DeProgram with John Kiriakou and Ted Rall Going to Ground | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Mar 30, 2026
Jeff Dornick, CEO of Pickaxe and founder of a free-speech oriented platform, joins to talk platform design and online speech. They cover community-building, human-centered feeds, and how alternative networks handle censorship and migration. Short takes on moderation trade-offs, growth strategies, and technical challenges facing creators and platforms.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Houthis Shift From Sidelined To Strategic Factor
- The Houthis re-emerged as a strategic multiplier by striking Israel and threatening shipping routes.
- John Kiriakou explains their missile attacks mainly frighten and distract Israel and can disrupt Bab-el-Mandeb shipping if sustained.
Flattening Territory Creates Tactical Push Not Peace
- Israel's flattening of southern Lebanon aims to deny launch sites but will likely only push Hezbollah tactics northward.
- John warns demolition creates displacement and a humanitarian catastrophe while rocket ranges and tactics will adapt.
Narrow Straits Hold Global Fertilizer Supply At Risk
- Disruption of Bab-el-Mandeb or Strait of Hormuz has outsized global effects because critical commodities transit them.
- Kiriakou notes 65% of the world's fertilizer moves through the Persian Gulf, then splits toward Suez—shipping attacks ripple into food supply.