Going Underground Episode Archive

We speak to the first official White House videographer Arun Chaudhary. He discusses the rise of the far-right in Europe and the United States, why a Trump victory likely would not have happened without Brexit, Joe Biden’s ‘disappointing’ cabinet picks of neoliberals and people from the military-industrial complex, why he as a progressive originally worked for Barack Obama, why Joe Biden is likely to not show much behind the scenes action during his Presidency, his work on the Bernie Sanders campaign and much more!

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to world-renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. He discusses what the United States and many European countries have gotten wrong in their Coronavirus response, the politicisation of science and the damage it has done to effectively fighting Coronavirus, opportunities and hurdles in fighting climate change, how militarisation and warfare have always been linked to advances in science and technology, how war is not just an American but human disease, why China will be the first to hear from aliens if they contact us, the future of space exploration and much more!

We speak to legendary war correspondent Martin Bell. He discusses the horror of the crisis in Yemen, which the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, his first-hand experience of seeing the suffering in Yemen, the severe food shortage which has left Yemen on the brink of a catastrophic famine, the record of the Saudi-led coalition’s strikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure, British assistance to the Saudi-led coalition, why British arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition must end and much more!

We speak to Robert Glover OBE, Author of ‘As Many As The Stars: A Story of Change for the Children of China’. He discusses how he introduced foster care to China following the implementation of the one-child policy, how foster care previously had not existed in China, the misconceptions many in the West have about Chinese people and how his own experience working with them has proven them to be kind and generous, communism providing a ‘safety net’ for China, his work with the Chinese government in reforming the system to produce better outcomes for children and much more!

We speak to Dr. Ashok Kumar, author of ‘Monopsony Capitalism: Power and Production in the Twilight of the Sweatshop Age'. He discusses what monopsony capitalism is and why we are currently living in it, how suppliers big clothing brands like Nike and Adidas have traditionally dominated markets by having a large amount of suppliers, how markets are evolving to have fewer suppliers which could benefit workers, labour action and strikes in China against poor working conditions and low wages and how strikes and labour organisation in South East Asia is spreading among sweatshop and factory workers, examples of successes for labour in collective bargaining in the changing market such as in Honduras and more!

We speak to Sarah Hughes, CEO of the Centre for Mental Health. She discusses the mental health vulnerability of the U.K. and the impact the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns have had on mental health, her letter to health Secretary Matt Hancock urging mental health to be a top priority and the need for more investment into the sector, her figures which estimate 1 in 5 will have mental health issues after the pandemic, the privatisation of the NHS and growing private sector mental health industry and much more!

We speak to Sam Medhi Torabi, Director of the Risalat Strategic Studies Institute in Iran. He discusses the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, why Iranian retaliation is a certainty, the Coronavirus situation in Iran and how Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was involved in the development of an Iranian Coronavirus vaccine, Iran’s ultimate aim to expel US forces from the Middle East/West Asia, why Coronavirus has proved the West doesn’t see Iranians as equal human beings, the lack of condemnation and action from the European Union over the alleged Israeli, US-backed assassination of Fakhrizadeh, misperceptions of Iran surrounding the Trump and Netanyahu administrations and much more!

We speak to former MI6 agent Alastair Crooke CMG. He discusses the reported meeting between Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman ahead of Donald Trump’s departure from the Presidency of the United States, what the objectives of the meeting were, Israel and Saudi Arabia’s objective to get Iran at the top of Joe Biden’s foreign policy agenda, why Joe Biden, Israel and Saudi Arabia are likely to have major differences on policy towards Iran, why Biden is already asking too much from Iran, why Iran doesn’t need a settlement with the US as ties with Russia and China grow deeper and much more!

We speak to Dr. Jerome Kim, Director-General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI). He discusses the purpose of the IVI and how it seeks to speed up the development and distributions of Coronavirus vaccines, the prospect of Coronavirus deaths doubling if rich countries buy up the first 2 billion doses, the COVAX facility and how it will help to get Coronavirus vaccine doses to poorer countries, Russia and the United States not being a part of COVAX, the need for more global health collaboration, the threat of anti microbial resistance and more!

We speak to the brother of US Senator Bernie Sanders and the Green Party Spokesperson on Health and Social Care (England & Wales), Larry Sanders. He discusses the victory of Joe Biden over President Trump in the 2020 election, his reservations about Joe Biden and his hopes that Biden will make concessions to the left, Donald Trump’s power post-election, a large chunk of the Democratic Party being a right wing party, Boris Johnson’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic and more!

We speak to Chris Daw QC, author of ‘Justice on Trial: Radical Solutions for a System at Breaking Point’. He discusses the UK’s arguably broken and oppressive legal system, the allegedly hellish conditions inside Belmarsh Prison which holds Julian Assange, how Coronavirus is leading to de-facto solitary confinement in prisons, the US’ mass incarceration system and how it has led to the United States having the largest prison population in the world, how corporations fuel the rise of private prisons in the US, the power of the prison lobby over politicians and much more!

We speak to Dr. Helen Yaffe, co-presenter of ‘Cuba & Covid-19: Public Health, Science and Solidarity’. She discusses Cuba’s Coronavirus vaccine candidates which have been developed as the Trump Administration has piled on sanctions on Cuba, the Western media accusation that Cuban doctors are being trafficked, the unique public model of Cuba’s biotech sector which has developed many widely used drugs, US sanctions on Cuba and what’s stopping the U.K. and Europe from doing business with Cuba, the difference between Cuba’s socialist model and the Anglo-American capitalist model and why Cuba has had under 150 Coronavirus deaths and much more!

We speak to former Ethiopian Ginbot 7 opposition leader Neamin Zeleke about the current conflict occurring in Ethiopia between government forces and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). He discusses misinformation in Western media about the conflict, the peace deal made between Eritrea and Ethiopia after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power, the history of the TPLF in Ethiopian politics, whether an independent Tigray could be an outcome of this conflict, support by the Obama-Biden administration for the TPLF and much more!

We speak to James Suzman, author of ‘Work: A History of How We Spend Our Time’. He discusses how work as we know it is really a modern concept that didn’t exist until recently, the capitalist global economy and how it forces people into unfulfilling work, why we may need to look to our hunter-gatherer past to rebuild and reshape our economies post-Coronavirus, why the hunter-gatherer attitude to work may be more beneficial when it comes to sustainability, fulfillment from work and much more!

We speak to Professor Charles Kupchan, author of ‘Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts To Shield Itself From The World’, former Special Advisor to President Barack Obama (2014-2017) and President Obama’s and President Clinton’s National Security Council Director for European Affairs. He discusses the isolationist tradition in American foreign policy history and how it has risen and fallen over the years, Donald Trump’s return to a form of isolationism with ‘America First’, the struggle for the United States to strike a middle ground between interventionist and isolationist, what Joe Biden’s foreign policy is likely to look like and whether it will be more of the same of Barack Obama’s regime change foreign policy, how Joe Biden’s relationship will be with the U.K. and EU, whether there are any hopes for better relations with Russia, the perspective from the global south that the United States is not fit to lead and more!

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Lord Griffiths of Burry Port about the Free School Meals crisis where the government has not extended free school meals across school holidays, despite the economic crisis caused by Coronavirus, meaning 1 million children could go hungry. He discusses why old Etonians such as Boris Johnson don’t understand poverty, his own experience growing up in poverty and his need for free school meals as a child, the rising popularity of Marcus Rashford who is leading the campaign to get food to hungry children, the growing use of food banks and charity organisations by families to get food, the impacts of austerity over the last 10 years and much more!

We speak to Dr. Mark Freestone, Author of ‘Making a Psychopath’. He discusses what makes somebody a psychopath, why psychopaths are failed by society, the negative and damaging stigmas around psychopaths, the estimated amount of psychopaths in the general population, why incarceration and punishment may not be the right approach in dealing with psychopaths and much more!

We speak to Contributing Editor of the Rolling Stone and host of the ‘Useful Idiots’ podcast Matt Taibbi. He discusses whether Donald Trump will leave the Presidency on his own accord and the media’s concentration over whether Donald Trump will refuse to hand over power, what Joe Biden’s foreign policy will look like with regards to Israel, Syria and the wider Middle East, whether Biden’s foreign policy will resemble Obama’s foreign policy, why criminal justice and prison reform is unlikely to happen under a Biden Presidency, the defeat of Bernie Sanders in the primaries and the impact it has had on the progressive movement, the ICC and why any US President could be brought in front of it for war crimes if the US was not a superpower and much more!

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to legendary journalist and filmmaker John Pilger. He discusses the extradition trial of Julian Assange being held at the Old Bailey in London, the war crimes Julian Assange uncovered, why the United States and Wear want to persecute him, key statements delivered in court by witnesses that may help the Wikileaks founder, allegations of bias against Judge Baraitser, the gruelling schedule Julian Assange has to go through for court hearings, the likelihood of Julian Assange committing suicide if he is jailed in a supermax prison which John Pilger describes as a ‘clean hell’, the role of the mainstream media outlets such as The Guardian in facilitating the persecution of Julian Assange and more. #JulianAssange #Wikileaks #JohnPilger STATEMENT FROM SERCO: We do not recognise the allegations being made.

We speak to George W. Bush’s lawyer for the litigation in Florida during the 2000 election, Barry Richard. He discusses whether Joe Biden really is President-elect, why Attorney General William Barr’s attempts to investigate election fraud to force recounts are pointless, why the 2000 election is different from the 2020 election regarding ballots, why Donald Trump’s calls to stop the vote count are harmful for democracy and much more!

We speak to the author of ‘Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden’ and Staff Writer at Jacobin Magazine Branko Marcetic. He discusses the contents of his new book which explores the lesser known parts of Joe Biden’s political career in great detail, including his friendship with racist senators, resistance against racial integration measures, a neoliberal record on economic policy, his relations with the powerful DuPont family in Delaware, his foreign policy record, Conservative ‘law and order’ stances and much more. Marcetic concludes that despite Biden’s perceived negative aspects, he makes a better choice than Donald Trump.

We speak to Rou Reynolds, lead singer of Enter Shikari. He discusses the letter he wrote to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, asking for more financial aid to the arts and music sector, the disparity in which sectors within art and music get the most funding, the government’s alleged ‘culture war’ on the rock, indie and alternative cultures, politics becoming more uncivilised and much more!

We speak to Alan Dershowitz, Donald Trump’s impeachment lawyer and Professor Emeritus at the Harvard Law School. He discusses the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election amid chaos over the counting of ballots and mail-in ballots, saying Joe Biden has likely won the Presidential election and that Donald Trump is likely to lose in litigation battles over the counting of ballots, Donald Trump’s 300+ picks of judges during his term and whether he picked them as a backstop if the 2020 election went to the courts, his view that Twitter is violating its own terms by censoring President Trump’s tweets, the omission by mainstream media of discussion about the allegations against Hunter Biden, why Joe Biden is unlikely to change Donald Trump’s policies to Israel and much more!

We speak to former Senior Advisor to Bernie Sanders Phillip Agnew. He discusses the recent protests in Philadelphia after the police killing of another African American, Donald Trump’s ‘bungled’ response to the Coronavirus pandemic, why black and poor people in the US have a poor choice on both sides, why he believes progressives and Americans should vote for Joe Biden despite his record, the shadow of McCarthyism over Joe Biden and the United States, what corporations and private banks can expect from a Biden Presidency and much more!

We speak to Jimmy Dore, host of The Jimmy Dore Show and leading progressive commentator. He discusses why Joe Biden’s record as Vice President and as a Senator is worse than Donald Trump’s, Joe Biden’s responsibility for the Crime Bill, leading to the US having the world’s biggest prison population, Kamala Harris’ role in upholding the prison-industrial complex, whether Donald Trump is better than Joe Biden, the alleged smearing of Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard during the primaries, why Joe Biden won’t move to the left if he becomes President and much more!