Episodes
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E11
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm ASTThe steel pan has a crucial place in the culture and history of Trinidad that the outside world may find difficult to understand.
In the rest of world, there is an image of cruise ships, hotels, happy-go-lucky islanders in hawaiian shirts and straw hats, tied to novelty songs and the tourist industry.
In truth, the steel pan was created by warring street gangs, in the slums of Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. To this day, the names of the bands are "Desperadoes", "Renegades", "Invaders" reflecting the territorial battles. I think there are parallels with the early break-dancing battles in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s.
The music played on Steel Pans in Trinidad, too, is not novelty, tourist music. In fact, the island does not have a properly developed tourism sector at all. There are massive bands of over a hundred persons playing on a range of pans, from tenor, double tenors, bass, double guitars, cello pans, and more, with a very sizeable "Engine Room" of various percussion instruments, and a full drum kit.
These huge bands compete in islandwide competitions, and play serious music from popular local compositions to complex European symphonies, all to huge, enthusiastic, very knowledgeable audiences.
It should be obvious that there has been much lost in translation, often deliberately disorted, as steel pan has spread across the world.
Trinidadians have long dreamt of making the steel pan a serious international instrument, perhaps in a similar way that reggae was turned from a novelty music in the 1960s to a serious genre in the 1970s. There is also a whole economy which supports and is supported by the steelpan cultural complex which has implications for indigenous and global economic development in Trinidad and Tobago.
Some inroads have been made, but there remain challenges. Today, I have as my guests Dr. Mia Gormandy-Benjamin from Trinidad and Tobago and Dr. Janine Tiffe from the USA to reflect on these issues and more.
Dr. Janine Tiffe is Assistant Professor of ethnomusicology at the Kent State University School of Music in Ohio where she directs the African Ensemble and Steel Band. She has performed with Women in Steel and Invaders Steel Orchestra; as a member of Azaguno, she performed for the 2002 FIFA World Cup ceremonies in Seoul, Korea.
Mia Gormandy-Benjamin is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Trinidad and Tobago and a steel pan performer and commentator. Her doctoral research focused on the history and performance practices of steelpan musicians in Japan. Dr. Gormandy-Benjamin has performed in several different countries around the world including Austria, Australia, England, Japan, the United States, Canada, and countries of the Caribbean. She has also performed with many world-renowned artists such as 11-time Grammy award winner Paquito D’Rivera. She is the co-founder of the global steelpan project called the Virtual Steelband where 22 countries with over 300 pannists are registered with the organization. She later worked on the “Pan in Unity” project as a response to the 2020 pandemic, which featured 691 musicians from 23 countries.
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E10
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm ASTBitcoin, cryptocurrencies and blockchain are revolutionary developments that excite, confuse and raise scepticism.
It goes to the heart of questions like the nature of money, the role of governments and central banks; freedom, privacy and security on the internet and in economics; technology development; the digital divide; asset bubbles; investment scams and pyramid schemes, and so much more.
From the perspective of developing countries there are many issues that are raised: can this help with our development? does this give us more control over our financing and economics? what exactly is bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain? will this continue to produce and reinforce the divide between the haves and the have-nots? the big and small? the technologically advanced and the technologically underdeveloped?
Today I have two very interesting guests to speak about these issues and questions from a very practical perspective.
George Siosi Samuels is originally from Fiji but based in Singapore. He is the Managing Director of management consultancy, Fai?, and founder of blockchain-based accountability platform, Hon?. His Bitcoin journey began in 2013, he was the Global Head of Community for the Bitcoin Cash Association in 2018, and is now South Pacific Ambassador for the Bitcoin Association.
Daniel Barcant is an entrepreneur, founder and cofounder of several well known businesses and an NGO, based in Trinidad and Tobago. He is also a blockchain and crypto currency enthusiast. His involvements in the space cover a broad range such as investing, education, mining and exploring utilizing blockchain for impact.
-
Missing episodes?
