Upstream

This is an preview of the Patreon episode "The Political Economy of Love in Capitalism w/ Kristen Ghodsee." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly 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 we're joined by Kristen Ghodsee to discuss the political economy of love in capitalism. Kristen Ghodsee is 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 Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life, Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism and Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons From Five Revolutionary Women.

The conversation opens with an exploration of the three components of love and how capitalism co-opts, commodifies, and ultimately destroys them. We explore how different components of love, like attention and affection, are transformed from a use-value to an exchange-value in capitalism and how capitalism transforms and transactionalizes friendship and love. We also talk about the concept of "reciprocal flow" and how this is another component of relationality that is being distorted and corrupted by market relations and the commodification of everything.

Finally, we end the conversation exploring what we can do to fight against the commodification of friendship and love and how we can incorporate activities that facilitate trust, social bonds, and relationality that is not dominated and dictated by capitalist relations of production.

Further resources:

• "The Political Economy of Love in Capitalism," Kristen R. Ghodsee
• Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence, Kristen Ghodsee
• Everyday Utopia What 2,000 Years of Bold Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life, Kristen R. Ghodsee
• Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons From Five Revolutionary Women, Kristen Ghodsee
• "Make way for Winged Eros: A Letter to Working Youth," Alexandra Kollontai (1923)
• "The Anti-Social Century," by Derek Thompson (a diamond in the rough of The Atlantic)
• Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Robert D. Putnam
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer
• The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Wall Kimmerer

Related episodes:

• Post Capitalist Parenting Pt. 2: Reimagining the Family w/ Kristen Ghodsee
• Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism w/ Kristen Ghodsee
• Everyday Utopia and Radical Imagination with Kristen Ghodsee
• Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes
• Stolen Focus with Johann Hari
• Life Beyond the Clock with Jenny Odell
• Documentary #9: Debunking the Myth of Homo Economicus
• The Spirit Level with Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett

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, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

In this episode we're joined by Gabriel Rockhill to discuss his new book, Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism, which takes a fascinating dive into the world of anticommunist Marxism and the role that the CIA and other nefarious imperialist forces play in dividing and neutralizing the left. Gabriel Rockhill is a philosopher, cultural critic, and activist teaching Philosophy and Global Interdisciplinary Studies at Villanova University and he runs an educational nonprofit called the Critical Theory Workshop. He is the editor of multiple books, including Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it can be Reborn, by the Italian Marxist Domenico Losurdo.

The conversation opens with an overview of Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism, orienting us towards Gabriel's analysis of bourgeois intellectual production and its role in perpetuating anticommunism among the left. We then bring in the Epstein files and discuss their relevance to our conversation before exploring what led to Gabriel writing about the intellectual world war and the process of putting this book together itself.

We then introduce the idea of intellectual warfare and the role that the intellectual world war plays in shaping our ideologies in the most insidious and pervasive ways. We explore why the US empire must control our minds in such a way in order to maintain its hegemony, and what this looks like in practice. Gabriel then tells us about the political economy of knowledge production and the role of the imperial professional-managerial class plays in intellectual production.

We then discuss real world examples of how the compatible left was used by the financial-state-intellectual complex in its global war against communism—from the Frankfurt School to Noam Chomsky and beyond. We end with a commemoration of a left figure who embodies the opposite of the compatible, anticommunist left: Michael Parenti.

Further resources:

• Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism, Gabriel Rockhill (Monthly Review Press)
• Critical Theory Workshop
• "Left-Wing" Communism: an Infantile Disorder, Vladimir Lenin

Related episodes:

• Western Marxism w/ Gabriel Rockhill
• Listen to our ongoing series on China (which includes an episode with Gabriel Rockhill)
• US Labor & Imperialism Pt. 1: the War Against Communism w/ Jeff Schuhrke
• US Labor & Imperialism Pt. 2: Zionism w/ Jeff Schuhrke (Palestine Pt. 16)
• [UNLOCKED] How Fascism Works (a Michael Parenti Reading)

Intermission music: "Song for Alicia" by Haley Heynderickx and Max García Conover

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 "Iran Ep. 2: The Impacts of Economic Strangulation w/ Elina Xenophontos." 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 bi-weekly 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.

Elina Xenophontos joins us to discuss the history and impacts of sanctions on Iran—including the impacts on the current crisis in the country. Elina Xenophontos is an international law and economic globalization specialist. She produces much of her own material on her Substack and is also featured regularly on the Colonial Outcasts podcast.

