Inside the Global Fight for White Power (Reveal podcast)

White nationalists around the globe are working together to disrupt multicultural societies and Western democracies.

From Russia to Sweden and the United States, there’s a growing network of White nationalist groups that stretches around the world. The reporting team at Verified: The Next Threat investigates how these militant groups are helping each other create propaganda, recruit new members and share paramilitary skills.

We are updating this episode, which first aired in July 2022, to reflect recent activities by the Russian Imperial Movement and other White supremacist groups around the world.

We start with the Russian Imperial Movement, or RIM. Its members are taking up arms in Russia’s war against Ukraine, which they say is a battle in a much larger “holy war” for White power. Scripps News senior investigative reporter Mark Greenblatt interviews a leader of the group who says RIM’s goal is to unite White nationalists around the world. The group even runs training camps where White supremacists can learn paramilitary tactics.

Russia’s White nationalists are making connections with extremists in the United States. Greenblatt talks with a neo-Nazi named Matt Heimbach, who was a major promoter of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Soon after Charlottesville, Heimbach invited members of RIM to the U.S. and connected them to his network of American White power extremists.

We end with a visit by Greenblatt to the State Department in Washington, where he interviews two top counterterrorism officials. They say they’re aware of the growing international network of White supremacists, but explain that White power groups are now forming political parties, which makes it more difficult for the agency to use its most powerful counterterrorism tools.
Interview: 

https://revealnews.org/podcast/inside-the-global-fight-for-white-power-2023/

Should Congress Stop Funding the War in Ukraine? (John Donvan; Open to Debate podcast)

Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States has provided more than $75 billion in aid to Ukraine, which has been directed toward military operations, economic support, and humanitarian assistance. As the war has gone on, members of Congress have questioned whether we have done enough to help the country and if continuing funding is sustainable. Those who want to continue funding Ukraine say the U.S. has a moral obligation to support the country in its time of need, it sustains alliances while serving strategic interests, and it demonstrates the United States’s support of democratic values and sovereignty. Those arguing it’s time to end the funding say that it diverts necessary resources that could go toward domestic and foreign priorities. They also question whether the funds are being used efficiently, whether the war is winnable, and whether providing military aid is genuinely contributing to a path toward peace.

With this crucial background, we debate the question: Should Congress Stop Funding the War in Ukraine?

This debate was recorded live for an invite-only audience at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.
Interview: 

https://opentodebate.org/debate/should-congress-stop-funding-the-war-in-ukraine/

Trump endorses a dictator (Pod Save The World podcast)

Tommy and Ben talk about Trump’s endorsement of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and what it says about the future of democracy, the latest on Biden’s efforts to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine, China and Lithuania, a major election in Chile, and a look ahead at some of the world’s most important elections in 2022. Then Ben talks with author Howard French about his new book “Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World.”

Interview: 

https://www.podbean.com/ew/dir-etxqf-120319ee

Fake LGBTQ youth hotline set up by Russian election trolls -- Daily Kos

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released two important reports this week, detailing how Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential elections. While this is disturbing for a number of obvious reasons, the reports specifically describe instances of tactics that targeted LGBTQ youth. And they’re really, really messed up.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1820152

Why Mariia Butina wasn't the only Russian attending the National Prayer Breakfast - Religion News Service

The unsealing of an affidavit this week charging 29-year-old Mariia Butina with “conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation” was yet another bombshell in the investigation into what U.S. intelligence agencies describe as Russian attempts to influence American elections and politics throughout 2016.....

https://religionnews.com/2018/07/18/why-mariia-butina-wasnt-the-only-russian-targeting-the-national-prayer-breakfast/

Russia will try again this fall. Congress doesn’t seem to care. -- The Washington Post -- Opinion |

...Time is running out. This isn’t about squabbling over what we see in the rearview mirror. It is about recognizing the threat that is rising in the windshield...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/russia-will-try-again-this-fall-congress-doesnt-seem-to-care/2018/05/23/b3f4f3d0-5dff-11e8-b2b8-08a538d9dbd6_story.html

‘I just don’t believe it’: Trump supporter refuses to believe she helped Russian trolls during campaign -- Raw Story

Even some Trump supporters who unwittingly helped Russians during the election still don't believe in the conspiracy. ....
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/02/just-dont-believe-trump-supporter-refuses-believe-helped-russian-trolls-campaign/

Trump loyalist Roger Stone admits he was in contact with DNC hacker (Daily Mail)

A top Trump confidante admitted on Friday he was in contact last year with the Russian hackers who are suspected of breaking into the Democratic National Committee's computer and email accounts. ...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4303238/Trump-loyalist-admits-contact-DNC-hacker.html?ITO=applenews

Spy Agencies Around The World Are Digging Into Trump’s Moscow Ties (BuzzFeed News)

Israel and at least one Western European country are investigating the claims made in a 35-page dossier about President-elect Donald Trump's ties to Russia. ...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/spy-agencies-around-the-world-are-digging-into-trump-moscow?utm_term=.xdNDLZXXL#.xsoZjQ55j

The big problem isn’t that Russian hackers tried to influence our election — it’s more that we let them

Much attention has been paid in the past month to the role that fake news — a combination of conspiracy theories from places like Infowars and stories from hoax websites — influenced the course of the U.S. election, helping Donald Trump win the presidency. But over the weekend, we were reminded that sometimes effective propaganda can be misleading without being fake at all. ...
http://www.salon.com/2016/12/13/the-big-problem-isnt-that-russia-tried-to-influence-our-election-its-more-that-we-let-them/