116 Comments
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Fresh Lunacy's avatar

I hope that by becoming a patron Matt will never again be forced at gunpoint to read out an ad for pet food

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CoryP's avatar

Yay no advertisements!!

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CoryP's avatar

People are being so picky and this has been up for less than a day lol

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Pretty Cripple's avatar

Can't wait to see you both back on video. This was a great interview. Thanks for being critical of policies under Obama and Clinton. As a Dem, it is important not to sit back pretend all is good and well. I had a recent convo with a friend who called me a 'racist' because I criticized some of Obama's policies. Sweet Jesus, really? I am so sick and tired of too many convos based around race. This is a sad witch hunt which no doubt will one day back fire.

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mvonballmo's avatar

I know you're just getting started, but you've released a podcast to which I subscribed and have downloaded via RSS. The first episode is 74 minutes, which seemed complete, but it ended pretty abruptly, telling me to "go to SubStack and subscribe" to hear the rest of the interview with Daniel Ellsberg.

It's odd because I thought I _was_ listening to the subscriber version. Can you give us some more guidance here, please?

Also, the first segments definitely either need video or need more complete show-notes with the images and videos that you're cackling at. Matt's comparison to Lloyd Bridges's character from Hot Shots! was perfect, but I was dying to see the clip I only got to listen to.

Audio quality was good and the part of the interview I heard was excellent.

Thanks!

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KT's avatar

nice to see the substack comments section is just as bad as yt. I AM ALL IN!!!! LOL

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Red Brown's avatar

Glad to see you both back in action. With respect, the accounting you gave on the show for parting ways with Rolling Stone was amusing but not remotely satisfying. I don't understand why this issue would not be spoken to directly, when it is self-evidently an odd thing to leave unexplained in the current media landscape, clearly relevant to all the very current and virulent attacks on independent media (Matt being notoriously one of the specific targets of these attacks), and given the abruptness of the move from an at least historically countercultural magazine that on its face would want you to stay (although there were signs over the last several shows that the move was coming).

At this point, "We're not telling you, leave us alone", even cutely, is sort of a wincer (or am I that obtuse and the Syria stuff was deadly serious?). I'd implore you guys to be a little more forthcoming to your loyal fans, even if it's just to say something to the effect of either (1) "Nothing happened, we just decided to go our own way," or (2) "We can't tell you right now what happened, or don't want to, for reasons we might be able or want to explain more fully later." Even if in the long run I'd still wonder about (2), at least I'd be able to think to myself for the time being, with a little more confidence, "Clearly something happened. They don't want to talk about it. There could be reasons for this result that do not rise to the level of newsworthiness and have nothing to do with whether Rolling Stone expelled them for political reasons. Ok, fine."

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Shawn's avatar

Matt would probably like to not burn all of his bridges he has built over his long career by fulfilling your "need to know" why they aren't at RS anymore.

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Red Brown's avatar

That's possible but you're speculating (unless you're some kind of insider dropping hints). In any case it's not just my own personal need to know. There is a principle at stake and (to follow your metaphor) other bridges to be burnt. If the primary or merely a significant reason that the podcast moved is newsworthy (which it would be if RS effectively kicked Useful Idiots to the curb for political reasons) then the fact that there could also be compelling private reasons that make it a difficult situation for the hosts themselves to speak to publicly has to yield to that first fact at least to a degree. In that case, it's a harder sell for a clearly independent, self-determining media organ of extreme quality not to address the issue at all except by (even humorous) innuendo. There is a clear parallel here that leaps to mind of Glenn Greenwald's recent exit from the Intercept that informed, respectful media "consumers" are entitled to inquire into, to ascertain whether the situation is materially the same or is an instance of something less important, and get a satisfactory answer, even if the hosts might not choose to handle it in the same vocal way that Greenwald did. Trust is at a premium these days, needless to say, and Matt and Katy are standard-bearers in this respect.

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Kateinhi's avatar

It was”political” as they said. If you listened or read any Rolling Stone lately, they’ve followed in the foot marks of NPR and Democracy Now. $$

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Rob D's avatar

Love you guys but need the video when where how do you get it I already subscribed

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Emir Krupič's avatar

I don't get why so many people can't find "the video", if you subscribed then it should be there as the top most post on the page or here https://usefulidiots.substack.com/p/daniel-ellsberg-on-the-pentagon-papers You don't have to pay, the paid cpmtent will be extra interview chatting and talk, which is the usual business model so that the main ep eachweek is accessible to everyone. even poor people like me that live in an ex-commie country in the former Soviet Union and can't afford to contribute!

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Indie's avatar

Video will be out on the YouTube channel soon, I'm sure...

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DazyDaisy's avatar

I need to watch it now...for the cows.

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Wolf's avatar

Where's the video?

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Emir Krupič's avatar

(Sorry had to delete the original post, too many typos,, haha)

Ironic. what Daniel did was essentially leak about the lies of a war that in the end came to nought. Much like today's wars Assange leaked. Except many more were wiped out, 3.8 million in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia - fighting some mythical red threat domino theory. Fat lot of good that did, the communists are still in power there, hah

.Nothing's changed., except the western countries have become more "Soviet" in certain draconian aspects like the totalitarian regimes they used to de-cry.

But Assange is being treated far worse than the "evil empire" Soviets treated dissdent Sakharov. Both high profile. America's gov is more draconianin now than the Brezhnev gov, that's some irony....although a lot of far less high profile Ukrainian dissidents where still treated as badly as Assange, or even far worse. (executed) Still, Brezhnev regime gives Sakharov a holiday home detention in Gorky. Assange gets actrual jail! ........one "evil empire" gone, the supposed good guys become that very thing!

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Lee's avatar

Budgeted for full Taibbi sub, & now monthly for UI... MUCH prefer video; eager to see! Thank you❣️

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Herschel Sterling's avatar

be nice everybody. give them 5 minutes f sake

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robert's avatar

Every HS senior should be required to read Secrets and especially Doomsday Machine. One of the points in the latter is that the authority to fire nuclear weapons is not limited to the President -- it was delegated down to base commanders by Eisenhower.

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Emir Krupič's avatar

Forget about "unchained" or "unleashed" as a suffix word. Seeing as Matt knows a bit of rusky, why not - Useful Idiots : SVOBODNIYE!!! (it means "freedom" - svoboda, but in the correct tense or w/e for this phrase).

I had to post it here 'cos I couldn't post it in the relevant new ep of the interview with Jesse and Kate as I am a poor bastard who lives in an ex-commie country at war with Russia and cannot afford to be a paying subsciber. We losty our home in the war zone to the separatists/Russians. Rachel Madcow & the blob/necon nutters thinks 'murrica has problems with Russia, hah, small beans, trivial. Come to Ukraine, we have REAL problems with Tsar Putins Russia! :(

Slava Ukrainiy!

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Zach Morgenstern's avatar

Is it just a problem with my apple podcasts app that when I search I still just get the Rolling Stone useful idiots?

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Svarog63's avatar

Ok, I just $ub$cribed. So, where's the rest of the Ellsberg interview?

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Bethany Jones's avatar

That’s my question too!!

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