Election Special: How the US Government, Private Arms Industry and Big Media Undermine Democracy at Home and Justify Endless Wars Abroad

In a wide ranging interview focused on coming US presidential election, Peter Isackson and host Vikram Zutshi unpack what choices American voters truly have.  They explore the often pernicious role of the media, the corporate interests that guide it, and how debate has been stunted given the vested interests that interplay within this arena - all as framed by what is appearing to be an American election unlike any other.

Vikram and Peter explore how the mass media ecosystem has evolved since Chomsky wrote his seminal 1988 work, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.  Over the course of an hour, they explore who are the new players, why the intelligence community continually lies to the American people, what is the role of the military-industrial complex - aka the deep state - in US foreign and domestic policy, how the main stream media functions as a mouthpiece for US geopolitical interests, why Snowden and Assange were cast as enemies of the state by both parties, how the two party system stifles authentic democratic expression, how identity politics has come to dominate political discourse while the core issues are brushed under the carpet, and why the American people are continuously bombarded with the spectre of Russia. 

Peter Isackson is an author, media producer and chief visionary officer of Skillscaper, as well as chief strategy officer at Fair Observer. For more than thirty years, he has dedicated himself to innovative publishing, coaching, training of trainers and developing collaborative methods in the field of learning, having partnered with the BBC, Heinemann and Macmillan along the way.