Gorilla Radio blog

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Yves Engler, Andy Worthington June 24, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 22:11:57 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

June 24, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded June 24th, 2026

As anticipated, British PM, Keir Starmer resigned Monday becoming the latest in a long string of prime ministers to leave office without facing, post facto, their electorate. Fitting too following Starmer’s monkey-wrenching of Labour Party policy - making it indistinguishable from the Tories - and backing Israel’s genocide to the hilt.

It’s a lesson Canada’s freshly majority-mandated Liberal Party leader Mark Carney would do well to heed. Carney, like Starmer, has u-turned on his election platform, rushed through draconian safety and security Bills, supports the 21st Century Holocaust in Palestine, and has made Liberal policy-making indistinguishable from his right-wing Parliamentary colleagues across the aisle.

Yves Engler is an activist, journalist, and the author of countless articles and essays detailing Canada’s foreign policy history. He’s written a dozen books on the subject, including: ‘Stand on Guard for Whom?: A People’s History of the Canadian Military’, ‘House of Mirrors — Justin Trudeau’s Foreign Policy’, ‘Left, Right — Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada’. His latest is, ‘Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy’.

Yves’ website, YvesEngler.com is the necessary first stop for Canadians and foreigners alike wishing to understand better the cognitive dissonance that lay between the proclaimed and demonstrable Canada.

Yves Engler in the first half.

And; thanks to its unlamented outgoing prime minister, Britons are now stripped of basic protections from tyranny in the form of laws in place for nearly a thousand years. While departing Starmer isn’t the sole architect of what one British journalist calls “a legal architecture of repression”, he and Labour built upon and reinforced that repression, now being sprung on both thousands of everyday citizens and the resistance group, Palestine Action.

Andy Worthington’s an English journalist, activist, author, photo-historian, filmmaker, musician, song-writer and principle of The Four Fathers band. He is too a co-founder of the ongoing Close Guantánamo campaign. His book titles include: ‘The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison’, ‘Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion’, and ‘The Battle of the Beanfield. Andy’s articles appear at AndyWorthington.co.uk, and at his eponymous Substack site, where I found his recent post, ‘How Were the Filton 4 Sentenced for Terrorism When They Weren’t Convicted of Terrorism?’.

Andy Worthington and arousing “the most punitive instincts of authoritarian ministers and compliant members of the judiciary” in the second half.

But first, Yves Engler and Canada on the Carney fast-track to moral and material ruin.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘To Run This World’

Canadian Foreign Policy Hour - https://yvesengler.com/canadian-foreign-policy-hour/

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcasting since 1999. Check out the Archive at GRadio.Substack.com, and the GR blog at:

https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com/

@GRadio at UpScrolled, and on Telegram at: https://t.me/gorillaradio2024

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Jeremy Kuzmarov, John Helmer June 17, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 01:02:54 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L.Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

June 17, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded June 17th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

“... You’ve got to be taught from year to year”, the song goes. “It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear...” Well years and years into the Ukraine-Russia war, (more than four for those counting) we’re yet to hear - here in the west at least - commentators question, or wonder aloud about how a fraternal hatred could erupt so catastrophically. Perhaps because the answer to the question is too simple: That hatred was carefully taught. And, just as Ukrainian was taught to hate Ukrainian, and Slav to hate Slav we here are being taught to accept what is happening there, and elsewhere as normal; normal that bombs fall daily on hospitals and schools; normal that doctors and patients, children and teachers should be killed.

Professor Jeremy Kuzmarov is contributing Managing Editor at Covert Action Magazine. Successor to the storied subversive print magazine, CAM continues almost 50 years on, publishing “articles with differing viewpoints in an effort to nurture vibrant debate and thoughtful critical analysis”.

Jeremy’s book titles include, ‘Obama’s Unending Wars’, ‘The Russians Are Coming, Again’, (written with John Marciano) ‘Warmonger. How Clinton’s Malign Foreign Policy Launched the U.S. Trajectory From Bush II to Biden’, and his latest, co-authored with Dan Kovalik, ‘Syria: Anatomy of Regime Change’. His recent piece at Covert Action, ‘Russian Spy Was Killed as Part of CIA-MI6 Psychological Warfare Operation Says Former Commander of French Anti-Terrorism Group’ examines one of the lessons learned from an old and still ongoing psy-op.

Jeremy Kuzmarov in the first half.

And; Canada’s recently adopted so-called online safety measures joins those of 5 Eyes partners Australia, Britain, and New Zealand. Touted as necessary to protect the tender sensibilities of youngsters, the legislation is coercive and punitive, and serves instead to enforce media control for the “cognitive war”, currently being fought in the brains and guts of a captured citizenry.

John Helmer’s the principle behind the news and analysis website, ‘Dances with Bears’. An author and journalist, John’s spent decades living in and reporting from Russia. His academic career includes teaching at Harvard, and serving as political advisor to presidents and prime ministers.

John’s book titles include: ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia,’ ‘Long Live Novichok: The British Poison Which Fooled the World’, and ‘Sovcomplot: How pirates tried to capture the treasure of the Russian seas, and were caught out’. His latest at Dances with Bears is, ‘Would the Last War Against Russia Have Turned Out Differently if Joseph Goebbels Launched Podcasts Instead of the V-2 Rocket?’.

John Helmer reading between the lies, big and bigger in the second half.

But first, Jeremy Kuzmarov and unlearning what we’ve been taught, before it’s too late.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘Russian Narrative’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Randy Caravaggio, David Rovics June 10, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 22:41:43 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

June 10, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded June 10th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk demanded Monday the United States lift sanctions against Cuba “immediately”. The High Commissioner blamed the oil embargo in place since January for killing children, saying the severe sanctions violate “basic principles of international human rights law”. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio charges the Caribbean island nation is - as well a being a threat to the Super Power’s security - “one of the leading sponsors of terrorism in the entire region”. His State Department declared a “national emergency” to invoke the oil embargo coming atop America’s 67 year-long blockade creating, according to Turk, a humanitarian crisis endangering the lives of all citizens.

Randy Caravaggio is a long-time organizer with the Victoria Friends of Cuba. Randy and his comrades have transported vital medical and other necessary supplies to Cuba for more than thirty years, and were there earlier this year doing the same.

Randy Caravaggio in the first half.

And; as well as traveling to Cuba, The Victoria Friends of Cuba also do banner drops on Victoria’s busiest highway every week, host film screenings, and promote concerts and special events to raise money for their work. There will be just such a special happening coming up June 25th at Broad View United Church in Victoria.

David Rovics is an itinerant musician and prolific songwriter. He’s sat in, stood up, and faced down the powers that should not be on every issue of import you can imagine. He’s been compared to Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, and every uncompromising musical advocate of the human condition of the last century.

David’s catalogue is immense, running many hundreds of songs-long, and his devoted fan base hundreds of thousands deep. His unparalleled embrace of AI for activism is both courageous and a challenge to those eschewing innovation despite the costs. He’s just back from a Spring tour in Europe, and he’ll be playing up and down the Island, and over on the Mainland too, through June and into July.

David Rovics, minstrel of our Titanic times in the second half.

But first, Randy Caravaggio, shining light on Cuba in its darkest hour.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Songs: ‘You Can’t Get Into the U.K.’, ‘The Holocaust is Now’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Becca Steckle, Dan Kovalik June 3, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 22:07:46 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

June 3, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded June 3rd, 2026

Listen. Hear.

Late in the last century the Chretien government, led by then-finance minister Paul Martin, created the CPPIB, or Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board. A mechanism to get at CPP money locked up in safe, long-term bonds and such, the CPPIB determined to leap into the investment fast lane, behaving as a hedge fund. It promised to “take politics out” of its investing, which in practice meant using citizens’ funds without moral constraints. Profit would be the first and last of its laws; and so it’s been for nearly thirty years, and what that’s led to is a portfolio filled with war, environmental degradation, and genocide; but still it’s not enough.

Becca Steckle is a research and policy analyst with Just Peace Advocates whose special area of study is Canadian institutional complicity in the occupations of Palestine and Kashmir. Now, Becca and the JPA have released the report, ‘CPPIB Doubles Down, Increases Investments in Genocide, War Crimes, and Apartheid to More Than $54 Billion’; it’s an examination of the current government’s turbo-charged dedication to profiting from the crimes of the century.

Becca Steckle in the first half.

And; Colombians voted over the weekend; and though the first ballot didn’t produce a clear presidential winner, it did reveal a plethora of irregularities and interference in the country’s free and fair exercise of popular democracy. What that means for the next round, due June 21st, is of extreme concern not only for Colombia’s future political stability, but too for its neighbours, and all of South America.

Dan Kovalik’s a lawyer, educator, labour, peace, and justice activist, democracy defender, journalist, author, and filmmaker. Dan represented unions whose membership were targeted by Colombia’s death squads, has served as a foreign observor to elections in that country, and acts currently as Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s legal representative in the United States.

Dan’s book titles include: ‘No More War: How the West Violates International Law by Using ‘Humanitarian’ Intervention to Advance Economic and Strategic Interest’, ‘The Case for Palestine: Why It Matters and Why You Should Care’, and his latest, co-authored with Jeremy Kuzmarov, ‘Syria: Anatomy of Regime Change’.

Dan Kovalik and Colombia’s parlous election in the second half.

But first, Becca Steckle and understanding how your pension profits the suffering of distant others.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Songs: ‘Rise’, ‘The Bunker’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Karen Spring, John Helmer May 27, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Thu, 28 May 2026 01:03:10 +0000

This Week on Gorilla Radio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

May 27, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded May 27th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

A few weeks ago, Hondurasgate.ch, an anonymous site, in affiliation with media outlet, Diario Red released intercepted communications among the Honduran leadership elite, including former president, and convicted drugs-dealing kingpin, Juan Orlando Hernández. What those conversations reveal is a real time conspiracy of assassination and dirty tricks to remove democratic opposition, and return Honduras to the post-2009 coup period known as the “Narcodictatorship”.

Karen Spring is Coordinator for Honduras Solidarity Network. It’s a “…decentralized network of approximately 30 organizations from across Canada and the United States […] committed to demonstrating and advocating for solidarity with the Honduran social movement.”

Karen is too co-author of the just released report, The Dark Side of the Energy Transition: Green Colonialism in Southern Honduras, a chronicle of “corporate profiteering and bullying under the guise of ‘sustainable development’”.

Karen Spring in the first half.

And; what’s really, really old is newish again on the Third World War front. As my second guest observes, “The best way of learning how the men inside the Kremlin think is in the history of the Byzantine Empire which began in the 4th century AD and whose last day, the anniversary of the empire’s last day, we celebrate this week – May 29, 1453.”

John Helmer’s a journalist and author who’s spent decades living in and reporting from Russia. He’s the principle behind the web news site, Dances with Bears and has - as well as serving as advisor to governments at the highest level - too been a professor of political science, sociology, and journalism.

Among his many book titles are: ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia,’ and ‘Long Live Novichok: The British Poison Which Fooled the World’. His latest at Dances with Bears is, ‘THE NEXT MOVE WHEN TRUMP, PUTIN, AND XI ARE IN ZUGZWANG IN THE UKRAINE, HORMUZ STRAIT, TAIWAN’.

John Helmer and Trump, Xi, and Putin, picking up where the Byzantine’s left off in the second half.

But first, Karen Spring and the making of a Green-coloured colonialism in Honduras.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘The Pogroms of the West Bank’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Susan Blacklin, Evan Jones May 20, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Thu, 21 May 2026 01:23:48 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by Chris Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

May 20, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded May 20th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

It’s Municipal Elections Season again! BUT, before you reach for that dial you should know: What you do and don’t do about that could mean the difference between life and death for both you and generations to come. That’s because your municipal leaders are the ones deciding the how, what, when, and where’s of your water and its delivery; and perhaps more importantly, deciding in whose interests that water will be managed.

Susan Blacklin is an author and water policy campaigner with the National Council of Women of Canada. They’ve launched a country-wide awareness effort to address Canada’s coast to coast to coast water crisis. Susan’s books are, ‘Water Confidential: Witnessing Justice Denied - The Fight for Safe Drinking Water in Indigenous and Rural Communities in Canada’, and her latest, ‘Water Justice: What You Don’t Know Could Kill You’. Her recent article at The Watershed Sentinel, ‘Your Water, Your Vote: The Questions Candidates Hope You Won’t Ask’ is a how-to on holding aspirant politico’s feet to the fire on water issues.

Susan Blacklin in the first half.

And; last week, Palestinians at home and around the World commemorated Nakba 78, in remembrance of the grinding 80 years of war and occupation they’ve suffered at the hands of Zionism. But now the ethnic cleansing has accelerated in Gaza and the West Bank - along with expansion into neighbouring Syria and Lebanon - into what the United Nations yesterday charged was a policy of “eradication”. More ominously perhaps, among Israel’s allies, its aiders and abettors, diplomatic, financial, and materiel support has expanded to now include suppression through the courts and police batons of citizens opposing the gross abuse of both International Law and plain human decency.

Evan Jones is a retired University of Sydney professor of Political Economy whose articles can be found at CounterPunch, and the Independent Australian among other places. Jones says he, “began reading and writing about Palestine-Israel over 20 years ago with rising disgust over Israel’s barbarism and the endless misrepresentation [...] in the Western mainstream media”. His recent piece at CounterPunch, ‘Australia as Zionist-Occupied Territory’ chronicles the Albanese government’s reactive legal measures following the December Bondi Beach massacre.

Evan Jones on Australia “cohesing” with its second colonial master in the second half.

But first, Susan Blacklin and the urgency of Canada’s water policy.

Links for Susan:

https://preventcancernow.ca/where-are-canadas-asbestos-cement-drinking-water-pipes-check-the-data-for-where-you-live/

https://preventcancernow.ca/taking-action/asbestos/

https://www.ncwcanada.ca/open-letter-for-canada-to-protect-our-water

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘Sing a Song of Solidarity’

Mads Gram Presente!

