Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Between Pete Hegseth, Kristin Noem and Kash Patel, the Trump Administration was staffed with some real party animals! Now Lori Chavez-DeRemer is out at Labor for boozing it up on the job while boning a subordinate. How did teetotaler Trump wind up with such a posse of wild right-wingers?

• The US State Department will host a second round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday. Joining “Deprogram” to explain the latest in Israel’s invasion of Lebanon is Dmitri Lascaris. Dimitri Lascaris is a Canadian lawyer, journalist, and activist based in Montreal and Kalamata, Greece. A former Wall Street and class-action securities litigator, he now reports independently on foreign affairs, human rights, and global politics via his YouTube channel Reason2Resist, often from conflict zones, including Lebanon.

• Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says Iran is “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield” after Trump threatened Iran with “problems like they’ve never seen before” if the two-week ceasefire expires tomorrow without a deal. There is no official confirmation on whether Iran will take part in talks in Islamabad.

MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live

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Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you.

Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time.

MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow

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Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Hours after the US and Iran announced a ceasefire deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump took to social media with insulting, triumphantalist messaging that reneged on America’s promise to suspend its own blockade of Iranian ships. The Strait closed again, Iran attacked two ships and the U.S. attacked and took over an Iranian cargo vessel. Peace talks are supposed to start Wednesday—but will US envoys be talking to themselves?

• Republicans have few days left to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). But Trump, GOP leaders and White House officials have failed to come up with a workable framework for months—and there is no agreement.

• Progressive Bulgaria, the party led by former President Rumen Radev, wins general elections in Bulgaria with 44.7%, a better-than-expected performance and one of the largest parliamentary mandates by any party in recent years. Warmer relations with Russia are likely.

• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says that Canada's strong economic ties to the US were once a strength but are now a weakness that must be corrected.

MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live

https://x.com/tedrall

https://x.com/JamarlThomas

LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu

APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time.

Today we discuss:

• Pope Leo XIV says the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” with nothing for “healing, education and restoration.” “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” Leo said, presumably about Trump and Netanyahu.

• Progressive Democrat Analilia Mejia won a special election in New Jersey’s 11th District, by a landslide, allowing Democrats to further narrow Republicans’ razor-thin majority in the House to 217-214. AIPAC had interfered in the primary by going after incumbent Tom Malinowski, a self-described Zionist, because he wanted conditions on aid to Israel.

• House conservatives, concerned that warrantless government surveillance of foreign individuals could sweep up data on Americans, shot down an 18-month extension Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. They have 10 days to talk.

• Disgruntled employee Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, of Highland, California, is accused of causing $500 million in damage by setting an April 7 fire that destroyed a 1.2 million-square-foot Kimberly-Clark distribution center in Ontario. Abdulkarim, who worked through a third-party logistics provider, filmed himself setting pallets of paper goods ablaze, says the DOJ. “If you’re not going to pay us enough to [expletive] live… at least pay us enough not to do this,” he allegedly says. “I just cost these [expletive] billions,” he texted. “Luigi popped that mutherf---er,” Abdulkarim said in a call, “a lot of people are going to understand.”

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Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time.

Today we discuss:

• Immigration advisers in the UK are charging up to £7,000 to fake asylum claims for Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals to pretend they are gay.

• Senior diplomats from Lebanon and Israel met in Washington as their host, Marco Rubio, tried to reach a ceasefire. It was attended by Lebanon’s ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and her Israeli counterpart, Yechiel Leiter. Leiter said they had agreed on a long-term vision that there should be a “clearly delineated border between our countries.” Trump says leaders of the two nations will talk today; Lebanon denies that.

• The U.S. launches an online portal next week that lets businesses request refunds for tariffs ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), will boot up CAPE, for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries — so companies can submit claims for up to $175 billion. Customs is putting the burden on the importer. Customs is not figuring it out.

• In September 2024, Amandla Thomas-Johnson was a Ph.D. candidate studying in the U.S. on a student visa when he briefly attended a pro-Palestinian protest. In April 2025, ICE sent Google an “administrative subpoena”—not issued by a judge—requesting his data. The next month, Google gave Thomas-Johnson's information to ICE without giving him the chance to challenge the request

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• We can’t decide to make nice, or kill you. President Trump told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo he views the war with Iran "as very close to over." The U.S. and Iran could begin a fresh round of peace talks as soon as tomorrow after Trump's administration imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.

• Can Lebanon expel Hezbollah? Following the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1993, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter hailed what he called a convergence of opinion about removing Hezbollah's influence from Lebanon. "The Lebanese government made it very clear that they will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah," he said. "Iran has been weakened. Hezbollah is dramatically weakened. This is an opportunity." But nothing can happen without regime change in Iran—and maybe not even then.

• Hampshire College, a small liberal arts school in Amherst founded in 1965, is set to close permanently due to low enrollment and financial problems.

• Gov. Kathy Hochul proposes a tax on second homes in New York City worth $5 million and more, dubbed a pied-à-terre tax, aimed at the ultra-wealthy. It would affect roughly 13,000 homes, and would bump for homes valued at $15 million and again at $25 million.

MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live

https://x.com/tedrall

https://x.com/JamarlThomas

LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu

APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Trump is trying to choke off the country’s lifeline with a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. But the Iranians are betting that his tolerance for political pain is limited.

• Iran is waging the conflict in the global markets. If no Iranian oil gets through the strait, prices could keep rising over time — some companies say they are planning for $175 a barrel. The Iranians understand the potential political effects of continued inflation in the U.S. less than seven months before midterms.

• For expert analysis about the energy markets showdown, we will be joined by Mark Barteau, a renowned chemical engineer and expert in heterogeneous catalysis for fuels, chemicals, and energy processes. He serves as Vice President for Research at Texas A&M University, holding the C.D. Holland '53 Chair in Engineering with joint appointments in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. Previously, he directed energy institutes at the University of Michigan and University of Delaware. A National Academy of Engineering member with over 250 publications, his work advances clean energy and carbon management.

• Ramsey County, Minnesota is investigating the arrest of a Hmong American man by ICE as a case of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, officials announced Monday. On Jan. 18, ICE agents bashed open the front door of the St. Paul home of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, 56, at gunpoint — without a warrant — then led him outside in just his underwear and a blanket in sub-zero conditions. Thao is a U.S. citizen. The City of St. Paul is also investigating.

MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live

https://x.com/tedrall

https://x.com/JamarlThomas

LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu

APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• In one of the most bizarre gambits in military history, Trump responds to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz with his own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. You can’t blockade—I blockade! Oil futures are soaring; stocks are down. (Tune in Tuesday as oil-markets expert Prof. Mark Barteau of Texas A&M joins to explain the economics of global oil markets and this game of economic brinkmanship.)

• Peace talks in Islamabad collapse over the U.S. “take it or leave it” demand that Iran stop enriching uranium and surrender its stockpile, Israel’s war against Lebanon, sanctions, reparations, and control of the Strait of Hormuz. Is there still hope?

• The 55-to-38 defeat of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, by Peter Magyar, leader of the center-right Tisza party, should deliver a sharp jolt to one of America’s two major political parties—the Democrats.

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FOLLOW TED:

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LISTEN ON SPOTIFY:

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LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall