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Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

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Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté
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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    Israel’s Plan BACKFIRES, Iranians Rally Around Government

    27/02/2026 | 36 mins.
    Check out Ali's excellent YouTube show Jedaal: https://www.youtube.com/@JedaalEnglish
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    Click here for the full interview with Iranian Journalist Ali Alizadeh: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-israels-plan-backfires?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Let's talk about the Democrats who gave Trump a standing ovation for bombing Iran https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/lets-talk-about-the-democrats-who?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.
    The big question hanging over the world right now is whether Trump, the guy who campaigned against endless wars, especially in the Middle East, is about to launch another endless war in the Middle East, assembling the largest military deployment there since the Iraq War and threatening to bomb Iran.
    There have been indirect talks in Geneva between the US and Iran, but the Trump Administration is still talking as if it wants to go to war because it sounds a lot like the Bush Administration when they were making the case to go to war with Iraq.
    Just this week, Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff claimed, without evidence, that Iran is a week away from having enough uranium for a nuclear weapon. Which means the WMD hoax is back in full swing.
    To understand all this, we spoke with Iranian journalist Ali Alizadeh, host of the excellent YouTube show Jedaal.
    Useful Idiots: There has just been a third round of indirect talks held between the US and Iran in Geneva. Based on what you’ve heard so far, what is your assessment of these talks?Ali Alizadeh: Americans have claimed they don’t want Iran to ever reach nuclear weapons, and Iranians have provided something which can give them such guarantee.But then if you just listen to the Americans, just before the two sides were supposed to sit at the negotiation table, it seems that they are cheating. Vance talked about the fact that the president has all the options on the table, and again threatened Iran militarily. Marco Rubio suddenly said Iran’s missiles and navy are a threat to the peace and security of America.Since when has Iran’s navy has been a threat? Iran has a navy in its own waters, which is called the Persian Gulf, and it’s been called that since 2,500 years ago.And then your navy and your aircraft carriers have come from 15,000 kilometers away to their land. So how can the Iranian Navy be a threat to your security? And so they are constantly adding pressure and trying to squeeze other things into the negotiation, which in my opinion can sabotage the deal.Useful Idiots: Do you think there’s a chance of an actual deal being reached?Ali Alizadeh: If Iran and America were sitting at a negotiation table, I think Iran could have given Trump something which was stronger than the JCPOA and would send him home happy so he could sell it to his people that he did something better than Obama.But is Iran negotiating with the United States? Or is it negotiating with Israel? Who is Steve Witkoff? Who is Jared Kushner? Because it seems that Israel has a completely different agenda, which is constantly pushing Trump. And now Trump, I think because of his lack of expertise in diplomacy and politics, despite what he thinks of himself, has badly cornered himself.Useful Idiots: You spoke about how you think that Trump miscalculated the strength of the Iranian government and how he’s actually strengthened the government, because the actions of the United States and the actions of Israel, flaunting the role of foreign intervention in people’s faces, has actually rallied the masses around the government. Can you talk more about that?Subscribe to watch our full interview with Ali Alizadeh on what actual Iranians want to change about their government, Nancy Pelosi’s murderous threat to working-class Iranians, and an update on the Geneva talks from an Iranian official.
    00:00 Intro
    00:59 JD Vance WMD Hoax
    02:32 Marco Rubio CONTRADICTS Trump
    03:24 Sen. Markwayne Mullin does the dumb version of warmongering
    05:39 Does he really not know who the leader of Iran is?
    06:14 Ali Alizadeh interview
    08:56 Israel is trying to sabotage US-Iran talks
    11:46 Marco Rubio makes up a threat
    23:58 EMBARRASSING moment in Congress with the National Endowment for Democracy
    34:40 Do Iranians like their government?

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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    "Iran Must Capitulate To Us Until They Behave"

    23/02/2026 | 1h 14 mins.
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    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: We Can't Take the Risk of Not Going to War with Iran https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/we-cant-take-the-risk-of-not-going?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
    Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    “He’s a piece of sh*t”: Journalist DESTROYS Iran’s Self-Appointed Crown Prince

