The Intercept Briefing

This week on Intercepted: Jeremy gives an update on the aftermath of Blackwater’s 2007 massacre of Iraqi civilians. Intercept reporter Lee Fang lays out how a network of libertarian think tanks called the Atlas Network is insidiously shaping political infrastructure in Latin America. We speak with attorney and former Hugo Chavez adviser Eva Golinger about the Venezuela's political turmoil. And we...

News from the White House this week has been like a twisted mash up of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Macbeth, Project Runway and a Mr. Bean movie. Dime-store Sopranos reject Anthony Scaramucci was fired after just 10 days as White House communications director. Reince Priebus is out as chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly is in. And with spiking tensions between the United States and North Korea, we reflec...

With all the constant hype about Russia, you’d think we were living in a new Cold War. This week on Intercepted: Glenn Greenwald fills in for Jeremy Scahill, and we take a deep dive into the origins and evolution of the Trump-Russia story. Fox News' Tucker Carlson and Glenn find something they can actually agree on (the Democratic establishment’s Russia hysteria), but diverge on Tucker’s coverage...

Donald Trump enjoyed playing fireman and asking where the fire is. Hint: all around you, Mr. President. This week on Intercepted: the famed rebel academic, Alfred McCoy, whose book on narcotrafficking the CIA tried to stop from being published, lays out his meticulously argued theory that the U.S. empire will fall by the year 2030. The Washington Post’s media columnist, Margaret Sullivan, talks ab...

This week on Intercepted: Don Jr. is in the shit throne over a secret meeting he had with a Russian lawyer. Could this be, as many in the media are claiming, the smoking gun of Russia collusion? Intercept co-founder Glenn Greenwald weighs in and debunks a forged NSA document sent to Rachel Maddow. Intercept reporters Alice Speri and Alleen Brown talk about the shadowy mercenary company TigerSwan....

President Trump said when it comes to health insurance, he would cover everyone. He lied. Meanwhile the Crown Prince of America, Jared Kushner, and Mohammed Bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, play house with foreign policy. This week: Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan fills in for Jeremy Scahill. Intercept reporter Murtaza Hussain and journalist Rula Jebreal discuss the global consequences of the Ho...

While all eyes in Washington remain focused on the Russia investigation, a Republican firm forgot to secure its invasive personal data on 198 million American voters. This week on Intercepted: We speak to radical librarian Alison Macrina of the Library Freedom Project about the fight against digital surveillance. Sam Biddle gives an update on attacks on U.S. voting systems. And, we speak with one...

Donald Trump has a great affinity for strongmen and for unquestioned loyalty of those who work for him. This week on Intercepted: Trump’s besties in Saudi Arabia convinced him that Qatar is the premiere Arab nation sponsoring terrorism. Amnesty International’s Sherine Tadros and al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan analyze the hypocrisy-laden, bizarre crisis. Jeremy discusses the prosecution of an alleged NSA...

The Green Party’s Jill Stein has been widely attacked by Democrats simply for running for president. Some blame her for Hillary Clinton’s loss. This week, Stein strikes back at her critics and reveals the story behind the infamous Moscow dinner where she was seated with Vladimir Putin and Gen. Michael Flynn. The Intercept’s DC bureau chief Ryan Grim digs into the contents of a newly published top...

This week, the scandal spotlight shines on Trump’s influential (and strangely quiet) son-in-law. We talk to national security correspondent Spencer Ackerman of The Daily Beast about Jared Kushner’s alleged meetings with Russian officials to establish back channel communications. Organizer and scholar Mariame Kaba offers a people’s history of prisons in the US and the politicians—both Democrats and...

This week, Donald Trump stood in a sea of tyrants and joined in a bizarre group petting of a glowing white orb. Professor As’ad AbuKhalil dissects Trump’s summit in Saudi Arabia and the role Trump’s friends in the Middle East play in fueling such horrors as the attack on Manchester. The Intercept’s new DC bureau chief, Ryan Grim, and national security reporter Matthew Cole discuss Gen. Michael Fly...

Donald Trump is spectacularly bad at being president. This week on Intercepted, investigative journalist Marcy Wheeler and The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald analyze the latest insanity emanating from the White House. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tim Weiner and Intercept writer Trevor Aaronson discuss the firing of James Comey and debate his FBI legacy. And Palestinian author and journalist Rula...

