Joy welcomes journalist par excellence Aaron Mate to discuss his take on a variety of issues. Formerly of The Real News, Democracy Now and Al Jazeera, Aaron is now working for The Nation primarily as a social justice reporter.
Long a skeptic of the “Russiagate” narrative, Aaron explains why he feels it plays well in the current national dialogue, and why he finds alternatives to this narrative also to be less than satisfactory. He discusses the treatment of Julian Assange, the extent to which the Wikileaks release of the Democratic National Committee’s emails may have been a factor in the 2016 election, and his take on the possible role of Seth Rich. Aaron also sheds light on the role that Paul Manafort played in the Ukrainian coup d’etat of the 2014 crisis.
In response to a viewer question, Aaron describes the current situation in Venezuela, as well as the history of U.S. intervention in Central and South America. He also shares his perspective on how tensions with Venezuela affected the changing relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. Finally, Aaron and Joy cover the 2020 Presidential election, including who Aaron finds interesting, and what he sees as the legacy of Bernie Sanders in American politics.
This is an extremely interesting and informative interview with one of the brightest young minds in journalism today, who looks below the surface in order to report on the full story, not just the tag lines. A Savage Joy you don’t want to miss!