Unauthorized Disclosure

Jesselyn Radack, a Justice Department whistleblower and director of the National Security and Human Rights Division of the Government Accountability Project, joins the show to talk about the case of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on Monday for leaking to a New York Times reporter. She discusses how he was punished for being a whistleblower, compares his case to other recent prosecutions of leaks and describes the personal toll that such a prosecution can take on people. We highlight the first interview Sterling did for an advocacy organization called Expose Facts as well.

Janice Williamson, editor of the book, Omar Khadr: Oh Canada, and a professor at the University of Alberta, discusses the release of Khadr from Canadian jail. She reflects on his past history, from his experiences as one of the youngest children imprisoned at Guantanamo to his newfound freedom as the man he is now. She highlights the "sea of demonization" fueled by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has pushed counterterrorism measures in government that are inspired by anti-Muslim racism.  During the discussion portion, the show's hosts, Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola, talk about a reparations ordinance that passed in Chicago for police torture survivors, Israel's Knesset becoming even more virulently right-wing and two federal appeals court decisions of significance. One involves three activists having their Sabotage Act convictions reversed, and the other involves the NSA phone records collection surveillance program being ruled unlawful.

Gadeir Abbas, an attorney for Yemeni Americans challenging the US government's refusal to evacuate them from the war-ravaged country, joins the show to discuss the filed lawsuit. What power do these Americans have to force the government to uphold their citizenship rights and launch an operation to evacuate them? Why does the government treat Yemeni Americans as second class citizens?  In the second half of the interview, Abbas, who represents Gulet Mohamed, an American challenging his placement on the No Fly List, discusses a development in the lawsuit where the government claims it has made changes to the process. It will now tell Americans if they are on the No Fly List if they use the government's system to write to the government and ask for confirmation. But Americans easily can figure this out when they are not able to travel because an agent tells them they are on the watch list.  What of the changes are meaningful? What does this mean for No Fly List challenges?

Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola co-host this 40-minute episode, where they talk about Rahm Emanuel's re-election, the Saudi-led US-backed coalition bombing Yemen, Yemeni Americans stranded in a war zone, the Clintons getting Colombian oil money and various police abuse or brutality stories, such as the case of Walter Scott and the trial of Chicago police officer Dante Servin, who killed Rekia Boyd in 2012.

Aviva Stahl, an independent journalist, and Abraham Paulos, executive director of , address the growth of immigrant detention in the United States and United Kingdom. Stahl highlights how hunger strikes are a key form of resistance for immigrants in detention and how detention centers in the US and UK shut down resistance by immigrants. (She wrote about this in her  Paulos breaks down how immigrants are equated with criminals and the US history of being unwelcoming toward immigrants. He particularly focuses on the Immigration Act of 1964. He also addresses how difficult it is for immigrants to win asylum.

Contributing writer for The Intercept, Trevor Aaronson, joins the show as a guest to talk about his feature story, "The Sting: How the FBI Created a Terrorist." We discuss the FBI's target, Sami Osmakac, the FBI agent, Amir Jones, and a couple other of characters, who played a role in giving Osmakac the means, opportunity and desire to carry out a terrorism act. Aaronson also describes how this case fits into other similar cases and whether he has seen a shift in how the media or public react to the FBI manufacuturing their own terrorism plots that they can thwart and then pretend they had nothing to do with creating.  During the discussion portion, Rania Khalek provides a rundown on the re-election of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We both talk about the controversy at a New York high school involving the Pledge of Allegiance recited in Arabic. Discussion concludes with some climate disruption headlines and talk about the Obama administration censoring and keeping secret information at a greater

Researcher at UK CAGE

Page May of We Charge Genocide and Babur Balos of the Chicago Light Brigade join the show to talk about the Chicago Police Department and reports that the department has a "black site" for arrestees. They connect the reports to a push for reparations for police torture survivors that is ongoing in the city. Then, we talk about Mayor Rahm Emanuel being in a runoff primary and highlight a lawsuit filed against police and the city for the killing of 19-year-old Roshad McIntosh.

Co-host Kevin Gosztola interviews former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou, who was released from Loretto prison in Pennsylvania after 23 months in jail. He pled guilty to violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, but it was not until he spoke up about waterboarding being torture in an interview in 2007 that he became a target for prosecution. He maintains that, while what he did was wrong, he was the subject of a selective and vindictive prosecution.  While in prison, he wrote at least 15 "Letters from Loretto," which Firedoglake published. We talk about how the Bureau of Prisons designated him a "dangerous" prisoner because of his crime, what he witnessed in terms of medical emergencies and unhealthy food and what it meant for him to be able to write letters from prison that were guaranteed to reach a wide audience.  In the second part of the interview, we outline all the ways the CIA attempts to control information through prepublication review boards and secrecy contracts. We discuss

Kevin Gosztola and Rania Khalek are joined by Dahr Jamail, Truthout writer, to talk about his monthly "Climate Disruption" dispatches. He provides an overview of thresholds that have perilously been crossed as a result of human-caused climate disruption. He highlights methane blowholes, disease and even describes electromagnetic war games the Navy has engaged in to the detriment of wildlife and humans. As the talk becomes more gloomy due to the reality of climate disruption, Jamail talks about dealing with depression and how scientists, institutions and even governments are fighting back against these dangerous developments.During the discussion, we talk about the Chapel Hill murders, the FBI targeting anti-oil sands activists and Chelsea Manning being granted hormone therapy by the Pentagon.

