← Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar
4/13/26: Korea Flames Israel, Eric Swalwell Scandal, Norm Finkelstein On Iran War
01:07:49
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- [00:00]
Krystal Ball
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
- [00:05]
Anna Sinfield
When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands.
- [00:13]
Krystal Ball
I vowed I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this.
- [00:18]
Girlfriends Podcast Voice
He's going to get what he deserves.
- [00:20]
Saagar Enjeti
We always say that. Trust your girlfriends.
- [00:24]
Anna Sinfield
Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. How about you?
- [00:37]
Charlamagne Tha God
Peace to the planet. Charlamagne Tha God here. And listen. We are back. The Black Effect Podcast Festival is back in Atlanta on April 25th at Pullman Yard and the full lineup is nuts. We got the Grits and Age podcast, Deontay Kyle and Big Ice Cup Cat. We got Club 520 with Jeff Teague and the gang. Yeah, yeah, don't call me white girl. Mona will be there. Keep it positive, sweetie. With Crystal Renee. We got Reality with the King with Carlos King and yes, drink champs will be in the building. Plus, you know we gonna have a lot of guests, so you need to join us. And we got the Black Effect Marketplace, the Pitcher podcast and everything you expect from the Black Effect Podcast Festival. Tickets are on sale right now. Go get yours@blackffect.com podcast festival. Don't play yourself. Okay, pull up.
- [01:27]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
On paper, the three hosts of the Nick Dickenpole show are geniuses. We can explain how AI works data centers, but there are certain that we don't necessarily understand better version of Play
- [01:40]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
stupid games, win stupid prizes.
- [01:42]
Norman Finkelstein
Yes.
- [01:42]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
Which by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually. I thought it was. I got that wrong.
- [01:47]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
But hey, no one's perfect. We're pretty close though. Listen to the Nick Dick and Paul show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:56]
Saagar Enjeti
Hey guys, Sager and Krystal here.
- [01:58]
Krystal Ball
Independent media just played a truly massive role in this election and we are so excited about what that means for the future of this show.
- [02:05]
Saagar Enjeti
This is the only place where you can find honest perspect from the left and the right that simply does not exist anywhere else.
- [02:11]
Krystal Ball
So if that is something that's important to you, Please go to BreakingPoints.com, become a member today and you'll get access to our full shows unedited ad free and all put together for you every morning in your inbox.
- [02:22]
Saagar Enjeti
We need your help to build the future of independent news media and we hope to see you@breaking points.com turning now to Korea and to the Asian economies as I said at the end of our interview with Rory, something very interesting is happening in Asia. A full, basically diplomatic, Diplomatic break between Korea and Israel. Let's go and put this up here on the screen. Seemingly out of nowhere, the President of Korea, quote, tweeted a video which said IDF soldiers tortured a Palestinian kid and threw him off a roof. They call themselves the most moral army. The president, again, literally out of nowhere, just says, I need to look into whether this is true and if so, what measures have been taken. The forced comfort women issue that we are raising is in no different than the Jewish massacre or war killing. So for those who aren't aware, in Korean history, comfort women was a major issue and remains a major one for the Korean people. For Japanese treatment of Korean women and effective, like enslavement into sex slavery during the Second World War, it remains like one of the hottest issues between the two countries and has caused like, major, even diplomatic problems between them. But clearly they have a very raw wound from the Second World War and they're comparing the treatment and subjugation of Palestinians to how Israel is treating them. The question, though, is that this video is from 2024. So why now? I think we know why. Because their economy has just been decimated and the President of South Korea is using, again, one of the most like sensitive issues in South Korean society to try to turn the people against Israel on this moral ground. Okay, so how does the Israeli Foreign Ministry respond? Let's put this up here on the screen. The remarks by the President of Korea, including this trivialization of the massacre of Jews on the eve of a Holocaust remembrance in Israel, are unacceptable and warrant strong condemnation. President Lee, for some strange reason, chose to dig up a story from 2024 and to cite a fake account that falsely represented it as a current event. This account, remember, they're not denying any of this. Okay, let's say exactly this account is notorious for spreading anti Israeli disinformation and falsehood about Israel. The event discussed occurred during an operation against terrorists at a time when Israeli soldiers were facing direct and immediate threats to their lives. The event was thoroughly investigated and addressed two years ago. Yet we have not hear a single word from the President about the terrorists who were at the center of this event. Nor have we heard a word from the President regarding the recent Iranian and Hezbollah military attacks against terror or Israeli civilians. Mr. President, it is always better to check before reposting. Okay, so again, note.
- [05:06]
Krystal Ball
Seems like a confirmation of the veracity of the video.
- [05:09]
Saagar Enjeti
Right? But this is the. Why now? Why now? Well, Again, they're fed up. They can't do this to Trump yet. They may get there if the blockade happens, but with Israel, who they see is one of the precipitators of this conflict, they're like, oh, yeah, no, we're done with you and we're just gonna. And this is a radical shift. They've had relations for many years. It hasn't necessarily always been on the best terms, but you know, at the end of the day, Korea, they don't care that much about Israel. They're major US ally. So if a US wants them to cozy up to Israel, so be it. It is what it is. But now their entire population, remember what you think, we're a phone addicted society. They're very similar. They're all on social media. They have TikTok and all these other things in South Korea. So they've been watching the same Palestinian video. So they've got the population, but then you have this war which has plunged them into economic crises and chaos. Remember, right before all of this, Korea was about to dispatch its own special envoy. Let's put D4 up there on the screen. Their own special envoy appointed by their foreign minister directly to Iran to have bilateral talks with Iran. And basically, I mean, they didn't admit it, but I think they were just gonna pay the toll to get all of their oil out of the Straits of Hormuz. They didn't care at this point. Their economy is so deeply reliant. Well, similarly, again, they're furious with Israel for their role in this war and so they've actually ratcheted up this diplomatic incident. Let's put D3 up there on the screen. This is in response to Israel's response. It's disappointing that you don't even once reflect on the criticisms from people around the world who are suffering and struggling due to your relentless anti human rights and anti international law actions. When I am in pain, others feel that pain just as deeply. It's only natural to feel sorry if someone else is suffering because of my needs. It makes me deeply uncomfortable to watch this immense pain and national hardship suddenly befalling our innocent citizens out of like a bolt from the blue. For the sake of universal human rights and the national interests of the Republic of Korea, I must work harder to find things I can do. Israel cannot tolerate President Lee's remark that wartime killings equal Jewish massacre. I mean, this again is extraordinary stuff from the President of South Korea, a allied nation whose entire economy was thrown into full chaos. They were already exploring bilateral negotiations. But I think it shows a couple of things. The Palestinian issue is the one that they can easily reach for. They know that it's sympathetic for their population, their linking their own history. And it's also a deeply, not even not so subtle shot at the United States here. It's like we're not taking orders from you whenever it comes to our relationship here with Israel anymore, which I think is very fascinating to watch this.
