Turbulence

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.We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.comFollow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_podTheme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)Art: Vivek Venkatraman This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit turbulencepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit turbulencepod.substack.comWe continue our coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran with a discussion of the strategic landscape, Trump’s address to the nation, and whether the US is about to do something extremely stupid.We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.comFollow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_podTheme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)Art: Vivek Venkatraman

Laleh Khalili, a professor of Gulf studies and author on shipping and extractive capitalism, breaks down Iran’s control tactics in the Strait of Hormuz. She discusses drone and missile use, insurance-driven halts to shipping, why Hormuz is a strategic choke point, conditional toll regimes, and the wider economic and geopolitical ripple effects.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit turbulencepod.substack.comDarryl Li joins us to discuss his work deconstructing the concept of the “foreign fighter” and how ideology shapes our perception of who is fighting for what on battlefields from Palestine, to Afghanistan, to Syria, and beyond.Darryl Li is an anthropologist and legal scholar thinking mostly about questions of war, law, migration, empire, and racialization in the currents between the Middle East, South Asia, and the Balkans. He is the author of The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity (Stanford University Press, 2020), an ethnographic and archival study of "jihadist foreign fighters" in the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.comFollow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_podTheme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)Art: Vivek Venkatraman

We continue our coverage of what’s been called the “The Ramadan War” with a discussion of the strategic landscape, the supposed ceasefire negotiations, Iran’s development of the “Hormuz weapon,” and the prospects of a US ground invasion.This is a special public release of our News of the Week series, which is usually available exclusively to paid subscribers.We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.comFollow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_podTheme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)Art: Vivek Venkatraman This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit turbulencepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit turbulencepod.substack.comWe continue our coverage of the Iran war with a discussion of shifting US and Israeli strategies, attacks on energy infrastructure, the assassination of Ali Larijani, and Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon.Please consider donating to support families displaced from southern Lebanon here, here, here, and here.We’re committed to independence and will n…

Darryl Li joins us to assess the post-October 7 conjuncture, the US-Israel relationship, and the new regional order emerging out of the Iran war.This is the first part of a two part conversation. Part 2, where we discuss Darryl’s work deconstructing the concept of the “foreign fighter,” will be available as an exclusive for paid subscribers on April 3.Texts mentioned: Arghiri Emmanuel, White-Settler Colonialism and the Myth of Investment Imperialism.Darryl Li is an anthropologist and legal scholar thinking mostly about questions of war, law, migration, empire, and racialization in the currents between the Middle East, South Asia, and the Balkans. He is the author of The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity (Stanford University Press, 2020), an ethnographic and archival study of “jihadist foreign fighters” in the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.comFollow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_podTheme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)Art: Vivek Venkatraman This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit turbulencepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit turbulencepod.substack.comWe continue our coverage of the Iran war with a discussion of the new Supreme Leader, Iranian and American strategic narratives, the Axis of Resistance, and the war’s global economic fallout.We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.For $5 a month, paid subsc…

Helen Yaffe joins us to discuss the Trump administration’s escalating attacks on Cuba, the country’s history of medical internationalism, and Che Guevara’s developmentalist socialism.Helen Yaffe is a Professor of Latin American Political Economy at the University of Glasgow, specialising on Cuba. Since 1995, she has spent time living and researching in Cuba. She is the author of Che Guevara: The Economics of Revolution (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post-Soviet World (Yale, 2020). She co-hosts Cuba Analysis podcast https://linktr.ee/cuba.analysis and has co-produced three documentaries, including Cuba & Covid-19: Public Health, Science, and Solidarity (2020) and Cuba’s Life Task: Combatting Climate Change (2021).Twitter/X: @HelenYaffe People from around the world can support or join the Nuestra América Convoy, for which people will travel to Havana by land, air and sea, for a mass mobilization on March 21.Fundraising links:* Let Cuba Live is purchasing solar panels* Saving Lives Campaign and Global Health Partners are procuring medical equipment* The Hatuey Project provides cancer medicines for Cuban childrenWe’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.comFollow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_podTheme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)Art: Vivek Venkatraman This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit turbulencepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit turbulencepod.substack.comWe discuss the rapidly expanding scope, duration, and intensity of the Iran war.Please consider donating to support families displaced from southern Lebanon here, here, here, and here.We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.comFollow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_podTheme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)Art: Vivek Venkatraman