The Democratic Republic of Congo, or The DRC, is—despite being in one of the most resource-rich regions on the planet—one of the poorest countries in the world. It sits atop a wealth of minerals that form the central components to much of our technology in the 21st century, and yet, none of this wealth remains in the country. Well, almost none of it—there is of course some that is skimmed off the top by local elites. But the vast majority of the wealth, along with the raw materials, are exported from the country and end up not just lining the pockets of multinational corporations and their shareholders, but, of course, the wealth ends up in the pockets of Western consumers in the form of iPhones, for example, that should be priced much more highly than they actually are.  In this episode, we’re going to take a deep dive into the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in doing so, explore why this resource-rich country is as impoverished and as immiserated as it is. And we’ve brought on the perfect guest to talk us through it all.  Vijay Prashad is a journalist, political commentator, and executive-director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He’s the author of Washington Bullets: The History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations, and Red Star Over the Third World. In this episode, we explore the history of The Congo and situate it within a much broader framework of colonialism, neocolonialism, and imperialism which shaped—both literally and figuratively—the continent of Africa for hundreds of years. We explore the Congolese’s fight for independence and sovereignty as it manifested through their independence leader Patrice Lumumba, who was assassinated in 1961. We explore the current state of the country, what many refer to as the “silent genocide,” with millions of Congolese having been killed, displaced, and impoverished as a result of war, destabilization, super exploitation, and voracious extraction. And finally, we explore how the Congolese are fighting for their sovereignty and independence. This episode was produced in collaboration with EcoGather, a collapse-responsive co-learning network that hosts free online Weekly EcoGatherings that foster conversation and build community around heterodox economics, collective action, and belonging in an enlivened world. In this collaboration, EcoGather will be hosting gatherings to bring some Upstream episodes to life—this is one of those episodes. We hope you can join the gathering on Monday, November 11th at 8pm Eastern to discuss the topics covered in this episode. Find out more at www.ecogather.ing. Further Resources Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research The Congolese Fight for Their Own Wealth, Tricontintental Letter from Thysville Prison to Mrs. Lumumba  Related Episodes: [UNLOCKED] How the North Plunders the South w/ Jason Hickel Walter Rodney, Marxism, and Underdevelopment with D. Musa Springer & Charisse Burden-Stelly Better Lives for All w/ Jason Hickel Cover art: Sanyika Intermission music: “African Jazz” by Grand Kalle, part of album Joseph Kabasele and the Creation of Modern Congolese Music, Vol. 1 Upstream is a labor of love—we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

This is a free preview of the episode "Western Marxism 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 will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. Western Marxism. What is it? Where did it arise from? And what is it in opposition to? Not simply a geographic indicator, although much of what it depicts exists in what we understand to be the West more broadly, Western Marxism is a term deployed, in particular, by the great Italian Marxist Domenico Losurdo, to describe a form of Marxism that, in a nutshell, does not concern itself with anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism, but, instead, rejects much of the actually-existing socialism that exists in the very real, material world—a world which Western Marxism, over the years, has become more and more alienated and estranged from. Western Marxism stands in opposition to what Domenico Losurdo calls Eastern Marxism, which, again, is not necessarily delineated by a specific geography, but is a form of Marxism that has cut its teeth in real struggles for power, in real anti-colonial revolution. In his penultimate book—which shares the title of this episode—Domenico Losurdo presents a scathing but honest, passionate, and deeply sincere critique of Western Marxism. Far from just a diatribe, Losurdo’s text spells out exactly why the West abandoned so much of Marxism that was central to Marx, Engels, and Lenin’s understandings of Marxist theory and, most importantly, practice.  The vast majority of Losurdo’s fifty or so books have not been translated into English, and he died in 2018, but this book, Western Marxism, was just recently translated into English for the first time, and we’ve brought on the edition’s editor, the terrific Gabriel Rockhill, to discuss it.  Gabriel Rockhill is a philosopher, cultural critic, and activist teaching Philosophy and Global Interdisciplinary Studies at Villanova University. He runs an educational nonprofit called the Critical Theory Workshop and is the editor of Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it can be Reborn, by the Italian Marxist Domenico Losurdo, published by Monthly Review Press.  In this Patreon episode, we discuss Western Marxism and Eastern Marxism—tracing their histories and outlining their differences. We explore how the CIA and other anti-communist forces infiltrated the left and spread the influence of Western Marxism through academia, media, and other avenues in order to purge the Western left of its communist tendencies and to poison our perception of actually-existing socialism in places like the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and Vietnam—among others. We explore how the left in the West can unlearn this propaganda and reintroduce a robust anti-imperialist, pro-communist analysis into our movements, and why it is so crucial to understand that the left must start with anti-imperialism. Further resources: Gabriel Rockhill Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it can be Reborn, by Domenico Losurdo Crisis of Petty-Bourgeois Radicalism, Gus Hall Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism? Volume I of The Intellectual World War: Marxism versus the Imperial Theory Industry, by Gabriel Rockhill (forthcoming in 2025 by Monthly Review Press) Who Paid the Piper?: The CIA and the Cultural Cold War, by Frances Stonor Saunders Related episodes: What is To Be Done? w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante The Liberal Virus Will the Revolution Be Funded? w/ Nairuti Shastry and Zac Chapman Walter Rodney, Marxism, and Underdevelopment with D. Musa Springer & Charisse Burden-Stelly Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes Socialism Betrayed w/ Roger Keeran and Joe Jamison The Missing Revolution w/ Vincent Bevins The Case Against the Professional Managerial Class with Catherine Liu Palestine Pt. 11: Israel and the U.S. Empire w/ Max Ajl Palestine Pt. 13: Al-Aqsa Flood and the Resistance Axis w/ Matteo Capasso Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

The Al-Aqsa Flood operation, which took place one year ago today, was perhaps one of the most important blows against U.S. imperialism that we’ve ever seen—both ideologically and materially. Nothing can ever be the same—and it shouldn’t, because what we considered normal, if we even thought about it at all, was a nightmare for the vast majority of people on the planet. The Global South and the Resistance Axis that has taken up the fight against the U.S. and Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza, have shown themselves to be a leading force against U.S. imperialism, earth’s greatest enemy.  In this episode, we’re going to explore the Al-Aqsa Flood military operation from a year ago and contextualize it within the broader resistance movement against U.S. imperialism and the Zionist entity (Israel) that helps to uphold it. And we’ve brought on the perfect guest to walk us through it all. Matteo Capasso is Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Venice. His research focuses on the impact of US-led imperialism across the modern Middle East and North Africa. He is the Editor of Middle East Critique and the author of Everyday Politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, published by Syracuse University Press. In today’s episode we’ll take a deep dive into the history of resistance in the region and its context in broader resistance movements in the Global South. We’ll explore the history of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other parts of the resistance, talk about the overall impact that the Palestinian resistance has had, and explore how we in the imperial core can contribute to the destruction of the U.S. empire and support the resistance against it in the Global South. Further Resources Middle East Critique Everyday Politics in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, by Matteo Capasso The Thorn and the Carnation (Part I), by Yahya Al-Sinwar The urgency of anti-imperialist feminism Lessons from Palestine Walaa Alqaisiya  Palestine and the Ends of Theory, Max Ajl The Hegemony of Resistance: Hezbollah and the Forging of a National-Popular Will in Lebanon, Abed Kanaaneh The Imperialist Question: A Sociological Approach, Matteo Capasso Al-Aqsa Flood: Imperialism, Zionism and Reactionism in the 21st Century, Hassan Harb Join us in supporting Palestine at MECA, Anera, or the Palestinian Red Crescent Society Related Episodes: Palestine Pt. 11: Israel and the U.S. Empire w/ Max Ajl [UNLOCKED] How the North Plunders the South w/ Jason Hickel Upstream's ongoing series on Palestine Cover art: Beesan Arafat Upstream is a labor of love—we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Oil is much more than just a source of energy—it’s a commodity that has shaped—and has been shaped—by the forces of capitalism perhaps more so than any other commodity. The story of oil is one of monopoly capitalism, one of imperialism, one of cheap labor, resource extraction, ecosystem devastation, climate change, assassinations, environmental disasters, genocides—the list goes on. Oil is the commodity which not just lubricates the actual, literal machinery driving the system—but which also lubricates the entire process of U.S. imperialism—the blood flowing through the empire’s many tentacles wrapped around the globe. As today’s guest has written, “Oil's centrality stems from what it does for the imperatives of accumulation: its ability to accelerate and expand capital's turnover, cheapen the costs of production (including labor), and knit together an international market. No other commodity plays this role.” Adam Hanieh is a Palestinian professor at the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter. He is the author of Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East, published by Haymarket Books, and most recently, Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market, published by Verso. Adam was on the show last year to talk about the political economy of Palestine, part of our ongoing series on Palestine.In this episode we explore the early history of oil, its emergence as a fuel source and how it eventually overtook other fuels like coal as the primary energy source of capitalism. We explore the role that oil has played in shaping geopolitics—from colonialism to coups, assassinations, and more, focusing on the way that oil has shaped the Middle East to this day. We talk about the major oil companies and how the world market for oil works, and finally, we bring into stark relief the environmental implications of this hydrocarbon and the way that oil companies continue to dominate and shape our response to climate change. Further resources: Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market Related episodes: Upstream's ongoing series on Palestine Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

This is a free preview of the episode "Will the Revolution Be Funded? w/ Nairuti Shastry and Zac Chapman." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. How do we resource the necessary work to dismantle capitalism and transition to a more democratic, just and regenerative economy—especially when capital will fight and/or co-opt any attempt to disrupt the status quo that they benefit from and when capital owns and controls most foundations and granting institutions?  This is the important and highly relevant question we will tackle today with our two guests Nairuti Shastry and Zac Chapman. Nairuti is a racial and economic justice researcher-practitioner and the Founder and Principal of Nuance, a social impact consulting firm, as well as a senior researcher at Beloved Economies.  Zac is the Resource Mobilization Director at the New Economy Coalition, a steering committee member of Massachusetts Solidarity Economy Network, and board member of LittleSis. Together they recently wrote an article titled, “Will the Revolution be Funded?” published by The Forge.  In this conversation we explain why it is so hard to find funding to do anti-capitalist movement work and how we can find aligned funding both within and outside of mainstream philanthropy. We learn about ways that activists and organizations are working to fight against and transform the nonprofit industrial complex and the existing philanthropic culture and institutions. And finally, we ask what it truly means to resource the revolution and support ourselves beyond financial capital.  Further resources: Will the Revolution be Funded? Will the Revolution be Funded? Youtube event recording New Economy Coaltion Funding Library Post Capitalist Philanthropy New Report: Gilded Giving 2022, Institute for Policy Studies Funding Freedom: Philanthropy and the Palestinian Freedom Movement, Solidaire Sylvia Rivera Law Project Poder Emma Drivers Cooperative A Strategic Framework for a Just Transition, Movement Generation How we Contest for Power, Mijente Resource Generation What Organizers Need From Lawyers, Part 2: Help Build Deep Democracy, Convergence Mag The Political Logic of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex The Financial Activist Playbook, by Jasmine Rashid  Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World By Anand Giridharadas Related organizations: Sustainable Economies Law Center, Invest for Better, Slow Money Institute, NC3, Excessive Wealth Disorder Institute, Transform Finance, The Next Egg Values aligned Wealth advisors and managers: Mission Driven Finance, FSL Public Finance, Chordata Capital, Mission Driven Finance, Adasina Social Capital   Related episodes: Post Capitalism w/ Alnoor Ladha A World Without Profit with Jennifer Hinton Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Capitalism’s addiction to growth doesn’t just show up in the external world. It can also be found inside us—in our manufactured desire for more and better. Not only do we have to keep wanting to keep the machine going, we have to keep wanting what is “scarce” and easily privatizable or commodifiable so that the capitalist class can continue to profit. Critical hedonism(s) is an approach to pleasure and care that is critical of capitalism. It is a politics of pleasure that invites us to remake our desires to be less antisocial, competitive, and harmful, and to instead be more prosocial, collaborative and mutually beneficial.  The idea of critical hedonism(s) has been deeply studied and explored by our guests in today’s episode. Zarinah Agnew is a trained neuroscientist formerly at University College London, and then UCSF, a self-described guerrilla scientist, and part of the Beyond Return organization. Eric Wycoff Rogers is a historian, writer, community organizer, and designer currently based in London. Eric runs a thirdspace project in London, convenes a discussion series on the politics of pleasure, and is the author of the Critical Hedonist Manifesto. This is Eric and Zarinah’s second time on the podcast, they joined us in 2022 to talk about Fully Automated Luxury Communism, which is a great compliment to this episode. This is also a great episode following our most recent conversation with Jason Hickel, Better Lives for All. Where that conversation focused on human needs, this one takes up the topic of human wants.  In this conversation, we explore what capitalism tells us to desire and why, we interrogate what is truly “cheap,” “expensive,” and “valuable,” and explore what it would be like to participate in a politics of pleasure based on critical hedonism(s)—creating conditions and opportunities for distributed pleasure that don’t cause harm to people or the planet. Finally, we are invited to learn about community gatherings and how to do the work of reclaiming and remaking pleasure. Further Resources: Critical Hedonist Manifesto Critical Hedonism(s) Beyond Return Decoding Labs The Joyless Economy, by Tibor Scitovsky The Right to Sex, by Amia Srinivasan The Zero Marginal Cost Society I Dream of Canteens The Listening Society: Possible and Necessary Post-Growth Living: For An Alternative Hedonism, by Kate Soper Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, by Adrienne Maree Brown Becoming Feminist: Consciousness Raising and Social Ecology, Eric Woycoff Rogers (blog) Related Episodes: Fully Automated Luxury Communism with Zarinah Agnew and Eric Wycoff Rogers Better Lives for All w/ Jason Hickel Grassroots Urban Placemaking with Mark Lakeman Sex, Desire, and the Neoliberal Subject Suburban Hell and Ugly Cities Intermission music: Night Cafe Radio Upstream is a labor of love—we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.    

This is a free preview of the episode "Palestine Pt. 12: Resistance in the West w/ Max Geller and Sanyika." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. From the student-led encampments on college campuses all over the U.S. to direct actionists in the UK bursting through weapons factory walls with sledge hammers in their hands—the fight for Palestinian liberation in the West takes many forms. The response—repressive, heavy-handed, and fascistic—has also taken many forms, from draconian charges to outright mob violence. In this Patreon episode, we’ll take stock of some recent on-the-ground actions, from the Palestinian solidarity encampment at UCLA to the work of Palestine Action in both the US and the UK. And we’ve brought on two guests to help walk us through it all.  Sanyika is the current co-chair of the National Lawyers Guild Chapter at UCLA and a current, second year law student at UCLA who has been an organizer for the past 10 years, most recently at the UCLA student encampment for Palestine. You might have heard about the UCLA encampment after news of a violent series of attacks by Zionists hit headlines after the encampment was attacked on May 1st. The Zionist attack was followed up in the early hours of May 2nd by a police attack, where the LAPD and highway patrol attempted to clear the encampment using rubber bullets and flash bangs. The violence and brutality of the zionists and the police on those days captured the country’s attention as news feeds were packed with images and videos that left us feeling like we were staring fascism in the face. But we also saw the community response of over a thousand people who showed up to protect and defend the encampment.  Our second guest for this episode is Max Geller, a public-facing member of Palestine Action in the UK. Max is a return Patreon guest who you might recall from our episode Palestine Pt. 7: Direct Action w/ Max Geller of Palestine Action, part of our ongoing series on Palestine.  In this episode, we take a deep dive into the UCLA encampment—its origins, its demands, its fight against campus administrators, zionists, and cops, while situating this specific encampment within the broader encampment movement, which is very much still active. We also explore one of the most recent actions by Palestine Action which has left 11 direct actionists facing felony charges in the UK. We talk about the importance of direct action and organizing, what we can learn from the past eleven months of actions, the struggle for liberation both in the West and in Palestine, and how we can plug in and get involved ourselves.  Cover art: Sanyika Further resources: Palestine Action Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) UC Divest The Mapping Project Join us in supporting Palestine at MECA, Anera, or the Palestinian Red Crescent Society Related episodes: Palestine Pt. 7: Direct Action w/ Max Geller of Palestine Action Upstream's ongoing series on Palestine Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

U.S. empire—the world’s greatest enemy. U.S. imperialism is not a "single issue," it's directly connected to hundreds of millions of people's lives, capital accumulation and global inequality, climate change, fascism in the US, crumbling infrastructure, monopolies, and much, much more. U.S. imperialism is the issue that ties all of the other issues together, founded as it is on capital's need to accumulate profits and maintain U.S. political hegemony. There is not a single issue in your life that cannot be traced back to our empire and its maintenance. Today’s episode is a special live conversation we did last month in Los Angeles with the terrific Abby Martin. Abby is journalist, filmmaker, activist, founder of The Empire Files and director of the films Gaza Fights for Freedom and the upcoming documentary Earth’s Greatest Enemy, which focuses on one particular aspect of U.S. empire: its environmental impact. The U.S. military is the largest institutional source of climate emissions on the planet—and yet it’s exempt from the climate protocols that aim to reduce emissions. However, this is not the only way the US Empire harms the planet. Abby’s upcoming film, as well as our conversation with her, take a deep dive into imperialism’s wider environmental impacts. We also discuss Abby’s other work, including her 2019 film, Gaza Fights for Freedom, which documents the Great March of Return in Palestine. We talk about what she learned in 2017 from her time in Jerusalem and witnessing Israeli society first hand, her experience being an unapologetically anti-Zionist voice for so many years, the business of war, the upcoming elections, the role of alternative media in breaking the chains of empire and much more.  Thank you to All Power Books in Los Angeles for organizing this event—they are a radical bookstore and community space that are the real deal. Check them out and support their incredible work at: allpowerbooks.org. And also, visit earthsgreatestenemy.com to chip in and support Abby and her team in getting their film past the finish line—they are still raising funds to complete production.  Further Resources: Donate to Earth’s Greatest Enemy Gaza Fights for Freedom Breakthrough News Project Censored Jerusalem street interviews All Power Books Donate to All Power Books Join us in supporting Palestine at MECA, Anera, or the Palestinian Red Crescent Society Related Episodes: Better Lives for All w/ Jason Hickel Walter Rodney, Marxism, and Underdevelopment with D. Musa Springer & Charisse Burden-Stelly [UNLOCKED] How the North Plunders the South w/ Jason Hickel Palestine Pt. 11: Israel and the U.S. Empire w/ Max Ajl Nationalism and the Error of Patriotic Socialism w/ Sina Rahmani and Nick Climate Leninism w/ Jodi Dean and Kai Heron Upstream's ongoing series on Palestine Covert art: Gage from All Power Books Upstream is a labor of love—we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.    

This is a free preview of the episode "Oil, Monopoly Capitalism, and Imperialism w/ Adam Hanieh." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. Oil is much more than just a source of energy—it’s a commodity that has shaped—and has been shaped—by the forces of capitalism perhaps more so than any other commodity. The story of oil is one of monopoly capitalism, one of imperialism, one of cheap labor, resource extraction, ecosystem devastation, climate change, assassinations, environmental disasters, genocides—the list goes on. Oil is the commodity which not just lubricates the actual, literal machinery driving the system—but which also lubricates the entire process of U.S. imperialism—the blood flowing through the empire’s many tentacles wrapped around the globe. As today’s guest has written, “Oil's centrality stems from what it does for the imperatives of accumulation: its ability to accelerate and expand capital's turnover, cheapen the costs of production (including labor), and knit together an international market. No other commodity plays this role.” Adam Hanieh is a Palestinian professor at the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter. He is the author of Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East, published by Haymarket Books, and most recently, Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market, published by Verso. Adam was on the show last year to talk about the political economy of Palestine, part of our ongoing series on Palestine.In this episode we explore the early history of oil, its emergence as a fuel source and how it eventually overtook other fuels like coal as the primary energy source of capitalism. We explore the role that oil has played in shaping geopolitics—from colonialism to coups, assassinations, and more, focusing on the way that oil has shaped the Middle East to this day. We talk about the major oil companies and how the world market for oil works, and finally, we bring into stark relief the environmental implications of this hydrocarbon and the way that oil companies continue to dominate and shape our response to climate change. Further resources: Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market Related episodes: Upstream's ongoing series on Palestine Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

We’re often told that it would be unfeasible for everyone on the planet to live good lives—that if there wasn’t some degree of poverty—or at least lower living standards—in the rest of the world, then we’d blow right through the ecological limits of the planet. Even if it’s not said explicitly, the argument is that some people need to be poor in order for us in the Global North to live good lives. There’s a lot wrong with this assumption on a lot of different levels, but most importantly—it’s empirically inaccurate. It is possible, in fact, for everybody on the planet to have their needs met and to live a good life and make it happen, in fact, with only 30 percent of current global resource and energy use. That might sound unbelievable, right? Well, that’s capitalist realism for you. Because not only is it believable—it’s based on solid research and empirical data. It would, however, require ending capitalism and moving towards eco-socialism. So yes, it’s possible. But it won’t be easy. To discuss the research behind these exciting findings we’ve brought on economic anthropologist Jason Hickel. Jason is a professor at the The Institute for Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and the author of the books The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions and Less is More: How Degrowth will Save the World. He’s the lead author of the paper “How much growth is required to achieve good lives for all? Insights from needs-based analysis” published in the journal World Development Perspectives, and which we’ll be discussing today.  As you may know, Jason is a regular guest on the show and was on most recently to discuss two other fascinating and important papers he recently co-authored, “Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global South through unequal exchange, 1990–2015” published in journal Global Environmental Change and "Unequal exchange of labour in the world economy" published in the journal Nature Communications. What assumptions go into traditional economic thinking and how have they limited the way we conceptualize poverty and how we address it? How do we conceive of good lives—and how does our current economic system limit these conceptions and perpetuate environmental destruction and social immiseration? What would an economic system that is designed around meeting actual human and planetary needs look like? And, perhaps most importantly, how do we get there? These are just some of the questions we discuss in this fascinating conversation with economic anthropologist Jason Hickel. Further Resources: The Political and Economic Determinants of Health Outcomes: A Cross-National Analysis, Hugh F. Lena and Bruce London How to pay for saving the world: Modern Monetary Theory for a degrowth transition, Christopher Olk, Colleen Schneider, Jason Hickel Related Episodes: How the North Plunders the South w/ Jason Hickel The Divide – Global Inequality from Conquest to Free Markets with Jason Hickel International Development and Post-capitalism with Jason Hickel How Degrowth Will Save the World with Jason Hickel The Green Transition Pt.1 – The Problem with Green Capitalism Covert art: Berwyn Mure Intermission music: One Last Wish Upstream is a labor of love—we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

You can listen to the full episode "Nathan Fielder's 'The Curse'" by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. What happens when the contradictions of living under late capitalism—both internal and external—are revealed in excruciating detail? What happens when our performances break down, when they break us, when they break those around us? What happens when you take all of this and wrap it up in a faux reality TV show which is itself about a reality TV show?  Well, you get The Curse—the latest masterpiece by comedian, actor, writer, director, and producer, Nathan Fielder. You may know Nathan from his satirical docu-reality comedy television series, Nathan For You. You may know him from his more recent TV series The Rehearsal. Or you may not know him at all—it doesn’t really matter, because in this episode we’re going to explain everything you need to know about how Nathan Fielder produces masterful media and art—and we’re going to do so by taking a deep dive into the 10 episode mini-series The Curse, written by and starring Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie—and also starring Emma Stone.   And to have this conversation, we’ve invited on friend of the show and TV & film enthusiast Carlee. You may recognize Carlee from our episode on Capitalist Realism, or you may recall a couple of Patreon episodes ago when Robert read her piece, “The Puritanical Eye: Hyper-mediation, Sex on Film, and the Disavowal of Desire.”   In this conversation, we discuss Nathan Fielder’s “The Curse”—walking you through the plot and the characters before analyzing and presenting a wide variety of scenes from the show and discussing what they tell us about our individuated, isolated, tortured, exhausted, and often performative lives under neoliberal capitalism. It really is a great show and this is a wide-ranging discussion that will have value whether or not you’ve seen the show. It’s also a lot of fun.  Further resources: Egress: On Mourning, Melancholy and Mark Fisher The Puritanical Eye: Hyper-mediation, Sex on Film, and the Disavowal of Desire, by Carlee Related episodes: Capitalist Realism w/ Carlee Sex, Desire, and the Neoliberal Subject Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship

Facts don’t care about your feelings. Logic isn’t fair. Reason isn’t concerned with your emotions. These oft-regurgitated cliches hurled at the left by those on the right might sound familiar to you. Hey, maybe they’ve even been directed at you personally. And, aside from seeing these claims from the right as simply funny, they’re also quite ironic. Because, when you actually dig down into the arguments of both the left and the right, it becomes quite clear, quite quickly, that the facts are actually on our side. That when you use logic and reason to argue for either capitalism or socialism, it’s socialism that comes out as the winner. Everytime.  There are many tools in the left’s toolbox when it comes to convincing those we interact with about the superiority of socialism. We do have arguments that center on fairness and equity, on more feelings-based arguments, which are very compelling and which we should certainly not abandon. But we also have a vast arsenal of arguments that rely on simple logic. And it’s some of these arguments that we’re going to explore—both in favor of socialism and against capitalism—in this episode. And we’ve brought on the perfect guest to walk us through this style of argumentation. Scott Sehon is a Professor of philosophy at Bowdoin College and author of the book Socialism: A Logical Introduction, published by Oxford University Press. In this episode, we introduce the philosophical study of logic and how to construct and deconstruct logical  formulas and logical arguments. We then apply this knowledge to the real world by asking what is the better economic system: socialism or capitalism? In the process we discredit and overturn some of the most common arguments for capitalism, we explore what we actually mean by socialism and socialistic societies, we explore a great deal of empirical data suggesting the superiority of societies with more democratic control and more egalitarian distribution, and, we talk about the importance of utilizing the tools of logic and reason as socialists. Further resources: Socialism: A Logical Introduction, by Scott Sehon Taking Stock of Shock: Social Consequences of the 1989 Revolutions by Kristen Ghodsee and Mitchell Orenstein Related episodes: Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism with Kristen Ghodsee [UNLOCKED] How the North Plunders the South w/ Jason Hickel Walter Rodney, Marxism, and Underdevelopment with D. Musa Springer & Charisse Burden-Stelly The Spirit Level with Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett Suburban Hell and Ugly Cities Debunking the Myth of Homo economicus (documentary) Socialism Betrayed w/ Roger Keeran and Joe Jamison Cover artwork: Carolyn Raider Intermission music: "Invisible Rain" by Stick To Your Guns Upstream is a labor of love—we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Weight loss has become a fully fledged industry in the United States—another classic trick by the capitalist class: manufacture a problem to make profits, and then sell a half-solution back to the population to purportedly address that problem. Are you experiencing health issues from the poisonous food manufacturing industry in the United States? No problem, we got you. Here’s a drug.  You might have heard of a drug called Ozempic—if not, don’t worry, we’ll bring you up to speed soon, but for now, all you need to know is that it’s a brand new weight loss drug that swept its way through Hollywood a couple of years ago and has now found its way into the bathroom mirrors of people around the world. Some predictions actually suggest that in a few years, a quarter of the U.S. population will be taking these drugs. In fact, it’s become so widespread that there’s been a decline in the stock value of companies like Krispy Kreme, the doughnut brand, which analysts have directly attributed to the growing popularity of drugs like Ozempic.  But what problem are these miracle weight loss drugs really trying to solve? If they are meant to increase our health and well-being, how do they actually impact health indicators? And what if the ultimate solution to the problem of increasing stress under capitalism and a poisonous food industry is more complicated than injecting yourself with appetite suppressing hormones?  These are the same questions that led today’s guest on a journey from Iceland to Minneapolis to Tokyo to find some answers about the impacts of industrial food manufacturing and “miracle” drugs. The answers aren’t black and white, and they take us through a deep and widely varying conversation that spans from body positivity movements, to weight loss drugs, fast food, anorexia, body dysmorphia, health and healing, and much more.  Johann Hari is the author of the books Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How to Find Hope, Stolen Focus: Why you Can’t Pay Attention, and, most recently, Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs. In this episode Johann tells us about his experience experimenting with Ozempic, the benefits and drawbacks of the drug, what it taught him about shame, willpower, and healing, and whether these magic little pills are a pathway towards liberation from diabetes, cancer, and an early death, or if they’re just another symptom of and false solution to a system that poisons us for a profit. Further resources: Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs, by Johann Hari Related episodes: Upstream: Stolen Focus with Johann Hari Upstream: The Political Economy of Food with Eric Holt-Gimenez Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

