Going Underground Episode Archive

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the former British Ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton. He discusses the latest on the Ukraine crisis, the possibility of a Europe-wide war between NATO and Putin’s Russia, whether a last minute breakthrough can be achieved by the US, NATO and Russia, the background of hostility between Russia and NATO, NATO’s involvement in regime change wars and their legacy and much more. Statement from the Embassy of Serbia “NATO aggression on FR Yugoslavia was a grave violation of international law, completely illegal and unjustified. It caused devastation, suffering and huge civilian victims: almost 4000 deaths, 6000 heavily injured, with 2700 children among them. There were enormous destructions of infrastructure, highways, bridges, electricity grid, factories, with estimated economic loss at the level of $100 billion. The bombing of the Chinese Embassy, clearly marked as a diplomatic premises, has left 3 people dead and 21 injured. This heinous crime, as well as the whole NATO aggression on FR Yugoslavia, remains a mournful historical reminder of disrespecting international law tragic consequences.”

We speak to Director-General of the Russian International Affairs Council Andrey Kortunov. He discusses why Vladimir Putin is unlikely to invade Ukraine and how Putin would have conducted the invasion if he were to go through with it, whether the current crisis shows a failure in Russian diplomacy, alleged plans for a Russian puppet government to be installed in Kiev, contentions over the Minsk agreements between Kiev and Moscow, why Germany is likely to defend Nordstream 2 from threats of closure and much more

We speak to Lydia Zigomo, Global Programmes Director of Oxfam International. She discusses why the UN classifies Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the story of a young boy named Omar who has spent most of his life in displacement camps, continuing US and UK arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen fuelling the continuing conflict, the ignoring of the Yemen War by the media and much more. We contacted the Embassy of Yemen in London about the allegations made in this segment and they said: 1) The paragraph has disregarded completely the role of Iran as a major player and supporter of the Houthies in their coup against the legitimate government in Yemen. 2) The paragraph has neglected the main cause of the crisis in Yemen, i.e. the military coup taking over Yemen by the Houthi rebellion supported by Iran. 3) If you want to help Yemen get out of this plight, you can follow the efforts made by the Yemeni Government and Saudi Arabia calling for a political solution to put an end to this war and you will figure out the role of Iran in disrupting all these efforts. 4) Landmines are used by the Houthies that are killing and injuring the civilians. 5) The attacks on Marib and other cities have always been initiated by the Houthies backed by Iran. The Yemeni Government backed by the alliance are seeking a peaceful solution and any action taken by them is in defence not attack. 6) The humanitarian crisis in Yemen must end and can only be resolved with the Houthies agreement to a peaceful solution and Iran withdrawing its support from the Houthies. 7) The refusal of peace by the Houthies has exacerbated the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs Vyacheslav Nikonov. He discusses Russia’s conducting of nuclear weapons drills amid high tensions with the US and NATO allies over the Ukraine crisis, whether Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to invade Ukraine in the coming days, NATO’s expansion since the fall of the Soviet Union and ignoring of Russian security concerns, the potential effects of US, British and European sanctions on Russia in the event of an invasion of Ukraine and much more.

We speak to Lord Thomas Skidelsky. He discusses the UK’s threats to sanction Russia over a potential invasion of Ukraine, why the UK is trying to take the lead in a situation that doesn’t really concern it, the UK and US heightening tensions with Russia, the media’s role in creating alarm and hysteria, NATO’s refusal to recognise Russian security interests and much more.

We speak to Thomas Mountain, an independent journalist based in Eritrea. He discusses why the Horn of Africa is so strategically important and the US’ attempts to gain control of the Bab Al Mandab strait, Abiy Ahmed’s Ethiopia’s move closer towards Eritrea and their development model and why this threatens the EU and the US, the TPLF’s vast sums of money allegedly hidden away in City of London banks, how Europe continues to ‘super exploit’ Africa and how Eritrea and Ethiopia threaten the neo-colonial model, the World Bank and IMF’s role in exploiting Africa and much more. STATEMENT FROM THE EU: Ahead of next week’s EU-African Union Summit in Brussels, President von der Leyen announced in Senegal an Investment plan for Africa that will mobilise more than €150 billion in investments from Team Europe in the coming years. ‘Global Gateway’, our global investment strategy launched in December is about investing in strategic infrastructure in key sectors like energy, transport and digital, but also in health, education and the youth. It is based on values like transparency, sustainability, good governance, and takes into account people’s needs . It focuses on the twin green and digital transitions and fully in line with the Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement. “Our two Unions share the same vision: to create a common area of stability and prosperity”. And our new Global Gateway Investment plan for Africa will help us achieve that goal as investments are how we implement our shared ambition. Europe is Africa's most reliable and by far its most important investment partner. As the President recalled “this is the first regional plan under Global Gateway, two months after the launch of the strategy. It will be led by Team Europe and implemented in partnership” with our African partners.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to legendary journalist and filmmaker John Pilger. He discusses the scandal surrounding Boris Johnson over Downing Street parties during Coronavirus lockdowns, growing US tension with Russia over Ukraine amid the backdrop of NATO enlargement to Russia’s borders, tensions with China and the West’s need for a perpetual enemy, the continuing persecution of Julian Assange and much more

we speak to Dr. Jason Nichols, Senior Lecturer of African American studies at the University of Maryland and host of ‘Vince and Jason Save The Nation’. He discusses rising tensions between the US and it’s NATO allies and Russia over Ukraine, the comparisons of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler on US news outlets, why Biden will likely keep the US out of any conflict, voting rights and democracy being under attack in the US with inaction from President Joe Biden and much more!

We speak to Lama Fakih, the Human Rights Watch Crisis and Conflict Director. She discusses the hacking of her personal phone using Pegasus Spyware, why she can’t pinpoint a single state that would have targeted her, how the surveillance prevents journalists and human rights activists doing their work, the worsening humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and much more. Statement from GCHQ: https://www.gchq.gov.uk/information/faqs-1d0b4d5b

We speak to Matthew Hodson, Executive Director of aidsmap. He discusses his friendship with the late David Stuart, the pioneer of the term ‘chemsex’, widely-lauded for his work at 56 Dean Street and the Club Drug Clinic, the uphill climb to develop a HIV vaccine, the changing prevalence of HIV in LGBTQ+ the community and the heterosexual community and much more.

We speak to former Scotland Yard Superintendent Nusrit Mehtab. She discusses the IOPC report which found serial misogyny, racism and harassment prevalent within the Metropolitan Police, whether the Metropolitan Police is institutionally racist, Commissioner Cressida Dick’s record, the partygate scandal surrounding Boris Johnson’s government and much more

We speak to Vipp Jaswal, CEO of Interpersonal Intelligence Advisory. He discusses the Beijing Winter Olympics boycotted by the US and its allies, the potential consequences of the boycotts, Governor Rick Scott’s comments about him and his designation as a ‘foreign agent’ by the US government, US Olympic athletes being made to learn about the ‘evils’ of China before travelling to the Winter Olympocs and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we firstly speak to Sinn Féin’s Francie Molloy MP ahead of the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, where the British Army’s Parachute Regiment massacred 14 people in Northern Ireland. He discusses the history of collusion between the government, the army and unionist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland in covering up atrocities, the civil rights background preluding the Bloody Sunday Massacre, the British government’s refusal to prosecute anybody for the atrocities and the plan for blanket immunities from Boris Johnson’s government, the role of Frank Kitson-the British Army’s Commanding Officer on the day of the massacre in bloodshed in Ireland and around the world and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to John Strafford, Chair of the Campaign for Conservative Democracy. He discusses the corruption partygate scandal which threatens to bring down Boris Johnson’s government, Johnson’s loss of grassroots support, tensions between the US & its NATO allies and Russia over NATO expansion and Ukraine and much more more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, author of ‘Neither Settler nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities’. He discusses the failures of Nuremberg and its legacy on the modern world, how deliberate actions by the British and other European empires has created continuous racial strife across the formerly colonised world, the inspiration Adolf Hitler found for the Holocaust from the US’ genocide of native Americans, the Israel-Palestine conflict and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the former UK Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Chris Huhne. He discusses the scandal surrounding UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and multiple parties being thrown at Downing St through multiple Coronavirus lockdowns, the relaxation of U.K. Coronavirus restrictions, the energy crisis hitting the UK with many energy providers collapsing, the possibility of war breaking out over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, what that would mean for global energy prices and more.

