GoingUndergroundTV

On this special episode, we speak to legendary film Palme d’Or winning film director Mike Leigh, who has made iconic films such as ‘Topsy Turvy’, ‘Peterloo’ and ‘Abigail’s Party’.

We speak to Ubai Al-Aboudi, one of the Palestinian activists targeted by Pegasus Spyware and Executive Director of the Bisan Center for Research and Development, one of the organisations Israel labelled a terrorist organisation. He discusses his reaction to finding out that he had been hacked using Pegasus Spyware and Israel’s draconian control over Palestinian communications, why he believes Israel labelled his group and 5 others terrorist organisations, the Palestinian Authority’s arguably complicit persecution of Palestinian activists alongside Israel and much more.

We speak to Lebanon’s former Foreign Minister Farés Boueiz. He discusses the rising power of Hezbollah within Lebanon and the growing tension between Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and the US, sectarian tensions being so high in Lebanon that a war could break out at any moment, the deepening economic collapse which the World Bank has called the world’s worst since 1850 and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to ex-Israeli diplomat Daniel Levy on Trump’s Deal of the Century. He discusses why the peace plan is doomed to fail, why it reflects Israeli propaganda, what the deal would mean for Palestinians, Palestinian claim over Jerusalem, Netanyahu’s influence and more! Next, we speak to Lieutenant Steven Rogers, member of the Trump 2020 Advisory Board on the Iowa Caucus chaos, why the Democrats’ chaos in Iowa helps Trump, why he thinks Bernie Sanders is more of a threat to the Democratic Party than Donald Trump, why the US has had a troubled relationship with Russia and what makes Trump different in the context of US-Russia relations and why he thinks no Democrat has a chance against Trump. Finally, we speak to Ajamu Baraka, the Green Party’s 2016 Vice Presidential candidate on alleged DNC dirty tricks against Bernie Sanders including irregularities at the Iowa Caucus and media attacks, why the Democratic and Republican Party have very little difference in foreign policy, the similarities of Joe Biden’s, Pete Buttigieg’s and Donald Trump’s economic message and more!

We speak to Daniel Levy, Israeli negotiator in the Oslo 2 agreements. He discusses the US’ inaction over the Israeli aerial bombardment of Palestine and how China showed leadership at the UN in trying to begin international action against Israel, whether the Palestinian resistance is moving away towards armed struggle following Hamas’ show of force despite Israeli bombardment, how public opinion among Democrats is shifting towards a pro-Palestinian position after Israeli PM Netanyahu and former President Trump made Israel’s occupation of Palestine a partisan issue, the designation of Israel as an apartheid state and much more!

We speak to the former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Danny Ayalon on the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. He discusses Netanyahu’s statements to cabinet calling his assassination a purely American event and urging Israeli ministers to stay out of the conflict, Soleimani reportedly carrying an Iranian answer to the Saudi peace initiative, why Trump notified Netanyahu before the assassination but not other US allies and more!

On this episode, we speak to author, filmmaker and activist Tariq Ali. He discusses the death of Colin Powell and his involvement in the US’ many foreign wars, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and why it won’t mean the end of US imperialism, US & UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia’s role as a client state of imperial powers, the US’ increasing hostility towards Russia & China as they refuse to follow Washington’s directives, the extradition trial of Julian Assange and more.

We speak to Jonathon Porritt, author of ‘Hope in Hell: A Decade to Confront the Climate Emergency’. He discusses whether people can expect a success or failure in an agreement being reached at COP26 that could turn the tide against climate change, lying by fossil fuel companies on net zero targets, Boris Johnsons’s record on climate change and his recent comments rubbishing plastic recycling, the absence of Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping from COP26 and much more!

Going Underground's Social Media Producer Farhaan Ahmed speaks to Jeremy Corbyn MP, Wikileaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson and Richard Burgon MP at the Belmarsh Tribunal, which featured some of the biggest names in international politics and journalism speaking in solidarity with Julian Assange, who faces 175 years in a super-max prison in the United States should British courts decide that he should indeed be extradited.

We speak to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor. He discusses his advice for new investors seeking to enter the cryptocurrency world and gives his forecast for Bitcoin and other crypto prices, how cryptocurrency is the fastest-adopted technology in history, the coming war to regulate cryptocurrency in the US, the first Bitcoin ETF and what it means for the crypto world and much more!

