The Unfettered Speech Podcast

One decision can wipe out a decade of diplomacy and one crisis can bury a lifetime of competence. We sit down with journalist, author, and longtime Newsweek editor Jonathan Alter to wrestle with the Carter paradox: a president who delivers historic foreign policy achievements and still becomes a cultural shorthand for weakness. Starting with Alter’s Carter biography, we pull on the thread that keeps snagging American leaders, from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump: Iran, escalation, and the brutal way domestic politics reshapes national security choices.We unpack Carter’s biggest foreign policy successes, including the Camp David Accords and normalization with China, then pivot to the Iranian Revolution, the Shah’s medical entry into the US, and how the 444-day hostage crisis boxed Carter in strategically and psychologically. Alter breaks down why revolutions create “blowback” no White House can fully control, why deterrence signaling matters, and why easy talk about regime change often ignores the basic monopoly on violence that governments hold.From there, the conversation widens to the Middle East today: settlement expansion, why the two-state solution remains the least bad option, and what new Israeli leadership could realistically change. We also connect the collapse of the Iran nuclear deal to a dangerous long-term future of repeated strikes to prevent a nuclear Iran. Finally, we go deep on media trust, the strengths and failures of mainstream journalism, the rise of independent media like Substack, and how to avoid the self-validation trap that keeps all of us intellectually stuck.If you care about US foreign policy, Iran, the Israel-Palestine debate, the JCPOA, and the future of journalism, hit play, share this with a friend who argues with you in good faith, and please subscribe and leave a review.CHAPTERS:00:00:23 - Welcome And Guest Jonathan Alter00:01:22 - Carter And Trump Through Iran00:05:31 - Carter’s Biggest Foreign Policy Wins00:09:40 - Iran Revolution And The Hostages00:21:02 - Two States Or Endless War00:30:45 - Israeli Election And A Reset Chance00:37:39 - Iran’s Nuclear Clock And Whack A Mole00:41:19 - Why Trust In Media Collapsed00:53:04 - DSA, USAID, And Real World Costs00:56:31 - Ukraine, “Unprovoked,” And Editorial Power01:08:50 - Borders, Deterrence, And “Existential” Claims01:10:06 - Alter’s Substack And New Book Review

The fastest way to lose a war is to tell yourself you can’t lose one. We sit down with Jim Webb, a Marine Corps veteran, journalist, and independent podcast host, to unpack how America’s forever wars are sustained by incentives that reward career safety, defense contractor profits, and message discipline over honest strategy and accountability.We start with Jim’s personal path: a family tradition of service, early exposure to the Pentagon and Washington power networks, the post 9/11 drive to fight, and the Afghanistan experience that pushed him from embedded photographer to the Marine Corps. From there, we get into the part few people say out loud: what “success” can require inside the system, why speaking truth to power can cap your career, and how the revolving door to lobbying and board seats shapes what leaders admit publicly.Then we tackle the big questions driving US foreign policy right now: why the Iran war looks like a strategic catastrophe, what the collapse of the empire of overseas bases means in an age of drones and missile saturation, and how the US defense budget can still fail at basics like air defense readiness and ammunition production. We also dig into propaganda, social media algorithms, and the gap between mainstream media narratives and independent media reporting, plus a blunt reality check on Patriot missiles, Golden Dome style promises, and why diplomacy is often the cheapest and strongest form of defense.If you care about US national security, the military industrial complex, and what comes after the forever wars, listen all the way through. Subscribe, share this with a friend who still trusts the talking points, and leave a review so more people can find the show.00:00:00 - Welcome And Guest Introduction00:02:00 - Service, Family Legacy, And Temptation00:10:05 - 9-11, Afghanistan, And Enlisting00:18:35 - The Money Pipeline After Uniform00:26:05 - Why Generals Stop Telling Truth00:35:25 - Iran War As Strategic Catastrophe00:44:50 - The Empire Of Bases Breaks Down00:53:35 - Hypersonics, Drones, And Industrial Rot01:01:45 - Propaganda, Algorithms, And Media Capture01:06:40 - Missile Defense Myths And Closing Plugs