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcasting since 1999. Check out the Archive at GRadio.Substack.com, and the GR blog at:

https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com/

@GRadio at UpScrolled, and on Telegram at: https://t.me/gorillaradio2024

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dave Lindorff, Evan Jones May 13, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Thu, 14 May 2026 00:17:37 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

May 13, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded May 13, 2026

Listen. Hear.

As our modern Hundred Years’ war marches confidently into its second century it’s reasonable to ask, “Why, whether we ask nicely, or rudely demand it, there cannot be peace?” It’s as though perennial warfare is, like Twain’s weather, something everybody talks of but does nothing about. Perhaps in the end it is simply that while war’s a dirty business, it’s damned profitable - for some.

Dave Lindorff is an Izzy Award-winning investigative journalist, author, and founder of the web news site, This Can’t Be Happening. Dave’s book titles include: ‘’This Can’t Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy,’ ‘Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal,’ and his latest, ‘Spy for No Country: The story of Ted Hall, the teenage atomic spy who may have saved the world’.

Dave’s recent article at CounterPunch.org, and found on This Can’t Be Happening’s Substack site is, ‘Trump’s War Inspires the Return of an Old Scourge: War Profiteers’.

Photo: Camille Brodard

Dave Lindorff in the first half.

And; for just as long Palestinians have suffered war and occupation, but the Zionist status quo is shifted post-October 7th; while Israel’s accelerated genocide of Palestinians in Gaza - and ethnic cleansing of regions of neighbouring Syria and Lebanon - realize the beginning of the long-awaited Eretz Israel project in West Asia, it also signals a determined alignment of Western allies’ support. Both diplomatically in international fora, and through strict disciplinary measures meted against domestic opposition to the gross violations of law and decency perpetrated by Israel, condemnation and censure of its criminality has been quashed by these states - so far.

Evan Jones is a retired University of Sydney professor of Political Economy whose articles can be found at CounterPunch, and the Independent Australian among other places. Jones says he, “began reading and writing about Palestine-Israel over 20 years ago with rising disgust over Israel’s barbarism and the endless misrepresentation [...] in the Western mainstream media”. His recent CounterPunch piece, ‘Australia as Zionist-Occupied Territory’ chronicles the Albanese government’s reactive legal measures following the December Bondi Beach massacre.

Evan Jones on Australia “cohesing” with its second colonial master in the second half.

But first, Dave Lindorff and America’s Orange Scourge.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘They’ll Starve the Children’

Bonus: Guided Tour of album, ‘Before the War’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Arturo Ezquerro-Cañete, Andy Worthington May 6, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 06 May 2026 20:57:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

May 6, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded May 6th, 2026

Last month in an “extraordinary session” Argentina’s National Congress signed off on reforms to the country’s ‘Glacier Law’. The 2010 law was a hard-fought and rare win, protecting both the environment and water security for millions of Argentinians. With its “reforms” now ratified, the fear is foreign mining giants will move in and destroy an irreplaceable resource. And, there’s a Canadian connection.

Arturo Ezquerro-Cañete teaches in the Department of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University, and the Department of Political Science and Global Development Studies at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. He also serves as Latin America Program Coordinator at MiningWatch Canada.

Arturo Ezquerro-Cañete in the first half.

And; the Filton 6 have been enduring retrial in Britain’s justice system; the same made famous through its prolonged internment and torture of Julian Assange. The defendants, it may be remembered, where exonerated for destroying war materiel on the shop floor at the Elbit Systems weapons plant in Bristol in 2024. The members of Palestine Action believed the factory was implicated in the genocide then and still occurring in Gaza, Palestine.

Andy Worthington’s an English journalist, activist, author, photo-historian, filmmaker, musician, song-writer and principle of The Four Fathers band. He is too a co-founder of the ongoing Close Guantánamo campaign. His book titles include: ‘The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison’, ‘Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion’, and ‘The Battle of the Beanfield. Andy’s articles appear at: AndyWorthington.co.uk, and at his eponymous Substack site, where I found his recent post, ‘Filton 6 trial jury verdict: four guilty of criminal damage, two cleared’.

AI targeting in Gaza: a powerful image accompanying “Gaza as a testing ground:

Israel’s AI warfare”, an article on the website of the SETA Foundation.

Andy Worthington and Freeing the Filton 6 - Again! in the second half.

But first, Arturo Ezquerro-Cañete and chain-sawing Argentina’s Glacier Law.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘Decapitation Strike’

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcasting since 1999. Check out the Archive at GRadio.Substack.com, and the GR blog at:

https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com/

@GRadio at UpScrolled, and on Telegram at: https://t.me/gorillaradio2024

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Tamara Lorincz, Yves Engler April 29, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 22:12:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

April 29, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded April 29th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

Following on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pledge to keep pace with NATO’s contribution demands of 5% of member-nation GDP, the Liberal government has announced the creation of its Defence Industrial Strategy, (along with a Defence Investment Agency) to handle the billions upon billions to be devoted to the preparation and waging of wars both current and forecast to come.

Dr. Tamara Lorincz is a fellow with the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and member of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace. She’s also served on the advisory committee of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, and too contributes her knowledge and talents to World Beyond War, and the No to NATO Network. She recently led the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute Webinar, ‘Carney’s Militarization of Canada’.

Tamara Lorincz in the first half.

And; incredibly, approaching the 32nd month of genocide in Palestine, there remain still in this country supporters of both the actions of Israel and its enablers of this 21st Century Holocaust. And those supporters are not just insane religious fanatics praying for a second coming, they are too members of Canada’s ruling elite; men and women in grey suits wielding government power, business influence, and directing the boards of each of our professional institutions, who despite protestations of support for rule of law and decency refuse to enforce existing statutes and protocols to reign in, at least, Canada’s contribution to the slaughter.

Yves’ website, YvesEngler.com is the necessary first stop for Canadians and foreigners alike wishing to understand better the cognitive dissonance laying between the proclaimed and demonstrable character of this Canada. His latest article there, ‘PQ leader’s pro-Israel, anti-Muslim racism must be challenged’ reinforcing the point.

Yves Engler and demanding the country we pretend to in the second half.

But first, Tamara Lorincz and Mark Carney’s Militarization of Canada.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘Song for Tomorrow’

e-7317 Petition to Parliament (Canada Out of NATO) - https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Sign/e-7317

CFPI - Capitalism Can’t Be Fixed Webinar

‘On a wartime footing: Carney’s new defence initiatives risk corruption and global conflict’ - Tamara Lorincz April 17, 2026

https://rabble.ca/politics/canadian-politics/on-a-wartime-footing-carneys-new-defence-initiatives-risks-corruption-and-global-conflict/

https://ilps-canada.ca/ilps-in-canada-6th-assembly/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Ricardo Vaz, Randy Caravaggio April 22, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 20:13:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

April 22, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded April 22nd, 2026.

Listen. Hear.

Nearly four months since the lethal attack against it, Venezuela is signing deals with Western financial operators, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Acting President, Delcy Rodriguez says the renewed relationship marks a “great achievement of Venezuelan diplomacy”, and is an important step signalling “good has triumphed” in the besieged country.

