Best maxjones Podcasts (2025)

1
Is Israel 'On the Brink?' (w/ Ilan Pappé) 48:00

Play Pause

1d ago48:00

48:00

Despite the demoralization and destruction produced by Israel’s two-year-long genocidal campaign on the Palestinians, Israel potentially finds itself at its weakest point in its short history. In his new book, Israel on the Brink, renowned Israeli historian Ilan Pappé makes the case that Israel’s current path forward is unsustainable. With a combin…

1
The Rise of the Thielverse and the Construction of the Surveillance State (w/ Whitney Webb) | The Chris Hedges Report 44:20

8d ago44:20

44:20

The descent into a new, mutated and technology-focused form of American fascism is already here. Those who have kept track of the rise of the Thielverse, which includes figures such as Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and JD Vance, have understood that an agenda to usher in a unique form of authoritarianism has been slowly introduced into the mainstream poli…

1
Drug Trafficking and Murder In the Special Forces (w/ Seth Harp) | The Chris Hedges Report 1:00:19

15d ago1:00:19

1:00:19

For decades, clandestine foreign military and intelligence operations have been the deadly, destabilizing engine of American foreign policy. Today, as exposed by investigative journalist Seth Harp in his new book The Fort Bragg Cartel, 21st-century Special Forces operations have become their brutal, logical successor. Harp joins host Chris Hedges o…

1
Inside America's Academic Gulags (w/ Rashid Khalidi) | The Chris Hedges Report 40:04

23d ago40:04

40:04

Historian Rashid Khalidi, author of The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, joins host Chris Hedges to detail the dwindling academic freedom in American universities and society at large as Donald Trump’s grip on free speech tightens. Khalidi notes that while the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism is an old tactic to stifle academic scrutiny…

1
It's Time to Fight Back Against Trump's Fascist Regime (w/ Ralph Nader) | The Chris Hedges Report 38:35

1M ago38:35

38:35

"Are you a worker? Yes. Are you a consumer shopper? Yes. Are you a taxpayer? Yes. Voter? Well, sometimes. Are you a parent? Yes. Are you a veteran? Sometimes. Well, how can you say you're a nobody? You know things about those roles. You've experienced them. You've been frustrated. If you lie to yourself to be a nobody, you're going to be treated li…

1
Trump's Crackdown on Anti-War Activists (w/ CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin) 38:12

1M ago38:12

38:12

Medea Benjamin and CODEPINK, the organization she cofounded, are synonymous with accosting power in the United States. Their fearless confrontations with the nation’s most prominent and powerful politicians in the halls of Congress, often seen through viral videos, are a stark embodiment of the First Amendment. Despite over 20 years of activism and…

1
Israel, Charlie Kirk, and the Weaponization of Murder (w/ Max Blumenthal) | The Chris Hedges Report 45:59

2M ago45:59

45:59

By Chris Hedges

1
The Death of Holocaust Studies (w/ Raz Segal) | The Chris Hedges Report 47:24

2M ago47:24

47:24

Raz Segal, an Israeli historian and an associate professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University, analyzes how the weaponization and distortion of the Holocaust, in the midst of the genocide in Gaza, has been used to serve the narrative of Zionists and the Israeli government. He tells host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chri…

1
GHF Contractor Tells All On Genocidal Israeli 'Aid' Plan (w/ Anthony Aguilar) | The Chris Hedges Report 1:09:04

2M ago1:09:04

1:09:04

“I've witnessed a lot of war and in that there is nothing that compares to the level of destruction, the level of [dis]proportionality, the absolute disregard for Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law and considerations of the laws of armed conflict. [Nowhere] in my career… have I witnessed anything close to the absolute escalation o…

1
Reporting on War (w/ Ben Anderson) | The Chris Hedges Report 1:07:43

2M ago1:07:43

1:07:43

It is rare to find war correspondents who are willing to break the rules of access and safety imposed by dominant powers. Only by challenging these structures and facing the dangers of war can journalists begin a true effort to report the truth and, if they are lucky, materially alter the course of conflict. Journalist, author and documentary filmm…