    20/02/2026 | 1h 2 mins.
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    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: We Can't Take the Risk of Not Going to War with Iran http://usefulidiotspodcast.com
    Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.
    We’ve got two interviews for you this week: first up we’re talking about Iran.
    Trump is threatening another regime change war in the Middle East, ordering the largest US military deployment since the Iraq War. To get an understanding of what’s happening in Iran, we spoke with independent journalist Bushra Shaikh.
    Bushra went viral for a video from a recent trip to Tehran in which she walked through a rally without wearing a hijab. She explains that this is a common occurrence, and that so much of what we hear about Iran in Western media turned out to not be true.
    Bushra Shaikh: This picture that’s created in the West is more of a very old-school type of Iran. There is a movement in Iran that is taking shape. And it’s purposely being censored from the West.I was walking in that rally. It was such an amazing place to be because there were hundreds of thousands of people coming out in support of their government. I was there without a hijab on. And honestly, it was it was just one of those experiences that I thought I would never have. And given the propaganda in the West, I was even confused because when I got there, I was like, ‘Bushra, you’ve been propagandized.’So having that experience for myself really was an eye-opener.Useful Idiots: And what do you think is happening on the ground?Bushra Shaikh: What’s happening on the ground is you have a large community at the moment who are very worried about the prospect of a war, of being illegally attacked in their country.One of the main concerns that a lot of people spoke about were the sanctions. They told me, ‘We just want to live good lives and we want to prosper and we want to be able to enhance our economy, build good ties with other countries. And these sanctions need to be lifted.’So most of people’s real concerns were sanctions. It wasn’t changing who’s in charge of their country.For our second interview, we’re discussing the life and message of civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died this week at the age of 84. He worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He then ran for president in 1984 and 1988, pushing to cut the Pentagon budget while increasing domestic spending on education, housing, and healthcare.
    Jackson was also active in international struggles and campaigns, ranging from the anti-apartheid movement to supporting rights for Palestinians. Jesse Jackson also visited Palestine, and of course he was criticized for defending Palestinian rights.
    To hear firsthand stories of the Reverend, we spoke with Eric Easter, former press secretary to Jesse Jackson for the National Rainbow Coalition, and Albert Mokhiber, who worked on Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign in 1984.
    Watch or listen to our full, unpaywalled interview with these great guests. Thanks for supporting independent media. If you’d like to help keep us running, please consider supporting us with a subscription.
    If you do, you’ll get our weekly recap, the Friday Free-For-All: We Can’t Take the Risk of Not Going to War with Iran
    00:00 Intro
    01:25 Jared Kushner's creepy Board of Peace
    03:23 The Democrat who's on board with bombing Iran
    06:38 Fmr Obama/Biden official BACKS TRUMP in trashing nuclear deal
    08:30 Bushra Shaikh interview
    09:02 What's Tehran actually like?
    10:43 The impact of santions
    12:01 Nancy Pelosi wants to inflict pain on ordinary Iranians
    14:27 In Tehran without a hijab
    29:21 Interview with Jesse Jackson's former comrades
    47:43 Listen to this awesome Jesse Jackson speech

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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    Hillary Clinton is BEGGING Trump to Start Bombing Russia

    16/02/2026 | 1h 18 mins.
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    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Click here for the full interview with Jose Luis Granados Ceja: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-interview-maga-war-marco-rubio?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: John Fetterman and Claude AI Each Just Threatened to Kill People https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/what-do-john-fetterman-and-ai-have?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
    Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.

    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://AvocadoGreenMattress.com/IDIOTS
    * Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFUL
    * Check out Webroot: https://www.webroot.com

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  • Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

    Israel PANICS After West Bank Doc Wins Oscar

    14/02/2026 | 19 mins.
    Help Mohammad document settler attacks in West Bank: https://chuffed.org/project/help-mohammad-document-settler-attacks-in-west-bank
    Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.
    Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.
    Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFUL
    Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL
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    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Click here for the full interview with Jose Luis Granados Ceja: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-interview-maga-war-marco-rubio?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
    Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: John Fetterman and Claude AI Each Just Threatened to Kill People https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/what-do-john-fetterman-and-ai-have?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
    Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.
    Israel has recently announced new measures that allow it to steal more Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. Check out how this was covered in Israeli media vs US media.
    Can you guess which is more honest in its coverage?
    First, Israeli media writes this:

    They explain that the Cabinet intends to further their annexation, or theft, of Palestinian land, which is at least honest in its intention.
    In contrast, here’s the New York Times:

    Israel gives itself more control over occupied West Bank?? We’ve never seen this euphemism for theft before. It seems the subservient New York Times has become more creative than ever in its linguistic gymnastics to avoid any legitimate coverage of Israeli crimes.
    Reminds us of the classic from 2014 when a missile, seemingly shot by no one, ‘found’ Gazan civilians watching the World Cup:

    To check in on how things are going for the Palestinians who live in the land that Israel is giving itself more control over, we’re speaking with Mohammad Hesham Huraini, an independent journalist from Masafer Yatta, the same West Bank community depicted in the 2025 Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.
    We ask Mohammad: did winning the Oscar have any benefit for your community? With one of the directors already murdered by settlers and the rest facing constant threats of terror, his answer is depressing.
    Please share this interview to get Mohammad’s reporting out to the world. Thanks for supporting independent media.

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About Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Useful Idiots is an informative and irreverent politics podcast with journalist Aaron Maté and podcaster/writer Katie Halper. Episodes feature analysis of the political news of the week and exclusive interviews, with humor, commentary and dissection of why both Republicans and Democrats suck. Join Aaron and Katie as they examine important stories that have slipped through the cracks and what the media got wrong – and laugh about whatever is left to laugh about.
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