Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté
Useful Idiots, LLC
Useful Idiots is an informative and irreverent politics podcast with journalist Aaron Maté and podcaster/writer Katie Halper. Episodes feature analysis of the political news of the week and exclusive interviews, with humor, commentary and dissection of why both Republicans and Democrats suck. Join Aaron and Katie as they examine important stories that have slipped through the cracks and what the media got wrong – and laugh about whatever is left to laugh about.
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 11, 2026 • 1h 24min
Netanyahu EXPOSED for Sabotaging US-Iran Peace Talks in 60 Minutes Interview
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May 8, 2026 • 48min
Iran Strikes on US Bases Shock World—Here’s What US & Israel Hid
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May 4, 2026 • 1h 15min
Over Two Months Into the War on Iran, The Trump Admin Still Can't Decide If We're At War with Iran
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May 1, 2026 • 59min
Journalist REVEALS Israelis Behind Secret Doxxing War on Americans
Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTSCheck out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here to see the full interview on cracking the code to expose the Canary Mission: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-journalist-reveals-israelis?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch the Friday Free-For-All: "Gas prices may be up, but you'll be happy to know that Iranians can't feed themselves." http://usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.“Being anonymous is very important to this group. And they had really good OPSEC, which is security to make sure they’re not found. When we saw their internal documents and communications, we found a marketing PowerPoint where they listed core values. And one of the core values was Anonymity to Scare the Enemy.”This is from independent investigative journalist Jacqueline Sweet, who recently exposed and revealed members of the Canary Mission for DropSite News. The Canary Mission is a pro-Israel doxxing site which has been notoriously secretive since its creation in 2015, exposing and creating blacklists to target college students involved in anti-genocide protests.The Trump Administration has used their blacklists to kidnap, imprison, and deport students.One of those students who was doxxed by the Canary Mission and resultantly kidnapped by ICE was Mohsen Mahdawi, Palestinian refugee, Columbia University graduate student, and organizer who was detained and targeted for deportation over his pro-Palestine speech and activism in April 2025.So for this week’s episode we spoke with both Mohsen and Jacqueline about how the secretive Canary Mission found and exposed Mohsen to the Trump Administration, how Jacqueline is “doxxing the doxxers” by naming Canary Mission members, and why Mohsen isn’t backing down after the fear tactics from both the Canary Mission and the government:“If they succeeded in silencing me, it would have a much larger effect on others. So come at me harder and I will show you how I will continue to smile and I will speak up even louder.I go around and people are sometimes surprised. They say, ‘What happened to you is really scaring me.’ And I would say, ‘If you react to them, to their intimidation, that’s what they want us to do so we can lose sight, so we can’t envision, so we can’t imagine, so we can be pushed into survival mode.’And I refuse to do that. I continue to plan. I continue to envision. And I keep telling them, keep coming harder because every time you do that, you’re pushing my profile much higher and you’re bringing more people into my life and you’re bringing me into more people’s life. So I’m making an opportunity out of it. And every crisis has an opportunity. This is my belief.Subscribe for the full interview where Jacqueline explains how she and DropSite News were able to break into the Operational Security (OPSEC) of Canary Mission to expose its members.Subscribers keep us going by supporting our work, and also get Katie and Aaron’s analysis of the craziest moments of the week, the Friday Free-for-All: “Gas prices may be up, but you’ll be happy to know that Iranians can’t feed themselves.”00:00 Intro03:26 DNC Chair Refuses to Show 2024 Election Autopsy07:10 Trump thinks he can "do Venezuela" to Iran08:26 Ro Khanna destroys Pete Hegseth10:39 Mohsen Mahdawi interview11:30 What's happening in Gaza and the West Bank?30:22 Exposing the Canary Mission33:16 How Trump used the Canary Mission blacklist to kidnap Mohsen57:30 How journalists broke through Canary Mission's OPSECOur Sponsors:* Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/USEFUL* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/usefulAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Apr 27, 2026 • 1h 4min
"Tone Down the Rhetoric!" Say US Officials Who Want to Destroy All of Iranian Civilization
Go to groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTSCheck out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here to support our work and get the ad-free version of our show: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ad-free-iran-forces-israel-to-backpedal?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch the Friday Free-For-All: Washington Post Columnist: "Kill the Iranian Leaders That Don't Want a Deal." https://usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Our Sponsors:* Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/USEFUL* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/usefulAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Apr 24, 2026 • 56min
Iran Forces Israel To Backpedal in Lebanon w/ Mohamad Hasan Sweidan
Go to groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTSCheck out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here to support our work and get the ad-free version of our show: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ad-free-iran-forces-israel-to-backpedal?