Kevin Gosztola and Rania Khalek are joined by Baraa Shiban, a human rights activist and Reprieve project coordinator based in Yemen. He describes the significance of the US government's continued drone strikes, even when there is no person officially running Yemen right now. Shiban also recounts the rise of the Houthis and later addresses the effect the US has had on Yemen.During the discussion portion, the hosts talk about a new weapon Ferguson police officers may be trying out soon, a Republican state representative's view on rape (we think he probably has raped his wife), Corrections Corporation of America inspecting the tampons of people who visit inmates in their facilities and US politicians' fact-free and fringe views on Guantanamo Bay.

Hosts Kevin Gosztola and Rania Khalek are joined by VICE News journalist Jason Leopold to talk about some of his latest scoops related to Guantanamo Bay prison. He highlights a military legal document recently obtained, which shows the Pentagon understands forced-feeding violates medical ethics and international law. Leopold also discusses his effort to get the uncensored executive summary of the Senate report on CIA torture released and how the full torture report may never be seen by the public if some officials in government have their way.  During the discussion, the hosts talk about the FBI listing the brother of a US citizen challenging the No Fly List as a "most wanted terrorist," former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling being convicted and a vile sex crime ring with influential people like Alan Dershowitz involved, who are working to cover up what happened.

Marcy Wheeler, a journalist whose latest work can be found at ExposeFacts.org, appears on the show to discuss the Jeffrey Sterling trial. The former CIA officer has been facing charges stemming from allegations that he leaked details that exposed a botched CIA operation in Iran involving flawed nuclear blueprints. Wheeler recounts closing arguments and other aspects of the government's prosecution, which mostly relies on circumstantial evidence. She also addresses how this fits into the Obama administration's record of going after whistleblowers and undermining press freedom.  During the discussion portion of the show, hosts Kevin Gosztola and Rania Khalek talk about the fawning over a dead tyrant, King Abdullah and Speaker John Boehner inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to provide a rebuttal to the State of the Union. The first book published by a Guantanamo prisoner is highlighted and excerpts are read on air. And Khalek discusses her efforts to expose the propaganda in the film, "American S

The first episode of Season 2: Dan Cohen, a Palestine-based journalist and Mondoweiss contributor, appears on the show to discuss the impact of a recent winter storm on Gaza. Still feeling the after effects of Israel's assault last summer, the people of Gaza are struggling to find shelter and warmth. Cohen also highlights some of his experiences as a Jewish person and how Israelis react to him when they find out he visits and reports from Gaza.  During the discussion portion of the show, hosts Kevin Gosztola and Rania Khalek talk about Guantanamo Bay being designated a "battle lab" for developing and testing torture techniques, the violent Islamophobic backlash after attacks in Paris and the arrest of a young Ohio Muslim, who was targeted in an FBI sting operation and allegedly plotted an ISIS-inspired attack against the US capitol.

Freelance writer Roqayah Chamseddine joined the show to talk about some of the more significant and/or underreported stories of 2014. For the whole hour, hosts Kevin Gosztola and Rania Khalek, along with Chamseddine, discuss Ferguson and police brutality, the "Torture Report" and US funding of torture states, the Islamic State and Israel/Palestine and the assault on Gaza.  The show comes to an end with a few book recommendations, and we lash out at a couple movies released on Christmas.

Guest: Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) appears on the show to discuss the release of three of the last members of the "Cuban Five," who were serving prison sentences in the United States. She talks about this victory for activists who had organized for their release. She also highlights what made the five Cuban spies political prisoners and discusses the larger context in which their case unfolded over the past couple of decades. Discussion: Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola talk some more about the shift in US policy toward Cuba. A story of police brutality involving a SWAT Team in and around Houston, Texas, is highlighted, and the results of a torture poll is discussed as well.

This week’s episode of “Unauthorized Disclosure” features an interview with Alka Pradhan, who is a DC counsel for Reprieve US and primarily represents prisoners who remain in indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay. The organization has represented a number of detainees who were once in CIA custody and tortured. Pradhan shares her reactions to reading the torture report summary and what details stunned her. She breaks down some of the broader aspects of the report and outlines what effect the new information might have on new efforts to achieve justice for torture victims. Later in the podcast, Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola continue to dig into what was learned about CIA torture this past week. For example, we confront the  of "rectal rehydration" on detainees. We also recorded an additional twenty minutes of material to talk about a USAID contractor trying to help the US government the Cuban government by co-opting the hip-hop underground scene. Palestinian American organizer Rasmea Odeh's  until her senten

Kevin Gosztola hosts this episode. Joey Mogul, an attorney with the People's Law Office and a part of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials project, discusses the findings of the UN Committee Against Torture against the Chicago Police Department. She highlights the history of Chicago police torture, the importance of the UN Committee and the campaign to get reparations for torture survivors.  In the discussion part of the episode, the latest delay of the release of the executive summary of the Senate intelligence committee report on CIA torture is covered as well as the US government's position that the FBI may impersonate repairmen and break into your private property to collect evidence against persons.

This not-an-episode thanks listeners for their support and also calls out Big Box retailers and other corporations, who hate families and are making them work on Thanksigiving.