- [07:49]
Krystal Ball
I think that's highly significant. There's two things here. Number one, I mean, it's worth noting that, of course, at the height of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, they had nothing to say, but obviously the entire population of the world effectively has turned against Israel because of what they have seen and the whole that was perpetrated there. So now that Israel has been directly involved in the Iran war, which is plunging the entire world into economic chaos, which is directly damaging dramatically the South Korean economy, now they can use the moral issue of what the way you treat Palestinians to also push back against Israel at a time when South Koreans are obviously suffering. So there's that. And then the other piece is the US Piece. The US has been shown to be relatively weak, weaker than expected. You know, we were humiliated in a lot of ways. And so the, you know, the threats from Trump and the fear of how he'll respond and that he'll have Israel's back, and you can't, you know, break from them because they're our ally and you need to be on board with them no matter what they do. Those threats are not as potent, especially, again, at a time when you have a genuine, like, national crisis in South Korea because of the energy crunch. So it's both a sign of just how furious they are with Israel and also a of comparative weakness from the
- [09:07]
Saagar Enjeti
US There's a couple of other elements to this, too. So the Gulf countries, remember South Korea because they've been under threat here from the North Koreans. They have a very robust and actually very good defense industry. So a lot of their arms and munitions have been backfilling a lot of the gaps of the US So what's happened is that a lot of these Gulf countries just reading this yesterday, has been going out and buying a bunch of South Korean weapons, missile interceptors. They have a pretty robust, you know, their own system, which, as I understand it, they're both. They're quite sophisticated and they're much cheaper, actually, than many, even US Systems. So Israel, though, maybe they were looking in the future to buy some South Korean weapons. I don't know if that's gonna happen. Now and you also see South Korea with a little bit of its own leverage. They're like, oh, you Gulf countries, you guys want our weapons? Well, maybe we're gonna have to cut some deals here on the side. All of this is just displacement of US Supremacy role in the region, this country. So I was just reading here, South Korea and Israel, they signed a free trade agreement like six years ago, right? So these are not with any real enmity. They have tech cooperation. Covid, you know, I was looking for Gaza. They urged a ceasefire and humanitarianism, but they were very balanced. Like they didn't, you know, outward condemnation. This is by far, you know, one of the bigger incidents. Another thing when we keep our eye on Asia, I spotted this. Nationwide protests in Japan just a couple days ago. This was on Wednesday. That were over 100 locations. Over 50 people actually took to the streets. It wasn't just about the Iran war, but some of it was. Let's take a listen.
- [10:37]
Krystal Ball
Protest just outside Japan's parliament. And there are thousands of people here. It's really rare to see a protest of this size in Tokyo. Protests were held across Japan in over 100 locations. They were planned to before Iran and the US agreed to a two week ceasefire. Many showed up anyway, though, fearing it won't last and that fighting could restart. The protesters here are also criticizing the Japanese Prime Minister, Sanai Tagaichi, and calling on her to step down.
- [11:11]
Saagar Enjeti
I mean, look, I think it's interesting, like she said, it's pretty rare. This was not just about Iran, it was also about their own constitution. So look, every nation has domestic politics. I'm not trying to say that it's all about this, but there are signs of interesting things. And the Japanese Prime Minister, she's in a tough spot. Their government also, I mean, they had all these budget problems. I've been reading a little bit about the first budget that they had, you know, some 11 year. It's very similar to our Congress, but they're having issues with that. But Iran remains a single problem. They had a call this morning, I was looking where, you know, they're urging diplomacy and reopening of the streets of Hormuz. Remember 70, almost 80% of their oil and South Korea very similarly. They also rely heavily on natural gas. And then they have the same problems whenever it comes to jet fuel. All of this, I think just demonstrates like the way that this war is breaking apart these alliances in Asia. And then it also opens the question about the naval blockade of the Straits of Hormuz. Are we going to board Chinese vessels. And if you're China, I mean, look, China's singular goal with Japan and South Korea has been to separate it from the United States. South Korea made its gamble during the Thaad situation, where China threatened economic boycott. And South Korea said, we gotta sit here and we gotta take the pain. We gotta keep these Thaad missiles here in battery and the radar, because at the end of the day, America's our guarantor of security. So even though we're gonna take a ton of pain, we gotta sit here and we gotta take it. Cause it's good for us in the long run. How have we repaid them? By destroying their economy. Same with Japan. I mean, for them, they're like, look, we have this alliance occupation and this painful history, but at the end of the day, like, we have a deep consumer relationship. We're very, very tight. China, their sole goal is to cleave off South Korea and Japan from the US Actually have them basically have a reverse relationship where they're like, look, we're not gonna attack you, but, you know, you get access to our consumer market. So it looks like a more appealing pitch than it was in the past. Now, I'm not saying this is gonna happen overnight, but all these policymakers, they have to consider their own national interest. And right now, we're not in their national interest. We're actively hurting their national interest. And it's showing up in all of these different ways.
- [13:17]
Krystal Ball
Yeah. And Israel is like an incredible world villain, as are we increasingly at this point. And let's put D6 up on, you know, Trita Parsi was talking about, from the Israeli perspective, what might happen or, you know, the way that Trump may approach negotiations moving forward. Netanyahu, we played for you last week, said the war's not over. They still are prepared to go back. They had this apparent coordinated leak to all three of the major Hebrew TV networks, saying that they're gearing up for renewed conflict with Iran. And so Trump is gonna face, you know, a real question. If he actually wants to end US Direct involvement in a hot war with Iran, he's either going to have to constrain Israel or he's going to have to make it very clear, Israel, you are on your own. And if they're on their own, they're really pretty screwed. I mean, already their interceptor stockpiles are down to double digits. They've been incredibly dependent on the US Navy to protect them as much as they have been protected. And obviously, the Iranian ability to penetrate those defenses and do damage, damage inside of Israel has increased the longer that the war has gone on. So on the one hand, Israel looks like it's very strong. You know, they've dominated Gaza, they're dominating the west bank, they're taking over a part of Lebanon. Although the Hezbollah resistance has been stronger than they thought, they finally got the US to do the war in Iran that they have long sought. But at the same time, the only reason, the only goodwill that they have in the world basically, is among boomers in the US and the President of the United States. We are the only thing that stands between them and having to actually live within their means and act like a real state, live within their borders, and come to some sort of an agreement with their neighbors, or they won't exist anymore. So it's a very tenuous moment for Israel. There's a New York Times piece this morning that's talking about how Israelis are not feeling like this Iran war has gone very well. They're looking at this. They're like, we've been living in bomb shelters. You know, there's certainly. We don't know exactly how much. There's certainly been significant damage within the country of. Of Israel, and what do we have to show for it? Iran is probably, if anything, more likely to pursue a nuclear weapon. Their missile stockpile remains intact. There's been some damage done to it, but nobody's under any illusion that they won't be able to build back better, I suppose. And so they're asking themselves, what was this all for? Which is why so much of the domestic pressure is going to be on Netanyahu to go back to war, which is something he wants to do, and very likely to drag us back in as he did before.
- [15:54]
Saagar Enjeti
I don't think it's out of the question. And it's clear to, I think, for the rest of the world, like this just came across. Let's talk about it a little bit. Prime Minister Netanyahu at a Cabinet meeting. He says, I spoke yesterday with Vice President Vance. He called me from his plane. He reported to me in detail, as this administration does every day. So I noted. I go. Netanyahu is openly just being like the vice president of the administration. Report to me in detail every day. So you and I, what are we focusing on? To the guy who literally was raised near the city of Philadelphia, he speaks fluent English. I think he knows what report to me in detail every day means. So a bunch of these. Zion, I pointed this out. A bunch of these Zionists are like, you idiot, they're in a war of Course they talk every day. I'm like, he didn't say talk, he said report to me in detail. What's the impression? He gives this language openly to the world and to Israel to say, I'm the dad, I'm in charge. He knows what he's doing. He didn't misspeak. I mean, look, let's give him credit. I think he chooses his words very carefully. He wants to humiliate the Vice President
- [16:58]
Krystal Ball
and the United States political actor who can give him that.
- [17:01]
Saagar Enjeti
He knows exactly what he's doing. Whenever he uses this type of language to say, and to say to his domestic audience, I'm still in charge. And just so you're all aware, his corruption trial miraculously was pushed two more months because of, because of security and national concerns. So that means we have two months before you has to restart the war. It doesn't mean that it can't come any earlier. But Korea, Japan, Australia, all the uk, France, I mean, it's not just. We're doing this about Asia just this morning, both, you know, the chief powers of NATO, military powers, Germany, Germany, France and the UK are all like, we have nothing to do with this. We want nothing to do with your blockade. This all needs to end right now. We are destroying all of our alliances. And it does appear as if we're doing it on behalf of Israel. They can wake up and they can read too. And they're like, like, this is bizarre. This is weird. Why are you doing this? Yeah, so we're shredding it and it's not necessary. All right, I'll take Korea any day of the week.
- [17:56]
Krystal Ball
And let's, let's put D8 up on the screen because this matters, maybe not in terms of the political leaders, but in terms of global opinion. And as you said, should be about this infant child that was murdered by Israel in Lebanon while she was attending her father funeral. And so, you know, these are the sorts of horrific, gut wrenching headlines that continue to come out because of the insanely barbaric actions of Israel. So you are really dependent on these countries perceiving it to be in their national interest to back you because you've lost the global public. And we're not the only country where there are, you know, people who have really hardened in their opinions against Israel, where the political landscape is really shifting. We're the most important one because of how much support we provide them. And of course, as the, you know, global former hegemon. But there are countries around the world where sentiment has hardened against Israel and continue to see these horrific headlines come out. And so, you know, any political leader, once they perceive it to be in their national interest to break from Israel as South Korea is, you know, is perceiving that to be in their interest right now as they deal with the economic fallout of the Iran war, They're going to do that because the population is already there.
- [19:16]
Saagar Enjeti
Yep, that's right. All right, let's get to Swalwall, shall we?
- [19:23]
Anna Sinfield
There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl.
- [19:30]
Saagar Enjeti
You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes.
- [19:33]
Anna Sinfield
And rule two, who never mess with her friends either.
- [19:37]
Saagar Enjeti
We always say that. Trust your girlfriends.
- [19:41]
Anna Sinfield
I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the Girlfriends.
- [19:44]
Krystal Ball
Oh, my God. This is the same man.
- [19:46]
Anna Sinfield
A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist.
- [19:51]
Krystal Ball
I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me?
- [19:55]
Anna Sinfield
The cops didn't seem to care, so they take matters into their own hands.
- [20:00]
Krystal Ball
I said, oh, hell no. I vowed I will be his last target.
- [20:04]
Girlfriends Podcast Voice
He's gonna get what he deserves.
- [20:09]
Anna Sinfield
Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [20:22]
Zo Spencer
I feel like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really start making money.
- [20:27]
Eating While Broke Podcast Host
It's financial literacy month, and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth, and building your future. This month hear from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up.
- [20:44]
Zo Spencer
If I'm outside with my parents and they're seeing all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like, what today? Now, Obviously, it's like 100%. They believe everything, but at first it was just like, you gotta go get a real job.
- [20:57]
Eating While Broke Podcast Guest
There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what I mean by fail is they don't have money to pay for food. They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes. Communities don't work unless there's money flowing through them.
- [21:12]
Eating While Broke Podcast Host
Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pocket.
- [21:21]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about, and they are experts at everything. Here at the Nick, Dick, and Pole show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Coogler did that, I think was so unique. Who's he? He's the writer, director.
- [21:39]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
Who do you think he is?
- [21:40]
Charlamagne Tha God
I don't know.
- [21:42]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
You meet the, like the president.
- [21:43]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
You think Canada has a president? You think China has a president? President Luz La Crusette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time.
- [21:53]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
What color?
- [21:53]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night.
- [21:57]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep, it was a good one. I like that saying.
- [22:03]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
It's an actual Polish saying.
- [22:05]
Norman Finkelstein
It is an actual Polish.
- [22:06]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
Better version of play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
- [22:09]
Eric Swalwell
Yes.
- [22:10]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
Which. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. Was I got that wrong.
- [22:15]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
Listen to the Nick Dick and poll show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [22:23]
Krystal Ball
So we did want to get a little bit of domestic politics in here with regard to California Democrat Eric Swalwell, who has now officially suspended his campaign for governor of California in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse and harassment, can put his Twitter statement here up on the screen. He says, in short, I am suspending my campaign for governor. To my family, staff, friends and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I've made in my past. I will fight the serious false allegations that have been made, but that's my fight, not a campaign's. Now, I believe less than a week ago, he was denying even any inappropriate behavior with staffers. This seems to be acknowledgement at least of that, but continued denial of the criminal outcome allegations that have been made against him. So let me go ahead and give you a little bit of the backstory here. So as you guys probably know, Eric Swalwell, he's a prominent member of the House Democratic Caucus, really has sort of come to prominence during the height of the Trump resistance. In Trump 1.0, he Close ally of leadership, had a lot of endorsements from high profile Democratic leaders to support him in his race for governor in California. Bunch of other candidates in that race, it's been kind of a mess. We haven't covered it too much, but they have this jungle primary situation because there were so many other Democrats in the race. There was a possibility that you ended up with two Republicans who were the highest vote getters who ended up going through to November. But Swalwell was one of the top Democratic contenders in that race before now suspending his campaign. Now, there have been rumors circulating on social media for a while that there was going to be some scandal that broke about him. And apparently there were a lot of rumors about him on Capitol Hill in general. Rumors of the last. Like he cheats on his wife routinely with young staffer type variety. Allegedly. Allegedly, yes. Although at that point it seems that he's basically acknowledged that. Anyway, what came out, though, in the past several days is actual allegations of rape. And we can. Let's go ahead and play a little bit of the woman who was making this particular allegation against Eric Swall while she was on CNN to tell her story.
- [24:37]
Swalwell Allegation Woman
I decided to ask him to meet
- [24:39]
Krystal Ball
me for a drink.
- [24:40]
Swalwell Allegation Woman
And I did this because I was so far removed from what had happened in 2019. I felt safe because I was established, I had a partner. I felt more secure that I could have a strictly professional relationship with this person. After that bar closed, we went to another. I went to the bathroom and. And I don't remember anything after that. You don't remember anything? I remember the next day, I can see flashes of that evening of him on top of me, me pushing him off, him grabbing me. It was a lot more aggressive. It was aggressive. Did you say no? Yes, I said no. I. In my flash that I can recall, I was pushing him off of me, saying no. And what did he do? He didn't stop. He didn't stop. And you woke up the next morning? I woke up the next morning naked, alone in his hotel room. I, for a moment didn't even know I was in his hotel room. That's how intoxicated I was, was. And I called my mom, the only person I could think that could help me.