Ricardo Vaz is a journalist, political analyst and contributor with the communication collectives Tatuy Tv and Utopix. His articles appear regularly at Venezuelanalysis.com, and his latest there is, ‘Venezuelan Government Resumes IMF, World Bank Ties, Appoints New Central Bank President’.

Ricardo Vaz in the first half.

And; Cuban authorities agree, meetings were held April 10th with a US delegation in Havana. Accounts of what transpired in those meetings differ between the two parties, but it seems there will be further discussions. The news comes as the nation continues to suffer the privations of a US oil embargo, laid atop the decades-long sanctions campaign waged by the Americans to reverse Cuba’s popular revolution.

Randy Caravaggio is a long-time organizer with the Victoria Friends of Cuba, a group working to aid the embattled Caribbean island nation with medical and other necessary supplies. It’s a mission never more vital than now.

Randy Caravaggio, maintaining the people to people pipeline to Cuba in the second half.

But first, Ricardo Vaz and Venezuela after the invasion.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘The #1 Sponsor of Terror’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Hanna Kawas, John Helmer Part II April 7/15, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:55:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L.Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

April 7/15, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded April 7th/15th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

Palestinians, both in Palestine and those among the diaspora, and their allies observed Palestine Land Day March 30th. It was the 50th commemoration of the 1976 murder of six people protesting the State theft of land in Galilee. Israel chose the same date to pass in its Knesset the ‘Death Penalty for Terrorists Law’, an infamous, one-sided statute codifying capital punishment (for some) while providing only limited recourse to appeal, or commutation. Worse, the “Gallows Law” is expected to apply equally to Palestinian children.

Hanna Kawas is chairperson of Vancouver’s Canada-Palestine Association. He’s too a long-time radio journalist whose program, Voice of Palestine had been a beacon for the city’s diaspora community, and others facing both Canadian state repression, and media marginalization.

Hanna and the CPA will be front and centre this Friday, April 17th in Vancouver, at Creekside Park for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day.

Hanna Kawas in the first half.

And; last week I sat down for an extended interview with John Helmer. We covered the Iranian resistance to American and Western belligerence, Russia’s role and reaction to that, and the release of John’s new book, ‘The Coroner is Guilty’.

John’s a journalist and author who’s spent decades living in and reporting from Russia. He’s the principle behind the web news site, Dances with Bears and has - as well as serving as advisor to governments at the highest level - too been a professor of political science, sociology, and journalism.

Among his many book titles are: ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia,’ ‘Sovcomplot: How pirates tried to capture the treasure of the Russian seas, and were caught out’, and ‘Long Live Novichok: The British Poison Which Fooled the World’.

Global chaos, Part II with John Helmer in the second half.

But first, Hanna Kawas and remembering the hostages held by Israel on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘262’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dimitri Lascaris, John Helmer April 5/7, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 02:45:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

April 7, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded April 5th/7th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

Today is 911. That is, the nine hundred and eleventh day of Israel’s genocide in Palestine, 33rd day of its renewed attempt to annex southern Lebanon, and 36th day of America and Israel’s attempt to destroy Iran. Employing the same methods, materiel, and mindset used to flatten Gaza, what you are seeing culminating in Iran is, my first guest insists, the “most consequential war of our lifetime.”

Dimitri Lascaris is a journalist, activist, lawyer, broadcaster, and co-founder of Canada’s Disruption Network. His online show, Reason2Resist is available on Rumble, Youtube, and at Substack along with his many articles “focusing on Western government criminality”. Dimitri’s spent the last couple of years surveying and reporting on the destruction by the US and its vassals of West Asia.

Dimitri’s just out of Iran, where he spent 11 days visiting the places western bombs and missiles land with deadly effect.

Dimitri Lascaris in the first half.

And; as we record, we’re less than hour away from the American President’s threat to annihilate the Persian civilization, and all Iranians with it if needs be. The only pertinent question now: Is Trump crazy, or crazy like a fox? The Madman Doctrine is as old as Kissinger and Nixon, and it was meant to solve the last century’s Cold War dilemma of convincing ones nuclear opponent your leaders were crazy enough to push the button, sealing their own fate rather than losing an atomic face-off. But Iran is not a nuclear-powered rival, or even philosophical counterweight to the capitalist system, it merely exists independent of Western diktats; and, that is its irredeemable crime.

Among Helmer’s many book titles are: ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia,’ ‘Sovcomplot: How pirates tried to capture the treasure of the Russian seas, and were caught out’, and his latest, the newly released, ‘The Coroner is Guilty’, a chronicle of the two-year forensic investigations to uncover the cause, and role of the treating doctor, in the death of his wife, Tatiana Turitsyna. His latest article at Dances with Bears is, ‘WHAT THE CAPTURED RYDER DOCUMENTS REVEAL OF THE US-ISRAELI PLAN TO DESTROY IRAN — AND WHAT COMES NEXT’

John Helmer on the truths and lies of life and death writ large, and larger in the second half.

But first, Dimitri Lascaris and real news from Iran.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘AWOL’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dan Kovalik, Yves Engler April 1, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 21:28:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

April 1, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded April 1st, 2026

Listen. Hear.

Nearly three months since his abduction - in a raid Venezuelan authorities say killed more than 75 people - Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro stood in a Brooklyn court before Judge Alvin Hellerstein in his second appearance, charged with “narco-terrorism” and drug trafficking.

The case can be seen as a bellwether of the Trump administration’s new understanding of international law. In that, Maduro’s fate is likely being closely watched by other leaders called out by the American president. Leaders like Colombia’s Gustavo Petro who is currently the subject of two Department of Justice investigations.

Dan Kovalik’s a lawyer, educator, labour, peace, and justice activist, democracy defender, journalist, author, and filmmaker. Dan represented unions whose membership were targeted by Colombia’s death squads, served as a foreign observor to elections in the country, and is now President Petro’s legal representative in the United States.

Kovalik’s book titles include: ‘No More War: How the West Violates International Law by Using ‘Humanitarian’ Intervention to Advance Economic and Strategic Interest’, ‘The Case for Palestine: Why It Matters and Why You Should Care’, and his latest, co-authored with Jeremy Kuzmarov, ‘Syria: Anatomy of Regime Change’.

Dan Kovalik in the first half.

And; following an epic seven months-long campaign, the NDP has elected a new leader. Avi Lewis, former television host and son of NDP icon, Stephen Lewis won convincingly on the first ballot over the weekend. And already he’s making all the right enemies for voicing support of the humanity of Palestinian and Lebanese populations being bombed by Israel.

Yves Engler is an activist, journalist, and author of countless articles and essays detailing Canada’s foreign policy history. He’s written a dozen books on the subject, including: ‘Stand on Guard for Whom?: A People’s History of the Canadian Military’, ‘House of Mirrors — Justin Trudeau’s Foreign Policy’, ‘Left, Right — Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada’, and his latest, ‘Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy’, co-written with Owen Schalk.

Yves was too famously an aspirant for the leadership of the NDP, whose campaign to be included in the debates challenged the party’s commitment to the democratic process. It proved a challenge the backroom rulers of the party couldn’t meet. His latest article at YvesEngler.com insists, ‘As right leaps to pressure Lewis, we must push left’.

Yves Engler and what next for a Lewis-led NDP, and more in the second half.

But first, Dan Kovalik and trying to read the mixed American messages on Colombia’s outgoing president, Gustavo Petro.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘Fighting and Dying for the Billionaires’

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/world/americas/gustavo-petro-colombia-president-us-charges.html

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/26/venezuelas-maduro-set-to-again-appear-in-us-court-how-strong-is-the-case

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2026/03/the-weight-on-delcy-rodriguez/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Fuad Srouji, Dave Lindorff March 25, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 21:43:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

March 25, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded March 25th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

And welcome to the first show of the Vernal New Year! Yes, Spring has done what it ever does and sprung. No matter the madness of the human moment we can be assured, Nature will continue to turn with the eternal regularity marked by its seasons. But surety shouldn’t encourage complacency; it is up to us to prepare for the vagaries contained within those regular seasons as a matter of collective survival.

That is in part the message of Agriculture Engineer Fuad Srouji. Fuad is a member of the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, and author of the book, ‘The Oak Tree: A Word of Wisdom from the Plant Kingdom’. Fuad will be in Victoria presenting “An Evening in Palestine” this Friday at the former First United Met Church at Quadra and Balmoral Road, speaking on the “need for food security”.

Fuad Srouji in the first half.

And; if the men who ordered the destruction of Iran’s civilian infrastructure have any regrets for the lives lost in the process they’re concealing their sorrow well. When questioned about the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab, author of the atrocity, US President Donald Trump denied US involvement saying, “We think it was done by Iran...”, while trigger man Pete Hegseth, who knew otherwise, told Americans, “This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.”

Dave’s recent article at This Can’t Be Happening’s Substack site, ‘Trump and Hegseth: Two Soulless Men Incapable of Remorse or Even Pity’ chronicles America’s wars without tears.

Dave Lindorff and Evil’s transcendence of banality in the second half.

But first, Fuad Srouji, protecting nature and providing a real Green Revolution for human security.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘First We Have to Form a Choir’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Judi Rever, Yves Engler March 18, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 21:31:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

March 18, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded March 18th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

This week delegates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda will meet in Washington, ostensibly to discuss the lack of progress in the “peace” brokered between them by Donald Trump late last year. The meetings come two weeks after the US sanctioned Paul Kagame’s Rwandan Defence Force for continuing atrocities committed against civilians by M23, its proxy force in eastern Congo. The faltering peace doesn’t surprise my first guest, whose article, ‘No End in Sight to Rwanda’s War in Congo, Despite Peace Deal’ predicted as much in December.

Judi Rever is a Montreal-based journalist and author, whose book, ‘In Praise of Blood: The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front’ chronicles the decades-long, genocidal career of Rwandan strongman, Paul Kagame. Her freshly off the presses book, ‘Rwanda’s 30-Year Assault on Congo: The Crimes, the Criminals and the Cover-up’ further exposes the Western-nation complicity and corporate collusion that initiated and sustains Kagame’s reign over Congo’s riches.

Judi Rever in the first half.

And; as the Western War against Iran enters a third week its belligerent is having trouble finding friends. None among the European countries canvassed, nor any of the Gulf States invited to, have so far forwarded once more unto the breach. But, what of Canada? From regretful support of American and Israeli bombing of Iranian civilians and their infrastructure, to vowing “never to participate” in the same, prime minister Mark Carney is performing a circus act; contorting in the process our foreign policy - and both official languages - into pretzels, et bretzels as Canada’s public frenemy #1, Donald Trump twists in the wind.

Yves Engler is an activist, journalist, and author of countless articles and essays detailing Canada’s foreign policy history. He has too written a dozen books on the subject, including: ‘Stand on Guard for Whom?: A People’s History of the Canadian Military’, ‘House of Mirrors — Justin Trudeau’s Foreign Policy’, ‘Left, Right — Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada’, and his latest, ‘Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy’.

Yves’ recent article at his site, YvesEngler.com, ‘Time to finally say no to a US-led naval operation’ follows Mark Carney’s bouncing Iran war policy position ball - as best as it can be.

Yves Engler and saying “Just, NO!!!” to Donald in the second half.

But first, Judi Rever and the making of Rwanda’s monster, Paul Kagame.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘Last Morning’

Susan Williams’ ‘White Malice’ as recommended by Judi.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, John Helmer, Karen Spring March 11, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 23:49:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

March 11, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded March 11th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

It may or may not be World War III you’re seeing, or not seeing on your teevee screens, but what IS certain, is an energy war in full swing. America has hijacked trade routes, forcibly removed unfriendly government’s leaders sitting on American oil and, as Senator Lindsey Graham gleefully expounded, “...blow[’n] Hell out of” those in Iran who don’t concede America owns everything. Where does this all lead? To Senator Graham’s Hell for us all of course but the question remains, Who’s hand-basket will get there first?

John Helmer’s a journalist and author who’s spent decades living in and reporting from Russia. He’s the principle behind the web news site, Dances with Bears and has - as well as serving as advisor to governments at the highest level - too been a professor of political science, sociology, and journalism.

Among Helmer’s many book titles are: ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia,’ ‘Sovcomplot: How pirates tried to capture the treasure of the Russian seas, and were caught out’, and his latest is the newly released, ‘The Navalny-Novichok Complex: Chronicle of a Staging’. His latest article at Dances with Bears on the subject is, ‘BONFIRE OF THE GRAND STRATEGIES – SO LONG NETANYAHU, TRUMP, MODI, XI, PUTIN’.

John Helmer in the first half.

And; the United States announced a closer-to-home front for its project of Global Domination over the weekend. President Trump gathered a faker’s dozen of Latin American heads of state at his golf course near Miami to present, ‘Shield of the Americas’ a program promising more misery than a hurricane to come for the region’s poor.

Karen Spring is Coordinator for Honduras Solidarity Network, the “… decentralized network of approximately 30 organizations from across Canada and the United States […] committed to demonstrating and advocating for solidarity with the Honduran social movement.”

Karen’s just back from Honduras, where the sad anniversary of murdered human rights and environment defender, Berta Cáceres was marked.

Illustration: Berta Cáceres by Erin Currier.

Karen Spring and the eternal fight for justice in Latin America in the second half.

But first, John Helmer and separating the predators from prey in the World Energy War.

Documentary Water for Life “surveys the struggle for water protection

in the Americas, including the work of Cáceres and COPINH…”

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Songs: ‘Epstein Empire’ ‘If Wars Were Engineered in the Belly of the Beast’

Iran: Hospital = Target in Israel/U.S. Terror Wars

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 19:00:00 +0000

US-Israel attack on a premier Tehran hospital targeted newborns, destroyed IVF center

by Humaira Ahad - PressTV

Thursday, 05 March 2026

[ Last Update: Thursday, 05 March 2026 6:43 PM ]

The air at the bombed-out Tehran hospital room hung thick with dust and the metallic tang of recent destruction carried out by the United States and the Israeli regime.

Against a backdrop of shattered concrete, two newborns clung precariously to life. Their breaths were being measured by the rhythmic beep of monitors connected by vital wires.

Amid the dust-choked room following the dastardly US-Israeli aggression, Iranian Red Crescent personnel worked to sever the fragile connection to the damaged infrastructure, to take the infants out of the wreckage.

The Gandhi Hospital in central Tehran, along with a nearby residential building, sustained catastrophic damage from strikes carried out by the United States and Israel late Sunday night, a day after the aggression was launched without provocation.

Immediately following the attack, harrowing footage depicted medical personnel urgently transferring the tiny newborns from their compromised incubators to ambulances.

Hope for new life, IVF centre targeted

The tragedy deepened with confirmation from hospital authorities later about the massive damage incurred by a specialized IVF center there, which lay in ruins.

The IVF centre was a sanctuary where hundreds of hopeful couples had invested their futures, their deepest desires for parenthood.

The US-Israeli aggression destroyed their dreams for future generations that had been painstakingly planned.

“The ledger of violated human rights in this war will be written in blood and shame,” Hossein Kermanpour, Health Ministry spokesman, wrote in a post on his X account.

“For the first time in my life, I am witnessing something I never even saw during the Iran-Iraq War. Patients being carried in their caregivers’ arms, fleeing into smoke-filled streets after missiles exploded beside their hospital,” Kermanpour added.

The assault was not limited to Gandhi Hospital. Reports confirmed that Khatam al-Anbiya Hospital and Motahari Hospital were also directly targeted in Tehran.

Furthermore, several missiles struck near Abuzar Hospital in the southern city of Ahvaz, forcing the immediate evacuation of 21 patients, including those in intensive care, requiring 30 ambulances to reroute them to other centers.

Images from Ahvaz captured the evacuation under dire circumstances. Emergency personnel were moving the sick through the thick plumes of smoke while the terrifying sounds of aerial bombardment still echoed overhead.

The American and Israeli regimes also targeted three emergency medical bases in Sarab, Chabahar, and Hamedan following the Abuzar attack.

A member of the Iranian Parliament said five hospitals and medical centers have been damaged or destroyed during the US-Israeli terrorist attacks on the Islamic Republic.

“Unfortunately, this illegal act of aggression resulted not only in the destruction of the buildings of hospitals and medical centers but also the injury of a number of students and local residents,” Fatemeh Mohammad Beigi, a member of the Parliament’s Health and Treatment Commission, said in a statement on Monday.

She added that a number of these medical centers have been evacuated in fear of more attacks.

Assault on life itself

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denounced the US-Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure, stating that the attacks on medical facilities “affect life itself and assaults on educational centers jeopardize the future of a nation.”

He made this reference following a US-Israeli strike on an elementary school in the southern Hormozgan Province that killed 171 girls.

He added that "targeting patients and children blatantly violates humanitarian principles."

The Iranian president called upon the international community to censure the atrocities.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed extreme concern over the damage to Gandhi Hospital in Tehran.

Following the bombing, he posted on X, stating, “Reports of Tehran’s Gandhi Hospital being damaged during today’s bombardment of the Iranian capital are extremely worrying.”

Ghebreyesus reiterated that “all efforts must be taken to prevent health facilities from being caught up in the ongoing conflict,” emphasizing that “Health facilities are protected under international humanitarian law” with the hashtag “#healthisnotatarget.”

Strike on hospitals, a pattern

However, this event is part of a disturbing pattern. This is not the first time Israel has attacked medical facilities in the Islamic Republic. During the 12-day military aggression in June, nearly a dozen hospitals were targeted in clear violation of international conventions.

The Geneva Conventions, long considered the bedrock of humanitarian protection in wartime, have been repeatedly flouted by both the US and Israel.

In Gaza, an entire health system has been systematically crippled, and doctors have been killed while on duty since the genocidal war was launched in October 2023.

According to chilling WHO figures, 94 percent of hospitals in Gaza were destroyed by Israel during its two-year-long genocide.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Andy Worthington, Salam Hamdan March 4, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 23:17:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

March 4, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded March 4th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

That February 28th, 2026 will live as a date in infamy is certain. But in an age of so many infamies, “What difference” - the mighty in Washington and Tel Aviv, Berlin, Paris, London and ... Ottawa may ask - “does one more orgy of destruction make?” That hubris and viciousness, revealed by America and its enablers in the course of these last terrible years, has led to this reeking fin-de-siècle to end all fin-de-siècle today.

Andy Worthington’s an English journalist, activist, author, photo-historian, filmmaker, musician, song-writer and principle of The Four Fathers band. He is too a co-founder of the ongoing Close Guantánamo campaign. His book titles include: ‘The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison’, ‘Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion’, and ‘The Battle of the Beanfield. Andy’s articles appear at: AndyWorthington.co.uk, where I found his recent piece, ‘Trump Isolated as His Illegal and Unprovoked “War” on Iran Backfires’.

Andy Worthington in the first half.

And; none of the new horrors has altered the genocidal intent of the Jewish State in Palestine. Nominal ceasefires may have slowed the rate of the slaughter, but the killing continues and spreads. Outside of the Gaza Strip, the pogroms in cities, towns, villages, and the countryside conducted by settler/soldiers have escalated with thousands murdered, injured, and imprisoned. And as in Gaza and Lebanon, and now Iran, hospitals and other civic infrastructure are targets of a military that knows no limits.

Salam Hamdan is a Palestinian political activist and Social-Feminist from Ramallah in the West Bank. She’s been in Canada for some time, watching from here her home set fire to.

Salam Hamdan and the other side of the Palestine genocide in the second half.

But first, Andy Worthington and the wages of America’s latest sin.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘Misanthropic’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Diana Johnstone, Debbie Lerman February 25, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 22:54:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

February 25, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded February 25th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, delivered yesterday, brought to mind his Republican antecedent’s prescient SOTU. Twenty years ago, four and half years into the Afghanistan military occupation, and following nearly three years of an insurgent war in Iraq, George W. Bush - evoking predecessors Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, and Reagan - declared,

“Our own generation is in a long war...a war that will be fought by Presidents of both parties...and lead this world toward freedom.”

And he was as good as his word: Twenty years and millions killed later, America is still at war for freedom - a freedom shining rainbow-like, leading the nation towards an endless horizon of fear, pain, and despair.

Diana Johnstone is an American journalist and author who’s lived and worked in Paris for decades. She’s spent that time chronicling, among other things, America’s destructive follies from the Pentagon’s doomsday preparations to its wars of empire. Diana’s books include: ‘Circle in the Darkness: Memoirs of a World Watcher’, ‘Fools’ Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and Western Delusions’, ‘From MAD to Madness: Inside Pentagon Nuclear War Planning’, (co-written with her father, Paul H. Johnstone), and now her newly released, ‘World Watcher: On Manufacturing War’, an anthology of some of her many essays on global affairs.

Diana Johnstone in the first half.

And; this month marks the sixth anniversary of another declaration of war - of a sort. On the fourth of February, 2020 Donald Trump’s first administration activated the “Emergency Use Authorization Act”, and the “PREP Act”; precursors to ‘Operation Warp Speed’, the Covid-19 response resulting, my second guest says, “in the worldwide forced vaccination of billions of people, millions of whom were injured or killed”.

That “operation” was curiously lauded recently by the man who launched it as, “one of the greatest military feats ever!”

Debbie Lerman is a retired medical writer and current investigative researcher. She has focused on all things Covid-related since 2022 independently, and with the Brownstone Institute as of 2023. Many of her articles on the topic feature in her book, ‘The Deep State Goes Viral: Pandemic Planning and the Covid Coup’. Her recent article, ‘Cheering the Militarization of Everything: Reflections on the 6th Anniversary of When Covid Was Declared a “National Security Threat”’ follows the thread.

Debbie Lerman and from Hiding to Celebrating the Military/Corporate Covid Convergence in the second half.

But first, Diana Johnstone and manufacturing an American Century of War.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘A Whistle and a Phone’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Randy Caravaggio, John Helmer February 18, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:36:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

February 18, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded February 18th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

The American blockade of Cuba is not news, it’s been going on from the early days of the revolution more than sixty-five years ago; what is new is an American desperation that now threatens friend and foe alike with its economic nuclear option. The latest iteration of the threat to Cuba’s survival - the energy embargo - is one none have so far dared challenge for fear of the hegemon; including stalwart allies Venezuela and Mexico.

Randy Caravaggio is a long-time organizer with the Victoria Friends of Cuba. Begun as the Victoria Goods for Cuba Campaign, Randy and his comrades have worked to supply the embattled Caribbean island nation with vital medical and other necessary supplies for the last thirty-three years, and more. And they’re just back from the latest mission there.

Randy Caravaggio in the first half.

And; last week Russian Embassy officials in Cuba said Russia “planned to deliver oil and oil products to Cuba as humanitarian aid.” Just when and how those shipments were to begin was left hanging; described by embassy staff to the Tass news agency only as occurring sometime “in the near future”.

But can Russia afford to take on another front in the undeclared War America and its vassals are waging against it, and the rest of an uncooperative World?

Among Helmer’s many book titles are: ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia,’ ‘The Lie That Shot Down MH-17’, ‘Skripal in Prison,’ the Skripal sequel, ‘LONG LIVE NOVICHOK! The British Poison that Fooled the World’. His latest is the newly released, ‘The Navalny-Novichok Complex: Chronicle of a Staging’. John’s latest article at Dances with Bears is ‘THE PESKOVITES ARE DESPERATE AS PUTIN PLACES HIS BIGGEST BET’ a behind the scenes look at the diplomatic dynamics determining war and/or peace between the atomic superpowers.

John Helmer and the global war you’re not seeing in the second half.

But first, Randy Caravaggio and Cuba’s friends in deeds.

Music: David Rovics/Ai Tsuno

Song: ‘In the Moments Before the Third World War’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Alison Bodine, Yves Engler February 11, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:24:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

February 11, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded February 11th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

Five weeks after the United States’ murderous assault against Venezuela it’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish resistance from acquiescence. As with Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum, acting Venezuelan president Delcy Rodríguez has too halted energy exports to Cuba and gone further, agreeing to onerous US-dictated terms for access to Venezuela’s oil resources, dressed up in the country’s recently reformed Hydrocarbon Law. And now reportedly beginning exports to Israel.

So what of the popular outrage and demands for resistance to what looks like an armed take-over of the Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement and all those fighting for a better World new order?

Alison Bodine is an activist, author, researcher, and contributing editor for the Fire This Time Newspaper. She’s too an activist with the Venezuela Solidarity Network and Vancouver’s Mobilization Against War and Occupation. Alison served as an election observor in Venezuela in 2024 for both communal and presidential elections campaigns, and authored the book, ‘Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Venezuela’, published by Battle of Ideas Press.

Alison Bodine in the first half.

And; activist, journalist, author, and legitimate BAU disruptor, Yves Engler is in B.C. this week, presenting ‘The Failure of Social Democracy: NDP Support for Militarism and Imperialism’. He’s written a dozen books, 11 of them being on the perfidious history of Canadian foreign policy, the latest, ‘Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy’, co-written with Owen Schalk.

Yves’ tour will land in Victoria February 16th, cross the strait to Powell River on the 17th, and down to Surrey and Burnaby on the 18th and 19th, before heading inland to the Okanagan for Kelowna’s Friday, February 20th event.

Yves Engler on a political structure to succeed where the NDP continues to fail in the second half.

But first, Alison Bodine and the Revolution’s darkest days.

Music: Ai Tsuno/David Rovics

Songs: ‘In Venezuela’

‘Watching the World Burn’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Ken Stone, Alex Tyrrell February 4, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 23:35:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

February 4, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded February 4th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

The tediously familiar clamour for yet another "humanitarian intervention" is currently disturbing the cobwebs of the abandoned house on the hill legacy media has become. This time it's Iran - or Iran again this time - and suddenly war hawks and vitriol spitters are burning with indignation for the well-being of the people they've cheerfully championed sanctioning "till their economy screams" for years.

Ken Stone is an activist and author who's worked tirelessly for peace with the Syria Support Movement International, Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, and Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network, among others. His book, ‘Defiant Syria: Dispatches from the Second International Tour of Peace to Syria’ is a compilation of reports from his 2016 mission to that then-besieged nation.

Ken Stone in the first half.

And; last year Canadian political activist extraordinaire, Yves Engler was charged by Quebec's judiciary for harassing the Montreal police service. The risible charges followed a letter-writing campaign urged by Engler in response to his arrest on spurious charges - since thrown out for a second time - brought by an online Zionist activist. The court's ruling is a shock to Canada's legal system, but not entirely a surprise to those paying attention to the abuse of process employed by Israel's defenders in this country.

Alex Tyrrell is leader of the Green Party of Quebec. An activist and ecosocialist, Alex also hosts the bilingual Youtube podcast show, La Mentalité Verte, or The Eco Mindset in English, and contributes essays to a variety of publications in French and English in print and online; including GlobalGreenNews where I found his recent article, 'Yves Engler Found Guilty in Letter-Writing Case: A Full Account'.

Alex Tyrrell and the Engler verdict reshaping "legal boundaries of activism, journalism, and democratic participation in Canada" in the second half.

But first, Ken Stone and to the ramparts again to prevent further war against Iran.

Music: Ai Tsuno/David Rovics

Song: ‘In This Very Old New World Order’, ‘Our Oil’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Jeremy Kuzmarov, Chris Gilbert January 28, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 22:08:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

January 28, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded January 28th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

There’s been much speculation, both here in Canada and elsewhere, regarding recent remarks by Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney at the Davos World Economic Forum last week. Addressing the global business elite, Carney played harbinger of doom, announcing “a rupture in the world order” and declaring the “useful fiction” of values, like “respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the various states” dead; killed - it’s implied - by America’s new Imperial self-understanding.

