Unauthorized Disclosure

Writer Frederik deBoer, whose piece, "Why We Should Fear University, Inc," recently appeared in the New York Times, joins the show to discuss his argument about the corporatization of college campuses.

Anna Jones, a single mother and a leading organizer in the Fight for Dyett High School, joins the show to talk about the struggle to save a neighborhood school on the south side of Chicago. As a 34-day hunger strike comes to an end, Jones describes what this fight means to her, why people have fought to save the school, and how this is critical campaign against not only the privatization of public schools but also separate but equal schooling in the city. During the discussion, hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola discuss the open expressions of fascism at the GOP debate, Ahmed Mohamed, and the latest development in Guantanamo Bay prisoner Tariq Ba Odah's case.

VICE reporter Jason Leopold joins the show to talk about documents he obtained containing new revelations about the collaboration that went on between "Zero Dark Thirty" filmmakers and the CIA. We talk about the significance of the documents, whether former CIA director Leon Panetta lied about interactions with screenwriter Mark Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow, and how the CIA was hoping to undermine a Senate intelligence committee investigation into torture with this mass-marketed Hollywood movie on the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound.  During the discussion, the show's hosts talk about the refugee crisis in Europe, the British government's decision to kill two British nationals with drones, a court decision in a No Fly List retaliation case brought by American Muslims against FBI agents, U.S. rejecting human rights recommendations from countries, and James Clapper's speech about U.S. intelligence having a lot in common with Spider-Man.

This week on “Unauthorized Disclosure,” Patrick Strickland, who is an independent journalist and contributor to The Electronic Intifada and Al Jazeera English, talks to us from Beirut, Lebanon. He discusses his reporting on the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria, a Palestinian refugee camp which has been under siege. He talks to us about the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon. Strickland also describes how ISIS and Jabhat al Nusra are taking over some of these camps with Palestinian refugees. In the second half, during the discussion part of the show, hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola highlight the refugee crisis in Europe and, separately, how President Barack Obama’s administration has fought to continue detaining refugee mothers and children from Central America. We also talk about North Dakota becoming the first state, where drones can be weaponized with tear gas or tasers, the FBI setting up a cell phone surveillance system in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and the latest appalling aspects of the Obama administration’s effort to keep a gravely ill Guantanamo prisoner detained indefinitely.

Imraan Siddiqi, a blogger and the chairman of the Arizona chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), joins the show to talk about anti-Muslim hysteria and racism in the United States. We talk about the threat against American Muslims from right-wing groups, including calls from people like former Marine Jon Ritzheimer to hold armed protests outside a mosque in Phoenix (which is where Siddiqi is based). We discuss a released May bulletin from the FBI warning militia extremists are increasingly targeting Muslims. We highlight how rhetoric promoting fear against Muslims spreads in this country. In the second half, we continue our interview with Siddiqi by talking about white men attempting to frame American Muslims for terrorist plots by faking the plots themselves. We highlight a case in New York involving a KKK man, who wanted to build a death-ray machine to kill Muslims and essentially was entrapped by the FBI. And then, we spend the rest of the episode talking about mosques in the United States and what it is like for American Muslims to have agents and informants working for the FBI infiltrating their communities.

The guest this week is Page May, a Chicago-based organizer with the local group, We Charge Genocide. She describes organizing against stop and frisks by Chicago police and how the ACLU of Illinois essentially snubbed activists they had claimed to be working with when the ACLU negotiated a settlement. May reacts to the contents of the settlement and talks about an ordinance for addressing stop and frisks, which activists planned to introduce in the city council until the ACLU and City of Chicago forced the activists to delay introduction. During the show's discussion, the hosts talk about Israel's skunk weapon, various updates on news from Israel, the gravely ill Guantanamo prisoner, Tariq Ba Odah, who the Obama administration opposes releasing from the military prison, and we follow-up on last week's episode where we talked about Bernie Sanders and Black Lives Matter activists.

Douglas Williams, a writer at TheSouthLawn.org and a doctoral student at Wayne State University in Detroit, is our guest this week. We talk to him about Bernie Sanders, Black Lives Matter, and the critique of Bernie Sanders not talking about race enough. He discusses how Democratic presidential candidates are using the "Black Lives Matter" mantra to make their campaigns relevant. We highlight Bernie Sanders' record in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which played a key role in the civil rights movement. We also talk about the problems the movement has with solidarity organizing and the role of white "allies" in organizing against institutional racism.

The Movement for Black Lives had a gathering from July 24-26 in Cleveland to develop the collective mission of "Black Lives Matter" and ensure it grows into a movement that can fulfill a promise of equality and justice. And, as the show's guest this week, Waltrina Middleton, an organizer and co-founder of Cleveland Action, appeared on the show to talk about the critical importance of this gathering. During the discussion part of the show, Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola highlight DHS surveillance of Black Lives Matter protests, the firing of a man from a Chicago police review agency for refusing to change his findings, and UK's PREVENT program and anti-Muslim racism. The show's hosts also talk a little more about the Movement for Black Lives gathering, including the role of white "allies" or white anti-racism activists in movement building.

Telegraph writer Andrew Gilligan has a history of trying to out radical Muslims in the United Kingdom and smear them in his reporting. Gilligan's latest attack was against Abdullah al-Andalusi, an Islamic lecturer and writer, who is this week's guest. Al-Andalusi was the subject of Gilligan's slimy attack because he has worked for the public sector in the UK. Gilligan questioned whether Muslims should be permitted to work civil service jobs and tried to gin up additional fear by shamefully distorting al-Andalusi's previous writing to make him seem like an Islamic State sympathizer. Al-Andalusi talked about this experience and how this might help reinforce UK policies, which the government claims are necessary to fight Islamic extremism.  During the discussion portion, hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola discuss the Chattanooga shooting, Saudi Arabia rounding up over 400 people suspected of involvement in Islamic State plots, the Iran nuclear deal, Obama's NAACP speech, and Sandra Bland.

Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola are joined by Adam Johnson, associate editor at AlterNet.org and contributing writer to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). Johnson outlines the bogus terror warnings promoted by the FBI ahead of the Fourth of July and then deconstructs the latest absurd development, where FBI Director James Comey claimed terorrism suspects arrested in June were the July 4th threat. Johnson goes into detail about what drives media outlets like CNN to hype terror warnings that cannot be backed up by specific threats.  During the discussion part of the episode, the show's hosts cover a federal judge's order to prepare the release of videos of a former Guantanamo prisoner being force-fed, a major review showing American Psychological Association officials protected national security psychologists involved in US torture, the one-year anniversary of Israel's Operation Protective Edge, US strikes which killed over 100 people in Afghanistan, and Lindsey Graham calling peace activists dangerous as he bellows about bombing Iran.