Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
On this edition of Parallax Views, in the first segment of the show Mike Swanson of Wall Street Window returns to discuss the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the bigger picture when it comes to the state of the U.S. economy. What is the story of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse and the Federal Reserve's intervention in the aftermath? Is this another bailout like we saw with the 2008 financial crisis?
Additionally, Mike and I discuss the ongoing issues with inflation (which Mike considers a bigger issue than the issue than the SVB collapse); Elon Musk, tech bro. triumphalism, ChatGPT and AI, tech startups, tech billionaires and hyping stocks, Facebook and Meta, and the potential false promises of techno-utopianism; troubles being faced by smaller regional banks and the crisis that could cause; is society producing too much capital in a way that is causing crises?; reflecting on the dotcom bubble in relation to the hype around tech today; the Fed's unprecedented response to SVB; SVB is being allowed to fail; Branko Marcetic's Jacobin article "Silicon Valley Bank’s Collapse Shows Little Has Changed for Big Banks Since 2008"; low-interest rate policies, Quantitative Easing, stock market bubbles, and SVB; SVB, financial recklessness, and poor-decision making; the odds are increasing of recession; the Fed has become a reactive entity; and much, much more!
On this edition of Parallax Views, Mickey Huff, director of the media watchdog group Project Censored, returns to the program to discuss the new book Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2023. We'll be discussing the problems facing the American public with regards to media literacy as well as the problems with the billionaire-owned corporate media and the challenged faced by big tech and surveillance capitalism. During the course of our discussion we discuss news some of Project Censored's Top 25 Censored News Stories of the year including NATO's plans for "cognitive warfare", the repression of Palestinian media, and the neo-Nazi leader that now holds a DOJ Domestic Counterterrorism position. Additionally, Mickey and I discuss the hot topic issue of disinformation with a focus on the emerging term "malinformation" and the potential problems with it's sometimes loosely defined definition. We also discuss the importance of alternative media and hit ongoing issues like the Twitter Files, Wikileaks and Julian Assange, and how Russia and countries adversarial to the U.S. have a propaganda problem but that doesn't mean we shouldn't ignore the problems of corporate dominance and propaganda in the American media.
We also delve into how the Nation Endowment for Democracy-funded Media Defence has pushed a definition of "malinformation" stating that it is information "based on reality but is used to inflict harm on a person, organisation or country." In this regard we ponder whether Daniel Ellsberg's Pentagon Papers would be considered "malinformation" by the U.S. even if it was done in the public interest.
Mickey explains how digital suppression of the news has become a growing issue in the 21st century. He argues big tech companies can provide the means for Orwellian forms of controlling news and narratives in media the stifle discourse and debate.
Other issues covered include a critique of the Steele Dossier and the British private intelligence firm that produced it (Orbis), potential problems facing alternative media going forward (such as it becoming infotainment in the way that much corporate media has become infotainment or junk food news), and much, much more.
Reporting on the UCLA Protests w/ Mel Buer/Congress Passes the Antisemitism Awareness Act w/ ADC's Chris Habiby/The Campus Protests, Antisemitism Awareness Act, & Related Issues w/ Richard Silverstein
Academic Freedom, Viewpoint Discrimination, and Israel/Palestine w/ Jodi Dean
The Turbulent World - April 2024 Update on Iran & Israel, Gaza Protests, Extreme Rhetoric in Israel, Israel's Information War, Benjamin Netanyahu, and More w/ James M. Dorsey
Dear Palestine: A Social History of the 1948 War w/ Prof. Shay Hazkani
Columbia U Protests + the Kent State Massacre, Project Censored's State of the Free Press 2024, Forever Chemicals, & Remembering Daniel Ellsberg w/ Mickey Huff
Applying the Lessons of the French Evisceration of Algeria to the Gaza War w/ Sean Tomilson
Examining Biden's Policies on Economics, Gaza, and the Border Heading Into Election Season w/ Karen Dolan/How Autocrats Seek Power w/ Richard Abel
Inside the World of Deathmatch Wrestling w/ Mike Krueger
Is the U.S.-Israel Special Relationship a Strategic Liability? w/ Jon Hoffman
"White Rural Rage" Book Receives More Criticism from a Scholar It Cited w/ Kristin Lunz Trujillo/Culture Warriors Push Propaganda About Haiti Crisis w/ Patrick MacFarlane
Prominent Jewish Americans Sign Letter Opposing AIPAC w/ Alan Minsky
Jonathan Glazer's Oscar Speech, Its Parallels to Vanessa Redgrave's 1978 Oscar Speech, & the Meaning of THE ZONE OF INTEREST w/ Corey Atad
Gaza War Update w/ Prof. James M. Dorsey
Schaller & Waldman's "White Rural Rage" Thesis Misuses Data to Push an Unhelpful Narrative w/ Prof. Nicholas F. Jacobs
Europe Must Look Beyond the U.S. for Its Future in a Changing World + Biden, Netanyahu, and the Gaza War w/ Amb. Patrick Theros
The Death of Film Criticism and the Infantilization of Cinema (+ Oscar Talk) w/ Jim DiEugenio
The Islamophobia Network and the Israel-Palestine Discourse w/ Sahar Aziz and Mitchell Plitnick
Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America w/ Josie Riesman
BEST OF: The Enduring Legacy of V, the Hit Sci-Fi TV Series That Used the Alien Invasion Trope to Explore the Dangers of Fascism w/ Kenny Johnson
Israel/Palestine, the Gaza War, and Rebel Governance in the Middle East w/ Abdalhadi Alijla
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