Failed State Update

Regular listeners of Failed State Update are in for a real treat. Our guest, Alfred W. McCoy, is an American historian and educator. Currently the Fred Harvey Harrington Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he specializes in the history of the Philippines, foreign policy of the United States, European colonization of Southeast Asia, the illegal drug trade, and CIA covert operations. His most recent book is To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change. And some more big news: Beginning this episode, we are changing up the format. The show now features two hosts, Joseph L. Flatley, the founder and editor of Failed State Update, and J.G. Michael, host of the Parallax Views podcast. We hope you enjoy the show, and feel free to tweet at us if you feel that we've made a terrible mistake. Alfred McCoy's latest book, To Govern the Globe: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1742-to-govern-the-globe J.G.'s other podcast, Parallax Views: https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/ J.G. Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ViewsParallax Failed State Update on Twitter: https://twitter.com/failedstatenews Failed State Update daily news website: https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/

The United States is failing fast, taking many of its most storied institutions with it. As a child of the former Soviet Union, occult artist @AnimaNoira has seen this all before. Watch us discuss magick and decline live tonight! Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glqt06mGrco Sign up for the Failed State Update Newsletter: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnimaNoira Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anima.noira/ website: https://animanoira.com/

Oki is a Canadian documentarian with a keen eye for unusual subject matter. We spoke to him back in January when he infiltrated a cabal of conspiracy theorists who use hypnosis to "prove" that there is a secret space program operating throughout the universe. His latest doc, The King of Stolen Valor, is a must-see. It is the story of Jonathan "Jack" Idema, a former U.S. Army non-commissioned officer who was found guilty of running a private prison in Afghanistan and torturing Afghan citizens. Idema was posing as a US government-sponsored special forces officer at the time. The US government claims no knowledge of his operations. After spending three years in an Afghan prison, he traveled to Mexico, where he died of AIDS in 2012. Oki's latest doc, The King of Stolen Valor is on YouTube. Oki on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OOHKAYEYE Oki's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OkiWeird/  Failed State Update newsletter: http://lennyflatley.substack.com/

Ravi lives in Silicon Valley, he's a former Google employee, and he’s a Targeted Individual. That is, he believes he has been the subject of high-tech surveillance and harassment. Whatever the cause of the trauma he has experienced, the trauma is very real. “I felt like committing a crime” at one point, he says. “I felt like avenging what happened to me.” But after learning that there is a whole community of people like him out there, he doesn’t feel so alone anymore. Besides, to do something drastic, he says, would be “in vain.” Today’s episode of Failed State Update is a conversation between Ravi and Joseph L. Flatley. Be sure to check out our feature article on the Targeted Individual phenomenon called “The Nightmare of Targeted Individuals in the Age of Paranoia” on the Failed State Update website. Failed State Update on Twitter: https://twitter.com/failedstatenews Failed State Update on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg8ztAapPSlqeHcEKeQAdmA

Long-time friend of the show Lucien Greaves will be on FSU tonight. What will be talking about? The arson at the Satanic Temple's HQ? Probably. Sovereign Citizen death threats? Youbetcha. Satanic Panic? That is to be expected. Lucien Greaves on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucienGreaves Failed State Update on Twitter: https://twitter.com/failedstatenews Check out Failed State Update, the website: http://failedstateupdate.com Sign up for the newsletter: http://lennyflatley.substack.com

