In our first “Dissenter Weekly Update” episode of the year, CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou joins the show. He is also a former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

We highlight letters to the United Kingdom and United States government from United Nations Special Rapporteur Nils Melzer that condemn torture and mistreatment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and U.S. military whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

We also highlight President Donald Trump’s authorization of a drone strike, which assassinated General Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. It was a prime example of why whistleblowers spoke out against President Barack Obama’s institutionalization of the assassination complex. Yet, sadly, their warnings went unheeded.

We launched the show on November 21. It is hosted by Kevin Gosztola, managing editor at Shadowproof. This is a special episode because it is the first to feature a guest.

Although due to the holiday week the show streamed at 1 pm ET on Friday, the show streams live every Thursday at 4 pm ET. It typically runs close to a half-hour. Following each broadcast, we archive the episode and share it widely.

*To support the show, we encourage you to go to shadowproof.com/donate. We also have a Patreon page, and you may sign up here if you want help us fund this new show.