Our conversation begins with a very deep dive into the history of the sanctions imposed on Iran from the 1979 Islamic Revolution to the present, providing a detailed understanding of exactly how the sanctions have impacted the Islamic Republic's economic and political spheres for the past half decade. We then situate the unrest in Iran in the context of the sanctions, urging those in the West to understand what's happening in Iran from a dialectical and historical materialist analysis that understands Iranian agency and grievances as a direct result of imperialist strangulation. Elina then gives us a 101 on the Islamic Republic's internal political forces and factions, outlining their tensions, dynamics, and ideological orientations. We then discuss Iran's political economy, discussing how the sanctions have shaped Iran's class dynamics and its society more broadly and how the sanctions are a barrier to working class organization and revolution in Iran because they engender a rentier economy not rooted in production but in survival and perpetual crisis.

Although the episodes in our series build on each other in certain ways, all of our series are designed so that each episode can be listened to as a standalone.

Further resources:

• Elina Xenophontos on Substack
• Iran's Indigenous Labor Movement and Working Class Sovereignty
• The harsh effects of sanctions on Iranian health," by Payman Salamatia & Claudia Chaufanb (The Lancet)

Related episodes:

• Listen to our ongoing series on Iran
• Listen to our ongoing series on Venezuela
• Listen to our ongoing series on China
• Listen to our ongoing series on Mexico
• US Labor & Imperialism Pt. 1: the War Against Communism w/ Jeff Schuhrke

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, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

This is an unlocked version of the Patreon episode "Venezuela Ep. 6: The Empire Strikes w/ José Luis Granados Ceja Andreína Chávez." You can listen to our entire 5-part series on Venezuela 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.

José Luis Granados Ceja and Andreína Chávez join us to discuss the aftermath of the abduction of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores and the United States' attempted takeover of Venezuela. José Luis Granados Ceja is a journalist with Drop Site News based in Mexico City who has been covering Venezuela for 20 years. Andreína Chávez is a Venezuelan journalist based in Caracas.

Our conversation begins with an overview of the night of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores's kidnapping, told by Andreína who was in Caracas at the time. We also get an update on Maduro and Flores's detention in the United States and the charges they are facing. We then explore the US's intentions behind the kidnapping, the oil deals that are being "negotiated," and the rumors that Acting President Delcy Rodriguez was involved in the Special Forces operation (she wasn't) and that Chavismo is dead (it isn't). Andreína then gives us a bit of background on Maduro and his rise to the presidency, highlighting his working class background and underscoring his support among the Venezuelan people. We then zoom out and take a look at what this all means in terms of the Monroe Doctrine 2.0 and what it means in the context of the new Cold War. Finally, we discuss the implications for the globe as the United States rips off its mask and escalates its campaign of terror at home and abroad.

Although the episodes in our series build on each other in certain ways, all of our series are designed so that each episode can be listened to as a standalone.

Further resources:

• Dropsite News
• José Luis Granados Ceja on Twitter
• Andreína Chávez on Substack
• "War of the entire people": Venezuela's Grassroots Rise to Resist Trump's Naval Blockade
• Alliance of Sahel States Pt. 3: Hyperimperialism and the Fight for Sovereignty w/ Mikaela Nhondo Erskog
• "Strike at the Helm: The First Ministerial Meeting of the New Cycle of the Bolivarian Revolution" by Hugo Chávez

Related episodes:

• Listen to our ongoing series on Venezuela
• [UNLOCKED] Oil, Monopoly Capitalism, and Imperialism w/ Adam Hanieh
• Listen to our ongoing series on Cuba

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, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Manolo De Los Santos joins us to explore Cuba before the Cuban revolution. Manolo De Los Santos is a founder of the People's Forum and a researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is the co-editor Viviremos: Venezuela vs. Hybrid War, Comrade of the Revolution: Selected Speeches of Fidel Castro, and Our Own Path to Socialism: Selected Speeches of Hugo Chávez.

The conversation opens with an exploration of Cuba's Indigenous peoples and their culture and practice of resistance to European colonialism which continues to this day. We then talk about the early history of the Caribbean and Cuba's position in the Atlantic slave trade and early industrial plantation capitalism as well as some of the many rebellions led by enslaved Africans on the island of Cuba. Manolo also tells us about Cuba's "independence" in 1902, or what he refers to as a false independence and the imposition of US imperialism on the island.

We then introduce Fulgencio Batista and the period of dictatorship beginning in the 1930s which inaugurated an era of "paradise" in Cuba—paradise for US corporations and for the political and military elites surrounding Batista. We talk about the social inequality and repression in Cuba during this period as well as the development of the tourism industry which was a model that was later exported across the world. We conclude with the lead up to the Cuban Revolution and the material conditions which led to it. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series, ¡Viva la Revolución, where we'll take a deep dive into Cuba's revolution.

Although the episodes in our series build on each other in certain ways, all of our series are designed so that each episode can be listened to as a standalone.

