Episode 384 of RevolutionZ has as guest Rachel Donald, a journalist at the site Planet Critical. Rachel suggests that war propaganda thrives on simple stories, and shows how the left sometimes helps that along without meaning to. She then considers a hard question: how might we best oppose the US war on Iran without falling into the trap of treating any US target, no matter how authoritarian, as our ally? Our enemy's enemy is not necessarily our friend. We must oppose intervention and war, of course, but also draw a bright line between a people and the regime that governs them. Donald discusses how, when we collapse that difference it can unintentionally serve the “liberation” narrative that in this case sells intervention, imperialism, and endless war. And also discusses how to deny that an immoral regime is, in fact, immoral, can put off potential resistors.  

From there we zoom out to movement strategy. Why does so much anti-war and progressive organizing drift toward moral purity, online pile-ons, and team politics that repel the broader public? We talk about the consequences of war, and all social policy, as a moral and strategic issue  keep returning to the question ordinary listeners ask again and again: “I get what you’re against, but what are you for?” If the far right can speak to lived pain like rising costs, insecurity, and lost futures, Donald asks, why can't the left learn how to connect the dots and offer a convincing alternative rooted in real gains.

We also get into journalism itself: the myth of objectivity, the need for transparent values and funding, and why reporting facts without systemic analysis still leaves people confused and vulnerable to manufactured consent. Finally, we discuss independent publishing, Substack’s incentives, and why rebuilding collective media ecosystems may be essential for the next wave of organizing.

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