You can listen to the full episode "The Liberal Virus" by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. Liberalism is a virus. It began to spread across Europe centuries ago and was later carried into other parts of the planet where it evolved and then returned back to Europe even more virulent than before. Liberalism, is, of course, used here in the philosophical sense, not in the sense that it is used in the United States’ electoral and political sense. Liberalism, for the most part, is synonymous with capitalism, and in this Patreon reading and analysis of the classic text, The Liberal Virus: Permanent War and the Americanization of the World, we go on a journey with the Egyptian and French Marxist, dependency theorist Samir Amin to explore the rise of liberalism and its implications for people and the planet.  In doing so, we explore the basic tenets of liberalism, how it elevates the economy above all else, how it distorts human relations and infects us with pure economism and an exchange value mindset. We take detours into Mark Fisher’s concept of capitalist realism, into postmodernism and how it has been deployed as an ideological weapon against Marxism, into U.S. electoral politics and how identity is utilized by the liberal class, into U.S. imperialism, world systems theory, and much, much more. Further resources: The Liberal Virus: Permanent War and the Americanization of the World, by Samir Amin Related episodes: Walter Rodney, Marxism, and Underdevelopment with D. Musa Springer & Charisse Burden-Stelly  Palestine Pt. 11: Israel and the U.S. Empire w/ Max Ajl [UNLOCKED] How the North Plunders the South w/ Jason Hickel Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes Climate Leninism w/ Jodi Dean and Kai Heron The Missing Revolution w/ Vincent Bevins What is To Be Done? with Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante Capitalist Realism with Carlee Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Pan-African Marxist, underdevelopment theorist, guerrilla intellectual, father, husband, radical—these are all terms that we could use to describe Walter Rodney. You may know him from his classic text, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, you may know that he was assassinated at the age of 38 for his activism, or you may not know who he was at all—either way, his ideas and his influence have most likely reached you, if not directly, then indirectly, through the waves and ripples that his life and work created in the many intersecting liberation movements throughout the planet.  Described by some as decolonial Marxism, by others as Pan-African Marxism, or just as a continuation of Marxist theory as applied to the African continent and the African diaspora, Rodney’s work has been monumental in advancing and applying scientific socialism to updated physical and temporal regions which were not covered extensively until Rodney. His theories on underdevelopment as part of global capitalism opened up new spaces for theorizing and understanding imperialism, colonialism, and neocolonialism. His work in academia was imbued with a radical, guerrilla, fervor which resulted in institutions and states taking great measures to silence him, and the impact that he had was so monumental that he was tragically assassinated in his home country of Guyana almost 45 years ago.  We’ve been exploring many ideas on the show recently that are founded on much of Walter Rodney’s work, and so an episode on his life and work are past-due. And we have brought on two guests who we could not be more excited to be having this conversation with.  D. Musa Springer is a cultural worker, community organizer, and journalist based in Georgia. They are the International Youth Representative for Cuba's Red Barrial Afrodescendiente and an organizer with The Black Alliance for Peace. They produced the documentary “Parchman Prison: Pain & Protest (2020),” and are the host of the Groundings podcast. They are currently working on a documentary project titled “Y Mis Negros Que?”, and their book Alive & Paranoid was published in Spring, 2024 by Iskra Books. Charisse Burden-Stelly is Associate Professor of African American studies at Wayne State University, a member of The Black Alliance for Peace and Community Movement Builders, and author of Black Scare / Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States, published by the University of Chicago Press. You may remember that Charisse was on the show last year to talk about Black Scare / Red Scare.  In this conversation, we introduce Walter Rodney biographically before we dive into his work applying scientific socialism to Africa, theorizing underdevelopment and capitalism as a world system, applying his work to events happening in the world right now in places like Palestine and Cuba, what Rodney had to say about education and academia, and much, much more. Further resources: Charisse Burden-Stelly Black Scare / Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States, by Charisse Burden-Stelly Alive and Paranoid, by D. Musa Springer The Walter Rodney Foundation Related episodes: Upstream: Black Scare / Red Scare with Charisse Burden-Stelly Upstream: [UNLOCKED] How the North Plunders the South w/ Jason Hickel Intermission music: "A Song for Walter Rodney" by Bocaflojay Cover artwork: B. Mure Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

You can listen to the full episode "The Puritanical Eye" by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. What do sex scenes in the film have to do with the crushing weight of capitalism? How have our bodily desires and passions been ambushed, commodified, and exhausted by the constant, catastrophic impacts of a system that alienates as it extracts? How have we been trained to conflate consumption and activism under neoliberalism, so that the very act of consuming limits our political aspirations and actions? And why the hell are there so few sex scenes in cinema these days? These are just some of the questions we explore in this episode as Robert reads a beautifully-written and wide-reaching piece by friend of the show Carlee Gomes (co-host of the podcast Hit Factory): “The Puritanical Eye: Hyper-mediation, Sex on Film, and the Disavowal of Desire.” Further resources: “The Puritanical Eye: Hyper-mediation, Sex on Film, and the Disavowal of Desire,” by Carlee Gomes Hit Factory Carlee on Twitter Related episodes: Upstream: Capitalist Realism with Carlee Gomes Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

As socialists in the United States one of our most important tasks—at least under our current material conditions—is to raise class consciousness among the mass of people: the basic work of tuning people in to the existence of structures and systems that define and limit our lives.  As much as we on the left might take these things for granted, it’s always important to remember that many, many folks out there don’t think of the world in terms of socialism, capitalism, Marx, Engels—certainly not the relations of production under monopoly capitalism. But that doesn’t mean they don’t get it. If you live under capitalism, you get it. If not theoretically or in terms of political analysis, you get it because you might hate your boss, or your landlord, or you might wish you could spend more of your day watching your kids grow up, or you might have had to skip a pill here or there because you couldn’t afford refills from the pharmacy. Most people get it. They just might not have an ideological framework within which to situate their frustration, their anger, their sadness, their hopelessness.   So, in light of this, sometimes it’s helpful for us to frame issues of anti-capitalism and socialism in ways that are easily relatable and accessible. This is what our guest in today’s episode has accomplished in her latest book, which uses relationship analogies to provide you with everything you need to know about what a healthy relationship with our political economy could actually look like, issue by issue—from healthcare and housing to the whole concept of American democracy. Malaika Jabali is an award-winning journalist, policy attorney, life-long socialist, and author of the book, It’s Not You, It’s Capitalism: Why It’s Time to Break Up and How to Move On. In this conversation we have a wide-ranging discussion about raising class consciousness, Malaika’s organizing work in the midwest and the deep south, what different visions of socialism look like, and why it’s not too late to break up with your toxic partner and begin a new, thriving relationship with your new boo: socialism. Further resources: It's Not You, It's Capitalism by Malaika Jabali Malaika Jabali Related episodes: Upstream: Worker Co-ops Pt. 1: Widening Spheres of Democracy Upstream: Worker Co-ops Pt 2: Islands Within a Sea of Capitalism Intermission music: "Cost of Living" by Mom Friend Cover artwork: Kayla E. This episode of Upstream is brought to you in part by Alluvium Gatherings. Alluvium Gatherings designs, plans, and produces events for social and environmental justice movements that allow people to come together to solve the challenges of our time. Learn more at alluviumgatherings.com Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. Weight loss has become a fully fledged industry in the United States—another classic trick by the capitalist class: manufacture a problem to make profits, and then sell a half-solution back to the population to purportedly address that problem. Are you experiencing health issues from the poisonous food manufacturing industry in the United States? No problem, we got you. Here’s a drug.  You might have heard of a drug called Ozempic—if not, don’t worry, we’ll bring you up to speed soon, but for now, all you need to know is that it’s a brand new weight loss drug that swept its way through Hollywood a couple of years ago and has now found its way into the bathroom mirrors of people around the world. Some predictions actually suggest that in a few years, a quarter of the U.S. population will be taking these drugs. In fact, it’s become so widespread that there’s been a decline in the stock value of companies like Krispy Kreme, the doughnut brand, which analysts have directly attributed to the growing popularity of drugs like Ozempic.  But what problem are these miracle weight loss drugs really trying to solve? If they are meant to increase our health and well-being, how do they actually impact health indicators? And what if the ultimate solution to the problem of increasing stress under capitalism and a poisonous food industry is more complicated than injecting yourself with appetite suppressing hormones?  These are the same questions that led today’s guest on a journey from Iceland to Minneapolis to Tokyo to find some answers about the impacts of industrial food manufacturing and “miracle” drugs. The answers aren’t black and white, and they take us through a deep and widely varying conversation that spans from body positivity movements, to weight loss drugs, fast food, anorexia, body dysmorphia, health and healing, and much more.  Johann Hari is the author of the books Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How to Find Hope, Stolen Focus: Why you Can’t Pay Attention, and, most recently, Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs. In this episode Johann tells us about his experience experimenting with Ozempic, the benefits and drawbacks of the drug, what it taught him about shame, willpower, and healing, and whether these magic little pills are a pathway towards liberation from diabetes, cancer, and an early death, or if they’re just another symptom of and false solution to a system that poisons us for a profit. Further resources: Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs, by Johann Hari Related episodes: Upstream: Stolen Focus with Johann Hari Upstream: The Political Economy of Food with Eric Holt-Gimenez Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Righteous indignation, truth, justice, and, maybe most important, love. These are some of the pillars that support the work that Dr. Cornel West, today’s guest, has been committed to throughout his entire life. Dr. West, as you may likely already know,  is a longtime political activist, philosopher, theologian, and public intellectual. He is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary where he teaches courses in Philosophy of Religion and African American Critical Thought. He’s the former Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. Dr. West has written 20 books and has edited 13, and is best known for his classics, Race Matters and Democracy Matters. Dr. West is running for President of the United States with Vice Presidential candidate Melina Abdullah with the Justice for All Party. In this conversation, we explore what inspired Dr. West to take up the electoral path and take a stand against the corporate parties of our decaying empire—the Democrats and the Republicans. We talk about electoralism as a tool in a much larger toolkit of the left, a toolkit which includes trade union organizing, direct action, and building class consciousness. We talk about the importance of love and art in our movements as an antidote to capitalism’s totalizing, soul crushing hegemony in these dying years of the U.S. empire, and we discuss why it’s necessary to infuse our struggles here in the United States with an understanding of imperialism and the impact that the United States has on a global scale. Further resources: Cornel West 2024 Related episodes: Upstream: A Marxist Perspective on Elections with August Nimtz Upstream: The Political Economy of Jazz with Gerald Horne Upstream's Series on Electoralism Intermission music by Noname Cover art by Berwyn Mure Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

You can listen to the full episode "Israel and the U.S. Empire w/ Max Ajl" by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. There’s a widespread misconception among a significant number of people—including many on the left—that when it comes to the U.S./Israel relationship, it’s Israel that’s pulling the strings. It’s the belief that Israel is pulling the United States into something that it doesn’t want to be involved in, that the Israel lobby has held our policymakers hostage, and that the United States actually really, sincerely cares about the wellbeing of Palestinians, but that the White House, the State Department, and Congress, are all beholden to nefarious Israeli actors. Some even think that blackmail is involved.  There’s something compelling to some about this narrative—it allows them to ignore reality, hiding the blood-soaked stains of U.S. empire under the rug. It conveniently dismisses the fact that the United States is literally built on the bones of the murdered, whether ethnically cleansed Indigenous children, enslaved Africans and their ancestors, or the child workers of the 19th century—to name just a few examples. The U.S. has no qualms about dead children, let alone innocent adults.  And when it comes to so-called Israel, the United States’ relationship with the zionist entity is a relationship with a client state—a state which ultimately serves the interests of U.S. capital and U.S. imperialism more broadly. Don’t be distracted by liberal bloviations and other forms of erroneous analysis—the United States is willfully committed on all levels.  And if you’re asking, well, why? Why is the United States so committed to its relationship with Israel? Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to be discussing with this week’s guest. Max Ajl is a Research Fellow at the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies at the University of Tunis, a Fellow at the University of Ghent, and a researcher with the Tunisian Observatory for Food Sovereignty and the Environment. He’s also the author of A People’s Green New Deal and, most recently, a two-part article titled “Palestine’s Great Flood.” Max was also featured prominently in our two-part audio documentary The Green Transition.  In this Patreon episode, Max provides us with a Marxist-Leninst analysis of the U.S.’s relationship with Israel, unpacking how Israel has served as a watchdog for the U.S. in East Asia and how Israel has served the U.S. empire in crushing radical left movements globally—particularly, of course, in Palestine. We also discuss the role of the Israel lobby, the mechanics of imperialism and capital accumulation on a global level, and where the sick, twisted, morbid relationship between the United States and Israel might be headed. Cover illustration: Berwyn Mure Further resources: Max's ResearchGate page Palestine's Great Flood Pt. 1 Palestine's Great Flood Pt. 2 A People's Green New Deal Related episodes: Upstream's Ongoing Palestine Series [UNLOCKED] How the North Plunders the South w/ Jason Hickel Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes Donate to Middle Eastern Children's Alliance (MECA) Anera: Provide urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians Gaza Mutual Aid Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

"What Israel is doing right now has nothing to do with antisemitism. What Israel is doing right now is a genocide. What Israel has been doing for the past 75 years is apartheid, is occupation. There is no need for any one of us to serve in the IDF. The IDF should not exist. The state of Israel should not exist." These are the words of a former Israeli soldier turned anti-Zionist organizer: Meital Yaniv. Meital describes themself as a “death laborer tending to a prayer for the liberation of the land of Palestine” and has recently written the book Bloodlines which traces their paternal lineage being survivors of  the Holocaust and subsequently migrating to Palestine. From there, Meital traces their lineage through indoctrination into Zionism and as settler-colonists, and defenders of the so-called “state of Israel.” Meital then describes their refusal to serve in the IDF and their subsequent departure from Israel and development into a death doula for Zionism and Israel. In this conversation with Meital, we hear about what it’s like to be raised “extremely Zionistic” and to serve in the IDF. We learn about the consequences of trauma that is passed down intergenerationally and what is necessary to truly heal individually and collectively. We explore how to talk to people who defend Zionism and the state of Israel and what the tradition of Judaism would say about Zionism and the genocide of the Palestinian people. And finally, Meital offers invitations for how we can all contribute to bringing the state of Israel to an end for the liberation of Palestine.  And finally, Meital offers invitations for how we can all contribute to bringing the state of Israel to compassionate just death for the liberation of Palestine.  Further resources: Bloodlines by Meital Yaniv Meital Yaniv's website Related episodes: Upstream: Palestine Pt. 1: A Socialist Introduction with Sumaya Awad Upstream: Palestine Pt. 2: Justice for Some with Noura Erakat Upstream: Palestine Pt. 3: Settler-Colonialism and Medical Apartheid with Rupa Marya & Jess Ghannam Upstream: Palestine Pt. 4: False Solutions and Paths of Resistance with Sumaya Awad Upstream: Palestine Pt. 5: The Political Economy of Palestine with Adam Hanieh Upstream: Palestine Pt. 6: One State with Ghada Karmi Upstream: Palestine Pt. 7: Direct Action w/ Max Geller of Palestine Action Upstream: Palestine Pt. 8: Indigeneity and Settler-Colonialism w/ Krystal Two Bulls & Sumaya Awad Upstream: Palestine Pt. 9: Palestine 2031 w/ Nadia Zanghari  Donate to Middle Eastern Children's Alliance (MECA) Anera: Provide urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians Gaza Mutual Aid Intermission music: “Arvoles Yoran Por Luvias (Trees Cry For Rain)” performed by Gloria Levy Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

The imperial core—which is comprised of settler-colonial states like those in Western Europe, as well as states like the United States, Canada and Australia—have been stealing the resources and labor of the Global South—or the periphery—for centuries. It started with the direct colonial violence and resource exploitation that marked much of the last few centuries, but it didn’t end there.   Neo-colonialism—a term that you’re probably familiar with—is broadly defined as the use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former colonies. But what does it actually look like in practice? How is the imperial core still plundering and pillaging the periphery? The practice of widespread crude, cruel, brute force that marked direct colonialism may not exist in the same exact form as it once did—but the outcome is still the same: mass extraction and exploitation from the Global South which has resulted in a staggering net transfer of resources, wealth, and labor to the Global North.  In this episode, we’re going to discuss the mechanisms and extent of neocolonial extraction and exploitation as they manifest today, and we’ve brought on the perfect guest to walk us through it.  Jason Hickel is a professor at the The Institute for Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the author of the books The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions and Less is More: How Degrowth will Save the World, and the the lead author of two papers that we’ll be focusing on today: “Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global South through unequal exchange, 1990–2015” published in journal Global Environmental Change, and "Unequal exchange of labour in the world economy" forthcoming in the journal Nature Communications. In this conversion we explore the theory of uneven exchange and how it sheds light on neocolonialism in practice, we discuss some of the key findings from Jason’s research on imperialist appropriation in the world economy, we dispel some of the myths perpetuated by those claiming that capitalism has lifted “millions out of poverty,” we talk about what a just degrowth transition of the global economy would look like and, crucially, how we might achieve it. Further resources: Jason Hickel “Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global South through unequal exchange, 1990–2015” published in journal Global Environmental Change Related Episodes: Upstream: The Divide – Global Inequality from Conquest to Free Markets with Jason Hickel Upstream: International Development and Post-capitalism with Jason Hickel Upstream: How Degrowth Will Save the World with Jason Hickel Upstream: The Green Transition Pt.1 – The Problem with Green Capitalism Thank you to Berwyn Mure for the covert art. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

You can listen to the full episode "Suburban Hell and Ugly Cities" by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber, not only will you get access to at least one bonus episode a month, usually two or three, as well as early access to certain episodes and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers, depending on which tier you subscribe to, but you’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. Why is even just driving through suburbia soul crushing? Why are so many cities and towns in the United States so…ugly? All of us here would probably agree that car-centric city planning and corporate development are huge factors to consider when asking these questions. But what exactly about this type of planning and development is it that feels so oppressive? What exactly is it about that strip mall that makes your heart sink? What exactly is it about that suburban lawn that makes you feel so uncannily uncomfortable? These are some of the questions that we explore in this Patreon episode. In this episode Robert reads and comments on two separate but related pieces: Why even driving through suburbia is soul crushing, by Alex Balashov and Compromise, Hell! by Wendell Berry. These pieces explore the anti-social, barren, and soul-crushing aspects of how we, under late-stage capitalism here in the United States, design the spaces we travel through and live in. From freeway interchanges that jut out like decaying exo-skeletons, to the barren eight-late expressways that cut neighborhoods in half, to the giant lawns, fake porches, and kitschy columns that ornament many suburban homes—this reading not only calls out these monstrosities but explains what they do to us on a psychological, nervous system, and social level. Further resources: Why Even Driving Through Suburbia is Soul Crushing, by Alex Balashov Compromise, Hell! by Wendell Berry 27:10: Images 1 & 2 McMansion Hell Related episodes: Upstream: Everyday Utopia and Radical Imagination with Kristen Ghodsee Upstream: Capitalist Realism with Carlee Gomes Upstream: Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes Grassroots Urban Placemaking with Mark Lakeman Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Contradiction is one of the most important concepts in Marxist philosophy. When we think about Marxism, we typically think about the contributions that Marx, Engels, Lenin (and many others since) have made specifically to the study of political economy—but there are also deep philosophical underpinnings that form the foundation of Marxist political economy, and one of these foundational philosophies is dialectical materialism.  Dialectical materialism brings together two important components of Marxist thought: dialectics and materialism. Broadly speaking, dialectics is grounded in the idea that in order to understand the world, we must look at things in relation to one another and not as isolated and separate phenomena. And we must also understand that those relations include opposing forces that act in contradiction to one another. For example, the two opposing forces at play in capitalism are the bourgeoisie and the proletariat—or capitalists and workers.  The other part of dialectical materialism, the materialism part, is grounded in the idea that in order to understand the world, we must start by understanding our material reality, and that material conditions are primary over ideas. It’s not the ideas of great men that drive society forward, but the material conditions that give rise to those ideas in the first place. We’ll walk you through all of this in much more detail throughout this episode. Theory is an essential element of the revolutionary work that we do, and it’s crucial that we familiarize ourselves with Marxist theory to help inform and guide our revolutionary practice. As Lenin said, “Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement.” Understanding the foundational theories and philosophies that underlie the work that we do helps take our work to the next level. Familiarizing ourselves with theory and grounding our practice in it elevates our work and gives us unique tools and specialized knowledge that helps us sharpen the tools in our revolutionary toolbox and understand the world around us with more clarity and focus. This is why we’re going to be sharing a few episodes over the coming months to explore Marxist theory in depth. And in this episode, we’re taking a deep dive into dialectical materialism. And we’ve brought on the perfect guest to help us through this. Josh Sykes is a writer and an activist organizing with Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). He’s the author of the book The Revolutionary Science of Marxism-Leninism published last year by Freedom Road. Josh’s book is an introduction to Marxism-Leninism split up into seven sections, and in this episode, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the second section of the book which explores the philosophy underpinning Marxism-Leninism: dialectical materialism. Further resources: Freedom Road Socialist Organization The Revolutionary Science of Marxism-Leninism, by J. Sykes Related episodes: Upstream: Revolutionary Leftism with Breht O'Shea Upstream: What is to be Done? With Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante Upstream: Climate Leninism w/ Jodi Dean and Kai Heron Intermission music by Fugazi.  Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

Every wonder why it feels like almost every single tech product you use is actively trying to screw you? Why it is that your printer requires you to subscribe to ink cartridges that, ounce for ounce, cost more than gold? Why you can’t read websites anymore because of all the moving, deceptive advertisements clogging up the screen? Why you’re paying substantially more for an entire suite of buggy streaming services than your parents ever were for cable TV? Why your BlueTooth enabled electric toothbrush keeps breaking? Why airplanes are falling apart mid-flight?  Well, it might not seem like it at first glance, but all of these phenomena are related. They have a single cause: deregulation. Specifically, deregulation driven by big tech monopolies that have found all sorts of creative and coercive ways to use the legal system to screw over not just their customers, but increasingly their employees, clients, vendors, advertisers—basically everybody but a handful of shareholders and C-suite decision-makers who are growing filthy rich off of our impoverishment and immiseration. In this conversation, we’re talking big tech—how we got where we are and how we can fix things—with Cory Doctorow. Cory is an activist, journalist, and author. His two latest books are the science fiction novel The Bezzle and the nonfiction book, which we’ill be talking about today, The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation, published by Verso. In this conversation we explore the history of trusts and anti-trust laws originating in the late 1800s, and we discuss how deregulation, copyright, digital locks, IP law, and monopoly-friendly legislation have all led to a process of enclosure in multiple tech industries—from the internet to airplanes—resulting in a landscape fully devoid of anything resembling the promise of technology that has been whispered into ours ears since the dawn of the digital age. Further resources: Cory Doctorow The Internet Con:How to Seize the Means of Computation, by Cory Doctorow The Bezzle, by Cory Doctorow Related episodes: Upstream: NFTs with Nathan Schneider and Cory Doctorow Intermission music by Embrace.  Episode artwork by Berwyn Mure. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

You can listen to the full episode "How the North Plunders the South" by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. The imperial core—which is comprised of settler-colonial states like those in Western Europe, as well as states like the United States, Canada and Australia—have been stealing the resources and labor of the Global South—or the periphery—for centuries. It started with the direct colonial violence and resource exploitation that marked much of the last few centuries, but it didn’t end there.   Neo-colonialism—a term that you’re probably familiar with—is broadly defined as the use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former colonies. But what does it actually look like in practice? How is the imperial core still plundering and pillaging the periphery? The practice of widespread crude, cruel, brute force that marked direct colonialism may not exist in the same exact form as it once did—but the outcome is still the same: mass extraction and exploitation from the Global South which has resulted in a staggering net transfer of resources, wealth, and labor to the Global North.  In this episode, we’re going to discuss the mechanisms and extent of neocolonial extraction and exploitation as they manifest today, and we’ve brought on the perfect guest to walk us through it.  Jason Hickel is a professor at the The Institute for Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the author of the books The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions and Less is More: How Degrowth will Save the World, and the the lead author of two papers that we’ll be focusing on today: “Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global South through unequal exchange, 1990–2015” published in journal Global Environmental Change, and "Unequal exchange of labour in the world economy" forthcoming in the journal Nature Communications. In this conversion we explore the theory of uneven exchange and how it sheds light on neocolonialism in practice, we discuss some of the key findings from Jason’s research on imperialist appropriation in the world economy, we dispel some of the myths perpetuated by those claiming that capitalism has lifted “millions out of poverty,” we talk about what a just degrowth transition of the global economy would look like and, crucially, how we might achieve it. Further resources: Jason Hickel “Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global South through unequal exchange, 1990–2015” published in journal Global Environmental Change Related Episodes: Upstream: The Divide – Global Inequality from Conquest to Free Markets with Jason Hickel Upstream: International Development and Post-capitalism with Jason Hickel Upstream: How Degrowth Will Save the World with Jason Hickel Upstream: The Green Transition Pt.1 – The Problem with Green Capitalism Thank you to Berwyn Mure for the covert art. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

There’s no question that the crisis of capitalism and imperialism have reached a breaking point—it’s clearly visible not only in opinion polls but also just simply through our lived experiences. The system, and those who run it, have clearly abandoned any sense of popular wellbeing or even basic accommodations for a vast segment of the population. The system is running on fumes, the engines are sputtering out, and it’s only a matter of time before the decline turns into a freefall. Although the electoral process here in the United States is just one part of the puzzle—it’s an important one. Especially during a presidential election year, where more people than ever are paying attention to politics in a way that they normally don’t. This attention can be an opportunity to organize and mobilize people in a way that brings them into a kind of active political consciousness that can lead to many fruitful outcomes. This is why we’re continuing our exploration of electoral politics and presidential candidates in this episode.  Dr. Jill Stein is a medical doctor, environmental activist, and the 2024 Green Party presidential candidate. In this conversation, we explore the conditions that have led to the many crises we’re currently facing, the failure of either of the corporate parties to address any of them, the many intentional barriers to third-party candidates running for office in the United States, and the importance of organizing and not losing hope.  Further resources: Jill Stein 2024 Related episodes Upstream: A Marxist Perspective on Elections with August Nimtz Upstream: [UNLOCKED] Voting for Socialism w/ Claudia De La Cruz & Karina Garcia Intermission music by Minutemen.  Episode artwork by Berwyn Mure. This episode of Upstream is brought to you in part by the Alliance For Just Money. Help!! Mayday!! May 18th is the 110th anniversary of Congress ceding its power to create money to commercial banks nationwide. Alliance For Just Money allies are working to change our money system to focus on people and planetary and societal needs. Join the Alliance May 18th for a march and rally in downtown Chicago, and for teach-ins that weekend. Go to monetaryalliance.org/mayday to learn more. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

You can listen to the full episode "International Workers' Day" by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you will 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. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. Militant workers, strikes, murder, dynamite, massacres—working class history is stained with the blood of martyrs and the atrocities of the ruling classes—a centuries-long struggle of class war that began at the dawn of capitalism itself. On today’s episode we're recognizing and celebrating International Workers’ Day, held every year on this day—May 1st. The history of this day goes all the way back to the late 1800s, and yes, it includes massacres and strikes and dynamite. It's a story about class war—quite literally. And we’ve brought on the perfect guest to tell us about it. John is a researcher at Working Class History—an online people's history project that includes a daily calendar of working class historical events, a longform and a daily podcast, a stories app, a map app, and much more.  In this episode John recounts the harrowing, violent, and sometimes humorous stories of how International Workers’ Day came to be what it is today. We explore this day’s legacy from the 1880s to the present, what working conditions were like in the late 19th century and how they resemble our current conditions, and why it's important to keep the legacy and lessons from this important day in our hearts, minds—and in our actions. Further resources: Working Class History Working Class History podcasts The Incomplete, True, Authentic, and Wonderful History of May Day, by Peter Linebaugh Labor Day is May 1, by Jonah Walters Related Episodes: Upstream: Abolish the Police Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

You can listen to the full episode "Against Condemning Hamas" by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber, not only will you get access to at least one bonus episode a month, usually two or three, as well as early access to certain episodes and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers, depending on which tier you subscribe to, but you’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. “The struggle for Palestinian liberation today is led by the Islamic Resistance Movement — Hamas. Hamas is supported by the entirety of the organized Palestinian left. One might have expected that the left in the imperial core would follow the leadership of the Palestinian left in supporting Hamas. More often than not, though, left intellectuals echo the condemnations that imperialist states make the condition for speaking about Palestine. In so doing, they take a side against the Palestinian revolution, giving a progressive face to the repression of the Palestinian political project, and betraying the anti-imperialist aspirations of a previous generation.” These are words written by Jodi Dean, a past guest on the show and a longtime activist, organizer, professor, and writer. In this Patreon episode, Robert reads an incredibly important piece written by Jodi about the Palestinian resistance movement which, after its publication, actually resulted in Jodi being punished by her university and relieved of teaching responsibilities. In light of the growing attacks on academic freedom, as well as the literal attacks being waged by militarized police forces against professors and students demonstrating on campuses across the country, we thought this was a crucial time to uplift Jodi’s words and share this important piece. As we did last time, Robert will come in from time to time to share his own analyses and reflections and throughout the reading. Further resources: Palestine speaks for everyone Petition: Revoke Professor Jodi Dean's suspension from teaching at Hobart and William Smith Colleges Upstream: Climate Leninism w/ Jodi Dean and Kai Heron Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

“The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.” This is a quote attributed to the late astronomer, planetary scientist, and cannabis enthusiast, Carl Sagan. And if you’ve ever watched the original Cosmos series which he created and hosted, you won’t be surprised that he appreciated pot. His decades-old insights and wisdom about marijuana and its individual and societal benefits carry forth the energy that we’re bringing to this special 4/20 episode of Upstream which is a celebration of this incredible plant—its history, its myths, legends, culture, and much more. And we’ve brought on the perfect guest to discuss this with us. David Bienenstock is the author of the book How to Smoke Pot (Properly): A Highbrow Guide to Getting High, and host of the podcast Great Moments in Weed History. In this episode we explore the history and culture of cannabis from prehistoric times, through to the ancient biblical times of Jesus, and up to the present. We recount the real story of how 4/20 became a celebrated holiday, we hear some of David’s favorite weed stories, and get serious too as we discuss the impacts of criminalization, the commodification of cannabis in the legalization process, the need for racial justice to repair communities of color disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, and the possibility of a general strike on 4/20. So lean back, grab your joint or your pipe or your bong or your vape or if you don’t partake, just imagine you’re in the remote blunt rotation and you’re skipping your puff and politely passing the joint—and this is important—to the left-hand side, as you join Robert and David in conversation about all things cannabis. Further resources: How to Smoke Pot (Properly): A Highbrow Guide to Getting High Freedom Grow Here's The Real Story Of Why We Celebrate 4/20, by Ryan Grim  Intermission music by The Olivia Tremor Control.  Episode artwork by Berwyn Mure. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.    

You can listen to the full episode "Degrowth vs Eco-Modernism" by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber, not only will you get access to at least one bonus episode a month, usually two or three, as well as early access to certain episodes and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers, depending on which tier you subscribe to, but you’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. Debates on the left can often seem overly dramatized or indulgent—the result of too much time spent in online rabbit holes or needlessly arguing over manufactured controversies. But this is not always the case. There are many important debates among the left and many internal contradictions which are not compatible—what dialectical materialists would refer to as antagonistic contradictions. In this episode, we're going to explore one of these seemingly irreconcilable differences.  Degrowth is an umbrella term used to describe a wide variety of tendencies on the left which broadly proclaim the need to end or at least curtail economic growth. Degrowth thinkers include past guests like Max Ajl, Kai Heron, and Jason Hickel. Alternatively, left eco-modernism is a tendency on the left that argues the opposite: growth is not only necessary, but the assertion that we must end or curtail growth actually presents a barrier to our liberation. Left eco-modernists include past guests like Matt Huber.  In this episode, we're doing something a bit different. We're going to explore the antagonism between these two broad tendencies by reading an article and interspersing it with our own real-time analysis. The article is a piece by Kai Heron published by Verso titled "Forget Eco-Modernism: Recent years have seen renewed debate on climate strategy on the left. Here, Kai Heron responds to the arguments of the proponents of a left ecomodernism, and argues that it risks reactionary political consequences." Join Robert as he presents the text, unpacks its arguments and analyzes them in real time, and brings in commentary and thoughts on a wide variety of topics related to degrowth, climate change, Marxism, and much more.  Further resources: Forget Eco-Modernism by Kai Heron Upstream: The Green Transition Pt. 1: The Problem with Green Capitalsim Upstream: The Green Transition Pt. 2: A Green Deal for the People Upstream: Climate Leninism w/ Jodi Dean and Kai Heron Upstream: How Degrowth Will Save the World with Jason Hickel Upstream: A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things with Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore Upstream: What Is To Be Done? with Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante If Books Could Kill: The Population Bomb Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

“Post capitalism is not simply another ‘ism’ to replace previous ideologies. It’s not a euphemism for socialism or anarchism or Nordic capitalism—although it may contain some elements of each. Post capitalism is a conceptual container for social pluralities based on shared values that stem from an experience of the shortcomings of the existing system and the lived experience of life-centric alternatives.” These are words written by today’s guest, Alnoor Ladha, along with his co-author Lynn Murphy from their book Post Capitalist Philanthropy: Healing Wealth in the Time of Collapse. We’ve brought on Alnoor to share more about what post capitalism is and how we can embody it and encourage it in our lives and activism.  Alnoor is an activist, journalist, political strategist and community organizer. He was the co-founder and executive director of The Rules and he is currently the council chair for Culture Hack Labs and co-director of the Transition Resource Circle.  In this conversation Alnoor takes us upstream to the ontological root causes of colonialism and capitalism, he describes the importance of cultivating what he calls spiritual-cultural praxis, he cautions against the commodification and exploitation of plant medicines, and invites us to study culture, become conscientious objectors of capitalism, and contribute to the collective prayer and movement for co-liberation of all beings. Further resources and related episodes: Post Capitalist Philanthropy: Healing Wealth in the Time of Collapse Upstream: Buddhism and Marxism with Breht O'Shea Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.    

The revolutionary practice of dreaming, imagining, or simply hoping for a better world is an exercise whose importance is often overlooked. Not only are these practices crucial to keeping the embers warm in an increasingly dark age of capitalism and imperialism, but they can often serve as an instruction manual or roadmap leading to the world that we want to see. A kind of thru-topian exercise of envisioning. Living solely in the realm of utopian imagination can certainly devolved into a form of navel gazing which can potentially untether one from the realities of day-to-day living, but also, to quote Oscar Wilde, “A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at…” And one of the most rich and potent spaces for this kind of imagination is in the world of artistic creation—particularly fiction writing. In this very special and unique Patreon episode, we're going to share a beautiful piece of fiction that invites us to imagine and dream—and also learn.  Nadia Zangari is a diaspora Palestinian whose grandparents were survivors of the Nakba. She recently wrote a piece titled “Palestine 2031” in which she tells a fictionalized account of traveling to what has become a free Palestine seven years from now. Interspersed between inspirational vignettes and powerful prose, Nadia tackles some very interesting and open questions about what a free Palestine could look like and how we might get there. From cross-country hitchhiking adventures to volunteer-led reconstruction efforts, to the question of reparations, Nadia’s piece, which she will be reading for us today, is a masterful exercise of astute imagination.  So we invite you to settle in, feel your feet on the ground or the wind in your hair or your hands on the steering wheel if you're driving—or however you're listening to this, we invite you to slow down and feel your breath as Robert introduces Nadia and as she reads “Palestine 2031”. Further resources: Palestine 2031, by Nadia Zanghari Nadia's friend's family's fundraiser: Help us escape the genocide in Gaza  Upstream: How We Show Up w/ Mia Birdsong Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

As the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Palestinian people continues, it's crucial that we continue to critically scrutinize and dismantle many of the myths and deadly ideologies that Israel and its Zionist supporters use to try and legitimize their project. We began our ongoing series on Palestine with a critical exploration of Zionism, and in this episode, Part 8 of this series, we’ll be zooming in on one particular element of Zionism: the claim of indigeneity. Zionists claim that the Jewish people as a whole have a right to the land between the river and sea because they are, quote, indigenous, to that region. Putting aside the question of whether this assertion can be substantiated—what do we do with this claim of indigeneity, especially as we see it being weaponized by the forces of Zionism? This is a huge question, and in this episode we’ll explore what it means to be Indigenous—both in the context of settler-colonialism and also as a relationship to land—and how our understanding of indigeneity relates to ongoing liberation struggles. And we’ve brought on two incredible guests to help us in this exploration. Krystal Two Bulls is an Oglala Lakota/Northern Cheyenne grassroots organizer, former Director of the NDN Collective’s Landback Campaign, and Executive Director of Honor the Earth. Sumaya Awad is Palestinian writer, analyst, and socialist organizer. She’s the Director of Strategy and Communications at the Adalah Justice Project and a contributor to and co-editor, along with brian bean, of Palestine: A Socialist Introduction, published by Haymarket Books.  What does it mean to be Indigenous? How does one's relationship to the land inform our ideas about indigeneity? How does the structure of settler-colonialism form a contradiction in dialectical relationship to indigeneity? And how are the struggles of Indigenous people, from here in the so-called United States, to those in Palestine, interrelated? These are just some of the questions that we explore in this conversation with Sumaya Awad and Krystal Two Bulls. And before we get started, Upstream is almost entirely listener funded—we couldn't keep this project going without your support. There are a number of ways in which you can support us financially: you can sign up to be a Patreon subscriber which will give you access to bonus episodes, at least one a month but usually more, at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast, and you can also make a tax-deductible recurring donation or a one-time donation on our website, upstreampodcast.org/support. Through your support you’ll be helping us keep Upstream sustainable and helping to keep this whole project going—socialist political education podcasts are not easy to fund so thank you in advance for the crucial support. Further resources: Honor the Earth Adalah Justice Project Palestine: A Socialist Introduction co-edited by Sumaya Awad and brian bean Upstream: Palestine Pt. 1: A Socialist Introduction with Sumaya Awad Upstream: Palestine Pt. 2: Justice for Some with Noura Erakat Upstream: Palestine Pt. 3: Settler-Colonialism and Medical Apartheid with Rupa Marya & Jess Ghannam Upstream: Palestine Pt. 4: False Solutions and Paths of Resistance with Sumaya Awad Upstream: Palestine Pt. 5: The Political Economy of Palestine with Adam Hanieh Upstream: Palestine Pt. 6: One State with Ghada Karmi Upstream: Palestine Pt. 7: Direct Action w/ Max Geller of Palestine Action Donate to Middle Eastern Children's Alliance (MECA) Anera: Provide urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians Write your member of Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire Neither Settler nor Native  The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities by Mahmood Mamdani Khobs by Samih al-Qasim Same old story / same old song / like bread on the banquet of eternity. / So let the vacant heads / and the croaking throats / during the hour of ablution - / enter your filthy bathrooms, / o fortress of sorrow, o city of crime! This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and from A Bookkeeping Cooperative. Want to learn about values-aligned financial management? A Bookkeeping Cooperative offers engaging online workshops on organizational finances to develop the skills and confidence of those working towards a just world beyond capitalism. Sign up at www.bookkeeping.coop Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

You can listen to the full episode with Sina Rahmani of East is a Podcast and Nick of The Intervention Podcast by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber, not only will you get access to at least one bonus episode a month, usually two or three, as well as early access to certain episodes and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers, depending on which tier you subscribe to, but you’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. The United States is the world’s leading purveyor of immiseration, destruction, death, and instability—as the swamp that sustains our current world order of monopoly capitalism and imperialism, the United States is still, and has been for a century now, the leading global hegemon, the imperialist super power that calls the shots on the world stage. Its drive towards accumulation and geopolitical dominance has wrought hell on the rest of the world’s nations and the planet itself. So why, then, are some so-called Marxists out there trying to wrap themselves up in a flag of U.S. patriotism? Patriotic socialism, MAGA communism, red patriotism—these are just some of the names that have been used to describe a recent phenomenon that, although certainly has its antecedents in things like the LaRouche movement of the mid-20th century, has begun, again, to creep its way into the discourse, albeit mostly online, of the left. What is this phenomenon and what does it get wrong? Why is it an error to attempt to wed U.S. nationalism with Marxism and communism? These are the questions we explore in this Patreon episode with our two guests: Nick, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, or PSL, and a co-host of The Intervention Podcast, and Sina Rahmani, a podcast producer and host of the show East is a Podcast. In this wide-ranging conversation we unpack the phenomenon of so-called patriotic socialism, and in doing so, explore many related topics ranging from nationalism more broadly, to the distinction between nationalism of the oppressed versus nationalism of the oppressor, the United States’s role of global hegemon, imperialism, and the revolutionary potential of the western working class. Further resources: The Intervention's Linktree The East is a Podcast Why The Rage Against The War Machine Rally Is #AntiWarSoWhite, Black Agenda Report   

There’s that saying that you’ve probably heard a million times: doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results is a sign of psychosis. Whether or not that’s something you might find in the DSM-5 manual, it certainly has a strong ring of truth to it. And it’s also something that rings profoundly true when we think about much of the broader left and liberal left strategy when it comes to presidential elections in the United States: just keep voting for the lesser of two evils and eventually things will sort themselves out. But all it takes is one brief look at our current conditions to understand that that attitude is, well, not exactly aligned with reality. When we survey either our current political, economic, ecological—really, any landscape, it’s beyond doubt that conditions have deteriorated—drastically. The far right, the hegemony of capitalism and imperialism, and the forces of reaction have all continued to grow in strength as we continue to acquiesce to the Democratic Party’s insistence that they are the bulwark against these forces and that by voting for the Democrats, we’re assuring that our democracy stays in tact. So we keep voting for them, and they keep breaking their promises—in fact, they don’t even really bother to promise much anymore because they know they’ve got us cornered—there’s nowhere else to go. But what if we could break this cycle? What if there was somewhere else to go? In this Patreon episode, we’re exploring an alternative to the two-party duopoly, an alternative to the two factions of capital that call themselves the Democrats and the Republicans. Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia are running for President and Vice President with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, or PSL. In this conversion, we explore why Claudia and Karina are running, what platform they’re running on and what policies they’re proposing, and why it’s more important than ever for the working class to start building power and building its own party as an instrument for not just participating in electoral politics, but for building class consciousness, getting folks involved in organizing, and in providing a platform for political education that presents a clear alternative to the dismal and defeatist messages coming from the two corporate parties that rule over us on behalf of capital. Further Resources: Claudia and Karina 2024  Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) Upstream: A Marxist Perspective on Elections with August Nimtz  Thank you to Karla Reyes of the Claudia and Karina 2024 campaign and Carolyn Raider for this episode's cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky

When the Soviet Union collapsed and the Berlin Wall was toppled, a lot was unearthed and a lot of interesting information became available to scholars and researchers in the West. One of those little bits of information was the answer to a question that a lot of people had never really thought of even asking: did women have better sex under socialism? Well, spoiler alert, but maybe not so much if you’ve read the title of today’s episode: Yes, it seems like they did. And in today’s episode, we’re going to explore why. Why do women have better sex under socialism? The answer to this question is the topic of the highly acclaimed book Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence, by Kristen Ghodsee. Kristen Ghodsee is a Professor and Chair of the department of Russian and East European Studies and a member of the Graduate Group in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of twelve books, including Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons From Five Revolutionary Women, and Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life.  In this conversation, in celebration of International Women’s Day, we explore how capitalism shapes not just sex, but relationships, care, and much of the life of people who identify as women. We explore how under capitalism sex becomes commodified and transactionalized, and look at the harmful impact that this has on society as a whole. We also explore how socialism, particularly under the Soviet Union, differed, and how economic stability and having one’s basic needs met let to a kind of liberation that resulted in, well, much better sex for women. Thank you to Bikini Kill for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond Further Resources: Books by Kristen Ghodsee Upstream: Everyday Utopia and Radical Imagination with Kristen Ghodsee Upstream: [TEASER] Socialism Betrayed w/ Roger Keeran and Joe Jamison Upstream: Feminism for the 99 Percent (Documentary) Upstream: Against White Feminism with Rafia Zakaria Upstream: What Is To Be Done? with Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante Documentary: Do Communists Have Better Sex? News Clip: Women in Some Countries will Mark International Women’s Day with Protests featuring Kristen Ghodsee Article: “Have You Wished Your Mother a Happy International Women’s Day Yet?” by Kristen Ghodsee This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

You can listen to the full episode with Max Geller of Palestine Action by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber, not only will you get access to at least one bonus episode a month, usually two or three, as well as early access to certain episodes and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers, depending on which tier you subscribe to, but you’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. Direct action is a strategy that has been utilized for a very, very long time by the left, as a way to achieve their goals— from all tendencies: anarchists, socialists, to communists. Direct action can take a wide variety of forms, from the forest protectors doing tree sit-ins in Atlanta’s Weelaunee forest as part of the Stop Cop City movement, to residents of the Bay Area congregating early in the morning at the port of Oakland to stop a boat carrying weapons for Israel from leaving the dock.  From climate change to police brutality to Indigenous resistance against pipeline companies, direct action has been used over and over to stand up to individuals, institutions, and state actors of all sorts. In this Patreon episode, we’re going to take a deep dive into direct action, focusing on how this strategy has been deployed here in the U.S. and in the U.K. in the context of Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign against the Palestinian people. Max Geller is a public-facing member of Palestine Action in the UK who has been working with Palestine Action for about three and a half years, and has been doing pro-Palestine, anti-zionist work for many years with organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, the National Students for Justice in Palestine Steering Committee, and with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, or BDS, movement. In this conversation we explore the work that Palestine Action is doing both in the U.K. and in the United States, we talk about direct action as a strategy and compare it to some other forms of action, we talk about some of the repression that activists have been facing—particularly here in the U.S. where anti-protest laws are beginning to become more and more common, we talk about Elbit Systems—which Palestine Action has targeted due to their prominent role in supplying weapons to Israel, and we explore Israel’s role as a major arms exporter to the rest of the world. Further Resources: Palestine Action

Transition is inevitable, we’re past the point of literal climate denialism. Even the fossil fuel industry, which has known about the dangers of climate change for decades now, has a plan for transition. In fact, one could argue that when it comes to being prepared and having a plan for the inevitable transition that climate change has forced upon us, the capitalist class is much, much more organized than we are on the left. Why is this the case?  Well, the answer is kind of implied in the original question: it’s a matter of organization. And right now, the left largely unorganized. In this episode, we’re going to explore the problem of organization in the context of climate action and ask how we on the left can begin to get seriously organized in a way that will allow us to actually have a set of concrete, scalable programs that can be put into action at a moment’s notice.   To do this, we’ve brought on two guests. Jodi Dean is an American political theorist and professor in the Political Science department at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York state, and and organizer with Party for Socialism and Liberation, or PSL. And Kai Heron, is a lecturer in Political Ecology at Lancaster University in the UK. Together Kai and Jodi authored the piece, “Climate Leninism and Revolutionary Transition: Organization and Anti-imperialism in Catastrophic Times,” published in the journal Spectre. Further Resources: Climate Leninism and Revolutionary Transition: Organization and Anti-Imperialism in Catastrophic Times Upstream: Capitalist Realism with Carlee Gomes Beyond Capital Toward a Theory of Transition by István Mészáros Upstream: Fully Automated Luxury Communism with Zarinah Agnew and Eric Wycoff Rogers Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming by Andreas Malm Ende Gelände Walter Mignolo Frantz Fanon Amilcar Cabral Thomas Sankara Decolonial Marxism: Essays from the Pan-African Revolution by Walter Rodney Upstream – The Green Transition Part 1: The Problem with Green Capitalism José Carlos Mariátegui The Red Nation / The Red Deal Hugo Blanco Climate Strike, by Derek Wall Upstream: What Is To Be Done? with Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante Common Humanity Collective Party for Liberation and Socialism (PSL) Palestine Action US Answer Coalition Palestinian Youth Movement Shut it Down for Palestine Thank you to TK for the intermission music and to Carolyn Raider for this episode's cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

You can listen to the full episode with Doug Henwood by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber, not only will you get access to at least one bonus episode a month, usually two or three, as well as early access to certain episodes and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers, depending on which tier you subscribe to, but you’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. There’s that saying that you’ve probably heard a million times: doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results is a sign of psychosis. Whether or not that’s something you might find in the DSM-5 manual, it certainly has a strong ring of truth to it. And it’s also something that rings profoundly true when we think about much of the broader left and liberal left strategy when it comes to presidential elections in the United States: just keep voting for the lesser of two evils and eventually things will sort themselves out. But all it takes is one brief look at our current conditions to understand that that attitude is, well, not exactly aligned with reality. When we survey either our current political, economic, ecological—really, any landscape, it’s beyond doubt that conditions have deteriorated—drastically. The far right, the hegemony of capitalism and imperialism, and the forces of reaction have all continued to grow in strength as we continue to acquiesce to the Democratic Party’s insistence that they are the bulwark against these forces and that by voting for the Democrats, we’re assuring that our democracy stays in tact. So we keep voting for them, and they keep breaking their promises—in fact, they don’t even really bother to promise much anymore because they know they’ve got us cornered—there’s nowhere else to go.  But what if we could break this cycle? What if there was somewhere else to go? In this Patreon episode, we’re exploring an alternative to the two-party duopoly, an alternative to the two factions of capital that call themselves the Democrats and the Republicans.  Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia are running for President and Vice President with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, or PSL. In this conversion, we explore why Claudia and Karina are running, what platform they’re running on and what policies they’re proposing, and why it’s more important than ever for the working class to start building power and building its own party as an instrument for not just participating in electoral politics, but for building class consciousness, getting folks involved in organizing, and in providing a platform for political education that presents a clear alternative to the dismal and defeatist messages coming from the two corporate parties that rule over us on behalf of capital. Further Resources: Claudia and Karina 2024  Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) Upstream: A Marxist Perspective on Elections with August Nimtz 

What do you typically think of when you think of pirates? Parrots? Peg Legs? Eye patches? Treasure? Is there more to pirates than these things, than corny jokes and a Disney franchise starring Johnny Depp?  Our guest for today’s episode certainly thinks so. Sam Conniff’s book Be More Pirate: How to Take on the World and Win, was published in 2018, and sparked a sequel How To: Be More Pirate, a podcast titled “Be More Pirate,” and a movement of people studying the principles and strategies of Golden Age Pirates to bring them into activism and leadership in the 21st century.  In this conversation, we learn about pirate history, including their symbols, ethics, and labor policies; we discuss David Graeber’s last book published posthumously, Pirate Enlightenment, or the real Libertalia which covers lost forms of social and political order that inspire hopeful possibilities for today, and we explore invitations for how we can each be more pirate in our projects, organizations, and social movements. Although 1690 to 1725, was the so-called Golden Age of Piracy which is the focus of this conversation, elements of piracy very much still exist—for example, Ansarallah, or the Houthis in Yemen, have been likened to pirates in popular narratives recently. You may know them as the group that’s been in the news lately for attacking Israeli, US, and UK-connected ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Ansarallah see themselves as acting on their obligation to international law to do all they can to help stop the genocide of the Palestinian people.  As Sam Conniff shares “Rather than simply voice their complaints, (pirates) choose instead to do something about the situation. No longer prepared to sit quietly and accept the bad deal on the table, they decide to break the rules and then remake the rules ... with a new social code built on purposeful principles such as fair pay, fair say, social equality, freedom, and justice. And rum.” Thank you to Storm Weather Shanty Choir for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond Further Resources: Sam Conniff Be More Pirate This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

You can listen to the full episode with Doug Henwood by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber, not only will you get access to at least one bonus episode a month, usually two or three, as well as early access to certain episodes and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers, depending on which tier you subscribe to, but you’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. Modern Monetary Theory, or MMT for short — if you haven’t heard of it explicitly or read about it in an economics textbook, you’ve certainly come across some of its theories and ideas out in the wild. Essentially, its proponents argue that, when it comes to the way that money and taxes work, most of us have it all wrong.  MMT is billed by its advocates as a radical new way to understand money and debt. The central idea of modern monetary theory is that governments can and should print—or in today’s world, create with a few keystrokes—as much money as they need to spend. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s essentially it—that the government doesn’t actually have to worry about taxing the rich or borrowing money because it can just create money out of thin air. And this sounds nice, right? We get to bypass that annoying question that we’re often asked on the left, “...but, how will you pay for it?”  But, maybe it’s not quite that easy to bypass that question. Maybe there’s a lot more to the equation that MMT leaves out. And maybe this theory is just a mirage—or, as our guest in today’s episode has written, “a phantasm, a late-imperial fever dream, [and] not a serious economic policy.  So, is MMT a sound theory? Or is it snake oil? That’s the question that we’re going to be exploring in today’s Patreon episode with Doug Henwood, a journalist, author, economic analyst, host of the radio show and podcast Behind the News, and author of the article Modern Monetary Theory Isn’t Helping published in Jacobin.  What does MMT miss? What does it get wrong in its explanations for how taxes, inflation and debt work? And why is it important for Marxists to scrutinize and criticize any monetary theories that say so little about labor, production, exchange, class conflict, and the function of the state? These are just some of the questions we’ll explore in today’s episode. Further Resources: Behind the News with Doug Henwood Modern Monetary Theory Isn’t Helping published in Jacobin Upstream: Universal Basic Income Pt. 1 – An Idea Whose Time Has Come? Upstream: Universal Basic Income Pt. 2 – A Bridge Towards Post-Capitalism?    

You can listen to the full episode with Roger Keeran and Joe Jamison by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber, not only will you get access to at least one bonus episode a month, usually two or three, as well as early access to certain episodes and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers, depending on which tier you subscribe to, but you’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at Patreon.com/upstreampodcast or at upstreampodcast.org/support. Thank you. If you grew up in the West, you were most likely provided with a simple, bite-sized, propagandistically persuasive explanation for the collapse of the Soviet Union: that communism simply doesn't work.  This explanation works particularly well for the hegemon who provided it, the United States, the leading enemy of global communism throughout the 20th century. But, does this explanation actually reflect reality? Did the Soviet Union really collapse because Marx and Lenin were wrong? The short answer is no. And the longer answer is what we're going to be exploring in today's Patreon episode. To debunk the myths about the collapse of the Soviet Union, and to provide us with a much more accurate explanation, we’ve brought on two guests. Roger Keeran is a historian and professor who taught at Cornell, Princeton, Rutgers and the New York State University. Joe Jamison is an economic researcher, labor movement worker, and Roger’s co-author, under the pen name Thomas Kenny, of Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union.  In this episode we explore some of the key figures and periods in USSR history before focusing in on the slow and very much avoidable unraveling of the political and economic systems of the USSR and the dissolution of the union of republics that it was comprised of. We explore the rise of the so-called second economy which led to the strengthening of a bourgeoisie class that exploited the primary socialist economy. We Look at how the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s strengthened this class and undermined the socialist economy, how the policies of perestroika and glasnost—which were economic reforms and the encouragement of political openness, respectively—backfired, how right wing opportunism, revisionism, and the betrayal of Marx and Lenin’s ideas ultimately led to the collapse of the USSR, and, crucially, what we on the left can learn from this regrettable and successful counterrevolution against the most important instantiation of communism in the 20th century.

Join the Upstream Patreon here:  https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast Below is a transcript of the update shared in this announcement episode — TL;DR: we've got tons of bonus episodes and other goodies as part of our new Patreon!  At least 1 bonus episode a month, usually 2-3 Early access to certain episodes Stickers If you’ve been following along with our episodes or on social media you’ve probably heard that we’ve been working on launching a Patreon account, and, voila—we did it. We’ll be sharing at least one, more likely two or three, bonus episodes every month for our Patreon subscribers, and that’s in addition to the bi-weekly, regularly scheduled episodes of course. We have 5 different tiers at which you can subscribe to our Patreon—all the details can be found here, but just to give you a sense, we the tiers start at $5/month. All tiers have access to the same number of bonus episodes per month, but as you go up in tiers there are additional benefits as well, including early access to certain episodes and stickers. And, of course, you'll also be helping us keep Upstream sustainable and helping to keep this whole project going. Here’s what’s coming: this month we’ve already got two bonus episodes loaded and ready to go. The first is an episode with Doug Henwood on the problems with modern monetary theory (MMT), and the second episode is with Roger Keeran and Joe Jamison on their book Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union. So as soon as you sign up you’ll get instant access to both of these. And then we’re also planning Part 7 of our ongoing series on Palestine for later in the month. Coming up in March in March we’ve got an episode planned with Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia who are running for President and Vice-President as the candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, or PSL.  What inspired us to create a Patreon community? As you know, we’ve always provided all of our bi-weekly episodes and our documentaries for free to everyone—that’s not gonna change. But then last year we faced a pretty big crisis as we lost both of our grant funders (which were by far our largest income stream), and we realized that we were gonna be entirely listener funded moving forward. The nonprofit industrial complex itself is a challenge to navigate, to say the least, but even more so as a podcast—funders just don’t really fund podcasts. They especially don’t fund political education podcasts, and especially, especially socialist ones. But we have to say we were so, so grateful to all of you who started supporting us at that time, or, of course, who had already been contributing monthly or through one-time donations—you really showed us that we can definitely keep Upstream going without the grant funding. So thank you so much. And to show our thanks we wanted to give you all something extra, something special.  Wanna sign up? Here's how it works: just go to our Patreon page and sign up. If you’re already donating to us and you want to switch over to become a Patreon subscriber, it’s super easy—you can just cancel your current recurring donation through Flipcause (which is where you’re donating through now), and just sign up for our Patreon instead. If you don’t feel like making the switch, no problem at all, you don’t have to do anything—your current donations through Flipcause won’t be affected in any way. And, of course, you can still make one-time donations through Flipcause.  We’re so grateful to all of you out there who've supported us with your donations over the months and years—we really could not do this without you. And if you’ve been on the fence about becoming a monthly supporter, this is a great time to do it because we’ve got a lot of really great bonus content coming your way. And if you’re just not at a place where you can afford to subscribe, it’s all good, we completely understand—we’ve still got our regular episodes coming out every two weeks. And if you do want to support us in a nonfinancial way, the best way to do so is just to share our episodes, share our posts, help spread the word and get people tuned into the struggle for liberation and for a more equitable and beautiful world. And of course leaving us a 5-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify goes a long way in getting those apps to put our content in front of new eyes and into new ears. So, thank you, we love you all. Solidarity. Join the Upstream Patreon here:  https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

The past decade or so was marked by mass protests—in fact, more people participated in protests than at any other point in human history, from Occupy Wall Street to the Arab Spring to the 2020 George Floyd uprisings and even more recently with millions upon millions pouring into the streets in support of Palestinian liberation. So why, then, have conditions not improved? Why have they, in many cases, only gotten worse? This is the question that Vincent Bevins set out to answer in his latest book, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution. The search for an answer took Vincent all over the world, from Brazil to Ukraine, Turkey, Chile, Hong Kong, and Middle East. The answer imparts an extremely important lesson to the left: we’re simply not organized. Or, rather, we’re not organized in an effective way. The shift in the left’s tactics and strategies since the 1960s has left us with movements that rely far too heavily on horizontalism, spontaneity, and an extreme form of prefiguration that subordinates ends to means. This New Left ideology abandons the principles of Marxism-Leninism, revolutionary theory, and the importance of leadership. This, Vincent believes, is why the mass protest decade failed to win its demands and bring about real change. Vincent Bevins is a journalist and writer and, in addition to If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution, he’s the author of The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World. Further Resources: If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution, by Vincent Bevins Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) The Tyranny of Structurelessness, by Jo Freeman On Authority, by Frederick Engels All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (TV series), Adam Curtis Upstream: What Is To Be Done? with Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante Thank you to Menstruação Anarquika for the intermission music and to Carolyn Raider for this episode's cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

“The sign of a healthy economy should be a drinkable river,” these are the words of Li An Phoa, an environmental activist and our guest for this episode. In 2005, Li An Phoa canoed the full length of the Rupert, a river in Canada. All along the way, she was able to drink water straight from the river. When she returned three years later, this was no longer the case. The river had been poisoned from dams, mining, and industry. Fish died, people got ill, and the delicate balance in the ecosystem was destroyed. Realizing that drinkable rivers are not just a key indicator of ecological health, but community vitality and resilience as well, and that rivers can only be drinkable when economic systems are post-growth, truly democratic, place-based, and respectful of the commons and Indigenous peoples, Li An decided to dedicate her life to re-cultivating drinkable rivers.  Since then, Li An founded the Drinkable Rivers organization and Spring College and has walked many rivers, using citizen science to test the water quality, training others to do the same, and intervening when a river has been contaminated or is off-balance. Her 1,000-kilometer walk along the river Meuse in Europe was the subject of the documentary Long Walk for Drinkable Rivers. Most recently, she and her partner Maarten van der Schaaf wrote the book Drinkable Rivers: How the river became my teacher.  In this conversation, Li An goes upstream to explain why rivers are no longer drinkable, she offers her vision of a world with drinkable rivers, shares her process for galvanizing communities to care for their watersheds, and suggests invitations for how all of us could contribute to healthier rivers and healthier eco- and economic systems around the world. Further Resources: Drinkable Rivers This episode of Upstream is brought to you by EcoGather, a holder of space between stories. EcoGather offers guided learning journeys and free weekly online EcoGatherings that foster conversation and build community around heterodox economics, collective action, and living as part of the natural world. Visit: ecogather.sterlingcollege.edu Thank you to Mirah for the intermission music and to Carolyn Raider for this episode's cover art.  This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