Further resources:

• The People's Forum
• Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
• History Will Absolve Me, Fidel Castro

Related episodes:

• Listen to our ongoing series on Venezuela
• Alliance of Sahel States Pt. 3: Hyperimperialism and the Fight for Sovereignty w/ Mikaela Nhondo Erskog
• Listen to our ongoing series on Mexico

Intermission music: "Que Salga el Sol" by El Guajiro

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 an unlocked version of the Patreon episode "How Fascism Works." RIP Michael Parenti, (September 30, 1933 – January 24, 2026)

In this episode of our reading series, Robbie reads and provides real-time analysis of the opening chapter of the classic book Blackshirts & Reds: Rational Fascism & the Overthrow of Communism by Michael Parenti. The text covers the topics of plutocracy and autocracy, whom the fascists last century supported, a bit of history on Hitler and Mussolini, the rational and irrational aspects of fascism, patriarchy and pseudo-revolution, collaboration, and much more.

The analysis provided in the reading brings this text into our current conditions and looks at where Parenti's analysis holds up and where it might need to be stretched and adapted to help us understand the rise of neofascism in the United States under Trump and his modern day fascist footsoldiers. We explain why it's more important than ever to resist collaboration and to stand in full solidarity with all of the racialized and criminalized "others" in order to combat the fearmongering and scapegoating that fascism relies on in order to grow in strength.

Further resources:

• Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism, by Michael Parenti

Related episodes:

• From the Frontlines: State Repression and Anti-Imperialist Organizing w/ Calla Walsh
• Capitalism, The State, and How We Got Here with Christian Parenti

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.

This is a free preview of the episode "Alliance of Sahel States Ep. 4: The Life, Politics and Legacies of Thomas Sankara w/ Amber Murrey." 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.

Amber Murrey joins us for a conversation on Thomas Sankara's, legacy, and politics. The conversation opens with an exploration of Sankara's early life and how his experience with French colonialism shaped his politics and philosophies. We talk about how those philosophies were implemented into policy after a 1983 coup d'etat that put him into the presidency. We explore his fight against French imperialism and for sovereignty of the Burkinabé population. We discuss his assassination, who was responsible, and why it's more important than ever for us to share about his work and uplift his legacy here in the West.

Amber Murrey is Associate Professor in Human Geography, Fellow and Tutor at Mansfield College, and Director of Undergraduate Studies for Geography & the Environment at the University of Oxford. taught at universities in Ethiopia, Egypt, Cameroon, the US. Amber is also the editor of 'A Certain Amount of Madness': The Life, Politics and Legacies of Thomas Sankara and Associate Editor of The African Geographical Review.

Although the episodes in our series build on each other in certain ways, all of our series are designed so that each episode can be listened to as a standalone.

Further resources:

• A Certain Amount of Madness The Life, Politics and Legacies of Thomas Sankara
• Thomas Sankara An African Revolutionary, Ernest Harsch
• The International Campaign of Justice for Sankara
• Who Killed Thomas Sankara? by Bruno Jaffré
• Interview with Aziz Fall on the assassination of Thomas Sankara, by Koni Benson and Mukoma Wa Ngugi
• Thomas Sankara: A Revolutionary in Cold War Africa, by Brian J. Peterson

Related episodes:

• Our ongoing series on the Alliance of Sahel States
• A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations w/ Vijay Prashad

Artwork: Sanyika

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, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

In this episode, part 2 of our 2-part miniseries on US labor and imperialism, Jeff Schuhrke joins us to take a deep dive into his new book, No Neutrals There, exploring US labor's support of Zionism.

Jeff Schuhrke is a labor historian, journalist, union activist, and assistant professor at the Harry Van Arsdale Jr School of Labor Studies, SUNY Empire State University. He's the author of Blue-Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor's Global Anticommunist Crusade, and No Neutrals There: US Labor, Zionism, and the Struggle for Palestine.

The conversation opens with a history of Zionism, looking at the rise of Zionism and crucially contrasting it to the Jewish Labor Bund and their different approach to Jewish emancipation. We then present a history of the settler-colonial project which became Israel, looking at the labor landscape in Palestine during the first half of the 20th century (the Great Arab Revolt, WWII, the period of the Holocaust) and exploring US labor's role in supporting the Zionist project ideologically, financially, and even militarily throughout the Nakba and the creation of the State of Israel.

We then talk about how US labor's support (specifically the AFL-CIO's) for Zionism after the creation of the state of Israel, providing billions of dollars of support and lobbying on behalf of Israel, providing crucial early support.

Part 1 of this miniseries took a deep dive into Jeff's book Blue-Collar Empire, looking at US labor's role in supporting imperialism and anticommunism.

