Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté
Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Useful Idiots, LLC

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Episodes

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Useful Idiots is an informative and irreverent politics podcast with journalist Aaron Maté and podcaster/writer Katie Halper. Episodes feature analysis of the political news of the week and exclusive interviews, with humor, commentary and dissection of why both Republicans and Democrats suck. Join Aaron and Katie as they examine important stories that have slipped through the cracks and what the media got wrong – and laugh about whatever is left to laugh about.

Recent Episodes

Trump Accidentally Admits His Strikes Haven't Damaged Iran's Military At All
JUN 1, 2026
Trump Accidentally Admits His Strikes Haven't Damaged Iran's Military At All
Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/usefulVisit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTSCheck out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Support our work and get the full interviews with Lev Golinkin and Cat Graham: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-ukrainian-journalist?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch the Friday Free-For-All: Brave Student Journalist Calls Out CBS (While Getting an Award from CBS!) https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/brave-student-journalist-calls-out?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Our Sponsors:* Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me* Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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63 MIN
Ukrainian Journalist DESTROYS Zelensky for Nazi Support
MAY 29, 2026
Ukrainian Journalist DESTROYS Zelensky for Nazi Support
Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/usefulVisit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTSCheck out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Support our work and get the full interviews with Lev Golinkin and Cat Graham: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-ukrainian-journalist?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch the Friday Free-For-All: Brave Student Journalist Calls Out CBS (While Getting an Award from CBS!) https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/brave-student-journalist-calls-out?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Our Sponsors:* Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me* Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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49 MIN
“WORST CASE SCENARIO” Leaked in Secret Cuba Files—Here’s What They Hid
MAY 22, 2026
“WORST CASE SCENARIO” Leaked in Secret Cuba Files—Here’s What They Hid
Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/usefulVisit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTSCheck out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Support our work and get the ad-free version here: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ad-free-worst-case-scenario-leaked?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webRead Peter Kornbluh's latest reporting: The CIA Goes to Cuba https://www.thenation.com/article/world/cia-cuba-trump-regime-change-sanctions-military-threats-havana/Watch the Friday Free-For-All: When Even the Newsmax Guy Calls Out Your Cuba Lies https://usefulidiotspodcast.comJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.After starting two regime change wars in Venezuela and Iran, Donald Trump is now ramping up his campaign to overthrow the government of Cuba, and in the process impose serious misery on its people by tightening his blockade and deepening the country’s humanitarian crisis.And much like in Venezuela and Iran, there are suddenly reports of an imminent threat from Cuba, the tiny, starving island off the coast of the United States: Members of the Trump administration have begun claiming that Cuba has hundreds of Russian and Iranian drones that they will use to attack Florida.It seems to be the same exact playbook each time: claim an “imminent” threat, increase sanctions, take out the leader, and start a regime-change war.And as if to prove to the world that this is indeed the game plan, the CIA just made an uncharacteristically overt trip to Cuba.CIASo to discuss the humanitarian crisis and potential regime-change war in Cuba, we’re speaking with Peter Kornbluh, Director of Cuba and Chile Documentation Projects for the National Security Archive, who has been unearthing classified documents showing the reality of US foreign policy in Cuba.In his latest piece, The CIA Goes to Cuba, Kornbluh examines the CIA’s aggressive operation in Cuba, detailing how CIA Director John Ratcliffe gave a “do or die” ultimatum to the Cuban government, how Marco Rubio seeks to benefit from a false flag attack, and reveals documentation that proves US officials “don't believe Cuba is an imminent threat, or actively planning to attack American interests.”It’s the latest in Trump’s “empire-building” scheme that now spans across the globe, all fueled by neocons like Marco Rubio, and would be a sizable “Cold War trophy” to boost Trump’s imperial ego. Watch and share Peter Kornbluh’s full analysis (ad-free version):00:00 Intro03:39 He just said they need to use "Jewish money" to oust politicians...09:40 These MAGA people are getting destroyed by Trump's war on Iran13:38 What's happening in Cuba?16:47 Peter Kornbluh interview19:18 Trump on Cuba34:12 "Marco Rubio is wrong about everything"Our Sponsors:* Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me* Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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50 MIN
Lindsey Graham: "The Iran War is worth losing my job" (and how to make that happen)
MAY 18, 2026
Lindsey Graham: "The Iran War is worth losing my job" (and how to make that happen)
Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTSCheck out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Is Genocide Worth It If We Get To Have Cherry Tomatoes? https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/is-genocide-worth-it-if-we-get-to?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Watch Rami Elghandour's full uncensored commencement speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcP9wnphWAg&t=1sFollow Wyatt Reed on Substack: https://wyattreed.substack.com/From Lindsey Graham’s mouth to God’s ears: when asked on Meet the Press if the Iran War was worth losing the midterms over, Senator Lindsey Graham proclaimed: “It’s worth losing my job!”Finally, something to agree with arch-Zionist warmonger Lindsey Graham on!And speaking of God’s ears, Trump held a Christian Nationalist party to celebrate the US’s 250th birthday, where speakers claimed that it took God two centuries to bring us Donald Trump so that he could finally put a ballroom in the White House. That’s not a joke they really said that.From Lindsey Graham to Mike Johnson to John Fetterman to former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, we’ve got a Monday Mourning that oscillates between the importance of bombing civilian infrastructure in Iran to the importance of that ballroom. It’s a ridiculous and jam-packed episode.Our Sponsors:* Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me* Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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68 MIN
The Commencement Speech Israel Doesn't Want You To Hear
MAY 15, 2026
The Commencement Speech Israel Doesn't Want You To Hear
Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world.Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/usefulVisit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTSCheck out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Is Genocide Worth It If We Get To Have Cherry Tomatoes? https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/is-genocide-worth-it-if-we-get-to?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Watch Rami Elghandour's full uncensored commencement speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcP9wnphWAg&t=1sFollow Wyatt Reed on Substack: https://wyattreed.substack.com/It’s another classic Useful Idiots double header!First up we’re speaking with Rami Elghandour, biotech CEO whose company is developing transformative immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. He’s also executive producer of the Oscar-nominated film The Voice of Hind Rajab and The American Doctor. (note to other CEOs: it’s possible to do good things with your money)Rami was scheduled to give the convocation speech at Rutgers this week but was abruptly canceled, being told by a dean that “we’ve had a few students who feel that your social media posts are opposed to their beliefs.”Here is the tweet that got Rami canceled:“Forget a free ride. They’ve committed genocide. They’re running dungeons where they train dogs to sexually assault prisoners... Weapons embargo is the absolute minimum. Sanctions and diplomatic isolation are beyond justified. This we’ll sell them weapons won’t fly…”Rami reveals his full conversation with the dean and shows us a clip of the speech he would have given, which is now available on YouTube.We also speak with Wyatt Reed, journalist at the Grayzone who is currently reporting in Lebanon and Iran. As one of very few western journalists to actually go to Iran, Reed’s reporting is crucial to understanding what’s really happening on the ground, what actual Iranians feel about the US and the war, and how Trump’s attacks inadvertently pushed Iranians to rally around their own government.“Every night in cities all across Iran, there are pro-government protests in the major squares and town centers. This is happening throughout the entire country.Before the war, the die-hard support for the government was relatively limited to people who tended to be more conservative or more religious.After their country came under an existential threat, an existential attack that sought to topple not only their government, but clearly was not distinguishing between their government and their civilian population at all, this expanded to include a huge part of the population.So, the irony is that if they wanted to overthrow this government in Iran, they’ve done basically the opposite. They have solidified support for it through every segment of Iranian society. Iranians came to understand that basically their choice was between ruling themselves in a somewhat authoritarian manner or being ruled by an occupying foreign power which clearly seeks to conduct basically a genocide against them. It’s not hard to understand why more and more people began to side with their government.”Wyatt also shares footage of his reporting of the US bombing on the Minab elementary school, as well as the Israeli bombings of a hospital and synagogue in Tehran. It’s tough to watch, but Wyatt’s journalism is some of the only western journalism we’ve seen from Iran. Help to share his reporting!00:00 Intro01:09 Worse than 9/11??03:08 Let's raise gas prices so that they don't go up!06:06 JD Vance just figured out the REAL villain behind everything06:49 Rami Elghandour interview10:26 Rami vs Rutgers19:31 Michigan Commencement goes viral41:58 The speech Rami would have given44:49 Journalist Wyatt Reed interview49:09 Visiting the elementary school the US bombed55:25 ...and the hospital Israel bombed1:08:46 ...and the synagogue Israel bombedOur Sponsors:* Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me* Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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86 MIN