In the first half, Malcolm Nance, a former naval intelligence counter-terrorism officer specializing in the Middle East, joined George to talk about the complicated origins of Al Qaeda and ISIS. He began with the war in Afghanistan that ended with the defeat of the Soviet Union in 1989. The United States considered Osama Bin Laden an ally, since at the time, he was in charge of much of the logistics, recruiting, and money supporting the Muslim freedom fighters. Nance said that by the end of the war, Bin Laden had embraced an extreme radicalized form of Islam and contrary to the leader of the Mujahadeen, who wanted the Muslim soldiers to go home, Bin Laden saw this as an opportunity to create a united nation of Islam. This, he says, was the beginning of Al Qaeda.
Nance described ISIS as an even more radicalized form of fundamentalist Islam, even moreso than Al Qaeda, which both stem from a strict interpretation of the faith known as "Salafism." Nance described the consequence of the US defeat of the Hussein regime in Iraq as a power vacuum which many radical groups (most notably ISIS) rushed in and took over. Nance called ISIS "a conglomeration of everyone we fought in Iraq from 2003 to 2007." He also believes that the group is an extreme example of "Islamic cultism" who intend to cleanse the faith of any tolerance and ignite their version of Armageddon. As far as a strategy to defeat this elusive enemy, Nance says that they are fighting a "hybrid war," which is half insurgent and half terrorist, and should be countered by special operations units only. Nance says it is important to fight the ideology of ISIS, and not the religion of Islam.
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Author Janet Wolter was the first guest in part two. She spoke about what she referred to as the elusive "Venus Families" who she says have been keeping alive the equality of the female gods or principle with the male ones since the balance was shifted to patriarchal deities at about 2000 BCE. She described them as a force who inspired and directed the founding fathers of the United States, and that some (such as Thomas Jefferson) were members. They were interested in "freedom of thought, consciousness, religion and they wanted to bring the light of knowledge to the people" she stated. She has also found what she believes are many clues to the influence of the group in the architecture and layout of Washington, D.C.
Wolter's co-author Alan Butler joined George for the rest of the program. He originally began researching hidden history because as he said, you "come across things that are difficult to explain." He believes that there was extensive exploration of North America by various groups for centuries prior to Columbus' expedition, including the Knights Templar, who Butler thinks reached the interior of the continent as early as the 1200s and perhaps hid large caches of treasure and other artifacts. He noted that many traditional depictions of Columbus' ships show the red Templar cross on the sails. He thinks that the Knights were "foot soldiers" for the Venus Families. At present, he said, there are "a few thousand" people involved in this ancient order who quietly attempt to steer events and policies toward more freedom for the most people. He concluded by stating that "Britain lost America when it did because of its own stupidity," meaning that they underestimated the resolve of the Americans and the "Venus Families."
News segment guests: Peter Breggin, Steve Kates