September 11

Ep. 0117: Operation Underworld

Did you know that the US government, in the form of the Office of Naval Intelligence in World War II & the Central Intelligence Agency in the Cold War, frequently made common cause with La Cosa Nostra & other organized crime syndicates?

Join CJ as he discusses:

  • How the alliance between the US Office of Naval Intelligence & American mafia groups began in 1942
  • The involvement of top mobsters such as Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Vito Genevese with the Allied invasion & occupation of Italy, and Luciano’s early release from prison in 1946 as a reward
  • The continued collaboration of American intelligence with the mafia & other organized crime syndicates for various purposes related to the Cold War from the-late 1940s in places as diverse as Europe, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean
  • Some of the darker results & side effects of these collaborations

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Category: American History, Podcasts, Power Elite | 3 Comments on Ep. 0117: Operation Underworld
August 29

Ep. 0116: Abolitionism & Anarchism (CJ’s presentation from the Midwest Peace & Liberty Conference)

At high noon on Saturday August 27th 2016 I had the pleasure of speaking at the Midwest Peace & Liberty Fest. Here’s the audio of that presentation.

Join CJ as he discusses:

  • The different types of antislavery groups in Antebellum America
  • The most radical part of the abolitionist spectrum, including the New England Non-Resistance Society, who were Christian anarchists in all but name
  • How the anarchistic abolitionists simply took the antislavery arguments to their logical conclusions; and how some Southern defenders of slavery understood this
  • The contributions of the ‘extreme’ abolitionists to the success of the movement
  • Lessons and parallels for anarchists today
  • Some Q&A

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Category: American History, Podcasts, Speeches/Presentations | 1 Comment on Ep. 0116: Abolitionism & Anarchism (CJ’s presentation from the Midwest Peace & Liberty Conference)
August 25

Ep. 0115: Out with the Old Right, In with the New Right

Believe it or not, prior to about the mid-1950s, to be on the “Right” in American political discourse actually meant you opposed American wars & interventions abroad most of the time, and it meant you took seriously ideas of individual liberty, even if you weren’t always 100% consistent on them. Then there was a ‘revolution within the form,’ so to speak, and with remarkable speed & completeness, a handful of individuals changed what “Right” meant in American politics, into something defined above all else by hawkish militarism, and with (at best) mere lip service paid to ‘limited government,’ etc.  Who the Old Right were, and how the New Right hijacked their brand, is the subject of this episode.

Join CJ as he discusses:

  • Who the “Old Right” were and what they believed
  • How the “New Right” displaced the “Old Right,” and changed what it meant to be on the rightwing in American politics, rebranding the term from denoting (for the most part) libertarianism to denoting, in extreme cases, fascistic warmongering

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August 13

Ep. 0113: The Porcellian Club: Harvard’s Skull & Bones?

Think the notorious Skull & Bones is the only secret, elite club at an Ivy League school?  Think again. There are actually a bunch of such clubs found at the most elite universities, and the oldest one of its type (to CJ’s knowledge) is actually not the more famous Skull & Bones at Yale; it’s the Porcellian Club at Harvard.  Famous members of the Porcellian include Oliver Wendell Holmes (both Sr. & Jr.), Henry Cabot Lodge,  Theodore Roosevelt (and his son, T.R. Jr.), and the Winklevoss twins, to name just a few.

Join CJ as he discusses:

  • The origins of the Porcellian Club
  • What little we know of its practices
  • Some of its most famous members.

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July 30

Ep. 0112: Scott Horton on America’s post-Cold War Empire

Today CJ is joined by Scott Horton for a conversation about the recent history of American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War.

Join CJ & Scott as they discuss:

  • The book Scott is currently working on, to be coauthored with Tom Woods, about the so-called ‘War on Terror’
  • How much the Soviet threat during the Cold War — while certainly real — was often exaggerated by US elites for their own purposes
  • How, for all its faults, the Cold War strategy of containment at least made some coherent sense, in contrast to the US government’s approach to the Greater Middle East in recent decades, and how often the USG’s lack of a coherent Mid-East strategy has led the USG to support violent anti-American factions
  • Why the end of the Cold War did not result in the US reverting to being a ‘normal country in a normal time’
  • Some thoughts on the Neocons, and how different they are (or aren’t) from the ‘Liberal Interventionists’
  • Some thoughts on whether there’s any possibility of the American Empire at home & abroad being dismantled in an orderly fashion, or if it will only come to an end under conditions of collapse & bankruptcy

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Category: American History, Interviews, Modern World History, Podcasts | LEAVE A COMMENT
July 28

Ep. 0111: Introduction to Power Elite Analysis

Join CJ as he discusses:

  • What “power elite” and “power elite analysis” mean
  • Power elite analysis is not “conspiracy theorizing”
  • Some early practitioners of power elite analysis, such as C. Wright Mills, Carroll Quigley, and Murray Rothbard
  • Ways of identifying & understanding the power elite in practice
  • Things to keep in mind when studying the power elite

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Internal Links (lots of past DHP episodes have dealt with power elite analysis in various ways) – Here are a few:

Category: American History, Concepts and Theories, Introductory, Podcasts, Power Elite | LEAVE A COMMENT
July 9

Ep. 0110: Twenty-One Key Concepts & Theories, Part 2

In this second part of “Twenty-One Key Concepts & Theories,” we focus on seven concepts & theories related to economics.

Join CJ as he discusses:

8. Public Choice Theory

9. Regulatory Capture

10. Austrian Business Cycle Theory

11. The Broken Window Fallacy

12. Opportunity Costs

13. The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility

14. The Sunk Costs Fallacy

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(pic of Dollar Hook courtesy scottchan via freedigitalphotos.net)

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July 5

Ep. 0109: Twenty-One Key Concepts & Theories, Part 1

I’ve compiled a list of 21 concepts & theories that have helped me understand the world (both past & present) more clearly, and I’m going to do 3 episodes (two regular DHP episodes and one Patreon supporters-only Bonus DHP episode) covering 7 of these concepts & theories apiece.

In this first installment, I’ve grouped together 7 concepts having to do with understanding power, why it’s so dangerous, and why humans are so susceptible to being commanded, controlled, and exploited by the worst among us.

Join CJ as he discusses:

  1. Power Corrupts (and attracts those who are already corrupt)
  2. Psychopathy & Sociopathy
  3. Most humans are hardwired for tribalism, submission, & conformity
  4. Stockholm Syndrome
  5. Doctrine of Double Effect
  6. The Noble Lie
  7. Base/superstructure

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Category: Concepts and Theories, Introductory, Podcasts | LEAVE A COMMENT
June 29

Ep. 0108: “Edge Men” of the Power Elite

On the last leg of his return journey from New Hampshire, CJ was spontaneously inspired to do an off-the-cuff Silver Bullet mobile podcasting episode.

Join CJ as he discusses:

  • His amateur/layman’s understanding of the concept of ‘edges’ as used in permaculture
  • The way in which individuals who work the edges of various institutions that make up the power elite can often acquire some combination of power, prestige, and wealth
  • Examples of some such individuals, including Alexander Hamilton, George W. Perkins, Edward M. House, the Dulles Brothers, Barry Seal, and more

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Category: American History, Concepts and Theories, Podcasts, Power Elite | LEAVE A COMMENT