Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, returning guest Andrew Corbley of World at Large joins J.G. Michael to discuss the accelerating militarization of space and the transformation of the US Space Force into an explicitly war-fighting branch of the Pentagon. Corbley has been reporting on the growth of the Space Force since its creation, and his latest article examines a striking recent development: US military officials acknowledging that weapons have been positioned in orbit. We discuss what the Space Force means by "orbital warfare," how its mission has evolved from protecting satellites against jamming and other attacks, and what recent exercises and statements reveal about the future of warfare in space. The conversation also explores the rapidly expanding relationship between the Pentagon and the private space industry. Companies such as Rocket Lab and True Anomaly are developing and deploying spacecraft for military purposes, raising questions about the growing integration of commercial aerospace and the military-industrial complex. J.G. and Corbley also examine the erosion of US arms-control agreements, the Outer Space Treaty, US claims about Chinese and Russian space capabilities, and the diplomatic barriers that make communication between rival space powers more difficult. But the consequences aren't only geopolitical. What happens to NASA and civilian space exploration when the Pentagon's conception of space as a "war-fighting domain" increasingly dominates? Corbley discusses the competition for engineers and scientists, the economic potential of space resources, the future of lunar exploration, and the possibility that the dream of space as a domain for all humanity could be eclipsed by national-security priorities. Topics include the US Space Force, orbital warfare, space weapons, weaponization of space, militarization of space, Pentagon, NASA, military-industrial complex, Rocket Lab, True Anomaly, Victus Haze, Jackal spacecraft, Outer Space Treaty, arms control, China, Russia, private aerospace, space exploration, and the future of warfare in space.

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, Charles Goyette, author of Empire of Lies: Fragments from the Memory Hole, joins J.G. Michael to discuss the deep state, the permanent national security bureaucracy, America’s postwar transformation into a global military empire, and the economic and political costs of endless war. What exactly is the “deep state” or “blob,” and how did the national security establishment develop into a permanent bureaucracy with incentives and interests of its own? Goyette examines the rise of the national security state after World War II, the creation and evolution of the CIA, the role of “inter-agency consensus,” and the tension between elected government and an entrenched national security apparatus. Goyette also discusses the central idea behind Empire of Lies: the “memory hole.” Drawing on George Orwell’s 1984, he argues that inconvenient facts and past government narratives can effectively disappear as official explanations change. The transformation of Ahmed al-Sharaa from a figure once associated with terrorism and a $10 million bounty into Syria’s president and a U.S. partner becomes a striking contemporary example of the phenomenon. The conversation then turns to the economics of empire. What happens to a republic when enormous resources are continually diverted toward military power and overseas intervention? Goyette argues that the costs extend beyond the federal budget, affecting the productive economy, inflation, domestic affordability, and the future of the U.S. dollar’s international position. He also discusses the relationship between foreign wars, the defense industry, and what he sees as the erosion of civil liberties at home. Finally, Goyette weighs in on the Trump administration, Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran, and growing American war fatigue. Why has the public become increasingly skeptical of another round of Middle Eastern intervention? How much influence does the permanent national security establishment have over American foreign policy? And can the United States maintain a global military empire without fundamentally changing the character of the republic at home? Topics include: the deep state, the “blob,” the national security state, CIA history, the memory hole, 1984, Empire of Lies, American imperialism, endless war, the military-industrial complex, defense contractors, inflation, the dollar, Iran, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, war fatigue, and the erosion of civil liberties.

