American Exception

USAID and the National Endowment for Anti-Democracy (DCC71 - Audio)

 
Support the work of Aaron Good by subscribing to American Exception on Patreon!
Aaron is joined by Ben Thomason. Ben recently earned his doctorate in American Cultural Studies from Bowling Green State University. His dissertation title is Making Democracy Safe for Empire: A History and Political Economy of the National Endowment for Democracy, United States Agency for International Development, and Twenty-First Century Media Imperialism. In the show, we discuss the subject of his dissertation: the US empire’s so-called “democracy promotion” enterprises.
Special thanks to:
Dana Chavarria, production
Casey Moore, graphics
Michelle Boley, animated intro
Mock Orange, music

Ruby’s Run – Part 2 (AE198) [TRAILER]

 
To hear the full episode, subscribe to American Exception on Patreon!
Max Arvo and I are back for the second of four episodes covering Max’s important and groundbreaking articles on Jack Ruby. The articles detail how Jack Ruby was cast down, by his own defense lawyers, into a CIA-MKULTRA labyrinth of clandestine lawfare and brain warfare—a horror show from which he could never be allowed to escape.
Max's article were published by our friend Jim DiEugenio over at Kennedys and King. You can find them here:
Jack Ruby: A Review and Reassessment - Part 1
Jack Ruby: A Review and Reassessment - Part 2
Jack Ruby: A Review and Reassessment - Part 3
Music: "Too Good Your Dreams Don't Come True" by Mock Orange
Special thanks to Dana Chavarria for producing the episode!

Exceptional American Failures (DCC70 - Audio)

 
To hear the full episode, subscribe to American Exception on Patreon! We are joined by John Kiriakou, the former CIA officer who blew the whistle on the agency’s illegal torture program. Aaron and John discuss a number of current events pertaining to the state of the US Empire here in the early weeks of Trump’s second term—including Trump’s Gaza takeover plan, Rubio’s strange endorsement of “multipolarity,” the Gabbard and Kennedy nominations, the hopeless state of the Democrats, the prospects for JFK disclosure under Trump, and 9/11 in the context of the Gaza Genocide and the US-backed al Qaeda takeover of Syria.
Check out:
Substack: Loud & Clear with John Kiriakou
The DeProgram Show
Special thanks to:
Dana Chavarria, production
Casey Moore, graphics
Michelle Boley, animated intro
Mock Orange, music

MAGA: Making America Go Away? (DCC69 - Audio)

 
Aaron and Bryce discuss a number of significant and/or bizarre recent events, including:
Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s resistance to Yankee imperialism
The spectacular release of Hamas’ female IDF hostages
Trump’s Executive Order on the JFK/MLK/RFK assassinations
Trump’s conquest of Greenland
Europe’s rolling implosion
Elon Musk’s strange nazi tic!
Special thanks to:
Dana Chavarria, production
Casey Moore, graphics
Michelle Boley, animated intro
Mock Orange, music

Illuminator in Chief? (AE197)

 
Aaron and Max discuss President Trump's executive order to declassify the remaining documents related to the JFK, MLK, and RFK assassinations.
Special thanks to Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering!
Music: "Hawks Can Go” by Mock Orange
To support our work, please subscribe to American Exception on Patreon at https://patreon.com/americanexception

Ruby's Run (AE196) [TRAILER]

 
To hear the full episode, subscribe to American Exception on Patreon at https://patreon.com/americanexception
Max Arvo and I are pausing the Gray Alliance series for the first of two (or three?) episodes that we are devoting to discussing Max’s important and groundbreaking articles on Jack Ruby. Max’s account is a very important new and improved narrative explaining what happened to Jack Ruby. These articles were published by our friend Jim DiEugenio over at Kennedys and King.
Check out the articles here:
Jack Ruby: A Review and Reassessment - Part 1
Jack Ruby: A Review and Reassessment - Part 2
Jack Ruby: A Review and Reassessment - Part 3
Music: “Sidewalk” by Mock Orange
Special thanks to Dana Chavarria for producing the episode!

Killing Peace: Empire vs. Internationalism (DCC67 - Audio)

We are joined by Ola Tunander. Ola is Research Professor Emeritus with the Peace Research Institute in Oslo. He earned his doctoral degree in 1989 with a thesis on US Maritime Strategy. Ola has written and edited 15 books on geopolitics, military strategy, European security, submarine warfare, and deception/psychological operations. He currently publishes at Ola’s Substack.
Aaron and Ola discuss the fates of Sweden’s best internationalist statesmen as well as Ola’s currently very relevant seminal work on the US false flag submarine operation in Sweden during the 1980’s.
Please check out Ola’s Substack, especially his brilliant two-part article:
Democratic State vs. Deep State: Part I
Democratic State vs. Deep State: Part II
Special thanks to:
Dana Chavarria, production
Casey Moore, graphics
Michelle Boley, animated intro
Mock Orange, music

Operation X and the JFK Assassination - Gray Alliance Part 6 (AE195)

 
Aaron and Max explore the links between the JFK assassination and Operation X—the operationalized symbiosis between the Lansky/Teamster National Crime Syndicate and powerful agencies within the US national security state. Most notable, we’re talking about Hoover’s FBI, Anslinger’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and the clandestine inner sanctum of the CIA which was the fiefdom of James Angleton.
This is the sixth part of our Gray Alliance series, an investigation of the Lansky Syndicate-CIA-Mossad threads running through the JFK assassination, Watergate, and beyond!
Special thanks Dana Chavarria for the sound engineering and to Casey Moore for the episode art!
Music: "Window" by Mock Orange

Empire and the Missing Western Left – Adnan Husain (DCC66 - Audio)

 
To have access to the full episode, please subscribe to American Exception on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/americanexception
We are joined by Adnan Husain, a historian of both Medieval Europe and of the Middle East. Adnan is Associate Professor, Queen's National Scholar Graduate Chair, and Director of the School of Religion at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. He is also the co-host of the Guerilla History podcast. We discuss a number of topics including the state of the Empire, the absence of an effectual Western Left, the state of the Middle East, and the determinants of US foreign policy.
Special thanks to:
Dana Chavarria, production
Casey Moore, graphics
Michelle Boley, animated intro
Mock Orange, music

The “Free Press” in Crisis (DCC65 - Audio)

Mickey Huff joins Aaron to discuss the sorry state of American media. Mickey is Professor of Journalism at Ithica College in New York where he also serves as the Distinguished Director of the Park Center for Independent Media.  Additionally, Mickey Huff is the third director of Project Censored (founded in 1976), and he is the president of the nonprofit Media Freedom Foundation. Mickey Huff is the co-editor of Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2025. Special thanks to:Dana Chavarria, productionCasey Moore, graphicsMichelle Boley, animated introMock Orange, music