Scott Horton Show - Just the Interviews

Scott brings Daniel Larison back to the show to discuss a handful of articles he’s written recently for Antiwar.com. First they discuss his piece pointing out that there is no legal basis for any action the U.S. takes against Iran, a fact that ought to be brought up more in our public discourse. Scott and Larison also discuss how American foreign policy itself is a rather large incentive for Iran...

Scott is joined by Hunter DeRensis to discuss a recent longform article he wrote for The American Conservative. The article was the culmination of months of research DeRensis did on the history of the American public’s perception of weapons manufacturers. DeRensis identifies the period between the World Wars as being the age with the most resistance to the war profiteers. Interestingly, that resis...

Scott interviews author and geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan. Zeihan does not believe China will be a nation state ten years from now. One reason, he argues, is that China’s economy is completely dependent on the disappearing American presence keeping the peace on the world's oceans. This, of course, leads to a back and forth between him and Scott over just how much America’s presence overseas ha...

Scott is joined by Ryan McMaken from the Mises Institute to talk about the state of the economy. McMaken describes how we are still living with the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis as well as the response to it. However, while the government created a ton of new money back then, they took steps to avoid flooding the entire economy with those new dollars. But McMaken explains that those st...

Kevin Gosztola is back to give an update on the appeal hearing against Julian Assange. Back in January, a UK judge ruled against Assange’s extradition to the U.S., citing his mental health. The U.S. government appealed that decision, leading to this hearing. Gosztola, who was able to watch, gives Scott an update on what arguments were presented. He then explains the numerous ways that, if he’s ext...

Scott is joined by writer and chemist Cheryl Rofer. Rofer penned an article back in May that debunked the increasingly popular theory that numerous American intelligence and diplomatic personnel were in fact the victims of a targeted microwave weapon. Rofer points out that all of the supposed evidence can be explained away. On top of that, the theoretical weapon itself does not even make any sense...

Scott is joined by Nasser Arrabyee who gives an update on the state of the war in Yemen. The battle for Marib is raging as the Houthis take control of more and more districts. The city is one of the last strongholds outside of Houthi control, and it looks like that may change soon. Arrabyee also gives an update on the rest of the country, where the Saudi blockade continues to wreak havoc on the po...

Scott interviews Trita Parsi about Biden's bizarre approach to JCPOA negotiations.  When Biden came into office, the Iranians wanted to work out some mechanism to limit any future President’s ability to pull out of the JCPOA in a similar fashion to Trump. The U.S. said no, so the Iranians said they would settle for a binding commitment for the rest of Biden's first term, but even that was rejected...

Scott is joined once again by Gareth Porter to discuss a piece he wrote at the beginning of the month for Responsible Statecraft. But before talking about the article, Porter gives a quick update on the developing situation in Lebanon. The article Porter wrote talks about the “self licking ice cream cone,” a saying used to describe the self-perpetuating nature of the military-industrial-congressio...

William Hartung returns to the show for a quick episode about a press release he published at the Institute for Public Accuracy. Hartung describes the current setup of America’s ICBMs. The missiles are spread across the country, sitting on hair-trigger alert. It’s a setup that many experts admit is dangerous, and unnecessary. Yet any effort to roll back the program has been blocked by the Senators...

Aaron Maté is back on the show to discuss an article he wrote published at Real Clear Investigations. Maté explains how, although the origins of Russiagate are still murky, the Clinton Campaign seems to be at the center of it all. Notably with Clinton lawyers hiring Fusion GPS to look into Trump connections with Russia, an “inquiry” that led to the Steele Dossier. The Campaign’s legal team also hi...

Scott interviews attorney Scott Hechinger about a recent article he wrote for The Nation. They discuss the recent jump in the murder rate, its possible causes and the portrayal of the increase in the media. Hechinger explains that the universal nature of the increase hurts the argument that bail and police reform are causing crime surges. Scott and Hechinger also discuss racial disparities in the...

Scott interviews journalist and investigator Barrett Brown. Since his last appearance on the show in 2011, Brown spent four years in prison and he is currently seeking asylum from the United States. He tells Scott the story of those tumultuous ten years. Brown also gives background and updates on his fellow journalists and activists working to expose the cyber-industrial complex. Finally, he gives...

