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Porkins Policy Radio episode 87 MLK Assassination 49 Years Later with Doug Valentine

April 5, 2017 – 8:16 pm

Doug Valentine joins me to discuss the 49th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. We begin by discussing Doug’s involvement with the King families civil case against alleged co-conspirator Loyd Jowers. Doug talks about how and why he was hired by King family lawyer William Pepper and the aspects that he was tasked with investigating. Doug discusses his time in Memphis interviewing witnesses to the crime, some of whom had never been questioned by police. Doug also describes the bigger meaning behind Kings murder, and how it represented the everyday murder of black Americans through out the country. We then move on to some of the specifics of the case itself. Doug and I explore some of the core pieces of evidence that point to a larger government conspiracy. Doug talks about Loyd Jowers and his connection with alleged assassin James Earl Ray, as well as how Ray was able to flee the country and travel around on fake passports. Doug describes how the Memphis police detail guarding King was removed and how at least one undercover police officer, Marrell McCollough, was inserted into the King entourage. Doug also goes into detail about the allegations that US Army personnel were stationed in the near by firehouse in order to film the assassination. Doug also touches on mafia involvement in the assassination, and the links this has to the CIA. We finish off the first hour by talking about the importance of the 1999 civil trial against Loyd Jowers. Doug and I talk about the significance of a jury being able to come to the conclusion that the government was capable of conspiring to murder Martin Luther King.

In the second hour I talk about a few more intriguing aspects of the King assassination. I talk about Reverend Billy Kyles bizarre Freudian slip in which he appears to admit foreknowledge of the murder. And I also elaborate on Marrell McCollough and the fact that he later worked for the CIA. I finish off the episode by discussing King’s greatest and most controversial speech, Beyond Vietnam. I talk about the significance of King’s assassination taking place on the one year anniversary of Beyond Vietnam. I also talk about King’s message that poverty, racism, materialism, and militarism are all intrinsically linked to one another. I finish off by discussing how the media has white-washed the legacy and radicalism of Martin Luther King.

Download PPR episode 87

Show Notes:
Who Killed Martin Luther King?

Deconstructing Kowalski

Reverend Billy Kyles Freudian Slip

King Conspiracy Theories Still Thrive 40 Years Later

Beyond Vietnam Speech

By porkinspolicyreview | Posted in Porkins Policy Radio | Also tagged anti war movement, Beyond Vietnam, Billy Kyles, CIA, civil trial, conspiracy, doug valentine, douglas valentine, FBI, imperialism, james earl ray, Lorraine Motel, Loyd jowers, malcom x, marrell mccollough, martin luther king, materialism, MLK, MLK assassination, police informants, poverty, radicalism, the invaders, vietnam, william pepper | Comments (0)

Porkins Policy Radio episode 70 Did the CIA Create Modern Art?

November 30, 2016 – 1:06 pm

Today I discuss the history between the CIA and modern art, specifically focusing on the abstract expressionist movement. I discuss how the CIA used abstract expressionism as a propaganda tool against the Soviet Union. I begin at the end of WWII and explore how the CIA viewed painters like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and others as vehicles to promote liberty and free enterprise. I explain how the CIA began a concerted effort to promote and fund this movement to combat Soviet Realism and portray America as a bastion of freedom. I use writer Frances Stonor Saunders monumental book The Cultural Cold War as a reference point throughout the discussion. I focus on CIA agent Tom Braden’s efforts to use institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Congress for Cultural Freedom to make abstract expressionism the premier form of American Art. Later I explore the ramifications of this relationship by talking about the ways in which this has influenced our views on contemporary, and how contemporary art has manifested in today’s age. I also emphasize the importance of art in a society and why we should not turn our back on it. The CIA’s influence on culture more broadly speaking is also explored. Later on I ramble on about a whole mess of things.

NOTE: Sorry for the abrupt ending of this weeks episode. We had some technical difficulties towards the end and unfortunately lost the last 30 minutes.

Download PPR episode 70

Show notes:

The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters

The Secret CIA Campaign to Influence Culture – Francis Stonor Suanders talk

By porkinspolicyreview | Posted in Porkins Policy Radio, Uncategorized | Also tagged abstract expressionism, abstract expressionist movement, CIA, CIAA, cold war, Congress for cultural freedom, fairfield foundation, Frances Stonor Saunders, franz kline, George Dondero, inflitration, jackson pollock, Louise Bourgeois, mark rothko, modern art, MoMa, museum of modern art, nelson rockefeller, soviet realism, soviet union, the cultural cold war, the elite, Tom Braden | Comments (0)

The CIA and Hollywood episode 9 Good Night and Good Luck

June 12, 2016 – 12:53 pm

We welcome Ed Opperman to the series and discuss the 2005 docudrama Good Night, and Good Luck which retells the story of the 1954 confrontation between senator Joe McCarthy and television journalist Ed Murrow of CBS. McCarthy was pursuing Communists within the State Department and other government agencies and innocent people were getting caught in the crossfire, creating a climate of suspicion, mistrust and hostility. Murrow used his prime time series See It Now to attack McCarthy and the culture and mentality of McCarthyism, showing the senator to be a hypocrite who persecuted his targets.

This is the story that is told in Good Night, and Good Luck, a film born out of the creative relationship between George Clooney and Grant Heslov. In this episode we take a sideways look at the historical events and ask why Clooney and Heslov chose to lionise not just Murrow but the whole See it Now/CBS crew. We try to persuade Ed of an alternative interpretation of events, with Murrow not quite being the heroic counter-establishment figure he is in the film and CBS being a rotten media organisation with deep ties to the CIA. We then explore how almost everyone involved in Good Night, and Good Luck had either already made a film with CIA assistance, or went on to do so. We round off talking about Clooney’s bizarre Las Vegas connection, E Michael Burke, George Steinbrenner and (inevitably) Donald Trump.

