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Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael: Daily Summaries Delivered
by J.G.
A podcast where politics, history, and culture are examined from perspectives you may not have considered before. Call it a parallax view.
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- 3 days ago56 min
Space: The Pentagon's New Battlefield w/ Andrew Corbley
👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, returning guest Andrew Corbley of World at Large joins J.G. Michael to discuss the accelerating militarization of space and the transformation of the US Space Force into an explicitly war-fighting branch of the Pentagon. Corbley has been reporting on the growth of the Space Force since its creation, and his latest article examines a striking recent development: US military officials acknowledging that weapons have been positioned in orbit. We discuss what the Space Force means by "orbital warfare," how its mission has evolved from protecting satellites against jamming and other attacks, and what recent exercises and statements reveal about the future of warfare in space. The conversation also explores the rapidly expanding relationship between the Pentagon and the private space industry. Companies such as Rocket Lab and True Anomaly are developing and deploying spacecraft for military purposes, raising questions about the growing integration of commercial aerospace and the military-industrial complex. J.G. and Corbley also examine the erosion of US arms-control agreements, the Outer Space Treaty, US claims about Chinese and Russian space capabilities, and the diplomatic barriers that make communication between rival space powers more difficult. But the consequences aren't only geopolitical. What happens to NASA and civilian space exploration when the Pentagon's conception of space as a "war-fighting domain" increasingly dominates? Corbley discusses the competition for engineers and scientists, the economic potential of space resources, the future of lunar exploration, and the possibility that the dream of space as a domain for all humanity could be eclipsed by national-security priorities. Topics include the US Space Force, orbital warfare, space weapons, weaponization of space, militarization of space, Pentagon, NASA, military-industrial complex, Rocket Lab, True Anomaly, Victus Haze, Jackal spacecraft, Outer Space Treaty, arms control, China, Russia, private aerospace, space exploration, and the future of warfare in space.
- 6 days ago1h 3m
The Empire of Lies: Deep State, Endless War & the Cost of Empire w/ Charles Goyette
👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, Charles Goyette, author of Empire of Lies: Fragments from the Memory Hole, joins J.G. Michael to discuss the deep state, the permanent national security bureaucracy, America’s postwar transformation into a global military empire, and the economic and political costs of endless war. What exactly is the “deep state” or “blob,” and how did the national security establishment develop into a permanent bureaucracy with incentives and interests of its own? Goyette examines the rise of the national security state after World War II, the creation and evolution of the CIA, the role of “inter-agency consensus,” and the tension between elected government and an entrenched national security apparatus. Goyette also discusses the central idea behind Empire of Lies: the “memory hole.” Drawing on George Orwell’s 1984, he argues that inconvenient facts and past government narratives can effectively disappear as official explanations change. The transformation of Ahmed al-Sharaa from a figure once associated with terrorism and a $10 million bounty into Syria’s president and a U.S. partner becomes a striking contemporary example of the phenomenon. The conversation then turns to the economics of empire. What happens to a republic when enormous resources are continually diverted toward military power and overseas intervention? Goyette argues that the costs extend beyond the federal budget, affecting the productive economy, inflation, domestic affordability, and the future of the U.S. dollar’s international position. He also discusses the relationship between foreign wars, the defense industry, and what he sees as the erosion of civil liberties at home. Finally, Goyette weighs in on the Trump administration, Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran, and growing American war fatigue. Why has the public become increasingly skeptical of another round of Middle Eastern intervention? How much influence does the permanent national security establishment have over American foreign policy? And can the United States maintain a global military empire without fundamentally changing the character of the republic at home? Topics include: the deep state, the “blob,” the national security state, CIA history, the memory hole, 1984, Empire of Lies, American imperialism, endless war, the military-industrial complex, defense contractors, inflation, the dollar, Iran, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, war fatigue, and the erosion of civil liberties.
- 1 weeks ago59 min
Is This the End of American Empire? Iran, Israel, & the New Middle East w/ Wahid Azal
👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael speaks with returning guest Wahid Azal, an independent scholar of Islamic esotericism and commentator on the Middle East, Iran, imperialism, and geopolitics, about the Iran war, the changing balance of power in the Middle East, and what he sees as a potential turning point in the decline of American empire. Azal argues that the United States and Israel have encountered a strategic problem they were not prepared for, pointing to Iran's use of drones, missiles, artificial intelligence, asymmetric warfare, and what he describes as "fifth generation warfare." The conversation examines the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab and Red Sea, Ansar Allah (the Houthis), Saudi Arabia's vulnerability, oil markets, and the possibility of a wider global economic crisis. From there, we discuss what Azal describes as the "end of empire," including the limits of American military power, the credibility of U.S. alliances and international agreements, the changing position of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and the growing importance of China, Russia, Iran, India, and BRICS in an increasingly multipolar world. Azal also weighs in on the Trump administration, the U.S. political system and what he sees as a deeper crisis of American plutocracy, the Democratic Party and the possibility of DSA figures being absorbed into the political establishment, as well as the question of whether political outsiders can actually transform the system they enter. The discussion also turns to Israel, Gaza, Zionism, the political future of Israel, Europe's response to the Middle East crisis, and the growing backlash against Israeli policy. Azal discusses his own experiences with attacks and accusations surrounding his criticism of Israel and introduces the concept of "parapolitical drift," his term for the way political narratives can migrate between otherwise disconnected or even opposing factions and become increasingly detached from their original context. We also discuss the Western media's coverage of the Iran war, the apparent information blackout surrounding the conflict, Telegram and X as alternative sources of information, propaganda, narrative manufacture, imperial hubris, and what a post-American Middle East might look like. Topics include Iran, Israel, Gaza, the Iran War, U.S. foreign policy, American empire, imperialism, fifth generation warfare, drones, missiles, artificial intelligence, Ansar Allah, the Houthis, Yemen, Bab al-Mandab, Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia, oil prices, BRICS, China, Russia, India, Trump, American politics, Zionism, multipolarity, information warfare, propaganda, parapolitical drift, Sufism, Islamic esotericism, and the future of the Middle East.
