Blood Work

This is a preview. To hear the entire episode and help Blood Work to survive and thrive, become a supporter on Patreon. We conclude our two-parter with a story that runs through Lewis Powell, Times Square, 9/11 and Occupy, and concludes by considering a vanguard of neoliberal authoritarianism: The Olympics. Image: An interior shot of the amusement park at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel For more: – Support Blood Work via Patreon – Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Cóndor Dos, Águila Moribunda ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO For this week’s newsletter, we’ve got two news stories for you, which are separate, but which are nonetheless connected in a strange, poetic way. Collectively, we think they say something about the current condition of US empire, and what happens when imperial ambitions extend beyond even empire’s grasp.

In the first of a two-parter, we trace the evolution of the modern city from industrialisation to the 1970s, when a trio of crises laid the foundation for an anti-political backlash If you enjoyed this episode: – Support Blood Work via Patreon – Leave a rating or review on your podcast app – Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter Image: A photograph taken on Leyden Street, London, during the 1979 ‘Winter of Discontent’ (Source: Maurice Hibberd/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Even in Death, They Will Still Degrade You ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO For this week’s newsletter, Gregk uses a resurfaced comment by filmmaker Joe Russo from 2023 to provide some commentary on the modern AI craze and the historical ties between technology, pornography, and violence.   Sources: Robert A. Beauregard (2006), When America Became Suburban Jordan T. Camp & Christina Heatherton [eds.] (2016), Policing the PlanetL Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter Peter Eisinger (2000), ‘The Politics of Bread and Circuses: Building the City for the Visitor Class’, Urban Affairs Review [35:3] Antonio Gramsci (1971), Selections from the Prison Notebooks Stuart Hall et al (1978), Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order Margaret Kohn (2004), Brave New Neighborhoods: The Privatisation of Public Space Mark Neocleous (2021), A Critical Theory of Police Power Paul A. Passavant (2021), Policing Protest: The Post-Democratic State and the Figure of Black Insurrection

This is a preview. To hear the entire episode and help Blood Work to survive and thrive, become a supporter on Patreon. Gregk and Thomas pause to reflect on some of the topics covered since they last spoke, and meditate on recent events. Image: A still from Werner Herzog’s 1992 documentary Lessons of Darkness Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel For more: – Support Blood Work via Patreon – Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Look What They Made Us Do ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO For this week’s newsletter, we use a recent piece from The New Republic to question America’s flailing attempts to disentangle itself from a war of its own making – in narrative, if not in actuality.   

Joe and Gregk use Gregory Stanton’s ‘Ten Stages of Genocide’ to discuss the tactics & techniques states deploy to legitimise and perpetrate mass murder. Image: Remains of victims of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide retrieved from a mass grave in Huye District in January, 2024. Follow Joe Kassabian on Bluesky Listen to Lions Led by Donkeys Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel If you enjoyed this episode: – Support Blood Work via Patreon – Leave a rating or review on your podcast app – Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter   THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Blue Danube ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO For this week’s newsletter, enjoy some brief thoughts on the election results which rolled out of Hungary last week, and what it might mean for that country and Europe now that the American right’s favourite lap-dog is hitting the skids. Sources: Gregory Stanton (1996), ‘Ten Stages of Genocide’, available at Genocide Watch

This is a preview. To hear the entire episode and help Blood Work to survive and thrive, become a supporter on Patreon. We take a foray into the world of euphemisms, turns-of-phrase and the disingenuous world of militarese Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel For more: – Support Blood Work via Patreon – Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Stupid Games ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO For this week’s newsletter, we offered some commentary on the (then ongoing) peace talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad, some surrounding issues, and predictions on the course those talks might take. (News moves fast these days.)

A historical tour of women who carried out suicide attacks, from 18th-century precursors to modern conflicts. Stories include Beirut in the 1980s, Tamil Tigers’ female units, and Boko Haram’s large-scale use of girls. The narrative probes recruitment, tactical advantages of women, and how societies try to explain female political violence.

A look at how Soviet production and Cold War strategy turned the Kalashnikov into a global staple. The preview traces Cold War proliferation, Vietnam’s shock on Western militaries, and the cascade of surplus weapons after the Soviet collapse. It highlights how mass production and diplomacy fueled later conflicts around the world.

Justin Roczniak, podcaster Roz who analyzes engineering failures. Gareth Dennis, rail commentator and author on transport policy. They trace engineering’s roots in military logistics and how designers shape cities, displacement, and surveillance. They debate tech ’engineers’, ethics, AI risks, and where talent could rebuild water, transit, and public infrastructure.

This is a preview. To hear the entire episode and help Blood Work to survive and thrive, become a supporter on Patreon. As the Soviets entered the Cold War, they had a gun they could use as conduit, commodity, or currency. The US, meanwhile, hit the snooze alarm. In Vietnam, a rude awakening awaited them. Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel For more: – Support Blood Work via Patreon – Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: The Stinging Tree ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO For this week’s newsletter, we look at the long arc of US-Iran relations during the twentieth century, and place the Persian state’s current horizontal deterrence strategy against its American and Israeli aggressors in its proper historical context. Image: A Viet Cong soldier posing with a Type 2 AK-47 rifle during a POW exchange in 1973. (Source: SSgt. Herman Kokojan, Defence Visual Information Centre)

A historical tour of how arms trades evolved from mercantilism to modern global networks. Short profiles of 19th-century inventors and wartime profiteering. Deep dives into covert supply chains, proxy wars, and how embargoes are skirted. Stories of diverted weapons fueling atrocities in Rwanda and recent flows into Sudan.