Scott is joined by author James Bradley. They discuss how foolish the Russiagate story was from the beginning before getting into China. Bradley explains how the entire American understanding of China is flawed. That the average American’s perception of China is the result of a mirage or fictional narrative we’ve been fed for many decades. Bradley argues that no rational look at China makes them o...

Scott interviews Andrew Quilty, a journalist who’s stayed in Kabul, about a recent article he wrote for the Intercept. The article talks about the Zero Units which were militia groups of Afghan commandos led by CIA advisors, or handlers. These units gained notoriety during the war and have been accused of numerous war crimes. Many refer to them as CIA Death Squads. Quilty explains how members of t...

On Monday, October 4th, Scott took part in a debate organized by Gene Epstein. Scott’s opponent was neoconservative Bill Kristol, one of the most prominent war hawks of recent American history. The resolution they debated was: A willingness to intervene, and seek regime change, is key to an American foreign policy that benefits America. The event was filmed by Reason TV so the video version can be...

Scott talks with David Vine about a report he wrote recently for the Quincy Institute along with Patterson Deppen and Leah Bolger. The report makes the case for significantly reducing the number of American military bases abroad. Vine explains that there are currently around 750 active military bases outside of the U.S. And with far less diplomatic foreign infrastructure, America is projecting its...

Scott interviews former CIA Officer John Kiriakou about a recent article he wrote. Kiriakou was personally involved in the 2002 capture of Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan. At the time, the CIA believed Zubaydah to be Al Qaeda’s third highest-ranking member. In truth, he was simply a logistician. Still, the Bush Administration used Zubaydah to make it look like dangerous terrorists were being captured and...

Gareth Porter joined Scott on Antiwar Radio to discuss his recent piece at the Gray Zone about the dishonest ways the media has covered the Taliban. Both Scott and Porter agree that the Taliban are not to be considered the good guys, but that the media has a history of pushing a misleading narrative about them to justify war. Scott and Porter reflect on how this has been happening, to some extent,...

Scott is joined by Peter Van Buren to discuss some recent articles he wrote for The American Conservative. Van Buren used the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to reflect on his experience on that day, as well as how the attacks fit into the larger story of America’s quest for global dominance. Scott and Van Buren also discuss the future of this quest. Finally, Van Buren shares a story of how a...

Scott interviews Aaron Maté about his recent article on Michael Sussmann, the Clinton attorney who was recently charged for lying to the FBI. Maté helps weave this developing story into the broader narrative of Russiagate. Scott and Maté reflect on how wild this story was from the beginning. They also discuss the effects this Clinton/FBI hoax had on the 2020 election and how it will affect our Cou...

Scott is joined by James Carden to discuss a possible silver lining to the new and unnecessary anti-China pact between Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. (AUKUS). Tensions broke out within NATO after France was unexpectedly cut off from a previously negotiated submarine deal with Australia. Carden thinks some infighting can do some good if it leads to the end of this out-of-date military alliance th...

Kevin Gosztola is back on the show to discuss a recent Yahoo! News article about Assange that went viral. Gosztola thinks the piece contains some good reporting but leans too much on a flawed Russiagate framing. Scott and Gosztola discuss the semantic war our government is waging with attempts to redefine certain journalists as “information brokers” and “non-state hostile intelligence agents.” Gos...

Scott is joined by Barbara Grant to discuss her new documentary which gives an experts perspective on the infrared footage capture on the final day of the Waco siege.  Grant was busy working on a satellite when it happened in 1993, but she later became interested in the infrared footage featured in the 2000 film Waco: A New Revelation. The footage shows several flashes occurring behind the compoun...

Scott interviews Barbara Slavin from the Atlantic Council. Slavin recently co-authored an article with Abbas Kadhim about how Iran’s influence in the middle east has grown substantially since the U.S. overthrew Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq. Slavin explains that the U.S. was more supportive of Iraq while they were engaged in a brutal war with Iran in the 80s, because the foreign policy establish...