WikiLeaks Assange hosts talk show, The World Tomorrow

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s new talk show, The World Tomorrow, has debuted on a Russian television channel today.

Assange has completed shooting for twelve episodes of his forthcoming show, and the first episode aired today via broadcast from Russia Today (RT).

When Assange first announced his TV show in January, he said the show would feature controversial figures challenging “iconoclasts, revolutionaries, visionaries and power insiders” on their vision of world affairs. WikiLeaks released a statement, saying: “The aim of the show is to capture and present some of this revolutionary spirit to a global audience.”

The host will present the show from the country estate in Britain where he is under house arrest for almost 500 days while fighting extradition to Sweden. Assange said in a preview of the show on RT’s website: “Being under house arrest for so long, it’s nice to have an occasional visitor and to learn more about the world.”

In the long-anticipated first episode, Assange interviewed with the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah through webcam settings. Nasrallah revealed that “civil war in Syria is exactly what America and Israel want… Arab states are ready for tens of years of dialogue with Israel.”

Assange explained why he decided to host the show in an interview with RT. “A lot of the things that we have been trying to report have not been carried accurately in the mainstream press. There are many, many fine exceptions but when we look at international networks there’s really only two that are worth speaking about, and that’s RT and al-Jazeera,” he said.

RT is proud to premiere Assange’s talk-show according to its editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, who stated that the content of the talk show is unfiltered: “We provided Julian a platform to reach the world and gave him total editorial freedom. He is absolutely the right person to bring alternative opinions to our viewers around the globe.”

But critics questioned the apparent link the show creates between Assange and the Kremlin, given RT’s government-funded status.

The first episode will coincide with the 500^th day of the financial blockade of WikiLeaks, in which US banks such as Visa and Mastercard have previously imposed financial blockades.

The show is produced by Quick Roll Productions, a company established by Julian Assange. Subsequent episodes last for 26 minutes each, and will be broadcast on a weekly basis.

Queenie Man