👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael speaks with Ed of DeFlock during the National Week of Action Against ALPRs about the dangers of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs), Flock Safety surveillance cameras, and the growing movement to get these systems out of our communities. Ed explains how ALPRs operate, how they create massive searchable databases of Americans’ movements, and why DeFlock believes these cameras cannot be made safe through regulation—they need to be removed. The conversation explores documented abuses involving ALPRs, including police using the technology to stalk former partners, an abortion investigation in Texas, wrongful stops based on misread license plates, and cases in which Black motorists were disproportionately subjected to armed police encounters. Ed also discusses how ALPR data can potentially be accessed by federal immigration authorities, how privately owned cameras from businesses and HOAs can feed police surveillance networks, and why the familiar “if you have nothing to hide” argument falls apart when laws and political circumstances change. Ed and J.G. discuss Flock Safety's claims about crime reduction, the significant error rates of automated plate recognition, Flock's facial-recognition patent, and the broader expansion of privately operated surveillance infrastructure. DeFlock's crowdsourced map now tracks more than 110,000 ALPR cameras nationwide, while its public audit project allows people to search police ALPR activity for terms related to protests, immigration, and other areas of concern. Importantly, this is not framed as an exclusively left-wing issue. Ed discusses DeFlock's work with libertarians and conservatives who see ALPRs as an issue of government overreach, constitutional privacy, and unchecked surveillance power. With ALPR contracts blocked or canceled in more than 90 communities, the conversation examines how cross-political organizing is challenging the normalization of mass surveillance—and what ordinary people can do to fight back in their own communities. As the National Week of Action Against ALPRs takes place across the country, with more than 20,000 people registered and 300+ events scheduled, Ed explains how listeners can get involved: obtain their local ALPR contract, organize a community meeting, and bring the issue to their city council. Learn more, find an event, and get involved at noalprs.com.

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael speaks with political strategist and author Maya Rupert about the future of Democratic strategy, political power, leadership, and the institutions needed to build lasting change. Rupert, who managed Julián Castro’s 2020 presidential campaign and later served as a senior adviser to Elizabeth Warren, draws on her experience inside Democratic politics and the themes of her new book, The Real Ones, to examine who gets recognized as a political leader and who gets left out. The conversation explores the Democratic Party’s post-2024 strategic challenges, and the need to address concerns of the average voter as well as incorporating ideas that were seen as fringe years ago but now more mainstream into Democratic politics. The need to care about the politics of normal people is a chief issue for Maya Rupert as we head towards the mid-terms. She believes we are in a tremendous political moment and that the opportunity that provides should not be squandered. She also argues that tensions within the Democratic Party will allow for growth rather than just leading to a loss of unity. In other words, this conversation delves into the Progressive vs. Establishment wings of the party. The discussion also turns to race, representation, and voting rights, including the Supreme Court’s recent Louisiana redistricting decision and what its implications could mean for Democratic strategy and minority political representation. Rupert and J.G. consider the changing legal and political landscape surrounding the Voting Rights Act and the challenges Democrats face in building multiracial political coalitions. Finally, the conversation examines the relationship between the Democratic Party and the surge of Democratic Socialism, policy wonk-esque discussion vs. appealing to main-street Americans, the problem with cultural elitism and scolding and the need to appeal to populist sentiment, and more. What does the Democratic Party need to change to rebuild political power? Can grassroots movements and political institutions work together? And what would it take to create a Democratic coalition capable of producing lasting political transformation?

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft's Nick Cleveland-Stout returns to discuss his latest research into Israel's unprecedented influence campaign in the United States and how it is reshaping the landscape of foreign lobbying, political messaging, and artificial intelligence. Drawing on extensive Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings, Nick explains how Israel has become the projected largest foreign spender under FARA, committing more than $100 million since 2023 to a sprawling public influence effort aimed not at Washington elites, but at ordinary Americans. We examine why Israeli officials concluded that declining public support was a communications problem rather than a policy problem, and how that assumption has driven an expansive strategy spanning mass text messaging, influencer partnerships, digital advertising, conservative media, AI optimization, and religious outreach. Nick details the roles played by Brad Parscale's Clock Tower X, Havas Media Group, Targeted Communications (part of Stagwell, led by Mark Penn), Show Faith by Works, and Eagle's Wings, unpacking how these firms and organizations have participated in campaigns ranging from Breitbart and Daily Caller advertising to YouTube initiatives, evangelical outreach, and controversial proposals to geofence churches in order to deliver pro-Israel messaging directly to worshippers' mobile devices. We also discuss one of the investigation's most striking revelations: efforts to influence the outputs of large language models by creating hundreds of Wikipedia-style websites intended for AI training datasets. Nick explains how these sites entered datasets used by companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft, what happened when various AI chatbots were tested against this content, and what the episode reveals about the future of information warfare in the age of generative AI. Finally, we examine transparency and accountability under FARA, the use of front organizations in mass messaging campaigns, why many paid influencers appear not to have registered despite potential legal obligations, and whether Israel's massive investment in strategic communications is actually succeeding. While the campaign has generated enormous digital reach and sophisticated online infrastructure, polling continues to show declining public support for Israel in the United States, raising important questions about the limits of influence operations in an increasingly skeptical media environment. Read More: The Eighth Front: Inside Israel’s $1 Billion Influence Campaign - Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, returning guest Richard Silverstein—journalist, founder of the Tikun Olam blog, and contributor to The New Arab and Jacobin—returns to discuss whether Abdul El-Sayed's stunning victory in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary marks a turning point in the political influence of AIPAC. Silverstein argues that despite unprecedented spending by AIPAC's United Democracy Project and its billionaire-backed network, El-Sayed's grassroots campaign demonstrated that people-powered organizing can overcome massive outside money. We examine why Silverstein believes the race, alongside recent progressive victories in New York City—including Zohran Mamdani's win despite millions spent against him—signals that AIPAC has lost the aura of political invincibility it once enjoyed. The conversation explores the changing dynamics inside the Democratic Party, including the growing divide between establishment centrists and an energized progressive base. Silverstein discusses Republican and Wall Street donors' involvement in Democratic primaries, the effectiveness of accusations of anti-Semitism and communism against critics of Israel, changing attitudes toward Zionism among American Jews, and why he believes more Democratic lawmakers are beginning to distance themselves from AIPAC. We also delve into the ongoing war in Gaza and the controversial "Board of Peace" proposal, which Silverstein describes as an unrealistic geopolitical project detached from conditions on the ground. He explains why he views the initiative as a political and financial grift, examines former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's role, and analyzes Israel's evolving demands regarding Hamas, Palestinian displacement, and postwar governance. Finally, we turn to the broader regional picture, including Israel's confrontation with Iran, Benjamin Netanyahu's strategy toward the Iranian regime, the future of Hezbollah and Lebanon, and what an Abdul El-Sayed victory in the general election could mean for the balance of power within the Democratic Party, the U.S. Senate, and the future direction of progressive politics in America.

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, former Associate Deputy Attorney General in the Reagan administration Bruce Fein joins us for an in-depth discussion of President Donald Trump's war against Iran and why he believes it represents one of the gravest constitutional crises in modern American history. Fein argues that the Constitution's Declare War Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 11) gives Congress alone the authority to take the United States from a state of peace to a state of war, and contends that Trump's unilateral military campaign against Iran violates both the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Fein explains why the Founding Fathers—including George Washington, James Madison, and James Wilson—understood the war power to belong exclusively to Congress, and why he believes there is no constitutional ambiguity on the issue. He also discusses the origins of the War Powers Resolution following the Vietnam War and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, focusing on Section 5(c), which allows Congress to direct the cessation of hostilities through a concurrent resolution. According to Fein, Congress has already exercised that authority by passing a resolution ordering an end to the conflict with Iran, making Trump's refusal to comply an unprecedented constitutional confrontation. Beyond the immediate controversy, Fein argues that presidents of both political parties have steadily expanded executive war-making powers since the Korean War, citing military interventions from Truman through Vietnam, Panama, Kosovo, Libya, Syria, Gaza, and now Iran. He contends that Congress has repeatedly failed to defend its constitutional prerogatives, contributing to an erosion of the rule of law and the growth of an increasingly imperial presidency. The conversation also explores the legal and political mechanisms Fein believes remain available to Congress, including pending legislation sponsored by Representatives Gregory Meeks and Tom Massie that would authorize the House Speaker to seek a federal injunction enforcing Congress's war powers. Fein further discusses impeachment as a constitutional remedy for a president who refuses to faithfully execute the law, and examines whether electoral outcomes could reshape Congress's willingness to reassert its authority. Finally, Fein warns that the consequences extend far beyond the current conflict. He argues that attacking a non-nuclear state like Iran creates powerful incentives for nuclear proliferation, encourages strategic competition by powers such as China and Russia, and accelerates the pattern of imperial overreach that has historically led to the decline of great powers. Throughout the interview, Fein urges citizens to pressure Congress to enforce the Constitution's allocation of war powers before precedents established today become burdens inherited by future generations. Bruce Fein is a constitutional lawyer, former Associate Deputy Attorney General under President Ronald Reagan, and author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle For Our Constitution and Democracy.

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, geopolitical analyst Eldar Mamedov joins us to examine the unprecedented migration crisis in Ceuta, Spain's North African enclave, where tens of thousands of migrants crossed the border from Morocco in a matter of days, triggering a humanitarian emergency and a fierce debate over migration, European solidarity, and geopolitical coercion. As Spanish authorities regained control within roughly 48 hours and most migrants were returned to Morocco, the political fallout has only intensified. Was this simply a spontaneous migration surge, or was Morocco deliberately using migration as a geopolitical weapon? Mamedov argues that Rabat's decision to loosen border controls followed Spain's recent diplomatic outreach to Algeria, Morocco's regional rival, fitting a broader pattern in which migration is leveraged as a tool of statecraft. He compares the tactic to other forms of coercive diplomacy, drawing parallels to previous crises involving Belarus and Turkey while rejecting speculation that Israel played any demonstrable role in the events. The conversation also explores Spain's 2022 shift on Western Sahara, whether Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's earlier concessions to Morocco encouraged further pressure, and why the European Union's response appeared markedly different from its reaction to the Belarus-Poland border crisis. Mamedov contends that the muted response exposed political and ideological divisions within Europe, raising uncomfortable questions about whether the EU can truly act as a unified geopolitical actor when one of its member states comes under external pressure. Additionally, J.G. and Eldar discuss Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's criticism of Spain and call to suspend Spain from the Schengen Area, the dangers of "weaponized migration," how migration anxiety can itself become a strategic vulnerability, and what this episode reveals about the future of EU-Morocco relations, border security, and European foreign policy. Eldar Mamedov is a Brussels-based foreign policy expert and non-resident fellow whose work focuses on European foreign policy, the Middle East, and the post-Soviet space. He has written extensively on EU diplomacy, security, and international affairs, with particular expertise in the geopolitics of the Middle East and Europe.

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael is joined by philosopher Christian Miller to discuss his book The Honesty Crisis: How to Make Sense of a World Where Everyone Lies. Miller examines one of the most important moral challenges facing contemporary society: the growing pressure placed on honesty by new technologies, changing social environments, and institutional incentives that increasingly make deception easier and more rewarding. Drawing from moral philosophy, virtue ethics, and psychological research, Miller argues that honesty is far more complex than simply "not lying." An honest person does not intentionally distort reality as they understand it, meaning dishonesty encompasses not only falsehoods but also misleading behavior, cheating, stealing, hypocrisy, self-deception, and other ways of manipulating how reality is represented. Miller also explores the important distinction between being wrong and being dishonest, arguing that someone can sincerely believe something false while still communicating honestly. At the heart of The Honesty Crisis is Miller's argument that society is facing multiple honesty crises when two conditions emerge: dishonest behavior becomes easier to get away with, and dishonesty becomes more attractive or rewarding. Rather than arguing that people have simply become morally worse, Miller examines how technological and cultural changes have altered the incentives surrounding honesty. In this conversation, Miller discusses how online environments have transformed opportunities for deception in relationships and education, and how social media has created new challenges around misinformation and political polarization. He also explores why false beliefs are not necessarily dishonest beliefs, the role of "truth-default" assumptions in human communication, and why accuracy prompts and other interventions may help reduce the spread of misinformation. The discussion also explores celebrity culture, authenticity, and the pressures created by maintaining a carefully managed public image. Miller examines honesty challenges within religious institutions, including sermon plagiarism, online misconduct, celebrity pastors, and the ways institutional pressures can encourage concealment and self-deception. Ultimately, The Honesty Crisis is a defense of honesty as a foundational human virtue. Miller argues that honesty creates the trust necessary for relationships, communities, institutions, and democratic societies to function. In an era of AI-generated content, misinformation, and rapidly changing social incentives, Miller asks what happens when the assumptions that allow us to trust one another become increasingly fragile; and what can be done to preserve honesty as one of the virtues on which society depends. Christian Miller is a professor of philosophy at Wake Forest University and the author of numerous works on moral psychology and virtue ethics. His research explores the nature of character, moral motivation, and how people actually behave compared with how they understand themselves morally.

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, Tom Joseph, founder of America's Main Street Party, join to discuss his proposed technology-driven approach to electoral reform and his argument that America's political dysfunction is rooted less in partisan differences than in a broken incentive system. Joseph argues that gerrymandered districts, donor-driven primaries, and incumbent protection have created a Congress where representatives are more accountable to fundraising networks and partisan bases than to the voters they serve. Joseph lays out the Main Street Party's model for disrupting that cycle: a moneyless, multi-round congressional nomination process conducted through a mobile app using approval voting. Rather than candidates competing for wealthy donors and spending millions in traditional primaries, voters would decide nominees through a series of rounds designed to elevate candidates with broader support. The eventual winner would receive general election support from a super PAC while keeping the nomination process free from campaign spending and donor influence. We discuss why Joseph believes the current primary system has created a political environment where most House members are effectively guaranteed reelection, how gerrymandering has shifted power toward narrow partisan bases, and why he sees electoral design as the key problem rather than simply Republican versus Democratic ideology. Joseph explains how candidates would be evaluated on issues, how the app-based voting process would work, safeguards against manipulation, and the organization's plans to test the model in red and blue congressional districts before potentially expanding to Senate and presidential contests. Tom Joseph also discusses the technology behind the project, the challenges of building a new political infrastructure, and the larger question at the heart of the Main Street Party's mission: can changing the rules of American elections create a government that is more responsive to ordinary citizens? For more information on America's Main Street Party and to explore the app demo, visit mainstreetparty.org.

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, it's a double-feature episode examining the changing landscape of American politics, media, and public opinion from two very different perspectives. First, journalist Howard Polskin, founder of The Righting, joins us to discuss the modern right-wing media ecosystem and the influence it exerts on American politics. Polskin explains why he launched The Righting after the 2016 election to track the headlines, narratives, and trends emerging from conservative media, and discusses which outlets wield the greatest influence in the Trump era. We examine the relationship between major platforms like Fox News, Breitbart, Newsmax, and The Epoch Times, the rise of outrage-driven content and right-wing podcasts, and why seemingly fringe ideas can migrate into the political mainstream. Polskin also reflects on his effort to understand—rather than simply caricature—the conservative media landscape, the internal divisions within the American right over issues like Iran, and why he believes liberals, journalists, policymakers, and anyone seeking to better understand contemporary conservatism should pay closer attention to the stories shaping conservative audiences. In the second half of the program, Ioannis (Ian) Vlahos, editorial assistant and writer at Antiwar.com and a history and journalism student at George Mason University, joins us to discuss his Antiwar.Com article "Gen Z Is Tired of War." Vlahos argues that Generation Z's worldview has been shaped less by the trauma of 9/11 itself than by growing up amid the consequences of the War on Terror and witnessing the failures of two decades of U.S. interventionism. We explore how social media, alternative media, and independent voices have helped cultivate anti-war sentiment among younger Americans, while also fueling broader distrust of institutions and the spread of conspiracy theories. Vlahos explains why many in Gen Z increasingly prioritize domestic concerns such as healthcare, student debt, and economic insecurity over foreign military interventions, discusses the cross-partisan nature of contemporary anti-interventionism, and reflects on whether this growing skepticism toward America's foreign policy establishment could eventually develop into a lasting political movement.

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, acclaimed writer, cultural critic, translator, and literary anthologist Ilan Stavans joins us to discuss his new anthology, A Nation Wrestles with God: American Prophets, Philosophers, and Firebrands. Stavans, the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities, Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College and a prolific author whose work explores language, identity, religion, and culture, offers a sweeping look at how Americans have grappled with the idea of God from the colonial era to the present day. Rather than presenting a history of belief or unbelief, Wrestling with God traces the ongoing conversation (and often fierce argument) over faith, doubt, morality, and meaning that has shaped American life. We discuss the anthology's remarkable range of contributors, which includes figures such as Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Christopher Hitchens, Will Arbery, Molly McCully Brown, and many others. Among the topics explored are why even outspoken skeptics and atheists like H.L. Mencken continued to wrestle with God through language, symbolism, and imagery; how religious belief and doubt have served as engines of American political, philosophical, and cultural life; and why Stavans believes America's defining religious tradition is less about consensus than about continual debate. We also examine the democratization of America's conversation about God. As Stavans explains, the nation's religious imagination is no longer shaped solely by theologians, clergy, philosophers, or academic elites, but increasingly by novelists, filmmakers, comedians, musicians, and pop culture figures. The discussion explores how "high" and "low" culture alike have become arenas where Americans negotiate questions of faith, morality, transcendence, and identity. Additionally, Stavans reflects on the editorial process behind assembling such an expansive anthology, the significance of concluding the volume with younger voices like playwright Will Arbery and poet Molly McCully Brown, the enduring influence of the Bible on American literature and public discourse, and why the American experiment has always involved a uniquely pluralistic struggle over the meaning of God. Whether you're interested in religion, American history, philosophy, literature, politics, or contemporary culture, this conversation offers a fascinating exploration of one of the most enduring questions at the heart of the American experience.