10 chapters across the catalog
A segment describes how the FBI meticulously monitored the Five Percent Nation, even purchasing record collections to analyze the lyrics and "science" being taught to the youth. The hosts discuss how hip-hop became a vehicle for conspiratorial knowledge, mentioning the Illuminati references in the music of Prodigy and Tupac. They also mock MSNBC's Ari Melber for his frequent, often "suspect," use of hip-hop lyrics on his news program.
A retrospective look at the FBI's 2017 "Black Identity Extremist" (BIE) assessment reveals how the bureau used unrelated attacks on police to justify invasive surveillance of activists. The hosts argue that this classification was a precursor to current efforts to label various groups as domestic threats. They express concern that being labeled a "conspiracy analyst" could lead to inclusion on government watchlists.
A former FBI executive describes the post-9/11 bureau culture as one where "the rules don't apply anymore" in the pursuit of preventing another attack. The hosts discuss a 2009 Time Magazine article claiming that then-FBI Director Robert Mueller had his own office inside the Facebook building. They argue that the internet has become a tool for government propaganda rather than a bastion of free speech.
A clip from "The Wire" featuring Senator Clay Davis illustrates the intersection of the church, the police, and city politics. This is followed by a historical account of how the FBI and NSA used COINTELPRO tactics to start a Black Panther Party chapter in Baltimore for surveillance purposes. The police department reportedly used this intelligence to undermine Black mayoral candidates in 1971.
Former FBI agent Michael German criticizes the Bureau for creating the Black Identity Extremist label to justify surveillance of activists protected by the First Amendment. The hosts discuss the "six-week cycle" theory, where the FBI allegedly manufactures or hypes threats to maintain public relevance and secure budget increases. They argue that the Dallas and Baton Rouge shootings were rolled into a single movement label for administrative convenience.
The hosts speculate that liberal media outlets suppressed the Black Identity Extremist narrative because it discredited Black Lives Matter, while Fox News amplified it for the same reason. They discuss how the "terror group" classification allows the FBI to circumvent standard legal protections and employ invasive surveillance tactics against targeted individuals.
Representative Karen Bass, chair of the subcommittee on crime and terrorism, calls for the FBI to retract the Black Identity Extremist document. She argues the designation is a "declaration of open season" on young black activists and compares it to her experiences with police repression in Los Angeles. The hosts examine her claim that the FBI should focus on white identity extremists instead.
Investigators used Micah Johnson's Facebook "likes" to establish a motive of racial rage. The hosts argue that this "guilty by association" tactic allows the FBI to put anyone who follows similar pages on a watch list. They criticize the media for turning a personal journal into a "manifesto" to fit the BIE narrative.
The history of the FBI's Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) is detailed, highlighting its role in infiltrating and discrediting civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Panthers. The hosts suggest that while the program officially ended in 1971, its tactics of subversion remain active in modern political discourse.
The history of James Wormley Jones, the first African-American FBI special agent hired in 1919, is explored. Jones worked exclusively in an undercover capacity under J. Edgar Hoover to monitor influential black Americans, setting a precedent for the Bureau's use of black agents to surveil their own communities.
