The Scott Horton Show » Interviews

Yakov Hirsch, a professional poker player and writer at Mondoweiss.net, discusses preeminent American Jewish journalist/activist Jeffrey Goldberg’s strange silence on Israel’s recent negative news coverage; and how Netanyahu’s shameless antisemitism propaganda is poisoning Israeli society.

Jason Ditz, news editor for Antiwar.com, discusses why the “moderate” US-backed Free Syrian Army threatened to slaughter US special forces advisors on the ground in Syria; why Donald Trump thinks 38 billion in US aid to Israel isn’t enough; and the continuing wars in Libya and Yemen.

Stanley L. Cohen, a lawyer and human rights activist who has done extensive work in the Middle East and Africa, discuses why the US government sabotaged his negotiations with the Islamic State to free humanitarian aid worker Peter Kassig, who was executed in 2014; and why a Hillary Clinton presidency would be bad news for […]

Gareth Porter, an award-winning journalist and historian, discusses the US-Russia agreement on a ceasefire in Syria; the Pentagon’s bureaucratic opposition to friendly Russia relations; and why there aren’t any moderate “good guys” in Syria for the US to support – never mind the interventionists claiming otherwise.  

Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University, discusses the very real risks of nuclear war and why nobody’s finger – least of all Donald Trump’s – should be on the nuclear trigger.

Shashank Bengali, South Asia correspondent for the LA Times, discusses why the Iranian nuclear agreement reached early this year hasn’t created the economic and jobs recovery promised by President Rouhani; and the likely return of anti-American hard-line politicians like Ahmadinejad if conditions don’t improve before elections in 2017.

Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, discusses torture “poster child” Abu Zubaydah‘s 14-year imprisonment at Guantanamo and his extensive torture by the CIA, including 83 instances of waterboarding; and how Obama is failing his constitutional duty of holding Bush administration officials accountable for their crimes.

Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses the terrible presidential choices we have in Trump and Clinton; why we need to keep pushing the libertarian agenda of ending the war on drugs and foreign interventionism; and Jacob’s many upcoming speaking events in September.

Patrick Cockburn, journalist and author of Chaos & Caliphate: Jihadis and the West in the Struggle for the Middle East, discusses the possibility of a peace agreement in Syria or further-escalating war as Turkey enters the fray in an effort to stop a Kurdish state from taking hold, and the US, Russia, and Iran back […]

Gareth Porter, an award-winning journalist and author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare, discusses the Obama administration’s support for Syrian regime change even though they knew it would become a disastrous sectarian war; and the gaggle of ideologues, defense contractors and military officials intent on starting new wars and escalating […]

Jason Ditz, news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the deployment of US troops in Iraq, where they are supervising the operationally-challenged Iraqi army as preparations continue for a year end assault on the Islamic State stronghold in Mosul; and the newest lies about Iran’s nuclear program that need debunking.

Nasser Arrabyee, a Yemeni journalist based in Sanaa, discusses why the war in Yemen is likely to worsen after Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Saudi Arabia, where he pledged US support for the kingdom and gave the Saudis an implicit pass on war crimes.

Chris Woods, an investigative journalist and leader of the Airwars project, discusses the hundreds of Syrian civilians killed by Western coalition airstrikes in Syria, and why it’s only going to get worse as the battle against ISIL moves to larger cities.

Jordan Smith, an award-winning investigative journalist with The Intercept, discusses why the state of Texas is about to execute Jeff Wood for a murder he didn’t commit in 1996, through use of the so-called law of parties.

Murtaza Hussain, a journalist with The Intercept, discusses the arrest of Washington, D.C. police officer Nicholas Young on trumped-up terrorism charges for sending $245 worth of gift cards to an FBI informant; and the FBI’s years-long effort to get Young to commit an illegal act.