Going Underground Episode Archive

We speak to Kelechi Okafor, actress and host of the ‘Say Your Mind’ podcast. She discusses the fallout of Meghan Markle and Harry’s interview to Oprah, why she believes the royal family is institutionally racist, why Meghan Markle’s alleged bullying is nothing compared to the British Empire & the Royal Family’s bullying of other countries historically, why the Royal Family even today represents colonial violence, why the monarchy should be abolished and more!

We speak to legendary rock photographer Mick Rock, known as ‘The Man Who Shot The 70s’ and for his iconic photographs of Lou Reed, David Bowie and Iggy Pop. He discusses his new collaborative images, titled Midaro, his stellar career photographing some of the most iconic rockstars of all time and much more!

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to George Fu Gao, the Director-General of China’s Centre for Disease Control and the man who released the COVID-19 genome. He discusses the safety of the vaccines and why we should remain cautious as we pursue mass-vaccination drives, why it is urgent to roll out the vaccine as fast as possible, the effectiveness of China’s Coronavirus response compared to the West’s, the West’s criticisms of China’s coronavirus response, the growing number of ‘long COVID’ cases, the West’s mistakes in dealing with the pandemic and much more!

We speak to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews. He discusses the background behind the military coup against State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, the political history of modern Myanmar and how the status-quo before the coup was not democratic and had much tension between the civilian government and military, how China will be key in solving the Myanmar crisis, arms sales to Myanmar and much more! We contacted H & M about the allegations in this broadcast, they got back to us saying: Thanks for reaching out. We have no comment to add at this time

Going Underground's Social Media Producer Farhaan Ahmed speaks to China's Charge d'Affaires Minister of the Chinese Embassy in London, Yang Xiaoguang. He says China maintains no military alliances to reflect its peaceful posture, slams the Cold War mentality of the US and its allies, saying 'joining forces with other countries against China won't work. A subtle hint at the QUAD alliance between the US, Japan, India and Australia. He also says Russia and China can work as stabilising forces in today's world, as both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have close ties.

We speak to Prof. Sanjeev Gupta, Planetary Geologist of NASA’s 2020 Mars Rover Mission. He discusses the landing of the Perseverance Mars Rover, how the new Rover mission will work and what NASA seeks to find, why Mars was likely to harbour some life forms in the ancient past, why we likely won’t be living on Mars and much more!

We speak to the DUP’s Sammy Wilson MP. He discusses the legal showdown between the DUP and Boris Johnson’s government over the Northern Ireland protocol, why the protocol changes the status of Northern Ireland within the UK, Sinn Féin’s growing popularity and calls for a border poll to achieve a United Ireland, the slow Coronavirus vaccination rate of the Republic of Ireland compared to Northern Ireland and much more! STATEMENT FROM SINN FÉIN: "A referendum on Irish unity is an integral part of the Good Friday Agreement. "Once again Sammy Wilson and the DUP show a lack of understanding of the Good Friday Agreement which they have continually opposed. "The conversation on Irish unity is growing across the island and we would encourage everyone to play their part so they can help shape a new and better Ireland through a unity referendum." The EU Council directed us to a European affairs minister videoconference: https://europa.eu/!uN74xK

Going Underground's Deputy Editor Charlie speaks to Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite discusses the band's new album 'As the Love Continues', how Coronavirus has affected the arts and music industry, their optimism for the post-COVID future, the impact of Brexit on the music and arts industry, how the Coronavirus lockdowns may have trampled on the futures of talented young artists and much more!

We speak to Dr. Rupert Read. He discusses Joe Biden’s executive orders on climate change and why far more action needs to be taken, his new book ‘Parents For A Future: How Loving Our Children Can Prevent Climate Collapse’ and why the older generations are obligated to save their children’s futures by combatting climate change, why COVID-19 has created a debt the older generations must pay back to the younger generation, why he doesn’t expect any agreement reached at COP26 to go far enough, why corporations and governments will not save us from climate change and much more!