Sports used to be the escape. Now it is also a frictionless marketplace where you can bet on almost anything, anytime, from a phone in your pocket. We talk with Professor Maureen Weston, a nationally recognized expert in sports law, arbitration, and dispute resolution, to unpack how we got here and what the next legal fights will look like. We start with the rapid rise of legal sports gambling after the 2018 Supreme Court decision, why leagues went from opposing betting to embracing it, and how mobile sportsbooks changed fan behavior. Then we dig into prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, the “event contract” label, and the regulatory tug of war between state gambling commissions and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Along the way, we confront the uncomfortable questions: what does insider trading look like in a world of tradable outcomes, who is protecting younger users, and how do conflicts of interest get policed when oversight is thin. From there, the conversation widens into the money reshaping college athletics. NIL (name, image, and likeness), the transfer portal, donor collectives, and proposed federal action are pushing college sports toward a pro sports model without the same labor protections. We explore whether college athletes should be treated as employees, what collective bargaining could change, and how Title IX and non revenue sports get squeezed when the biggest dollars flow to football and men’s basketball. We also hit competitive balance in MLB, media rights, salary caps versus luxury taxes, and why private equity sees sports as the last truly live entertainment. If you care about the integrity of sports, the future of college athlete compensation, or the legal rules behind what you watch every night, this one is for you. Subscribe, share the show with a sports fan, and leave a review with your take on one question: what should “fair” look like now?Chapter Markers0:00. Episode Welcome And Guest1:34 From Bookies To Betting Apps5:52 Prediction Markets And Insider Edges14:54 NIL Turns College Sports Pro21:20 Donor Collectives Title IX And Unions34:15 MLB Competitive Balance And Payroll42:33 Private Equity And Athlete Branding48:30. Olympics Tennis And Political Rules52:57 Rooney Rule Racism And Fan Abuse58:27 MLB Media Rights And Final Wrap

Patrick Sullivan and Leonard Goodman host this Unfettered Speech Podcast episode covering the latest current events. When our scheduled guest was sidelined by a hurricane, we decided to keep the show moving.  This episode is an unscripted conversation between the two of us, allowing us to speak freely on the topics that matter most right now. We break down the news through the lens of independent media, offering our own take on the state of the world without the usual filters.  It is a rare chance to hear our unfiltered political commentary on the issues shaping our daily lives.  Subscribe for more independent conversations and share your thoughts on the topics you want us to cover next.  Our theme music, Adventures In Jazz, was used with permission. Composed and performed by Bob Mamet.  Chapters: 0:00    Unfettered Speech: A Solo Discussion 1:49    The Yemen Crisis and Saudi Arabia 6:19    9/11 and the Saudi Connection 11:04  War Profiteering and Defense Contractors 16:46  The Myth of the Rescued Pilot 22:13  The Mystery of the Hijacked Flight 30:30  The Butler Shooting and Unanswered Questions 53:15  Supporting Independent Journalism

“Who is they?” sounds like a throwaway line until you try to answer it out loud. We sit down with Michael Farris, host of Coffee and a Mike, to get specific about what people mean by “the deep state” and why it often looks less like a secret board meeting and more like institutional groupthink: career incentives, social enforcement, and missions that reward obedience while punishing internal dissent.From there, we connect the dots to today’s power centers. We talk tech monopolies and transactional politics, the way narratives get enforced without anyone needing to “give the order,” and why so many people feel politically homeless after years of broken promises and nonstop spectacle. We also revisit 2020 as a turning point for censorship, deplatforming, and the normalization of control systems that can be switched on again fast, whether through algorithms, media coordination, or election rule changes like mail in voting that many voters still don’t trust.Things get even more real when we look ahead: energy infrastructure vulnerability, surveillance that makes old school “papers please” unnecessary, and financial pressure like debanking that can silence people without a single arrest. We close on a different note with the one place people still find common ground: movies, music, and art, plus a stack of recommendations worth your time.Subscribe for more independent conversations, share this with a friend who’s tired of slogans, and leave a review if you want this show to keep growing. When you hear “they,” who comes to mind and why?Chapter Markers0:24. Welcome And Chicago Media Awards3:59 Who Exactly Is The Deep State8:58 Groupthink Networks That Enforce Power13:35 Rule Followers In School Work Government15:40 DC Reality And Foreign Policy Doctrine19:45 Big Tech Monopolies And Trump Incentives24:24 2020 Fallout And Mail In Voting29:42 Beyond Left And Right Political Homelessness41:06 Censorship Prototypes And Energy Fears48:05 Surveillance Debanking And Modern Silencing57:56 TikTok Gaza Footage And Media Consolidation1:01:28 Movies As A Shared Human Language1:10:54 Where To Follow And Final Thanks

“Never again” is supposed to be a universal warning, but it’s increasingly used as a political weapon. We sit down with writer, podcaster, and filmmaker Katie Halper to talk about her documentary Never Again, which follows Holocaust survivors who are protesting Israel’s war on Gaza and rejecting the idea that Jewish safety can be built on occupation, siege, or collective punishment. Along the way, we unpack why these voices are so often pushed out of mainstream media and what it means when Jewish communities are treated like a single bloc with a single opinion. We also challenge the familiar stories many of us grew up with, from liberal Zionism to the two-state solution, and ask what happens when slogans replace realities on the ground. Katie shares her own secular Jewish background and what she saw on a Birthright trip, then connects the “safety” narrative to a much larger machinery that runs through US foreign policy, war messaging, and the incentives of the weapons industry. From a NATO ad to the Ukraine war’s escalating human costs, we look at how propaganda primes the public for endless conflict and how demonization narratives can make diplomacy feel impossible. Then we get into the hardest media questions: atrocity propaganda, the Hannibal Directive, October 7 narratives, and the stark double standards in how allegations of sexual violence are amplified or ignored depending on who the victims are. We close by parsing anti-Semitism vs anti-Zionism, why conflation can backfire, and what real political change might require beyond the midterms. If this conversation sharpened your thinking, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review with the question you still can’t stop thinking about.Chapter Markers0:00 Welcome And Guest Introduction2:20 Never Again And Gaza Protests5:18 Anti-Zionist Jewish History Hidden7:46 Liberal Zionism And Two-State Myth11:13 NATO Messaging And Europe’s War Mood16:29 Draft Pressure And Ukraine Casualties18:56 Israel As Imperial Project21:54 Hannibal Directive And October 726:23 Rape Claims As Atrocity Propaganda32:53 Demonization Narratives From Iraq To Russia40:32 Anti-Semitism Versus Anti-Zionism45:21 What A Sustainable Future Could Be47:33 Midterms And The Limits Of Voting52:03 Where To Follow Katie Halper

You can’t understand the 2008 crash until you understand the scam that came before it and why it kept coming back. We sit down with William K. Black, former federal bank regulator, leading expert on financial fraud, and author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One, to map the through-line from the savings and loan crisis to the Great Financial Crisis.We break down the mechanics of accounting control fraud in plain language: how bad loans can be engineered to generate record reported profits, how “a rolling loan gathers no loss” keeps defaults off the books, and how accrual accounting turns fiction into income. Then we move from giant ADC construction loans to the retail machine of liar’s loans, where armies of commission-driven mortgage brokers, daily term sheets, and “don’t verify income” lending create volume fast and hide who is really responsible.From there, we dig into appraisal fraud, securitization, CDOs, and the shadow banking system that grew by escaping oversight. Black explains how AmeriQuest helped spread the model, why HOEPA gave the Federal Reserve real power to act, and how warnings like the FBI’s 2004 testimony about an epidemic of mortgage fraud still did not trigger decisive enforcement. Finally, we ask the accountability question head-on: why hundreds of executives were prosecuted in the S&L era, yet top bank executives largely avoided criminal referral after 2008 while “minnows” took the fall.If you care about mortgage fraud, regulatory failure, and why financial crises keep repeating, subscribe, share this conversation, and leave a review so more people can find the show.Chapter Markers0:00. Welcome And Guest Introduction2:00 The Core Scam Behind Both Crises8:20 ADC Loans And Fictional Income14:40 Liar’s Loans And Broker Armies22:40. Why Executives Were Not Prosecuted30:40 Shadow Banking And Fed Inaction38:10 Appraisal Extortion And Market Corruption45:20. How Criminal Referrals Got Killed52:40 Bailouts Versus Receivership And Politics58:00 Where To Find Black And Closing

Scripture gets quoted on the campaign trail like it’s a strategy memo and that should make every citizen, religious or not, pause. We talk with returning guest Melissa Whittier (known online as the Village Crazy Lady) about her new research series on the history of Christian Zionism and why it surged into mainstream politics so fast after October 7. Along the way, we unpack the “bless Israel to be blessed” talking point and what it means when elected leaders publicly build foreign policy on a single interpretation of the Bible.From there we dig into the New Apostolic Reformation, its prophets and apostles, and the Seven Mountain Mandate, a framework that calls on Christians to dominate the major spheres of society. We connect those ideas to the rise of evangelical political organizing, shifting IRS norms around church advocacy, and the mid-2000s acceleration powered by end times media, post 9/11 fears, and organizations like Christians United for Israel. We also confront the uncomfortable parts: Greater Israel theology, what that implies for Palestinians, and why dissenters get labeled traitors inside their own communities.We then bring it back to current stakes: the narratives used to sell war with Iran, the moral language people use to oppose it, and the pressure to separate criticism of Israel and Zionism from hatred toward Jewish people. Finally, we examine the deepening US Israel military relationship, including questions about technology sharing and the F-35, and what “ally” should mean when sovereignty and accountability are on the line. If this conversation helped you think more clearly, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more people can find it.Chapter Markers0:00. Welcome And Guest Introduction1:20 Why Christian Zionism Suddenly Matters4:20 The New Apostolic Reformation Explained9:25 Seven Mountains And Political Control11:33 IRS Loopholes And Pulpit Politics15:55 From Prohibition To CUFI Momentum17:45 Huckabee End Times And Greater Israel25:00 Iran War Narratives And Public Mood33:33 Faith Mockery And Media Caricatures39:20 Zionism Versus Jewish Identity Online52:44 IDF US Military Integration And F-3557:47 Tech Sharing Treason Claims And Pollard1:00:13 Where To Find Mel And Final Thanks

Free speech in the United States is often celebrated as a settled principle, but this conversation shows how quickly the First Amendment gets bent when fear, geopolitics, and executive power collide. Civil liberties attorney Jenin Younes describes a “Palestinian exception” to free speech, where criticism of Israel or support for Palestinian human rights triggers unusually coordinated suppression across government, campuses, and private institutions. The result is not just social backlash but concrete penalties: funding threats to universities, anti-boycott laws, visa scrutiny, and investigations framed as fighting “anti-Semitism” while treating anti-Zionism as suspect. For anyone searching terms like First Amendment censorship, pro-Palestine speech, viewpoint discrimination, or civil liberties, the through line is chilling effect: people stop speaking long before a court ever rules. Younes also contrasts how censorship operates under different administrations. The Biden approach, as alleged in Murphy v Missouri (also known as Missouri v Biden), is described as behind-the-scenes pressure on tech platforms to remove or throttle COVID speech that challenged public health messaging, including debate about vaccines and natural immunity. That model is hard to litigate because it is covert and traceability is difficult, even when censorship is widespread. The Trump second-term approach is depicted as more overt, punitive, and personally targeted, especially when the speech touches Israel and Gaza, but also reaching journalists and critics in other arenas. When censorship becomes visible, it can be easier to document, yet its heavy-handedness can also intensify self-censorship because people can see what happens to the outliers who refuse to comply. A major practical focus is border searches and smartphone privacy. Younes explains that luggage searches at the border have long been treated as exception-heavy, but smartphones are different because they contain “papers and effects” on an enormous scale: messages, location history, contacts, and confidential work. She points to the 2014 Supreme Court case Riley as recognizing heightened privacy interests in modern phones, while noting that lower courts still disagree about what Customs and Border Protection can do at ports of entry. Some jurisdictions allow manual phone searches without suspicion, while treating advanced forensic extraction differently, and other circuits offer more protection. The lack of a single rule creates uncertainty for travelers, journalists, and activists, especially when agents demand passcodes or seize devices for data extraction, raising Fourth Amendment and Privacy Protection Act concerns. The episode also connects today’s speech fights to the unresolved wreckage of the COVID era: demonization of dissent, vaccine mandate litigation shaped by Jacobson, and the silencing of vaccine-injured people whose support groups were treated as a “problem” to be removed from social media. Yunis describes how trust in institutions erodes when officials publicly project certainty while privately discussing risks. The conversation then turns to the Max Blumenthal case, where border agents seized phones after travel for reporting, prompting a Rule 41(g) motion seeking return of property and accountability for any extracted data. Beyond one journalist, the broader warning is clear for anyone researching border device searches, CBP phone seizure, or free speech retaliation: rights are most vulnerable where scrutiny is highest, and the cost of dissent is often imposed through process, delay, and intimidation rather than a single headline-grabbing prosecution.Chapter Markers0:00. Welcome And The Free Speech Stakes1:55 Biden Era Pressure On Social Media3:50 Trump Era Retaliation Over Palestine6:24 Fear Driven Censorship Across Issues8:12 Visas Social Media Vetting And Chilling10:36 Border Searches And Phone Privacy Law16:23 Passcodes Forensics And Traveler Choices18:47. Supreme Court Signals And Executive Power23:58. Incitement True Threats And Kids Online27:18 Noncitizens Targeted Through Deportation Threats29:41 COVID Censorship Fallout And Fauci Texts41:48 Max Blumenthal Phone Seizure Fight45:08 Who Still Defends Civil Liberties54:33 Gaza Grief Where To Follow

Steven Donziger joins the Unfettered Speech Podcast to lay out a modern environmental justice and corporate accountability saga that begins in the Ecuadorian Amazon and ends in a New York courtroom. He describes representing roughly 30,000 Indigenous and farmer villagers who say Chevron, after acquiring Texaco’s operations, used an engineered dumping system to discharge billions of gallons of toxic oil waste into rivers, pits, and groundwater. The health impacts he recounts include widespread cancer, deaths, and the daily reality of living without clean water or adequate medical care, which is why the region is often called the “Amazon Chernobyl.” Donziger emphasizes this was not an accident but a cost-saving choice, and he frames the case as a test of whether environmental law can restrain fossil fuel power when pollution targets remote, vulnerable communities.After years of litigation, Donziger says the communities won a landmark environmental judgment in Ecuador that was affirmed on appeal, yet Chevron refused to pay. He argues the company shifted tactics from defending the pollution case to attacking the lawyer and the legal process itself, describing a Civil RICO lawsuit against him in the United States, the denial of a jury, and reliance on testimony from a paid witness later accused of lying under oath. The conversation focuses on how corporate litigation strategy can become personal: bankrupting an opponent through legal fees, severing attorney-client relationships, and chilling other lawyers from taking similar Indigenous rights and human rights cases. The point is larger than one dispute, he says, because if a company can neutralize counsel, it can effectively erase a community’s ability to enforce a judgment.The episode then turns to the constitutional and separation of powers questions raised by Donziger’s criminal contempt prosecution. He explains that after he refused to turn over a confidential case file protected by attorney-client privilege, a federal judge held him in criminal contempt. When federal prosecutors declined to pursue the case, the judge appointed private lawyers to prosecute anyway, which Donziger describes as an unprecedented “corporate criminal prosecution.” He recounts being placed under home confinement with an ankle monitor for more than two years while the case dragged on, far exceeding the six-month maximum sentence for the misdemeanor charge. The discussion highlights why this matters for rule of law: who gets to wield prosecutorial power, what safeguards exist against conflicts of interest, and how easily procedure can become punishment.From there, the hosts press on the politicization of the judiciary and what “corporate capture” looks like in practice. Donziger connects his experience to broader patterns: campaign finance as legalized bribery, the shrinking share of independent judges, and long-term efforts to shape courts through networks and ideology. The conversation touches on the Federalist Society, the Lewis Powell memo, and how Supreme Court power struggles can distort outcomes even when legal principles seem clear. Donziger also expands the lens to mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex, arguing that excessive sentences often serve political incentives rather than public safety. The episode closes with practical next steps and a reminder that the Ecuador case continues through efforts to enforce the judgment against Chevron assets abroad, along with ways listeners can follow and support that work.Chapters:0:00. Welcome And Guest Introduction0:38 The Amazon Chernobyl Case Explained3:51 The RICO Attack And Guerra Testimony7:34 Contempt Charge And Private Prosecutors11:35 House Arrest Beyond Maximum Sentence14:20 Supreme Court Cert Denial Politics21:15 Corporate Capture And The Fascism Question28:01 Politicized Justice And Mass Incarceration33:01 The Long Project To Capture Courts36:20 Two Corporate Parties And Extreme Inequality43:52 Where To Follow And Support Donziger46:04 Ecuador Today And The Fight Ahead51:08 Final Thanks And Subscribe