Further resources:

• No Neutrals There: US Labor, Zionism, and the Struggle for Palestine
• Blue-Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor's Global Anticommunist Crusade
• Donate to ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid)
• Donate to MECA (Middle East Children's Alliance)
• Amazon Labor Union
• BDS Movement
• Block the Boat

Related episodes:

• US Labor & Imperialism Pt. 1: the War Against Communism w/ Jeff Schuhrke
• Listen to our ongoing Palestine series
• From the Frontlines: Organizing Against Amazon w/ Chris Smalls and Mars VerroneFrom the Frontlines: Organizing Against Amazon w/ Chris Smalls and Mars Verrone
• What Is To Be Done? with Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante

Please Donate:

• Help Ismail and his family survive in Gaza — a note from Ismail's fundraiser: "Ismail is 20 years old and has taken excellent care of his mother and three younger siblings. 'Excellent care' means being threatened by American mercenaries at the GHF "aid" points when those killing workshops were in operation. 'Excellent care' means going without a rumour of food so his loved ones could eat. 'Excellent care' means retaining his astonishing physical strength and agility in conditions that would test the discipline of a spiritual genius. He is deeply loveable and wonderfully funny. He would be ecstatic to know his life is visible to others. Any money that could be appropriately spared would give him and his family such relief as I hope I will never know."
• Intermission music: "No Rest" by No Rest (Please support their fundraiser for a Palestinian family)

Cover art: Berwyn Mure

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.

Note: We have unlocked this Patreon episode which originally aired on Jun 23, 2025

It's easy to get lost in the narratives that are fed to us by the very same institutions that oppress us. Whether liberal institutions or far right ones, there's always something crucial missing—some component of analysis that's left unaddressed, some root cause that remains misidentified or distorted. And the reason is because when it comes to the class war that we are all engaged in—whether we like it or not—the issues of class, of imperialism, and of monopoly capitalism are never, ever part of the mainstream discussion.

So, what are the root causes of immigration? What do the ICE terror campaigns look like on the ground in cities like LA or Nashville? What happens when we apply a materialist lens to the conversation about mass deportations and conversation about the scapegoating of the more vulnerable groups in society? And what happens when we shift the frame from the more liberal, rights-based approach to activism to one based on unified, solidaristic class struggle? Well, we've brought back on the perfect guest to help us unpack some of these pressing questions.

Cecilia Guerrero is Chair and Founding Member of A Luta Sigue, an organization based in Nashville, Tennessee, which incubates and trains young people and workers within advanced sectors of the working class to build and lead their own class struggle organizations.

In this episode, we talk about the terror campaign being waged on immigrants throughout the country and the responses coming from working class communities who are standing up for themselves and standing in solidarity with the oppressed and exploited classes across the globe. We talk about ICE, the role that immigration plays in the imperialist global system, the attempts by liberal institutions to co-opt and neutralize our radical movements, and what the MAGA right gets wrong about the root cause of their immiseration.

Further resources:

• A Luta Sigue
• Poder Popular
• Tennessee Drivers Union
• Southern Youth Solidarity Network
• Capitalism and Workers' Immigration, V.I. Lenin
• Marx to Sigfrid Meyer and August Vogt In New York, Karl Marx

Related episodes:

• From the Frontlines: Class Struggle and Class War in the US Southeast w/ Cecilia Guerrero
• The Imperial Boomerang w/ Julian Go

Artwork: CPSU propaganda poster

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 Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

This is an unlocked version of the Patreon episode "Venezuela Pt. 5: Monroe Doctrine 2.0 w/ José Luis Granados Ceja." You can listen to our entire 5-part series on Venezuela by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly 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 Part 5 of our ongoing series on Venezuela, José Luis Granados Ceja joins us to discuss the context within which the US's aggression toward Venezuela is taking place—what we can think of as a Monroe Doctrine 2.0. José Luis Granados Ceja is a journalist with Drop Site News based in Mexico City who has been covering Venezuela for 20 years.

Our conversation begins with an update on the most recent situation in Venezuela. We then go on to discuss the regional implications of the United States' air and sea blockade of Venezuela and how it impacts its allies in the region and how the current blockade escalates the already existing sanctions regime. We discuss the regional layout of Latin America and how different countries in the region are responding to the escalating bifurcation of the region between the United States and China, taking a close look at Mexico and the Sheinbaum administration's approach to this new Cold War. We end the conversation with a look forward and with a call to solidarity with the people and government of Venezuela as it stares down the gunships of the United States.

Further resources:

• Dropsite News
• José Luis Granados Ceja on Twitter
• "War of the entire people": Venezuela's Grassroots Rise to Resist Trump's Naval Blockade
• Mexico and the Fourth Transformation
• Edwin Ackerman

Related episodes:

• Listen to our ongoing series on Venezuela
• Listen to our ongoing series on China
• Listen to our ongoing series on Mexico
• US Labor & Imperialism Pt. 1: the War Against Communism w/ Jeff Schuhrke

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, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.