Ep 258 The Sword and Cross at Albright’s Funeral feat Sam Husseini

WATCH / LISTEN ON ROKFIN AND PATREON

Hosts: Joanne Leon and Kelley Lane. Guest: Sam Husseini. We talk about his recent article, Albright’s Funeral — The Sword and the Cross Come Together and more. In a bonus question, we talk about the convergence of neoliberal and neoconservative actors in the foreign policy establishment and the Biden administration. 

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Ep 258EXTRA Albright’s Circle:  Neoliberal – Neoconservative Convergence feat Sam Husseini

Ep 258EXTRA Albright’s Circle:  Neoliberal - Neoconservative Convergence feat Sam Hussein

WATCH / LISTEN ON ROKFIN AND PATREON

Hosts: Joanne Leon and Kelley Lane. Guest: Sam Husseini. We talk about his recent article, Albright’s Funeral — The Sword and the Cross Come Together and more. In a bonus question, we talk about the convergence of neoliberal and neoconservative actors in the foreign policy establishment and the Biden administration. 

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Ep 240EXTRA Imperialism With Chinese Characteristics feat ADVChina (Winston & Matt)

Ep 240EXTRA Imperialism With Chinese Characteristics feat ADVChina (Winston & Matt)

LISTEN/WATCH ON PATREON OR ROKFIN

Guests: Hosts of the ADVChina YouTube channel and podcast Winston Sterzel (aka Serpentza) and Matthew Tye (aka C-Milk/laowhy86) lived and traveled through most of China for more than a decade. In this bonus episode we discuss whether or not China is becoming an imperial power “with Chinese characteristics”. And more. 

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Ep 240 Witnessing the Transformation of China feat ADVChina (Winston & Matt)

Watch on Rokfin

Guests: Hosts of the ADVChina YouTube channel and podcast Winston Sterzel (aka Serpentza) and Matthew Tye (aka C-Milk/laowhy86) lived and traveled through most of China for more than a decade. They started a custom motorcycle business and did most of their traveling on those motorcycles and they produced two documentary films. Their video and podcast content (they have individual channels as well as the ADVChina channels) is broad ranging but mostly about life in China from a westerner’s perspective and the more recent content has a lot of information about how things have changed. Both Winston and Matt married and have extended families in China and in their home countries of South Africa and the United States and they left China for the United States in the past couple of years after witnessing a significant transformation in China. We talk about that transformation, what life in China was like when they first moved there and how things are now. We talk about the real estate bubble, the Evergrande crisis, and Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign. We then discuss the escalating hostility between China and the United States and its allies. In a bonus question we discuss whether or not China is becoming an imperial power “with Chinese characteristics”. And more. 

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Ep 235EXTRA Foreign Policy Blob of Idiots

Panelists: Kyle Anzalone, Kelley Lane, Joanne Leon, Dan Wright. A panel discussion about the war in Afghanistan and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, most of whom will be settling in the United States. This is a bonus “After Hours” segment where we let loose on the foreign policy establishment “Blob” of idiots, the profiteering, the pivot to China and more. 

LISTEN ON PATREON, WATCH ON ROKFIN

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Ep 235 Afghans Come to America

Panelists: Kyle Anzalone, Kelley Lane, Joanne Leon, Dan Wright. Afghans come to America: A panel discussion about the war in Afghanistan and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, most of whom will be settling in the United States. There is a bonus “After Hours” segment where we let loose on the foreign policy establishment “Blob” of idiots, the profiteering, the pivot to China and more. 

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Ep 211 Third Parties, War, Elections & Lockdowns feat Angela McArdle

Ep 211EXTRA Censorship & Lockdowns, Modern Day Gulags? feat Angela McArdle

Guest: Angela McArdle. Co-hosts Joanne Leon, Kelley Lane and Kyle Anzalone. This is a swapcast for the Around the Empire podcast and the Conflicts of Interest show. It’s a broad discussion about war and foreign policy, interventionism, elections and the handling of the pandemic with lockdowns and other restrictions and its impact on the lives of Americans, the economy and our rights. There is a bonus episode questioning whether censorship and lockdowns can be compared to a modern day gulag. 

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Ep 206 New Boss Same As the Old Boss? (Swapcast)

Ep 206 New Boss Same As the Old Boss? (Swapcast)

Swapcast: Kyle Anzalone from Conflicts of Interest and Joanne Leon from Around the Empire. Is the new boss the same as the old boss? We compare the Biden foreign policy to the Trump, Obama and Bush administrations, analyze press conference and announcements from NATO’s Jen Stoltenberg about expanding the number of troops and area of operation in Iraq and freezing any withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and more. 

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Ep 205 Biden Foreign Policy, Censorship & Elections feat Convo Couch

Hosts: Joanne Leon and Kelley Lane. Guests: Craig Jardula (aka Pasta) and Fiorella Isabel from the Convo Couch. We talk about the Biden foreign policy speech (and other declarations) and the people who are now returning to the helm of the “national security state”. We talked about the increase in censorship (including the recent demonetizing of Convo Couch and others), the “blue fascism” of the establishment and our thoughts on the time being ripe for for a broad, independent political movement. There is a bonus question for patrons about election integrity and the “storming of the citadel of democracy” on January 6th and the impeachment that followed. Fiorella and Pasta were there on the ground in Washington that day and they share with us their observations and analysis of the situation. 

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Ep 194 A Biden Foreign Policy, US/UK and Media feat Afshin Rattansi

Ep194 A Biden Foreign Policy, US/UK and Media feat Afshin Rattansi

Guest: Afshin Rattansi. Hosts: Joanne Leon and Kelley Lane. We discussed the Biden transition team, the direction that a Biden cabinet would take in war and foreign policy, Brexit and the US/UK and EU relationship, and the current state of the media. 

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Ep 133 The Blob Strikes Back feat Hunter DeRensis

Ep 133 The Blob Strikes Back feat Hunter DeRensis

Guest: Hunter DeRensis. Hunter describes the US foreign policy establishment, or “The “Blob”, as a “self-anointed mandarin class or, if you prefer, deep state, that has largely operated unmolested until the advent of Trump now appears to believe that it can foil, or even subvert, the policies of a president it deems unfit for office, a development that should worry Democrats and Republicans alike.” We talk about William Taylor, an old Cold warrior member of “The Blob” and discuss how they are driving the impeachment effort. We also talk about the anonymous op-ed published in the NYT last year and a new book by the same anonymous author, titled “The Warning” published this month. Lastly, I ask Hunter to speculate on who that anonymous author might be and he gives us his theory and the reasoning behind it. 

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Ep 106 Bolton-Pompeo Axis feat Patrick Lawrence

Guest: Patrick Lawrence. We discuss President Trump’s relationship with his chosen cabinet hawks, Mike Pompeo and John Bolton and what Lawrence sees as a foreign policy coup by the Bolton-Pompeo axis.

Ep 106 Bolton-Pompeo Axis feat Patrick Lawrence
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Ep 75 Myths and Quagmires feat Major Danny Sjursen

Major Danny Sjursen joins the show to talk about about the war in Afghanistan, an unsustainable quagmire for which no more blood and treasure should be sacrificed. We also talk about the magical American soldier myth and the empire denial syndrome.

Ep75 Myths and Quagmires feat Maj Danny Sjursen


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Ep 42 Tillerson’s Way Forward on Syria

Dan and Joanne talk about Rex Tillerson’s unveiling of the Trump administration’s new Syria policy via a Stanford University speech and interview with Condoleeza Rice. The policy is named “The Way Forward” but ironically it seems more like a regression to the Bush/Cheney neoconservative foreign policy for the Middle East.  

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Recorded on January 23, 2018. Music by Fluorescent Grey.


Reference Links:

  1. State Dept. marketing video: “The Way Forward on Syria
  2. Press Briefing Jan. 18, State Dept.
  3. Tillerson “Remarks on the Way Forward for the United States in Syria”, Hoover Institution/Stanford University (transcripts and videos)
  4. Follow up Tillerson interview with Condoleeza Rice, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
  5. Tillerson tells the truth about Syria,” Washington Post Editorial Board
  6. A New Decision To Go To War In Syria,” Paul PIllar, LobeLog