We speak to Max Lawson of Oxfam about the ‘Inequality Kills’ report, which details how while 99% of humanity’s income fell, 160 million were pushed into poverty and 1 person died every 4 seconds over the course of the Coronavirus pandemic…the top 10 richest men saw their wealth more than double from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion dollars, a rate of $1.2 billion a day.

We speak to Prof. Barry Schoub, who is the Chair of South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 vaccines. He discusses why the Omicron variant is unlike any COVID-19 variant we have seen to date, the travel bans imposed on South Africa for discovering the Omicron variant, whether the Coronavirus vaccines will be still effective against the Omicron variant and much more.

Finally, we speak to Dr. Ingrid Waldron, Director of Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequalities and Community Health Project. She discusses environmental racism- a phenomenon of governments locating industrial polluters near indigenous people or minorities, progress in pushing environmental justice in Canada through Bill C230, cancer rates being disproportionately higher in Canadian communities of colour due to close proximity to industrial polluters and much more.

We speak to Dr. Edward Luttwak, a US military strategist. He discusses the accusations by Bolivia of the US plotting a coup in the country against socialist President Luis Arce, the Ukraine crisis and why an invasion of Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely, the 2011 Libya intervention by NATO which ended in disaster, Russia’s support for Syria and what it reveals about Putin’s modus operandi for geopolitics and much more!

We firstly speak to Prof. Steve Hanke, a former Chief Advisor to ex-Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and a former Senior Economist in President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors. He discusses the causes of the protests in Kazakhstan that have seen the deaths of over 160 protesters in crackdowns by the government and why inflation is likely not one of them, his time as an advisor to Nazarbayev and his views on economic policies undertaken by successive Kazakh governments, his opposition to US sanctions and why he believes that they don’t work and much more.

We speak to Elle Hardy, author of ‘Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity Is Taking Over The World’, the new form of Christianity that has links to the rise of Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump. She discusses the fundamentals of Pentecostalism which she calls ‘Born Again+’ and what makes it differ from the more traditional branches of Christianity such as Catholicism and Protestantism, why the religion is growing rapidly across the world and why it has a strong appeal, its origins in the dirty wars of the 1970s that the United States was involved in in Latin America and much more.

We speak to Prof. Richard Sakwa, Professor of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent. He discusses the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden over the Ukraine crisis, the unresolved issues at the end of ‘Cold War 1’ that has led to ‘Cold War 2’ between the US and Russia, NATO expansion towards Russia’s borders contrary to promises made prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the threat of nuclear war, the lack of implementation of the Minsk Agreement and much more.

We speak to Moussa Ibrahim, the former spokesperson for late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He discusses the overturning of the decision banning Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi (the son of Muammar Gaddafi) from running in the Libyan Presidential elections, current polling for the elections and why he believes the polls are wrong, why Saif Al-Islam is the only candidate that is nor aligned to a foreign power and much more.

We speak to independent health analyst Dr. John Campbell. He discusses the popularity of his videos explaining the complexities of the Coronavirus pandemic and public health generally, the rare heart problem side-effect associated with the COVID-19 vaccines and what the solution is to the cause behind it, the Omicron variant and much more!