Background Briefing: December 12, 2021

 

The Dire Implications For Press Freedom in the Extradition of Julian Assange

We begin with the decision by the High Court of London to allow the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States where he faces 17 charges under the Espionage Act. Joining us is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has faced similar charges from the Department of Justice, James Risen, the Senior National Security Correspondent at The Intercept and a former investigative journalist with the New York Times, and author of the New York Times bestsellers State of War and Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War.  In 2006 he won a Pulitzer Prize for his stories about warrantless wiretapping by the NSA and is currently the director of the Press Freedom Defense Fund, which has provided financial assistance for this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Maria Ressa’s legal defense in the Philippines. We discuss his latest article at The Intercept, “If This Can Happen to Maria, Then This Can Happen to You,” and the need to separate the Julian Assange who published the Iraq and Afghanistan war leaks from Chelsea Manning from the Julian Assange who worked with Russian Intelligence to hurt Hillary Clinton’s election chances and help elect Donald Trump.

 

Big Oil’s Global Warming Strategy From Climate Denial to Climate Delay

Then with inflation propelled by rising oil and gas prices dogging President Biden and threatening him with the fate that befell Jimmy Carter, we speak with Naomi Oreskes, a Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. She served as a consultant to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and was a consultant to the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. Her books include Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming, The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future, Why Trust Science , and Science on a Mission: How Military Funding Shaped What We Do and Don’t Know about the OceanShe joins us to discuss her article at Common Dreams, “Big Oil’s Secret Strategy to Keep Winning” and how as global warning demands we must stop consuming oil and gas immediately, big oil has moved from climate denial to climate delay.

 

Pinochet’s Ghost Emerges With the Son of a Nazi Running For President of Chile

Then finally, with the frontrunner in next weeks election for President of Chile revealed as the son of a Nazi who at the end of World War II escaped to Chile via the Vatican’s “Rat Line”, we speak with an expert on Chile, Jennifer Pribble, a Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Richmond. She is the author of Welfare and Party Politics in Latin America and is currently researching the implementation of social welfare policies in Peru and Chile.