Guerrilla History

Booker Omole, General Secretary of the Communist Party Marxist - Kenya and activist, recounts his abduction, detention, and recovery. He discusses how community solidarity disrupted the abduction and the legal tactics used against him. He also speaks on prison conditions, state repression, and anti-imperialist organizing in Kenya.

Anthony Ballas, organizer and Duke PhD student who writes on politics and culture, joins to connect boxing, race, and geopolitics. He traces historical racial panics in the sport, links early 20th-century imperialism to today’s spectacle, and dissects Jake Paul’s rise as cultural performance. Conversation pivots to soft power, settler-colonial identity play, and the risks of a declining U.S. empire.

Max Siollun, historian of Nigerian history and author, returns to trace independence, competing nationalisms, and the turbulent coup era. He covers how colonial rule shaped institutions, the 1966 and 1976 coups, the Biafran secession and war, oil’s political impact, and long-term legacies like federal quotas. Short, sharp stories illuminate Nigeria’s post-colonial trajectory.

A roundup of recent research, conferences, and travels. A vivid account of a first visit to Tehran and how public life, religion, and policing feel on the streets. Deep dives into Iran's currency crash, bazaar and oil-worker strikes, and state responses. Conversations on imperialism, financial warfare, and debates about multipolarity and anti-imperial solidarity.

Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, a geographer and translator focused on socialism and environmental impacts, discusses Cuba’s agroecology, Soviet ecological planning and soil science, and debates around biology and dialectical materialism. Conversation covers Cuba’s Special Period adaptations, Soviet reforestation and chemicalization, and politicization of genetics and epigenetics. Short, provocative, and wide-ranging.

In this episode, Adnan discusses Professor Gabriel Rockhill's new book, Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism, v. 1 of The Intellectual World War. This incredibly important book contributes an insurgent foray, a guerrilla attack, against the imperial theory industry and its ideological work in the psychological, intellectual war that is central to the perpetuation of imperialist capitalism of our era. This first volume lays out a crucial method and approach, a way of performing intellectual history through dialectical and historical materialism, while exposing the relationship between the deep state/permanent state forces that have patronized a compatible left culture and the wider systemic network of institutions where intellectual and cultural production takes place. The work goes on to examine some important figures particularly in the so-called "Frankfurt School" and situate these thinkers/scholars and their work within the imperial theory industry. It is a fascinating conversation about an profoundly important new book. We look forward to further volumes in this important series on the Intellectual World War. Dr. Gabriel Rockhill is a professor of philosophy and global interdisciplinary studies at Villanova University. He is the author or editor of a dozen books and co-founder of the Critical Theory Workshop. Check out its website and consider joining their summer school, attending their events and supporting this collective intellectual and liberatory project: https://criticaltheoryworkshop.com/ Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! www.patreon.com/adnanhusain Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Like, subscribe, share! Also available in video on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@adnanhusainshow X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com www.adnanhusain.org You can also support Guerrilla History at patreon.com/guerrillahistory

Ali Kadri, academic and author on political economy and development, returns to unpack the China Model. He traces revolutionary roots, party-led priorities, and pragmatic reform strategies. Conversation hits state planning, technology and science investment, agricultural foundations, and China's global economic role in offering an alternative to imperial extractive models.

Jeremy Kuzmarov, Managing Editor of CovertAction Magazine and author, dives into the inspiring revival of the Blackfeet buffalo, exploring its crucial cultural significance and the historical context of settler genocide. He connects the buffalo's extermination to a broader pattern of colonialism and U.S. imperialism while discussing the ecological role of buffalo as a keystone species. The conversation delves into the challenges and successes of revitalization efforts, highlighting grassroots initiatives that promote youth engagement and foster a symbiotic relationship with nature.

The discussion dives into the abduction of Nicolás Maduro, linking it to U.S. imperial actions throughout history. Experts analyze the deeper motives behind American interventionism, emphasizing oil and sovereignty issues. The panel challenges the notion of stabilizing 'our' oil and advocates for Venezuelan self-determination. They explore grassroots resistance beyond Maduro's leadership and the implications of U.S. global power dynamics. Finally, there's a call for solidarity, local organizing, and mutual aid to support anti-imperialist efforts.

In this engaging discussion, Jonathan Turner, a writer for Al Fida'i Media Network and a Marxist-Leninist commentator, dives into the enduring relevance of Frantz Fanon's revolutionary ideas for Gaza's struggle. He critiques the superficial academic appropriations of Fanon, advocating for a focus on his anti-colonial writings. Turner links concepts of colonial violence and torture to present-day issues in Gaza while exploring the psychological effects of colonialism. He urges a reclaiming of Fanon's revolutionary optimism to inspire contemporary resistance movements.