Upstream

In this episode, the latest in our From the Frontlines series, we're joined by Anthony Rogers-Wright for a conversation on data centers (and how to fight successfully them). Anthony Rogers-Wright is an environmental/urban planner, researcher, policy analyst, political strategist, consultant and organizer.

The conversation begins with an overview of Anthony's recent piece in Black Agenda Report, "The Commodification of Social Justice (or, Saving the Data Center Subject from the Elite Capture of the Climate Change Industry. We briefly discuss the main arguments in the piece, that 1) we cannot let the fight against data centers be co-opted by the nonprofit industrial complex and 2) that the fight against data centers presents a fruitful opportunity for broad, cross-cultural organizing if done correctly.

We discuss the impossible economics of data center buildout and Anthony describes what he believes is the real impetus behind them: surveillance and control. Anthony talks about the class, environmental, and racial impacts of data centers and AI technology more broadly before transitioning our conversation into exploring the resistance to data centers and the attempts by nonprofits and the Democratic Party to co-opt this resistance.

We are now on Youtube! You can find us and subscribe to our channel at youtube.com/@upstream_podcast

Further resources:

• Listen to our From the Frontlines sereis
• "The Commodification of Social Justice (or, Saving the Data Center Subject from the Elite Capture of the Climate Change Industry," Anthony Rogers-Wright
• The R(AI)cial of Big Tech and Data Center Buildout, Anthony Rogers-Wright
• Unlocking Insights: Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact On The Black Community, Sherdell Baker
• Ghost in the Machine, PBS Documentary by Valerie Veatch
• Cooperation Jackson
• Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else), by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

Related episodes:

• Worker Cooperatives Part 2: Islands Within a Sea of Capitalism (Documentary)
• A History of California, Capitalism, and the World w/ Malcolm Harris
• Capitalist Realism with Carlee
• The Democratic Party w/ Cecilia Guerrero
• From the Frontlines: Tenant Organizing w/ Josh Poe and Tara Raghuveer

Intermission music: "Lullaby to My Tender Comrades" by Amy Blanding

Upstream is entirely listener funded. No ads, no promotions, no grants—just Patreon subscriptions and listener donations. We couldn't keep this project going without your support. Subscribe to our Patreon for bi-weekly bonus episodes, access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, and for Upstream stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. 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. patreon.com/upstreampodcast

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram 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 "Decolonizing Money (plus an Introduction and Exchange on Anarchism) w/ Julio Linares." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

As a Patreon subscriber, you'll get access to biweekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly show, and it will also give you access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes along with stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. You'll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going.

In this episode Julio Linares joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on anarchism, debt, the U.S. dollar, and mich more. Julio Linares is an economic anthropologist and author of Decolonizing Money: The Promise of Abolishing the US Dollar.

Our conversation begins with Julio describing how his study of microfinance and microlending led him on the path to eventually writing his book, Decolonizing Money. Julio then describes his recent experience in Barcelona where he got to witness the response to the eviction of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal (known as Maricarmen) and the growing movement around housing in Spain. We discuss this movement in the context of the French protests, anti-ICE activism, and the Democratic Party in the US.

After a brief disagreement on the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the global struggle against U.S. imperialism, we discuss the late David Graeber and the influence he had on Julio. Julio then describes his conception of anarchism before he and Robbie launch into a comradely back-and-forth discussion compairing and contrasting anarchism with Marxism (and specifically Marxism-Leninism).

We then turn the conversation towards Julio's work around decolonizing money. Julio provides a brief history of how money came into being thousands of years ago through what he calls a "war-money-bondage" complex before bringing us up to the present form it takes under U.S. hegemony.

We end with a discusion on universal debt cancelation, modern monetary theory (MMT), Julio's alternative idea of democratic monetary theory (DMT), and finally, we discuss some tactics on how we can bring about the reality that Julio is arguing for.

Further resources:

• Decolonizing Money: The Promise of Abolishing the US Dollar, by Julio Linares
• The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time, by Karl Polanyi
• Earth's Great Enemey, film by Abby Martin
• Debt for Climate

Related episodes:

• Microlending and the Financialization of Poverty w/ Sohini Kar
• Universal Basic Income Pt. 1: An Idea Whose Time Has Come? (Documentary)
• Immigration, ICE, and Working Class Rebellion w/ Cecilia Guerrero
• The Democratic Party w/ Cecilia Guerrero
• Against White Feminism w/ Rafia Zakaria
• Listen to our ongoing series on Iran
• Gamified Capitalism and 21st Century Fascism w/ Max Haiven
• Revolutionary Leftism with Breht O'Shea
• What is To Be Done? w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante
• Prefigurative Politics and Workplace Democracy w/ Saio Gradin and Nicole Wires
• Be More Pirate w/ Sam Conniff
• Everyday Utopia w/ Kristen Ghodsee
• Listen to our ongoing series on Cuba
• Listen to our ongoing series on Venezuela
• Listen to our ongoing series on China
• Live Show: Breaking the Chains of Empire w/ Abby Martin (with Bonus Q&A)
• Marx's Capital Vol. 1 w/ David Smith
• Slow Down or Die w/ Timothée Parrique
• The Rise (and Fall) of the US Dollar w/ Fadhel Kaboub
• The Problem with Modern Monetary Theory w/ Doug Henwood

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 through our fiscal sponsor Independent Arts and Media at www.upstreampodcast.org/support

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

We have unlocked our episode "Nathan Fielder's 'The Curse' w/ Carlee." Enjoy!

What happens when the contradictions of living under late capitalism 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 2023 masterpiece by comedian, actor, writer, director, and producer, Nathan Fielder along with Benny Safdie. 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 his brand new movie You Can See Everything. 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. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

Further resources:

• Egress: On Mourning, Melancholy and Mark Fisher, by Matt Colquhoun
• "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 through our fiscal sponsor Independent Arts and Media at www.upstreampodcast.org/support

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

In this conversation, episode 12 in our ongoing series on Cuba, we're joined by Niki Franco, AKA Venus Roots, for a discussion on what the radically different histories of Cuba and Puerto Rico can teach us about colonialism, capitalism, socialism, and the struggle for liberation in the Caribbean and beyond. Niki Franco is a Caribbean abolitionist community organizer, writer, facilitator of spaces for collective study, and author of Flies in the Tropics published this month by 1804 Books.

The conversation begins with Niki describing her connection to Puerto Rico and introducing us to her working class family history in Puerto Rico and presenting the colonial, imperialist nature of the U.S.'s relationship to Puerto Rico. Niki then describes her upbringing in Miami and the reactionary, far-right politics of much of south Florida before describing how she broke out of the city's suffocating anti-communism and embraced socialism.

We then begin our discussion on Cuba and Puerto Rico—beginning with their intertwined colonial and anti-colonial histories. We talk about how, in the mind of many reactionaries, Puerto Rico is elevated to a "good colony" position while Cuba is vilified as what happens to bad colonies. We end by connecting the struggles in Cuba and Puerto Rico to Palestine, Congo, Sudan, and the entire global South's struggle against imperialism and colonialism.

We are now on Youtube! You can find us and subscribe to our channel at youtube.com/@upstream_podcast

Further resources:

• Flies in the Tropics, by Niki Franco (1804 Books)

Related episodes:

• Listen to our ongoing series on Cuba
• Abolition with Niki Franco (AKA Venus Roots)

Intermission music: "CARACOL" by dj juanny

Upstream is entirely listener funded. No ads, no promotions, no grants—just Patreon subscriptions and listener donations. We couldn't keep this project going without your support. Subscribe to our Patreon for bi-weekly bonus episodes, access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, and for Upstream stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. 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. patreon.com/upstreampodcast

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

This is a free preview of the episode "The Crushing Despair of Class Society." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

As a Patreon subscriber, you'll get access to biweekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly show, and it will also give you access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes along with stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. You'll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going.

In this episode of our reading series, Robbie reads a piece of his own titled "Extreme Inequality Is Driving Anxiety and Depression in the US" published by Truthout in 2019. The piece is about the environmental impacts on mental health, focusing specifically on the impacts of economic inequality.

The reading opens with a look back to the dawn of the COVID era, exploring how the pandemic and long COVID have impacted society in a broader sense but also Robbie's personal experience suffering from mental health challenges and the ways that he is coping with that.

We then begin the reading, which explores how economic inequality impacts mental health in a variety of ways. With frequent commentary breaks, Robbie explains how societies with more economic inequality do worse on a very wide range of mental and physical health indicators. We disucss how it's not just those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder who experience worse outcomes, but how even people on the higher rungs in more unequal societies do worse than their counterparts in less unequal societies.