We speak to Oxfam’s Max Lawson, co-author of ‘The Inequality Virus’. He discusses how Coronavirus has accelerated skyrocketing wealth inequality around the world, the astronomical wealth billionaires such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have made during the Coronavirus pandemic in contrast to hundreds of millions falling into poverty, a stark COVID-19 vaccine inequality between wealthier nations and poorer nations, solutions to alleviate this wealth inequality and much more! We contacted Pfizer about the allegation made in this show and they said: “During the pandemic, instead of using a traditional cost-effectiveness approach, we are pricing in a way that can help governments ensure that there is little to no out-of-pocket costs for their populations. Broad access is important – speed, safety and availability are driving us. Our pricing strategy is based on volume, advance commitments, equity and affordability principles. It is important to note that our COVID-19 vaccine development and manufacturing costs have been entirely self-funded, and we have already invested billions of dollars (and are prepared to continue bearing the costs of all development and manufacturing scape-up costs) in an effort to find a solution to this pandemic.” We contacted Jeff Bezos about the allegations and the UK PR Head at Amazon told us: “Since the start of last year, Amazon has created nearly half a million jobs with starting pay that’s twice the U.S. federal minimum, industry-leading benefits that start on the first day of work, and excellent opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe, modern work environment. Our total spend on special bonuses and pay incentives for hourly employees was over $2.5 billion in 2020.”

We speak to Willem Buiter, Global Chief Economist at Citigroup (2010-2018). In contrast to our interview with Bitcoin.com founder Roger Ver, Willem Buiter argues Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are essentially is an environmentally unfriendly, speculative fiat currency with no use countries trying to evade Western economic sanctions. He also disputes that it can be used as a currency and discusses why there won’t be mass-scale adoption.

We speak to Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s Minister of Climate and Energy and Public Utilities. He discusses Denmark’s plan to tackle climate change, which involves the largest oil producer in the EU halting all further oil and gas exploration and licensing in a bid to go carbon neutral by 2050. He discusses how this will encourage other nations to pledge a similar target, the development of an offshore energy island the size of 18 football pitches which could meet the energy demands of the entire Danish population while also producing a surplus!

We speak to former Turkish Ambassador to the UK and leader of the Republican People’s Party Ünal Çeviköz. He discusses the allegations Serj Tankian made about the Republic of Turkey, Turkish power within NATO, the purchase of the S400 missile defence system from Russia, allegations of Turkey using Syrian mercenaries in the Nagorno-Karabakh war and much more!

Next, we speak to Professor Danny Dorling of Oxford University who discusses why Conservative governments delude themselves into thinking they’re reducing inequality, why the government’s excuse for not making the universal credit uplift permanent is weak and more!

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Bhaskar Sunkara, the founding editor of Jacobin Magazine. He discusses why as a socialist, he prefers being in opposition to Joe Biden than to Donald Trump, cautious optimism for the direction Joe Biden’s administration will take, Executive Orders signed by President Biden undoing many Trump-era policies, how strong Biden’s climate change policy will be, whether Biden’s foreign policy will mean more military interventions, how he will respond to the Coronavirus pandemic and much more! #Biden #Democrats #USA 'We contacted Facebook and they directed us to this newsroom post: https://about.fb.com/news/2021/01/referring-trump-suspension-to-oversight-board/

Finally, Going Underground's Deputy Editor Charlie Cooke speaks to the film Coup 53's Director and Co-Writer Taghi Amirani and Editor & Co-Writer Walter Murch, three-time Acadamy-Award-winning editor. They discuss why the US-UK-backed coup in Iran in 1953, which toppled democratically-elected nationalist Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and led to the rebirth of The Shah's power, is ultimately the roots from which the Islamic Revolution and hostilities with the West stem from, the impact of the coup on Iranian society, the similarities between the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani and the events leading up to the coup in 1953, the often overlooked heavy British involvement in the coup and much more!

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the historical consultant for Netflix’s The Crown and author of ‘Battle of Brothers: William and Harry- The Inside Story of a Family In Tumult’ Robert Lacey. He discusses the lack of openness from the royal family in modern times and the reasons for it, his opinions on season 4 of The Crown and the reaction from the government about it saying it needs a fiction notice, the British attitude to the royal family and how it has come to be treated as a religion in the U.K., militarism within the royal family, the death of Princess Diana which was surrounded by scandal, conflict in the royal family and tragedy for Prince William and Harry and how the death of their mother shaped them growing up and much more!

We speak to Levi Sanders, son of US Senator and former Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. He discusses the need for Medicare For All amid the Coronavirus pandemic, why Joe Biden’s coziness with donors means he is not in touch with what is happening in America, Biden’s foreign policy direction and pledge to end support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, some signs of hope for progressives such as the $15 minimum wage and much more!

