At the top of the show, Mark Sleboda, international affairs and security analyst, breaks down the latest developments on the ground from Ukraine over the weekend. They talk about a Fox News report this morning that Andrei Soldatov, the head of the FSB, Russian Intelligence Services, was placed under house arrest. Then they discuss reports of the Russian attack on the Ukrainian base that resulted in dozens of deaths and more than 100 injured. The base was practically on the border of Poland. What does this mean in terms of an expansion of the conflict if anything? And, they talk about Russian relations with China.

Then, Kevin Gosztola, journalist, writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure joins the conversation to talk about media coverage of former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul saying Adolf Hitler wasn’t as bad as Vladimir Putin because Hitler didn’t kill “ethnic Germans.” Then, Rachel Maddow Show’s blog repeating this absolutely vile bit of revisionism as a nugget of social media wisdom. They discuss the onward march of censorship in this conflict. On Friday, as we were airing, YouTube made its announcement that it would drop Russian state funded media worldwide and remove content “denying, minimizing or trivializing” the war in Ukraine as part of its policy toward “well-documented violent events.” 

Next on the program, Mohammad Mirandi, Professor of English Literature and Orientalism, University of Tehran called in to talk about the Iranian government confirming today responsibility for a rocket attack on a facility near the US consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil. The attack was in retaliation for an Israeli missile strike in Syria last week that killed two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The strike in Irbil drew a harsh response from the Iraqi government which called it a violation of international law and demanded an explanation from Iran.

For the last segment, Sam Husseini, independent journalist. You can find his writings and Substack at Husseini.org joins the Misfits to talk about his long running hunt for the origins of covid-19. And, the evolution of theories that it might have come from a lab; from lies and conspiracy to accepted possibility. They talk about the process and speed the media reports on research of potentially dangerous pathogens in Ukraine. They compare examples of the virtues of skepticism in media - the lesson in both of these stories isn’t to have been on the right bandwagon from the beginning - it’s not to be on one - it’s very hard to find well known media outlets these days that haven’t chosen a team. 

The Misfits sign off till tomorrow.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Jeremy Kuzmarov, Managing editor of CovertAction Magazine and author of four books on U.S. foreign policy, including The Russians are Coming, Again, with John Marciano and Obama's Unending Wars to discuss the role that the National Endowment for Democracy and so-called “soft-power” tactics are playing in the conflict in Ukraine, why the NED is attempting to hide its connections to far-right organizations and the government of Ukraine by deleting its records of its projects there, the information war being waged over the US role in the conflict and targeting of voices that dare to highlight the historical context of interference and NATO expansion in Ukraine, and how the ingrained Russophobia in American political culture contributes to the hysteria against dissident voices and Russians.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire to discuss the refusal of many African nations to take the side of NATO and the United States in the conflict over Ukraine, the history of the Soviet Union’s support for anti-colonial movements on the African continent and how that contributes to this more independent foreign policy, and how the USSR’s anti-colonial history contrasts with the US and NATO’s historical role in sowing chaos and supporting undemocratic governments on the continent.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog at Beyond Nuclear to discuss the anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the continuing efforts to contain the waste that was released by the disaster, the lasting damage of the nuclear disaster and the lies and deceit of the nuclear industry to hide the human toll of the disaster, how this event and the current conflict in Ukraine highlight the real danger posed by nuclear energy and the waste it creates, and how the so-called disposal of nuclear waste contributes to environmental racism against indigenous people.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Kristine Hendrix, President to the University City School Board, Junior Bayard Rustin Fellow with the Fellowship for Reconciliation and contributor to the Truth-Telling Project and "We Stay Woke" podcast to discuss the racism experienced by African students attempting to leave Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia and why the mainstream media refused to cover it for so long, the ignoring of fundamental needs by the US government as it focuses on practicing brinkmanship over the conflict in Ukraine, and what the material consequences of the war in Ukraine and the Biden administration’s response means for political education and organizing.