Donald Trump’s complicated relationship with FBI Director James Comey came to a shocking conclusion in Tuesday night’s episode of American shitshow. Glenn Greenwald analyzes Comey’s firing. Next week, Chelsea Manning will be freed from prison. We hear exclusive audio from her trial and talk to journalist Alexa O’Brien. And French civil liberties activist Yasser Louati says despite her defeat in th...

We're still a week away from the beginning of season two, but here's a taster of Jeremy's interview on our sister podcast, Politically Re-Active. Jeremy clears the air on his cancelled appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher" with hosts W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu, and much more. To hear the full interview, subscribe to Politically Re-Active or head to politicallyreactive.com. Hosted on Acas...

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange hits back at Trump’s CIA director Mike Pompeo after Pompeo accused Wikileaks of being a “hostile non-state intelligence agency.” In a wide-ranging interview, Assange discusses the allegations Wikileaks was abetted by Russian intelligence in its publication of DNC emails, and the new-found admiration for him by FOX News and Donald Trump. Also, why Assange believes h...

Nothing brings warmongers, hawks and elites from both parties closer than a cruise missile strike. This week’s Intercepted will piss off Assad supporters and the Democrats and Republicans fawning over Trump’s newest war. Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich questions the official story on the chemical weapons attack. Murtaza Hussain on what Assad gains by using chemical weapons. And, Maher Arar is a...

Erik Prince—the most infamous mercenary in modern U.S. history—is Trump’s secret emissary. This week, an exclusive interview with Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who has fought a decades-long battle against Prince. Tavis Smiley talks about the “Santa Claus-ification” of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th anniversary of King’s militant speech against the Vietnam War. Rep. Barbara Lee reflects on her own h...

Donald Trump officially rejects climate change and unofficially declares war on planet Earth. Naomi Klein takes us on a terrifying journey into Trump’s real life version of The Purge. Boots Riley of The Coup discusses Trump and hip hop and performs. Murtaza Hussain talks about the US bombings in Iraq and Syria that have killed 1,000 civilians in one month. And, we talk to the developer of an app t...

Donald Trump has not started any new wars… yet. But his administration is pouring gasoline on several initiated by his predecessors. This week on Intercepted: US forces are deploying in Syria, as drone strikes expand in Yemen. And Russia and Iran loom over everything. We talk to veteran war correspondents Anand Gopal and Iona Craig. Glenn Greenwald analyzes James Comey’s testimony on Capitol Hill...

This week, Intercepted is live from the SXSW Festival in Austin. Edward Snowden joins us via video feed from Moscow. He discusses Trump’s allegations of Obama’s wiretapping, analyzes some of the CIA’s hacking capabilities, and blasts critics who accuse him of being a Russian agent. And we talk to Libyan-American hip hop artist Kayem, who was forced to keep a low profile the past several years afte...

The Notorious B.I.G. famously alleged that federal agents were mad because he was flagrant. Trump also believes he has beef with the Feds, accusing Obama of tapping his phones. The Intercept’s Matthew Cole and journalist Marcy Wheeler dissect the accusations and the (curious) denials. Sam Biddle and Josh Begley explain what the CIA hacking docs published by Wikileaks say about our “smart” TVs and...

Ex-CIA analyst Nada Bakos and former FBI agent Clint Watts explain how Trump’s administration could use “alternative intelligence” to justify dangerous military actions. Shane Bauer of Mother Jones breaks down the connections between immigration raids and soaring private prison profits. Plus the world premiere of a song by the Iraqi-Canadian hip hop artist Narcy. We bet you never thought you’d hea...

New York Times investigative reporter James Risen breaks down Trump’s declaration that journalists are the enemy and analyzes Trump’s royal court. ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio and former New England Patriots star Donté Stallworth talk about the war on the transgender community and the rising resistance of pro athletes. Sam Biddle exposes the Trump-connected firm that helped the NSA spy on the world...

The first contestant in Donald Trump’s reality administration has left the West Wing. This week, Glenn Greenwald offers some provocative pushback on the Russia fear-mongering surrounding Gen. Michael Flynn’s resignation (or firing). Naomi Klein walks the dark aisles of the Trump family department store. Former Congresswoman Liz Holtzman, a key figure in the impeachment of Richard Nixon, explains h...

This week, investigative reporter Allan Nairn breaks down Trump's relationship with the CIA and the killer assembly of neocons and right-wing conspiracists running the U.S. war machine. Princeton professor Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor dismantles Obama's problematic legacy and offers strategic advice for resisting Trump. The Intercept's own distinguished alt-historian, Jon Schwarz, offers a lesson on th...