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael speaks with returning guest Wahid Azal, an independent scholar of Islamic esotericism and commentator on the Middle East, Iran, imperialism, and geopolitics, about the Iran war, the changing balance of power in the Middle East, and what he sees as a potential turning point in the decline of American empire. Azal argues that the United States and Israel have encountered a strategic problem they were not prepared for, pointing to Iran's use of drones, missiles, artificial intelligence, asymmetric warfare, and what he describes as "fifth generation warfare." The conversation examines the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab and Red Sea, Ansar Allah (the Houthis), Saudi Arabia's vulnerability, oil markets, and the possibility of a wider global economic crisis. From there, we discuss what Azal describes as the "end of empire," including the limits of American military power, the credibility of U.S. alliances and international agreements, the changing position of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and the growing importance of China, Russia, Iran, India, and BRICS in an increasingly multipolar world. Azal also weighs in on the Trump administration, the U.S. political system and what he sees as a deeper crisis of American plutocracy, the Democratic Party and the possibility of DSA figures being absorbed into the political establishment, as well as the question of whether political outsiders can actually transform the system they enter. The discussion also turns to Israel, Gaza, Zionism, the political future of Israel, Europe's response to the Middle East crisis, and the growing backlash against Israeli policy. Azal discusses his own experiences with attacks and accusations surrounding his criticism of Israel and introduces the concept of "parapolitical drift," his term for the way political narratives can migrate between otherwise disconnected or even opposing factions and become increasingly detached from their original context. We also discuss the Western media's coverage of the Iran war, the apparent information blackout surrounding the conflict, Telegram and X as alternative sources of information, propaganda, narrative manufacture, imperial hubris, and what a post-American Middle East might look like. Topics include Iran, Israel, Gaza, the Iran War, U.S. foreign policy, American empire, imperialism, fifth generation warfare, drones, missiles, artificial intelligence, Ansar Allah, the Houthis, Yemen, Bab al-Mandab, Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia, oil prices, BRICS, China, Russia, India, Trump, American politics, Zionism, multipolarity, information warfare, propaganda, parapolitical drift, Sufism, Islamic esotericism, and the future of the Middle East.

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, Ralph Pezullo joins us to discuss Tosh Plumlee’s Deep Cover, Shallow Graves, a controversial account of Cold War covert operations, CIA activities, anti-Castro networks, and the events surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. We explore Plumlee’s claimed experiences as a covert pilot and intelligence operative, his work around Cuba, the Bay of Pigs and Operation Mongoose, and the shadowy network of intelligence officers, Cuban exiles, organized crime figures, and other operatives surrounding these operations. Among the book’s most extraordinary claims is Plumlee’s account of attending the secretive School of Illusionary Warfare in Nags Head, North Carolina, where he says he encountered a young Lee Harvey Oswald and received training in psychological operations, infiltration, propaganda, communications, and other forms of covert warfare. We discuss the significance of Plumlee’s account, the challenges of evaluating firsthand testimony about clandestine operations, and the larger questions the book raises about intelligence, compartmentalization, and the hidden history of the Cold War. What can Plumlee’s story tell us about the world of covert operations that existed behind the public events of the Cold War, and how should we approach extraordinary claims about some of the most consequential events in American history?

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael is joined by writer and commentator Nat Wilson Turner to discuss his article “Coffee Break: Stressed Oligarchs at Meta, OpenAI, and the Ellison Empire” and the growing pressures facing some of America’s most powerful tech and media billionaires. We dig into Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for artificial intelligence, Meta’s increasingly aggressive AI ambitions, and the company’s enormous legal exposure over allegations that its platforms deliberately hooked young users and contributed to harm to children. We examine the explosive internal evidence cited in the lawsuits, including research into the long-term retention of young users and the infamous “hook ’em young” comment. We then turn to Sam Altman and OpenAI, including the company’s staggering computing commitments, executive departures, mounting financial pressures, uncertain IPO prospects, and the broader question of whether the AI boom is actually a sustainable business model or an increasingly precarious bubble. From there, we explore the potentially enormous consequences for Oracle and Larry Ellison if OpenAI falters; and how that connects to the Ellison family’s rapidly expanding media ambitions. Finally, we discuss David Ellison’s controversial attempt to merge Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, the antitrust battle with California and other state attorneys general, his threat to move Paramount out of Hollywood, and what the merger could mean for the future of the entertainment industry. Along the way, we get into Big Tech, corporate monopolies, AI hype, oligarchic power, Hollywood’s political economy, media consolidation, and the increasingly strange intersection of Silicon Valley, Washington, and the culture wars.