- [26:05]
Krystal Ball
And so she alleges that something similar unfolded twice. Once when she was on his campaign or campaign OR official staff, 24 years old, and then once several years later in the incident that you heard her describing there. There's another woman who has come forward and can put this E4 CNN tear sheet up on the screen who describes a similar scenario of drinking with him, becoming so intoxicated, apparently, that she doesn't remember anything, and again wakes up in his hotel room. There are two other women who came forward with allegations where it started off as some sort of professional contact. Very soon it's, hey, let me have your Snapchat. Next thing you know, he's sending unsolicited pictures of his genitalia. So that is the sort of thing that is detailed in the CNN report. And also, if we put E3 up on the screen, I just wanna give a shout out, San Francisco Chronicle, who were the first to document the allegations of this ex staffer that you saw in the CNN interview. And people should read this entire report. But there's significant contemporaneous documentation, including text messages that she sent to other people, including tests that she went in. She got tested for pregnancy and STDs after this alleged incident. So it's fairly damning in terms of the level of evidence that you have for these claims.
- [27:29]
Saagar Enjeti
Right. Swalwell denying it, saying the allegations are false and he will fight them. Let's take a listen.
- [27:34]
Eric Swalwell
A lot has been said about me today through anonymous allegations. And I thought it was important that you see and hear from me directly. These allegations of sexual assault are flat false. They are absolutely false. They did not happen. They have never happened happened. And I will fight them with everything that I have. They also come on the eve of an election where I have been the frontrunner candidate for governor in California. I do not suggest to you in any way that I am perfect or that I am a saint. I have certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past. But those mistakes are between me and my wife. And to her, I apologize deeply for putting her in this position. I also apologize to you if in any way you have doubted your support for me. But I think you know who I am. For over 20 years, I have served the public as a city councilman, as a member of Congress, and as a prosecutor who went to court on behalf of victims, particularly on behalf of sexual assault victims. That's who I am and have always been. This weekend I'm going to spend time with my family and friends. And I appreciate those who have reached out to me to show support. And I look forward to updating you very soon.
- [28:51]
Saagar Enjeti
Well, he did update us, ended his campaign. So that's where things stand as of right now. I mean, the big kind of interesting question around this is what you flagged. Let's put E5 up there on the screen. It actually threatens this cascade of House expulsion votes. So I had no idea that he and for at least three of his House colleagues. So while Swallow's a Democrat, there's others who are on the chopping block who are Republicans. Crystal. And this could actually affect the overall majority and make it even tighter for Mike Johnson.
- [29:20]
Krystal Ball
Yeah, because you had Anna Paulina Luna. Listen, fine. Expelled him from the House. I mean, disgusting behavior. And I've come to shift. This is a longer conversation for a different day. But the libs had a point when they said moral character does matter. I've come to agree with that. Now, where the line is, et cetera is a different story. But if you are allegedly raping a woman who's, like, passed out drunk, yeah, I think it's time for you to go. Go and deal. Talk to your wife, be with your kids. Figure out what the hell is going on with your life right now. In any case, he's not the only disgusting cretin in Congress. So Democrats are like, okay, let's expel Swalwell, but we're also gonna talk about what's his name, Tony Gonzalez, who admitted to an affair with his daffer. And you see these text messages where he's pressuring her to send him news. Pressuring, Pressuring. Then she later dies by suicide after the affair is revealed. There's another one. Chair Felice. I'm not even familiar with this person or the allegations. McCormick was found guilty by the Ethics Committee on a litany of charges. Notably, she funneled $5 million in Covid relief funds through a congressional campaign. She's denied wrongdoing, but the Ethics Committee found her guilty. There you have another one, Mills, under investigation by the Ethics Committee on array of allegations including financial misconduct, campaign finance violations, and sexual misconduct, all of which he denies that one. The detail is also extremely sore. I think that's the dude Ryan was on Piers Morgan with and was, like, challenging him. He's like a defense contractor, too. So, yeah, you could have a series of votes on potential expulsions from the House. So we'll see where that goes. It's also possible that Swalwell and the pressure becomes so great that he just decides to resign his congressional seat here in the near term as well, because he's effectively. His staff have come out against him. All of his previous endorsers, including labor unions, including Ruben Gallego, who had previously said he was his best friend, raises some questions there as well.
- [31:11]
Saagar Enjeti
I'm just saying there's weird pictures of the two of them on the backs of camels that are shirtless.
- [31:15]
Krystal Ball
Yeah.
- [31:16]
Saagar Enjeti
Anyway, also, Gallego's got Just saying.
- [31:18]
Krystal Ball
All right, there's some Google searching Exactly. About the circumstances surrounding his divorce.
- [31:23]
Saagar Enjeti
The only thing I'm saying, Crystal, is it wasn't just liberals who used to talk about moral character. We all threw it out. So I will join you in setting some moral standards. But some of the liberals may not like how far we're going to take it. So maybe we should bring back some very. Some interesting moral codes and other things in our laws, including qualification for public office. There's nobody who would love it who is more than me and it will include a drug test for a certain thc. All right, let's go on. We've got Norm Finkelstein standing by. I. Unfortunately, I have appointment later on, so. And Norm, to get be totally respectful all this time, Crystal's going to do it solo, but I'll be on tomorrow with Emily. So tomorrow and Wednesday and then what? It'll be you and I on Thursday. So that's the schedule as of right now. All right, let's go ahead and kick it to Norm. I don't want to keep waiting.
- [32:11]
Anna Sinfield
There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl.
- [32:19]
Saagar Enjeti
You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes.
- [32:21]
Anna Sinfield
And rule two, Never mess with her friends either.
- [32:25]
Saagar Enjeti
We always say that. Trust your girlfriends.
- [32:29]
Anna Sinfield
I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the Girlfriends.
- [32:33]
Krystal Ball
Oh, my God. This is the same man.
- [32:35]
Anna Sinfield
A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist.
- [32:39]
Krystal Ball
I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me?
- [32:43]
Anna Sinfield
The cops didn't seem to care, so they take matters into their own hands.
- [32:48]
Krystal Ball
I said, oh, hell no. I vowed I will be his last target.
- [32:52]
Girlfriends Podcast Voice
He's going to get what he deserves.
- [32:57]
Anna Sinfield
Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me. Me, babe. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [33:10]
Zo Spencer
I feel like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really start making money.
- [33:15]
Eating While Broke Podcast Host
It's financial literacy month, and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth, and building your future. This month hear from top streamer Zo Spencer and venture capital capitalist lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up.
- [33:32]
Zo Spencer
If I'm outside with my parents and they're seeing all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like, what today? Now, Obviously, it's like 100%. They believe everything, but at first it was just like, you gotta go get a real job.
- [33:45]
Eating While Broke Podcast Guest
There's an economic component to communities thriving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what I mean by fail is they don't have money to pay for food. They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes. Communities don't work unless there's money flowing through them.
- [34:00]
Eating While Broke Podcast Host
Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [34:09]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything here at the Nick Dick and Pole show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Coogler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer, director.
- [34:27]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
Who do you think he is?
- [34:28]
Charlamagne Tha God
I don't know.
- [34:30]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
You meet the, like the president.