We speak to Prof. Branko Milanovic, Visiting Presidential Professor at the Graduate Centre of the City University of York and former Lead Economist at the World Bank’s Research Department. He discusses Boris Johnson’s quoting of the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who argued poverty could only be eliminated through economic growth, the unaccountability of politicians as inequality continues to become more extreme, why he doesn’t find long-term economic projections useful, why he compared Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution death toll to the neoliberal Coronavirus response death toll in the United States, Coronavirus’ effects on globalisation and why it will likely hit the middle classes of richer nations, why he believes economic growth is the only way to eliminate poverty and the dilemma the world faces in convincing developing countries to decarbonise and much more!

We speak to 2021 Nobel Prize Winner Prof. Klaus Hasselmann. He discusses why the political classes of the world have been unable to formulate a long-term united plan against climate change, he discusses the method and data used to separate long-term climate trends through Earth's history from the carbon-intensive human era since the industrial revolution for his pioneering climate change modelling, the CIA’s early knowledge that climate change would become a civilisation-threatening danger, the 1.5 degrees Paris Agreement target and much more!

We speak to Prof. John Ashton of Liverpool University. He discusses the House of Commons’ Health and Science Committees’ report on Boris Johnson’s government’s coronavirus response, how the report exposes the government as seriously unprepared in multiple areas with disastrous policies in other areas leading to more deaths such as in care homes, the UK’s death rate being one of the highest among developed countries, the UK falling behind in COVID-19 vaccinations compared to Europe, ‘social murder’ committed by the government during the pandemic through ‘arrogance and incompetence’, democracy being under threat by the government’s recklessness, the consultants who have become extremely wealthy through the development of the privatised NHS track and trace service, the possibility of more lockdowns and much more!

We speak to Gonzalo Boye, the lawyer of the former Catalonian President Carles Puigdemont. He discusses the recent arrest and release of Carles Puigdemont in Sardinia after the triggering of an arrest warrant, Spain’s alleged misleading of the European Court of Justice on the Puigdemont case, why Spain is not acting as a democratic state and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’ changing stances on the Catalonia issue, his accusation that Spain is not acting like a democratic state towards its minorities, smear campaigns against himself, Puigdemont and other Catalonian figures and much more!

We speak to Chuck Collins, Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies. He discusses the contents of the Pandora Papers which reveal the state of South Dakota to be a $367 billion tax haven, extreme income inequality in the United States and America’s historical tolerance of inequality, the capture of the US’ political system by corporate interests, the trend that most Americans side more with Bernie Sanders on addressing inequality than with corporate Democrats, the massive increase in billionaire wealth over the Coronavirus pandemic, the propensity for violence as inequality worsens and much more!

We speak to Prof. Jim Al-Khalili, the University of Surrey’s Distinguished Chair in Theoretical Physics for World Space Week. He discusses the importance of including science in popular culture and broadening the understanding of ordinary citizens on the way science works, social media’s amplification of anti-scientific conspiracy theories, the overwhelming benefit science has brought to the world despite nefarious uses such as in war, the Islamic world’s pioneering of modern science in contrast to Boris Johnson’s remarks that Islam put the Muslim world ‘century’s behind’, the study of quantum biology and much more!

We speak to Paul Ekins, former co-Director of the UK Energy Research Centre. He discusses the energy crisis wreaking havoc in the UK seeing fuel shortages at petrol pumps due to a lack of HGV drivers as well as electricity and gas prices soaring, the centrality of the need to reduce fossil fuel usage, how the energy crisis can be an opportunity for a stronger shift towards renewable energy, the bogus arguments behind corporate carbon offsetting, China’s efforts to decarbonise, the argument that energy in the UK should be nationalised and much more! We contacted the Oil and Gas Authority about the allegations in this show and they said: “In accordance with the OGA’s conflict of interest policy, Directors must declare any financial interests which may, or may be perceived to, influence their judgment in performing their duties as Directors of the OGA. This is done on appointment and annually. Directors are further asked to declare any conflicts of interest at the start of each board meeting. If a Director declares a conflict of interest with any agenda item, they will not participate in the discussion of that item..” They also pointed us to this web page: https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/media/7685/oga-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-21.pdf We also contacted California Governor Gavin Newsom about allegations made and the Governor’s press office forwarded us a link to this press release: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/07/09/governor-newsom-holds-virtual-discussion-with-leading-climate-scientists-on-states-progress-toward-carbon-neutrality/

Going Underground’s Deputy Editor Charlie Cooke speaks to Barney White-Spunner, author of ‘Berlin: The Story of a City’. He discusses the history of the rise of Berlin to the capital of modern Germany, the unique character of Berlin which sets it apart from other German cities, the false notion that Berlin’s history is defined by the bloody 20th Century, Berlin’s history of welcoming immigrants, the division of the city during the Cold War, Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial and what it says about Germany and much more!