But does Carney’s lament signal a “fundamentally shift[ed]...strategic posture” so long in lock-step with the U.S.; and if so, where’s the proof of Canada’s new-found “value-based realism”?

My first guest’s recent article, ‘Canada Follows U.S. Lead in Preparing for World War’ beggars belief in the prime minister’s much celebrated sudden Damascene conversion.

Professor Jeremy Kuzmarov is contributing Managing Editor to Covert Action Magazine. His book titles include, ‘Obama’s Unending Wars’, ‘The Russians Are Coming, Again’, (written with John Marciano) ‘Warmonger. How Clinton’s Malign Foreign Policy Launched the U.S. Trajectory From Bush II to Biden’, and his latest, co-authored with Dan Kovalik, ‘Syria: Anatomy of Regime Change’.

Jeremy Kuzmarov in the first half.

And; Mark Carney’s call for “middle power” solidarity in the face of America’s unhinged hegemonic impulses carries with it implicit caveats; the most glaring of those made apparent in the aftermath of the lethal kidnapping raid against Caracas and Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro. When first made aware of the clearly illegal attack against that country’s sovereignty and the person of the president Carney responded saying,

“Canada has not recognised the illegitimate regime of [Nicolás] Maduro since it stole the 2018 election.” Adding, “The Canadian government therefore welcomes the opportunity for freedom, democracy, peace, and prosperity for the Venezuelan people.”

A brave New Order indeed.

Chris Gilbert is professor of political studies at the Universidad Bolivariana de Venezuela in Caracas. He’s too an author and contributing editor at Monthly Review, and co-hosts the Marxist educational program, Esceula de Cuadros. Gilbert’s lastest book is, ‘Commune or Nothing! Venezuela’s Communal Movement and Its Socialist Project’.

Chris Gilbert in the second half.

But first, Jeremy Kuzmarov and America’s “Willing” Coalition mobilizing at the Gates of World War III.

Music: Ai Tsuno/David Rovics

Song: ‘Another War for Oil’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Jim Kavanagh, Andy Worthington January 21, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 22:42:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

January 21, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded January 21st, 2026

Listen. Hear.

Daily America resembles more the totalitarian states of the last century than the beacon of liberty it once represented to the World’s tired, hungry, and huddled masses. As shocking as that truth is - as revealed in myriad cell phone videos of ICE brutality performed in places like Minnesota and everywhere else its thugs are deployed - it can’t be a surprise. America’s drift towards fascism has been foretold by marginalized, and some more mainstream, media voices for at least as long as Kennedy’s assassination, (and anchored in George W. Bush’s post-911 “reforms”).

But, so much for history.

Now, the marginal voices are being systematically muted by concentrated Internet corporations, while Legacy press outlets, like once vaunted CBS News, are swallowed whole by the defenders of genocide abroad and destruction of the American way at home.

Jim Kavanagh’s a former college professor cum online Cassandra, publishing his political and social analysis at The Polemicist on Substack. His articles too appear on occasion at The Greanville Post, and Counterpunch, among other places.

Jim Kavanagh in the first half.

And; if Americans wonder why their domestic political descent doesn’t garner more international calls of unity and support - as after the 9/11 attacks of 2001 - perhaps it’s due to global schadenfreude; a collective sense of America getting back some of what it’s dished out.

Few enjoy seeing the poorest of Americans targeted for collective punishment at the hands of racists more properly belonging in Dixie in another century; but, when considering the horrors committed by it in the last decades...

Andy Worthington’s an English journalist, activist, author, photo-historian, filmmaker, musician, song-writer and principle of The Four Fathers band. He is too a co-founder of the ongoing Close Guantánamo campaign. His book titles include: ‘The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison’, ‘Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion’, and ‘The Battle of the Beanfield. Andy’s articles appear at: AndyWorthington.co.uk, where I found his recent piece, ‘Photos and Report: 19 Global Vigils for the Closure of Guantánamo on the 24th Anniversary of the Prison’s Opening’. In it he writes,

“Between Saturday January 10 and Monday January 12, an impressive 18 vigils for the closure of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay took place across the US and around the world, marking the 24th anniversary of the opening of the prison, with a 19th taking place on January 15.”

Andy Worthington and America’s 21st Century Devil’s Island in the second half.

But first, Jim Kavanagh and dismantling the Bill of Rights, one Amendment at a time.

Music: Ai Tsuno/David Rovics

Songs: ‘That Island’

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Diana Johnstone, John Helmer January 14, 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Ape) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:18:00 +0000

This Week on GRadio

by C.L. Cook - GRadio.Substack.com

January 14, 2026

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded January 14th, 2026

Listen. Hear.

Well, the secret is out! The Western World, led by America and its colourful leader, has slipped into tyranny. But - and it is a huge but - Donald Trump can’t take all the credit. Authoritarian crackdowns have been cracking - in myriad places and ways - for a long time.

One of the methods of shutting up critics in the European Union for example is “Sanctioning”. As with that favoured economic instrument orchestrated in hundreds of variations to punish Putin’s Russia, EU sanctions now target not just Russian oligarch’s, but European citizens with the temerity to criticize Brussels’ pathological foreign policy - among other things.

And what this portends the Continent today a famous, long-dead Veronese gentleman explains is: “No sudden mean of death, though ne’er so mean, But “banishèd”...”

Diana Johnstone is an American journalist and author who’s lived and worked in Paris for decades. She has too in that time served as press secretary to the Green Group in the European Parliament - an experience recounted in her latest book, ‘Circle of Darkness: Memoirs of a World Watcher’. Johnstone’s other book titles include: ‘Fools’ Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and Western Delusions’, and ‘From MAD to Madness: Inside Pentagon Nuclear War Planning’, (co-written with her father, Paul H. Johnstone). Her many essays on global affairs can also be found at ConsortiumNews.com.

Now, Diana has taken up the cudgel in defense of author and frequent foreign policy media interview subject, the former Swiss military colonel and intelligence officer, Jacques Baud.

Diana Johnstone in the first half.

And; for his part, Donald Trump’s wars rage at home, abroad, and everywhere in-between; including a battle for global trade routes using the last sure thing America thinks it has, Naval Power. Whether Caribbean cigarette boats, or internationally flagged super tankers, none are safe when the Emperor’s boom lowers.

John Helmer’s a journalist and author who’s spent decades living in and reporting from Russia. He’s the principle behind the web news site, Dances with Bears, and has too been a professor of political science, sociology, and journalism, and served as advisor to governments at the highest levels.

Among his many book titles are: ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia,’ ‘The Lie That Shot Down MH-17, ‘SOVCOMPLOT: How Pirates Tried to Capture the Treasure of the Russian Seas, and Were Caught Out’, and his latest, The ‘Skripal in Prison’ sequel, ‘Long Live Novichok! The British Poison Which Fooled the World’.

John Helmer and World War Sea rising in the second half.

But first, Diana Johnstone on Jacques Baud; alive but not well, and living in Brussels.

Music: Ai Tsuno/David Rovics

Songs: ‘In the Moments Before the Third World War’