- [34:32]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
You think the president. You think Canada has a president? You think China has a president? Those law proves that. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time.
- [34:41]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
What color?
- [34:42]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it.
- [34:44]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
Like it's like the old Polish sound saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep, it was a good one.
- [34:50]
Norman Finkelstein
I like that saying.
- [34:51]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
It is an actual Polish saying.
- [34:53]
Norman Finkelstein
It is an actual Polish saying.
- [34:54]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
Better version of play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
- [34:57]
Eric Swalwell
Yes.
- [34:58]
Nick Dickenpole Show Co-host
Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong.
- [35:03]
Nick Dickenpole Show Host
Listen to the Nick Dick and Paul show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [35:11]
Krystal Ball
Joining us now for his analysis of how we ended up in the war with Iran is Norm Finkelstein. He is an activist, he's an acade, and he is an author of many books, including the forthcoming book Gaza Gravediggers. Great to see you, Norman.
- [35:26]
Norman Finkelstein
Thank you for having me.
- [35:27]
Krystal Ball
Yeah, of course. So first off the top, you know, what is your sense of where we are in this war? We had these purported negotiations. They seem to have fallen apart, although neither side has completely closed the door to further talk. So what do you think is going on here?
- [35:40]
Norman Finkelstein
I don't claim any special knowledge in this area. I can only speak as a generally knowledgeable layperson. Listen, I think that President Trump has three burdens at this point. The war began with the overwhelming majority of American people believing it was an unnecessary war. That then a second factor came into play. It proved to be an economically onerous war. War. An expensive war for the American people. And then number three, which became clear last week, it was an unwinnable war, even threatening the annihilation of Iranian civilization didn't get the Iranians to budge on their basic issues. So with those three factors, unnecessary, unwinnable, and progressively incrementally more expensive, it doesn't seem that Trump, in my opinion, and I've heard other opinions from people whom I respect, but I don't believe he can start up the war again at the magnitude that it was before or that there may be local, so to speak, and probably it's the wrong word, but local skirmishes, yes. And that they may go on For a protracted period of time, yes. But even there, with the caveat that unless the Straits of Hormuz are opened, the economic burdens will just progressively increase. So I don't believe, contrary, as I said, to listening to other commentators, I don't think war is an option for President Trump at this point. As to where it will go, I can't say. But war is not an option. I would also want to add to that the, what you might call idiosyncratic or eccentric aspect, which is President Trump has no mental discipline. He doesn't have physical stamina to focus on one issue, mental or physical stamina to focus on any one global issue at a time. He moves on. He moves from one, one crisis to another. He's basically what you might describe as a human wrecking ball. He's an agent of chaos and he thrives under chaos. But you can't, I think he's learned that you can't win this time by just heaving the wrecking ball and then moving on. That's not going to happen. He already had one takedown with Greenland. He had another takedown, which I think important lessons can be learned from. But unfortunately it's left us behind. He had another takedown in Minnesota, and this is a takedown. Obviously, it falls in the same trajectory, but it's a takedown of a much higher magnitude.
- [39:29]
Krystal Ball
So let me ask you, then let's take your analysis and say, okay, Trump is not going to go back to full war because he's realized this is just complete and utter disaster for him. There's no winning it. Where does that then leave Israel? What does their calculation look like from,
- [39:46]
Norman Finkelstein
from that There are two, you could say two schools of thought on that. One school of thought is that Israel will play the spoiler, that it will do everything it can to provoke. You know, there could be false flag operations by Israel. You can't put it past them. So it will do everything in its power, power to force Trump to react on a, on a catastrophic level. So there's the possibility of a overt or covert, more likely covert provocation or sequence of provocations by Israel. The second school of thought is when Trump decides to say no, it's no. We already know that's possible because you may remember way back when, for various reasons, some say is because he wanted to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Others said that in my opinion, he wanted, wanted to negotiate a deal with Saudi Arabia. But we know he said Gaza, at least in its overt, most barbaric manifestation, it had to Stop now. It obviously didn't stop. And you could say, now it's a slow motion genocide, but it was something changed and it was against Netanyahu's will. Trump just picked up the phone and said, it's over. And as I say, in its most barbaric manifestation, it was over. So the other school is that Trump will simply pick up the phone and tell Mr. Netanyahu time to end it. And there were already indications of the, that I, I don't claim to be a prophet, a soothsayer, but I said a few days ago that I think Trump is going to give Netanyahu maybe 48 hours to carry out his blood, to execute his blood, give vent to his blood lust, and then tell him shows up Silver. And I guess the day after I said that, there were reports of Trump saying, you have to dial back what you're doing in Lebanon. So I think those are the two possibilities, but I don't believe in the third possibility. The third possibility is Israel is out of control and then the US can't do anything. That I find completely, it's not just far fetched, but it's so at, it's so in conflict with what the facts on the ground, so to speak, show. Israel doesn't have that kind of independence. That's just completely my opinion. It's completely ridiculous. All Trump has to say is do as you want, but count me out and the show is over. Could you imagine if just Trump said, well, you do what you want, but at the Security Council, we're not going to veto a resolution if it comes up to call on you to stop in Lebanon, we're not going to veto it.
- [43:39]
Krystal Ball
Yeah. Or even we're not going to use our ships to help intercept the Iranian missile that will target you because they're reportedly down to double digits in terms of their own interceptors and very dependent on us for protection at this point. Let me get your reaction to some of the analysis of Tucker Carlson, who has been very critical of Trump and very much in the camp of Israel will undermine and that Trump will go along because in his words in this clip, he says Trump is a, quote, slave to Israel and might be getting blackmailed by Netanyahu. Let's go ahead and take a listen to a little bit of that.
- [44:15]
Tucker Carlson
That is very easy to understand. And you would have to be either not very bright or under immense pressure from another country in order to start a war like this. And the latter is true. We did this because of pressure from Israel. Now, how exactly did they exert that pressure. That's not entirely clear, but we're going to have to find out. I think we have an obligation to find out, because we can't be a sovereign country under these circumstances, and we're not a sovereign country at this point.
- [44:41]
Krystal Ball
And obviously, Donald Trump would push right back on that. You have been, until now, really a huge supporter of his. You wanted him elected, obviously, for a second term. Have you completely fallen out with him over this war, then?
- [44:53]
Tucker Carlson
Well, I haven't fallen out with him. I mean, I've known him for decades. I've always liked him, and I think anyone who spent time with him likes him. I feel sorry for him, as I do for all slaves. He is not free in this moment at all to do what he thinks is best for himself, for his country.
- [45:10]
Krystal Ball
What do you mean?
- [45:10]
Tucker Carlson
No, he's. Well, he's not free. And we learned that yesterday when Donald Trump announced a cease fire, clearly with relief, and made its terms, or most of its terms public. And then that cease fire ended within two hours because Israel intentionally violated the terms by attacking not just southern Lebanon, but the city of Beirut.
- [45:32]
Krystal Ball
So are you saying he's a slave to Benjamin Netanyahu?
- [45:36]
Tucker Carlson
So I don't think it's as simple as. As he's under the control of Netanyahu. But, you know, you could summarize it that way and you wouldn't be totally inaccurate. And again, we know this because the single biggest mistake Trump or any American president in my lifetime has made was going to war with Iran in an effort to change its regime. It didn't work. It was obviously a mistake immediately. He understood. Trump understood it was a mistake immediately, and he tried to get out of it this week and announced we were getting out of it, and the Israelis prevented us from getting out of it. So that's the clearest possible example.
- [46:11]
Krystal Ball
Right.
- [46:12]
Tucker Carlson
They didn't allow it, therefore, they're in charge.
- [46:14]
Krystal Ball
So let me get your reaction to that and a couple key points. He says, effectively, Trump is a slave to Israel, that we are no longer a sovereign nation, and suggests Trump may be blackmailed by Israel as well.
- [46:26]
Norman Finkelstein
What's the evidence? I feel like we're back to the famous line by Donald Rumsfeld during the Iraq war or the buildup to the Iraq war. There are known knowns, there are known unknowns, and there are unknown unknowns. And I feel we're here back to the same kind of argument. Mr. Carlson makes a rather large claim claim that the president of the most powerful country, economically and militarily, the President of the of the United States is a slave of a country the size of New Jersey with a population a 10 million whatever it is now and whether or not you include the Palestinians in the occupied territories stories. Well, that's a very large claim on its face. So now what's the evidence? There are two pieces of evidence as I see it, that I was going to say professor, that Tucker Carlson presents that he adduces one piece of evidence is that Israel might be blackmailing him. Yes, it's true. They might be blackmailing him. Him and they might not be blackmailing him because we have no idea. There's no evidence now. So we can discard that. Not that it's necessarily false, but there's no basis for it. So then that leaves us with the second argument that the war was that President Trump is not an idiot. There I think think you would need evidence to support that claim. Let's leave that aside, that President Trump is not an idiot. So he had to have seen that this war was going to be a disaster because he's not an idiot and he had to have seen the war was going to be a disaster. Then he must have been acting at Israel's behest. Israel's him. So let's examine those three propositions. Number one, he's not an idiot. Well, I won't say he's a complete idiot, but certainly in a large number of areas where he renders opinions, he is an imbecile. Nabiv came to whether or not he should purchase a new building in my neighborhood. His advice would be quite useful. But by the way, his father started in my neighborhood. Fred Troy Trump. The Trump buildings are still up in my neighborhood, Coney Island. He was a notorious racist. Woody Guthrie, the folk singer actually wrote a song about Fred Trump. But we'll leave that aside. So if you, if you want real estate advice, I suppose his would be as good as anybody else's on the matter. But there are a broad number of areas where we can say he's completely and happily, you know, ignorant. Ignorance is bliss and he's blissfully ignorant. Proposition number two, let's assume he was very bright. For argument's sake, let's assume he was very bright. Hey, you want to know what? Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney were very bright, very smart, part top of the line, rich in government experience. When they entered the Bush administration, they had already been involved in government for about since the Nixon administration. So they had been involved already for about 30 years in government. They knew government upside down. And beyond that, and already that's a very, very robust fact. Beyond that, they had staffed their whole national security establishment with very smart guys. Douglas Fife, Paul Wolfowitz, Scooter Libby, Richard Pearl, top of the line. I'm not saying I like them, but credit given, we're credit too. I've said that many times. We should, shouldn't underestimate our enemies. They're very smart. Now, here's the thing. Why am I mentioning it? If you go back and read the record, they all thought Iraq would be a cakewalk. That's the expression they used. They all thought, as you remember, within, within weeks or months, President Bush was standing in an aircraft carrier with the words emblazoned on back, mission accomplished. So guess what? Very smart people, of whom I would not include Trump. But even if I did, very smart people can get it wrong. They got it wrong. Lyndon Johnson, I'm old enough to remember the war in Vietnam. Every few months he would say, I see light at the end of the tunnel. That was the famous line. I see light at the end of the tunnel. Now, Johnson was a very, in politics, politics, a very shrewd guy. His administration, you know what they called his administration, they were called the best and the brightest. And they really were. They were what you call, were called back then, the whiz kids, people like Secretary of defense Robert McNamara. They were the type who got 1600 under SATs and who went to the top schools and had extremely high levels of competence and conscientiousness. Is they got it wrong about Vietnam. So even if you are very smart, which Trump is not, but even if you are, you can get it wrong. And we have for those who care to remember. And it's not that long ago, though I have to acknowledge time has passed. It is 23 years ago. I remember the day that war was declared. I was at a demonstration. It was in March and it was very cold. I was in Chicago then. They got it wrong. Now, Tucker Carlson says there's only one explanation. Israel. I think there's a very simple. I don't want to say simple, but I think there's a very plausible alternative, alternative explanation. Everybody knows that Trump has an oversized ego. Everybody knows Trump enjoys the pageantry of the office. Everybody knows that Trump doesn't very much care about the issues in and of themselves. He likes to flex his muscle. He likes to strive the globe like a giant. And at that point, after the successes he scored in Gaza, so much of his success that he thought he would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for it, I should say apparent success because the genocide, as I said, is a slow motion genocide. But it continues. And then what you might call using biblical language, the Immaculate coup in Venezuela. And then into that situation, there was a informational void around the President because he knew all of his appointees were sub mediocre yes men. In fact, that's why he appointed them, because they were sub mediocre yes men. He wanted people who could never make him look, you know, Pale by side of them. I actually think he was not happy with those pictures of, of JD Vance walking erect up the staircase because he always trying to outshine me. I mean, that's how Trump thinks. He's a child. He's a child. So there was an informational void because he was surrounded not with as Lyndon Johnson, the best and the brightest, not as with George Bush Jr. Cheney, Rumsfeld and the lustrous neoconservatives. Very smart guys. Very smart guys. He was surrounded with Jared Kushner, Steve Woodcourt of Pete Hegseth, you know, pink headset, Hegseth. He has more oil running through the strands of his hair than oil passing through the Straits of Hormuz on any one week. These are preposterous figures. Preposterous figures.
- [56:42]
Krystal Ball
True. And to your point, intentionally, intentionally so.
- [56:46]
Norman Finkelstein
Intentionally so and so arrogant. You know, Jared Kushner stands there erect in his Ralph Lauren suit as if he's Talley Rand, as if he's Metternich. I mean, this guy, this guy gives affirmative action of badness name. No, really, he gives affirmative action a bad name. If it doesn't have a bad name name enough.
- [57:16]
Krystal Ball
He
- [57:19]
Norman Finkelstein
gives it the worst name. Every step in his life has just been bought by his father. I mean, his father was such a crook. No, you really, this is extraordinary fact. His father was Jewish, obviously, and a billionaire. Much richer than Trump, by the way. They were both real estate developers, much richer than Trump. And Chris Christie got him convicted and thrown into jail. Now you have to be a crook's crook to be Jewish, a Jewish billionaire in New Jersey and get thrown into jail. How did Jared get into Harvard? I suppose, you know, but for the sake of your listener, he got into Harvard because his father gave Harvard $2.5 million that year. There was no issue about that. When they went back and they asked his teachers, the guidance counselors, they all said the same thing. He didn't have the grade, he didn't have the test scores to get into Harvard. It was all bought. He's just white in the most crude sense. White Male privilege, but white billionaire, white male, wealthy privilege.
- [58:38]
Krystal Ball
Yes. Well, let me ask you this. Let me ask you this to play
- [58:42]
Norman Finkelstein
devil's advocate, complete the thought.
- [58:44]
Krystal Ball
Go ahead.
- [58:44]
Norman Finkelstein
So there was an informational void, and that's where Netanyahu stepped in to fill the void. He told Trump it's going to be a pushover. There were those demonstrations in Iran. It's falling apart.
- [59:03]
Krystal Ball
Iran.
- [59:04]
Norman Finkelstein
The mullahs are standing on the precipice. A little jolt and they'll fall over. We have all our agents in Iran. They're everywhere, and they're ready to organize regime change. And if it happens, you will go down in history as the greatest statesman to have ever occupied the White House. You know, he soups him up.
- [59:31]
Krystal Ball
Yep.
- [59:32]
Norman Finkelstein
That's a factor that Tucker Carlson leaves out. This president is obviously very susceptible to being souped up and is ready to be fooled because it feeds his ego. The prospects that have opened up, especially after Venezuela and Trump's commitment to the national interest, as you might call it, as they perceive it, it's balanced significantly by his own ego. The national interest is there, in my opinion, for sure, but his own ego looms as large and sometimes larger, larger than the national interest. So I think there's a very simple explanation, you know, Akshaym's razor. The simplest explanation is often the right one. We don't have to go to conspiracy theories. We don't have to go to other explanations, the Adelsons and this and that. I. I think the explanation based on Trump's conduct, his instincts, and in particular in the double sense his impulses explain
- [60:59]
Krystal Ball
what happened well, and that would explain why he decided to do this war, even though other presidents, which have also been antagonistic towards Iran and have had pressure from Israel to go to war, why they decided not to, because of the unique interplay of his sort of narcissism and egoism and as you've said in other interviews, the way he has personalized the presidency. But let me just play devil's advocate.
- [61:25]
Norman Finkelstein
I'll just add one thing for the sake of your listeners, because I know, you know, not so long ago, we did try Iran. We tried. The goal of the Cheney Rumsfeld administration was Iraq, Syria, Iran. There was a consensus among everybody in the Bush administration that Iran had to be dethroned. There had to be. I hate that expression. But a regime change in Iran, they just thought it would be the third step along the way. But back then, there was a consensus in the Bush administration that we were going to go to war with Iran. It was just not this moment. We first want to weaken Iraq or overthrow Iraq and Syria. So when you say previous administrations didn't try it. Well, actually, they were.
- [62:25]
Krystal Ball
They were ready.
- [62:26]
Norman Finkelstein
Yeah, they started with Iraq.
- [62:32]
Anna Sinfield
There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl.
- [62:39]
Saagar Enjeti
You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes.
- [62:42]
Anna Sinfield
And rule two, never mess with her friends either.
- [62:45]
Saagar Enjeti
We always say that. Trust your girlfriends.
- [62:49]
Anna Sinfield
I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the Girlfriends.
- [62:53]
Krystal Ball
Oh, my God. This is the same man.
- [62:55]
Anna Sinfield
A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist.
- [63:00]
Krystal Ball
I felt like I could got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me?
- [63:03]
Anna Sinfield
The cops didn't seem to care, so they take matters into their own hands.
- [63:08]
Krystal Ball
I said, oh, hell no. I vowed I will be his last target.
- [63:12]
Girlfriends Podcast Voice
He's going to get what he deserves.
- [63:17]
Anna Sinfield
Listen to the Girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast,
- [63:26]
Norman Finkelstein
you.
- [63:31]
Zo Spencer
I feel like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really start making money.
- [63:36]
Eating While Broke Podcast Host
It's Financial Literacy Month, and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth, and building your future. This month hear from top streamer Zo Spencer and venture capitalist lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling. Leveling up.
- [63:53]
Zo Spencer
If I'm outside with my parents and they're seeing all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like, what today? Now, Obviously it's like 100. They believe everything, but at first it was just like, you gotta go get a real job.
- [64:05]
Eating While Broke Podcast Guest
There's an economic component to community striving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what I mean by fails, they don't have money to pay for food. They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes. Communities opportunities don't work unless there's money flowing through them.
- [64:21]
Eating While Broke Podcast Host
Listen to Eating Wild Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [64:29]
Bob Pittman
Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Stories from the frontiers of Marketing. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds. And marketing. I'm talking to leaders from the entertainment industry to finance and everywhere in between this season of Math and Magic, I'm talking to CEO of Liquid Death, Mike Cesario, financier and public health advocate Mike Milken. Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick.
- [65:00]
Saagar Enjeti
If you're unable to take meaningful creative risk and therefore run the risk of
- [65:04]
Norman Finkelstein
making horrible creative mistakes, then you can't
- [65:07]
Saagar Enjeti
play in this business.
- [65:08]
Bob Pittman
Sesame Street CEO Sherry Winner Weston and our own Chief Business Officer, Lisa Coffey.
- [65:13]
Krystal Ball
Making consumers see the value of the human voice and to have that guaranteed human promise behind it really makes it rise to the top.
- [65:23]
Bob Pittman
Listen to math and magic stories from the frontiers of Marketing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [65:32]
Krystal Ball
Dropsite News did some polling and found that a majority of Americans believe that covering up the Epstein files was at least part of the motivation for going to war in Iran. And so the argument would basically be like, look, we know Israel does these blackmail operations. That's certainly undeniable. There's some reporting to suggest that they use the Lewinsky situation with Bill Clinton to try to coerce him in terms of negotiations that were ongoing at that time. So we know that they're certainly not above it. Right then you have this the Epstein files, partially revealed, and Trump's name throughout them. And we know that he was best friends with Jeffrey Epstein for over a decade. So isn't it reasonable to put two and two together and say Israel may have something on him, or Trump may think that Israel has something on him that is damaging enough that it provides them some leverage to further push him in this direction beyond what he perceives as the national interest and what he perceives as his potential for military glory and great man. Historical impact. Impact.
- [66:35]
Norman Finkelstein
This reminds me of the saying, if grandma had wheels, she'd be a baby carriage. There are just too many ifs here.
- [66:48]
Krystal Ball
I'm not sure I've heard that one before.
- [66:50]
Norman Finkelstein
Okay, maybe it's for my generation, which is many generations past yours. There's just no evidence for it. It's possible. Many things are possible. I can give you an inference, definite regression of X of possible scenarios. I have to say that. And here we'll I'll be, you know, serious, although I try to be serious, though not grave. I like seriousness with an element of humor. There's a real problem with the current generation. It's rife in ways, I believe, unprecedented in my lifetime. It's rife with conspiracy theories about everything. I was yesterday talking to a fellow on the boardwalk of Coney Island. I was going on my walk and we're having a conversation. He knew me by reputation, public reputation, and at some point he says is what do you think of The Illuminati. What do you think about the Masons? And I tried very patiently and not patronizingly to say I don't think we have to go there to try to explain what's going on in the world. Now I get very, very angry emails from people who are irate that I don't believe the Israelis killed John F. Kennedy. That's become a new thing. I want to emphasize a new thing. There's always been speculation about who killed the jfk. And I checked it yesterday. I was curious because I, I myself was one of those who killed JFK sleuths. If you Google, you'll find that There were approximately 1 to 2000 books written on the Kennedy assassination. Wow. And if you factor in in books which touch in the periphery of this assassination, the number goes up, believe it or not, Crystal, to 40,000.
- [69:27]
Krystal Ball
Wow.
- [69:27]
Norman Finkelstein
Yes. I did not read all of them. I did not read nearly all of them. But for a youngster, when Kennedy was killed, I was in fifth grade, I read many of them. Event I was curious. The most famous, which was in the best Times bestseller list, if I believe for quite a long time when the bestseller meant some list meant something. Now it's nothing. It's just you purchase your name on it was Mark Lane's Rush to Judgment. There was Harold Weisberg's Whitewash. I remember the titles. I read them and I was convinced, you know, it was a conversation cover up. But here's the thing. You can go through those 2,000 titles, one to 2,000, you can go to through the 40,000. Israel will never appear there. It was not even an issue. It suddenly became. Because I think there are two reasons for this. Number one, as you know, because you're a podcaster and you struggle to like in roller derby, you know, elbowing to get to the head of the pack, you realize that there is nobody on the left in the upper tier of the podcast world. The closest you get is somebody like Mehdi Hassan, who's not really a person of the left and probably wouldn't even describe himself as a person of the right. The left, the big names are Elon Musk, I was surprised. Jackson Hinkle, of course, Candace Owens, you know, the list and these kinds of conspiracy analyses, they are a hallmark of the right wing. The left always prided itself on what it called for better or for worse. Maybe it's a cliche, a historical materialist analysis. That's what we used to call it. A historical materialist analysis. That's gone. You just have. And if this and if that, and if this, and if you put. I can't tell you the kinds of emails I'm getting from people who are so angry at me for saying Israel didn't. Look, I don't think Israel killed Lincoln. I don't.
- [72:01]
Krystal Ball
You're gonna get some angry emails about that one too.
- [72:04]
Norman Finkelstein
Yes, Now I will get the thread of ink. Why did I say that? And so there's that. The fact that the right wing dominates the web right now and there is no in the upper tier here. There's no rational, historical, quote unquote, materialist podcasters out there at that level. And the other thing is your generation, and I'm not one of them who's. I'm not one of those disposed to be excessively critical of your generation and the generation after yours. I find my students to be very morally serious, probably more so than my generation, and I find their minds to be very nimble. So there's no problem there. The problem is the lack of practical skills, reading skills, a lack of mental discipline to sit through a full book, and the lack of a historical sense. For me, it's a subject of curiosity that when I was a young man, a person of the left, when we met people from the 1930s, the great anti fascist and socialist movements in the United States, Communist Party, Socialist Party and so forth, we were brimming with curiosity. What was it like? What was it like to be in the Communist Party? What was it like, you know, to organize the steel workers, organize the miners? You know, those were, those were herculean world historic tasks and victories. I don't think I've ever met anyone who asked me a single question about what the anti Vietnam War movement was like. The only thing your generation, people on the left who call themselves on the left, I don't believe they are in most cases, but the only thing they like is the Black Panthers because it's so telegenic. You know, the beret, very cinematic, the leather coats, you know, it's all theater, but the concrete work of transforming our society in significant ways. With the civil rights movement, you know, the people in SNCC who. Most your listeners, I suppose I don't want to be too presumptuous. People like Bob Moses, I mean, these people were really very impressive figures. Nobody knows. So in this historical vacuum, it's not surprising that these theories would come in. Well, anybody who lived through the Iraq war, which, as I said, okay, it's not yesterday, but it's 23 years ago. It's just everything old is new. Again, every phrase, regime change, mad moolahs, cakewalk. I was rereading a chapter I wrote in the book on the subject, and I was struck how was. All the same, nobody needed a. Well, I should say there were conspiracy theories that it was Israel that dragged us into the Iraq war in 2003, but I don't believe there's any evidence for that. And I. I've read everything there is in the subject. I really have. There's no evidence for it. I don't. I won't run through it now, if you care to. Care to ask me, I will. But there's no evidence. So I think that that's a real problem. When you give me a question, you say, well, if this and if that, and if this and if. If that. And then you said, well, then if two and two make four. I didn't see one two, let alone two twos. And I don't know where you got four from. All I got. All I got was this wild speculation about, well, now if Jeff Epstein was a pervert and if he had dirt and all these other guys, and if he knew Donald Trump, and if Donald Trump. There's no evidence.
- [76:43]
Krystal Ball
Well, the thing that frustrates me, everybody
- [76:44]
Norman Finkelstein
writes me, why the fact is leading to the Iraq war. Why didn't you mention Jeff Epstein? Well, there's a simple reason why I don't see any evidence yet. And you could say, well, there's. Then that's the only plausible explanation. Okay, that's. But there are a lot of very simple explanations.
- [77:11]
Krystal Ball
Yeah. And I think that's the most important part of your analysis, because what frustrates me is the. It's all Israel's fault in terms of the Iran war is. Look, obviously everyone, everyone is acknowledging here that Israel has their own goals. They've wanted us to get in the war with Iran. There's no doubt about that, that Netanyahu is trying to persuade Trump, et cetera. But number one, it deprives Trump of agency, makes him like he's just some puppet who has no autonomy or no choice. And it also ignores the fact that the interests of US Empire and the fact that, as you rightly point out, every president has effectively been adversarial towards Iran. You know, you did have the JCPOA under Obama. That was a, you know, a different approach. I think it was one of the best accomplishments he had in his presidency, but it was immediately ripped up by Trump, and then Biden, with Blinken, chose not to get back in. So I think those points are extremely important. And well said, Norm. It's always great speaking with you. We'll have to set a date for another interview where we talk about the anti war movement in Vietnam and what that was like and what worked most effectively because I think those lessons from the past would in fact be very valuable for today. But it's always great to see you, Norm. Thank you so much.
- [78:26]
Norman Finkelstein
Thank you so much. Bye. Bye.
- [78:28]
Krystal Ball
All right, that does it for us here today. Thank you guys, as always, for watching. Sagar and Emily will be on tomorrow, so they will see you then.
- [78:50]
Girlfriends Podcast Voice
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- [79:20]
Anna Sinfield
When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands.
- [79:28]
Krystal Ball
I vowed I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this.
- [79:33]
Girlfriends Podcast Voice
He's gonna get what he deserves.
- [79:35]
Saagar Enjeti
We always say that. Trust your girlfriends.
- [79:39]
Anna Sinfield
Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [79:52]
Charlamagne Tha God
Peace to the planet. Charlamagne. Tha God here. And listen, we are back. The Black Effect Podcast Festival is back in Atlanta on April 25th at Pullman Yard. Yeah, and the full lineup is nuts. We got the Grits and Eggs podcast, Deontay Kyle and Big Ice Cup Cat. We got Club 520 with Jeff Teague in the gang. Don't call me White Girl. Mona will be there. Keep it positive, sweetie. With Crystal Renee. We got Reality with the King with Carlos King. And yes, drink champs will be in the building.
- [80:20]
Norman Finkelstein
Okay.
- [80:21]
Charlamagne Tha God
Plus, you know we gonna have a lot of guests, so you need to join us. And we got the Black Effect market place to pitch your podcast. And everything you expect from the Black Effect Podcast Festival tickets are on sale right now. Go get yours at blackffect. Com Podcast Festival. Don't play yourself. Okay, pull up.
- [80:41]
Krystal Ball
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.