Retired US Army Major Danny Sjursen, author of ‘A True History of the United States: Indigenous Genocide, Racialized Slavery, Hyper-Capitalism, Militarist Imperialism and Other Overlooked Aspects of American Exceptionalism’, discusses how America's wars abroad gradually erode freedom at home, with police forces becoming more militarized and governments seizing more and more power in areas such as mass surveillance. You can watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/42IoTiZ4we4

We speak to former German Permanent Representative to NATO Joachim Bitterlich. He discusses the formation of the AUKUS security pact behind the backs of European NATO allies, especially France which has had a major diplomatic row with Australia, the West’s increasing militarisation against and encirclement of China, the need for a reset of Germany’s and the European Union’s relationship with the United States, the legacy of outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, NATO policy towards Russia and Ukraine and much more!

We speak to Morris Pearl, former Managing Director at Blackrock and Chair of ‘Patriotic Millionaires’. He discusses the purpose of Patriotic Millionaires- wealthy millionaires campaigning to pay more taxes and advocate the building of a fairer tax system to ease the burden on the poor, the unsustainable inequality crisis rising in the US and Western Europe which could lead to society falling apart, the era where the United States thrived with high taxes on the rich, his criticisms of those who are against taxation and government intervention, the boom of billionaire wealth coupled with poverty for millions during the Coronavirus pandemic and much more!

We speak to Prof. David Blanchflower of Dartmouth College and a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (2006-2009). He discusses China’s Evergrande crisis and the ripple effects it could have across the global economy, the lesson of 2008 on just how interconnected the global economy is, Boris Johnson’s regional ‘levelling up’ economic development program and why he considers it a ‘laughable joke’, why the UK’s inflation rise is largely a combination of temporary shocks, the scrapping of the £20-a-week Universal Credit uplift and national insurance tax hike which he calls deliberate attempts to worsen the conditions of the poor and much more!

We speak to Green COO Steven Redmayne on the UK’s energy crisis. He discusses the causes of the energy crisis including the UK’s lack of gas storage comparative to other countries, an expected wave of energy suppliers collapsing over the winter months further consolidating market share for the biggest energy companies, rising demand in China for natural gas, how the halting of the opening of Russia’s Nordstream 2 Pipeline is causing energy prices to spike, inaction by Boris Johnson’s government and European governments exacerbating the crisis and much more! We contacted Ofgem about the allegations made in this segment and a spokesperson said: “In recent weeks there has been an unprecedented increase in global gas prices which is unfortunately putting financial pressure on suppliers. Our number one priority is protecting customers. In the event a supplier fails, Ofgem has robust systems in place and our safety net ensures customers’ electricity and gas supply continue and protects their credit balances.”

FOLLOW ALL OF OUR PLATFORMS: https://linktr.ee/goingundergroundtv On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to former Senior Advisor to the Saudi Minister of Petroleum Dr. Mohammad Al Sabban. He discusses Israel’s brutal assault against Gaza and the threat of another round of displacement for Palestinians, saying Islamic and Arab countries will join the fighting if Israel’s aggression continues, Western hypocrisy as pro-Palestine demonstrations are cracked down upon in NATO countries such as France, Arab leaders refusing to even meet with President Biden as he visited the region to rally support for Israel, Western inaction on implementing their ‘two-state solution’, why the US knows it cannot risk a war against the Islamic world as the Israel-Palestine war threatens to escalate to a regional conflict and much more.

FOLLOW ALL OF OUR PLATFORMS: https://linktr.ee/goingundergroundtv On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Salman Al-Ansari, who was awarded the Most Influential Political Pundit in the Middle East of 2021 by Arab News. He discusses the Israel-Gaza war and the context behind this explosion of violence stemming from the Israeli occupation’s continued assaults on Palestinian rights, Saudi Arabia’s official position on Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza, Biden’s foreign policy being a ‘disaster’ and Israel’s bombardment of Gaza being a stain on US history, Iran and Saudi Arabia uniting together to support Palestine despite the existing bilateral issues, Israeli officials’ genocidal remarks against Palestinians, Saudi-Israel normalisation and Israel’s integration into the region being completely off the table while it continues to massacre Palestinians and deprive Palestinians of their rights, why the Gaza war has further exposed the need for a multipolar world and much more.