On this season finale episode of Going Underground, we speak to legendary journalist and filmmaker John Pilger. He discusses the devastating impact of Coronavirus in the U.K., rising poverty and militarism, the Western logic for the new Cold War with China, the victory of Joe Biden over Donald Trump and why not much will change with Trump leaving the Presidency, the Yemen War, the survival of Venezuela despite crippling international sanctions, mainstream journalism vs real journalism and much more! We contacted HM Treasury and they directed us to Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s words following the Spending Review: Well, you know, yesterday was a spending review we were setting the budgets. And I was very clear when I set out the fiscal situation that what is happening this year is obviously not sustainable. You know that, your viewers know that, it is right to act in the way that we have this year to protect the economy in the medium term and I'm glad that the Office for Budget Responsibility who or independent fiscal watchdog acknowledged that what we've done has made a difference and it made a difference to keeping people in work primarily, which is what we're trying to do.But yes, you're right, that can't go on. Now is not the time to make those decisions because we're dealing with so much uncertainty with the economy. The OBR yesterday presented three different scenarios. But once we get through this and we have greater certainty about the outlook, we can’t obviously have a situation where we're borrowing this much and that is going up forever and a day. When we get to an appropriate point, where we have certainty over the economy, we'll look at how best to make sure that we have strong public finances. And the reason for that is simple. I have been able to respond in a comprehensive and generous way during this crisis, in part because of the decisions of my predecessors, which meant that we came into this with a strong set of public finances. I want to make sure whenever the next difficult thing comes along, the Chancellor can do the same response that I've done, and that will require us to make sure we get back to that strong position.

We speak to the UNRWA Director in Gaza Matthias Schmale. He discusses what the Joe Biden Presidency will mean for Palestine and the illegal occupation by Israel, whether US funding for UNRWA will return, allegations of antisemitism and Israeli allegations that UNRWA ‘perpetuates refugees’, the recent Israeli airstrikes and land incursion into Gaza and much more! Statement from the IDF: "Terror organizations in the Gaza Strip unceasingly attack Israeli civilians and IDF troopes, including launching rockets aimed at civilians in Israel and terrorist activity in the border area between Israel and the Gaza Strip. "Several days ago, the IDF struck military targets belonging to the Hamas terror organization in response to rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at Israeli civilians. "Additionally, in order to prevent terrorist activity in the border area, the IDF operates routinely to clear the area near the fence (at this time only up to 100 meters inside the Gaza Strip) of growth, including terrorists approaching Israel concealed by growth or planting IEDs in the area. Such actions are carried out in coordination with relevant bodies, and in accordance with international law."

We speak to Retired Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer on what Joe Biden’s foreign policy is likely to look like. He discusses Joe Biden’s picks for top positions such as Antony Blinken and Avril Haines, Donald Trump’s caution with deploying troops and why the Biden Administration may not share the same caution, why the Biden administration likely hasn’t learned from the Libya war or the war in Syria and much more!

On this world exclusive episode of Going Underground, we speak to Zeinab Soleimani, the daughter of Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who was assassinated by the United States earlier this year on the orders of Donald Trump. She discusses how she found out about her father’s assassination, her father’s battles against ISIS and Al-Qaeda, the presence of US troops in the Middle East, why there is no difference between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, why the United States felt the need to assassinate her father and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the former President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He discusses the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the possibility of a military attack by the United States in the last days of the Trump Presidency, his hopes for reconciliation and friendship with Middle Eastern rival Saudi Arabia, the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, the 2021 Iranian Presidential election and much more!

We speak to the UN Special Rapporteur on Poverty and Human Rights Olivier de Schutter. He discusses why Coronavirus is an opportunity for governments to wake up to their responsibilities on poverty alleviation, why a major opportunity has been missed to force corporations to pay fair wages and tackle the climate crisis with green investment, why extreme poverty is likely to rise most in developing countries, criticism his predecessor Philip Alston received from the U.K. government on his report on poverty in the U.K. and much more!

We speak to Dr. Arash Azizi, author of 'Shadow Commander: Soleimani, The US and Iran's Global Ambitions'. He discusses the assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and why heavy Iranian retaliation is not likely with Joe Biden coming to power in the United States, the EU’s lack of foreign policy independence from the US under Donald Trump with regards to Iran, the life of Qassem Soleimani, from his early life in Kerman, to his rise in the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, his role in forging alliances with Shi’a groups allied to the Iranian revolution such as Hezbollah, his role in Iraq and why the United States ultimately targeted him for assassination. Also discussed is the role of the IRGC in Iranian politics, society and the economy and much more!