Ukraine in the Brain w/ Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden and George W. Bush

May 29, 2022Posted inForeign Policy

The ruling class follies continue both at home and abroad.

Another $40 billion going to aid the Ukrainian war effort while there are baby formula and COVID vaccine shortages in the U.S. Plus George W. Bush gives a speech at the Bush Institute about stolen Russian elections (what about Florida 2000?) and illegal invasions of Iraq… er… Ukraine..

In all seriousness, the brutality of military and economic war against populations around the war is heartbreaking. We continue our commentary on the history and politics around the war in Ukraine.

Listen in: https://apple.co/3GxvtDr

Inside Oliver Stone’s Kennedy-Conspiracy-Complex

May 11, 2022Posted inChomsky, Foreign Policy, Peoples' History

Cross-posted from Afflict the Comfortable

by Professor Robert Buzzanco

(I vanquished DiEugenio, so my challenge to Oliver Stone to debate is still on the table)

“When Oliver Stone heard it, he immediately called me, as he was excited about the result.” And thus Kent Dorfman James DiEugenio, aka “Jimmy Die,” received the imprimatur of his mentor and lord that he had done well.

Stone was referring to a debate I recently had with DiEugenio on the topic of the JFK assassination and the conspiracies Stone and others have laid out over the years, claiming that the “deep state,” including the military-industrial complex and intelligence agencies, and maybe even the Vice President’s office, had Kennedy killed because he was going soft on them—preparing to withdraw from Vietnam, normalize relations with Cuba, and end the Cold War.  (You can hear the debate here). DiEugenio has continued his barrage of insults directed at Noam Chomsky and me, along with the tired old theories and anecdotes and misinformation, so I’m writing a last response to him. If Oliver Stone wants to enter the debate, he’s always welcome to join Scott Parkin and me on Green & Red Podcast.

Ukraine and the Fog of War ft. Jodie Evans w/ Code Pink

May 9, 2022Posted inForeign Policy, politics

As the head of NATO says that the allies are prepared to support the Ukraine war effort for years to come, and Biden asks Congress for another $33 billion in war aid, we take a look at the anti-war movement over the past decades.  From Bush’s invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, to Obama’s drone wars to military build-ups in Asia and eastern Europe, the U.S. public has been lost in a fog of never ending war with critical voices for peace being the only light.

Listen in: https://apple.co/3yknc3H

In our latest episode, we talk with long time peace activist and co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, Jodie Evans. We discuss the recent history of anti-war movements and the state of them today. Campaigns against war mongering politicians and arms manufacturers waged by Code Pink. The connection between the military industrial complex and the climate crisis, and the recent silencing of anti-war voices like Chris Hedges, Abby Martin and Lee Camp.

Ukraine and A Brief History of Atrocities in Warfare and Empire

April 16, 2022Posted inForeign Policy, Peoples' History

Websters defines atrocity as “a shockingly bad or atrocious act, object, or situation.”

Russian atrocities on Ukrainian civilians have been the top of the 24 second news cycle since the invasion began. Since the advent of industrial warfare at the end of 19th century, war has been waged increasingly on civilian populations than opposing military forces. Wars of attrition have had the goal of subjecting the populace to “shockingly bad” actions to force the downfall of its ruling regime or submission of a resisting insurgency. The 20th century is full of examples of this by the British, the Germans, the Japanese, the Russians, and of course, the Americans.

Listen in: https://apple.co/3vt9eth

As the stories emerge from the war between Ukraine and Russia, detailing atrocities committed on civilian populations, we thought it was a good moment to talk about some of this history. We start with the Civil War and World War One (early industrial wars), the advent of air power, brutal occupations in Nanking, Korea and Vietnam, bombings of Dresden, Tokyo and Hiroshima, U.S. wars in Korea and Vietnam, Central American death squads and the forever wars in the Middle East.

Oliver Stone’s JFK Conspiracy: The Buzzanco-DiEugenio Debate

April 7, 2022Posted inChomsky, Foreign Policy, Peoples' History, pop culture

Recently G&R co-host and award-winning historian Bob Buzzanco debated Oliver Stone’s writer on his documentary “JFK Revisited,” James DiEugenio, about Stone’s theory that the “deep state” had JFK killed because he was going to withdraw from Vietnam, thaw relations with Castro, and end the Cold War.

Listen in: https://apple.co/3DRb37h

They discussed Kennedy’s actual policies as president, his aggressive actions in Vietnam and Cuba, his continued imperial approach to Latin America, his tough approach to the Soviet Union.  They also discussed the minutae of Oswald and the Warren Report, the “scenery” and “parlor games,” in Stone’s own words, of the JFK assassination.

In this debate, Buzzanco makes the important points that people need to look at the evidence, the documents and archives of what Kennedy actually did, rather than anecdotes and stories told long after the fact.

Noam Chomsky on JFK and Vietnam, contra Oliver Stone (transcribed interview with Chomsky)

April 6, 2022Posted inChomsky, Foreign Policy, Peoples' History

Cross-posted from Medium

by Bob Buzzanco

I recently debated Oliver Stone’s writer James DiEugenio about the JFK Conspiracy theory and that will soon be up on Green & Red Podcast. Meantime, we just had my interview with Noam Chomsky about Stone’s movie and documentary alleging that the “Deep State” — the Military-Industrial Complex, the Intelligence Community, even perhaps Vice-President Lyndon Johnson — had JFK killed because he was going to end the Cold War and withdraw from Vietnam — transcribed, and here it is below.

In addition, see my interview with Noam Chomsky.

Scott and I also had a show going into more detail on JFK’s real policies, which were aggressive and hawkish.

I’ve also written a 3-part article on this topic on this Medium page, “John F. Kennedy Goes Hollywood: Oliver Stone’s Fantastic History,” part 1 at, part 2 at and part 3.

Love’em, They’re NATO Liberals! Democratic Hawks from Truman to the War in Ukraine.

April 3, 2022Posted inForeign Policy, politics

We’ve been using the term “NATO liberal” quite a bit in our recent series of Ukraine-Russia episodes. But, you may ask yourself: “what exactly do Bob and Scott mean when they say ‘NATO Liberal’?”

Part One, listen in: https://apple.co/36S2fSw

Part Two, listen in: Coming Soon

We dive deep into the history of NATO liberals and discuss their role in developing the U.S. empire during the 20th and 21st centuries.

Corporate America’s Mass Exodus from Russia w/ Pratap Chatterjee

March 24, 2022Posted inForeign Policy, Materialism and Economics

A mass of western companies are exiting Russia over the war in Ukraine.  This has included some major corporate heavyweights, including McDonald’s, Starbucks, Nike, Netflix, Apple, Visa, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Exxon, major western law firms and most major film distributors.

Listen in: https://apple.co/3qy13ud

Jeffry Sonnenfeld at the Yale School of Management compared it to the boycott of apartheid era South Africa. We’ve talked on past shows about the role that multinationals have played in the political economy. But have they developed a new conscience?

In our latest, we talk with investigative journalist and Executive Director of CorpWatch Pratap Chatterjee (@pchatterjee) about the latest round of corporate activism. We talk about who benefits, who’s being hurt and whether it’s having enough of an impact on Russia.