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E9
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm ASTThe global culture industry is one of the world's most lucrative. Some of the world's largest and most powerful companies operate in this sphere, and it even forms a part of a country's geo-political "soft power".
At the same time, because it is based on individual human creativity -- and not natural resources, wealth, or size -- there are unique opportunities for outsider individuals, small countries, marginal groups, or otherwise relatively "powerless" people to participate and succeed in this industry.
Digital technology, as well, although deployed by the most powerful corporations in the world in their massive corporate businesses, also provides a way for individuals, small or marginal populations and even countries, to participate in the very centre.
The culture industry has been deeply affected by the lockdowns following the covid-19 outbreak, and has made digital technology even more important. In some ways, this may have even levelled the playing field somewhat, and put the largest and smallest producers of culture on a more equal footing.
This week I am joined by two guests who have fascinating stories and projects in the global culture industry and insights to share.
Akim Millington is part of the Grammy Award-Winning CEEK Virtual Reality Founding Team, Former New Orleans Saint (NFL) Offensive Lineman, and a BIG XII Champion. CEEK VR pioneered Virtual Reality technology in entertainment. They have worked with the biggest stars in the music industry, from Bon Jovi, to Rihanna, to Megadeth to Ziggy Marley, Mariah Carey etc.
Rubadiri Victor is President at Artists' Coalition of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT), the lead Creative Industry and Cultural Sector representative organization in T&T. He is also a Multi-Media Artist in film, music, painting, theatre, Mas, photography, writing/publishing, & curating/design.
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E8
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm ASTFor the past 18 months, the world has been dealing with a global pandemic that has caused an unprecedented global shutdown of economic and social activity.
Although this has been an international emergency which the whole world has had to face, each country has had to face it nationally, in its own way, with its own resources and capabilites.
Some countries have had expriences with national disasters of various types in the past: natural, political, economic, military.
Now is a good time to reflect upon how countries have dealt with these National Emergencies in the past.
How have these past emergencies compared to the current covid crisis? What lessons can be learned from these past experiences?
Today we loook at national emergencies which gained international attention: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina in the United States, the 2014-6 ebola crisis in West Africa, and the 1990 Jamaat al-Muslimeen coup d'état in Trinidad and Tobago.
We are privileged to be joined by Ron Millington from the United States and Dr. Bhoe Tewarie from Trinidad and Tobago.
Ron Millington served in the U.S. Armed Forces where he received the Global War on Terrorism service Medal and a former Department of Homeland Security Tactical Law Enforcement Officer. He was involved in FEMA's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and also managing the ebola crisis in West Africa.
Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie is a distinuished academic, educator and politican in Trinidad and Tobago. He was a former Cabinet Minister in two administrations, including in 1990 when a small, radicalised group of insurgents took over Trinidad and Tobago's Parliament for 6 days, held MPs and the Prime Minister hostage, putting the entire country in a state of chaos and uncertainty.
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E7
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm ASTTrinidad and Tobago and Guyana are two Caribbean countries in the Southern Caribbean. They share significant similarities such as being former British colonies, historically dominated by sugar plantations, slavery and indentureship, multi-racial but dominated by descendants of Africans and (Asian) Indians. Both are developing countries that face political, social, economic and other challenges.
Ethnic-based politics has been prominent in both countries, which has sometimes been problematic in terms of social cohesion and democratic accountability.
Trinidad and Tobago achieved Independence from the UK in 1962, and Guyana in 1966. However, the constitutions they were left with under British rule were radically different. The electoral system (Proportional Representation vs. First-Past-the-Post) was a major difference. Guyana was firmly caught in the rivalries of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the USA, affecting its development greatly, and largely negatively. Trinidad and Tobago was generally more stable and prosperous, but this may change now that Guyana has a new oil and gas industry that may be among the world's largest, while Trinidad and Tobago's over a century-old oil and gas industry has been facing many years of decline and decay.
