Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

"Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell," wrote President Trump on Truth Social on Easter as he threatened to destroy more civilian infrastructure in Iran. Targeting civilian infrastructure, of course, is a war crime against international law. But pro-Israel activist Jake Tapper spins the post to defend his partner-in-US-Israeli-crime Donald Trump: “We should note...

Come see Aaron speak tonight (March 30) at a panel in Montreal: "The Struggle Continues: The Fight For Palestine Across Borders" Katie and Aaron watched the worst people on the corporate Sunday news shows. They picked out the worst moments from the worst people. And then they watched them all live. It’s a jam-packed episode making fun of Marco Rubio, Jake Tapper, Tom Cotton, and more unhinged warm...

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This morning President Trump told Fox News that Iran “wants to make a deal badly,” and that the most recent talks happened last night with Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and their counterparts. Awkwardly, the Iranians claim that no talks have happened. So who’s lying? Are the Iranians misleading the media? Is Trump boasting a deal he’s unable to make? Or is this a repeat of what happened in Cuba, w...

Your support for Useful Idiots keeps us going! Never corporations, only subscribers. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com Subscribe for the full episode at the bottom of the page. Watch a free preview here: This week we’re speaking with Iranian Professor Behrooz Ghamari, whose unique history gives him an important perspective that challenges Trump’s regime-change war-of-choice in ways few others can. In the 1980’s, Ghamari was s...

In the lead-up to the Iraq War, the Bush Administration, with the help of Democrats and corporate journalists, stuck firmly to coordinated lies, talking points, and fabrications to trick the American people into supporting of a war of aggression in the Middle East, using WMD and Saddam Hussein lies all in concert to make a single, cohesive story. This time around in Iran, they’re trying to do the...

This week’s interview and Friday Free-for-All have combined into one mega LIVE episode. We speak with Iran experts Negar Mortazavi and Trita Parsi about what is currently happening in the US and Israel’s war on Iran. But first, Katie and Aaron run a recap of the biggest lies and craziest takes from this week in corporate media, from Jake Tapper and Jon Stewart to Lindsey Graham and Chuck Schumer....

After striking Iran in the middle of peace negotiations, murdering its leader, massacring over 100 young girls in an elementary school, bombing a hospital, and targeting civilian populations, Israel and the US took to Western media to accuse Iran of unprovoked attacks on US bases when they retaliated. From propaganda-soaked leading questions by news anchors from CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox News, t...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com Subscribe for the full episode at the bottom of the page. Watch a free preview here: The big question hanging over the world right now is whether Trump, the guy who campaigned against endless wars, especially in the Middle East, is about to launch another endless war in the Middle East, assembling the largest...

There’s a lot of words that Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff doesn’t want to use… but will use anyway. “The president is – I don’t want to use the word frustrated – but he’s curious as to why Iran hasn’t – I don’t want to use the word capitulated – but why they haven’t capitulated.” This comes as Trump is threatening another regime change war in the Middle East, ordering the...

We’ve got two interviews for you this week: first up we’re talking about Iran. Trump is threatening another regime change war in the Middle East, ordering the largest US military deployment since the Iraq War. To get an understanding of what’s happening in Iran, we spoke with independent journalist Bushra Shaikh. Bushra went viral for a video from a recent trip to Tehran in which she walked throug...

"Give the Ukrainians tomahawks, give them more missiles for their patriot defense systems, allow them to inflict more damage beyond the border into Russia." Kill! Kill! Kill! Hillary Clinton was at the Munich Security Conference this week imploring President Trump to send the most powerful weapons yet to Ukraine so that they could bomb Russia’s nuclear sites, a move that could challenge Russia int...

Help Mohammad document settler attacks in West Bank Israel has recently announced new measures that allow it to steal more Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. Check out how this was covered in Israeli media vs US media. Can you guess which is more honest in its coverage? First, Israeli media writes this: They explain that the Cabinet intends to further their annexation, or theft, of Palest...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com Subscribe for the full episode at the bottom of the page. Watch a free preview here: This week we’re looking at the intensification of the decades-old US blockade of Cuba. Trump has imposed an even harsher blockade, blocking fuel to the country, leading to an even more dire humanitarian crisis. Just this week...

Tune in for a joyous episode of Monday Mourning (as long as you’re a United States senator)! A bipartisan crew of senators including Dem Mark Warner and Republican Lindsey Graham are pushing Trump to bomb Iran and break free of the New Start nuclear arms treaty which caps the number of nukes a country can have. And now the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists just set the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds...

*BONUS INTERVIEW* As the Trump administration turns the world into chaos, threatening to bomb Iran, killing Americans in Minnesota, kidnapping presidents in Venezuela, and gutting the nation’s already-terrible healthcare system, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has fallen out of the corporate news cycle. Our guest, Palestinian-American law student Ahmad Ibsais, joins Useful Idiots to explain that the rep...

Watch our full, unpaywalled interview with Iranian-American Professor Afshin Matin-Asgari For our recap of the week, including the new Russiagate conspiracy that Epstein was a Russian agent, subscribe to watch our Friday Free-For-All : Jeff Epstein, the Russian Spy. This week, amid volatile tensions, deadly protests, rumors of Mossad infiltration, and threats of war, the US and Iran are scheduled...

It was a crazy weekend, but as Useful Idiots know, a disturbing world means an action-packed Monday Mourning. Here’s what we cover: – A seemingly drunk Lindsey Graham begs Trump to bomb Iran – Mike Pompeo can’t stop bragging about Mossad’s covert plants in the Iran protests – Republicans are flailing to defend ICE’s murder of ICU nurse Alex Pretti – Karoline Leavitt parrots Nancy Pelosi’s paid pro...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com Subscribe for the full episode at the bottom of the page. Watch a free preview here: While the DHS is sending masked ICE agents into cities, rounding up immigrants and citizens alike, killing protesters, and creating chaos, Democrats are making a big show of being anti-ICE. They’re calling for reforms, body c...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.usefulidiotspodcast.com

This weekend Border Patrol in Minneapolis murdered another peaceful protester, ICU nurse Alex Pretti. Trump officials are having such a horrible time trying to cover for this one that they’re resorting to the cancel-culture lingo they mocked for years: “It feels as though you’re blaming the victim here,” says CNN’s Dana Bash. Senior Border Patrol Official Greg Bovino whines back, “The victims?? Th...

Kristi Noem did not do well on her Face the Nation appearance this weekend. And Katie and Aaron did not miss the opportunity to make fun of it. From accidentally calling her own agency’s statistics a fake news lie, to contradicting her claim that ICE agents aren’t using chemical weapons against protesters, to admitting the First Amendment no longer exists when it comes to ICE, to claiming that eve...

In October 2023, Craig Mokhiber resigned as director of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights over the UN’s failure to act to stop the genocide in Gaza. Since then, he has been writing and speaking out about Israel’s crimes in Gaza as well as the other wars launched by the US-Israel Axis. This week, we’re focusing on Israel’s secret role in destabilizing Latin America, the Maduro government in...

“F***ing b****!” New bodycam footage shows that a male voice, allegedly the ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Good in Minnesota this week, yelled this out after the deadly shots were fired. When confronted with this thorn in the MAGA story that this was a scared ICE officer fearing for his life, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem unravels. In the days since the shooting, Noem, as well as...