Going Underground Hosted by Afshin Rattansi

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Kristinn Hrafnsson, Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks, which celebrated its 20th Anniversary recently. He discusses how Julian Assange is doing 2 years after he was freed, the state of press freedom globally with the assassinations of journalists in Gaza and why Julian chose to speak about Gaza after his release, the impact and legacy of WikiLeaks publishing the collateral murder video, how the Iraq War Logs helped end the Iraq War and how the Afghan War Diaries exposed the lies of NATO governments and the media, the CableGate revelations of 250,000 diplomatic diplomatic cables...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Charles Finfrock, former CIA Senior Operations Officer and Founder & CEO of Vigilance. He discusses the supposed ‘foiled attack’ on RAF Finfrock, which has been blamed on Iran and whether it could have been a false flag. He debates Afshin Rattansi on the history of the CIA false flags and the Wikileaks Vault 7 leaks, Seymour Hersh’s report that the Ghouta 2013 chemical weapons attack was a false flag attack, whether the CIA was working with Al Qaeda in Syria to overthrow Bashar Al-Assad, the extent of the CIA’s role in the Maid...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to former State Department & Defense Department official Matthew Hoh, who resigned over the Afghanistan war. He discusses the significance of the 20th anniversary of Julian Assange founding WikiLeaks, increasing censorship of journalism in the United States and NATO nations, the possibility of the US or Israel using nuclear weapons against Iran, Benjamin Netanyahu’s increasing political desperation, Pete Hegseth’s overhaul of the US military, why we don’t see more resignations from the US government over the US’ atrocities abroad, and much more.

Chapters

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Vice Admiral Robert Harward, former Deputy Commander of US CENTCOM and Executive Vice President of Shield AI. Afshin Rattansi challenges him on his support for the US regime change war on Iran, Iran’s de facto alliance with the US against ISIS & Al Qaeda, the economic cost of the war on Iran at $2 billion a day for Americans, the level of the Iranian threat against the United States before the war on Iran began, the fate of the US’ bases in the GCC after the war on Iran ends, the US’...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Joe Kent, former Director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, who resigned from the Trump Administration after the US-Israeli war on Iran was launched. He discusses the effects of the war on Iran domestically in the United States and how Israel marched the US to war on Iran, who the individual access points are for the Israel lobby in the Trump Administration, what was behind Israel’s calculation to assassinate Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war to keep Trump stuck in the Iran War, why Donald Tr...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Steve Hanke, Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University. He discusses the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates by 25 basis points last Wednesday, the real reason behind the US bond market being in a slump and why inflation will be around for a while, why he recommends private investors to stay away from the US bond market, why Donald Trump has no good options to escape the current inflation and bond market crisis, the war on Iran’s impact on the US government’s budget deficit, increased energy prices in the...

On this special episode of Going Underground, we speak to Tucker Carlson, Host of The Tucker Carlson Show, and one of the most famous journalists on the planet. He discusses the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine and the risk of nuclear war, the disastrous US-Israeli war on Iran, eroding political freedoms in the United States as censorship of dissent and anti-Israel voices becomes more prevalent, the rise of BRICS and China’s ever-growing superpower status, and much more.

Chapters

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Ken Silva, Author of ‘The Trump Assassination Plots’ to discuss everything from the Ukrainian and Israeli connection to the assassination attempts, Israel’s alleged role in cooking up fake assassination plots to make Trump more hawkish on Iran, unexplained coincidences, and whether a cover-up is taking place.