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch the Friday Free-For-All: Washington Post Columnist: "Kill the Iranian Leaders That Don't Want a Deal." https://usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.This week we’re looking at the latest in Trump’s regime-change war on Iran and how it’s spilled over into Lebanon, where Israel has just killed another journalist, Amal Khalil.Khalil was assassinated in a “double tap” strike while she was reporting in South Lebanon: the Israelis first hit her car, and then the house she fled to in an attempt to seek refuge. Israeli soldiers then blocked rescue workers from reaching her and she died under the rubble.She is the latest in the hundreds of journalists who have been targeted and killed by Israel since October 7th.To discuss Amal Khalil, the broader regime-change war in Iran, and why Israel is “afraid” of invading Lebanon, we speak with Mohamad Hasan Sweidan, researcher and academic based in Beirut.Useful Idiots: What explains Hezbollah’s resilience? They lost their leader, they suffered very big setbacks with the pager attacks, and lost their land bridge in Syria, through which they could receive arms from Iran.But yet on the ground in Lebanon, they’re still able to fight toe-to-toe with Israel and impose serious costs, to the point where now Israel is afraid of invading and engaging in another land war.So what explains how Hezbollah, which many people thought was on its last legs, has been able to persevere and still be effective militarily?Mohamad Hasan Sweidan: There are three main reasons.Number one is ideology. Hezbollah has a very strong religious ideology that doesn’t believe in backing off. It believes it should continue fighting the oppressor until the end.Number two is that Hezbollah doesn’t have a choice. If they don’t rebuild themselves and if they don’t return to the fight, then all of Hezbollah will be destroyed. It’s a battle of no choice. And when you are in a battle of no choice, you continue till the end.Number three: Hezbollah represents a huge amount of the people inside of the country. There are Lebanese people who believe in resistance. So if Hezbollah decides to disarm, then you have other Lebanese people who will hold the weapons and go defend the land. Because history proved that the only way to defend the land is when you become a resistance.So there are three main reasons. Ideology, battle of no choice, and the people. When you have these main factors, you don’t have really a choice other than trying to resist, even if the cost or the price of resistance is very high.00:00 Intro01:50 "We're starving them!" Congressmen celebrate killing Iranians07:28 Washington Post columnist: "Kill the Iranian leaders who don't want a deal!"09:23 Mohamad Hasan Sweidan interview10:36 Israel murders journalist Amal Khalil49:39 Why Israel is AFRAID of invading LebanonOur Sponsors:* Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/USEFUL* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/usefulAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Apr 20, 2026 • 1h 11min
They got money for wars but can't feed the poor
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Apr 17, 2026 • 60min
US & Israel PLUMMET Globally After Iran and Cuba Disasters
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Apr 13, 2026 • 1h 8min
“No one is willing to trade lower gas prices for Iran becoming a nuclear state.”
Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTSCheck out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interviews with former State Dept Official Alan Eyre and Iranian Journalist Séamus Malekafzali: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-americas-strategic-weakness?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch the Friday Free-For-All: Dana Bash's Obsessive Hatred for Hasan Piker Reveals CNN's Fake Journalism Mentality https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/dana-bashs-obsessive-hatred-for-hasan?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webCheck out Séamus' podcast Turbulence: https://turbulencepod.substack.com/Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Our Sponsors:* Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/USEFUL* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/usefulAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Apr 10, 2026 • 45min
America’s “Strategic WEAKNESS” in Iran w/ Ex-State Dept Official Alan Eyre and Iranian Journalist Séamus Malekafzali
Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTSCheck out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interviews with former State Dept Official Alan Eyre and Iranian Journalist Séamus Malekafzali: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-americas-strategic-weakness?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch the Friday Free-For-All: Dana Bash's Obsessive Hatred for Hasan Piker Reveals CNN's Fake Journalism Mentality https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/dana-bashs-obsessive-hatred-for-hasan?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webCheck out Séamus' podcast Turbulence: https://turbulencepod.substack.com/Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.This week, after Trump threatened to wipe out Iran’s civilization, he backed down and announced that he was instead accepting a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Israel responded to the ceasefire announcement by going on a rampage in Lebanon, killing well over 200 people, attacking civilian targets, including apartment buildings inside Beirut.When Iran claimed that the U.S. is in violation of the ceasefire because of Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon, Vice President J.D. Vance, touted by corporate media as a “skeptic” of Trump’s war, gave this response:“There’s a lot of bad faith negotiation going on. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never indicated that was going to be the case.What we said is that the Israelis offered, frankly, to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon. Look, if Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart, that’s ultimately their choice. We think that would be dumb.”It’s just not factually true that Lebanon was never part of the ceasefire: Pakistan, the government that brokered the ceasefire, said explicitly that the ceasefire applies “everywhere including Lebanon.”But Vance is pretending that Lebanon wasn’t included and then scolding Iran for daring to want to spare Lebanon from relentless Israeli attacks. So with Vance now joining Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in negotiations, what is the expectation for this team to be able to produce diplomacy?To analyze this, plus why Iran is emerging from these ceasefire talks with “a superior strategic position” while the United States “is greatly weakened from a strategic point of view,” we spoke with two guests: Iranian-American journalist Séamus Malekafzali, who was formerly based in Beirut and co-hosts the podcast Turbulence, and former State Department Official Alan Eyre, who was part of negotiating the Iran nuclear deal under the Obama Administration in 2015.To see the full interviews with Séamus and Alan, including a full analysis of what happens next in the Strait of Hormuz, whether this ceasefire is legit, and why the US secretly armed protesters in Iran, please subscribe to Useful Idiots.00:00 Intro01:15 Dems respond to Trump's ceasefire in WORST WAY POSSIBLE06:06 NATO Chief defends his "Daddy" Donald Trump08:29 Séamus Malekafzali interview15:01 What is happening in Beirut?30:41 Why Iran has MORE control over Strait of Hormuz now31:57 Former State Dept Official Alan Eyre interview35:13 JD Vance mocks Iran over Lebanon44:00 The Netanyahu-Obama ShowdownOur Sponsors:* Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/USEFUL* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/usefulAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy


