American Exception

In this second episode of our Watergate double feature here on the 50th anniversary of that fateful botched burglary, Aaron talks with Jefferson Morley about his new book, Scorpions' Dance: The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate. Therein, Watergate is presented as a tale of two Dicks—Nixon and Helms. On the surface, Watergate was a notorious presidential scandal. The further one looks into the case, the more the whole affair looks like an Establishment civil war fought over deeper issues of world historic importance. Jefferson Morley is a Washington author and veteran journalist whose novelistic non-fiction books explore untold chapters in the history of the American nation. Some of his other books include The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton and Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA. Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: “Song in D” by Mock Orange In this second episode of our Watergate double feature here on the 50th anniversary of that fateful botched burglary, Aaron talks with Jefferson Morley about his new book, Scorpions' Dance: The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate. Therein, Watergate is presented as a tale of two Dicks—Nixon and Helms. On the surface, Watergate was a notorious presidential scandal. The further one looks into the case, the more the whole affair looks like an Establishment civil war fought over deeper issues of world historic importance. Jefferson Morley is a Washington author and veteran journalist whose novelistic non-fiction books explore untold chapters in the history of the American nation. Some of his other books include The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton and Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA. Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: “Song in D” by Mock Orange

As a happy coincidence, we recorded this around on the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in and the arrest of the Plumbers. We talk about the deep politics of Watergate in this installment of Minding the Darkness, Minding the Light, our oral history series with Professor Peter Dale Scott. Peter Dale Scott is the prolific poet, historian, and political theorist who gave us parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach. His work on Watergate had a big influence on my own view of Watergate, a subject I dedicate two whole chapters to in American Exception--now days away from its official publication! Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: “Payroll” by Mock Orange As a happy coincidence, we recorded this around on the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in and the arrest of the Plumbers. We talk about the deep politics of Watergate in this installment of Minding the Darkness, Minding the Light, our oral history series with Professor Peter Dale Scott. Peter Dale Scott is the prolific poet, historian, and political theorist who gave us parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach. His work on Watergate had a big influence on my own view of Watergate, a subject I dedicate two whole chapters to in American Exception--now days away from its official publication! Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: “Payroll” by Mock Orange

Joined by James DiEugenio, Aaron talks with Max Good about his new film, The Assassination and Mrs. Paine. The film features Ruth Paine herself—along with a number of other people that you may be familiar with--including, James DiEugenio, Peter Dale Scott, Max Holland, Gerald Posner, Priscilla Johnson-McMillan, and Vincent Salandria. Rent the film here on June 14: The Assassination and Mrs. Paine on iTunes Follow on Twitter: JFK Paine Doc James DiEugenio's website: Kennedys and King Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "12 O'clock Call" by Mock Orange

In this installment of Minding the Darkness, Minding the Light, our oral history series with Professor Peter Dale Scott, Peter talks with Ben Howard and me about some legendary figures in the history of American parapolitical research—namely: William Turner, Mae Brussell, and Colonel L. Fletcher Prouty. From there, we start to get into Watergate! Peter Dale Scott is the prolific poet, historian, and political theorist who gave us parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach. Follow Ben on Twitter and check out his latest series on the Boston Bombing over at TrueAnon: Episode 220: Marathon Men (Part 1) Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "This Nation" by Mock Orange

Aaron is joined by Lawrence Wilkerson and Peter Kuznick to discuss the Ukraine War in the context of America’s evaporating “unipolar moment.” Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired US Army Colonel, former chief of staff to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, and current Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William & Mary: Peter Kuznick is Professor of History and Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University. The author of numerous books and articles, Kuznick is perhaps most notably the cocreator—with Oliver Stone—of The Untold History of the United States. It is a 12-part documentary series that first played on Showtime, and there’s also an excellent book version, now in its second edition. Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: “The End of the World” by Mock Orange

