Explore every episode of the podcast State of Play
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaza Aid or Cover for War? US Mercenaries Accused of Firing on Civilians | 04 Jul 2025 | 01:17:04 | |
As famine ravages northern Gaza, so-called humanitarian efforts backed by the United States are coming under fireāliterally.Ā In this episode, investigative journalist Robert Inlakesh breaks down disturbing reports that U.S.-linked mercenaries guarding the Gaza maritime aid pier have been firing on Palestinian civilians.Ā Eyewitnesses say American contractors are working alongside Israeli forces in military operations that blur the line between aid and warfare. We examine the origins of this maritime pier, the private military firms involved, and the deadly consequences for Gazaās starving population.Ā Is the U.S. using āhumanitarian aidā as a smokescreen for military escalation? Or is this yet another front in Washingtonās deepening involvement in Israelās war on Gaza? š Support uncompromising journalism that challenges empire and exposes propaganda: š² Follow MintPress News: šļø Subscribe for fearless reporting and in-depth analysis that corporate media wonāt touch. š² Follow MintPress News on social media: š© Subscribe to our newsletter @ MintPress News šļø State of Play is a production of MintPress News. Hosted by Greg Stoker, a U.S. Special Operations veteran and intelligence expert, the show brings you unfiltered conversations that expose power and propaganda across borders. | |||
| Inside the Gaza Aid Crisis: Sniper Fire, Contaminated Flour, and Ceasefire Theater | 01 Jul 2025 | 00:59:54 | |
In this explosive episode of State of Play, former Army Ranger and intelligence analyst Greg Stoker exposes the brutal truth behind Israelās so-called humanitarian aid campaign in Gaza. As mainstream media focuses on ceasefire theater, Israel continues to fire on civilians gathered at food distribution points, deliver flour laced with opioids, and deploy ISIS-linked gangs to guard the very convoys claiming to provide relief. Backed by U.S. weapons, funding, and diplomatic cover, these tactics form part of a calculated effort to force Palestinians into āvoluntary migration.ā Greg breaks down the latest Israeli assault on Gaza, the propaganda war waged through Washington, and the deeper geopolitical strategy behind what Israel calls aidāand what Palestinians experience as starvation, surveillance, and sniper fire. In this episode:
šļø Hosted by Greg Stoker, a former special operations intelligence collector and Columbia-trained analyst, now confronting U.S. empire from the inside out. š° Read the full companion article: šŗ Watch the full video episode on YouTube: š² Follow MintPress News on social media: š© Subscribe to our newsletter @ MintPress News šļø State of Play is a production of MintPress News. Hosted by Greg Stoker, a U.S. Special Operations veteran and intelligence expert, the show brings you unfiltered conversations that expose power and propaganda across borders. | |||
| Tiger Teams to Concentration Camps: ICE and its Connections to Israeli Intelligence | 10 Jul 2025 | 01:16:46 | |
In this episode of State of Play, host Greg Stoker is joined by journalist Jalyssa Dugrot and Middle East analyst Robert Inlakesh to expose a disturbing transnational alliance between U.S. immigration enforcement and Israeli intelligence-linked tech firms. They dig into ICEās covert āTiger Team,ā which targeted over 5,000 student activists flagged by the blacklist website Canary Mission. We follow the money and military ties behind firms like Paragon Solutions and Zencity, Israeli companies now contracting with U.S. law enforcement to deploy surveillance tools originally developed for controlling Palestinians. Also discussed: leaked testimony published by the Knight First Amendment Institute, revealing ICE's reliance on ideologically motivated sources, and a 2018 ADL training in Israel attended by a top ICE official. What happens to Palestinians abroad is now happening to students and migrants in the U.S.āand no one is off limits. š§ Subscribe for deep-dive conversations on the machinery of empire, from the occupied territories to your backyard. š² Follow MintPress News on social media: š© Subscribe to our newsletter @ MintPress News šļø State of Play is a production of MintPress News. Hosted by Greg Stoker, a U.S. Special Operations veteran and intelligence expert, the show brings you unfiltered conversations that expose power and propaganda across borders. | |||
| Big Beautiful Cover Up: Epstein, ICE and the MAGA War State | 09 Jul 2025 | 01:00:23 | |
The Epstein case is officially overāno client list, no accountability, and no justice.Ā Trumpās DOJ sealed the files under the guise of victim protection, but the timing is telling. While MAGA world celebrates ādraining the swamp,ā ICE quietly becomes the third-largest military force on Earth. In this episode, Greg Stoker opens on the elite-friendly conclusion to the Epstein saga and follows the thread through the militarization of ICE, the decline of U.S. prison retention, and the consolidation of state power under Trump 2.0.Ā From Gaza to the border, the performance of rebellion ends exactly where it was designed to: with more war, more surveillance, and more control. š Read the companion article on MintPress News: šŗ Watch the full episode on YouTube: Ā Stay informedāsign up for our newsletter at https://mintpressnews.com Ā šø Help us resist censorship and corporate influence: https://mintpressnews.com/donate š² Follow MintPress News on social media: š© Subscribe to our newsletter @ MintPress News šļø State of Play is a production of MintPress News. Hosted by Greg Stoker, a U.S. Special Operations veteran and intelligence expert, the show brings you unfiltered conversations that expose power and propaganda across borders. | |||
| Displacement Is the Policy: Gaza, ICE, and the Militarization of Control | 25 Jul 2025 | 00:58:43 | |
This episode of State of Play connects the dots between Gazaās deepening crisis and the militarization of immigration enforcement in the U.S.Ā Host Greg Stoker is joined by Murad Awawdeh, head of the New York Immigration Coalition, who offers a powerful firsthand account of ICE raids and surveillance tactics in immigrant communities.Ā From Israeli-designed predictive policing to famine being recast as "humanitarian success," this episode breaks down how displacement has become a global strategy of state repression. Ā š Watch the full video episode on YouTube: š² Follow MintPress News on social media: š© Subscribe to our newsletter @ MintPress News šļø State of Play is a production of MintPress News. Hosted by Greg Stoker, a U.S. Special Operations veteran and intelligence expert, the show brings you unfiltered conversations that expose power and propaganda across borders. | |||
| Why Does the World Suck So Bad Right Now? | 22 Jul 2025 | 01:00:46 | |
In this powerful episode, host Greg Stoker dives deep into the pitfalls of ābalanced debate,ā especially around dangerous ideologies like fascism.Ā Drawing on examples like Jubileeās ā1 vs 100ā format, Greg dismantles the illusion that giving fringe, extremist views equal airtime promotes fairness.Ā Instead, he argues that it normalizes harmful rhetoric and misleads audiences.Ā Packed with engaging analysis and a call to ethical media practices, this episode challenges listeners to rethink how we engage in public dialogue.Ā š² Follow MintPress News on social media: š© Subscribe to our newsletter @ MintPress News šļø State of Play is a production of MintPress News. Hosted by Greg Stoker, a U.S. Special Operations veteran and intelligence expert, the show brings you unfiltered conversations that expose power and propaganda across borders. | |||
| Crisis Theater: How Israel and the US Are Orchestrating Syriaās Collapse | 18 Jul 2025 | 01:14:56 | |
In this episode of State of Play on MintPress News, host Greg Stoker is joined by Ahmad of Propaganda & Co and Robert Inlakesh, journalist at MintPress News, to unpack the latest round of violence in southern Syriaāand the foreign agendas driving it. What started as clashes between Druze and Bedouin communities in Suwayda quickly escalated into a regional standoff. The Syrian governmentās move to restore order with tanks was met by Israeli airstrikes in Damascus. Israel claimed it was protecting Druze civilians, but U.S. intelligence confirms Syria had given prior noticeāand thereās no evidence linking Damascus to atrocities. So whatās really going on? Ahmad explains how this fits Israelās decades-old āDoctrine of the Periphery,ā a strategy to divide and weaken Arab unity by backing minority groups and non-Arab states. Inlakesh exposes how that strategy now dovetails with U.S. economic warfare, including IMF loan schemes and Gulf-led reconstruction efforts that are reshaping Syria into a client state. āThis isnāt stabilizationāitās recolonization,ā Ahmad argues.From Tripoliās port to Gazaās fallout, the episode reveals how foreign powers use military pressure, economic debt, and manufactured crises to block any future Syrian sovereignty. š§ Tune in for a grounded, unfiltered breakdown of the imperial geopolitics behind the headlines. š Support MintPress News on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mintpressnews š² Follow MintPress News on social media: š© Subscribe to our newsletter @ MintPress News šļø State of Play is a production of MintPress News. Hosted by Greg Stoker, a U.S. Special Operations veteran and intelligence expert, the show brings you unfiltered conversations that expose power and propaganda across borders. | |||
| Trump Joins the War Party: MAGAās Foreign Policy Flip | 16 Jul 2025 | 01:01:02 | |
Over the past six months, Donald Trump has abandoned the anti-war, anti-establishment rhetoric that once defined the MAGA movement.Ā In this episode, Greg Stoker breaks down how Trumpās foreign policy now mirrors the bipartisan war machine he once opposed.Ā From backing new sanctions on Russia and threatening U.S. allies, to echoing neoconservative talking points on NATO and Ukraine, Trumpās transformation is nearly complete.Ā This episode examines how MAGAās shift signals a broader erosion of populist resistance to U.S. empire, with significant implications for global stability. š What happened to āAmerica Firstā? We also examine how the military-industrial complex benefits regardless of who is in office, and why the forever war persists under a different salesman. š² Follow MintPress News on social media: š© Subscribe to our newsletter @ MintPress News šļø State of Play is a production of MintPress News. Hosted by Greg Stoker, a U.S. Special Operations veteran and intelligence expert, the show brings you unfiltered conversations that expose power and propaganda across borders. | |||
| The Final Solution? Trumpās Gaza Aid Is Just Bidenās Port 2.0 | 31 Jul 2025 | 01:01:54 | |
In this explosive episode of State of Play, Greg Stoker dissects Donald Trumpās bizarre Turnberry announcement, in which he promises āaid centersā in Gaza with āno fences, no boundaries.ā But behind the humanitarian sheen lies a familiar blueprintāBidenās failed Gaza aid port, reborn as a campaign spectacle. Greg exposes how both administrations have weaponized aid as propaganda while maintaining unwavering support for Israelās ethnic cleansing campaign. He breaks down the contradictions in Trumpās statements on Hamas and Netanyahu, and revisits the grotesque history of U.S.-sponsored āhelpā in Gaza. Also in this episode: š Nothing changes because the system demands this outcome. Welcome back to empire. š Links š„ Full Episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/hMgzw_taZ6Y š² Follow MintPress News on social media: š© Subscribe to our newsletter @ MintPress News šļø State of Play is a production of MintPress News. Hosted by Greg Stoker, a U.S. Special Operations veteran and intelligence expert, the show brings you unfiltered conversations that expose power and propaganda across borders. | |||
| Is Journalism Dead? Gazaās Targeted Reporters and the Mediaās Moral Collapse | 14 Aug 2025 | 01:07:33 | |
In this hard-hitting State of Play, host Greg Stoker asks the fundamental question: Is journalism as a formal institution dead? With award-winning conflict journalist Tara Sutton, Stoker examines the targeted killing of Palestinian reporter Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues in Gaza, breaking down why this was no accident and how Western media enables such war crimes. The conversation ranges from Gaza to Iraq to the culture of Western newsrooms ā exposing the colonial mindset, propaganda, and systemic silencing of voices from the Global South. They also discuss the U.S. National Guardās deployment against unhoused people in Washington, D.C., the bipartisan consensus on war and repression, and how journalists on the ground in Gaza are reshaping the global conversation on Palestine. š„ Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/ogq23CjBJvM Follow State of Play for more: š² Follow MintPress News on social media: š© Subscribe to our newsletter @ MintPress News šļø State of Play is a production of MintPress News. Hosted by Greg Stoker, a U.S. Special Operations veteran and intelligence expert, the show brings you unfiltered conversations that expose power and propaganda across borders. | |||