- 1 weeks ago1h 11m
Deep Cover, Shallow Graves w/ Ralph Pezullo
👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, Ralph Pezullo joins us to discuss Tosh Plumlee’s Deep Cover, Shallow Graves, a controversial account of Cold War covert operations, CIA activities, anti-Castro networks, and the events surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. We explore Plumlee’s claimed experiences as a covert pilot and intelligence operative, his work around Cuba, the Bay of Pigs and Operation Mongoose, and the shadowy network of intelligence officers, Cuban exiles, organized crime figures, and other operatives surrounding these operations. Among the book’s most extraordinary claims is Plumlee’s account of attending the secretive School of Illusionary Warfare in Nags Head, North Carolina, where he says he encountered a young Lee Harvey Oswald and received training in psychological operations, infiltration, propaganda, communications, and other forms of covert warfare. We discuss the significance of Plumlee’s account, the challenges of evaluating firsthand testimony about clandestine operations, and the larger questions the book raises about intelligence, compartmentalization, and the hidden history of the Cold War. What can Plumlee’s story tell us about the world of covert operations that existed behind the public events of the Cold War, and how should we approach extraordinary claims about some of the most consequential events in American history?
- 2 weeks ago1h 27m
Big Tech Oligarchs Under Pressure w/ Nat Wilson Turner
👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael is joined by writer and commentator Nat Wilson Turner to discuss his article “Coffee Break: Stressed Oligarchs at Meta, OpenAI, and the Ellison Empire” and the growing pressures facing some of America’s most powerful tech and media billionaires. We dig into Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for artificial intelligence, Meta’s increasingly aggressive AI ambitions, and the company’s enormous legal exposure over allegations that its platforms deliberately hooked young users and contributed to harm to children. We examine the explosive internal evidence cited in the lawsuits, including research into the long-term retention of young users and the infamous “hook ’em young” comment. We then turn to Sam Altman and OpenAI, including the company’s staggering computing commitments, executive departures, mounting financial pressures, uncertain IPO prospects, and the broader question of whether the AI boom is actually a sustainable business model or an increasingly precarious bubble. From there, we explore the potentially enormous consequences for Oracle and Larry Ellison if OpenAI falters; and how that connects to the Ellison family’s rapidly expanding media ambitions. Finally, we discuss David Ellison’s controversial attempt to merge Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, the antitrust battle with California and other state attorneys general, his threat to move Paramount out of Hollywood, and what the merger could mean for the future of the entertainment industry. Along the way, we get into Big Tech, corporate monopolies, AI hype, oligarchic power, Hollywood’s political economy, media consolidation, and the increasingly strange intersection of Silicon Valley, Washington, and the culture wars.
- 3 weeks ago1h 16m
The Great Pretense: A Tour Through the Boneyard of the CIA's War for Drugs w/ Bill Conroy
👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, returning guest Bill Conroy, investigative journalist and author of The Great Pretense: A Tour Through the Boneyard of the CIA’s War for Drugs, joins us for a deep dive into the dark, complicated, and often obscured history of the War on Drugs. Conroy takes us through some of the most disturbing episodes surrounding U.S. drug-war policy and the national security state, including the infamous Ciudad Juárez “House of Death” scandal, the Mayan Jaguar operation, allegations surrounding the murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, and the reporting of journalist Gary Webb on the CIA, the Contras, and the crack cocaine epidemic. We discuss what these cases reveal about the murky relationships between intelligence agencies, law enforcement, informants, drug traffickers, and covert operations. But this conversation goes beyond individual scandals. Why has the War on Drugs proven so difficult, arguably impossible, to win? What happens when drug use is treated primarily as a criminal problem rather than a public-health issue? And what kind of institutional feedback loop emerges when agencies such as the DEA have bureaucratic and political incentives tied to the continuation of the drug war itself? Conroy also discusses the political ramifications of Donald Trump’s targeting of Mexico and the broader tendency to blame foreign countries and drug cartels for problems deeply connected to U.S. policy and demand. Along the way, we examine the graveyard of whistleblowers, informants, and journalists left behind by the drug war and the national-security apparatus surrounding it. Perhaps most importantly, we tackle the difficult line between conspiracy theory and conspiracy fact. When does skepticism toward official narratives become unfounded conspiracy thinking; and when does the historical record demonstrate that supposedly “conspiratorial” claims were actually true? Why has much of the mainstream media failed to seriously grapple with the complex, disturbing history of the War on Drugs? This is a wide-ranging conversation about drugs, intelligence agencies, law enforcement, journalism, whistleblowing, Mexico, Gary Webb, Kiki Camarena, the CIA, the DEA, and the institutional interests that can keep a failed war going long after its failures have become apparent. This is one of the episode's J.G. is proudest of to date!
- 3 weeks ago39 min
Did America Lose the Iran War? Robert Kagan’s Stunning Admission w/ Kyle Anzalone
👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, returning guest Kyle Anzalone, a longtime contributor to Antiwar.com and host of The Kyle Anzalone Show, joins J.G. Michael to examine the aftermath of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and the remarkable recent commentary of prominent interventionist and Project for the New American Century (PNAC) co-founder Robert Kagan. In a recent Atlantic article, Kagan argues that the failed war has fundamentally reconfigured the Middle East, with Iran emerging as the dominant regional power and gaining enormous leverage through its control of the Strait of Hormuz. But does Kagan’s assessment represent a genuine reconsideration of interventionism—or an attempt to reshape the narrative surrounding a war he now acknowledges has failed? Kyle Anzalone breaks down Kagan’s evolving position on Iran, his history of advocating sanctions and regime change rather than direct invasion, and why Kagan’s prediction that war with Iran would go badly is complicated by his longstanding advocacy for U.S. pressure against the Islamic Republic. The discussion also examines Kagan’s recent admission that American intervention can produce blowback, his controversial contention that the Iraq War was ultimately a mistake of execution rather than necessarily of strategy, and his argument that the United States cannot simply disengage from the world without creating greater instability. The conversation also looks at the Trump administration’s apparent shift from direct military strikes toward an intensified economic war against Iran vis-a-vis Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent's Operation Economic Outcast. Anzalone explains why China’s role in facilitating Iranian oil sales and financial transactions could make Washington’s sanctions strategy difficult to sustain and considers whether the new sanctions campaign is a genuine strategy or simply a way for the Trump administration to buy time and avoid admitting that the war has failed. Anzalone also discusses reports concerning damage to U.S. intelligence and surveillance infrastructure during the conflict and what that could mean for Washington’s ability to conduct military operations against Iran. The discussion explores Iran’s ability to retaliate against U.S. assets and Gulf allies, the strategic significance of the Strait of Hormuz, and the possibility that the war has left the United States militarily depleted at precisely the moment Washington is increasingly focused on China. Finally, Kyle Anzalone assesses Robert Kagan’s comments about Israel and the influence of pro-Israel forces on U.S. foreign policy, the limits of the interventionist worldview, and the increasingly dangerous possibility of another cycle of escalation—this time involving North Korea and Kim Jong-un. What does the Iran war reveal about the limits of American military power, the consequences of regime-change policy, and the future of U.S. foreign policy?
- 3 weeks ago1h 9m
REPLAY: The Israel Lobby and the Iran War w/ Ian Lustick and Eli Clifton
Hey everyone, Quick update regarding Parallax Views. Due to recent widespread backend analytics and reporting issues on Podbean, we are hitting pause on our regular schedule to let things stabilize. In the meantime, we are dropping a special replay of a favorite episode for you to enjoy. Thank you so much for your patience, your understanding, and your continued support while we sort through the tech hiccups behind the scenes. New episodes will be back on track shortly! Recorded 3-18-26 👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, I’m joined by journalist Eli Clifton and political scientist Ian S. Lustick to discuss their provocative The Nation article, “The Israeli Tail Wags the American Dog,” as well as their forthcoming book Israel’s Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power. We examine their central argument that recent U.S. policy—particularly the Trump administration’s war with Iran—cannot be fully understood through traditional national interest frameworks but instead reflects the outsized influence of Israel’s government and its allies within the United States. The conversation explores how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has historically sought to shape U.S. Middle East policy, including his role in advocating for the Iraq War and the current war with Iran. We also delve into Lustick’s intellectual evolution on Israel-Palestine and the lobby question, offering a reflective opening to the discussion, before turning to key case studies like the Steven Rosen espionage affair and the broader ecosystem of lobbying, campaign finance, and elite influence networks. Clifton, known for his investigative work on money in politics and foreign policy, helps unpack how these forces operate in practice. Additionally, we address the role of Christian Zionism, discussing the Israel lobby without falling into antisemitism, and how this new book builds upon—and updates—the arguments made in The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer. All that and more in this wide-ranging conversation about power, influence, and the future of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
About Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
A podcast where politics, history, and culture are examined from perspectives you may not have considered before. Call it a parallax view.
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