The Arts of Travel

To better understand Kenya, China and the complex relationship between them I spoke w. Nairobi-based Journalist April Zhu.  April is a fascinating reporter working in multiple languages, countries and contexts to report on China, Kenya and the developing relationship between them.  

Our conversation centers on capitalism, race, nationalism and trade between these two nations, in the time of Covid-19. For more of April's Work I would recommend: 

Beats by: 27Corazones Beats x Ay P Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayR2b5rhm-U

We speak to Keri Blakinger (Twitter: @keribla) of the Marshall Project, on the violence and scope of America's Carceral System. 

We focus on why media often ignores prisons, the spread of Covid-19 in the U.S. Carceral System, and the economics of prisons. 

For more of Keri's work you can check out her back catalog of writing at the Marshall Project here: https://www.themarshallproject.org/staff/keri-blakinger

Music is by Julian Avila : https://soundcloud.com/julian_avila

I spoke with Journalist Tuck Woodstock (Twitter: @tuckwoodstock) on their work covering the Portland Black Lives Matter Protests.

 We discuss Police and Federal Violence, the problematic Mayor Ted Wheeler, and how Protesters are both learning from international protests - like Hong Kong - and applying their own unique tactics. 

At the end of this episode, I included a preview from a future podcast with Vincent Wong (Twitter: @InitialVW) of the Lausan Collective. Vincent provides fascinating insight about Mutual Aid, and why this non-violent form of resistance is targeted by state and police violence. For more w. Lausan, check out their website here: https://lausan.hk/

For more w. Tuck, check out their Linktree here: https://linktr.ee/montucky. And for those following the Portland Protests, here are a list of other Journalists to follow (Twitter Handles) : 

@EvertonBailey

@MacSmiff

@MrOlmos

@PDocumentarians

@edercampuzano

@mollykyoung

@KohzKah

@matcha_chai

PS since we spoke with Tuck, Riot Ribs was violently assaulted and is now focused on providing mobile mutual aid in other cities. Its a frustrating situation that hopefully can be resolved. For more, please see their Twitter: https://twitter.com/riotribs/status/1288145235927654400

Music is by Julian Avila : https://soundcloud.com/julian_avila

I was honored to speak with Dr. Laurence Ralph of Princeton University on his book: 'The Torture Letters: Reckoning with Police Violence' 

We discuss how Dr. Ralph painstakingly documented the torture of generations of Black Chicagoans at the hands of the Chicago Police Force, how this generational violence and trauma connects to the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many Black Lives lost to present-day police violence, and how Dr. Ralph sees his work linked to victims of American Imperialism - most notably in Guantanamo Bay - who've also endured torture and death. 

It's a powerful, sad and necessary conversation and I was deeply moved by Dr. Ralph's anger and  solidarity. 

You can find out more about Dr. Ralph's Here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo26783305.html

Music is 'Drive' by Julian Avila: https://soundcloud.com/julian_avila

We were thrilled to speak with Journalist Vincent Bevins on his new book, 'The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World'

Vincent was kind enough to engage us in a wide-ranging discussion on his book, the violence perpetrated by governments in Indonesia and Brazil in collaboration with the US Government, and what past violence says about the capitalism of the present. 

Without shaming anyone by name, I think many in the US/UK Left, who've spoken to Vincent, would do well to study his habits, such as the level of research he puts into his work, his centering of local voices, and his promotion of local writers in Indonesia, Brazil and the other areas he's covered in his years of reporting. 

Here are some Indonesian Writers that Vincent mentioned as influences on his work: 

Grace Samboh, writer and curator

Sekretariat Bersama '65, community of survivors in Solo, Central Java

Baskara Wardaya, historian and Jesuit priest, Yogyakarta

Taman 65, Bali survivors' organization

Febriana Firdaus, journalist specializing in 1965 and West Papua (based in Jakarta)

Soe Tjen Marching, writer and musician (based in London)

For more on Vincent's work, you can find the Jakarta Method here: https://vincentbevins.com/book/

And his Twitter Account is: @Vinncent

Beat is 'breath' by dontaskalex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upKWUqlR94w

For updates on the Philippines and how it is facing down the struggles of an increasingly authoritarian government I spoke with Manila-based Journalist Barnaby Lo. 

We discuss the passage of a recent Anti-Terrorism Bill and the concerns many have about how it may be weaponized by the Duterte Government. We also discuss the dissolving of Media Channel ABS-CBN and the Prosecution of Rappler Founder Maria Ressa. 

For more on Barnaby and his reporting on these issues, please follow him on Twitter : @barnabychuck

Music by Kiyoto -"Around" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N3yEicMAsM

This is a truly fascinating conversation w. Academic Ruodi Duan of Harvard University on the once thriving solidarity between global black radicals and China under Mao. 

We discuss the history of this solidarity in the context of the USSR-China Split, how black revolutionaries such as Huey Newton, W.E.B Du Bois,  Vicky Garvin, Robert Williams and others collaborated with Mao's China, and how eventually this solidarity came undone as China's statecraft and capital became more important to nation-building than solidarity with black radicals. 

We cover a great deal of ground in this conversation between Mao, Zhou Enlai, The Black Panthers, The NAACP, Angola, The Sino-Soviet Split, Nixon, Amiri Baraka , Xi Jinping, China's relationship with Africa today, and the current injustices and imperialism being committed by Xi's China. Ruodi is an excellent teacher and you'll learn more in this podcast than most people do in an entire semester! 

For more I highly recommend : 

Music is b l u r by Dontaskalex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga9y_EHdZAY

I was thrilled to be joined by author, organizer and attorney Alec Karakatsanis. Alec is the founder of Civil Rights Corps and author of the critically acclaimed book - Usual Cruelty: The Complicity of Lawyers in the Criminal Injustice System

Alec was kind enough to have a  wide-ranging, and brutally honest conversation on the Criminal Punishment Bureaucracy of the United States, the propaganda of the legal system that conceals its racist and capitalist violence, the false promise of progressive DAs, and how defense attorneys can fight against the violence of capital and the state. 

For more w. Alec, check him out on twitter @equalityalec I highly recommend both his book and learning more about his organization 

Music by Dontaskalex : Dance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i9PfSpxBUM 

To understand the history of ANTIFA in Japan, I spoke with researcher and translator Gregor Wakounig. We discuss the wave of Black Lives Matter, Anti-Police protests happening in Japan, the parallels between racism in the USA and Japan, and how we need to oppose fascists like Trump or Shinzo Abe, wherever they appear. 

For more with Gregor, you can find his website on Antifascism in Japan: http://zatsudan.at/

And his twitter: @gregor_wakounig 

Music by Young Swisher Beats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqhesZOixec

I spoke with Hyunsu Yim of the Korea Herald on K-Pop, its global fan base, and their support for Black Lives Matter. We discuss the differences between the Progressive politics of K-Pop's Fans, the largely apolitical nature of the musical groups themselves, and how this makes discussing K-Pop and Progressive causes, a very complicated matter. 

For more with Hyunsu, you can check out his most recent article with the Washington Post on K-Pop and Black Lives Matter here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/11/surprised-seeing-k-pop-fans-stand-up-black-lives-matter-you-shouldnt-be/#click=https://t.co/E4HGNeezS6

And his recent article with the Korea Herald on the diversity of K-Pop Fandom Here: http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200612000721 

Beats by Kohzo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZyEVZcJgWU