Upstream

This is a free preview of the episode "Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century w/ John Smith." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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 b...

In Part 8 of our ongoing series on China we're joined by Yueren Zhang to discuss Mao Zedong and the political philosophy of Maoism. Yueran Zhang is Assistant Professor in the department of sociology at the University of Chicago. He specializes in the comparative studies of capitalism, socialism, and transitions in between, with a special emphasis on political economy and the dynamics of developmen...

This is a free preview of the episode "Venezuela Pt. 4: The Empire vs. Venezuela w/ Jesus Rodriguez-Espinoza and Saheli Chowdhury." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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 ac...

In this episode, Timothée Parrique joins us for a discussion on degrowth. We begin the conversation with explaining the concept of degrowth, looking at its history, and really unpacking what it is and what it isn't. We talk about degrowth's two-fold agenda to both downscale production and consumption for environmental reasons, as well as its potential for removing the profit-motive as a central co...

We are publishing this episode a few days early. Solidarity with Venezuela! This is a free preview of the episode " Venezuela Pt. 3: Sanctions as Economic Warfare w/ Cira Pascual Marquina." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or thr...

 A quick but important announcement: if you're a recurring donor through Flipcause (not Patreon, but Flipcause) please check your spam folder for an email from upstreampodcast.org because we've sent out some important emails regarding your donation and the Flipcause platform. Check your spam for the subject line "Action required: your Upstream donation." And just a reminder that this is only for F...

This is a free preview of the episode "Venezuela Pt. 2: Socialist Communes and Anti-Imperialism w/ Chris Gilbert." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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 e...

In this episode, Part 5 of our ongoing Post Capitalist Parenting series, Jo delAmor joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about raising children in the midst of a global crisis. We open our discussion with a nod to the late scholar and activist Joanna Macy and the Work That Reconnects which she developed and which has shaped and influenced both Jo and Della's work. We then talk about Jo's frami...

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: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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 e...

In this episode, Part 4 of our ongoing Post Capitalist Parenting series, Robina Khalid 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 ex...

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: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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 ot...

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. Chris Smalls is a labor organizer, founder and former President of the Amazon Labor Union , and was a member of the most recent Freedom Flotilla voyage to Gaza. In this conversation, Chr...

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: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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 ep...

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...

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:  https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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 ot...

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 o...

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: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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 episo...

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 h...

This is a free preview of the episode "Immigration, ICE, and Working Class Rebellion w/ Cecilia Guerrero." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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,...

As seems to be the case with most of the countries that the United States goes to war with—much of the population here doesn't know very much about those countries. And what they do know is usually Western propaganda, misinformation, or outright lies. This couldn't be more true with Iran, where if it were up to our political leaders and corporate media, the story that Iran was a perfectly happy de...

One of the most radical things you can do is live your life in direct opposition to the forces that control our society. Not just fighting for policies or organizing your community, although those are certainly important parts of it, but also living with values that oppose the values of our dominant society. And even more importantly, raising the next generation to embody those values—not in a coe...

This is a free preview of the episode "China Pt. 6: The Long Transition Towards Socialism w/ Gabriel Rockhill." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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 epis...

I mperialism is the primary contradiction facing the globe—and the split of the world into two poles, the imperialists and the anti-imperialists, is going to continue to shape our revolutionary struggles moving forward. This anti-imperialist struggle is occurring all over the Global South, and perhaps nowhere quite as prominently as in Africa's Sahel region, where the countries of Burkina Faso, Ma...

If you look around at the state of the world—and the despair that comes with the reality of climate change, fascism spreading its tentacles around the world, the ethnic cleansing of Gaza—it's very difficult to feel hope. It begins to feel like the forces of destruction and death have colonized our futures, limiting our dreams and stifling our imaginations.  It's in these times specifically that it...

This is a free preview of the episode "Alliance of Sahel States Pt. 1: Burkina Faso – An Anti-imperialist Introduction w/ Prudence Iticka." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast 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,...