# Ted Rall

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Ted Rall," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ted-rall/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*American editorial cartoonist and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist; co-host with John Kiriakou of the daily news-commentary podcast "Deprogram," launched in September 2025 and by late 2025 running every weekday morning.*

- **Profession:** Editorial cartoonist
- **Honors:** Two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist
- **Podcast (with Kiriakou):** *Deprogram* — daily, YouTube
- **Launched:** September 2025

**Ted Rall** is an American editorial cartoonist and a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist.[1] He is the co-host with [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) of *Deprogram*, a daily news-commentary podcast launched in September 2025 — *"going every day starting next week at five o'clock on YouTube … far more of a news show, but it's light at the same time."*[2][3][4]

## Deprogram

*Deprogram* is one of two YouTube channels Kiriakou hosts. Asked in October 2025 to name them, he described the larger of the two as *Deep Focus with John Kiriakou* — long-form interview conversations — and the other as *"The DeProgram Show. That's with John Kiriakou and Ted Rall. We do that every morning and we talk about the day's news."*[5] The five-o'clock evening slot announced at launch had by then moved to a weekday-morning broadcast.[2][5]

The show's range is the day's news rather than intelligence subjects alone. Discussing the possibility of a modern gold confiscation, Kiriakou cited a conversation with Rall the previous day about the fixed $35-an-ounce gold price of their childhoods under Richard Nixon, and the price's float after Nixon lifted the peg.[6][7]

## Fishback endorsement

A February 2026 post on Kiriakou's account urging Florida Republicans to *"consider [James Fishback](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/james-fishback)"* for governor originated in a segment done live with Rall. Pressed on it, Kiriakou said the post was made by his assistant, that he deleted it, and that his on-air remark had been *"a stupid thing to say"* — he had seen only a clip of Fishback attacking AIPAC and knew nothing else about him.[8][9][10]

## Central Asia trip

Kiriakou has described plans to travel with Rall to Central Asia, telling a viewer from Kyrgyzstan: *"Ted Rall and I plan to visit Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and uh I think Kazakhstan."*[11]

## The shows, as he lists them

Asked in June 2025 where people could follow his work, Kiriakou named four outlets: the podcast *Deep Focus with John Kiriakou* on YouTube; the podcast he co-hosts with Ted Rall, *Deprogram*, also on YouTube; a television programme on the online platform Unify TV called *CIA Declassified*, in which they *"take declassified documents and tell the historic background stories"*; and his Substack, where everything he writes and every appearance he makes is reposted.[12][13]

## The daily show

By 2026 the programme was running five days a week — *"Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time"* — simulcast on YouTube and Rumble, with viewer questions taken live and super chats given priority.[14][15] Rall opens each episode with a news rundown and [Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) takes the items in turn; a large share of the running time is given over to answering questions from the audience.[16]

## Borrowed lines

The working relationship shows up in the corpus in small procedural ways. On 3 March 2026, answering a viewer who asked for his assessment of Ali Khamenei, Kiriakou opened by attributing his own best formulation to Rall: *"I stole one of your lines that really went over well,"* having used it the previous night in an interview he could no longer identify.[17]

The line was [the comparison between killing Khamenei and killing the Pope](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/killing-khamenei), and Kiriakou has continued to use it while continuing to say whose it is.[17]

The two also hold positions in common that predate the war — both, Kiriakou noted in the same broadcast, [support Kurdish independence](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kurds), a subject they had returned to *"a minute here and a minute there for a long time."*[18]

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [James Fishback](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/james-fishback)

## Sources

1. Reveals Terrifying CIA Technology (2026-05-25), at 1:01:06. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csLkVGSYwYU&t=3666s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-25-john-kiriakou-podcast-reveals-terrifying-cia-technology/
2. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 4:11:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=15063s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/
3. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 4:11:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=15094s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/
4. Reveals Terrifying CIA Technology (2026-05-25), at 1:00:36. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csLkVGSYwYU&t=3636s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-25-john-kiriakou-podcast-reveals-terrifying-cia-technology/
5. Putin Warns Staggering Response to NATO — Iran (2025-10-25), at 00:35. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2htCOU-tTw&t=35s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-25-dialogue-works-putin-warns-staggering-response-to-nato-iran/
6. Ex-CIA Officer: Americans Have No Idea What's Actually Happening (2026-02-09), at 30:06. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-WgZKfDTvw&t=1806s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-09-epic-real-estate/
7. Ex-CIA Officer: Americans Have No Idea What's Actually Happening (2026-02-09), at 30:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-WgZKfDTvw&t=1837s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-09-epic-real-estate/
8. Meet the Former CIA Agent Who Wants to Abolish the CIA (2026-06-10), at 42:17. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmaIRlBhsS8&t=2537s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-10-zeteo-abolish-the-cia/
9. Meet the Former CIA Agent Who Wants to Abolish the CIA (2026-06-10), at 42:47. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmaIRlBhsS8&t=2567s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-10-zeteo-abolish-the-cia/
10. Mehdi Hasan Presses John Kiriakou About His Politics / The E (2026-06-11), at 16:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTpvKzNoaa4&t=994s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-11-eb-flow-mehdi-hasan-presses-john-kiriakou-about-his-p/
11. Iran's Future Explained, CIA Background Checks, U.S. Revolution? | DEEP FOCUS with John Kiriakou (2026-03-17), at 14:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xurIn4RlhkM&t=870s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-17-deep-focus-irans-future-cia-background-checks-us-revolution/
12. Late Imperial Blues – John Kiriakou (DCC85) (2025-06-08), at 22:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BBbL8AWrWc&t=1354s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-06-08-american-exception-late-imperial-blues-john-kiriakou-dcc85/
13. Late Imperial Blues – John Kiriakou (DCC85) (2025-06-08), at 23:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BBbL8AWrWc&t=1385s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-06-08-american-exception-late-imperial-blues-john-kiriakou-dcc85/
14. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-03-20), at 13:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=145C1-XphQs&t=823s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-20-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
15. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-03-20), at 59:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=145C1-XphQs&t=3566s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-20-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
16. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-03-20), at 00:07. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=145C1-XphQs&t=7s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-20-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
17. Regime Derange / DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou (2026-03-03), at 53:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Fa5y2PaKY&t=3183s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-03-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-regime-derange-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jo/
18. Regime Derange / DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou (2026-03-03), at 51:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Fa5y2PaKY&t=3060s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-03-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-regime-derange-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jo/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ted-rall/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt