Seasons & episodes
2 seasons · 27 episodes
Episode 01
The Rise of History's Biggest Empire
Abby Martin debuts The Empire Files, exploring the U.S. Empire, its rise to world hegemony and its impact on people and the planet.
Episode 02
9/11 and the Belligerent Empire
Abby Martin examines the two major wars launched under the "Global War on Terror"--their historical development and their aftermath. Featuring former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, this episode digs into the tragedy of a region shaped by Empire.
Episode 03
Tortured & Enslaved: Enter the World's Biggest Prison
The Empire holds by far the most prisoners than any other country on earth, in both absolute numbers and per capita. Abby Martin explores the dark reality of America's prisons: their conditions, who is warehoused in them, and the roots of mass incarceration.
Episode 04
War, Propaganda & the Enemy Within
Abby Martin interviews Chris Hedges on American myths, war and revolt. Hedges explains the 'folly of Empire,' the dangers posed by right-wing extremism and the urgent need for a new system.
Episode 05
Butchery, Slavery & History of Revolt
Meet the new head of the United Nations panel on Human Rights: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Abby Martin takes us inside the brutal reality of this police-state monarchy, and tells the untold people's history of resistance to it. With a major, catastrophic war in Yemen and looming high-profile executions of activists, The Empire Files exposes true nature of the U.S.-Saudi love affair.
Episode 06
America's Unofficial Religion: The War on an Idea
The Empire has a range of weapons to maintain its power: from its courts to its military. But it also has effective ideological weapons.
Episode 07
The Empire's Election Extravaganza
Abby Martin interviews world-renowned philosopher and linguist Professor Noam Chomsky. Prof. Chomsky comments on the presidential primary "extravaganza," the movement for Bernie Sanders, the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, the bombing of the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, modern-day libertarianism and the reality of "democracy" under capitalism.
Episode 08
The Censored Reality of the Refugee Crisis
Today 60 million human beings are displaced from war and extreme poverty. Many European countries are responding to the crisis with racist hysteria, polices and police state measures.
Episode 09
The Distortion & Death Behind Israel/Palestine Coverage
A crisis in Palestine is again all over the headlines. From stabbings and molotov cocktails, to killing of protesters and anti-Arab lynch mobs--how much of the mass media coverage can we really trust? Abby Martin takes a look at how the so-called "Israel-Palestine conflict" has been covered by the mainstream press during the last crisis in the region, and the variety of tactics employed by the state of Israel to control the narrative: from its Hasbara propaganda machine, to outright killing of journalists.
Episode 10
Palestine's Rebellion, Israel's Fascism
Abby Martin interviews journalist and author Max Blumenthal on the current situation in Palestine and the Israeli occupation. This episode covers what is behind today's rebellion, the rising dominance of far-right, ultra-racist ideology in Israel, eye-witness accounts of the aftermath of the Gaza war, and the Israeli government's fear of Palestinian resistance.
Episode 11
Thanksgiving to 'Redskins' - Dispelling American Myths That Hide Native Genocide
Each November, Americans celebrate a mythical version of U.S. history. Thanksgiving Day's portrayal of the experience of Native Americans under the boot of settler-colonialism is one of the Empire's most cherished falsehoods.
Episode 12
The US School That Trains Dictators & Death Squads
On November 22, thousands gathered at the gates of Fort Benning, GA at the 25th annual protest of the School of the Americas to memorialize the tens of thousands of people who lost their lives at the hands of the U.S. Empire’s brutally repressive juntas it used to rule Latin America by force. The dictators and death squad leaders, who committed acts of genocide, were trained within the gates of Fort Benning, at the School of the Americas – otherwise known as the “School of Assassins.”
Episode 13
Bush Military Official: The Empire's Ship is Sinking
Abby Martin interviews retired U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former national security advisor to the Reagan administration, who spent years as an assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell during both Bush administrations. Today, he is honest about the unfixable corruption inside the establishment and the corporate interests driving foreign policy.
Episode 14
Rigged Corporate Elections and Clinton Criminals
Abby Martin interviews American political figure Ralph Nader about the 2016 presidential race—from the “Brown Shirt” Trump movement to “corporate criminal” Hillary Clinton—and the reality of who has power in America.
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