Homeland

Tom Secker joins me to wrap up our series of episodes focusing on the sixth season of Homeland. We begin by discussing our thoughts on seeing Dar Adal behind bars (I was quite upset about this). We then move onto some of the major . We discuss what the overarching goals are for the CIA. Ideas and moments in the final two episodes. Tom and I discuss the significance of the show talking about the infamous Office of Policy Coordination and its role in the attempted assassination against the President Elect. We explore why the agency would want the show to mention this.

In our latest dissection of season 6 of Homeland, I joined Pearse on Porkins Policy Radio to discuss the latest few episodes. With the revelation that Dar Adal has been running a sock puppet click farm to manipulate US public opinion, Homeland has dragged this season right up to date. It is no longer a series about spies pursuing terrorists, but about how deep politics is conducted and the increasingly important role of big data.

Tom Secker returns for the second installment of our discussion on the sixth season of Homeland. We begin with a quick recap of the past several episodes before diving into the big themes going on this season. Tom and I begin by focusing on the character of Dar Adal and the notion that he represents a faction of the now infamous deep state. We talk about the mysterious private intelligence firm that Adal is using for assassinations, false flag bombings, and information operations.

This week I joined Pearse on his radio show to revisit the 1993 WTC bombing, in light of the recent anniversary and the death of former CIA asset the Blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. (Read more...)

Tom Secker joins me for a discussion of the 24th anniversary of World Trade Center Bombing and the recent death Omar Abdel-Rahman aka The Blind Sheikh. We begin by discussing the official theory that the government has presented: that a group of young self radicalized Muslim men bombed the WTC, and had no apparent connection to international terrorism. Tom then breaks down aspects to the official conspiracy theory. We talk about the whole issue of FBI informant Emad Salem and the erroneous allegations that he was allowed to bomb the World Trade Center.

Newly-available emails show that when Claire Danes first visited CIA headquarters, she did so in very low-key fashion after a friendly CIA agent got her in. This confirms that the Agency have been involved in the production of Homeland since the first season, and shows how even their liaisons with the entertainment industry are sometimes done very quietly.

This week I joined Pearse to talk about the beginning of the new season of Homeland, and how it isn't quite what we expected. The entire 6th season is set between the US presidential election and inauguration day and while the president-elect is female, she is no Hitlery Clinton. Instead she is a peacenik who wants to withdraw from Syria, and believes the domestic terrorist threat is overblown.

In the first hour Tom Secker joins me to discuss the season premier of Homeland season six. We talk about the season reboot which has become a ubiquitous feature of Homeland. Tom and I begin by discussing our initial impressions of the season and where we think the show is going on a political and emotional level. Next we move onto one of the new and most interesting characters in the show, President-elect Elizabeth Keane, the junior Senator from New York.

For this inaugural episode I am joined by my good friend and frequent collaborator Tom Secker. We begin by discussing the bizarre life and career of the CIA Hollywood liaison Chase Brandon. We then move onto the relationship between entertainment and the security services. We explore the notion that this going beyond mere propaganda, and instead represents a significant distortion of our culture and perception of reality and world events.

Tricia Jenkins' The CIA in Hollywood was one of the books that inspired me to start this site, and the recently published second edition expands considerably on the original. Because the CIA is resistant to FOIA requests and other forms of inquiry, Jenkins amassed a wide range of open source materials and interviewed various people both from the CIA (or formerly of the CIA) and from the entertainment industry.