We explore how status anxiety along with racial and other forms of minority discrimination impact people's mental health and discuss the mechanisms through which this occurs. And finally, we explore how the only way to truly reduce economic inequality is by organizing towards a communist society which abolishes class.

Further resources:

• "Extreme Inequality Is Driving Anxiety and Depression in the US," Robert Raymond
• "Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed," George Monbiot
• The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson
• The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity and Improve Everyone's Well-being, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson
• "Who Feels Inferior? A Test of the Status Anxiety Hypothesis of Social Inequalities in Health," Richard Layte and Christopher T. Whelan
• "The Science Is In: Greater Equality Makes Societies Healthier and Richer," Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett
• Lost Connections: Why You're Depressed and How to Find Hope, Johann Hari
• Debunking the Myth of Homo Economicus (Documentary)

Related episodes:

• Health Communism w/ Beatrice Adler-Bolton
• Disabled Ecologies w/ Sunaura Taylor
• The Spirit Level with Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett
• COVID and the Pandemic with Beatrice Adler-Bolton
• Stolen Focus with Johann Hari
• Capitalism and the Weight Loss Industry w/ Johann Hari

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

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.

In this episode we're joined by Max Haivan for a conversation on gamified capitalism and 21st century fascism. Max Haiven is Canada Research Chair in Radical Imagination at Lakehead University and author of many books, including most recently, The Player and the Played: From Gamed Capitalism to 21st-Century Fascism, which is open-access. He is the designer of the board game Billionaires & Guillotines and teaches a popular education course titled Fighting Fascist Feelings.

The conversation begins with a broad overview of Max's thesis connecting games and capitalism—what he calls gamified capitalism—introducing the concept of 21st century capitalism as a sort of cruel and unwinnable game in which we are all trapped. We discuss the financialization of capitalism as the foundation upon which gamification has flourished, describing the emergnce of the "cheated player" navigating a never-ending series of financialized games—from dating apps to prediction markets.

Max explains how fascism on both a micro and macro level emerges out of this material reality through a sort of revenge politics and the creation of the "cheating other" who must be eliminated from society. We go on to elaborate on this and discuss how fascism in the 20th century differs from 21st century fascism as a sort of entrepreneurial form of fascism that places the emphasis on the individual as opposed to the mass.

We situate Trump in Max's analysis of 21st century fascism as a form of revenge against the cheating other under gamified capitalism, discussing QAnon, the TESCREAL philosophies of Silicon Valley, and other fascistic phenomena along the way. We end by exploring what games can teach the left and how learning from games can contribute to our movements for liberation.

We are now on Youtube! You can find us and subscribe to our channel at youtube.com/@upstream_podcast

Further resources:

• The Player and the Played: From Gamed Capitalism to 21st Century Fascism, by Max Haiven
• Max's work

Related episodes:

• Capitalist Realism w/ Carlee
• Listen to our ongoing series on Palestine

Intermission music: "Shit List" by Carsie Blanton

Upstream is entirely listener funded. No ads, no promotions, no grants—just Patreon subscriptions and listener donations. We couldn't keep this project going without your support. Subscribe to our Patreon for bi-weekly bonus episodes, access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, and for Upstream stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. 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. patreon.com/upstreampodcast

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram 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 "Cuba Ep. 11: Actually Existing Ecology w/ Henry Hakamäki & Salvatore Engels-Di Mauro." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

As a Patreon subscriber, you'll get access to biweekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly show, and it will also give you access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes along with stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. You'll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going.

In this episode, Part 2 of a 2-part miniseries, Henry Hakamäki & Salvatore Engels-Di Mauro join us to discuss the ecology of communism as described in the book, Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology by French scholar Guillaume Suing. Salvatore Engels-Di Mauro is Professor at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at SUNY New Paltz. Henry Hakamäki is co-host of Guerrilla History and the editor and translator, along with Salvatore, of Iskra Books' Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend, by Domenico Losurdo as well as the book we'll be discussing today, Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology​, by Guillaume Suing

Our conversation begins with a brief introduction to Guillaume Suing and the book Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology before jumping into a discussion about communist ecology and tackling the question of whether or not the "eco" in eco-socialism is necessary. We discuss the communist response to eco-centricism, which Salvatore argues presents a false dichotomy between humans and nature.