1
To Destroy Gaza, Israel Must Destroy UNRWA (w/ Mara Kronenfeld) | The Chris Hedges Report 43:11

2M ago43:11

43:11

By Chris Hedges

1
When Religious Mafia & Rightwing Extremists Take Over (w/ Rollo Romig) | The Chris Hedges Report 48:03

3M ago48:03

48:03

One of the most stark examples of the expanding tide of authoritarianism worldwide was the 2017 murder of Gauri Lankesh, an Indian journalist and activist, allegedly assassinated by a far-right religious group in India for her fearless journalism. Joining host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report is Rollo Romig, a journalist whos…

1
'The Silent Holocaust' — The Israeli and CIA Sponsored Guatemalan Genocide (w/ Jennifer Harbury) | The Chris Hedges Report 54:34

3M ago54:34

54:34

Known as the “Silent Holocaust,” the genocide in Guatemala is seldom mentioned in modern history. The United States, with support from Israel, backed yet another violent crusade against an indigenous population as well as against communism. The Guatemalan genocide — preceded by a CIA-instigated coup d’état of the Guatemalen government in 1954 and t…

1
This Is Not a Drill (w/ Roger Waters) | The Chris Hedges Report 46:50

3M ago46:50

46:50

Fame and fortune are often corrupting forces, ones that beget power and comfort. To stand with the afflicted requires sacrificing this privilege and few embody that sacrifice more profoundly than the legendary musician of Pink Floyd Roger Waters. For years, through his music and political action, Waters has amplified the voices of the oppressed. He…

1
The End of Academic Freedom (w/ Maura Finkelstein) | The Chris Hedges Report 49:29

3M ago49:29

49:29

The gutting of public funding for higher education in the United States has led to the takeover of universities by private donors, many of whom are Zionist entities and billionaires. As a result, universities have become, as guest Dr. Maura Finkelstein calls them, “banks and real estate development companies that offer classes.” As demonstrated by …

1
Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump and Sexual Blackmail Networks (w/ Nick Bryant) | The Chris Hedges Report 1:01:46

4M ago1:01:46

1:01:46

Perhaps the biggest elephant in the room of American politics is the existence of a pedophilic blackmail network that involves some of the most powerful people in the country and the world. Despite efforts to get to the bottom of the Jeffrey Epstein case, which saw the trafficking and sexual exploitation of thousands of children, justice continues …

1
Everything You Need To Know About War With Iran (w/ Alastair Crooke) | The Chris Hedges Report 57:44

4M ago57:44

57:44

Following attacks on Iran by Israel and the United States, the world held its breath as the prospect of World War III loomed on the horizon. After 12 days of conflict, a ceasefire has brought about new uncertainty for the future. Former British diplomat Alastair Crooke joins host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report to make sense…

1
Will Zohran Mamdani Empower or Betray the Working Class? (w/ Kshama Sawant) | The Chris Hedges Report 1:00:39

4M ago1:00:39

1:00:39

Zohran Mamdani’s emphatic victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary has shaken the core of American politics. A self-described democratic socialist, Mamdani ran a campaign centered around affordability as well as relentless denunciation of the genocide in Gaza. Mamdani drew the ire of Zionists, right-wingers and the billionaire class …

1
Starvation and Profiteering in Gaza (w/ Francesca Albanese) | The Chris Hedges Report 40:21

4M ago40:21

40:21

There is not much more that can be said about the unfathomable levels of devastation the genocide in Gaza has reached. Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, has been chronicling the genocide and joins host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report to shed light on the curren…

1
Why You Should Hate the Rich Even More (w/ Rob Larson) 57:34

5M ago57:34

57:34

The ultra-wealthy hover above the realities of the world around them like extraterrestrial aliens. Their material reality physically separates them from the rest of society with gated communities and private jets but paradoxically, their very wealth also severs them psychologically, unable to understand the reality of the 99%. Joining host Chris He…

1
Journalists and Their Shadows (w/ Patrick Lawrence) | The Chris Hedges Report 1:02:11

5M ago1:02:11

1:02:11

Journalist A. J. Liebling famously said, "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” Today, in a world dominated by corporate capitalism — including subservient politicians and careerists — the press’s freedom has been eroded to mere margins. Journalist and writer Patrick Lawrence joins host Chris Hedges on this episode of The C…

1
How Paradise Lost Revolutionized the World (w/ Orlando Reade) | The Chris Hedges Report 55:48

5M ago55:48

55:48

There are few pieces of literature that remain as prescient and relevant throughout history as John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Thomas Jefferson, Malcolm X, Virginia Woolf, Thomas Paine and dozens more drew inspiration from and studied Milton’s grand work and the revolutionary themes within it. Professor Orlando Reade, in his book, What in Me Is Dark: …

1
The Shared Mythological History of Israel and the US (w/ Joan Scott) | The Chris Hedges Report 51:19

5M ago51:19

51:19

The narratives surrounding Israel and their genocidal campaign against the Palestinians took decades to create and embed into the West’s psyche. The Holocaust, decades after its end, became a central part of the Jewish and Israeli identity. Enemies of the Israeli state were conflated with Nazis. The physical location of Israel became essential to C…

1
Facing the Climate Crisis and Human Mortality (w/ Eiren Caffall) | The Chris Hedges Report 46:52

5M ago46:52

46:52

In a world gripped by daily catastrophes, there is one that affects all but lacks the attention it deserves. The climate crisis — pervaded by ecological collapse, war, endless resource accumulation fueled by capitalism — is the issue of our time. The warning signs are there but as author Eiren Caffall tells host Chris Hedges, people are not able to…

1
The Dark Money Game (w/ Alex Gibney) | The Chris Hedges Report 48:33

6M ago48:33

48:33

On this episode of The Chris Hedges Report, Chris Hedges speaks with filmmaker Alex Gibney about Gibney’s documentary series The Dark Money Game, which examines the “labyrinth of mirrors” that facilitates untraceable corruption through the American political system. Although both the Democratic and Republican parties have served the interests of th…

1
The West Serves as Israel's Police (w/ Richard Medhurst) | The Chris Hedges Report 42:21

6M ago42:21

42:21

Richard Barnard, Sarah Wilkinson, Asa Winstanley and Richard Medhurst. These are some of the canaries in the coal mine for what is to come in the West as the region’s elite quickly becomes Israel’s international police. Medhurst joins host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report to talk about his own experiences in the United Kingdo…

1
Israel’s Eradication of Gaza’s Healthcare System (w/ Dr. Feroze Sidhwa) | The Chris Hedges Report 1:04:58

6M ago1:04:58

1:04:58

If anyone can witness the genocide in Gaza with utmost clarity, it would be medical professionals working there. Their accounts continue to be as harrowing as those of journalists and Gazans themselves, stripped of rhetoric and left with only raw truth. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a general, trauma and critical care surgeon in California, has been to Gaza t…

1
Emptying Gaza (w/ Norman Finkelstein) | The Chris Hedges Report 58:06

7M ago58:06

58:06

Israel, both materially and rhetorically, has made their intent to destroy the Palestinian people clear. One of the most renowned and courageous Middle East scholars, Norman Finkelstein, has assiduously documented the Palestinian plight for decades and he joins host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report. Finkelstein and Hedges ass…

1
The Economics of a Dying Empire (w/ Richard Wolff) | The Chris Hedges Report 48:54

7M ago48:54

48:54

“These are levels of craziness that are part of the decline I suspect of all empires when they consume themselves,” Professor Richard Wolff says of America’s current situation in the outset of Donald Trump’s second term. He joins host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report to discuss the history and rationale behind the decisions m…

1
The Secret Military History of the Internet (w/ Yasha Levine) | The Chris Hedges Report 58:27

7M ago58:27

58:27

The internet, from its inception, was created to be a tool of mass surveillance. It was developed first as a counterinsurgency tool for the Vietnam War and the rest of the Global South, but like many devices of foreign policy naturally it made its way back to U.S. soil. Yasha Levine, in his book Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of t…

1
Erasing History: How Fascism Works (w/ Jason Stanley) 59:09

7M ago59:09

59:09

Ever since the first Donald Trump administration, the word “fascism” has dominated discussion around Trump’s policies and ambitions to the extent of semantic satiation. Liberals and leftists often use fascism as a blanket term for anything right-wing politicians represent and Republicans equally use “communism” to denote Democratic or left-wing pol…

1
America’s Constitutional Crisis (w/ Katherine Franke) | The Chris Hedges Report 43:18

8M ago43:18

43:18

Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest and detention in a Louisiana ICE facility is a harbinger for a new authoritarian era of the United States. Khalil’s arrest, the capitulation of Columbia University against dissent and protest by its own students and the Trump administration’s threat of stripping the university of $400 million in grants if it does not meet it…

1
Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal (w/ Mohammed el-Kurd) | The Chris Hedges Report 50:25

8M ago50:25

50:25

Any account of the decades-long occupation of Palestine from a Palestinian is immediately expected to be refined within a specific lens to appeal to the pathos of Western society. Well meaning activists, journalists and politicians may intend to share the stories of Palestinians, but end up curating them into a digestible format, one adjacent to th…

1
How the Media Walked us into Autocracy (w/ Ralph Nader) | The Chris Hedges Report 57:27

8M ago57:27

57:27

The American corporate coup d'état is almost complete as the first weeks of the Trump administration exemplify. If there has been one person who saw this coming, and has taken courageous action over the years to prevent it, it would be Ralph Nader. The former presidential candidate, consumer advocate and corporate critic joins host Chris Hedges on …

1
Chris Hedges: The World After Gaza (w/ Chris Hedges) | The Chris Hedges Report 51:38

8M ago51:38

51:38

The Holocaust is the quintessential example of human evil for people in the West. In the rest of the world, especially in the Global South, the atrocity of the Holocaust — genocide — has had a closer proximity both in time and place. Colonialism in Africa, destructive wars in Asia and most recently, genocide in the Middle East, have shaped the live…

1
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (w/ Omar El Akkad) | The Chris Hedges Report 52:53

8M ago52:53

52:53

To the West, the concept of the rules-based order functions either as a list on paper to be ignored, or a strict set of laws to be weaponized. Omar El Akkad, Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist, has witnessed many instances, both in the West and in the Middle East, where banners of virtue are used to justify hypocritical behavior. El Akkad wr…

1
Virtue Hoarders and the Rejection of Liberalism (w/ Catherine Liu) | The Chris Hedges Report 55:32

9M ago55:32

55:32

The material needs of working class people in America continue to be obscured and co-opted by politicians and people claiming to know what’s best on both sides of the political aisle. While Republicans and right-wingers address some of these needs head on, they do so by luring people through empty rhetoric and culture war distractions. On the other…

1
The ‘Diseased Body’ of the Middle East (w/ Farah El-Sharif) | The Chris Hedges Report 45:08

9M ago45:08

45:08

Farah El Sherif, writer, academic and Visiting Scholar at Stanford, is uncompromisingly blunt in her assessment of the Middle East. The decades of repression faced by an entire people have produced a fragmented society—culturally and through colonially imposed borders. To help understand why the Muslim world is so broken, corrupt and full of contra…

1
Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism (w/ Yanis Varoufakis) | The Chris Hedges Report 59:40

9M ago59:40

59:40

The year 2008 signaled to many the weak foundations of modern capitalism in the hands of the greedy, untethered financial sector—the “vampire squid” investment banks as journalist Matt Taibbi called them. Rising from the ashes of the crash, these banks used government money—”socialism for the bankers”—to enrich themselves and Big Business. This mon…

1
War on Gaza (w/ Joe Sacco) | The Chris Hedges Report 52:10

9M ago52:10

52:10

Mary Shelley, in the preface to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, writes, “Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos.” In the chaos of war and inequity, cartoonist Joe Sacco pioneered the first graphic illustration journalism. Sacco has covered some of the most devastating warzones such as in …

1
America's Academic Gulag (w/ MIT Student Activists) | The Chris Hedges Report 58:31

10M ago58:31

58:31

“You can't just sit there and build drones and not talk about who it's serving and who does it help,” says Richard Solomon, PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and member of the Coalition for Palestine at MIT. On this episode of The Chris Hedges Report, Solomon and fellow MIT PhD student Prahlad Iyengar detail their battle agai…

1
The Zionists Kill Doctors in Gaza and Silence Them Here (w/ Rupa Marya) | The Chris Hedges Report 37:04

10M ago37:04

37:04

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said, “The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and must be respected by all sides, at all times.” International law enshrines medical facilities as sanctuaries for those in direst need but as Dr. Rupa Marya tells host Chris Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report, Israel’s …

1
Exposing Big Tech’s Complicity in Genocide | The Chris Hedges Report 49:19

10M ago49:19

49:19

The vast censorship and suppression campaign launched by American tech companies since October 7, 2023 has been both systemic and deliberate. Instagram, Facebook, X as well as other tech platforms and companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple have actively worked to stifle information regarding the genocide in Gaza. Dissent against policies or ind…

1
The Meaning of Christmas (w/ Rev. Munther Isaac) | The Chris Hedges Report 1:10:49

11M ago1:10:49

1:10:49

In a case of tragic coincidence, the place most closely associated with the uplifting story of Jesus Christ, Christmas and the teachings of the Bible is now being subject to some of the most sustained and severe death and destruction that modern society has seen. Rev. Munther Isaac, the pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethleh…

1
Enduring the Trauma of Genocide (w/ Gabor Maté) | The Chris Hedges Report 54:22

11M ago54:22

54:22

While the trauma that Palestinians continue to face in Gaza is sustained, brutal and seemingly never-ending, the way people experience the effects of trauma has the potential to unite humanity as much as it divides the self. Dr. Gabor Maté, renowned physician and expert in trauma and childhood development, illustrates this point articulately and be…

1
The Fall of Assad & What it Means for The Mid East (w/ Alastair Crooke) | The Chris Hedges Report 1:10:46

11M ago1:10:46

1:10:46

The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, ending a 55-year dynasty begun by his father, dramatically shifts the pieces on the chessboard of the Middle East. The rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is armed and backed by Turkey and was once allied with Al Qaeda. It is sanctioned as a terrorist group. Turkey’s p…

1
A Rogue Reporter vs. The American Empire (w/ Matt Kennard) | The Chris Hedges Report 59:37

11M ago59:37

59:37

The American material life is taken for granted. Things just appear. There is no consideration for what country the Empire destroyed to fuel their cars, which people are earning pennies inside sweatshops for their clothes or how many children’s hands touched the lithium in their phone batteries fresh out of the mine. The U.S. Empire makes sure thes…

1
Stories from the Center of the World (w/ Jordan Elgrably) | The Chris Hedges Report 38:57

11M ago38:57

38:57

The years of war and terror imposed upon the Middle East have left its people, as Jordan Elgrably tells host Chris Hedges, “tired of saying that [they’re] human too.” In this episode of The Chris Hedges Report, Elgrably discusses the stories that remind English-speaking Western readers of the humanity behind those from this often misunderstood and …

1
Surveillance Education (w/ Nolan Higdon & Allison Butler) | The Chris Hedges Report 49:00

12M ago49:00

49:00

Any technology created by the US military industrial complex and adopted by the general public was always bound to come with a caveat. To most, the internet, GPS, touch screen and other ubiquitous technologies are ordinary tools of the modern world. Yet in reality, these technologies serve “dual-uses”; while they convenience typical people, they al…

1
Israel’s War on the Foreign Press (w/ Jeremy Loffredo) | The Chris Hedges Report 1:01:18

12M ago1:01:18

1:01:18

Reporting from Israel in the aftermath of October 7th demands guts and courage. Censorship, rouge military personnel and an entire state hellbent on their goals of national security and ethnic cleansing spells a nightmare for journalists seeking to expose the truth. This nightmare became a reality for Grayzone reporter Jeremy Loffredo, who was deta…

Maxjones Podcasts