It may seem like a distant dream to imagine that the decades-long settler-colonial project which is Israel could finally end and transform into a state where all faiths, ethnicities, and cultures could thrive together in their diversity and equality. It seems like a distant dream because, as we all know, the reality that we’re witnessing is the opposite of that — it’s an escalation of an already ruthless and bloody ethnic cleansing campaign that officially began in 1948.  Although a democratic, multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-religious state may seem like an exercise in imagination, it’s hardly a futile pursuit. We must constantly be exercising our imagination and dreaming of a better world, not only because it’s important to exercise those muscles of hope, but because in doing so we’re also spreading the seeds of knowledge and inspiration which could themselves affect change.  To talk about what could be, we’ve brought on Ghada Karmi, a Palestinian-born academic, physician and author of many books, including In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story, and, most recently, One State: The Only Democratic Future for Palestine-Israel, published by Pluto Press. This is part 6 of our ongoing series on Palestine.  Ghada was a young child in Palestine during the 1948 Nakba, or catastrophe, and has spent many decades involved in the movement for Palestinian liberation. In this conversation, we discuss why a single Palestinian state from the river to the sea is the only just way forward, what some of the barriers to this happening are, what the sentiment of many Palestinains is when thinking about living side-by-side with Israelis in a democratic state, how this dream might turn into a reality, and much more. Further Resources: One State The Only Democratic Future for Palestine-Israel, by Ghada Karmi Upstream: Palestine Pt. 1: A Socialist Introduction with Sumaya Awad Upstream: Palestine Pt. 2: Justice for Some with Noura Erakat Upstream: Palestine Pt. 3: Settler-Colonialism and Medical Apartheid with Rupa Marya & Jess Ghannam Upstream: Palestine Pt. 4: False Solutions and Paths of Resistance with Sumaya Awad Upstream: Palestine Pt. 5: The Political Economy of Palestine with Adam Hanieh Donate to Middle Eastern Children's Alliance (MECA) Anera: Provide urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians Write your member of Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire The cover art for this episode was originally designed by Thomas Greenwood and was slightly adapted by Carolyn Raider for this episode. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Happy Winter Solstice! In this annual tradition, Della is joined by two fellow podcast hosts to reflect on the past year and set some intentions for the year ahead.  Manda Scott is a novelist, smallholder, and host of the Accidental Gods podcast, which showcases individuals and organizations at the emerging edge of our world to set the foundation for a future we’d be proud to leave to the generations that come after us. Her latest novel, Any Human Power is available for pre-order on Amazon. Nathalie Nahai is a behavior science advisor, author and host of the podcast The Hive, which focuses on psychology, technology, and human behavior. Nathalie is the author of Webs Of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion and is also the founder of Flourishing Futures Salon, a project that offers curated gastronomical gatherings that explore how we can thrive in times of turbulence and change. One of Della’s offerings in the new year is a Gaia Education course called Cultivating Regenerative Livelihoods that weaves insights from this podcast and her work as a Right Livelihood coach with practical solidarity economy tools to help us better align our work with our values and contribute to economic systems change. This 12-week online course will start on January 13th and is 300 pounds with half and full scholarships available and a 15% discount for Upstream listeners available here. Further Resources: Course: Cultivating Regenerative Livelihoods Course, Jan 13 - Apr 20, 2024, Virtual, Designed and co-facilitated by Della Duncan, 15% off discount for Upstream Listeners here: https://www.gaiaeducation.org/cart/155142-Cultivating-Regenerative-Livelihoods Poem: The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer Theory: Two Loop Theory by Meg Wheatley and Deborah Frieze Upstream: Marxism & Buddhism with Breht O'Shea Upstream: A Marxist Perspective on Elections with August Nimtz Upstream: Beyond the Clock with Jenny Odell California Doughnut Economics Coalition and positions available  Indy Johar: talking about Inter-Becoming and the model of the autonomous house on Accidental Gods  Alnoor Ladha and Lynn Murphy: on shifting from a Trauma Culture to an Initiation Culture  on Accidental Gods  Grief and Joy on a Planet in Crisis: Joanna Macy on the Best Time To Be Alive on The Way Out is In Event: Flourishing Futures Salon Event: Planet Local Summit Winter Solstice Meditation Summer Solstice Meditation This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

The ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip has been front and center in the world’s attention for the last couple of months, and it's important that we keep it there. But it's also important to remember that this latest escalation in violence is just that: an escalation, an increase in violence in a region where violence is the norm, not just militarily but also politically and economically — what we might call structural violence. The suffering in Palestine has been seen primarily as a humanitarian issue for decades now, but the reality is that reducing Palestine to a matter of humanitarian concern obscures issues of geopolitics and the political economy of the region in a way that decontextualizes much of what is taking place in Palestine, and, importantly, the material conditions and incentives driving the Israeli occupation. In this conversation, part 5 of our ongoing series on Palestine, we're going to explore the political economies of Palestine and Israel with a guest who is deeply immersed in these questions. Adam Hanieh is a Palestinian professor at the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies at the University and Exeter and author of Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East, published by Haymarket Books.  In this conversation Adam helps us understand the relationships between the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Israel, how class manifests in these different regions, what the political economies of these regions are and how they shape Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign, and in general, the importance of understanding the geopolitical dynamics of the broader region and neighboring Arab states when trying to understand what is happening in Palestine and Israel. Further Resources: Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East, by Adam Hanieh Upstream: Palestine Pt. 1: A Socialist Introduction with Sumaya Awad Upstream: Palestine Pt. 2: Justice for Some with Noura Erakat Upstream: Palestine Pt. 3: Settler-Colonialism and Medical Apartheid with Rupa Marya & Jess Ghannam Upstream: Palestine Pt. 4: False Solutions and Paths of Resistance with Sumaya Awad Donate to Middle Eastern Children's Alliance (MECA) Anera: Provide urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians Write your member of Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Before the Zionist project and the state of Israel placed their boots on the neck of Palestine, this region was a multicultural, multi-religious land, where Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived side-by-side in relative peace and harmony.  And despite what Israeli forces propagandize, this so-called “conflict” in the Middle East is not some millennia-old, intractable holy war between two religions. It's quite simply and very classically a case of settler-colonialism. When we see what's happening in Palestine from this perspective, the solution becomes quite clear: end the occupation. But despite this clarity, ending the occupation is no simple feat. Not only is there little appetite for this in Israel, of course, but with the entire cavalry of US military, financial, and PR support behind it, an end to the zionist colonization and occupation of Palestine feels, well, to put it gently, perhaps not feasible in the short term.  Of course, this doesn't mean that the fight for Palestinian liberation is a lost cause — far from it. Not only are there many battles to be fought which will bring liberation just that much closer, and which can improve conditions drastically, but the ultimate aim of ending the occupation of Palestine is a goal that the left can never abandon. As Noura Erakat reminded us in the second episode in our series on Palestine: we are, in many ways, all Palestinians.  In this episode we're going to explore how to end the occupation and the colonization of Palestine. We’ll explore some of the steps to get there, some of the barriers, some of the false solutions, and what a liberated Palestine might look like. To guide us on this journey we’ve brought back onto the show Sumaya Awad. Sumaya is a Palestinian writer, analyst, and socialist organizer based in New York City. She’s the Director of Strategy and Communications at the Adalah Justice Project and a contributor to and co-editor, along with brian bean, of Palestine: A Socialist Introduction, published by Haymarket Books. Our first conversation with Sumaya a few weeks ago is what kicked off our ongoing series on Palestine. And although you can certainly listen to each episode separately and in any order, they do all build on one another to set up helpful context as we move forward. Further Resources: Palestine: A Socialist Introduction Adalah Justice Project Upstream: Palestine Pt. 1: A Socialist Introduction with Sumaya Awad Upstream: Palestine Pt. 2: Justice for Some with Noura Erakat Upstream: Palestine Pt. 3: Settler-Colonialism and Medical Apartheid with Rupa Marya & Jess Ghannam Donate to Middle Eastern Children's Alliance (MECA) Anera: Provide urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians Write your member of Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

As the ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign against Palestinians continues, it’s important that we also continue to raise a magnifying glass to its perpetrators, not just looking at the state of Israel as a whole or the IDF—as blood-soaked as their hands are—but also looking at the some of the perhaps less publicly scrutinized institutions complicit in this genocide.  In this episode in our ongoing series on Palestine, we’re going to focus on healthcare institutions and their complicity in the devastation and destruction taking place in Palestine. What are the underlying power structures that support and uplift settler colonialism, white supremacy, and health apartheid? Why is it that so few health institutions in the west have spoken out against Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people? What does that tell us about the failures of our healthcare systems and much of the medical community?  To discuss these questions and more we’ve brought on two guests today. Dr. Jess Ghannam is a Palestinian professor in psychiatry at UCSF in San Francisco working in Gaza. Dr. Rupa Marya is a professor of medicine at UCSF in San Francisco and co-author, along with Raj Patel, of Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice.  Thank you to Carolyn Raider for this episode’s cover art and to Sabreen Group & Majazz Project / Palestinian Sound Archive for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond/Lanterns. Further Resources Upstream: Decolonizing Medicine with Rupa Marya and Raj Patel Rupa Marya on Instagram Inflamed Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice There’s No Justification for Destroying Gaza’s Health Infrastructure, Yes Magazine Health Professionals and War in the Middle East, JAMA Upstream: Health Communism with Beatrice Adler-Bolton Upstream: Palestine Pt. 1: A Socialist Introduction with Sumaya Awad Upstream: Palestine Pt. 2: Justice for Some with Noura Erakat This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

For those of us living in the United States, today — what we call Thanksgiving — is a very significant holiday because, for some of us at least, it’s a day to recognize and remember the violent, genocidal, settler-colonial history of the land we live on. Our lives here in North America are predicated on a history and a pattern that is repeating itself as we speak, most notably in occupied Palestine, where we are witnessing what feels like the culmination of a decades-long ethnic cleansing campaign against the Indigenous population of Palestine by the forces of Zionism, the state of Israel, and, by the reigning global hegemon, the United States.  We've already covered some of the history that led us to this point in Part 1 of our ongoing series on Palestine with Sumaya Awad, and on today's show, we're going to be exploring a different angle, outlining the history and context of the formation of the state of Israel, how Palestinians resisted Israeli occupation from before the state was even created, and how they continued to resist throughout the disingenuously named “peace” process that culminated with the Oslo Accords. As we’ll see, this process was never intended to bring a lasting peace to the region, but was intended to cement in the status quo of Israeli supremacy and the ongoing subjugation of Palestinians. To talk about this we’ve brought on Noura Erakat, Associate Professor at Rutgers University in the department of Africana Studies and the program of Criminal Justice and author of Justice For Some: Law and the Question of Palestine. From the Great Arab Revolt in 1936 to the second Intifada at the start of this century, and up to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th, in this conversation we explore the history of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation, the so-called peace process, the betrayal of the so-called two-state solution, where Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign is headed, and what it’s up against. Further Resources: Upstream – Palestine Pt. 1: A Socialist Introduction with Sumaya Awad Justice For Some: Law and the Question of Palestine by Noura Erakat Palestine: A Socialist Introduction edited by Sumay Awad and brian bean The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi Palestine, Israel, and the U.S. Empire by Richard Becker Donate to Middle Eastern Children's Alliance (MECA)  Anera: Provide urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians Write your member of Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

The Red Scare — perhaps most well known through the era of McCarthyism that dominated the social, political, and legal spheres of the U.S. in the 1950s — is actually much more than just a brief window of time where communists in the United States were vilified, criminalized, and blacklisted. The Red Scare is actually much more pervasive and longstanding, originating decades before McCarthyism and stretching well into the present. And, when combined with the Black Scare — the fear and hatred of Black people in the United States — it really forms an entire mode of governance that has shaped the character, policies, and collective consciousness of much of U.S.’s 20th and 21st centuries.  To talk about the Black Scare, the Red Scare, and how they work together to create a specific hegemonic atmosphere and policy landscape in the U.S., we’ve brought on Charisse Burden-Stelly, an Associate Professor of African American studies at Wayne State University, a fellow at the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University, a member of the Black Alliance for Peace, and author of Black Scare / Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States, published by the University of Chicago Press.  In this conversation, we discuss the history of the Red and Black Scares by looking at a few different examples of how these modes of governance overlapped and shaped both policies and people in the 20th century. We also explore how these scares have followed us into the present and how they shape and color more contemporary moments like the George Floyd uprisings, the Stop Cop City movement, or the various solidarity movements for Palestinian liberation here in the United States. Further Resources: Black Scare / Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States Organize, Fight, Win: Black Communist Women's Political Writing Upstream: The Limitations of Black Capitalism with Francisco Perez Upstream: Abolition with Niki Franco AKA Venus Roots This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.      

“This is the most important election of our lifetimes.” “Voting for a third-party candidate? Might as well throw away your vote!” “You may not like him, but you’ve just got to hold your nose and vote for him — otherwise, Trump might win.”  We're sure you’ve heard each of these lines many times — we know that we have. But, at some point you have to ask: how can every election be the most important one? Am I really throwing away my vote by voting for a candidate whose policies I agree with? Can we ever actually affect change if we’re always voting for the "lesser evil" candidate or party? Isn’t that just a race to the bottom — or, as we're seeing currently, a race towards genocide? Well, in this conversation, we’re going to tackle all of those questions — and much more — with our guest, August Nimtz, Professor of political science and African American and African studies in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota. Professor Nimtz is the author of The Ballot, The Streets, Or Both? published by Haymarket Books. In this conversation, Professor Nimtz explores the question of electoralism as it relates to revolutionary left politics through a deep dive into the history of the Russian Revolution — examining how Marx, Engels, and Lenin approached electoralism and then applying their analyses and viewpoints to today’s situation.  What is the role of elections for the revolutionary left? How can we engage with electoralism without falling into what Professor Nimtz refers to as “electoral fetishism”? What about the "lesser evil" or "spoiler" phenomenon? How can we build a party for the working and oppressed classes without falling prey to opportunism or bourgeois distraction? What can we learn from the European Revolutions of 1848, the Paris Commune, the Russian Revolution, and other historic attempts at revolution — both successful and unsuccessful? These are just some of the questions and themes we explore in this episode with Professor Nimtz. Thank you to Bethan Mure for this episode’s cover art and to Noname for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond/Lanterns. Further Resources: The Ballot, The Streets, or Both? Upstream: What Is To Be Done? with Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante Guerrilla History: Electoral Theory and Strategy of Marx and Lenin w/ August Nimtz This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.      

As we continue to work towards outer transformation, building the structures and models that will shape the transition to a post-capitalist society, it’s also important to think about the inner transitions within ourselves — particularly, how we relate to one another personally and socially. How we show up together for a liberated future is the core theme of the book How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community, written by our guest in this episode, Mia Birdsong. Mia is the Executive Director of the Next River Institute and the host of the More than Enough podcast miniseries. In How We Show Up, Mia shares how we have separated from one another despite our deep desire for belonging. She explores how we can instead turn towards one another, remembering our inherent interconnectedness, and how we can find connection and support in vulnerability and generosity.  In this conversation we explore how capitalism has undermined our ability to create and sustain healthy communities, what it really means to show up for someone, how to set boundaries and hold each other accountable without bosses or policing, what a healthy interconnected community feels like, and how to cultivate a sense of collective vitality that embodies the liberated future we want right now Further Resources: Mia Birdsong Next River Intstitute More Than Enough Freedom's Revival: A Field Guide This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.    

Before 1948, the land of Palestine was dotted with olive groves along rolling hills between mountains and the Mediterranean sea. Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, Jews, and Christians all lived alongside one another in relative harmony, practicing agriculture and embroidery, or working in factories or along the coast in thriving port villages. Not to romanticize it too much, but in comparison to what was to come, this region was thriving.  If you’ve been paying any attention to the news lately, you’ll know that an image of harmony is no longer the case in this region. In 1948, the state of Israel was founded, and the campaign leading up to, during, and following the founding of this ethno-state threw this region into a turmoil that has produced one of the most subjugated and immiserated populations in the world — a population that has been subjected to ongoing ethnic cleansing and a campaign of genocide aimed at replacing Palestinians and their towns, villages, and cities, with Israeli settlements.  In this episode, we’ve brought on Sumaya Awad, a Palestinian writer, analyst, and socialist organizer, to talk about this history, drawing a line from the Nakba of 1948 all the way to the present carpet bombing campaign on Gaza. Sumaya is a contributor to and co-editor, along with brian bean, of Palestine: A Socialist Perspective, published by Haymarket Books.In this conversation we explore the history of the political ideology of Zionism, how imperialism and colonialism shaped the state of Israel, the ethnic cleansing campaign known to Palestinians as the Nakba, the global propaganda campaign, led by Israel, aimed at covering up this history, the West’s complicity in war crimes and genocide, what a principeled socialist perspective on Palestine looks like, and much more. In fact, there’s so much from Palestine: A Socialist Perspective that we didn’t get to, that we’re going to have Sumaya back on for a part two soon. Further Resources: Palestine: A Socialist Perspective Donate to Middle Eastern Children's Alliance (MECA) Anera: Provide urgent humanitarian aid to Palestinians Write your member of Congress to demand an immediate ceasefire Against Canary Mission This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.    

What Is To Be Done? This is the question so profoundly posed by the Russian Revolutionary and Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, in his landmark text of the same name. Although it was written well over a century ago, this text, the questions it asked, and the paths forward that it provided, are just as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago. And just as urgent. What roles do spontaneity and disciplined organization have in leftist movements? Can we focus simply on economic reform, or do our actions need a larger political framework to structure, guide, and propel them?  Why does it feel like even though so many of us are motivated to work towards structural change, that things continue to get worse? Why does it seem like potential revolutionary struggles in the West always seem to stall and fail to move from a singular moment to a protracted movement?  These are old and familiar questions — a lot of ink has been spilled and speeches made exploring them — and in this Conversation, we’ve brought on two guests who've not only thought about these questions in depth, but who have some pretty compelling answers that draw from revolutionary theory and practice in both their personal lives and from the deep well of wisdom bequeathed by theorists Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Mao.  Breht O’Shea is the host of the podcast Revolutionary Left Radio and a co-host of Guerrilla History. He’s been on the show multiple times so you may already be familiar with his voice. Alyson Escalate, who has also been on the show, is the co-host, along with Breht, of Red Menace, a podcast that explains and analyzes revolutionary theory and then applies its lessons to our contemporary conditions.  Further Resources: Red Menace – What Is To Be Done? - V.I. Lenin  Revolutionary Left Radio – Politics in Command: Analyzing the Error of Economism  Red Menace – The Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon: On Violence and Spontaneity Red Menace – Understanding Settler Colonialism in Israel and the United States Revolutionary Left Radio on Instagram Upstream – Buddhism and Marxism with Breht O'Shea (In Conversation) Upstream – Trans Liberation and Solidarity with Alyson Escalante (In Conversation) Upstream – Revolutionary Leftism with Breht O'Shea (In Conversation) This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

What is the connection between capitalism, colonialism, consumerism, and Christianity? How do these systems and ideologies uphold and support one another? How do we work to dismantle them and cultivate in their place a decolonized culture and politics that supports Indigenous sovereignty, human health and wellbeing, and flourishing ecosystems? These are some of the questions that we’ll explore today on this special Indigenous People’s Day conversation with Sikowis Nobiss. Sikowis is Plains Cree/Saulteaux of the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada At 19 she began her life's work of uplifting Indigenous rights and voices when she got her first job at the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council in Fredericton, Canada, during the Burnt Church Rebellion. Between 2010 and 2015, Sikowis attempted to work with various Indigenous folks in Iowa City to build a climate and environment organization but was unsuccessful. However, her goal to found such an organization became a reality in 2016 when she joined the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. This led her to co-found Little Creek Camp in February 2017, which has since transformed into Great Plains Action Society, a fully Indigenous-led organization where Sikowis works at a grassroots level to dismantle corrupt colonial-capitalist systems and rebuild them with a decolonized worldview. Thank you to Soni López-Chávez for this episode’s cover art and to Black Belt Eagle Scout for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond/Lanterns. Further Resources: Great Plains Action Society The Righteous Gemstones Upstream Podcast documentary: Our Struggles are Your Struggles: Stories of Indigenous Resistance and Regeneration This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Although the reference to war that you just heard could very much be real, actual military conflict — after all, our guest on today’s episode has fought as a freedom fighter in a Kurdish militia in Syria — today’s episode isn’t about that. It’s about a different kind of war: class war. Specifically, class conflict as it manifests in the workplace between employees and employers. You may already know about Anchor Brewery — maybe you love the beer, maybe you’ve seen the iconic steam beer bottle around, or maybe you don’t know anything about it. Whatever your relationship to Anchor Brewery — you’re about to hear a story that stretches from early San Francisco union history, to the dawn of the craft beer renaissance, and into the present. A story about class war and worker solidarity in the beer industry. You might also have heard about Anchor Brewery’s unionization campaign that took place in 2019 after this locally beloved brewery was bought by a giant beer conglomerate, Sapporo. That unionization campaign was successful, but recently, Sapporo abruptly, and controversially, closed Anchor Brewing down. Now, some of the workers at Anchor who don’t want to see this centuries-old institution stripped for parts, want to turn the brewery into a worker-owned cooperative. This is really a sort of David and Goliath story, and to tell it, we’ve brought on Brace Belden, who was an integral part of the union campaign back in 2019. Brace is the co-host of the podcast TrueAnon and a long-time San Franciscan who has worked, in many capacities, within the labor movement. In this episode he tells us the story of the unionization campaign at Anchor — giving us a sort of ‘how to start a union’ 101 crash course. We also explore the struggles with Sapporo, the effort to convert Anchor into a worker cooperative, and also, how local Bay Area beer producers and enjoyers are coming together in an act of true solidarity to stand behind the workers that have been the backbone of this historic brewery. Thank you to Carolyn Raider for this episode’s cover art and to Gopal Maurya for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond/Lanterns. Further Resources: Help Workers Save Anchor Brewing (Gofundme) Anchor Union SF's Instagram International Longshore and Warehouse Union FoundSF Fingers TrueAnon The Response: Labor Battles and the Beer Industry with Pedro Mancilla Chapo Trap House — 288 - So You Want To Start A Union feat. Brace Belden (2/10/19) This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

It was once very difficult for people experiencing poverty in the Global South to obtain credit and loans because they were seen as unable to provide adequate collateral. This situation changed with the emergence of microfinance, a model pioneered by Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh which has now been widely disseminated to countries around the world.  At the heart of the Grameen system is the organization of borrowers into groups of women (97 percent of the bank’s loans are to women) where collateral is each woman's social connections and reputation. This model is touted for contributing to Women’s Empowerment and for “rising people out of poverty” and even won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.  But does this model actually empower women? Does it address the structural causes of poverty? Or is it just another frontier for capitalism — a new way of profiting off of the most marginalized, exploiting the trust and social cohesion among groups of women, and even triggering what’s been described as “India’s micro-finance suicide epidemic”? To answer these questions, we’ve invited on Dr. Sohini Kar, a socio-cultural anthropologist at the London School of Economics who focuses on the economic anthropology of South Asia, particularly in urban India. She is also the author of Financializing Poverty: Labor and Risk in Indian Microfinance.  In this conversation, Dr. Kar breaks down what microfinance is and how it’s hurting women in India and beyond, she shares stories of the experiences women in India have had with microcredit programs, she connects microlending in India with predatory payday lending in the United States as part of capitalism’s financialization of poverty, and finally, she offers truly transformative and empowering financial pathways for both investors and purchasers alike. Thank you to Carolyn Raider for this episode’s cover art and to Gopal Maurya for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond/Lanterns. Further Resources: Dr. Sohini Kar at LSE Dr. Sohini Kar Subprime Empire: On the In-Betweenness of Finance, The University of Chicago Press Journals This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

“It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” Those words have been attributed to both the philosophers Fredric Jameson and Slavoj Žižek decades ago, but they couldn’t feel more true today. As we continue to stare down the double barrels of climate change and COVID without any meaningful response from those who rule over us, without organized and collective action that has been able to make a transformative material impact, and for many out there without even really fully absorbing the reality staring us in the face…yeah. , it certainly seems like it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of this horrifying social order.  This phenomenon, which was so aptly distilled into a bite-sized quote by Jameson and Žižek, has come to be known as capitalist realism — a concept popularized by the late Mark Fisher in a book of the same name written in 2008. In Capitalist Realism, Fisher, an author and educator, explains in eighty pages, just how deeply capitalism has permeated our worlds, how totalizing its hegemony has become in the 21st century, how broadly it has flattened not just our institutions but our interactions, our experiences, our emotions, our traumas — how the commodification of everything has enveloped us all in this era we know as neoliberal capitalism. To discuss Capitalist Realism, the book and the concept, we’ve brought on Carlee Gomes, co-host of Hit Factory, a podcast about the films and politics of the 1990s. Carlee’s immersion in film and media, and her deep understanding of how capitalist realism exists in the realm of culture, gives this conversation a wide-ranging scope spanning from music to film to labor struggles to mental health — and much more. Carlee is also a friend of the show, both Robert and I have been guests on Hit Factory in the past, so we couldn’t be more excited to be continuing our collaboration with such a good comrade on such an exciting and rich topic.  Thank you to Carolyn Raider for this episode’s cover art and to Chain and The Gang for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond/Lanterns. Further Resources: Hit Factory on Patreon Hit Factory: The Matrix feat. Della Duncan Hit Factory: Slacker feat. Robert Raymond Hit Factory: The Matrix Resurrections feat. Aaron Thorpe What May Have Been, by Aaron Thorpe Revolutionary Left Radio: Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

Do you ever feel like time is marching in a particular direction? Towards, say, rising global temperatures, mass extinctions, ever-increasing divisions — and ultimately, towards inevitable collapse? What if this particular perception of time contributes to our feelings of despair and hopelessness about our futures? What if it limits our ability to imagine and fight for a more just, equitable, and regenerative system? In this conversation, we’ve brought on Bay Area artist and author Jenny Odell to help us unpack and reimagine our experience of time and to foster hope and inspire action for a better future. We focus on insights and stories from Jenny’s two books, her 2019 New York Times Bestseller How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy and most recently, Saving Time: Discovering Life Beyond the Clock. In this conversation, we learn about the commodification and colonization of time under capitalism, how it happened, when it happened, and how the fungibility of time contributes to human and planetary suffering. We explore her unique reframe of classes to include those who time, those who are timed, and those who self-time. We also talk about a more ecological and place-based sense of time, a life beyond the clock, unbound from capitalism, that shows that neither our lives nor the life of our planet is a foregone conclusion, that we are not alone in our efforts to dismantle capitalism, and that the more-than-human world is actually an active participant in the endeavor — and here to help.  Thank you to Carolyn Raider for this episode’s cover art and to Bowerbirds for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond/Lanterns. Further Resources: Saving Time: Discovering Life Beyond the Clock, by Jenny Odell How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, by Jenny Odell The Bureau of Suspended Objects Where Almost Everything I Used, Wore, Ate or Bought on Monday, April 1, 2013 (That Had a Label) Was Manufactured, to the Best of My Knowledge This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

When you think about the philosophies and practices of Buddhism and Marxism, you might not immediately think that they have much in common. However, you might be surprised at how much overlap and complementary resonance there actually is between these two rich and beautiful traditions.  In this conversation, we’ve brought on Breht O’Shea, a Buddhist practitioner and Marxist political educator based out of Omaha, Nebraska. Breht is the host of the podcast Revolutionary Left Radio and co-host of the podcasts Red Menace, Guerrilla History, and, most recently, Shoeless in South Dakota. You might remember Breht from when he was on the show about a year ago to talk about revolutionary leftist theory.  In this conversation, we explore how both Buddhism & Marxism offer helpful pathways to liberation and provide a spot-on analysis of the root causes of suffering. We also explore some of the potential tensions between Buddhism and Marxism, as well as what each tradition can learn from the other. And we end with a powerful invitation to embark on the path of the Bodhisattva Revolutionary to both end the internal and structural causes and conditions of suffering and to bring forth the systemic changes necessary for the transition to a socialist and eventually communist economy based on liberation, equity, and justice for all.  This interview was inspired by an episode of Revolutionary Left Radio titled Dialectics & Liberation: Insights from Buddhism and Marxism where Breht read a speech he gave at Arizona State University on the topic of dialectical materialism, Buddhism, and Marxism. Definitely check that episode out when you’re done listening to this — it’s a great complement to this conversation. Thank you to Carolyn Raider for this episode’s cover art and to Mount Eerie for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond/Lanterns. Further Resources: Upstream: Revolutionary Leftism with Breht O'Shea (In Conversation) Dialectics & Liberation: Insights from Buddhism and Marxism, by Breht O’Shea on Revolutionary Left Radio  Revolutionary Left Radio Red Menace Guerilla History Shoeless in South Dakota This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

When we think of health under capitalism, it's easy to go straight to the fight for universal healthcare, and understandably — that battle is one of the most contentious and important in the ongoing class war between the mass of people and those who rule us, the capitalist class. But it would be a mistake to think that that’s where our battle ends, that there isn't an expanded struggle over the ways that health and sickness are even conceptualized under the capitalist ideological framework which shapes how we value ourselves and how we are either utilized or abandoned by this system.  In this episode, we’ll take a deep dive into all of the different places where health overlaps with capitalism, with Beatrice Adler-Bolton, co-host of the podcast Death Panel and co-author, along with Artie Vierkant, of Health Communism: A Surplus Manifesto. This conversation glides from Marxist economic analysis to healthcare policy to history and to some of the most foundational philosophical underpinnings of the political economy of health. Beatrice directs a striking blow against any perceived possibility of true health ever existing under capitalism, arguing that we must fight for our lives, literally, to bring forth the fall of capitalism and to build a new system that works for everyone — what she calls health communism. Thank you to Carolyn Raider for this episode’s cover art and to Fugazi for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond/Lanterns. Further Resources: Health Communism: A Surplus Manifesto, by Beatrice Adler-Bolton and Artie Vierkant Death Panel Podcast Death Panel Medicare For All Week Decarcerating Disability: Deinstitutionalization and Prison Abolition by Liat Ben-Moshe Mad World: The Politics of Mental Health by Micha Frazer-Carroll This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