We then move from theory and begin discussing communist ecology in practice as it manifested in Cuba, describing some aspects of Cuba's ecological practices from agroecology to reforestation. We describe what it was about Cuba's socialist system which led it to value ecological sustainability. We end by discussing the "degrowth" movement, how Cuba represents a true example of degrowth in action, and explore how the climate movement and the western left more broadly can and should truly embrace that idea that communism is the highest stage of ecology.

We have unlocked Part 1 of this conversation so it is now available as a public episode. Part 2 will remain as a Patreon-only episode.

Further resources:

• Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology​, by Guillaume Suing

• Ecosocialism: An Introduction, by Salvatore Engels-Di Mauro

• Iskra Books

• Guerrilla History

• Book Talk: Slow Down with Kohei Saito (The People's Forum)

Related episodes:

• Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology w/ Henry Hakamäki & Salvatore Engels-Di Mauro

• Listen to our ongoing series on Cuba

• Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante

• Socialism Betrayed w/ Roger Keeran and Joe Jamison

• Walter Rodney, Marxism, and Underdevelopment with D. Musa Springer & Charisse Burden-Stelly

• Live Show: Breaking the Chains of Empire w/ Abby Martin (with Bonus Q&A)

Cover art: Ben Stahnke / Iskra 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

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

This is a free preview of the episode "Cuba Pt. 11: Actually Existing Ecology w/ Henry Hakamäki & Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

As a Patreon subscriber, you'll get access to biweekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly show, and it will also give you access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes along with stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. You'll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going.

In this episode, Part 2 of a 2-part miniseries, Henry Hakamäki & Salvatore Engels-Di Mauro join us to discuss the ecology of communism as described in the book, Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology by French scholar Guillaume Suing. Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro is Professor at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at SUNY New Paltz. Henry Hakamäki is co-host of Guerrilla History and the editor and translator, along with Salvatore, of Iskra Books' Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend, by Domenico Losurdo as well as the book we'll be discussing today, Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology​, by Guillaume Suing

Our conversation begins with a brief introduction to Guillaume Suing and the book Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology before jumping into a discussion about communist ecology and tackling the question of whether or not the "eco" in eco-socialism is necessary. We discuss the communist response to eco-centricism, which Salvatore argues presents a false dichotomy between humans and nature.

We then move from theory and begin discussing communist ecology in practice as it manifested in Cuba, describing some aspects of Cuba's ecological practices from agroecology to reforestation. We describe what it was about Cuba's socialist system which led it to value ecological sustainability. We end by discussing the "degrowth" movement, how Cuba represents a true example of degrowth in action, and explore how the climate movement and the western left more broadly can and should truly embrace that idea that communism is the highest stage of ecology.

We have unlocked Part 1 of this conversation so it is now available as a public episode. Part 2 will remain as a Patreon-only episode.

Further resources:

• Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology​, by Guillaume Suing
• Ecosocialism: An Introduction, by Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro (you can email Salvatore for a pdf)
• Iskra Books
• Guerrilla History
• Book Talk: Slow Down with Kohei Saito (The People's Forum)

Related episodes:

• Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology w/ Henry Hakamäki & Salvatore Engels-Di Mauro
• Listen to our ongoing series on Cuba
• Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante
• Socialism Betrayed w/ Roger Keeran and Joe Jamison

Cover art: Ben Stahnke / Iskra 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

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

This is an unlocked version of our Patreon episode "Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology w/ Henry Hakamäki & Salvatore Engels-Di Mauro."

In this episode, Part 1 of a 2-part miniseries, Henry Hakamäki & Salvatore Engels-Di Mauro join us to discuss the ecology of communism as described in the book, Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology by French scholar Guillaume Suing. Salvatore Engels-Di Mauro is Professor at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at SUNY New Paltz. Henry Hakamäki is co-host of Guerrilla History and the editor and translator, along with Salvatore, of Iskra Books' Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend, by Domenico Losurdo as well as the book we'll be discussing today, Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology​, by Guillaume Suing

Our conversation begins by outlining how capitalism as an ideology and as a world-system harms ecology by unpacking the logic behind the profit motive and infinite growth characteristic capitalism system. Henry and Salvatore then discuss some of the most prominent preconceptions and misconceptions regarding communism as an inherently "productivist" system, using the Soviet Union as their primary example (we will discuss the example of Cuba in Pt. 2 of this miniseries which will be released as part of our Cuba series). We end the discussion on the USSR by looking at three different areas where the USSR committed to environmental protection—including the famous zapovedniki.

The conversation begins to wrap up with a brief exploration of Trofim Lysenko, the Soviet agronomist around whom much controversy still swirls, and whose story leads us unto a discussion of socialist science and dialectical science. We end by introducing Cuba into the conversation, but just very briefly, as a much deeper exploration of Cuba as a model of communist ecological practice will be the topic of Part 2 of this miniseries.

Part 2 will be released as part of our Cuba series on 9/28/2026.

Further resources:

• Communism, the Highest Stage of Ecology​, by Guillaume Suing
• Iskra Books
• Guerrilla History

Related episodes:

• Listen to our ongoing series on Cuba
• Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante
• Socialism Betrayed w/ Roger Keeran and Joe Jamison
• Walter Rodney, Marxism, and Underdevelopment with D. Musa Springer & Charisse Burden-Stelly
• Live Show: Breaking the Chains of Empire w/ Abby Martin (with Bonus Q&A)

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

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

In this episode, we're joined by Carsie Blanton for a conversation on communist folk music and the role of politics in art. Carsie Blanton is a songwriter, touring musician, and organizer with Artists Against Apartheid and People's Songs—an organization of musicians dedicated to adapting, distributing, and performing songs for liberation.

The conversation begins with Carsie giving us a sense of her experience as a Jewish, anti-Zionist musician after Oct 7th and how the repressive atmosphere and her experience on the Global Sumud Flotilla shaped the way she thinks about art and political discourse. She tells us how this experience led her to (re)launch an organization from the 1940s named People's Songs dedicated to adapting, distributing, and performing songs for liberation.

We discuss the ways that communist musicians organized historically and what the response from the FBI and repressive apparatus was to this organizing. We talk about the Congress for Cultural Freedom, for example, and other soft power approaches by the CIA to promote a noncommunist, compatible left in the sphere of art, music, and culture more broadly.

We discuss the repression that musicians faced, from Paul Robeson to Malvina Reynolds, and how the explicitly left, communist politics presentin folk music shifted and dissipated during neolberalism. We end by discussing the challenges facing musicians today in the context of the new Red Scare, how Carsie has navigated this, and how musicians and artists can get involved in organizing.

We are now on Youtube! You can find us and subscribe to our channel at youtube.com/@upstream_podcast

Further resources:

• Carsie Blanton's webiste
• Support Carsie on Patreon!
• People's Songs
• Artists Against Apartheid
• Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL)
• Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War, by Francis Stonor Saunders
• The Folk Singers and the Bureau The FBI, the Folk Artists and the Suppression of the Communist Party, USA-1939-1956, by Aaron Leonard
• Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism, Gabriel Rockhill (Monthly Review Press)
• All Power Books
• Radical artists to explore: Bambu, Robeson Singers, the Neighborhood Kids, Billy Bragg, The Burning Hell, Devon Sproule, Linqua Franqa, Tuneyards, Nathan Evans Fox
• Della's Playlist

Related episodes:

• Palestine Ep. 15: The Gaza Freedom Flotilla w/ Chris Smalls & Huwaida Arraf
• Cuba Ep. 9: Conjuring up the Red Menace w/ Charisse Burden-Stelly
• The Intellectural World War w/ Gabriel Rockhill
• The Western Left w/ Gabriel Rockhill
• US Labor & Imperialism Pt. 1: the War Against Communism w/ Jeff Schuhrke
• Black Scare / Red Scare with Charisse Burden-Stelly
• Marxism for the Masses w/ Savannah from All Power Books
• Voting for Socialism w/ Claudia De La Cruz & Karina Garcia

Intermission music: "FBI" performed live by Carsie Blanton

Upstream is entirely listener funded. No ads, no promotions, no grants—just Patreon subscriptions and listener donations. We couldn't keep this project going without your support. Subscribe to our Patreon for bi-weekly bonus episodes, access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, and for Upstream stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. 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. patreon.com/upstreampodcast

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.