Download The CIA and Hollywood ep 9

Vimeo Version

Show Notes:

Good Night, and Good Luck

Making of Featurette

Edward R. Murrow: “A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy”

Good Night, and Good Luck and Bad History (part 1)

Good Night, and Good Luck and Bad History (part 2)

The CIA and the Media (Carl Bernstein)

ClandesTime 034 – The Hollywood Ten

When the CIA used CBS to stop a TV Show from Being Made

E Michael Burke

By porkinspolicyreview | Posted in Porkins Policy Radio, The CIA and Hollywood | Also tagged Bill paley, CBS, CIA, communists, donald trump, E michael burke, ed opperman, edward r murrow, George Clooney, good night and good luck, Grant Heslov, McCarthyism, opperman report, red scare, roy cohn, state department, The CIA and Hollywood, tom secker, USIA, william paley | Comments (0)

The CIA and Hollywood episode 8 The Quiet American

June 5, 2016 – 12:50 pm

In this first episode of the new season Pearse and I discuss the 1958 spy drama The Quiet American, adapted from the novel by Graham Greene. We focus in on the role of Air Force and CIA officer Ed Lansdale’s relationship with the film-maker Joseph Mankiewicz, and how the CIA were involved in assisting Mankiewicz the first major American movie to be filmed in Vietnam. Mankiewicz met Lansdale in Vietnam while doing research for the movie and, apparently unaware that Lansdale is one of the inspirations for the Pyle character in the original book, befriended him. Lansdale later reviewed the script and wrote to Mankiewicz encouraging the changes he had made to the storyline and characters.

Another angle is Graham Greene’s transition from an MI6 agent in World War 2 to an anti-establishment author who was spied by the FBI for supposed Communist affiliations. We look at how his original novel of The Quiet American was an excellent critique of post-WW2 American imperialism, secret warfare and so-called ‘humanitarian interventions’, which was butchered in the Hollywood version. In particular the character of Pyle is turned from a bookish, virginal ‘war nerd’ into the charming all-American version played by real-life war hero Audie Murphy. Likewise, while the original book has Fowler’s worst suspicions about Pyle being proven right (Pyle is sponsoring terrorism), the film changes this so Fowler is fooled by the Communists into betraying Pyle.

We round off this episode by briefly discussing the far superior (and not state-sponsored) 2002 film version directed by Philip Noyce and starring Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser. This version is not only better written, acted and directed but is also, crucially, a faithful adaptation of the original book.

Download The CIA and Hollywood ep 8

Vimeo Version

Show Notes:

The Quiet American (book)

The Quiet American (1958 film)

The Quiet American (2002 film)

Edward Lansdale’s Cold War by Jonathan Nashel

Lansdale’s letter to Mankiewicz

Edward Lansdale

Operation Northwoods document collection

Graham Greene’s FBI File

The Dangerous Edge – Graham Greene documentary

Michael Redgrave MI5 file

By porkinspolicyreview | Posted in Porkins Policy Radio, The CIA and Hollywood, Uncategorized | Also tagged american imperialism, audie murphy, caodai, CIA, edward landsdale, fowler, french indo-china war, general the, graham greene, humanitarian intervention, joseph mankiewicz, MI6, Michael Redgrave, phillip noyce, propaganda, pyle, The CIA and Hollywood, The Quiet American, tom secker, vietnam | Comments (1)

John Adams Afternoon Commute: John Birch Society and White Nationalism in the alt-media

September 22, 2015 – 8:37 pm

From Hoax Busters:

“John and myself (Chris) have another excellent discussion with returning guest, Pearse Redmond. We talk about the White Nationalist revolution inside the “Alternative Media”, the John Birch Society, Communism, The Red Scare,The CIA,controlled opposition groups and their connections to the “Patriot Movement”, Christian Identity and End Times Prophecy, Alex Jones,David Duke and Immigration Policies, The “Jew World Order”, Survivalists and “The Remnant”, “Pallywood” and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Hitler and the “Holohoax”,Christian Dispensationalism and U.S. Foreign Policy.”

Download Episode

By porkinspolicyreview | Posted in Porkins Policy Radio | Also tagged Alex Jones, alt-media, christian identity, david duke, holocaust denier, holohoax, Israel, israeli palestinan conflict, jew world order, john birch society, josh reeves, libertarianism, neo-nazi, oklahoma city bombing, Palestine, patriot movement, robert welch, secret right, the holocaust, white nationalism | Comments (2)

The CIA and Hollywood episode 1 George Orwell

April 16, 2015 – 3:24 pm

In this opening episode of the new series Pearse and Tom look into the CIA’s adaptations of George Orwell’s two most famous novels – Animal Farm and 1984. We focus primarily on Animal Farm, a revolutionary animated film in several senses of the word, produced by Louis De Rochemont – a man who had worked with several other government agencies prior to making Animal Farm with the CIA. The animation was does by British firm Halas and Bachelor, and we also discuss their background. This episode also examines the paper trail, looking in Orwell’s FBI file and the MI5 records on actor Michael Redgrave, who starred in 1984 despite being a suspected Communist. We conclude that the CIA had something of an obsession with Orwell at this time, and were subverting his works quite radically in these films.