Elements of capitalism have existed throughout history — in institutions like markets, class relations, ownership laws, credit systems, etc. But they were never dominant until they came together, escaping the isolated, laboratory conditions in which they once existed, to coalesce and form a world-dominating capitalist order.  How did the bubonic plague, the world-shattering pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia in the 14th century, along with the Little Ice Age that followed it, give rise in the 1600s to the mode of production that has now come to take hold of the entire world? What is capital, and how is it a social relation, as Marx wrote? And what exactly is the relationship between capitalism and the state? Are these two opposed, like many on the reactionary right tend to assume, or are they one and the same thing, there to support and uphold one another? And what about capitalism itself — what different stages or phases of capitalism exist? How did we go from the more classic mercantile capitalist system to industrialization, culminating in monopoly, imperialism, and now what we tend to call neoliberal capitalism? And what’s coming next? To help us zoom out and give us a historical and overarching understanding of capitalism as a system and a process, we’ve brought on investigative journalist and scholar, Christian Parenti. Christian is the author of books such as Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence, and, more recently, Radical Hamilton: Economic Lessons from a Misunderstood Founder.  And just in case you were wondering, yes, Christian is the son of the political scientist, academic historian and cultural critic Michael Parenti, author of classics like Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism, as well as Inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media. You might have come across Michael Parenti on our Instagram where Robert loves to post so-called Yellow Parenti lectures and memes — check out our Instagram page @upstreampodcast if you want to know more. This conversation is also an excellent complement to our recent documentary, The Myth of Freedom Under Capitalism, which you can learn more about at upstreampodcast.org Further resources: Radical Hamilton: Economic Lessons from a Misunderstood Founder The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time By Karl Polanyi Thank you to James Xerxes Fussell for the cover art. Upstream's theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.tt

It’s perhaps more important than ever in these especially tumultuous, lonely, and oppressive times that we continue to believe that another world is possible. Simply reimagining the way we raise our children, the homes that we dwell in, the property we horde or share, and the form of the families we choose — can have profound and long-term impacts on the quality of our lives and on the world we’re living in more broadly. By challenging these seemingly ordinary structures of everyday life we can spark and re-spark our collective and individual desire to live in a more just and equitable world. This is the premise of new book Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life, written by Kristen Ghodsee. In this conversation, we take a journey around the world and through time, exploring some of the most fascinating, inspiring, and sometimes quirky, experiments in alternative ways of living. From Plato to the Buddha, from the Bible to the Communist Manifesto, from ancient Athens to the Soviet Union, we’ll explore what utopian thinking and practice has achieved, not just materially, but also in igniting our capacity for hope, radical imagination, and militant optimism.  Kristen Ghodsee is a Professor of Russian and East European Studies and a member of the Graduate Group in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the critically acclaimed author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence and Red Hangover: Legacies of Twentieth-Century Communism.  Further resources: Just on the Horizon: Nine Utopian Books to Deprogram Our Brains Thank you to Alice Phoebe Lou for the cover art. Upstream's theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

The music we know today as jazz has deep and contested roots, but likely arose in New Orleans, Louisiana in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The music is based on the musical traditions of Africans, newly freed from slavery, and particularly by the tradition of the blues, an art form known for expressing the suffering and hardship of Jim Crow America.   In his book, Jazz and Justice: Racism and the Political Economy of the Music, author and scholar Dr. Gerald Horne examines the economic, social, and political forces that shaped jazz into what we know today.   In this conversation, Dr. Horne guides us through the emergence of jazz as a musical art form, the brutal realities of white supremacy and economic exploitation faced by jazz musicians, and how this music blossomed into a force that has shaped and defined so much of U.S. American culture in so many profound ways. Thank you to Elvis Phillips for the intermission music and Carolyn Raider for the cover art. Upstream's theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

We’ve been taught to think of staggering economic inequality, the disposability of nonwhite  labor populations, hyper-exploitation, and minority rule as bugs within the capitalist system — things to be corrected by capitalist technology and innovation — but in fact, all of these things are anything but bugs — they are features of this system, baked deep into it at its very core. And, in many respects, the birthplace of modern, global capitalism, with its exclusion of racialized others, its rabid anti-labor ideology, its universalized immiseration, and its unrelenting push for hyperproductivity, is a place that might surprise you at first: California. Specifically? Silicon Valley. Even more specifically? Palo Alto.  In his book, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World, author Malcolm Harris traces a very bold line from early Californian history, with its brutal enslavement of Indigenous peoples, its railroad and agricultural barons, the codification of corporations as people, and the founding of Stanford University — the intellectual heart of modern capitalism — all the way to our modern tech-dystopia, marked by permanently unstable and low wage gig jobs, unimaginably harsh housing markets, and one of the deepest divides between the working and owning classes that this country has ever seen. And it all comes back, over and over again, to Palo Alto.  Thank you to Dead Kennedy's for the intermission music and to Carolyn Raider for the cover art. Upstream's theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

Although its intellectual handmaidens love to insist otherwise — capitalism is not a system that truly embodies freedom. We all feel it, of course — that nagging sense that we lack any agency over the choices that shape our lives, the frustration we feel at our bosses, the tension we feel with our landlords, the sense that we’re all just stuck in a rat race. We might lack the language to articulate it, or a framework within which to situate it, but we all know, deep down, that this ain’t it — that there’s something deeply wrong. In this episode, we explore why this is — why, despite what we’re constantly being told — that we currently live under the freest system ever — that we’re not actually free — and why we’re all imprisoned within capitalism. We start with a brief history of how we got here, what different conceptions of freedom have meant historically — and how they can be applied to our current condition — and then we take a deep dive into the mechanisms this system uses to keep us all imprisoned, and, finally, how we can break free. Featured Guests: Matt Christman: Co-host of Chapo Trap House Ayesha Khan: Infectious diseases scientist, germ doctor, grassroots organizer, writer, astrobiologist, and educator Corey Mohler: Creator of Existential Comics Jessica Gordon Nembhard: Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College of the City University of New York and author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice David Bollier: Activist, Scholar, and blogger focused on the commons and author of The Commoner's Catalog for Changemaking: Tooks for the Transitions Ahead. Music by Collections of Colonies of Bees, Peder, Mammoth Star, Do Make Say Think, and Chris Zabriskie, Thank you to Bethan Mure for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. You can read the full transcript of this episode here.  This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and the Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

At the beginning of the 20th century, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that within a century, thanks to the growth of wealth and the advances of technology, that no one would have to work more than 15 hours a week. The challenge, in Keynes's view, would be how to fill all of our newfound leisure time without going crazy.’   That obviously never happened — so, what went wrong? Technology has advanced to the point where we could all be working much less, and with all sorts of time-management apps and tips from experts, why does it somehow feel like there’s never enough time in the day?   In this episode, we’ve brought on someone who might help us figure that out. Oliver Burkeman is the author of 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals — a book about why life today often feels like a battle against endless to-do lists. In this conversation, we explore with Oliver how time has been instrumentalized under capitalism, why it’s important to “waste time” on activities that are not productive and cultivate the feeling of a “joy of missing out” as opposed to FOMO, the “fear of missing out,” and how to connect with what is truly most important to us right now and full-heartedly embrace our finite time, our mere 4000 precious weeks, on planet earth.   Thank you to The Weakerthans for the intermission music and to Carolyn Raider for the cover art. Upstream's theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Imagine this week you spent half your time growing, harvesting, preserving, and cooking food for yourself, your family, and perhaps your community — and the other half your time doing something else that you love, something that brings you joy — perhaps writing, podcasting, coaching, caring for others, or anything else. How would you feel? What would change about your relationship to food, to place, to work, and to the seasons? This is the lifestyle model championed by farmer and writer Naoki Shiomi.   Since the 1990s, the idea of "Half Farmer, Half X" — combining sustainable farming with an income-generating “X” variable that represents one’s calling, has inspired people across Japan and other parts of Asia to abandon corporate-capitalist modes of mass production, mass consumption, overwork, and long commutes — and to instead realign their priorities and make dramatic life changes to empower food sovereignty, community sufficiency, and meaningful livelihoods.   In the first half of this conversation, we’ll speak with Mika Furugori, a practitioner of Half Farmer Half X who quit her corporate job to move to the Japanese countryside to grow and cook food. And then, in the second half of the show, we’ll speak with Naoki Shiomi, the originator of the Half Farmer Half X concept — his words will be translated by Mika. Together we explore why people are turning to this model, how it connects with larger movements for systemic change, and how we can start embracing Half Farmer Half X no matter our living situation.   Thank you to Yujiro Kudo for the intermission music and to Carolyn Raider for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode was brought to you by The Decolonizing Economics Summit: The 4th Annual Post-Capitalism Conference from Thursday, April 20th – Saturday, April 22nd. The conference will be virtual, with an in-person Earth Day celebration on April 22nd in McKinleyville, CA. We invite you to join us at this radically new look at how to transform our economy, from a decolonizing and solidarity economy perspective.   Also, we're excited to share about a new, free course from our friends at ECONOMICS FOR EMANCIPATION — it’s a collaboration over decades between grassroots social justice and union organizers  — and heterodox economists out of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. E4E is a seven-module introductory course that covers economics, politics, and the history of movements for economic justice in the US. It creates spaces for learning about alternatives to capitalism and applying the lessons to craft organizing strategies and community projects. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Our transgender comrades are under attack — not just by incendiary reactionaries on the right, but also by many of those on the more liberal or even left side of the political spectrum. The attacks come in many forms, from outright violence, to genocidal language, to the often arbitrary and reactionary demarcations around what constitutes “womanhood,” to the “just asking questions” industrial complex led by liberal institutions like the New York Times.  In this episode, we explore a robust rebuttal to anti-trans and transphobic narratives and actions — from an explicitly Marxist perspective. And we’ve brought on the perfect guest to lead us in this.  Alsyon Escalante is the co-host of Red Menace — a podcast that explains and analyzes revolutionary theory and then applies its lessons to our contemporary conditions. The conversation we’re going to have is inspired by a cross-over episode of Red Menace and Revolutionary Left Radio titled, “Our Transgender Comrades: Dialectical Materialism, Marxist Feminism, and Trans Liberation.”  The first half of our conversation with Alyson focuses on that episode and lays out a theoretical rebuttal of liberal, bourgeois, and radical feminist approaches to feminism and gender. We lay out a principled Marxist, materialist analysis of gender and ‘womanhood’ and how they differ from post-modern and idealist conceptions.  The second half of our conversation brings the discussion back down to eye-level, and explores the current political, social, and economic realities faced by trans people and why it’s more important than ever for us to stand in solidarity with our transgender comrades and to fight against the reactionary right and their liberal accomplices. Thank you to Against Me! for the intermission music and to Carolyn Raider for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Resources: Red Menace and Revolutionary Left Radio Upstream: Revolutionary Leftism with Breht O'Shea (In Conversation) Upstream: Feminism for the 99 Percent This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

For the past couple of years, the city of Atlanta, Georgia, has been pushing forward a project known as “Cop City” — a tactical training compound featuring a mock city which has been referred to as a kind of 'war base' where police will learn military-style tactics and maneuvers. The $90 million compound would be built on somewhere between over 300 acres of forest in Atlanta — a space known as the Weelaunee Forest, one of the largest urban forests in the country. As a result of this controversial and extremely unpopular development, a grassroots response has taken shape to stop Cop City. In today’s episode, we’ve brought on two individuals who are part of that movement. Keyanna Jones is an interfaith leader and member of the Faith Coalition to Stop Cop City. She’s lived in the neighborhood around the Weelaunee Forest for her whole life. Matthew Johnson is a minister at Beloved Comnmune, an activist, and also a member of the Faith Coalition to Stop Cop City. Both Keyanna and Matthew are organizers who have been integral to the movement. Thank you to Fugazi for the intermission music and to Zara Wilkins for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Today on the show — surviving the collapse, permaculture and agroecology, native seed bombing, and much more with Andy C. from Poor Prole’s Almanac.   This week’s Conversation is a rebroadcast of an interview originally produced by The Response — a podcast that explores how communities respond to disaster — from hurricanes to wildfires to reactionary politics and more.   The Response, co-produced by our very own Robert Raymond, is another podcast of interviews and documentaries — we definitely recommend checking them out and giving them some love by rating and reviewing them on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. They've done episodes on topics like mobile abortion vans, mutual aid efforts in war-torn Ukraine, and the Stop Cop City movement — and they just did an excellent episode on the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio.   In this episode, Robert and Andy talk about a wide range of fascinating topics — including agroecology and sound ecological practices regarding the growing of food and the stewardship of land, native seed bombing and other forms of mutual aid and disaster preparation, and why building collective power and resilience is the best way to ensure that we not only survive the slow but inevitable societal collapses that have already begun — but to thrive through them and build a better world out of the ashes of the old. Resources: Poor Prole's Almanac on Instagram and Twitter Thank you to Haley Heynderickx for the intermission music and to Carolyn Raider for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

In order to understand the disconnection, alienation, and immiseration wrought upon us by capitalism, it’s imperative to understand this social and economic system’s reliance on separation — separation from nature, from each other, from ourselves, and, crucially, from our histories and lineages.   White supremacy, for example, is not only an essential component in the creation of a class society within capitalism, but it also serves as a tool to separate us from what our guest in this episode refers to as our more animist, traditional lineages.   Eleanor Hancock is the executive director of White Awake, an online platform and nonprofit that combats white supremacy by focusing on educational resources designed to support the engagement of people who’ve been socially categorized as white in the creation of a more just and sustainable society.   In this conversation, we talk about Eleanor the history and function of white supremacy within capitalism, what it means to be truly anti-racist, how to engage in the work of reconciling and healing ancestral lineages, and how we can all contribute to the development of a democratically-managed economy free of white supremacy and instead based on liberation for all.   Resources:   White Awake Birth of a White Nation The Invention of White People and Its Relevance Today by Jacqueline Battalora Socialism Made Easy by James Connolly Upstream Conversation: Inflation with Richard Wolff & Dean Baker (In Conversation) Upstream Conversation: The Sickness is the System with Richard Wolff (In Conversation) Upstream Documentary: Worker Cooperatives Pt.1 & 2   Thank you to The Evens for the intermission music and to Carolyn Raider for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Much of what we learn about U.S. history — from middle school to high school to, well, most of adulthood, is a myth. Oftentimes these tales leave out important information, sometimes they draw misleading conclusions, and a lot of the time they’re simply just made-up stories without any basis in actual history.  This recognition is also true for much of what we’re taught about the American Revolution of 1776. The standard tale is that a handful of so-called “founding fathers” discovered a so-called New World and set forth to establish a nation founded on the ideals of liberty and justice for all. But this is a tale that begins to fall apart pretty quickly once you start to examine it from a materialist perspective — one that starts with actual material conditions and contradictions instead of simply focusing on the ideas of certain thinkers that happen to have made their way onto paper.  Understanding the true history behind the stories we’ve been told not only helps to give context to and explain why we are where we are right now, but it also helps us in understanding the roots of our problems, and as we’ll see in this Conversation, to understand how deep they run — so that perhaps we can finally cast the false solutionary strategies of incrementalism and mere reform into the dust bin.  Dr. Gerald Horne is the author of many books, including most recently The Counter-Revolution of 1836: Texas Slavery, Jim Crow and the Roots of U. S. Fascism, as well as, The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America — which we’ll be focusing on in this Conversation.  We spoke with Dr. Horne about what traditional versions of the American Revolution of 1776 get wrong — particularly when it comes to enslaved populations and their relationship to colonists at the time. We also explore how the unique phenomenon of the United States’ racial capitalist system manifested in the 20th century, and developed into the 21st century — tying the fascist movements and white supremacy of today to the founding of this nation 250 years ago. Thank you to Bad Brains for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Although many therapists are beginning to understand the importance of the natural world in healing and overall mental health — for example by recommending “time in nature” to help with depression and other mental health challenges — very few also address the connected issues of economic and racial justice. Things such as a lack of access to nature, the high cost of eco-therapeutic offerings, the lack of diversity and cultural competency among practitioners, and the fact that communities of color are disproportionately impacted by climate catastrophes and are far more likely to live in areas with heavy pollution.  What if therapy were to be able to help us heal not just at the individual level, but also at the collective levels and in the realm of the ecological as well as the social? Continuing on from our recent conversation with Daniel José Gaztambide Nuñez and Harriet Fraad, this episode takes a deeper dive into a branch of Liberation Psychology: Liberation Ecotherapy — which weaves together reconnecting to nature with community care and with a commitment to social justice and equity. Phoenix Smith, who coined the term Liberation Ecotherapy, is our guest for this episode. They are an Ecotherapist as well as the Founder of the Alliance for Ecotherapy and Social Justice and EcoSoul Health and Wellness Consulting. In this conversation, Phoenix shares their framework for healing justice, they describe what a liberation ecotherapy session would look and feel like, and they offer invitations for how we might make therapy more accessible and helpful for the healing of all people and the planet. Thank you to The Burning Sun for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

As the capitalist class continues to glom onto a kind of tech-utopianism, many of us are starting to recognize not just the detrimental impacts of certain technologies on our lives, but also the lies that have been sold to us about those technologies. Despite all of the technological advancements, we’re more isolated, exploited, and alienated than ever before. And it really does feel like there’s a growing, popular backlash against many of the technologies of our modern world as well as a resigned realization of their false promises. So, why is it that technological progress rarely seems to really improve our lives? Why does it feel like every new piece of software or gadget imposed onto us in our homes and workplaces more often than not adds to our stresses and leaves us with more to do?  Well, we’ve brought on a guest today that has a pretty clear answer to these questions. Gavin Mueller’s new book, Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job, seamlessly weaves together the philosophies and strategies of Luddism and Marxism, to explain why technology itself is a site of class struggle, and that, to truly understand the role of technology in our lives, we must approach the topic from a Marxist perspective — one that is infused with the critical technological perspective of the Luddites of 19th century. In this conversation, we dispel a number of myths about who the Luddites were, what they believed, and what their goals were. We also explore a somewhat nontraditional perspective on Marxism and industrialization, what the Luddites taught us about how technology functions under capitalism, and how to resist the exploitation and alienation that often accompanies it. Thank you to Gray Matter for the intermission music and to Carolyn Raider for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Happy Winter Solstice! In the 3rd year of this annual tradition, Upstream host and producer Della Duncan joins two friends to reflect on the past year. Manda Scott is a novelist, podcaster, regenerative economist, and host of the Thrutopia Masterclass, which aims to help writers across all forms weave credible narratives that will lead us forward from exactly where we are, to a  flourishing future we would be proud to leave to the generations that come after us.  Her award-winning novels have been published in over 20 languages and have been best-sellers across the world. Now, she is turning from historical writing to Thrutopian fiction and her new book West of the Sunset, North of Tomorrow is due out in 2023.  This fast-paced thriller embraces all of the ideals explored in the Accidental Gods podcast and membership project.  She lives in the English Marches on the border with Wales, dreams of Scottish Independence, and shares her life with a wife, assorted four-legged friends and a community of dreamers intent on forging a flourishing future.  Nathalie Nahai is an author, keynote speaker, and host of The Hive Podcast, a series that enquires into our relationship with one another, with technology, and with the living world. With a diverse background in human behavior, persuasive tech and the arts, she brings a unique vantage point from which to examine the complex challenges we face today. She is also the author of bestselling books: Webs Of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion and Business Unusual: Values, Uncertainty and the Psychology of Brand Resilience. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by the Guerrilla Foundation and Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Mainstream psychology has been complicit — whether intentionally or not — in the establishment of colonial, white-supremacist, capitalist hierarchies of oppression around the world. Individualizing pain lets the systemic causes for our suffering off the hook and places the responsibility for healing and wellbeing on individual will.  In the 1970’s in El Salvador, confronted by these dangers of western psychology — during a civil war — psychologist Ignacio Martín-Baró started to develop an alternative, constructing a psychology relevant to oppressed peoples, like many of the people of El Salvador who were undergoing social, political, and war-related trauma.  Martin-Baró was ultimately assassinated as a result of his work by a CIA-trained battalion of the Salvadoran army, but fellow therapists and theologians in Latin America carried his work on. His legacy, known as Liberation Psychology, is an attempt to bring the historical, political, and economic causes of our distresses and discontents into the therapy session. The aim is to bring about liberation through an understanding of the systemic causes of oppression, exploitation, and alienation and to offer pathways to more socialist, just, and regenerative models of relating that would bring about both human and planetary well-being. To learn more, we’ve brought on two guests with both a theoretical and experiential relationship to Liberation Psychology.  Daniel José Gaztambide Nuñez, PsyD is a therapist and author of the book A People’s History of Psychoanalysis: From Freud to Liberation Psychology. Daniel is the assistant director of clinical training in the Department of Clinical Psychology at the New School for Social Research, and the director of the Frantz Fanon Lab for Intersectional Psychology,  Harriet Fraad is a feminist activist, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, and host of the Capitalism Hits Home podcast.  We begin the show with Daniel José Gaztambide Nuñez, PsyD exploring Freud, Marx, and the origins of Liberation Psychology. In the second half of the show, we speak with Harriet Fraad exploring a Marxist-Feminist approach to Liberation Psychology. Thank you to Noname for the intermission music and to Neil Ballard for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Related Conversations / Further listening: Stolen Focus with Johann Hari This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by the Guerrilla Foundation and Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Awareness of climate change has never been higher — outright climate denialism seems to be a thing of the past. Business leaders and the corporate media no longer shy away from terms like global warming or climate change like they used to, and policymakers from all sides of the political spectrum are claiming to be climate leaders.  So why, then, do things seem to be getting even worse? Why are the actions of those in power so out of line with what scientists and experts at the IPCC are urgently calling for? Why does COP after COP continue to accomplish close to nothing? Why are we still on track for catastrophic levels of warming? Well, there are a lot of explanations for this, but they can all be distilled into one overarching reason: green capitalism.  In this episode, we explore how the idea of green capitalism has hijacked any real possibility for climate solutions — and why the logic of mainstream economic reasoning has consigned us to a future where the continued habitability of our planet is up for question.  Adrienne Buller is a Senior Research Fellow at Common Wealth and author of The Value of a Whale: On The Illusions of Green Capitalism, published by Manchester University Press. In this Conversation we explore how powerful financial interests shape the contours and curtail the possibilities of our response to climate change, how the flawed logic of dominant economic thinking sets dangerous parameters for policymakers, and why, if we’re hoping to survive climate change and ensure a just, livable future for all, we must move beyond capitalism and embrace ecological, social, and economic principles designed to put people and the planet over profit.  Thank you to Jenny Hval for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Related Conversations / Further listening: The Green Transition Part 1 & 2 This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by the Guerrilla Foundation and Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Far from being some kind of transcendent economic phenomenon originating from higher realms of monetary physics that are indecipherable to us mere proletarian mortals, the economy is actually pretty straightforward and easy to understand — it’s mostly just politics. And that’s still true when it comes to purposefully mystified topics like inflation — particularly to how policymakers respond to inflation — it’s all just politics. Decisions made by those in power.  But the thing is right now the decisions about how to respond to inflation are being made by a class of people whose job it is, under capitalism, to make sure that the economy works for just one small group of people: capitalists. There is, of course, an alternative — and that alternative is one that would look a lot better for the vast majority of us.  In this Conversation we take a deep dive into inflation: what it is, what’s driving it, what’s wrong with the current response to it, and what a left response to inflation would look like.  Hadas Thier is a writer, journalist, and activist based in Brooklyn, New York. We had her on the show earlier this year to talk about her book, A People's Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics, and for this Conversation we’ll be talking about her latest article for In These Times, titled “A Left Answer to Inflation.” Thank you to The Limeliters for the intermission music and to Bethan Mure for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Related Conversations / Further listening: Inflation with Richard Wolff and Dean Baker (In Conversation) This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by the Guerrilla Foundation and Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Colonialism and white supremacy have shaped the field of archaeology from its inception — and to this day continue to dominate the cultural and scientific paradigms of this field of study. One of the most significant ways that this has shown up in the discipline is through the hegemony of a single theory — the Clovis First Hypothesis — which claims that the Americas were populated roughly ten to twelve thousand years ago — and not earlier.  In her book, The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere, Dr. Paulette Steeves meticulously deconstructs and dispels the myth that human beings have only been in the Americas for ten thousand years. She builds on decades of research which has been suppressed and erroneously refuted by those in the field who have never wanted to accept the fact that the Indigenous people of the Americas have been here for much, much longer than was ever admitted by the most influential and powerful archaeologists. Dr. Paulette Steeves is an Indigenous archaeologist, professor at Algoma University, and the Canada Research Chair in Healing and Reconciliation. In this Conversation, we discuss exciting new findings in the fields of archaeology and paleontology and what they tell us about the real history of Indigenous people in the Americas, the ways that white supremacy and racism still permeate the fields of anthropology and archaeology, what a decolonized archaeology could look like, and how to get there. Thank you to Willie Mitchell and the Desert River Band for the intermission music and to Bethan Mure for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by the Guerrilla Foundation and Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Vandana Shiva is an activist and tireless advocate for food sovereignty for farmers’, peasants’, and women’s rights. She’s a world-renowned ecofeminist, anti-globalization thinker and scholar, a Right Livelihood Award Laureate; and the author of several books including Reclaiming the Commons, Earth Democracy, Oneness vs. the 1%, Stolen Harvest, and most recently a memoir, Terra Viva: My Life in a Biodiversity of Movements. In this conversation, Vandana Shiva weaves together stories of her life with a critical examination of our current economic system along with inspiring stories of non-violent grassroots actions to protect and preserve the health and well-being of people and the planet.   How can we reject the spread of hierarchy and division and begin reclaiming our right to live free, think free, breathe free, and eat free? How can we go upstream to decolonize all the spheres of our lives and focus on strengthening and revitalizing the commons? These are just some of the questions we explore in this Conversation. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and by the Guerrilla Foundation and Resist Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

There are many traditions or tendencies among the left. In fact, sometimes just trying to wrap our heads around all of the rich theoretical frameworks and various anti-capitalist thinkers can be dizzying. But it's also exciting — the richness of leftist history and theory is vital to learn and to build our work from. In this episode we’ve brought on someone who knows a thing or two about leftist theory — in fact, he's got multiple podcasts that go into depth on historical figures, theory, and philosophy from a post-capitalist perspective. Breht O’Shea is the host of Revolutionary Left Radio, Red Menace, and Guerrilla History. He’s also an activist and organizer based out of Omaha, Nebraska. Although his breadth of knowledge spans an incredibly wide range, we brought Breht on today to focus on the Leninist tradition. We’ll explore the fundamentals of Marxism–Leninism, as well as the related theoretical framework of Maoism. We talk about the importance of theory in informing our organizing, why it's important to learn about both the good and bad parts of historical figures and revolutionary movements – even when it comes to figures as controversial as Mao or Stalin. We also have a conversation about fascism in the United States, where we can go from here, and why it's important to center love and humanity in all we do. Thank you to Parsley Sound for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation, Resist Foundation, and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: apple.co/3bW70wR Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Is the growing ascendance of digital money simply an organic evolution away from the purported inconveniences of physical cash? Or is this transition actually a nefarious, corporate-engineered, neo-enclosure of money by Big Finance and Big Tech? In his latest book, Cloudmoney: Cash, Cards, Crypto, and the War for Our Wallets, author, journalist, and financial hacker Brett Scott lays out an extremely compelling case arguing that corporations are engineering an enclosure of money — transforming it into a completely digital form which they alone will control. In this Conversation, we take a deep dive beneath the surface of the global financial system to explore the technical and political differences between various forms of money, why corporations are attacking physical cash and plotting to completely replace it with digital money, who will really benefit from a cashless society, and why the fight for ownership of our digital footprints is one of the most pressing battles of our time. Thank you to The Pixies for the intermission music. Cover art is by Bethan Mure. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: apple.co/3bW70wR Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Traditionally within Marxist thought, there are two major classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, or workers and capitalists. Within these two classes, however, there are many strata — and in this episode we take a deep dive into one particular stratum. The professional managerial class, or the PMC, is comprised of highly educated, often centrist or liberal leaning individuals who tend to uphold the systems and institutions of capitalist society while at the same time viewing itself as the virtuous vanguard of progress. And although this class falls within the working class, its allegiances and sympathies lie with capitalists. And indeed, in most ways, it does benefit from capitalism. To discuss the professional managerial class and its position within capitalism further, we’ve brought on someone who’s written an entire book about it. Catherine Liu is a professor of Film & Media Studies at UC Irvine and author of Virtue Hoarders: The Case Against the Professional Managerial Class. In this conversation we discuss who the PMC is comprised of, how this class emerged, and why it poses a unique threat to socialist and communist aspirations. Thank you to Sleater-Kinney for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

It may not come as a surprise to most of you to hear that capitalism is the root cause of climate change. But if we unpack this a little bit, we see that it’s a specific component of capitalism that’s mostly responsible: the need for exponential and perpetual expansion. Growth isn’t just a byproduct of capitalism, it’s an imperative — an imperative to which we are all hostage. That’s why, according to our guest in this week’s Conversation, unless the climate movement centers degrowth in its strategies and policy proposals, nothing will fundamentally change. Jason Hickel is an economic anthropologist, Professor at the Institute for Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and author most recently of Less is More: How Degrowth will Save the World. We first spoke with Jason five years ago on his book The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions, and then again in 2020 on international capitalism during the pandemic. In this conversation, Jason explains why 'growthism' is so problematic for our health and the health of the planet. He talks us through alternatives to growth, and shares how we could realistically unhook from perpetual expansion and transition to a post-growth, post-capitalist economic system where we are all living healthier, happier lives on a thriving planet. Thank you to Mazzy Star for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

The logic of orthodox economic thinking has come to dominate and permeate every aspect of our lives, from the deeply internalized capitalism which shapes our thoughts and hopes and dreams, to policy decisions that shape our lives, constrain our possibilities, and steal public goods out from under our noses. How did we get here? How did economic rigidity gain such supremacy? Are the principles of orthodox economics really value neutral, as its champions claim? And if not, what moral philosophies underpin them? What are their origins? And how have they come to dominate policymaking in the last several decades? In the first half of this Conversation, we’ve brought on Jonathan Aldred, a Fellow and Director of Studies in Economics at Emmanuel College, Lecturer in the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, and author of the book License to be Bad: How Economics Corrupted Us. Jonathan will walk us through the philosophical foundations of orthodox and neoliberal economics. And then in the second half we’ve brought on Elizabeth Popp Berman, an economic sociologist, associate professor of organizational studies at the University of Michigan, and author of the book Thinking like an Economist: How Efficiency Replaced Equality in U.S. Public Policy. We’ll talk with Elizabeth about the policy implications of dogmatic economic thinking. Thank you to Galaxie 500 for the intermission music in this episode. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

The US Supreme Court has just overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights which had set the precedent for almost 50 years, throwing authority over abortion down to the states to decide. As of now, a dozen or so states have trigger laws which will outlaw abortion fairly rapidly, and many others will likely follow suit in the coming weeks and months. In light of this, we're interrupting our regular 2 week episode release schedule to bring you a special extra episode. There’s a lot of media coverage on the Roe decision, of course, but a lot of it is lacking in its analysis, and that’s why we’ve brought on two guests to provide a much needed perspective. Diana Moreno is an immigrant rights activist and Democratic Socialists of America organizer in Queens, and Jenny Brown is an organizer with National Women's Liberation and the author of several books on feminism, reproductive rights, and labor, including Without Apology: The Abortion Struggle Now and Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight Over Women's Work. Both Diana and Jenny approach their feminism with a socialist analysis that provides a strong materialist grounding, a deep understanding of the dynamics around immigration, and an orientation that challenges traditional liberal and oftentimes white, heteronormative feminism that dominates most mainstream discussions. In this Conversation we explore the history of abortion in the United States, a class analyses on abortion and reproductive justice, the ideologies of liberal versus socialist feminisms, the abject failure of the Democratic Party, possible paths forward, and much more. Thank you to Against Me! for the intermission music in this episode. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

There’s a broad conflation within our present day capitalist society between the success of individual members of certain oppressed and marginalized groups and their collective success and liberation. This is particularly true when it comes to Black people and their liberatory struggles. Too often, the successes of individual people — Oprah, or LeBron James, for example — or their rise to certain leadership positions, take Barack Obama — are seen as collective successes, whereas, when it comes to the material conditions of all Black people, these individual successes don’t have a significant impact. What are the dangers of this conflation between individual and collective success? Can Black liberation be achieved through individual successes within capitalism — through Black capitalism? And what would it mean to truly build Black wealth in the United States and beyond? In today’s Conversation, we’ve brought on someone to help unpack these questions. Francisco Pérez is the Executive Director of the Center for Popular Economics and author of the recent piece in Nonprofit Quarterly, “How Do We Build Black Wealth? Understanding the Limits of Black Capitalism.” Thank you to Tracy Chapman for the intermission music in this episode. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

What if what we thought we knew about environmental conservation is wrong and it’s not the ethical and regenerative movement we thought it was? Turns out the philosophy and practices of conservation — pioneered by the likes of Teddy Roosevelt, Henry David Thoreau and John Muir — are intimately intertwined with colonialism, imperialism, and racialized capitalism. And, unfortunately, this isn’t just a historical analysis — it’s a legacy that has continued well into the movement’s modern day configurations. In fact, things may have even gotten worse. This is according to a recent paper in the journal Environment titled "From Racialized Neocolonial Global Conservation to an Inclusive and Regenerative Conservation." In the paper, the authors outline the problems with mainstream conservation methods and policies — policies that impose artificial binaries between Indigenous communities and the lands they have stewarded, perpetuating patterns of extractivism and greenwashing and leading to countless harms inflicted onto these communities all in the name of 'wildlife preservation.' In this Conversation we’ve brought on the paper’s lead author, Prakash Kashwan, an Associate Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Research Program on Economic and Social Rights at the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut. Prakash is the author of the widely reviewed and acclaimed book "Democracy in the Woods" and a Co-Editor of the journal Environmental Politics. He also serves on the editorial advisory boards of Earth Systems Governance, Progress in Development Studies, Sage Open, and Humanities & Social Sciences Communications. How is much of the modern conservation movement still steeped in its racist, colonial, imperial past? And what might an inclusive and regenerative conservation look like? Join us to explore these questions and more. You can request a full-text version of the paper From Racialized Neocolonial Global Conservation to an Inclusive and Regenerative Conservation at Research Gate (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352971729_From_Racialized_Neocolonial_Global_Conservation_to_an_Inclusive_and_Regenerative_Conservation). You can also write to Prakash to request a pdf copy of the paper at [email protected]. Thank you to The Breeders for the intermission music and to Bethan Mure for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Fully automated luxury communism. Fully automated luxury gay space communism..? Fully automated, queer, neo-decadent, meta-modern communism? Okay so, what does all of that mean? You’ve probably heard the phrase fully automated luxury communism before, whether in a podcast like this, or in a meme maybe, but what exactly does it mean? Maybe the phrase conjures up images of a utopian, moneyless society where all of our jobs have been taken by robots and we just frolic and play all day? Perhaps it evokes ideas of a Starship Enterprise tech utopian world marked by adventures and quests. Maybe it's something in between. In this conversation we’ve brought on two guests to explain what fully automated luxury communism is, what some different iterations of it might look like, why it's an important Northstar for the left to reach for, and how we might get there. Zarinah Agnew is a trained neuroscientist formerly at University College London, and then UCSF, a self-described guerrilla scientist, and part of the Beyond Return organization. And Eric Wycoff Rogers is a scholar, organizer, designer, artist, and currently PhD student in American history at Cambridge and also part of the Beyond Return organization. This episode’s cover art was designed and illustrated by Instagram’s @ radleftdad and @ adorable_communism_too. Thank you to Archie James Cavanaugh for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

More than just a region, Silicon Valley has also become a concept — and what that concept represents means a lot of different things to different people. Some might think of it as a techno-utopian dreamland where billionaires are made. Others, perhaps a soul-sucking dystopia driven by a never ending rat race — also where billionaires are made. Whatever you may think, one thing that's hard to disagree with is the idea that work dominates Silicon Valley, and while some here are simply working to live, a certain privileged class of society actually lives to work. It's this class of workers that are the main characters in Carolyn Chen’s new book: Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley. Carolyn Chen is an Associate Professor of Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies and Comparative Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. How has work become the new religion in Silicon Valley? What material and historical conditions led to the spiritualization of work? What strategies do workplaces deploy to ensure workers find meaning and purpose in work — and what other realms of life does this impact? What happens when work takes over the institutions that shape our souls? These are just some of the questions we’ll explore in this conversation with Carolyn Chen. Thank you to Beck for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. If you’re interested in learning more about how spirituality is being deployed to create more docile, pliant workers, check out our conversation with Ron Purser on his book McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

The latest installment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC report, released this month, gives us three years to drastically cut emissions. “It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees,” the authors of the report warn. But in reality, it's more likely that we’ll double that number. If you haven’t already seen the headlines, the report indicates that we’d need to cut emissions by almost half by 2030 and be at negative emissions by 2050 — that means we’d need to be taking carbon out of the atmosphere at that point — in order to avert the worst of climate change. But these are just the headlines — the actual report is around 3000 pages long, and is a pretty groundbreaking and radical document, at least when it comes to these kinds of reports by typically conservative scientific bodies. The report includes a great deal of research from social scientists, and for the first time, in a major way, debunks much of the economics behind neoliberal climate solutions, even going so far as to name colonialism as a driver for climate change, and even alludes to capitalism as a major contributing factor. To unpack it all, we’ve brought on someone who's actually started reading all of the entire 3000 pages of the report. Amy Westervelt is an award-winning climate journalist, founder of the Critical Frequency podcast network, and host of the podcast Drilled. Is the fossil fuel industry, as they would like us to believe, a demand-driven industry? Or has it really become more of a market looking for a product? Are we getting to a place where mainstream narratives no longer simply call for individual actions, but focus much more heavily on collective and systemic solutions to climate change? And are we finally moving away from seeing global warming as a strictly environmental issue, and instead to seeing it as one more rooted class struggles against systems like capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism? These are some of the topics we explore in this conversation with Amy Westervelt. Thanks to Bedouine for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

“The pursuit of private financial gain is what drives inequality and ecological harm.” This is the perspective of Jennifer Hinton, a leading proponent of the not-for-profit business, which is differs in fundamental ways from a traditional nonprofit organization and, of course, from for-profit businesses. Not-for-profit businesses models are often invisible in the many movements to reimagine our economic system, but the idea is starting to gain momentum. Jennifer offers a vision of an entirely not-for-profit economy made up exclusively of not-for-profit businesses that de-emphasize profit and growth and instead prioritize businesses as a means for social and environmental benefit. Together we look at examples and operating principles of this model, we explore how it navigates the capitalism/socialism binary, and we ask what conditions would be necessary for this model to truly offer a bridge to a post-growth, post-capitalist world. Dr. Jennifer Hinton is a systems researcher, activist, and ecological economist who is a Senior Fellow at the Schumacher Institute and the author of two books: How on Earth: Flourishing in a Not-for-Profit World by 2050 (https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1902/1902.01398.pdf), co-authored with Donnie Maclurcan of the Post-Growth Institute, and Relationship-to-Profit: A Theory of Business, Markets, and Profit for Social Ecological Economics (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348742711_Relationship-to-Profit_A_Theory_of_Business_Markets_and_Profit_for_Social_Ecological_Economics) Thanks to Between Friends for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Standing Rock was a pivotal moment in regards to Indigenous resistance — but it was just one in a long line of battles that Indigenous peoples have been fighting against the twin forces of colonialism and capitalism since first contact. In this episode, we’re taking a deep dive into Indigenous resistance against colonialism, capitalism, and climate change — from the Amah Mutsun’s fight to save their most sacred site in California to the Wet’suwet’en’s battle against a gas pipeline on Canada’s western coast, and then up into the North American tundra and across into Northern Europe’s arctic circle where the Inuit and Sámi peoples are fighting to save the ice that they rely on. What parallels lie between the struggles of the Amah Mutsun Costanoan Ohlone, the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, the Inuit, and the Sámi peoples of northern Europe? How have the forces of capitalism and colonialism led to the destruction of Indigenous lives, land, language and culture? What can tens of thousands of years of a diversity of Indigenous insights, knowledge, and wisdom — along with a more modern amalgamation of Indigenous-Marxism — teach us about it? And what invitations for paths forward can we take to lead us to a future committed to solidarity, healing, and ecological restoration? Join us in exploring these questions with guests: Valentin Lopez: Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of the Costanoan Ohlone Eleanor Castro: Amah Mutsun Costanoan Ohlone Elder Sleydo' (Molly Wickham): Member of the Wet'suwet'en Nation and spokesperson for the Gidimt’en Checkpoint Sungmanitu Bluebird: Oglala Lakota activist, researcher, writer, member of The Red Nation and the host of the Bands of Turtle Island podcast for The Red Media Sheila (Siila) Watt-Cloutier: Canadian Inuit activist, political representative for Inuit, International Chair for Inuit Circumpolar Council, and author of The Right to be Cold Beaska Niillas: Northern Sámi traditional handicrafter, hunter and gatherer, activist, Sámi school kindergarten teacher, politician, and the host of the SuperSápmi Podcast Florian Carl: Indigenous ally and member of the Cloudberry Collective Alberto Saldamando — Indigenous Environmental Network’s Counsel on Climate Change and Indigenous and Human Rights Music by: Chris Zabriskie Qilaut (Sylvia Cloutier) A. Paul Ortega and Joanne Shenandoah G. I. Gurdjieff and Thomas De Hartmann as performed by Cecil Lytle Douglas Spotted Eagle Thank you to Cerberus Star for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you and the Guerrilla Foundation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

There are many ways women across the world have been disproportionately impacted by COVID. The pandemic has simultaneously increased the demand for unpaid labor from women — including childcare and homeschooling — while decimating industries like retail, leisure, hospitality, education and entertainment which are their main employers. So many of the jobs lost during the pandemic were held by women, that the resulting economic recession has been called a “she­cession” — or even an example of “disaster patriarchy.” But our current economic system has always had a history of harming women disproportionately — in fact, in many ways, COVID has simply revealed and exacerbated already existing inequalities. But where there is a crisis, there is also opportunity. And in this space, some are asking what a feminist response to COVID could look like? There are, however, multiple kinds of feminism. In this episode we explore what kind of feminism could not only lead us beyond this present crisis, but also offer us a vision of a more just world where equality and liberation are premises, not aspirations: a feminism for the 99%. Featuring: Khara Jabola-Carolus — Executive Director of the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women Tiek Johnson — Reproductive Justice Advocate and Doula Sarah Jaffe — Independent journalist and author of Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone Tithi Bhattacharya — Associate Professor of History and the Director of Global Studies at Purdue University and author of Feminism for the 99 Percent: A Manifesto Nicole Aschoff — Editor at large at Jacobin Magazine, senior editor at Verso Books, and author of the book, The New Prophets of Capital Music by: Thank you to Thao and the Get Down Stay Down Marissa Kay Chris Zabriskie Thank you to Chiara Francesca for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

By traditional metrics, the U.S. economy is doing pretty well right now — better than any other high income countries. But, at the same time, we have the worst COVID health outcomes of any of these countries too. It seems pretty obvious that by reopening the economy and all but abandoning any interventions aside from the vaccine, the Biden administration has pretty much this outcome. But of course, the problem goes much deeper — it’s a combination of years of disinvestment and neoliberal policies. In this Conversation we’re talking COVID with Beatrice Alder-Bolton (twitter: @realLandsEnd), co-host of the Death Panel podcast and co-author of the forthcoming book, "Health Communism: A Surplus Manifesto," which will be published by Verso Books this fall. What are the structural causes of our skyrocketing COVID rates? How has COVID laid bare the rotting foundations of not just the U.S. healthcare system — but almost every single institution in this country? How are our political leaders using the pandemic as a launching ground for the rewriting for the social contract in a way that even further minimizes the responsibility of the state to protect people? These are just some of the questions we explore in this Conversation with Beatrice Alder-Bolton. Thanks to Godstomper for the intermission music and to Bethan Mure (twitter: @beemure) for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

In the United States, teenagers can focus on one task for only sixty-five seconds at a time, and office workers lose focus every three minutes. We tend to think of things like this as inevitable and we personalize them, we create little narratives about personal failure or a lack of willpower. But this isn’t really the case. The problem is systemic, and in his latest book, Lost Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – And How to Think Deeply Again, author and journalist Johann Hari explains why everything we think we know about this crisis of attention is wrong — and why we need an attention revolution. Johann Hari is also the author of the books Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, as well as Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions. Intermission music by Tallest Man on Earth. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Why do so many of us often feel like shit when we leave work? Where does that ambient feeling of alienation come from? That nagging sense that we’ve somehow been taken advantage of? That subtle anger — or sometimes even outright hatred — many of us feel towards our supervisors, our managers, our bosses? And why — despite devoting the majority of our waking hours to "making a living" — does it still feel like we’re always one emergency away from financial ruin? A lot of people these days are starting to seriously question the political-economic system we live under. And if you’re someone who listens to this podcast, you’re probably already well aware of the faults and, really, the horrors of this system that we’re all imprisoned in: capitalism. Although it’s relatively easy to critique capitalism through our lived experiences of it, it’s not always as easy to frame those critiques and those nagging feelings into economic language or a political framing. Canonical texts like Marx’s Capital can be fairly opaque and inaccessible, and oftentimes, even among those who study it, capitalism can be difficult to pin down. What is it, exactly? What is it not? And what precisely is that thing that we often think of as its opposition: socialism? In this Conversation, we’ve brought on someone who can explain all of that. Hadas Thier is the author of "A People’s Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics," published by Haymarket Books. In this Conversation, Hadas Thier will help us break down capitalism into its most fundamental components — and not in an overly technical way, but in a manner that situates it within historical and modern day events and processes — and which hopefully provides you with a pretty comprehensive and compelling explanation as to why we’re all feeling so exploited, alienated, and imprisoned in this oppressive and life-denying set of operating principles and beliefs we know as capitalism. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

It’s probably safe to say that at this point, most people recognize that it’s not a question of whether climate change will have devastating impacts on humans and our environment — but more, just what the political fallout of inevitable climate collapse will look like… In this Conversation, we’re exploring just that: the political consequences of climate collapse. We’ve brought two guests to help explore this, co-authors of the book Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future, published by Verso Books. Geoff Mann is the Director of the Centre for Global Political Economy at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and Joel Wainwright is a human geographer who teaches political economy and social theory at Ohio State University. Thanks to Matt Kish (matt-kish.com) for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Happy Solstice 2021! Here is our second annual solstice conversation with fellow podcasters Manda Scott and Nathalie Nahai. In this conversation we ask each other the core questions at the heart of our shows, we reflect on key themes, insights, and inquiries that we have traced through our interviews and documentaries in 2020, and we give gratitude and gifts of inspiring books, practical invitations, and a beautiful closing solstice meditation. Manda Scott is an award-winning novelist, podcaster and smallholder whose life is underpinned by the shamanic dreaming she gave voice to in her Boudica: Dreaming novels. For the past two years, she has been host of the Accidental Gods podcast which originally aimed at fostering conscious evolution and is now leaning more towards finding an inspiring way through to a flourishing future. Nathalie is an international speaker, consultant and author of two books: the recently published Business Unusual: Values, Uncertainty and the Psychology of Brand Resilience, and best-seller, Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion. Her work explores the intersection between persuasive technology, ethics, and the psychology of online behavior. Nathalie also hosts The Hive Podcast, and contributes to national publications, television and radio on the impact of technology in our lives. Intermission music by American Football. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. This episode was edited by Caro C. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

In this episode, we’re talking inflation — a somewhat slippery topic that has been dominating headlines recently. It’s all caught up in the murky and often misleading narratives floating around on the pandemic economy, things we’ve discussed recently like the quote labor shortage, supply chains, spending bills in Washington. Anyways, the mainstream narratives get a lot wrong. Especially when they’re coming from the more right-wing elements — there’s just a lot of bad analysis and straight up mis- and even dis- information out there. So, we’re gonna take a shot at trying to actually unpack this idea of inflation: what is it? Why are we seeing inflation taking place? Why is the mainstream coverage of it often flawed? We’ve brought on two guests to unpack things for us. Dean Baker is an American macro-economist who co-founded the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Richard Wolff is an economist, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School in New York. Thank you to Bethan Mure (bmuredraws.com) for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

In this episode we’re talking NFTs. If you don’t know what this latest phenomenon in the crypto, blockchain, asset speculation world is, if you’ve heard of NFTs but wanna know more, or if you wanna hear why NFTs might be leading us to an (even more) dystopian future — we’ve got you covered. We’ve brought on two guests to help unpack the NFT craze: Nathan Schneider is an Assistant Professor of Media studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, journalist, founder of the Media Enterprise Design Lab, and author most recently of Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition that Is Shaping the Next Economy, published by Nation Books. Cory Doctorow is an author, activist, journalist and blogger, editor of Pluralistic dot net, former European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and author of the novels Attack Surface and Walkaway, as well as nonfiction books like How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism. Thank you to Beulah for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3HRN2OX Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

It often feels like contemporary life diverges from everything that actually matters. Our global economic system could not be less in touch with patterns of creation, natural systems, and the real wealth of healthy soil, clear water, and bonded communities. Of course, it hasn’t always been this way — and it doesn’t have to continue to be. In this conversation, or yarn, we speak with Tyson Yunkaporta of the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland, Australia, about the connections between Indigenous economics, complexity theory, and systems thinking. We also discuss caring for the commons, explore how to hold each other accountable, and hear the story of the world’s first corporation. Tyson carves traditional tools and weapons, works as a senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University in Melbourne, and recently authored the book Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World. Thank you to Fugazi for the intermission music in this episode. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Read the full transcript of this conversation: https://bit.ly/3HgvHP1 Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

With strikes in a wide variety of private sectors popping up all across the country — Kelloggs, Kaiser Permanente, coal miners in Alabama, John Deere, The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Taxi Drivers on hunger strike in NY, and more — the United States might be on the verge of a strike wave, and we’ve brought on the perfect guest to explain exactly what’s going on. Alex Press is a staff writer at Jacobin Magazine, host of the Primer podcast, and author most recently of the Jacobin articles, “US Workers Are in a Militant Mood” and “Halyna Hutchins’s Death on the Set of Rust Was “Not a Freak Accident.” The Conversation will bring you up to date on all of the labor activity currently underway, but will also zoom out to explore the state of the labor movement more broadly, taking a deep dive on how the pandemic has transformed the movement, unpacking what’s really behind the so-called “labor shortage,” and getting to the root of why workers are starting to stand up to bosses in a way that we haven’t seen for quite some time. Thank you to Utah Phillips for the intermission music in this episode. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Feminism means different things to different people. If you listened to our episode earlier this year, Feminism for the 99 percent, we took a deep dive into this, unpacking how women’s issues intersect with class and race, what trickle-down feminism is, who’s included and precluded from certain forms of mainstream, American feminism, and why it’s important for feminism to be truly intersectional and inclusive. In this Conversation, we take a deep dive into how the ideology of whiteness permeates mainstream, Western feminism, and how those on the peripheries are often left out — and even exploited by — feminism and certain feminists. Rafia Zakaria is a columnist for Dawn in Pakistan and author, most recently, of Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption, published by Norton and Company. Against White Feminism has made quite a splash since its publication in August, with a lot of positive reception, but also drawing the ire of many of those who it seeks to critique — namely, a certain cadre of feminists, often upper-middle class and white, who hold onto their very specific ideas about what feminism is, what it’s not, and perhaps most importantly — who gets to define it. We explore how a certain liberal form of white-supremacy permeates much of mainstream feminism, how the white feminist savior complex and imperial feminism have been deployed throughout history — and well into our present times, such as in Afghanistan — to marginalize women of color and impose the “correct” form of feminism in non-consensual and harmful ways, what trickle-down or #girlboss feminism are, and more. Thank you to The Raincoats for the intermission music in this episode. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

It’s pretty crazy to think that it’s already been a decade since Occupy Wall Street — but, at the same time, it also feels like forever ago. So much has changed since the encampment in Zuccotti Park, and subsequently, the thousands of encampments which popped up all over the world. But, sadly, a lot remains the same. And actually, if you’re looking at wealth inequality and the power of the financial sector — things might even be worse. But no matter what your thoughts are on the Occupy movement, it's impossible to deny its sweeping impact, not just on the left, but much more broadly as well. You may have heard folks say that Occupy Wall Street was a failure — and if you’re talking about how the movement failed to, say, overthrow capitalism and usher in a new era of eco-socialism devoid of subprime loans and hedge fund managers, then yes, sure, Occupy definitely didn’t accomplish that. But to say the movement was a failure is to overlook so, so much. And that’s what we want to talk about in this episode: the things that Occupy gave us. The networks that were built, the ideas that were shaped around democracy — not just the electoral form of democracy that’s confined to the ballot box, but real, direct democracy — the space that was created to exercise the muscles of solidarity and cooperativism, mutual aid and political organizing, as well as the shifts in public discourse…in the next hour, we’ll look at how the chaotic, fervent explosion that was Occupy Wall Street manifested from the moments after the encampments were cleared to today — ten years later. Featuring: Chris Hedges – Journalist and author of many books, including Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt, and most recently, America: The Farewell Tour Ethan Earle – Paris-based political consultant who has written extensively about Occupy Wall Street Stephanie Luce – Professor of labor studies at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and also a professor of sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center Ruth Milkman – Professor at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City Nathan Schneider – Professor of media studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder and author of Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition that Is Shaping the Next Economy Tamara Shapiro – NYC activist and facilitator, a co-founder of Movement Netlab, and currently the Program Director at the NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives Esteban Kelly – Executive Director of the U.S. Federation of Worker Co-ops Music by: ​ Do Make Say Think Chris Zabriskie Taylor Deupree Karl Blau American Football Thank you to Bethan Mure for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. This episode of Upstream was produced as part of a collective of podcasts brought together to explore the legacy of Occupy Wall Street, in light of the 10 year anniversary. Through this project you can also hear analysis on the impact of Occupy from shows like The Dig, Economic Update, and Belabored — all podcasts that we would highly recommend checking out. The producing partners for this project are the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s New York office and The New School’s Milano program. You can learn more and listen to some of the other episodes by visiting RosaLux.NYC/Occupy Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

The summer of 2020 saw perhaps the largest collective uprising in the United States. The uprising, sparked by the cold-blooded murder of George Floyd, catapulted an important question into the public imaginary: is modern day policing...reformable? Or do we need to move beyond it entirely? Most of the thousands of people who poured out into the streets last summer understood that the murder of George Floyd was not just an isolated incident — not just the actions of a single bad apple. They understood that the entire institution of policing was responsible, that despite the years of reform, police continue to kill about a thousand people every year, they continue to terrorize Black, Brown, and poor communities, and they do what they do, for the most part, with zero accountability. For the first time since this institution was actually created, people, in very large numbers, were saying, “No. We’re done with reform. It’s not a few bad apples — the entire barrel is rotten.” In this episode of Upstream, we explore the current establishment backlash against the abolish/defund movement, and ask the questions: what does more cops on our streets actually mean? Does more police and more police funding actually lead to safer communities? How about reforms — do they actually lead to better policing? What’s happening with the defund or abolish movement, which seemed so unstoppable just a year ago? We not only examine these questions, but go further to ask: what is the history and function of policing? How is it inextricably intertwined with racism and capitalism? Whose interests do the police really serve? Is it even possible to reform this institution? And if not, what should take its place? And How can we bring about safer and better resourced communities — for everyone? Featuring: Cat Brooks– Co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project in Oakland, Executive Director of the Justice Teams Network, and co-host of Upfront on KPFA Alex Vitale – Professor of sociology, coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College, and author of The End of Policing published by Verso Books Kay Gabriel – Teacher and organizer with the #DefundNYPD campaign D'atra Jackson – National Director of BYP 100 John – Part of the Working Class History Project Sen. Sydney Kamlager- State Senator for California's 30th Senate District ​​ Music by: ​ Godspeed You! Black Emperor Chris Zabriskie Do Make Say Think Tristeza Thank you to Phil Wrigglesworth for the cover art. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship. For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

What are the material conditions which underpin much of the bizarre phenomena taking place during this strange era that we’re in? What unites the conspiracy theories surrounding COVID vaccines with, say, the fanatical obsession with Russian election meddling? How does capitalism — and our economic, material relations within it — lead to a sense of powerlessness that manifests in attempts to explain the world that range from QAnon to Russiagate? In this conversation, we speak with Matt Christman, co-host of Chapo Trap House, one of our favorite podcasts, which was founded in 2016 and hosted by Matt, along with Will Menaker and Felix Biederman. The conversation includes many of the themes and topics mentioned above and discussed on Chapo, but begins with a conversation around Matt’s new podcast, Hell of Presidents, which he just launched with Chapo producer Chris Wade. The podcast tells the story of American history through a materialist, political-economic examination of the institution of the presidency. It might sound a bit wonky, but through this specific history Matt and Chris explore a wide range of topics, from the evolution of waged-labor to the many contradictions that this country was founded on and which we continue to experience today. Hell of Presidents is available through Stitcher Premium, but you can listen to the first episode anywhere you can hear Chapo Trap House. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond Intermission music is “...And We Thought Nation States Were a Bad Idea” by Propagandhi. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/upstreampodcast instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

We are currently living in an era dominated by overwork. Whether it’s your punch-in, punch-out job, the side hustles and extra gig work you pursue to help make rent, the drive to produce and consume “content” during every waking hour, or the expectation to look a certain way and constantly keep up with whatever trends surround you — it’s relentless. In this Conversation, we speak with Dr. Devon Price, a social psychologist at Loyola University in Chicago, explores these topics in their book, Laziness Does Not Exist, published by Atria Books. How have the concepts of “productivity” and “laziness” been manufactured and deployed by capital to cultivate pliant, profitable workers? How have the ideals of hyper-productivity encouraged not just willing but enthusiastic participation in the hustle-and-grind culture of modern capitalism? And what can we do to escape this prison? These are just some of the questions in this Conversation. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond. Intermission music is “I Hate the Weekend” by Taco Cat. We’re wrapping up our fall season‘s crowdfunding campaign! We hope to produce at least three documentaries, including episodes on the defund/abolish movement and the Sharing Economy, Pt. 2, looking at the gig-economy landscape five years after our very first documentary. We also plan on releasing dozens of interviews for our In Conversation series. Please consider chipping in any amount that you can — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of folks like you. Visit upstreampodcast.org/support to contribute. Thank you! Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship. For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

We’re always told that if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. But what if you’re being tricked or manipulated into thinking you love what you do? Or what if your “labor of love” is actually being exploited by someone who stands to gain from your work? What does loving your work actually mean, in a system that is designed to keep you devoted to your job, by any means necessarily? In this conversation we speak with Sarah Jaffe, author of Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone, published by Bold Type Books. Sarah’s book is an examination, and critique, of the labor of love myth — an upstream journey on the nature of work. She reveals how all of us have been tricked into buying into a new tyranny of work, while unpacking why "doing what you love" is a recipe for exploitation, creating a new tyranny of work in which we cheerily acquiesce to doing jobs that take over our lives. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond Intermission music is “Oh My God” by Lula Wiles. We recently launched our fall season‘s crowdfunding campaign! We hope to produce at least three documentaries, including episodes on Defunding the Police and the Sharing Economy, Pt. 2, looking at the gig-economy landscape five years after our very first documentary. We also plan on releasing dozens of interviews for our In Conversation series. Please consider chipping in any amount that you can — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of folks like you. Visit upstreampodcast.org/support to contribute. Thank you! Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship. For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