Particularly in Trinidad and Tobago, constitutional reform issues have been on the table for two decades almost continuously. It will be instructive to compare the countries' very different constitutions and see how they have helped or hindered progress in areas such as economic and social development, and democratic representation and accountability.
I am joined by two experienced guests from both countries, Ralph Ramkarran from Guyana and Timothy Hamel-Smith from Trinidad and Tobago.
Ralph Ramkarran is a politician and lawyer who served as Speaker of the National Assembly of Guyana from 2001 to 2011. He comes from a family with a long political history in Guyana.
Timothy Hamel-Smith is also a lawyer and was former President of the Senate in Trinidad and Tobago from 2010-2015. He also comes from a family with a long political history in Trinidad and Tobago.
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E6
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm ASTCrime rates vary widely from country to country. Trinidad and Tobago has sadly become one of the most murder-plagued countries in the world, measured on a per capita basis. This is like many of its Latin American neighbours and some of the other more violent, Caribbean countries, like Jamaica. Other Caribbean islands and Latin American countries, on the other hand, are remarkably murder-free.
The Netherlands, too, has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Tied to this is its unique prison system, which has prisoner reform and re-integration at the top of its agenda.
In the 1990s, violent crime in the US was reduced drastically by different crime prevention measures, most notably lead by Mayor Rudy Giuliani in NYC, who led the world's most impressive and important turnaround effort. So the right policy changes can have dramatic effects.
What are the various crime prevention measures undertaken in various countries? Can the success of models in the Netherlands, for example, be applied to Trinidad, which is a very different society in many ways?
Specifically, what is the prison situation like in Trinidad and Tobago and the Netherlands? What lessons might be learned? Is there anything that we have done right in Trinidad and Tobago that others might learn from?
Joining us this week to discuss these questions are Tom Eberhardt from Norway, and Jayanti Lutchmedial from Trinidad and Tobago.
Tom Eberhardt is the Governor of Bastøy Prison in Norway, known for being one of the most successful and humane prisons on the planet. Bastoy has a completely different model for their prison, with the focus being on rehabilitation.
Jayanti Lutchmedial is a Senator in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. She was a former prosecutor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and continues to practise as an Attorney-at-Law.
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E5 streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm AST
Today the West -- embodied by that imperial relic known as the G7 -- is embarking on a New Cold War directed at China and Russia.
What a far cry from the end of the original Cold War in 1990 when the promise of a New World Order and globalisation sought to bring the world together in a cooperative spirit. That decade saw a lot of progress in developing countries, so much so that by the 21st century, the BRICs emerged as some of the world's largest economies, displacing the old G7 grouping from their position as the world's leading industrial nations.
However, the rise of Russia and China, in particular, has been greeted with hostility and fear by the West and NATO, and new "Berlin Walls" are being attempted to once again pit the world into warring and competitive camps.
How will this affect global development, especially for developing countries? For those of us who are part of neither the G7 nor Russia and China, what are our options? Do we take sides or do we remain neutral?
To discuss these issues, I am privileged to have as my guests Helga Zepp-LaRouche from Germany -- the centre of the old Cold War with the Berlin Wall -- and Ralph Maraj from Trinidad and Tobago.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche is the President and founder of the International Schiller Institute in Germany, and the Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität party (BüSo) (Civil Rights Movement Solidarity). Together with her late husband, the American economist, theorist and political leader, Lyndon LaRouche, she was at the forefront of spearheading the New International Economic Order for a just global economy in the 1970s and 1980s, and the World Landbridge which became the foundation of the New Silk Road in 2013.
Ralph Maraj is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as a holder of other Ministerial positions. Notably, he has held Cabinet-level positions across opposing administrations in the 1990s. He is also an accomplished playwright and actor, starring in what many -- including me -- believe is the best film ever made in Trinidad and Tobago, Bim, about the rise and fall of an outsider politician.
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E4
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm ASTComparing the constitution and electoral experience of two very similar small island states, Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago
My guests are Jean-Marie Richard from Mauritius and Timothy Hamel-Smith from Trinidad and Tobago.
Jean-Marie Richard is Principal Consultant and CEO of Imagine Communications in Mauritius, dealing with Government and Corporate clients in Africa and the Indian Ocean particularly. He has also worked as a Communications and Media Consultant for the Ministry of Rodrigues in the Government of Mauritius.
Timothy Hamel-Smith is Partner Emeritus at Hamel-Smith, a law firm that has existed for over 110 years in Trinidad and Tobago. He is also a former President of the Senate with a notable political pedigree.
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E3
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm ASTWelcome to Season 2 Episode 3 of A Story Club: Global Politics & Cultures, brought to you by Bulletproof Podcast Formula.
My name is Dr. Kirk Meighoo and I'm the public relations officer of the United National Congress, the official Opposition Party in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
This is a unique venture, streaming simulataneously from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Dehra Dun in India, and San Franciso in the United States.
We speak with people around the world, trying to understand different issues and problems relevant to my own country, Trinidad and Tobago, and also to people in sometimes very similar and sometimes very different situations, cultures, histories, politics, sociology, etc.The goal is to learn from each other, build networks, widen our perspectives, and work for solutions in our distinctive contexts.
Today’s episode is titled, "The Economics of Covid-19 Lockdowns & Opening Up"
15 months ago, Trinidad and Tobago had one of the lowest infection and death rates from covid in the world. We watched the BBC, CNN and other news outlets relay what looked like horrific situations in New York, Italy, and saw harsh lockdown measures instituted in the UK, Australia, Germany and elsewhere.
Today, the situation is reversed. We in Trinidad and Tobago are looking at some of those very countries with envy, as we see the Brit Awards, football matches, and late-night clubbing with large, maskless crowds and no social distancing in the UK, or life apparently returning to normal in New York City.
Trinidad and Tobago, on the other hand, is experiencing an upsurge of infections and deaths unlike anything experienced in the months previous, with the covid death toll this month alone exceeding all covid deaths for the previous 14 months. A severe State of Emergency has been declared, but in the meanwhile people and businesses are experiencing economic hardship on an unprecedented scale.
This raises the questions, what have the covid lockdown experiences and policies been like in different countries? What social and economic effects has it had? How have different societies coped with saving lives and livelihoods? What is the way forward?
This week, I am honoured to have as my guests Sir John Redwood from the UK, and Peter George, Jr. from Trinidad and Tobago.
Sir John Redwood is Member of Parliament for Wokingham in Berkshire. He was formerly Secretary of State for Wales in the Major government and subsequently served in the Shadow Cabinets of William Hague and Michael Howard. He was the co-chairman of the Conservative Party's Policy Review Group on Economic Competitiveness and the author of 8 books, by my count.
Sir John has recently insisted that the faster UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson relaxes coronavirus restrictions, the quicker the economic bounce back, arguing that the pace of the recovery will remain mainly determined by the rate of relaxation.
Peter George, Jr. is CEO of the Trent Restaurants Group in Trinidad and Tobago, one of the largest indigenous restaurant chains in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. He is well-known for his outspoken, independent views on politics and the economy, and has recently called for a radical liquidity injection in the Trinidad and Tobago economy in the face of the continuing covid lockdowns.
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E2
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm ASTWelcome to Season 2 Episode 2 of A Story Club: Global Politics & Cultures brought to you by Bulletproof Podcast Formula
My name is Dr. Kirk Meighoo and I'm the public relations officer of the United National Congress, the official Opposition Party in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
This is a unique venture, streaming simulataneously from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Dehra Dun in India, and San Franciso in the United States.
We speak with people around the world, trying to understand different issues and problems relevant to my own country, Trinidad and Tobago, and also to people in sometimes very similar and sometimes very different situations, cultures, histories, politics, sociology, etc.
The goal is to learn from each other, build networks, widen our perspectives, and work for solutions in our distinctive contexts.
Today’s episode is titled, "Building Global and National Health Infrastructure in the Wake of Covid."
