![[TEASER] Alliance of Sahel States Pt. 3: Hyperimperialism and the Fight for Sovereignty w/ Mikaela Nhondo Erskog show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/content/192935850?height=50&width=50)
[TEASER] Alliance of Sahel States Pt. 3: Hyperimperialism and the Fight for Sovereignty w/ Mikaela Nhondo Erskog
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This is a free preview of the episode "Alliance of Sahel States Pt. 3: Hyperimperialism w/ Mikaela Nhondo Erskog." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make...
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Post Capitalist Parenting Pt. 4: Midwifery and Birthing w/ Robina Khalid
Upstream
In this episode, Part 4 of our ongoing Post Capitalist Parenting series, joins us to talk about the process of birthing from the perspective of a midwife. Robina is a mother of four, a writer, former academic, and activist. In this conversation, Robina shares with us the fascinating history of the field of obstetrics and its white supremacist, colonialist, and capitalist roots. We explore what midwifery is, the role it has traditionally played in society, and how capitalism's devaluing of this important health science and profession has negatively impacted the birthing experience in the...
info_outline![[TEASER] Venezuela Pt. 1: A Socialist Introduction w/ Vijay Prashad show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/content/192369705?height=50&width=50)
[TEASER] Venezuela Pt. 1: A Socialist Introduction w/ Vijay Prashad
Upstream
This is a free preview of the episode "Venezuela Pt. 1: A Socialist Introduction w/ Vijay Prashad." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly...
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Palestine Pt. 15: The Gaza Freedom Flotilla w/ Chris Smalls & Huwaida Arraf
Upstream
In this episode, Part 15 of our ongoing Palestine series, we've invited on two guests for a wide-ranging conversation around the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and the movement it's part of: Chris Smalls and Huwaida Arraf. is a labor organizer, founder and former President of the , and was a member of the most recent voyage to Gaza. In this conversation, Chris shares about his experience on the Handala—the boat that sailed from Italy to the coast off of Gaza in an attempt to break Israel's illegal siege and blockade of food, medicine, and other lifesaving necessities in Palestine. We talk about the...
info_outline![[TEASER] China Pt. 7: A Socialist Response to the COVID Pandemic w/ Creighton Ward, Kevin Li, and Alessandro Zancan show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/content/191940805?height=50&width=50)
[TEASER] China Pt. 7: A Socialist Response to the COVID Pandemic w/ Creighton Ward, Kevin Li, and Alessandro Zancan
Upstream
This is a free preview of the episode "China Pt. 7: A Socialist Response to the COVID Pandemic w/ Creighton Ward, Alessandro Zancan, and Kevin Li." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for...
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Marx's Capital Vol. 2 w/ Richard Wolff and Shahram Azhar
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In our inaugural episode on Marx’s Capital, we took a deep dive into Capital Vol. 1, the first of three volumes on political economy written by Karl Marx in the late 19th century. Capital Vol. 1, though, is just the beginning—and unfortunately most people stop there. But Vol. 1 really just looks at one aspect of capitalism—how surplus value is produced. It doesn’t dive into the entire circulation process—or what we refer to as the circuits of capital. Vol. 2 provides the full picture of how capitalism functions—and we’ve brought on two terrific guests to help us make sense of it...
info_outline![[TEASER] Third Worldism and the Bandung Spirit w/ Pranay Somayajula show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/content/190889855?height=50&width=50)
[TEASER] Third Worldism and the Bandung Spirit w/ Pranay Somayajula
Upstream
This is a free preview of the episode "Third Worldism and the Bandung Spirit w/ Pranay Somayajula" You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a...
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NATO Pt. 2: The Long War on the Third World w/ Pawel Wargan
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It’s not hyperbole to suggest that the imperialist wars waged upon the Global South by the United States and the imperialist bloc that it leads are akin to a protracted genocide. The sheer amount of death, carnage, destruction, immiseration, crushed dreams, is almost unfathomable. But it’s real. And it’s the status quo for what we love to refer fondly to as "Western Civilization." And there’s no other force more responsible for implementing this protracted genocide on the Third World than NATO. And in today’s conversation—Part 2 of our ongoing series on NATO—we’re going to...
info_outline![[TEASER] Alliance of Sahel States Pt. 2: A View from Within w/ Inem Richardson show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/content/190285370?height=50&width=50)
[TEASER] Alliance of Sahel States Pt. 2: A View from Within w/ Inem Richardson
Upstream
This is a free preview of the episode "Alliance of Sahel States Pt. 2: A View from Within w/ Inem Richardson." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make...
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NATO Pt. 1: An Anti-Imperialist Introduction w/ Elina Xenophontos
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NATO—The North Atlantic Treaty Organization—far from being just a defensive alliance between the United States and Europe, is actually the spear tip of imperialism’s military arm. It’s the force used to discipline any global actor who dares to defy US hegemony and dominance on the world stage. From Greece to Libya to Ukraine—NATO is where we must look to understand how destabilization occurs and how defiant states across the globe are subjugated and opened up to Western markets and capital. And we’re lucky enough to have a terrific guest on today to tell us all about how it all...
info_outlineExhaustion. What a perfect and powerful word to describe our times. Exhausted bodies—over-worked, over-productive, over-stretched. Bodies pushed to their limits, treated like machines whose sole existence is to produce profit. Exhausted ecosystems—extracted, ruined, plundered. Viewed as nothing but raw material for the ceaseless flow of capital accumulation. Exhausted minds—hurried and harried, no time for joy, for introspection, for pondering the cosmos. Our minds are tethered to an orbit delineated by distraction, denial, and despair. Exhaustion.
2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record—and unless you’ve been consciously avoiding it you’ve probably seen the videos of the devastating floods, wildfires, and “once in a thousand years” storms that are increasingly becoming a part of our daily lives. The reality of climate change is no longer one of the future, one that can be framed in a discussion about coming generations—it’s here already. And it’s not even a question anymore of capitalism being the driving factor—that’s an old conversation. The question now is: what are we going to do about it? How do we respond, right now?
Ajay Singh Chaudhary is the executive director of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research and core faculty member specializing in social and political theory and author of The Exhausted of the Earth: Politics in a Burning World, published by Repeater Books.
In this episode, we analyze and unpack the many forms of exhaustion that shape us and our world today. We explore the politics of climate change, from right-wing climate responses to those coming from the left, we explore the extractive circuit of capitalism as it stretches its tentacles from lithium mines in The DRC to Doordash drivers in the suburbs of the West. We explore imperialism, Marxist theory, revolutionary classes, revolutionary strategies, and why the “exhausted of the earth” are the mass political subject of our times.
Further Resources
- The Exhausted of the Earth: Politics in a Burning World, by Ajay Singh Chaudhary
- Brooklyn Institute for Social Research
Related Episodes:
- The Fight for The Congo w/ Vijay Prashad
- Degrowth vs Eco-Modernism
- Buddhism and Marxism with Breht O'Shea
- Climate Leninism w/ Jodi Dean and Kai Heron
Intermission music: "Non-Metaphorical Decolonization" by Mount Eerie
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