges from obfuscating the origins of the conflict to just being outright racist and genocidal.
To talk more about the role of the media, we’re joined by socialist and anti-imperialist blogger and media critic Steve Patt, whose work you can find on Twitter at @leftiblog. We review some of the most egregious headlines as well as three categories of media misbehavior that Steve’s identified: general bias, disinformation & misinformation, and misinformation by omission.
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Day X: Julian Assange and Press Freedom Under Attack
CovertAction Bulletin
02/20/24 • 36 min
It’s Day X. Hearings are happening in the United Kingdom to determine whether Julian Assange will be extradited to the United States. His lawyers are trying to convince the UK’s High Court of Justice to permit an appeal hearing. If the court declines, it’s very likely that Assange will be extradited within days and face trial here.
The long case of Julian Assange has been a travesty of justice. While Assange spent years stuck in the Ecuadorian embassy, and now over 5 years in terrible conditions in Belmarsh Prison, known as Britain’s Guantanamo Bay, those who committed the crimes he exposed still walk free. All along the way, the UK and US governments have violated the rights of Assange and his supporters.
We’re joined by Kevin Gosztola, the editor of The Dissenter, the author of the book Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange, co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure and more
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US Empire, Attacks on Assange and the True Meaning of Ceasefire
CovertAction Bulletin
03/27/24 • 56 min
The British High Court of Justice ruled on March 26 that the United States government has until April 16 to make “assurances” that if extradited, Julian Assange will be treated fairly by US courts and prisons. But this is hard to believe when the US government already had plans to kidnap and kill Assange, drawn up by Mike Pompeo’s CIA.
We’re joined by Sean Blackmon, host of Darker than Blue on WPFW, to talk about the latest in the Assange case. We also talk about the US government abstaining from a ceasefire vote rather than vetoing it, and the development of the ceasefire demand itself.
We’re also joined by Husayn Karimi, a labor organizer and host of the podcast On The Line, to talk about UAW workers who are about to vote for unionization at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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Ex-Head of Cybersecurity at Twitter Blows the Whistle on Cover Up of Security and Privacy Violations
CovertAction Bulletin
08/24/22 • 64 min
We also discuss the conclusion of the trial of Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. who were convicted this week for their attempted kidnapping plot on Michigan Governor Whitmer. We parse through the growing threat of right-wing domestic terrorism and what the role of the state in all of this has been.
Finally, we are joined by anti-imperialist journalist and transgender rights activist Morgan Artyukhina to discuss how the US government has been reacting to monkeypox as the country has recorded over 15,000 cases in all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico. By looking at the history of the homophobic response to the AIDS epidemic, they give us an important perspective about misinformation and prejudices to look out for when we see media coverage and government information about the disease. Read Morgan's article on the subject at CovertActionMagazine.com: https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/08/14/showing-old-prejudices-u-s-government-falsely-associates-monkeypox-outbreak-with-gays-bisexuals-and-africans/
Earth Day: War and Climate Change Threaten The Planet
CovertAction Bulletin
04/23/25 • 56 min
April 20th marked the fifteenth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the largest oil spill in U.S. history, which killed 11 workers and spilled 134 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. For those who rely on fishing and related industries off the Gulf Coast, as well as for those who were involved in the recovery and cleanup efforts, real relief is still yet to come. The AP reports that “all but a handful of roughly 4,800 lawsuits seeking compensation for health problems linked to the spill have been dismissed and only one has been settled,” noting that in 2012 BP paid $67 million - about $1,300 each for nearly 80% of those seeking compensation. BP has since been forced to pay billions of dollars in fines.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration plans to extend fossil fuel drilling and fracking even more than the Biden administration did. The nearly $1-trillion Pentagon budget is also a hotbed of climate- and life-destroying wastes of money, as the US prepares for great-power conflict with China.
This episode was recorded on Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22nd, and we get into the lasting legacy of the Deepwater Horizon spill and much more.
Deny, Delay, Depose: The Tragedy of Health Insurance in the U.S.
CovertAction Bulletin
12/18/24 • 52 min
When UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed on December 4th in New York, the casings of the bullets used to kill him had “deny”, “delay” and “depose” written on them. These so-called “three Ds” of the insurance industry describe how companies go out of their way to get out of paying claims.
Even before a suspect was identified and arrested, popular sentiment was broadly with the shooter. The health insurance industry in the United States is so hated that people sympathized with the motives they ascribed to the shooter. Defying the traditional left-right political poles, the real division came through: working-class people all over the political spectrum who have experience with the health insurance industry could at least understand why someone would commit this act.
To look more at what the shooting tells us about society, we’re joined today by Jacquie Luqman, host of Darker than Blue on WPFW radio.
The U.S., Europe and the Growing Right-Wing Threat
CovertAction Bulletin
02/26/25 • 51 min
As the Trump administration openly threatens historic American allies in Europe, weighs in on German elections in favor of the far-right, and pushes the idea of MEGA - Make Europe Great Again - it’s becoming increasingly clear that the relationships and dynamic between the US and Western Europe is changing at a scale we haven’t seen in almost a century. The uneasy transatlantic alliance could be at risk of unraveling, and these tensions could reshape geopolitics for years. But what exactly is the Western US/European-based order, and how did it come to be in such a fragile state?
We also discuss the history of Futurism, the fascist movement that inspires billionaires like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and others, as well as Apple capitulating to the UK government’s war against encryption.
And finally, we honor the memory of Aaron Bushnell on the one year anniversary of his self-immolation in protest of the US-Israeli genocide in Palestine.
Congo “Coup”? What’s Imperialism Got To Do With It
CovertAction Bulletin
06/05/24 • 37 min
On May 19, forces calling themselves the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo launched what appears to be a failed coup attempt, attacking the home of the Deputy Prime Minister of Economy Vital Kamerhe, as well as the Congo’s presidential palace, Palais de la Nation. The country’s Republican Guard forces were able to put down the attack within hours. Three of the 50 people arrested were U.S. citizens, and another U.S. citizen who reportedly led the operation was killed during the attack. Christian Malanga was the founder of the DC-based United Congolese Party, which has deep ties to the west and the United States.
We talk with Maurice Carney, co-founder and Executive Director of Friends of the Congo, about the events of May 19, the history of the deadliest conflict since World War II, the role that the US and Israel play in the 3Ds: Displacement, Death and Destruction, and the resurgence of the anti-imperialist movement.
China’s COVID Outbreak and Protests: Myths and Facts
CovertAction Bulletin
12/21/22 • 49 min
Western media described recent protests in China as “mark[ing] a new awakening” and a significant challenge to Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China. After years of leading the world in addressing COVID-19, the Chinese government is relaxing some of the lockdown regulations, but the situation is far more involved than the media would share.
To explore the reality and intricacies of the situation as well as US posturing against China, we’re joined by Carl Zha, host of Silk and Steel Podcast.
Syria: A History of Proxy Wars & US Imperialism
CovertAction Bulletin
12/04/24 • 51 min
At the end of November, groups aligned with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) or the “Levant Liberation Committee” and previously known as the Al-Nusra Front, launched significant attacks on the Syrian government in the Idlib and Aleppo regions, taking part of the city of Aleppo. The Syrian Arab Army has mobilized to push back against HTS.
The offensive of course comes within days of the ceasefire in Lebanon that we discussed in our last episode, but also after more than a decade of US-backed insurgent groups attempting to overthrow the Syrian government. Syria has long been a target of attempted coups, assassination attempts, regime change operations, sanctions and war. This legacy and the current Western-backed attempts to overthrow the Syrian government show us why there is a critical need for anti-imperialist politics in the anti-war movement in the United States.
To dive into this history and what's happening today, we’re joined by Taylor Gol, an anti-war organizer who is originally from Türkiye.
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FAQ
How many episodes does CovertAction Bulletin have?
CovertAction Bulletin currently has 152 episodes available.
What topics does CovertAction Bulletin cover?
The podcast is about News, Podcasts and Politics.
What is the most popular episode on CovertAction Bulletin?
The episode title 'Media Lies, Palestinians Die' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on CovertAction Bulletin?
The average episode length on CovertAction Bulletin is 50 minutes.
How often are episodes of CovertAction Bulletin released?
Episodes of CovertAction Bulletin are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of CovertAction Bulletin?
The first episode of CovertAction Bulletin was released on Dec 6, 2021.
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