The former U.N. weapons inspector, who was scorned for saying there were no WMD in Iraq, speaks with Robert Scheer about American ignorance, the lies that led us to war, Iran’s nuclear program and more. Update:Transcript now available.
Jonathan Adelstein, one of five FCC commissioners, speaks with Truthdig about the battle to control America’s airwaves, the value of an open and fair Internet and his initial thoughts on the XM-Sirius merger.
The storied journalist speaks to Truthdig about his new book, “Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall and Catastrophic Legacy,” which offers fresh insight into the real force behind the Iraq debacle.
Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski (ret.), a veteran of the Pentagon with firsthand experience of the administration’s cherry-picking of intelligence, reveals why Bush thinks he can win a war with Iran, why few politicians are serious about withdrawal and why “when they call Iraq a success, they mean it.”
Update: Full transcript added
The former Air America CEO and music mogul discusses the significance of the Dixie Chicks’ Grammy win; Al Gore’s prospects for 2008; and the liberals’ responsibility to “blow the wind” of change.
Robert Scheer and James Harris speak with Chris Hedges, the veteran journalist and author of the new book “American Fascists,” about the threat of the radical Christian movement, and about how getting it right on Iraq ended his relationship with The New York Times.
Annie Nelson, wife of Willie Nelson and co-chairperson of the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, speaks to Truthdig about stomaching the State of the Union and the myth that alternative fuels are years away.
When Susan McDougal refused to implicate the Clintons in the Whitewater fiasco, she was thrown in prison, left alone with murderers and her own stubborn dignity. Savaged by Republicans and abandoned by Democrats, she would emerge from that dark chapter of American history a hero.
UPDATE: Full transcript now available.
In a Truthdig interview, the author of “Born on the Fourth of July” argues that Americans this week have a patriotic and generation-defining duty to speak out against Bush’s proposal to escalate the war in Iraq with more U.S. troops.
“If you love this country, you’re going to step over that line that you’ve not stepped over before. You’re going to find the courage to do that.”
Internationally renowned diplomat, peace activist and scholar Stanley Sheinbaum (above) discusses Jimmy Carter’s controversial new book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
Twenty-eight years ago today, 31-year-old Dennis Kucinich, then the youngest-ever mayor of a major American city, famously pushed Cleveland into economic default rather than capitulate to the demands of a group of bankers eager to gobble up the city’s power plant. Today, as Kucinich kicks off his White House bid, he speaks to Truthdig about a stand of integrity that nearly cost him his political career, but which has striking relevance in the current political landscape—where such integrity seems in short supply.
The six-term Ohio congressman and 2004 presidential candidate, who has been one of Congress’ most vocal and longstanding opponents of the Iraq war, tells Truthdig why he again has his sights set on the Oval Office.
Investigative reporter Reese Erlich, just back from a tour of the Middle East, tells Truthdig that the U.S. efforts to promote democracy in that part of the world are beset by religious fundamentalists on one side and unabashed kleptocrats on the other.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) criticizes the leadership of his own party for announcing Tuesday that it would support a massive increase in spending for the Iraq war.
In a Truthdig interview, the Democratic congressman argues that the Pentagon’s new spending proposal would not only escalate the Iraq war but could be used to fund an attack on Iran.
Nikki Keddie, one of the nation’s leading Middle East scholars, argues that despite Western stereotypes, women in many Middle Eastern countries are making great strides in terms of civil liberties and legal rights. But America’s disastrous occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan threaten to undo much of the progress.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich speaks with Truthdig about the state of healthcare in America, his bill with Rep. John Conyers to provide universal coverage and why progress is inevitable: “It is going to happen, because there is an awareness that government has failed the American people in this regard, and it’s an economic issue, it’s a moral issue and it’s central to who we are as a nation.”
Exclusive: For the first time, the Ohio congressman describes his behind-the-scenes struggle with the party to overcome corporate influence and promote healthcare reform.
Iconic author and historian Gore Vidal speaks with Robert Scheer about his new memoir, “Point to Point Navigation,” and the events that shaped his life and his country, from war with Hitler to the “waking nightmare” of Iraq.
In a Truthdig interview, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) reacts to Rep. John Murtha’s failed bid for House majority leader, and explains why cutting off funding for the Iraq war is the only way to truly protect American troops.
In an original Truthdig interview, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), the potential next chair of a key national security subcommittee, calls for congressional hearings into how and why America invaded Iraq, and demands “accountability” for those who led America into a “war based on lies.”
Kucinich: “Rumsfeld may no longer be secretary of defense, but he made decisions based on lies that took people to their deaths. He has to be held accountable—secretary or not.”
Truthdig Editor Robert Scheer does a career-spanning interview with the “blue-collar liberal” who helped rule California politics as both a congressman and leader of the state legislature over the last 30 years.
Why did Henry Luce, titan of 20th-century journalism, bury the legacy of his boyhood friend and rival, Time magazine co-founder Briton Hadden? That’s the provocative and never-before-told story at the heart of the new book “The Man Time Forgot.” Truthdig interviews its author, Isaiah Wilner. (Above: Hadden, left, and Luce, center, in 1925.)
The life of political scientist Bernard Fall, the first soldier-scholar to predict an inglorious end for America in Vietnam, is remembered in a new biography by his widow. She speaks with Truthdig guest interviewer Sarah Stillman about the government’s lies—in Vietnam then, and in Iraq now.
The authors of the new book “Torture Taxi: On the Trail of the CIAs Rendition Flights” tell Truthdig guest interviewer Onnesha Roychoudhuri how they pieced together the first comprehensive look at the largest covert CIA operation since the Cold War—a program run not only by shadowy government contractors in the darkest corners of Afghanistan, but also by unassuming America family lawyers in places like Dedham, Mass.
Former Nixon aide John Dean and former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, who were foes during the early stages of the Nixon impeachment hearings in 1973, sound off in separate interviews on the prospects of impeaching President Bush. (Dean and Holtzman will debate the topic at UCLA on Sept. 13 at a Truthdig/The Nation Institute-sponsored event.)