"The only way that the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic can be stopped, is by re-thinking the solution. We must have modern health care systems in every country. This means infrastructure for public health, and for medical care delivery at modern standards, to all populations. One model for this is the U.S. Hill-Burton Act (“Hospital Survey and Construction Act of 1946,”) whose principle was to state how many hospital beds per 1,000 residents must be in each locality (at that time, 4.5), and deploy accordingly to build them, including modern equipment and staff.
Look at instances of our ability to do this today. The 1,000-bed Huoshenshan hospital was built in 12 days in Wuhan in 2020. In the U.S., multiple field hospitals were built in record time last Spring by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We must do this simultaneously around the world.
This means that all countries must work together to accomplish this. We must put aside tensions and conflicts for the time being.
There are new strains of the SARS CoV2 that are showing up, that are more aggressive, and more transmissible. These can make vaccines obsolete... Thus, our response to the pandemic seen in these terms is a question of existential importance to the human species. It requires the cooperation of all major industrialized nations."
This is a quote from a statement by the Committee for the Coincidence of Opposites, for the Global Health Summit in Rome, May 21, 2021, and for general circulation, which we will be discussing more in-depth on today's episode.
This week, I am so pleased and honoured to have as our guests
Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former US Surgeon General, professor emerita of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, pediatrician
Dr. Tim Gopeesingh, former Cabinet Minister in the Govt of Trinidad and Tobago, former Clinical Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies, gynecologic oncologist
Marcia Merry Baker, Economics Co-Editor of the EIR News Service
-
A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E1
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm ASTWelcome to Season 2 Episode 1 of A Story Club: Global Politics & Cultures brought to you by Bulletproof Podcast Formula.
This is a unique venture, streaming simulataneously from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Dehra Dun in India, and San Franciso in the United States.
We speak with people around the world, trying to understand different issues and problems relevant to my own country, Trinidad and Tobago, and also to people in sometimes very similar and sometimes very different situations, cultures, histories, politics, sociology, etc.
The goal is to learn from each other, build networks, widen our perspectives, and work for solutions while remaining grounded in our distinctive contexts.
Today’s episode is titled, "Global and National Food Security in a Post-Covid World"
During this covid crisis, it is said that we are all in the same boat. Unfortunately, this is not true: we are all only in the same storm. Some have yachts, others have rafts, and others are drowning.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) currently puts the number of people at risk of starvation at more than 270 million. This is double the pre-pandemic figure. The COVID crisis has greatly exacerbated the situation for those already suffering from poverty, armed conflict, and other material insecurity.
While we track the 12,000+ global daily deaths from coronavirus, we have ignored the 20,000+ globaly daily deaths from hunger that have been deepened by the covid lockdowns.
Global food supply chains have been disrupted, as well as the global production and distribution of food. Food security is a major issue.
What does this mean for food self-sufficiency? For farmer security? The relative roles of large corporate agriculture and smaller family farms? Food exports and food imports?
Today I am honoured to have as my guests Mike Callicrate and Ved Seereeram.
Mike Callicrate is an independent cattle producer, business entrepreneur and political activist from Boulder, CO, USA. Mike is a founding member of several farm advocacy groups including the Organization for Competitive Markets, R-CALF and the Kansas Cattlemen’s Association. He also was a lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the world’s largest meatpacker, IBP, now part of Tyson Foods, alleging unfair and discriminatory marketing practices.
Mike has been an advisor for the films Food Inc. and FRESH, and is cited in several books including The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Fast Food Nation. He is revered as the “go-to expert” for understanding negative consequences of trends in the modern meat industry.
Ved Seereeram is owner of Inverness Sugar Estates, and a former banking executive and financial consultant, from Trinidad and Tobago. Ved worked with Citibank for 8 years and was Managing Director of Citicorp Merchant Bank, before he called them out for banking fraud in the early 2000s, and was featured in Time magazine.
Ved has since served in the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago and on several State Boards. He now owns and runs a small sugar estate which produces pancake syrup, muscovado sugar and jaggery/panela, and is very interested in issues of agriculture and social, economic and environmental sustainability.
-
Catch the full interview here at https://newbooksnetwork.com/war-for-eternity
or on Megaphone here: https://megaphone.link/LIT8703677091This is an excerpt from a very interesting discussion I had with Benjamin Teitelbaum on his book, "War for Eternity: Inside Bannon's Far-Right Circle of Global Power Brokers" (Dey Street Books, 2020).
We discuss Steve Bannon, Traditionalism, Aleksandr Dugin, Nationalism and Anthropology, Jason Reza Jorjani, and more.
The publisher's book blurb is as follows: "An explosive and unprecedented inside look at Steve Bannon's entourage of global powerbrokers and the hidden alliances shaping today's geopolitical upheaval.
In 2015, Bloomberg News named Steve Bannon “the most dangerous political operative in America.” Since then, he has grown exponentially more powerful—and not only in the United States. In this groundbreaking and urgent account, award-winning scholar of the radical right Benjamin Teitelbaum takes readers behind-the-scenes of Bannon's global campaign against modernity in War for Eternity: Inside Bannon's Far-Right Circle of Global Power Brokers (Dey Street Books, 2020).
Inspired by a radical twentieth-century ideology called Traditionalism, Bannon and a small group of right-wing powerbrokers are planning new political mobilizations on a global scale—discussed and debated in secret meetings organized by Bannon in hotel suites and private apartments in DC, Europe and South America. Their goal? To upend the world order and reorganize geopolitics on the basis of archaic values rather than modern ideals of democracy, freedom, social progress, and human rights. Their strenuous efforts are already producing results, from the fortification of borders throughout the world and the targeting of immigrants, to the undermining of the European Union and United States governments, and the expansion of Russian influence.
Drawing from exclusive interviews with Bannon’s hidden network of far-right thinkers, years of academic research into the radical right, and with unprecedented access to the esoteric salons where they meet, Teitelbaum exposes their considerable impact on the world and their radical vision for the future."
-
Catch the full interview here at https://newbooksnetwork.com/a-lie-of-...
or on Megaphone here: https://megaphone.link/LIT4842104326This is an excerpt from an interview which is part of a Special Series on Malcolm X and Black Nationalism on the New Books Network.
In this series, we delve into the background of Malcolm X's action and thought in the context of Black Nationalism, correcting the fundamentally mistaken notion that Malcolm X was a civil rights leader. He certainly did not see himself in that way, and explicitly argued otherwise. This helps us place the Afro-American struggle in its dimensions beyond the current American nation-state, including the Black Atlantic, and beyond.
In this episode, my guest is Jared Ball, co-editor of A Lie of Reinvention: Correcting Manning Marable's Malcolm X (Black Classic Press, 2012).
A Lie of Reinvention is a response to Manning Marable’s biography of Malcolm X, A Life of Reinvention. Marable’s book was controversially acclaimed by some as his magnum opus. At the same time, it was denounced and debated by others as a worthless read full of conjecture, errors, and without any new factual content. In this collection of critical essays, editors Jared Ball and Todd Steven Burroughs lead a group of established and emerging Black scholars and activists who take a clear stance in this controversy: Marable’s biography is at best flawed and at worst a major setback in American history, African American studies, and scholarship on the life of Malcolm X.
-
Catch the full interview here at https://newbooksnetwork.com/mythologies-without-end
or on Megaphone here: https://megaphone.link/LIT7765417053This is an excerpt of an interview I did for the New Books Network with Jerome on his book "Mythologies Without End: The US, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917-2020" (Oxford University Press, 2020).
The history of modern Israel is a fiercely contested subject. From the Balfour declaration to the Six-Day War to the recent assault on Gaza, ideologically-charged narratives and counter-narratives battle for dominance not just in Israel itself but throughout the world. In the United States and Israel, the Israeli cause is treated as the more righteous one, albeit with important qualifiers and caveats.
In Mythologies Without End, Jerome Slater takes stock of the conflict from its origins to the present day and argues that US policies in the region are largely a product of mythologies that are often flatly wrong.
Focusing on both the US role in the conflict and Israel's actions, this book exposes the self-defeating policies of both nations policies which have only served to prolong the conflict far beyond when it should have been resolved.
Join us for a fascinating discussion.
-
This is an excerpt of an interview I did for the New Books Network with Mark Sedgwick on his book "Key Thinkers of the Radical Right".
Mark Sedgwick is a British historian specialising in the study of traditionalism, Islam, Sufi mysticism, and terrorism. He is Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University in Denmark and chair of the Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies. He was formerly secretary of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism.
In this clip we discuss how he accidentally got interested in the topic from his field research into Western Sufism in Italy, and how he discovered this Radical Right, which is quite distinctive from the mainstream (pro-capitalist) right-wing.
Apologies for the audio quality on the guest's side. It was beyond our control.
Join us for a fascinating discussion.
-
This is an excerpt from my interview with Spencer Critchely about his new book, "Patriots of Two Nations: Why Trump Was Inevitable and What Happens Next" (McDavid Media, 2020).
Very interestingly, he analyses the United States as being divided between those that are part of the "Enlightenment" and those that are part of the "Counter-Enlightment". In other words, there are those who believe America is an idea, founded on liberal ideals which include rational progress, and those who see America as a nation of the American people, with a peculiar history, traditions, and customs, not all necessary rational, but which tie "blood and soil" over time.
Join us for a fascinating discussion.
Catch the full interview here at https://newbooksnetwork.com/spencer-critchley-patriots-of-two-nations-why-trump-was-inevitable-and-what-happens-next-mcdavid-media-2020
or onMegaphone here: https://megaphone.link/LIT8971283474
-
This is an excerpt of my interview with Saladin Malik Ambar, author of "Malcolm X at Oxford Union: Racial Politics in a Global Era", published by Oxford University Press in 2013, for my Special Series on "Malcolm X and Black Nationalism" on the New Books Network.
In this series, we delve into the background of Malcolm X's action and thought in the context of Black Nationalism, correcting the fundamentally mistaken notion that Malcolm X was a civil rights leader. He certainly did not see himself in that way, and explicitly argued otherwise. This helps us place the Afro-American struggle in its dimensions beyond the current American nation-state, including the Black Atlantic, and beyond.
Catch the full interview here at https://newbooksnetwork.com/malcolm-x-at-oxford-union
or on Megaphone here:
width="100%"> -
The world needs to know about the Election Fraud in Guyana and its long, terrible history.
Thankfully, this struggle was waged successfully and, although it took almost two years, the fraud was not allowed to stand.
This was an interview with me and Dr. Vishnu Bisram on Rajiv Malhotra's Infinity Channel, as part of our efforts to raise global awareness about this issue, in this case, most especially with the Indian Diaspora, who have some ancestral connection to the people of Guyana.
-
Today is a Diwali special, looking at the phenomenon of Global Indians, by two persons of Indian origin who are NOT Indian nationals.
What does Indian identity mean? Does the Indian nation-state get to define what is Indian? What place and relationship do Indian communities outside of India -- some existing for centuries -- have with India?
Is Indian Identity important, or is it just another identity a trap which we should avoid, in order to embrace our universal humanity?
Join me with Rajan Singh Nazran, founder of the Global Indian Series, an immersive platform that provides original and exclusive content based around the lives of people of Indian origin.
You can find out more about it here: https://globalindianseries.com/
-
This is a Facebook Live episode I did for A Story Club in April 2020, talking about how I wrote the book "Politics in a Half-Made Society" (published in 2003): the challenges, the inspirations, the people who I looked up to , the people who helped me, the conceptual stumbling blocks I faced, and my own determination to make a book that would last 20 years and stand the test of time
- Show more
