Just how did the US end up sparring with Iran?
Holland Cooke sits down with political activist and historian Sahar Morano to understand what factors, historical and recent, have created the hot mess engulfing foreign relations between the US and Iran. Morano cites the US-backed removal of Iran’s democratically elected leader back in the 1950s as a catalyst for animosity between the two countries. Fast forward to President Trump withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and levying crippling sanctions on the country, and conversation pivots to whether Iran’s nuclear program is a legitimate security threat, or just the latest fearmongering tactic employed by US war-hawks thirsting for further conflict, perhaps with Iran’s oil supply on their minds. PLUS, founder of BeyondNuclear.org Linda Pentz Gunter joins the show to talk about how little emphasis is being placed on the GRAVE repercussions of nuclear energy gone awry. Long-outdated infrastructure among nuclear sites across the continental US receive little federal funding to ensure the safety of nearby populations. Why aren’t more of our federal dollars being allocated toward the prevention of nuclear disaster? Holland Cooke discusses with author and UC Berkeley scholar Dr Gray Brechin the proposed removal of a mural from George Washington High School in San Francisco. The fresco depicts George Washington among Native Americans and slaves working on Washington’s Mt Vernon plantation, and has sparked controversy between those seeking to protect today’s youth from racially charged imagery, and those who wish to preserve historical depictions of unsavory acts. THEN, host of RT America’s Redacted Tonight and comedian Lee Camp broadens the discussion of ‘white-washing’ history, calling back to his roots in Richmond, VA, the former capital of the Confederacy immersed in symbolism of a bygone era. Camp expands the discussion of re-writing history to freedom of speech within the world of comedians. He gives his perspective on how ‘political correctness’ has reshaped the landscape of comedy.