We keep hoping that the Trump administration will become old news, but the stories of its incompetence and corruption keep coming. One of our favorites is Seven Days in January, a new podcast about Mark Burnett and Elizabeth Koch's failed attempt to turn the Presidential Inauguration into a reality series for Amazon Studios. According to our guests, the deal "evaporated as quickly as it appeared, leaving ominous questions to linger around F.T.C. oversight of Amazon’s $8.5 billion MGM Studios acquisition and their knowledge of 20 hours of unaired footage." A new investigative journalism outlet called The Knows got its hand on the audio, and it's airing it on its new podcast for the first time. For more info, check out the website: https://www.theknows.net/ About the guests Rocco Castoro is the editor-in-chief of The Knows and used to be EIC of VICE Media, gaining awards and accolades while peeking behind the curtain of the news and media industry. After he resigned at an ethics conference he was given a five-year non-compete unheard of in media. His experiences forced him to develop unorthodox, yet effective reporting methods. Emily Molli is The Knows’s special projects editor. She started as a wire reporter and photojournalist but quickly adapted to fill various roles in the evolving digital media industry. After dropping out of college to cover the 2016 presidential election, she covered social movements across the U.S., Europe, and Hong Kong. Her visual work has been featured by major news agencies, outlets, and networks as well as in documentaries & feature films. Failed State Update website: https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/ Sign up for the Failed State Update newsletter: http://lennyflatley.substack.com/  Follow us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/failedstatenews  And be sure to check out J.G. Michaels' other podcast, Parallax Views: https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/

Jack Brewer is a freelance writer with a longtime interest in the UFO genre. He maintains the blog "The UFO Trail," where he posts credible info on incredible topics. Brewer is the author of "The Greys Have Been Framed: Exploitation in the UFO Community," in which he explores how public perception of the UFO phenomenon has been distorted by the intelligence community and suspect researchers. Neither a debunker nor a believer, Brewer integrates objectivity and critical thinking into his writing while keeping an open mind. His latest book is called "Wayward Sons: NICAP and the IC." NICAP is one of the first UFO investigation organizations, and IC stands for "intelligence community." Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlSQcUGK7hQ Listen ad-free through Substack or Patreon Failed State Update on Twitter: https://twitter.com/failedstatenews Failed State Update website: https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/

Douglas P. Horne is a former staffer for the Assassination Records Review Board and the author of several books, including Inside the Assassination Records Review Board. In this episode of Failed State Update, J.G. and Douglas discuss Operation Northwoods, the Pentagon's (very real) plan to down aircraft, blow up ships, or possibly kill American civilians as a pretext for an invasion of Cuba. President Kennedy, wisely, thought the whole thing was nuts and prevented it from happening. Northwoods is a bit of a history lesson, but it's an important one. It exemplifies the lengths that the military may go in order to get its way. And as conspiracies go, it's as bizarre as anything Alex Jones has cooked up. And it's all real. NEW! Episode transcript: https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/podcasts/operation-northwoods-false-flags-in-the-pentagon-transcript J.G.'s other podcast, Parallax Views: https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/ Failed State Update newsletter: http://lennyflatley.substack.com/ The DIY Predator Catchers of Erie, Pennsylvania (article mentioned in the intro): https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/reports/diy-predator-catchers-erie-pennsylvania

Wayne Madsen is an investigative journalist, the author of twenty-one books, and the publisher of The Wayne Madsen Report. His latest book is The Rise of the Fascist Fourth Reich: The Era of Trumpism and the New Far-Right. Stories about Wayne Madsen on Failed State Update: "Did Wayne Madsen uncover a 2016 ‘Stop the Steal’ Plot?" "Wayne Madsen on the New Fourth Reich" Make sure you check out J.G.'s other podcast, Parallax Views. 

What do UFOs, the CIA, the conflict in Ukraine, and the Philadelphia Experiment have in common? Tune in to find out! Jack Brewer writes "The UFO Trail", a blog dedicated to publishing credible info on incredible topics. Brewer's research interests include the UFO subculture, the intelligence community, and related social dynamics, and he's here to discuss all these topics as well as his new book Wayward Sons: NICAP and the IC. NEW! INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT: https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/podcasts/cia-fbi-ufo-nicap-jack-brewer Jack's Blog, The UFO Trail: http://ufotrail.blogspot.com/ Jack Brewer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheUFOTrail Failed State Update News: https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/ Failed State Update on Twitter: https://twitter.com/failedstatenews JG Michael/Parallax Views on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ViewsParallax

In this episode of Failed State Update, Joseph L. "Lenny" Flatley goes toe-to-toe with the hosts of the Boys' Bible Study podcast. The Bible Boys, as we like to call them, wade deep into the murky waters of the Christian pop culture industry, reviewing the weirdest and most interesting independently produced films with a certain message. Since that message often includes far-right and Christian nationalist propaganda, their reviews should be of particular interest to Failed State Update listeners. Besides, the podcast is really, really fun. For the Bible Boys' second appearance on Failed State Update we discuss the film The Finders by conspiracy theorist auteur/New Jersey's own Tracy Lucca. You might recall that in real life, The Finders was an alternative lifestyle commune that got sucked into the satanic panic in the 1980s. The group no longer exists, but its memory is kept alive by a whole generation of conspiracy theorists who claim that the community was actually a cult that engaged in kidnapping and the ritual abuse of children for the CIA. The whole thing is absurd. It's also the mythology behind Lucca's film. Here is some background in case you're curious about the real, actual Finders, as opposed to the myth: Failed State Update: "From the Finders to QAnon": https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/features/finders-qanon-pizzagate-cia-mind-control-cult-conspiracy-theory Failed State Update: "Children of the Finders Speak!" https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/features/finders-qanon-pizzagate-cia-mind-control-cult-conspiracy-theory And of course, make sure you check out Boys' Bible Study: https://boysbiblestudy.libsyn.com/

You're in for a treat! For this edition of Failed State Update: The Podcast, J.G. Michael interviews author and extremism expert Spencer Sunshine on the Oath Keepers' role in January 6, the militia movement in general, and what happens when antisemites infiltrate leftist politics. Also, Joseph L. Flatley tells you about his recent reporting on sovereign citizens (and Satanists), and JG tells you what you can find on his other podcast, Parallax Views. Failed State Update: The Website: https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/ Spencer Sunshine on Twitter: https://twitter.com/transform6789 JG Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ViewsParallax Failed State Update on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennyflatley

Is the United States collapsing, or is all of civilization collapsing? To explore that question we bring you John Zerzan, an anarchist and primitivist author whose work has been compared to Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, of all people. His books offer an alternative vision of history that focuses on the destructive nature of technology. And more importantly — and this is why we spoke to him — his work suggests a possible future free of the alienation and control of capitalism-run-amok. His most recent book is When We Are Human: Notes from the Age of Pandemics (Feral House).  While you're here, be sure to check out the new Failed State Update website: https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/ And sign up for the free newsletter: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/

Anthony Russo is the author of Dragged Into the Light: Truthers, Reptilians, Super Soldiers, and Death Inside an Online Cult, and for the next fifty-three minutes we'll discuss his book about Sherry Shriner, an online cult leader in rural Ohio who preached a bizarre combination of reptilian conspiracies, orgone energy pseudoscience, and discredited "bible code" theories. She briefly made headlines in 2017 when one of her followers was murdered by another former follower. Shriner died earlier this year, at the age of 45. Her beliefs were all over the place, but she must have had something going for her, because to this day people are still finding meaning in her BlogTalk Radio ramblings and bizarre YouTube videos. Anthony Russo on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bytonyrusso?lang=en Anthony Russon on Substack: https://tonyrusso.substack.com/

Havana Syndrome is back in the news. On the one hand, it's clearly a psychogenic illness that's being misdiagnosed as the result of commie death rays. On the other hand, by treating it as an attack by America's enemies, politicians can use it to help further their foreign policy objectives. Which side do you think the media is going to take? Robert E. Bartholomew is a native New Yorker who teaches history at Botany College in Auckland, New Zealand. His many books include The Martians Have Landed! A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes and Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior. Most relevant to this episode, he is the co-author of Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria with Robert W. Baloh. Check out the Havana Syndrome article in Failed State Update newsletter: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/p/havana-affair My second guest, Robert Skvarla is a conspiracy researcher, Assistant Editor at Diabolique Magazine, and the creator of the website Mondo Americana. Follow him on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/RobertSkvarla And be sure to check out my story for The Outline, "Paranoid Delusions in the Police State," here: https://theoutline.com/post/995/targeted-individuals-paranoid-delusions-in-the-age-of-surveillance

REPOST: After decades of accusations and a weeks-long federal trial, R. Kelly has been found guilty of charges including sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, racketeering and sex trafficking that will put him in prison from 10 years to life. I figure now is as good a time as any to repost this interview with journalist Jim Derogatis, who did as much as anyone to put him in jail. For fifteen years, DeRogatis was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. It was while there that Jim and his colleague Abdon Pallasch became the first reporters to expose R. Kelly's sex trafficking cult. His book Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly both exposes what rich people get away with in this country and gives the reader a first-hand account of the work that investigative journalists do. I think it's one of the most important books of 2019. R. Kelly Found Guilty Of Racketeering And Sex Trafficking: https://www.npr.org/2021/09/27/1040528011/r-kelly-verdict-guilty-racketeering-sex-trafficking Jim DeRogatis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JimDeRogatis Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly: amzn.to/32x1MOP Music: "City of Crime" by Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd

The subject of political cults continues with Marley Clements, a writer, producer, and documentary filmmaker whose work includes Active Measures (2018) and QAnon: The Search for Q (2021). Her company Bunker Crew Media is responsible for the Kremlin File podcast. Kremlin File: https://pod.co/kremlin-file Erica Duggan on Lyndon LaRouche & the Mysterious Death of Her Son Jeremiah Duggan (Parallax Views podcast): https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/ep-62-erica-duggan-on-lyndon-larouche-the-mysterious-death-of-her-son-jeremiah-duggan/ Order my book NEW AGE GRIFTER: https://amzn.com/1627311106/ Sign up for my newsletter: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/ Website: https://www.lennyflatley.net Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennyflatley

Joshua Lilly is a former follower of Gabriel of Urantia, the subject of my book New Age Grifter. He’s also something of a “fan favorite,” so — due to popular demand — I am giving him an (almost 2 hours long!) episode of the FAILED STATE UPDATE podcast to tell us about his life and times in (and out of) a religious cult. This is a preview of an episode for FAILED STATE UPDATE newsletter subscribers. To subscribe for free, go to: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/ My book on the group, titled New Age Grifter: The True Story of Gabriel of Urantia and his Cosmic Family is available now on Amazon.

New Age Grifter is the story of Gabriel of Urantia, a self-proclaimed holy man who currently presides over a spiritual community (some call it a cult) in the desert of Southern Arizona. In a fenced-in compound, three generations of the Global Community Communications Alliance soak in Gabriel's teachings as they wait for the end of the world.  My book on the group, titled New Age Grifter: The True Story of Gabriel of Urantia and his Cosmic Family is out today. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/New-Age-Grifter-Gabriel-Urantia/dp/1627311106/ref=sr_1_2 Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/new-age-grifter-the-true-story-of-gabriel-of-urantia-and-his-cosmic-family/9781627311106 More info on my webpage: https://www.lennyflatley.net/ Be sure to sign up for my newsletter: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/ And follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennyflatley

Less than a week until my book NEW AGE GRIFTER: THE TRUE STORY OF GABRIEL OF URANTIA AND HIS COSMIC FAMILY is released, and to get you in the mood I'm sharing a conversation that I had today on, of all things, the YouTube Grassroots #YangGang Show. We discussed the book a little bit, as wells things like: "What is the difference between conspiracy theory and conspiracy fact?" "How is Alex Jones a con artist?" And my favorite, "Does poverty lead to cults and QAnon?" Check out the rest of the show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHMWtNR_GGg Pre-Order NEW AGE GRIFTER: https://amzn.com/1627311106/ Sign up for my newsletter: https://lennyflatley.substack.com/ Joseph L. Flatley website: https://www.lennyflatley.net Joseph L. Flatley twitter: https://twitter.com/lennyflatley