For today’s episode, Allen gets updated on US–Iran relations and the history and current status of the Iran nuclear deal with Scott Ritter, author of Dealbreaker: Donald Trump and the Unmaking of the Iran Nuclear Agreement. Scott Ritter is a former Marine intelligence officer who, as a chief inspector for the United Nations in Iraq […]
Split Show: US–Iran Relations and the Kavanaugh Hearings
It’s a split show today! The first segment features Allen’s conversation with Trita Parsi, co-founder of the National Iranian American Council. They discuss American-Iranian relations under the Trump administration. Next, we hear from Lisa Graves, former chief counsel for nominations for the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. She offers us up-to-date, on-the-ground observations from […]
Split Show: Iran’s Nuclear Program and Proxy War in Syria
Thursday host Allen Ruff speaks with investigative journalist Gareth Porter about Iran’s nuclear program, following the recent announcement that the United States would reimpose sanctions on Iran. Mr. Porter covers national state security and he’s author of the title Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare (2014). Then, Allen speaks with retired labor […]
Contextualizing the Crisis in Syria
Host Allen Ruff speaks with Jennifer Loewenstein, a freelance journalist and activist and faculty in Penn State University’s Department of Middle East Studies. Loewenstein has been covering conflicts in the Middle East for approaching thirty years, and her work has appeared in academic journals such as the Journal of Palestine Studies and popular outlets like CounterPunch Magazine and Palestine Chronicle. In the […]
Wisconsin Iranian Film Festival Funding Shortfall
The first Wisconsin Iranian Film Festival, held a year ago, was a huge success. So much so, that organizer Hamidreza Nassiri scheduled a follow up for February of 2018. He lined up seven feature films and seven shorts from Iranian directors and once again, the Madison audience responded with enthusiasm. The only problem was, the […]
H Bruce Franklin on the Iran nuclear deal
How do we begin the understand the recent deal with Iran to curtail its nuclear program? Is there some deeper context for understanding the role of the U.S., as the major holder of nuclear weapons as we approach the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Today host Allen Ruff discussed this with cultural critic, historian and anti-war activist H Bruce Franklin.