There are many ways women across the world have been disproportionately impacted by COVID. The pandemic has simultaneously increased the demand for unpaid labor from women, including childcare and homeschooling, while decimating industries like retail, leisure, hospitality, education and entertainment which are their main employers. So many of the jobs lost during the pandemic were held by women, that the resulting economic recession has been called a “she­cession” — or even an example of “disaster patriarchy.” But our current economic system has always had a history of harming women disproportionately — in fact, in many ways, COVID has simply revealed and exacerbated already existing inequalities. But where there is a crisis, there is also opportunity. And in this space, some are asking what a feminist response to COVID could look like? But, of course, there are multiple kinds of feminism. In this episode, we explore what kind of feminism could not only lead us beyond this present crisis, but also offer us a vision of a more just world where equality and liberation are premises, not aspirations: a feminism for the 99%. Featuring: Khara Jabola-Carolus — Executive Director of the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women Tiek Johnson — Reproductive Justice Advocate and Doula Sarah Jaffe — Type Media Center reporting fellow and an independent journalist and author of Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone Tithi Bhattacharya — Associate Professor of History and the Director of Global Studies at Purdue University and author of Feminism for the 99 Percent: A Manifesto Nicole Aschoff — Editor at large at Jacobin Magazine, senior editor at Verso Books, and author of the book, The New Prophets of Capital Music by: Thank you to Thao and the Get Down Stay Down Marissa Kay Kohala Chris Zabriskie And thank you to Chiara Francesca for the cover art and to our Upstream correspondents Elle Bisgard Church and Noah Gabor for their research and support on this episode. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. We just launched our fall season‘s crowdfunding campaign! We hope to produce at least three documentaries, including episodes on Defunding the Police and the Sharing Economy, Pt. 2, looking at the gig-economy landscape five years after our very first documentary. We also plan on releasing dozens of interviews for our In Conversation series. Please consider chipping in any amount that you can — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of folks like you. Visit upstreampodcast.org/support to contribute. Thank you! Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship. For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Many of us around the world live on colonized land. In recent years, the conversation around “decolonization” has been seamed through many different contexts, from the land back movement to the push to decolonize various institutions. But what would actual decolonization look like? And how do we go about decolonizing things like our minds and our systems? In this Conversation, we hear from Rupa Marya and Raj Patel about their book, "Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice," out on August 3rd. The book explores one area of our lives that has been subject to colonization: that of medicine. They authors provide both a practical and metaphorical exploration of the impacts of colonization through the idea of inflammation — inflamed bodies, an inflamed society, and an inflamed planet. Their insights help us to dismantle colonization in our institutions and in our minds while building new connections and ways of being through what the authors call “deep medicine.” Rupa Marya is a physician, activist, composer, Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF and faculty director of the Do No Harm Coalition. Raj Patel is an activist, award-winning author, film-maker and academic. Raj is Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin and a Senior Research Associate at the Unit for the Humanities at the university currently known as Rhodes University (UHURU), South Africa. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond Intermission music is “Stolen Land” by Rupa and the April Fishes Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/upstreampodcast instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

COVID has in many ways monopolized the public imagination in the last year or so, and at times it’s seemed like many other conversations were put on hold — or at least had their volume turned down. Now, with the threats of COVID subsiding — at least in the U.S., and at least for the time being — we’re remembering some of the other important conversations that need to be picked up again. Perhaps the most pressing of all is the conversation around climate change. In this Conversation, we spoke with Thea Riofrancos, Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College, and co-author, along with Kate Aronoff, Daniel Aldana Cohen, and Alyssa Battistoni, of "A Planet to Win: why we need a green new deal," published by Verso. In this conversation, Thea gives us an update on where we are on climate change — and what the Biden administration is proposing to do about it (spoiler alert: it’s not nearly enough). We also talk about the problems with neoliberal attempts to address climate change, how capitalism is at the heart of the climate crisis, and why we need a Green New Deal. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond Intermission music is "In Our Talons” by Bowerbirds Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/upstreampodcast instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

In this conversation, we spoke with Niki Franco, AKA, Venus Roots. Niki is a Caribbean abolitionist community organizer, multidisciplinary cultural worker, writer, podcaster, and facilitator of spaces for collective study. Currently based in Miami, Niki serves as the political education director for (F)empower MIA and civic engagement organizer for Power U Center for Social Change. We spoke with them about abolition, the phenomenon of Black capitalism, the insidious nature of neoliberal feminism, capitalism’s tendency towards co-opting its own opposition, disaster capitalism amidst COVID, why Instagram is probably bad for us, and much more. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond Intermission music is "Cut From the Cloth" by The Evens Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Throughout history, crises and disasters have always catalyzed new strategies to make the world cheap and safe for capitalism. We are seeing this during COVID through the blatant disregard for the lives of essential workers and the refusal of wealthy nations to lift COVID vaccine patents which restrict poorer countries from manufacturing their own supplies. In this 2-part Conversation, we spoke with Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore, who co-authored the book, A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet. In our conversation, Raj and Jason explore how capitalism relies on cheapness, the era of the capitalocene — which the authors prefer to the more common term, anthropocene — the myth of overpopulation, which has its roots in racism and often borders on ecofascism, and much more. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond Intermission music is "Decaying" by Capitalist Casualties Cover Art by Agitpropdoll (on Instagram and Facebook) Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify. Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

In this Conversation, we spoke with Eric Holt-Gimenez, author of the book, “A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism: Understanding the Political Economy of What We Eat.” Why does hunger exist? What are the causes of food insecurity? Why do those in working in the food system, from the farmers who till the soil to the server who places your meal on the table, receive largely unlivable wages? Eric’s answer to these questions is simple: capitalism. Together we trace a line from the enclosures of the early 17th century to the present, looking at how food was commodified and how the market capitalist economic system has done a great job of overproducing food, and a poor one of distributing it equitably. Portions of this interview were originally published as a written Q&A by Truthout.org. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond Intermission music by Fire Ant Season (www.fireantseason.com) Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify. Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

It’s been a year since Covid hit the United States and radically altered our lives. It won’t be news to most that the Trump administration completely botched their response to the pandemic, and even under a Biden administration, the state has been slow to move on a lot of the promises that were made during the lead up to November’s election. Is this changing? In this conversation, we dove deep into the details and specifics of the United States’ political response to Covid with Eric Levitz, senior writer for New York Magazine's Intelligencer blog. Eric wrote a piece titled, “Coronavirus Creates an Opening for Progressivism — Also Barbarism,” where he explored what Covid means for the future of politics in the United States. What political cracks in fishers has Covid opened up? What divisions has it given rise to? What new forms of connection? How has it demonstrated the vulnerabilities and weaknesses in our political system, both domestically and also in how we interface with the rest of the world? Is the United States moving towards a period of more right-wing or neoliberal barbarism? Or will the Covid crisis finally be a wake up call to move towards a more just, equitable, and solidaristic form of politics? These are just some of the questions we explore in this conversation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Over the last few decades, mindfulness has gone viral. These days, the practice has found its way into corporations, prisons, schools, police departments, and even the U.S. military. There are many benefits to mindfulness of course, but in his book, “McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality,” author Ron Purser explores the more pernicious part of the practice by examining how capitalism had co-opted mindfulness to further exploitation and extraction. Interestingly, it turns out that mindfulness can be very compatible with our current neoliberal ideologies of individualism, inward-focus, and the watering-down of sociality. It has been expertly applied in a way which encourages us to only look inside for solutions to our problems, instead of challenging the systems and structures that drive the suffering we experience. McMindfulness is a way of pacifying a population and instilling a victim-blaming mentality: if you’re stressed, anxious, depressed, just “mindfulness up,” and get over it. How did we get here? What can we do about it? How can mindfulness be reclaimed and in fact used as a radical force for system change and psychological well being? We explore these questions and more in this conversation. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

What do you see when you peek behind the curtains of neoliberal capitalism? What happens when you lift the veil off? Well, you see a mythological character. An apparition that haunts our collective consciousness. A spectre that permeates our institutions and that has epistemologically imprisoned us. Homo economicus. The term Homo economicus, or economic man, is a core principle in mainstream economic thinking. It’s a portrayal of humans as being inherently rational, greedy, and self-interested. We first got interested in the idea of Homo economicus when we started noticing a consistent barrier that many people have with the possibility of imagining a more just, solidaritistic, and sustainable economic future, stems from their assumptions about human nature. Time after time, we’ve heard — “But, humans are naturally selfish, so any system based on trust, equity, and true democracy would never work.” Where did the idea of Homo economicus come from? Why is it so embedded in mainstream economic thinking? And most importantly, is it true? Are we Homo economicus? Or are we the opposite — kind, compassionate, altruistic beings whose good nature has been thwarted by a mistaken view of our own humanity? Or is the truth somewhere in between? These are some of the questions we will be exploring in this episode, “Debunking the Myth of Homo economicus.” Featuring: Bayo Akomolafe — Philosopher, author, professor, and organizer currently based in India David Sloan Wilson — Evolutionary biologist and a Professor of Biological Sciences and Anthropology at Binghamton University in New York. George Monbiot — Journalist and author of "Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis" Kate Raworth — Renegade economist and author of "Doughnut Economics" Matt Christman — Co-host of the Chapo Traphouse podcast Peter Fleming — Professor in organization theory and author of "The Death of Homo economicus" Tom Crompton — Co-director of the Common Cause Foundation Vas — Former economics student (Vas declined to provide her last name) Yuan Yang — Founder of Rethinking Economics Music by: Haley Heynderickx American Football Many thanks to Charlie Young for the cover art, as well as to Elle Bisgard Church, Lilly Datnow, and Emmanuel Brown for their research and support for this episode. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support Support for this episode of Upstream was provided by The Guerrilla Foundation, supporting activists & grassroots movements to bring about major systemic change. Additional support was provided by the Upstream Works Collaborative. Taking a systems approach to uplifting communities, they also go upstream to address the root causes of social, economic, and environmental injustices. Learn more at UpstreamWorks.org. For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

In this episode, we’re bringing you a special solstice // New Year's conversation. Upstream host Della Duncan comes out from interviewer's chair to be in conversation with two other baddass womxn podcast hosts — Manda Scott (Accidental Gods) and Nathalie Nahai (The Hive) to debrief all that has been 2020 and to look ahead to what is possible and potentially emerging in 2021. Nathalie is the host of The Hive Podcast, exploring our relationship with technology, one another and the natural world. She is also an international speaker and author of Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion. Manda Scott is the host of Accidental Gods, looking at the liminal space between science and spirituality, philosophy, politics, and creativity – working towards the conscious evolution of humanity. She’s also the award-winning author of the Boudica novels, a screenwriter, and a political activist.

It won’t come as a surprise to most to hear that the Trump administration has completely dropped the ball on their response to the covid pandemic. The misinformation campaign, lack of empathy, and outright failure of this administration to address the dangers and impacts of covid are jaw-dropping. But it’s not just a matter of this particular administration. In his new book “The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself,” Richard Wolff, a professor of economics and founder of Democracy at Work, outlines how the root cause of the failure to adequately respond to this pandemic is rooted in our economic system itself — capitalism. We spoke with Richard Wolff about how the Trump administration and our current economic system are both responsible for the disastrous response that the United States has shown in the face of such a major disaster. We go over how other countries have responded, how the United States could have done things differently, why capitalism is doomed to fail us, and how restructuring our economic system towards one that is more collective and cooperative could address many of the issues that we are facing today. Full transcript is available at upstreampodcast.org/conversations Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHsto

The idea of Silicon Valley means many things to many people. The most prominent associations with this region and culture probably have to do with the tech industry — but that’s not the whole story. Not even close. There’s a dark side to Silicon Valley that doesn’t always make it into mainstream conversations and popular assumptions. Beneath the image there is a stark reality. In this Upstream Conversation, we spoke with Wendy Liu, an author and Silicon Valley insider turned critic. Her debut book, Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology From Capitalism, is a memoir and a manifesto on how to transform the tech industry from the hypercapitalist culture of inequality, gentrification, and greed that it is to something more equitable, accessible, and supportive of the real disruptions we need today. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHsto

What if you got your neighbors together and occupied the public spaces on your book, transforming them into whatever you would all want it to be? What would you include? ...A solar-paneled tea station? A little free library? A mural? This is the type of urban placemaking that the City Repair Project in Portland, Oregon inspires and facilitates. In this Upstream Conversation, we spoke with Mark Lakeman an urban place-maker, permaculture designer, and community facilitator who co-founder of The City Repair Project. In the last decade, he has directed, facilitated, or inspired designs for more than three hundred new community-generated public places in Portland, Oregon alone. We spoke with him while he was visiting Santa Cruz about the capitalist history of the Urban Grid and how to reclaim our streets, revive community, and belong once more to place. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHsto

Dr. Nafeez Ahmed is a journalist and researcher who uses systems thinking to support the just transition to a more equitable and sustainable future. We contacted him after we came across his article, "White Supremacism and the Earth System," connecting the worldview that underpins capitalism to the racism that the Black Lives Matter movement is working to address, as well as the climate chaos and environmental devastation that we are experiencing globally. In this conversation, we spoke about why systems thinking is a useful practice, the connection between capitalism and white supremacy, and the great potential we are in for a global phase shift to a post-capitalist world. Nafeez is the executive director of the System Shift Lab and a research fellow at the Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems. He currently writes for VICE and he is the author of "A User's Guide to the Crisis of Civilisation: And How to Save it," and "Failing States, Collapsing Systems: BioPhysical Triggers of Political Violence." Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHsto

Continuing our focus on the coronavirus pandemic and its intersection with capitalism, in this Conversation, we spoke with London-based economic anthropologist Jason Hickel. Jason in the author of The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and Its Solutions, Jason’s new book, “Less is More,” is being published in August by Penguin. We spoke with him about international capitalism during the pandemic, new opportunities for degrowth economics, and how to fundamentally move to a post capitalist world — which will take more than just a shift in economic policy, but a fundamental shift from the world view of capitalist thought. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHsto

Continuing our focus on the coronavirus pandemic and its intersection with capitalism, in this conversation we speak with Doug Henwood, an economist and host of the radio show and podcast Behind the News. Doug is a regular guest on our show, and in this conversation he helped make sense of much of the economics surrounding the coronavirus, explaining the failure of the government's response, the different possibilities of how we might come out of this pandemic in the long run, and what coronavirus has taught us about the failures of capitalism. The interview was conducted by Upstream producer, Robert Raymond. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Thanks to Haley Heyderickx for the intermission music. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4KwWOMp24P9cVVR6d0i7Zq?si=6YhnN5hLSbC2AYyozlApcA

Continuing our focus on the coronavirus pandemic and its intersection with capitalism, in this conversation we speak with New York State Senator, Julia Salazar, who represents New York's 18th district in northern Brooklyn, which includes the neighborhoods of Bushwick, Cyprus Hills, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and East New York. This pandemic has hit New York City harder than any other city in the world, and the neighborhoods represented by Senator Salazar are some of the hardest hit in New York City itself. We spoke with the Senator about how she got into organizing and politics, democratic socialism, feminist economics, and the economics of the coronavirus pandemic. This interview is part of a series of Upstream conversations about the coronavirus, capitalism, and potential systemic interventions and solutions during this challenging time. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Thanks to Will Stratton (willstratton.com) for the intermission music. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

It’s unfortunate that it’s taking a global pandemic to reveal it, but the unprecedented crisis catalyzed by the coronavirus has exposed our capitalist economy for what it is: an economic system that puts profit over people (and the planet). This pandemic is an unprecedented event, but it’s the sharpening of class divides, the gutting of our social safety net, and the mentality of selfish individualism encouraged by capitalism which have turned this pandemic into an unimaginable crisis. In this conversation we speak with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed about our current epidemic of insecurity and how it has unfolded through this current crisis. El-Sayed is a doctor, an epidemiologist, a candidate in Michigan’s 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary election, and the author of "Healing Politics, A Doctor’s Journey Into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic," just out this month (April 2020). Senator Bernie Sanders has referred to El-Sayed as "One of the brightest young stars in the future of the progressive movement." This interview is part of a series of Upstream conversations about the coronavirus, capitalism, and potential systemic interventions and solutions during this challenging time. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

In recent months, thousands of people from coast to coast have confronted politicians and asked them to take action on climate change. Few of these political leaders seem to be listening, however, and so, in the face of this inaction, and with a renewed sense of urgency, people of all ages and backgrounds have begun taking directly to the streets and participating in mass disruption events in the United States and beyond. Extinction Rebellion (XR) is on the forefront of these actions. XR is a global environmental movement with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid ecological collapse. Growing out of the United Kingdom in 2018, XR now has an international presence. You may know them through their provocative style of direct action which includes intentional arrests, public swarms, banner drops, die-ins, gluing themselves to prominent structures, and more. Gail Bradbrook is a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion. We spoke with her in southwest England. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

What do an indigenous ceremony in Canada, Burning Man, and an occupied salami factory in Rome have in common? They are all expressions of the gift economy featured in a new documentary by Robin McKenna, the guest of this Upstream conversation. Robin McKenna has worked in film for twenty years on several projects, including The Take with Naomi Klein (a film about workers who take over the means of production in Argentina in the wake of an economic collapse). Drawing inspiration from Lewis Hyde’s book, The Gift, Robin McKenna set out to chronicle gift cultures around the world that are challenging the logic of global capitalism. The result is her first feature-length documentary — GIFT, which is out now in theaters across the United States and Canada. Gift-giving is a radical act of resistance to the status quo. It requires trust, being open to receiving, and confronting traditional notions of wealth, ownership, and property. In this conversation we share stories of gifting, imagine what a more gift-oriented world might look like, and trace out the pathways to that transition. We spoke with Robin while she was visiting San Francisco for a primier of the film. To learn more about the film GIFT visit: giftitforwardproject.com Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

It's often said that the economic system is rigged. The truth, however, is that the system is working exactly as it was designed to. Those in power, whether they hold public office or whether they sit in the boardroom of a multi-billion dollar international corporation, have taken great lengths to set up a system of rules that benefit them and maintain the status quo. Helena Norberg-Hodge, a pioneer of the New Economics movement, has spent many years studying the driving forces behind why our economies are failing us, and what we can do about it. Helena’s perspectives are informed by a systems thinking and colored by the many years she spent in Ladakh, part of the larger region of Kashmir, where she watched global capital completely transform entire communities. Helena Norberg Hodge is the Founder and Director of Local Futures, producer and co-director of the documentary films The Economics of Happiness and Ancient Futures: Lessons from Ladakh and Right Livelihood Award Laureate. We spoke with her in her home in Devon in the U.K. Theme music composed by: Robert Raymond Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

The dark shadow of Silicon Valley is growing longer everyday, covering more and more of the globe and spreading not just technology, but a particular value set as well. By this time many know about the hyper-exploitative business models of companies like Uber or TaskRabbit. Or about how AirBnB has heavily reduced housing stocks in cities worldwide. But in his new book, Keith A. Spencer goes further than just picking on a few high profile companies. He lays out an argument for why Silicon Valley, at its core, is a highly exploitative and problematic industry. With a look at the tech world from the vantage point of the marginalized and oppressed—those who have not benefited from the incredible wealth bubbling up in the valley—”A People’s History of Silicon Valley: how the tech industry exploits workers, erodes privacy, and undermines democracy,” presents a damning thesis for why this new world of addictive gadgets and union-busting is increasingly undemocratic and dangerous. A People’s History of Silicon Valley is published by Eyewear Publishing. Upstream producer Robert R. Raymond spoke with Keith A. Spencer at the offices of Salon in San Francisco, where Spencer is an editor. Intermission music: The California Honeydrops Cover Art: Robert Raymond Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on iTunes, Spotify, and Google: iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstr…d1082594532?mt=2 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2AryXHs Google Play: play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/sulp

In the second episode of the series on worker cooperatives, we build on the conversation that we began in Episode one, which explored how cooperatives can serve as a force to widen the spheres of democracy in our society. This second episode shifts the focus outward, exploring how cooperatives confront global capitalism. "Islands within a Sea of Capitalism" takes a deep dive into the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation—the largest network of federated cooperatives in the world. We take listeners on a journey through the Basque region of northern Spain where Mondragon is located, and explore Mondragon's successes and challenges through candid conversations with several worker-members at Mondragon headquarters and at various cooperatives within the federation. After presenting an in-depth exploration of the recent and mixed history of Mondragon from multiple perspectives—including a Marxist analysis—we travel across the Atlantic to Jackson, Mississippi, where an ambitious initiative is just getting underway. Cooperation Jackson is part of the same trans-local organizing movement that inspired Cooperation Richmond, which was featured in Episode one. Cooperation Jackson aims to be the Mondragon of North America. Featuring: Kali Akuno — Co-founder and co-director of Cooperation Jackson Gorka Espiau —Senior Fellow at the Agirre Lehendakaria Center at the University of the Basque Country Sam Gindin — Writer, director of research at the Canadian Auto Workers (retired) Professor of Political Science at York University (retired) Ander Exteberria — Cooperative dissemination at Mondragon Corporation Izaksun Ezpeleta — Worker/member at Fagor Electronics Andoni — Worker/member at Fagor Ederland. Music by: Chris Zabriskie Will Stratton Mississippi Sheiks Many thanks to Phil Wrigglesworth for the cover art, as well as to Ellie Llewelyn, Kenneth Rosales, and Neda Raymond for assistance with translation and voice over. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support Support for this episode of Upstream was provided by The New Economy Coalition, a network of organizations imagining and building a future where people, communities, and ecosystems thrive. To get information about their upcoming CommonBound conference being held this June in St. Louis, visit commonbound.org For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: www.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up…/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

The 21st century has seen an explosion in Worker Cooperatives—particularly since capitalism's 2008 crisis. In Part 1 of this 2-part series, we'll explore how worker co-ops present a radically different kind of ownership and management structure—one that has the power to bring democracy into the workplace and into the economy as a whole. We'll take a deep dive into the cooperatively owned and run bike/skate shop Rich City Rides, exploring how they have created a community hub that puts racial & economic justice front and center. We'll also take a trip to the Basque Country of northern Spain to explore how their rich cooperative environment compares to that of the United States and the San Francisco Bay Area specifically. Featuring: Richard Wolff - Economics professor emeritus at University of Massachusetts, Amherst,founder of Democracy at Work, and host of the weekly radio show Economic Update Gopal Dayaneni- Co-founder of Cooperation Richmond & Staff Member at Movement Generation Doria Robinson- Founder of Urban Tilth and Co-Founder of Cooperation Richmond Esteban Kelly - Executive Director of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives Gorka Espiau - Senior Fellow at the Agirre Lehendakaria Center at the University of the Basque Country Najari Smith - Worker/member of Rich City Rides bike & skate shop Roxanne Villaluz - Worker/member of a cooperative bakery & pizzeria Sofa Gradin - Political Organizer and Lecturer in Politics at King's College in London Music: Jerry Folk Antwon The Roots of Orchis Many thanks to Phil Wrigglesworth for the cover art. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support Support for this episode of Upstream was provided by The New Economy Coalition, a network of organizations imagining and building a future where people, communities, and ecosystems thrive. To get information about their upcoming CommonBound conference being held this June in St. Louis, visit commonbound.org For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: www.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up…/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

For the last 150,000 or so years of human evolution, not a whole lot changed. That is, until about 10,000 years ago, when in the blink of an eye we began organizing societies in very, very different ways. We went from small bands of hunter-gatherers to massive state societies; from having a relatively low ecological impact to devastating the natural environments we existed in; from relatively horizontal organization to extreme hierarchy and finely articulated division of labor. These now all-too-familiar traits have culminated in our modern capitalist era, where individual humans have become alienated cogs in a vast industrial machine that seems hell-bent on destroying everything in its path.  How did we get here? What happened 10,000 years ago to put us on this path of expansion and ecological devastation? This is the question guiding the research of Lisi Krall — an economics professor at Cortland University whose research blurs the lines between anthropology, economics, and evolutionary biology. She believes that the advent of agriculture was a turning point in human evolution, and that we can learn a lot about our modern societies by looking at ant and termite colonies. Upstream spoke with Krall about her eclectic research that has brought together an odd mix of disciplines and a lot of uncanny comparisons. We also explored the ramifications of her findings, which pose much deeper, philosophical inquiries into the existential, environmental, and economic challenges that human societies are facing in our modern era. Intermission Music: "Human" by Mount Eerie Cover Art: Robert Raymond Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us (and rate us highly) on iTunes and Google: iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstr…d1082594532?mt=2 Google Play: play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/sulp

In this Upstream Conversation we spoke with author Alex S. Vitale about his new book, “The End of Policing,” which was published by Verso Books on October 10th, 2017. Alex Vitale’s work is based on a deep examination and structural critique of the fundamental nature of policing. Vitale stresses that it’s not enough to enact superficial reforms to a system of policing which was, at its core, designed to maintain systems of oppression and inequality. Vitale argues that instead of our current approach of inhumane and ineffective punitive force, we should be going upstream to focus on the root causes of problems, focusing our attention on addressing inequality and providing community and social programs for those in need. In the first half of our Conversation, Vitale walks us through the dark origins of policing, beginning with the eras of colonialism, slavery, the early industrial capitalism. How did early policing grow directly out of the militias and military units that were used to exterminate and expropriate colonized peoples and lands? What role did the police play in maintaining the oppression of African-Americans during slavery and also during the post-slavery era in the south, where vagrancy laws and convict leasing systems proved to be just as bad, if not worse, than slavery itself? And how did vagrancy and vice laws, again enforced by the police, help to culturally shape an emerging working class during the rise of industrial capitalism, forcing a the new system of wage-labor onto a population that fiercely resisted it? The second half of our Conversation brings us into our modern neoliberal era, where policing has really exploded into one of its most brutal and all-encompassing forms yet. Here we explore how the rise of neoliberalism has led to all sorts of societal and community crises which have led to a startling increase in the scope, funding, and militarization of police forces that are now being used to enforce failed drug-war policies, crush social movements, criminalize poor and African-American communities, and maintain the systems of inequality required by austerity-driven neoliberal capitalism. Upstream co-producer Robert Raymond interviewed Alex Vitale at his home in Brooklyn, New York. For more on Alex Vitale’s work: http://www.alex-vitale.info/ https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/sulp

It has been said that it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism. That might have been true a decade ago, but today, the end of capitalism is becoming more and more plausible — at times it feels inevitable. In fact, at least half of Americans think that capitalism is a fundamentally unfair system, and over a third have a positive view of socialism. These numbers are rather strange for a society where just uttering the word “socialist” in public a generation ago could cost you your job or get you onto some government list. And when you look at younger generations, it gets even more interesting. A Harvard University survey showed that the majority of millennials do not support capitalism. And in the United Kingdom, similar surveys have found that people are more likely to have an unfavorable view of capitalism than of socialism. More and more people are falling out of love with capitalism. And is it really all that surprising? Capitalism has failed to achieve most of its promises and many are now beginning to dream about what a different, better world might look like. Well, in this second episode of our 2-part series on Universal Basic Income (UBI), we’ll explore what role UBI might have in transitioning to that different world. There is an exciting and lively debate taking place among the left right now exploring whether Universal Basic Income would do more to dismantle capitalism or, rather, to prop it up and help to keep it going. For this episode, we’ve assembled another all-star cast of economists, journalists, and authors, and asked them to share their perspectives and to envision what the long-term societal effects of giving everyone a Universal Basic Income might look like. Would a progressive UBI act as simply another form of welfare, temporarily propping up a fundamentally flawed system, and just serving as another concession to eventually be eroded and gutted by the capitalist class? Or could it be more than that — could it actually fundamentally challenge the current capitalist system and help to dismantle it? We explore these questions — and many more — in this final episode of our 2-part exploration of Universal Basic Income. Don't miss it! Featuring: Erik Olin Wright - Marxist scholar and sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison Kathi Weeks - Marxist-feminist scholar, associate professor of Women’s Studies at Duke University and author of ‘The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries’ Matt Bruenig - Writer, researcher, and founder of the People's Policy Project Richard Wolff - Marxist economist, economics professor Emeritus University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Founder of Democracy at Work, and host of the weekly radio show Economic Update Doug Henwood - Journalist, economic analyst, and writer whose work has been featured in Harper’s, Jacobin Magazine, and The Nation Martin Kirk - Co-founder and Director of Strategy at The Rules Rutger Bregman - Journalist and author of ‘Utopia for Realists: The Case for a Universal Basic Income, Open Borders and a 15-hour Workweek’ Manda Scott - Novelist, columnist, and broadcaster Juliana Bidadanure - Assistant professor in political philosophy at Stanford University Sofa Gradin - Political Organizer and Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London Music: American Football J. T. Harechmak Pele Many thanks to Benjamin Henderson for the cover art. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast Note: This episode is not radio safe. For a radio safe version, email [email protected]

What if you were paid just for being alive? Just imagine, you are given a check every month for the rest of your life, enough to cover all of your basic needs. You wouldn’t be driving around in a Ferrari or eating avocado toast every day, but you’d be receiving enough to live relatively comfortably. And there’s absolutely nothing you would have to do in order to receive it. How would that change your life? What would you do differently? Close your eyes and just try to picture that for a second. Okay, if you’re reading this sentence, that means you’ve stopped dreaming and have come back to reality. We have no idea how long you were gone, but don’t worry if it was for a little longer than you had expected. It happens. We understand. There’s a lot to think about there. What a crazy question anyways, right? Getting free money? For the rest of your life? Just for being alive? Crazy. Or is it? The idea that we’ve been describing has actually been under discussion for centuries, and it has even been experimented with all over the world. In fact, there are actually several versions of it happening right now, at this very moment. Maybe you’ve already heard about it? Chances are you have. Lately it seems as if everybody is talking about it, whether they like the idea or not. It’s called Universal Basic Income, and it’s the topic of our latest documentary (which is actually a 2-part series, since there’s just so much to cover when it comes to this radical and controversial concept). We spoke with philosophers, economists, journalists, and even random folks on the street, to explore the many questions that come up when you begin thinking seriously about universal basic income. What effect would it have on poverty? What happens when income is separated from work? Would society implode into a dysfunctional dystopia because everybody would just sit on the couch all day and watch Netflix? Or, alternatively, would it be the best thing ever, effectively freeing people from the fear that comes with financial insecurity and enabling them to pursue their most daring dreams and to make their biggest contributions to society? Join us as we explore these questions and begin to untangle this radical concept. We’ve put together an all-star team of scholars and experts on the cutting-edge of this exciting debate. Whether you’re already an expert or haven’t even heard of the idea, you’re not going to want to miss this one. Featuring: Juliana Bidadanure - Assistant Professor in Political Philosophy at Stanford University Doug Henwood - Journalist, economic analyst, and writer whose work has been featured in Harper’s, Jacobin Magazine, The Nation, and more Rutger Bregman - Journalist and author of ‘Utopia for Realists: The Case for a Universal Basic Income, Open Borders and a 15-hour Workweek’ Kathi Weeks - Marxist feminist scholar, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at Duke University and author of ‘The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries’ Eric Richardson - A recipient of basic income Evelyn Forget - Economist and professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba and Academic Director of the Manitoba Research Data Centre Music: Face of Man (https://faceofman.bandcamp.com/) Bedrockk (https://bedrockk.bandcamp.com/) Godspeed You! Black Emperor (www.brainwashed.com/godspeed/) Harps (www.soundcloud.com/harps-i) Many thanks to Benjamin Henderson for the cover art. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! https://www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast Note: This episode is not radio safe. For a radio safe version, email [email protected]

In this Upstream Conversation we spoke with Jason Hickel, an anthropologist formerly at the London School of Economics and now at Goldsmiths University of London. Originally from Swaziland, Jason's research has focused on a critique of development and globalization. He has also written on the topics of inequality, climate change, basic income, and soil regeneration. Jason argues that we cannot begin to seriously tackle the climate crisis until we take a hard look at the growth-dependent economic system that drives fossil fuel production and consumption. He believes that simply regulating fossil fuels is not enough, and that in order to truly address climate change we'll need to move away from our current capitalist economic model, a model which can only function properly when it is growing exponentially. We also spoke with Jason about his fascination at capitalism's extraordinary ability to co-opt and commodify its own critique. How does Tom's Shoes allow you to purchase your redemption from being a consumer? How are hipster bars and clubs in cities like London and New York appropriating the aesthetic of working class neighborhoods while remaining closed off to these very communities? How does this dynamic play out in the environmental movement? Jason provides a number of interesting examples that demonstrate why this process is incredibly harmful to building a true resistance to capitalism. Our conversation took many turns, exploring what 21st century socialism might look like, the myths of international development, and more. Jason is a natural systems-thinker, and his upstream perspective is an incredibly important one. Jason Hickel’s latest book is titled: “The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions”. We spoke with Jason at his office at The London School of Economics. Cover design by Natascha Nel. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! https://www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

Once an important life-force of early civilization and an ancient crafter of community, beer was, like many things under our current economic system, disfigured and twisted by the forces of the market and the drive for profit. In this episode, we take a close look at this story, starting in ancient Mesopotamia and tracing the history of beer up through the giant consolidations of the 20th century to the birth of the craft beer revolution in the 1970s and 80s. Brew expert and award-winning author Randy Mosher guides us through this history, telling great stories and exploring ancient beer mythology along the way. But the story doesn't end there -- the beer revolution is really just beginning. Craft beer has begun to bring back many of the most important values and characteristics of beer that were lost for so long, going far beyond just taste. How is the new economy embodied in a pint of beer? This is an important theme that Rob Hopkins, the co-founder of the Transition Town movement and founder of New Lion Brewery, explores throughout the episode. How is craft beer beginning to stitch back together the economies of towns and cities that have been torn apart by globalization and an obsession with growth? How can beer demonstrate the concept of the circular economy? These are important questions explored in depth through Rob’s expertise. There are many other incredible stories of brewers and breweries that are radically changing the landscape of the beer industry. Throughout the episode you’ll meet a wide variety of folks, from a brewery in London that makes beer out of surplus bread, to the first cooperatively owned brewery in California. After listening to this episode, you may never look at a bottle of beer in the same way. Disclaimer: listening to this episode may cause you to crave a dark, chocolatey stout. Or a piney, hoppy IPA. Or a nutty brown ale. Or a fruity saison. Or a tangy farmhouse ale. Or...well you get the point: you may want to listen to this episode over a pint. Featuring ​Rob Hopkins - Founder of New Lion Brewery, Co-Initator of the Transition Town Movement Randy Mosher - Author of Tasting Beer: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink Bart Watson - Chief Economist, Brewers Association Tom Stainer - Head of Communications, CAMRA Julie Prebble - Business Development Manager, Toast Ale Vanesa de Blas - Brewer, Temple Brew House Andrew Gilhespy - Grower at The Almond Thief Emy Mendoza - Umunhum Brewing Music by: ​Maude Gun Lanterns  Antwon Pele ​ Many thanks to Bethan Mure for the background/cover art. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

When you think about economics, what images come to mind? Maybe a supply and demand graph? Or a blackboard with complex equations scrawled across it? These images are based on a 19th century view of economics, one that is outdated and even dangerous, as we're beginning to see more and more. In this Upstream Conversation, we explore why the economy should look more like a doughnut. In her new book, Doughnut Economics, renegade economist Kate Raworth explains why it's time to explore new images that tell different stories about the economy. Kate walks us through the many aspects of her proposal for a new picture of economics, while discrediting some of the old assumptions and exploring new solutions. Our conversation moves readily from economic history to complexity, from system design to wealth inequality, and from poverty to…doughnuts. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

Bellowing out in the songs of eco-village choirs and reverberating down city streets through the chants of the 99%, the call for a new economy echoes out over the dying gasps of late capitalism. From energy co-operatives in Spain that are literally bringing power to the local level, to a small school hidden deep in the English moors that is redesigning the study of economics, to a vast coalition in North America that is challenging domination by the 1%, this episode of Upstream explores the movement for a new economy. Our story begins in 1984, just outside of the G7 World Economic Summit in London, where a small group convened a counter summit to challenge the ideas and theories that dominated mainstream economics. We follow the ripples of this seminal event as they radiate out through the world and on into our current era of Trump & Brexit. This lineage traces back to the work of the renegade economist E. F. Schumacher (1911-1977). You'll hear from him, as well as many of the other people and organizations on the cutting-edge of this broad movement that is working to revolutionize the way we think about what the economy is, the way economics is taught, and the way we embody new economics in practice. Featuring: Tim Crabtree - Senior Lecturer at Schumacher College Aniol Esteban - Program Director of The New Economics Foundation E. F. Schumacher - From the archives of the Schumacher Center for New Economics Satish Kumar - Founder of Schumacher College & Editor of Resurgence & Ecologist Magazine Jonathan Dawson - Coordinator of the Economics for Transition M. A. Program at Schumacher College Kate Raworth - Author of Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist Katherine Trebeck - Senior Researcher at Oxfam Eli Feghali - Director of Communications and Online Organizing for the New Economy Coalition Andres Montesinos - Coordinator at Som Energia Isabel Benitez - Coordinator of the New Economy & Social Innovation Forum Music: Lanterns (theme music) Amonie Tapes and Topographies Owu Kou Woo Haunted Haus Cover image by Robert Raymond Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

In this Upstream Conversation we spoke with Professor Jessica Gordon Nembhard, author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice. We spoke with her about the history of solidarity economics--particularly worker co-operatives--within the African American community. We travel in time from the era of slavery, through to Jim Crow segregation, share-cropping, and finally within the modern day prison industrial complex, looking at how cooperatives have formed in prisons in Puerto Rico. What can we learn for the United States, where African Americans comprise one-third of the prison population? We also spoke about the intersection of capitalism and racism. How do capitalism and racism support each other? And how can the act of participating in cooperative economics chisel away the power of capitalism? Jessica was also featured in our episode on Solidarity Economics. To listen to that episode, visit: http://upstreampodcast.org/solidarityeconomy Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

In this Upstream Conversation we spoke with scholar and activist Trebor Scholz, who is an Associate Professor of Culture & Media at the New School for Liberal Arts & co-editor of the book, Ours to Hack and to Own: The Rise of Platform Cooperativism, a New Vision for the Future of Work and a Fairer Internet. Trebor has a very wide breadth of knowledge in the field of digital labor, and is able to articulate a very strong critique of the modern day digital landscape. He walks us through how the internet has hit rock bottom, exemplified as it is these days by extreme power concentration, high levels of worker exploitation, and a lack of privacy. But Trebor is also able to draw a very compelling picture of how things could be different. What would #Uber look like if it had cooperative values? What if residents owned #Airbnb? And what role might a universal basic income play in the near future? Darkness and uncertainty loom ahead. Trebor's insights are a flash of light that illuminate and begin to guide us through these tumultuous times. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

In this Upstream Conversation with spoke with Cheyenna Weber, co-founder of SolidarityNYC and a lead organizer of the Cooperative Economics Alliance of NYC. We spoke with her about the solidarity economy, where it came from, where it is right now, and where it might be headed. How did solidarity manifest during the Occupy Wall Street movement? Why is it important that we view co-operatives, credit unions, and other forms of alternative economics as part of a broader movement? What is the role of personal and cultural transformation in the movement? This interview is a part of our exploration of the Solidarity Economy. To listen to our Episode on The Solidarity Economy, visit upstreampodcast.org/solidarityeconomy For more information: Solidarity NYC: solidaritynyc.org CEANYC: https://gocoopnyc.com/ Or more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast Together we can be a force for positive change: please like, comment on, and share this interview.

In this episode we explore a phenomenon that has existed throughout centuries both within and alongside Capitalism. Wherever relationships have been based on reciprocity, sustainability, and democratic governance you'll find the Solidarity Economy. We learn of it's origin and about how it is strengthened by countermovements and during times of crisis. We follow its presence throughout the history of a particular marginalized community in the U.S., celebrating the courage of African American cooperative thought and practice. We then paint a picture of a modern solidarity response to economic austerity. And finally, we dream about it's potential in the face of ecological peril and plan for what it will take to grow the Solidarity Economy to serve as a movement of movements. Featuring: ​ Michael Ventura - Co-author with James Hillman of We've Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy – And the World's Getting Worse, columnist of Letters at 3AM with the Austin Chronicle Caroline Woolard - Artist & organizer whose work explores intersections between art and the solidarity economy Michael Lewis - Soildarity economy researcher; Co-author of The Resilience Imperative Pat Conaty - Research associate Cooperatives UK, Co-author of The Resilience Imperative Jessica Gordon Nembard - Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development, author of Collective Courage: A history of African-American Cooperative Economic Thought & Practice Biba Schoenmaker - Co-Founder of Broodfonds Makers Stuart Field - Founder of Breadfunds UK Jos Veldhuizen - Member of Broodfunds, Amsterdam Music: ​ Robert Raymond (witchdreammasion bandcamp) Lanterns (lanternsss.bandcamp.com) Chris Zabriskie (chriszabriskie.com) Jörgen UNOM JG (unomjg.nl) Cover image by Bethan Mure Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

You're listening to a Sneak Peak of our Solidarity Economy episode with scholar & activist Jessica Gordon Nembard, Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College in New York City. Professor Nembhard is the author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice. She will be featured in our upcoming Solidarity Economy episode in collaboration with STIR Magazine, to be released Jan 15th, 2017. For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast Together we can be a force for positive change: please like, comment on, and share this interview.

In this Upstream Conversation we spoke with author and journalist Doug Henwood. Doug wrote a book about Hillary Clinton called My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency, which is a critique of Hillary Clinton and her policies from the left of the political spectrum. We spoke with him about the response to his book, his thoughts on the Democratic Party and the election, the economic forecast of the Trump administration, the state of the economy, and much more. For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast Together we can be a force for positive change: please like, comment on, and share this interview.

Unemployment is down and the stock market is up. So we're in a recovery, right? Many politicians & economists would like us to think that, but in this Conversation, Professor Richard D. Wolff explains how this couldn't be farther from the truth. Not only is the recession that started in 2008 far from over, but we might actually be witnessing the collapse of capitalism as we know it. Professor Richard Wolff studied economics at Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. He is the author of the recent book Capitalism's Crisis Deepens, the founder of Democracy @ Work, host of the radio program Economic Update, and is currently teaching at the New School University in NYC. For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast Together we can be a force for positive change: please like, comment on, and share this interview.

Greece was all over the news in 2014 and 2015. You might remember hearing about the new radical left party Syriza, the referendum, the violence in the streets, the German banks, the flamboyant finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. So what happened? Mistrusting the mainstream narrative coming from western media outlets, and suspicious of the abrupt end of most news coverage we decided we'd travel to Athens and see for ourselves what was going on in the aftermath of the tumultuous events which have been building up over the last few years in Greece.  From the streets of Athens with our host Yianni Litovchenko from Alternative Tours of Athens, to the apartment of the Greek activist Maria Scordialos, to the economic analysis of James K. Galbraith, to the Refugee Accommodation and Solidarity Space City Plaza. Join us. Featuring: ​ Maria Scordialos - Greek activist and co-founder of The Living Wholeness Institute James Galbraith - American economist,  founding DiEM25 member, and advisor to Yannis Varoufakis Yianni Litovchenko - Member of the Alternative Tours of Athens cooperative Margarita - Volunteer at the Refugee Accommodation & Solidarity Space City Plaza ​ Music: ​ The Rembetika Hipsters A. Kostis  (Thanks to Olvido Records) Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

Maria Scordialos is a Greek activist, co-initiator of The Art of Hosting, and founder of the Living Wholeness Institute, which runs the Axladitsa retreat and workshop center. We spoke about the Greek debt crisis, her experience living in Athens before, during, and after the referendum, gentrification and inequality, and her experiences working with governments.

James K. Galbraith is an advisor to former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. He is also a founding member of DiEM25, an economist who writes often for the popular press, and a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. We spoke about the Greek debt crisis, inequality, and U.S. politics.

Raising animals for food is often cited as being one of the drivers of the ecological crisis we're in. But does it have to be? Meet Jesse McDougall, one of the farmers behind Studio Hill Farm in Vermont. He and his wife Caroline are part of an exciting movement known as carbon farming. We spoke with Jesse about the concept of regenerative agriculture and explored some of the politics and economics behind modern day farming in the United States. What is carbon farming? Or regenerative meat? Ever wonder what mob grazing is? And since when do farmers propose bills to Congress? Tune in to find out. Intermission music by Will Oldham. And thank you to our contributing team member Mark J. Phillips for recording and hosting this one.

Liz Zeidler is the Co-founder and Director of Happy City, an organization in Bristol, UK which is about giving people more of what we all want, but that our current economic system fails to give us: happiness. We interviewed her for part 3 of our 3-part series "Welcome to Frome".

Peter Macfadyen is the radical council member and previous Mayor of Frome. He is also the author of Flatpack Democracy, a DIY guide to creating independent politics. We interviewed him for our 3-part series "Welcome to Frome". Parts of this interview are featured in the series.

Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett are the authors of the book The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better. The Spirit Level not only changed the way we understand and view inequality, it inspired the creation of The Equality Trust, an organization that works to improve the quality of life in the UK by reducing economic inequality. We interviewed them for our 3-part series "Welcome to Frome". Parts of this interview are featured in the series.

In this final episode of our 3-part series, "Welcome to Frome", we explore possible futures for the small Somerset town of Frome. ​ In this episode, we'll talk to some of the leading experts on why GDP and economic growth are flawed measures of wellbeing. Then we’ll travel to a small kingdom in south Asia, an indigenous village in the sierras of Peru, and the headquarters of Happy City in Bristol. We'll talk to the visionaries of new cultural paradigms. and ask them to reveal the secrets of happiness and wellbeing that are hidden right beneath our noses. How can Frome adopt a wellbeing strategy that helps to further the movements we discussed in episode 1 and which begins to bridge the divides we explored in episode 2? There's no simple solution, but we hope that this series will provide some food for thought in towns and cities like Frome all over the world. Featuring: Ha Vinh Tho PhD - Program Development Coordinator of GNH Centre in BHutan Martin Whitlock - Businessman, author, Co-Founder of StopGDP.org Inez Aponte - Founder of Growing Good Lives Martin Kirk - Co-founder of The Rules Liz Ziedler - Co-Founder of Happy City Richard Wilkinson - Co-author of The Spirit Level Maria Scordialos- Co-Founder of The Living Wholeness Institute Annabelle Macfadyen - Co-organizer, Home in Frome Music by: Molly Murphy (a million creatures) Annabelle Macfadyen Frome Street Bandits Theme music by Lanterns (Robert Raymond & Molly Murphy) Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

In this second episode of our 3-part series, "Welcome to Frome", we explore the darker history of the small Somerset town of Frome.  ​ In this episode, you'll meet more Frome residents, more politicians, local historians, experts in the field of inequality, and a filmmaker. We'll tackle some timely topics and ask some difficult questions. What are the scars left from thirty years of closing factories and cutting government services? How do these scars reveal themselves in our hearts and in our communities? Is it possible to bridge the economic, social, and psychological divides that carve up our societies? If it's possible, then how do we do it? Featuring: Des Cornish - Born and raised in Frome John Payne - Local historian and author Annabelle Macfadyen - Co-organizer, Home in Frome Bob Ashford - Chair of Trustees, Fair Frome Sam Phripp - Somerset District Councilor Richard Seymour - Marxist writer, broadcaster, and activist Joseph Choonara - Spokesperson, Socialist Workers Party Richard Wilkinson - Co-author of The Spirit Level Kate Pickett - Co-author of The Spirit Level Katharine Round - Director of the film The Divide Music by: Molly Murphy (a million creatures) Annabelle Macfadyen Frome Street Bandits Theme music by Lanterns (Robert Raymond & Molly Murphy) Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

In this first episode of our 3-part series, "Welcome to Frome", we explore how the small Somerset town of Frome started a revolution that has completely changed the nature of politics and economics. In this episode, you'll meet the head of this radical new movement, and visit some of the new economics initiatives that have emerged in Frome. What is a "Share Shop?" How about a community fridge? What happens when a town council creates a position designed to address climate change? Listen to find out and to enjoy some great music along the way. But the story of Frome, like most things in life, is not as simple as it may appear. This town has a long and at times dark history, and when parts of that history are uncovered, old wounds are revealed which tell a different story, a story of division. We'll touch on this history here before we dive much deeper into it in Episode 2. Featuring: Peter Macfadyen - Founder of Flatpack Democracy, Frome town councilor, former Mayor Helen Johnstone - A manager at Share Shop Anna Francis - Frome's Resilience Officer Esther Deeks - Community Fridge Co-organizer Bob Ashford - Chair of Trustees, Fair Frome Music by: Molly Murphy (a million creatures) Annabelle Macfadyen Frome Street Bandits Theme music by Lanterns (Robert Raymond & Molly Murphy) Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

Crisis Theory is a new video game developed by David Cribb. In this game, you play as the spirit of capitalism. Your one job is to keep the game from falling into crisis for as long as possible. Is it possible? We spoke with David to find out. Crisis Theory was inspired by Marxist geographer David Harvey's lecture series on Capital. It uses concepts like labor power, means of production, primitive accumulation, rate of profit, etc, etc, to help explain Marx's theory of capitalism. It's a great way to learn about Marxist theory -and it's actually quite fun to play. Check it out for yourself here: https://colestia.itch.io/crisis-theory

Wetiko is an Algonquin word for a cannibalistic spirit or thought-form driven by greed, excess and selfish consumption. It deludes its host into believing that consuming the life force of others for self-aggrandizement or profit is a logical and morally upright way to live. In this Sneak Peak, we spoke with Martin Kirk, Founder of The Rules, who explains the concept of Wetiko and how it relates to our late-capitalist era. He also explains how Donald Trump is a human embodiment of Wetiko. Martin will be featured in our upcoming documentary series due for release in early September. Stay tuned for that at upstreampodcast.org. Artwork by Paweł Kuczyński www.upstreampodcast.org Twitter: @upstreampodcast Facebook: /upstreampodcast Instragram: upstreampodcast

"The mirror of democracy is cracked and warped and people no longer recognize their reflection in it." Where should the Bernie Movement go after the campaign is over? Why would a vote for Hillary be a vote for more Trumpism? Richard Seymour explains it all. (And more) For the full interview, visit our website: http://www.upstreampodcast.org

Inequality reduced dramatically from around the 1930s to the 1980s, when it suddenly started rising again to levels not seen for almost a hundred years. What happened? Richard Wilkinson and Kate Picket, authors of the influential book The Spirit Level, explain what happened and how worker-owned cooperatives can serve as a countervailing force to neoliberalism.

In this interview we hear from Socialist Worker's Party member & Lexit Campaign Spokesperson Joseph Choonara. We spoke about the movement on the radical Left that pushed successfully for Britain to leave the European Union. We also spoke about the larger split between the movements on Left, the abandonment of the working class by Labour, the anti-immigrant nature of the EU, and how we can start to work more effectively across class divides to build a stronger, more viable Left. 

"Neoliberalism has become embedded in the very DNA of the European Union." It was not just the Right in the UK that voted to leave the EU. Listen to our interview with Joseph Choonara of the Social Worker's Party to hear why some factions of the radical Left in Britain decided that they've had enough of the European Union.

In this interview we hear from activist and writer Richard Seymour. We spoke about the Orlando shootings, Brexit, Corbyn & the Labour Party, Trump, the decline of unions, and where the Bernie Sanders movement can go now that the nomination seems assured for Hillary Clinton. Intermission music by Witchdream Mansion. 

Brexit? This Thursday Great Britain is poised to vote on whether or not to leave the European Union. The decisions and politics driving this referendum are complex, important, and might surprise you. London-based writer, activist, and broadcaster Richard Seymour gives us the lay of the terrain. Our full interview with Richard will be available soon at our website: http://www.economicsfortransition.org

In this Upstream Sneak Peak, Yianni Litovchenko of Alternative Tours of Athens tells us the story of the famous Greek riot dog Loukankios (or "Sausage").

In this Upstream Sneak Peak, we spoke with Greek activist and co-initiator of The Art of Hosting Maria Scordialos. She will be featured in our upcoming episode on the Solidarity movement and financial crisis in Greece.

Katharine Round is the director of the documentary film The Divide, which is based off of the book The Spirit Level. The Divide tells the story of 7 individuals striving for a better life in the modern day US and UK - where the top 0.1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%. We spoke with her about making the film, how inequality makes everyone less better off, and what we can do about it. Intermission music by The Microphones.

In this interview we spoke with Martin Whitlock, co-founder of Stop-GDP.org and author of Human Politics : Human Value: Towards a society for people as we really are (not as governments, economists and big corporations would like us to be). We spoke about how GDP is a scam and how the money economy is a terrible idea. Intermission music by Tapes & Topographies.

Sarah Corbett is a craft-activist, or "craftivist". She is the founder of Craftivist-Collective, and has worked as a campaigner for NGOs like Oxfam and Christian Aid. Sarah takes a very unique and thoughtful approach to activism. We talked about the intersection between activism and craft-making, how activism can be slow, gentle, and kind, and about the surprising story behind why she made a handkerchief for her Member of Parliament.

Angela Miles is a professor at the University of Toronto, member of International Feminists for a Gift Economy, and author of the books Integrative Feminism and Women in a Globalizing World: Transforming Equality, Development, Diversity, and Peace. We spoke about gender, the importance of gift economies, the commodification of everything, marx and alienation, integrative feminism, and how the best way to get a high is to help somebody. Intermission music by The Wild Reeds.

Doug Henwood is a columnist for The Nation, Harper's, and Jacobin Mag; the radio host of Behind the News; author of Wall Street: How it Works and for Whom; and most recently of My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency. We spoke about his research on the "sharing economy", as well as the history of capitalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and possible solutions to the growing precariousness of labor. Intermission music by Valet.

In this interview we spoke with Keally McBride, Professor of Politics and the Chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco. She was featured in our Sharing Economy episode. We chatted about her research on The Sharing Economy (companies like Uber, Taskrabbit, and Airbnb), the tech industry's impact on Oakland and San Francisco, neoliberalism, and labor vs. capital in the 21st century. Intermission music by Chris Zabriskie

In this interview we hear from Satish Kumar: former monk, author, editor of Resurgence & Ecologist Magazine, long-time peace & environmental activist, founder of Schumacher College, and TED Talk alumnus. We spoke about going upstream, the fallacies of economic growth & consumption, the principles of Buddhist and Gandhian economics, what a real sharing economy looks like, and dream time. Intermission music by "a million creatures".

In this shortened version of our "The Sharing Economy?" episode, we look at how companies like Taskrabbit and Uber have influenced an entire generation and entirely shifted the economic landscapes of major cities globally. Through candid conversations with journalists and industry insiders, we explore the darker side of these giant companies and investigate how this phenomenon arose and what implications are in store. Featured guests: Doug Henwood (Author, radio host, columnist for Harper's and the Nation Magazine) Keally McBride (Professor of Politics and the Chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco) David Korman (Lyft driver, former TaskRabbit, Couchsurfing host) www.upstreampodcast.org Twitter: @upstreampodcast Facebook: /upstreampodcast Instragram: upstreampodcast

In this interview, we hear from Rob Hopkins, the founder of the Transition movement, a radically hopeful community-driven approach to creating societies independent of fossil fuel. We chatted about transition towns and how they resemble cell membranes, the power of stories, and craft beer. (Listen closely you'll hear the ambient sounds of whistling and laughter of the students of Schumacher College!)Thank you to Jacob Rask for conducting this interview.

In this interview we hear from Nadia Johanisova, an Ecological Economist, Professor of Environmental Studies in the Czech Republic, and the person who translated E. F. Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful" - as well as several other new economic classics - into Czech. We talked about what it was like to live and work under a communist regime and what changed when the Iron Curtain fell and neo-liberalism crept into Czechoslovakia. Nadia also talked about the book she wrote titled Living in the Cracks, A Look at Rural Social Enterprises in Britain and the Czech Republic and her most recent project mapping the new economy in the Czech Republic to strengthen this emerging system and increase solidarity among new economic actors.

Pat is a fellow Californian living in the U.K. He has worked with the New Economic Foundation since 1987 and is also a research associate of Co-operatives UK. Pat's work focuses on reclaiming money, land, and labor. We spoke about various forms of co-operative economic democracy, including community land trusts for housing, social co-operatives for care services, and ecological co-operatives for green energy and local food systems. Pat is a world leader in advocating on behalf of the commons and putting New Economics into practice.  Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast

This interview is a conversation with Eduardo Gudynas, a leading scholar of Buen Vivir, a Latin American social movement to focus development on “the good life.” He is also the executive secretary of the Latin American Centre for Social Ecology in Uruguay and the author of 10 books and many academic articles. We spoke about the unique history of the Buen Vivir social movement, its introduction into the constitutions of several Latin American countries, and how it challenges not just development alternatives, but alternatives to development.

In this interview, we hear from Dr. Ha Vinh Tho, the Program Development Coordinator of the Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan. Tho is also the founder and chairman of Eurasia Foundation, a humanitarian NGO, a visiting fellow at several universities and a Buddhist teacher in the Tradition of Vietnamese Zen Buddhism, who was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh. We speak about the history and meaning of the Gross National Happiness Index and how it can be a better index for measuring happiness, health, and wellbeing in a country. For more information, visit Dr. Tho's blog and Bhutan's Gross National Happiness website.

In this interview, we hear from Joanna Macy PhD, a highly revered local eco-justice philosopher, activist, and leader. Joanna is a scholar, teacher, and a practitioner of Buddhism, Systems Theory, Gaia Theory, and the Deep Ecology Movement. At 86, she moves through the world with profound wisdom, passion, and the rare gift to inspire us to move from despair into empowered action for the earth and all living beings. To learn more about Joanna and the work that she does please visit http://www.joannamacy.net

In this episode, we spoke with the late Robin Murray, a prolific sustainability and environmental economist, an advocate for a living economy, and a key player in the birth of the fair trade movement. Robin Murray was named by The Guardian as one of the fifty people who could save the planet, and worked to establish the London Climate Change Agency with the Deputy Mayor of London. Robin alternated working between innovative economic programs in local, regional, and national governments, as well as with academic teaching and writing. His recent work focused on new waste and energy systems and on projects in the social and innovation economy. In this interview, he described his life as an economist, gave us a detailed alternative economic history from World War II to the present, and described hopeful signs of the emergence of the new economy especially in relation to connectivity and cooperation. Robin Murray passed away recently at the age of 76. We are incredibly grateful for having had the opportunity to meet and interview him while he was visiting Schumacher College in 2016.

In this interview, we hear from Inez Aponte, the founder of Growing Good Lives, an organization dedicated to bringing about a socially and environmentally just economic system by putting values, needs, and wellbeing at the heart of economic development work. Inez is a storyteller, facilitator and community organizer who uses the Human Scale Development Approach in her workshops and seminars. We talked about how she came to do this work, why we need a different way of talking about the economy, and the role of story and language in encouraging lasting behavior change.

In this episode we look at how companies like Airbnb and Uber have influenced an entire generation and entirely shifted the economic landscape of major cities like San Francisco. Through candid conversations with journalists and industry insiders, we explore the darker side of these giant companies and investigate how this phenomenon arose and what implications are in store. Featured guests: Doug Henwood (Author, radio host, columnist for Harper's and the Nation Magazine) Keally McBride (Professor of Politics and the Chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco) David Campos (San Francisco District 9 Supervisor) Dale Carlson (Public Accountant and Business Consultant, co-author of CA Proposition F) David Korman (Lyft driver, former TaskRabbit, Couchsurfing host) Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you!www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532?mt=2 For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @upstreampodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast