Episode 19: Merchants of Death w/ Tim Barker

In the second installment of our Political Economy of Genocide series, we are joined by Tim Barker to discuss the role of the defense industry in the US economy, how the trade in weapons shapes foreign policy, and whether the war on Iran is following a capitalist logic.

Texts mentioned: Merchants of Death by H.C. Engelbrecht & F.C. Hanighen; How To Ensure Israel Has the Weapons it Needs; The Inside Story of How the Navy Spent Billions on the “Little Crappy Ship”; Adjusting Certain Delegations Under the Defense Production Act. See also Weapons of the Week #4: White Phosphorus.

Tim Barker is a historian who writes the Substack Origins of Our Time. His book on the political economy of the Cold War is forthcoming from Verso.

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Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman

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