Chapters

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Dr. Michael O’Hanlon, former Pentagon Defense Policy Board member, former CIA External Advisory Board member, and Author of ‘To Dare Mighty Things: U.S. Defense Strategy Since the Revolution’. He discusses the role of asymmetric warfare from the American Revolution to the wars of today, the paradox of the US’ superpower status despite many military defeats and stalemates since Korea and Vietnam, the myth of American isolationism, the legacy of the US invasion of Afghanistan, the US’ role in the rise of ISIS & Al Qaeda, his view of the root cause...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Philip Pilkington, Author of 'The Collapse of Global Liberalism’ and Host of the ‘Multipolarity’ Podcast. He discusses how Donald Trump has manipulated markets to keep oil prices artificially low using Truth Social & mainstream media, how China & the United States likely struck a deal for China to reduce its oil imports to stave off an oil shock while the US signed the Memorandum of Understanding, why there is no plan at all for the US’ war on Iran, oil market manipulation since the beginning of the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine, why he p...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Branko Milanovic, former Lead Economist at the World Bank’s Research Department for almost 20 years and Author of The Great Global Transformation. He discusses the looming danger of World War 3 and the similarities of the world today with the world prior to WW1, why more globalisation actually increases the risk of World War 3, how the Ukraine proxy war specifically is putting us at risk of WW3, and the rise of military-Keynesianism in the US & Europe. Afshin Rattansi challenges him on the record of the World Bank’s destruction of the...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago. He discusses the reports of the depletion of US critical munitions in the war on Iran including THAAD and Patriot missiles and inability of the US to escalate against Iran now, the influence of Rupert Murdoch and the role of his media outlets in manufacturing consent for the war on Iran, the future of US bases in the Gulf states after Iran’s barrages of missiles and drones, Zelensky’s apology for attacking Iranian vessels in the Caspian Sea, why drones have aver...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Hasan Ünal, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Ankara’s Başkent University and Host of the Strategic Compass podcast. He discusses Türkiye’s position on the US-Israeli war on Iran and the anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiment of the Turkish public, Türkiye’s intelligence sharing with Iran to combat US-backed Kurdish groups who would have been Trump’s regime change ground troops, the US’ use of Incirlik Air Base and the presence of US troops in the country, Türkiye’s ultimatum to the US over the war on Iran...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Gabor Maté, Holocaust Survivor and renowned Trauma Specialist. He discusses why the last few years have been particularly tough to watch with the Gaza genocide, Israeli war on Lebanon, and war on Iran, how the era of social media has changed people’s responses to the horrors happening in the world, the increasing opposition of young Jews to Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu’s premiership being the culmination of Zionism’s dehumanisation of Palestinians, the segment of the Iranian diaspora that opposes the US-Israeli war on Iran and why diaspora populations from Cuba an...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Robert Barnes, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and host of the Viva and Barnes podcast. He discusses Anthony Fauci’s testimony in Congress and the allegations against him, the lack of prosecution against Biden Administration officials as was promised in Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign over Russiagate, how the deep state is intertwined with the Israel lobby as the US war on Iran rages on, how Donald Trump is trapped in an escalation cycle against Iran, Russia, and China, Trump’s irritation at J.D. Vance since everything Vance had predicted about th...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to former Director of Shin Bet Admiral Ami Ayalon. He discusses why Israel’s wars against Palestinians and the Arabs are wars that Israel wants, why the perpetual war will hasten the end of the Zionist project, why he supposed the JCPOA nuclear deal in opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli government, the failures and shameful actions of Benjamin Netanyahu from Gaza to Lebanon to Iran, Israel’s financial support for Hamas prior to 2023, why he feels Israel does not understand its enemy: the Palestinian people, why the US-Israeli war on Iran...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy. He discusses the state of the Trump-Netanyahu relationship as the Iran quagmire deepens and why the frustrations haven’t made a difference to US foreign policy, the Israel-Lebanon deal and how it overwhelmingly favours of Israel, the reasons for the failures of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, why Israel has not gotten involved in the resumed war on the Iran so far, J.D. Vance’s political calculations behind his recent comments against Israel, how Israel is trying to strengthening its regional ambitions using up Amer...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Doug Bandow. Former Special Assistant to Ronald Reagan and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He discusses the risk of a global Great Depression following the resumption of the war on Iran and the looming prospect of a catastrophic energy shock in the US, why Donald Trump knows he must end the war on Iran quickly, whether the echo chamber of neocons around Trump can tell Trump he made a mistake by starting the war, the Gulf States’ view of the war on Iran and their defence against Iranian capabilities, wh...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Col. Lawrence Wilkerson. He discusses Trump’s war on Iran being part of Washington’s conflict against China, the transformation of the US military into a mercenary military as most armed forces service people don’t know why they are fighting Iran, the propaganda for US military-industrial complex companies and their ineffective weaponry, Iran’s ultimate leverage being the Strait of Hormuz and their nuclear program, the world sleepwalking into a potential nuclear war over Iran, the psychological warfare campaign in the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine, the US’ flagrant violations...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to CMSGT. Dennis Fritz, Former Principal Advisor to Richard Myers, who became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He discusses why he believes the US-Iran MoU will be torpedoed by Donald Trump’s negotiation tactics and the influence of Israel, the possibility of an Israeli false flag to drag the US back into the unpopular war against Iran, why he believes some of the attacks on GCC countries were carried out by Israel as false flags to frame Iran, the amount of influence Israel has over the Pentagon now under Pe...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to James Carden, Ex-Asvisor to the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission at the US State Department. He discusses Trump’s remarks at an increasingly fractured NATO Summit and the continuing war on Iran, why he believes that the Trump Administration isn’t serious about ending the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine, why Ukraine’s drone attacks against Russia don’t change the balance of power in the war, the goal of Europe’s leaders and American neocons being the dissolution of Russia and regime change, Russia’s mistakes since the 2014 Maidan Coup, the team sur...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Former UK Defence Secretary Rt. Hon. Tobias Ellwood. He discusses the resignation of UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who became the 7th UK Prime Minister to resign in 10 years, his belief that Trump had no strategy in the war on Iran, Donald Trump’s disengagement from its European allies and why Trump won nothing in Iran, why Iran may now logically seek a nuclear deterrent, his perspective on the UK’s role in the Gaza genocide and the use of RAF Akrotiri, how Netanyahu has fuelled regional insecurity with ‘war fo...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Dennis Kucinich, former veteran Congressman and former Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. He discusses the significance of the 250th Anniversary of the US’ independence, why the Democrats may not seek Donald Trump’s impeachment after the midterms, the integration of the US & Israeli military in terms of cooperation and technology and the increased risk of war, his heartbreak over the Minab Girls School bombing by the US and the disastrous war on Iran, J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio’s positioning on the Iran war heading into the midterms and 2028, Trump’s strate...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Max Blumenthal, Editor in Chief of The Grayzone. He discusses how Mossad will seek to sabotage the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, Israel’s failures in Iran proving that Israel cannot achieve its objectives without US firepower, how the liberal NGOs manufactured the consent for Trump’s ‘Operation Epic Fury’ against Iran and how Israel & the US manufactured the conditions for the January protests, why he believes the Memorandum of Understanding will fail and the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open, why more repression is coming both at home in the USA...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Vice Admiral Robert Harward, Former Deputy Commander of US CENTCOM. He discusses President Trump’s axing of the National Security Adviser job and the power of the National Security Council, whether he believes Iran will comply with the conditions of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the USA, whether the Iranian population increasingly believe that Iran must have nuclear weapons to deter Israel, his response to Afshin Rattansi’s challenge that Israel maintains it was behind the protests in Iran in January, why the GCC countries are beginning talks for thei...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to former Israeli Intelligence Officer Ari Ben-Menashe. He discusses the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding signed by Donald Trump and the history of Israeli leaders sabotaging US deals with Iran, why Israel urgently needs its own deal with Iran, his belief that Donald Trump is in danger from Israel and elements in the US after making a deal with Iran to remove the US from the war, why he believes Trump has done the right thing for the US by correcting his mistake of starting the war in the first place, why...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert. He discusses Benjamin Netanyahu’s failures resulting from his persuasion of Trump to start the war on Iran which resulted in a US-Iran deal weaker than the JCPOA, his assertion that Israel committed war crimes in Iran but not genocide, Jewish terrorism by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Israeli government being to blame, why Israel’s actions in Lebanon do not serve Israel’s interests, Trump’s plan for Syria’s President Al-Sharaa to deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Benjamin N...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Steve Keen, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategy Resilience and Security at UCL. He discusses the severe risk of a global famine as a result of the Strait of Hormuz being shut creating a shortage of petroleum-based fertilisers, Epstein blackmail being one of the reasons for this war despite the disastrous consequences, the financial sector’s ignorance on the true consequences of this war, why a serious financial crisis is now looming for most of the world, the combination of stupidity and blackmail behind Trump launching the wa...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Theodore Postol, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology and National Security Policy at MIT and former Chief of Naval Operations Adviser at the Pentagon. He discusses the state of Donald Trump’s war on Iran and the pressure on him from the Israel lobby, why this is a war of existential survival for Iran and not a defensive war on the part of the US, the prospect of Donald Trump using nuclear weapons against Iran and why it is impossible for the US and Israel to fully destroy Iran’s nucl...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Chen Weihua, former China Daily EU Bureau Chief and Washington Correspondent. He discusses how the US’ hegemony and soft power stands after the war on Iran, Gaza genocide, and kidnapping of Venezuela’s President Maduro, whether US allies will continue remaining vassal states and China’s approach to a changing world, the view that the US-Israeli war on Iran is really a part of the war on China, why China hasn’t acted more forcefully to defend its interests as the US continues its campaign against China, how the US drastica...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Steve Hanke, Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University. He discusses why Russia continues to be a winner economically as the Strait of Hormuz remains shut after the US-Israeli war on Iran, the looming full ramifications of the energy crisis that will hit in August resulting in skyrocketing energy prices, why Europe must lift sanctions on Russia to escape the dire economic situation, why the US and Israel’s miscalculations in launching a war on Iran mean that Hormuz will remain shut, his predictions for the global economy th...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Zhang Weiwei, Director of Fudan University’s China Institute and former Translator for Chinese Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping. He discusses China’s current attitude to the Trump Administration amid the war on Iran, how China acted over decades to lessen the impact of the US’ attempts to control China’s access to energy via the war on Iran and regime change in Venezuela, why China is winning in the tech and trade race against the US, China’s position on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, China’s limitation o...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Paul Craig Roberts, former US Assistant Treasury Secretary for Economic Policy. He discusses why he believes Iran has prevailed in the US-Israeli war on Iran but made a mistake in agreeing to a ceasefire, why Iran’s ‘restraint’ against the hegemonic powers of the US and Israel is a flaw in their strategy, 9/11 as the US’ Pearl Harbour to wage war in support of the Greater Israel Agenda, why Trump and Netanyahu suffered humiliation by Iran in this war, the need for the Muslim world to confront the Greater Israel p...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Dr. Dmitri Trenin, Member of Russia’s Foreign and Defence Policy Council and former Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. He discusses the significance of Victory Day amid the NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine, what ‘victory’ looks like for Russia in Ukraine and why it is likely to be a long war, whether Russia has failed to seize the opportunities presented by a Trump Presidency and Russia’s reasons for showing restraint, Europe’s increasing involvement in the proxy war, Europe’s use of hostility towards Russia to consolidate itself, why Trump ha...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to David Pyne, Deputy Executive Director of the US Taskforce on National and Homeland Security. He discusses Donald Trump’s war on Iran being a war based of lies for the Greater Israel project, the prospect of thousands of US soldiers dying in a ground invasion of Iran, Trump’s behaviour as an Israeli vassal, why he believes many in the Gulf States are angry at the US for the destabilisation caused by the war on Iran and the prioritisation of defending Israel, the extent of the damage against US bases in t...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Master Sgt. Wes Bryant Pentagon Whistleblower and Former Branch Chief of the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence. He discusses Pete Hegseth shutting down the department he worked for and the ‘revelling in death and destruction’ as civilians are killed and injured in Iran, the US’ bombing of civilian infrastructure and Trump’s threats to destroy the entire Iranian civilisation, the dramatic departure from targeting assessment protocol under the second Trump Administration, the extreme Christian nationalism and Zionism behind Pete Hegseth’s and Donald Trump’s support to the hilt of Israel...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Victor Gao, President of the Center for China and Globalisation. He discusses the rumours of China providing satellite data and weaponry to Iran as it fights the US and Israel, China’s support for Iran and why it hasn’t provided weaponry, China’s role in mediating between the US and Iran, Donald Trump’s coming state visit to China amid the war crimes committed by his administration, the possibility of a US-China war and the possible catastrophic consequences, why 2026 marks the beginning of the end of Pax Americana, China’s gradual...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Daniel Levy, former Israeli Peace Negotiator at the Oslo & Taba Talks. He discusses the threats of Israel’s Defence Minister Katz threatening to kill the rest of the Khamenei family, the Greater Israel Plan for regional hegemony not just territorial expansion, Israel’s horrifying end goal in Iran, Israel’s deliberate plan to drag the Gulf States into the battlefield of the war on Iran, the next target after Iran for Israel being Türkiye and the plan for total hegemony over the region, Israel being in a ‘use it or lose i...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to James Webb, Former Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Robert F. Kennedy Jr and US Marine Corps veteran. He discusses how the Trump Administration’s war on Iran has harmed the US’ reputation around the world, his disgust at assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei by Israel to drag the US further into the war on Iran, the long-standing desire for a war on Iran secured through Israel lobby donations, the systemic breakdown of the US’ political system shown by the war on Iran, US foreign policy clearly reflecting Israel’s interests rather than the...

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel William J. Astore, Author of ‘American Militarism on Steroids’. He discusses why he asesses that the US is losing its war on Iran, the ballooning US military budget for perpetual war and the decline of US empire, the decline of democracy in America as the US empire’s appetite only continues to grow, Pope Leo XIV’s stance against the war on Iran, why Israel and Netanyahu dragging the US into the war on Iran represents a threat to national security, mainstream media’s coverage o...