This is Part 9 of Minding the Darkness, Minding the Light—our oral history series with Professor Peter Dale Scott. He is the poet, historian, and iconoclastic creator of parapolitics and deep politics. We continue talking about key figures of America's parapolitical history, including: · Donald Freed—prominent activist and co-writer of Executive Action · Carl Oglesby—major SDS figure and author of The Yankee and Cowboy War · Warren Hinkle—publisher of the legendary magazine, Ramparts · Huey Newton and Jane Fonda also make appearances in this episode With apologies, this episode was recorded while a team of workers outside Peter’s home were apparently trying to drill to the center of the Earth and/or operate some kind of massive circular saw. We did our best to clean this up as well as we could. The great Ben Howard should be rejoining us again for the next installment in this series! Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art. Extra special thanks to Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "Mind Is Not Brain" by Mock Orange This is Part 9 of Minding the Darkness, Minding the Light—our oral history series with Professor Peter Dale Scott. He is the poet, historian, and iconoclastic creator of parapolitics and deep politics. We continue talking about key figures of America's parapolitical history, including: · Donald Freed—prominent activist and co-writer of Executive Action · Carl Oglesby—major SDS figure and author of The Yankee and Cowboy War · Warren Hinkle—publisher of the legendary magazine, Ramparts · Huey Newton and Jane Fonda also make appearances in this episode With apologies, this episode was recorded while a team of workers outside Peter’s home were apparently trying to drill to the center of the Earth and/or operate some kind of massive circular saw. We did our best to clean this up as well as we could. The great Ben Howard should be rejoining us again for the next installment in this series! Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art. Extra special thanks to Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!

Ben Norton of Multipolarista talks with Aaron about the end of US unipolarity (i.e., global dominance) and the dawn of a new multipolar world. Unlike the previous multipolar eras which led to colonialism and two world wars, the emerging multipolar world is more than just white imperialist powers in competition with each other. After the discussion with Ben Norton, Aaron talks to Mike Lesiuk and Seamus McGuiness about the new American Exception website.  The first article at the site is Aaron's 2015 piece, "American Exception: Hegemony and the Dissimulation of the State." Follow Ben Norton on Twitter and visit his excellent website, Multipolarista.com Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: “The End of the World” by Mock Orange Ben Norton of Multipolarista talks with Aaron about the end of US unipolarity (i.e., global dominance) and the dawn of a new multipolar world. Unlike the previous multipolar eras which led to colonialism and two world wars, the emerging multipolar world is more than just white imperialist powers in competition with each other. After the discussion with Ben Norton, Aaron talks to Mike Lesiuk and Seamus McGuiness about the new American Exception website.  The first article at the site is Aaron's 2015 piece, "American Exception: Hegemony and the Dissimulation of the State." Follow Ben Norton on Twitter and visit his excellent website, Multipolarista.com Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: “The End of the World” by Mock Orange

This is Part 8 of Minding the Darkness, Minding the Light—our oral history series with Professor Peter Dale Scott. He is the iconoclastic poet, historian, and the creator of parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach. Peter joins Aaron to reflect upon a number of figures in America's parapolitical history including: Bill Colby Dick Gregory Mark Lane Robert Blakey Allard Lowenstein Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "Song in D" by Mock Orange This is Part 8 of Minding the Darkness, Minding the Light—our oral history series with Professor Peter Dale Scott. He is the iconoclastic poet, historian, and the creator of parapolitics as well as the deep politics approach. Peter joins Aaron to reflect upon a number of figures in America's parapolitical history including: Bill Colby Dick Gregory Mark Lane Robert Blakey Allard Lowenstein Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!

Aaron talks with Branko Marcetic and Ben Howard about the recent 9/11 revelations which further implicate the Saudis--including the Saudis' key US deep state operative, Prince Bandar bin Sultan.  Marcetic is a Jacobin staff writer and the author of Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden. His recent 9/11 article at Jacobin is We Have New Evidence of Saudi Involvement in 9/11, and Barely Anyone Cares. Follow Ben on Twitter and check out his latest series on NATO over at TrueAnon: Episode 220: Marathon Men (Part 1) Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering! Music: "Tell Me Your Story" by Mock Orange Aaron talks with Branko Marcetic and Ben Howard about the recent 9/11 revelations which further implicate the Saudis--including the Saudis' key US deep state operative, Prince Bandar bin Sultan.  Marcetic is a Jacobin staff writer and the author of Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden. His recent 9/11 article at Jacobin is We Have New Evidence of Saudi Involvement in 9/11, and Barely Anyone Cares. Follow Ben on Twitter and check out his latest series on NATO over at TrueAnon: Episode 220: Marathon Men (Part 1) Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!

Aaron speaks with Dr. Matthew Alford, one of the co-producers of the soon to be released documentary film, Theaters of War. They discuss the film and it main subject--the covert and propagandistic role of the Pentagon and CIA in the entertainment world.  Alford is the co-author with Tom Secker of National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood. Along with TJ Coles, he is also co-author Union Jackboot: What Your Media and Professors Don't Tell You About British Foreign Policy, as well as author of The Writer with No Hands—a book, I hope to discuss on a future episode. Here's a trailer for Theaters of War featuring Matthew Alford. Also check out Tom Secker's site, Spy Culture.  Special thanks to Casey Moore for the episode art and Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!   Music: "World of Machines" by Mock Orange