The Dig

Nicholas Mulder, an economic historian of sanctions; Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, a West Asia development researcher and professor; and Aslı Bâli, a public international law and human rights scholar. They discuss economic warfare in the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. Short takes cover sanctions' historical role, choke points and hybrid tactics, semiconductor controls, asymmetric strategies, and the geopolitical fallout for global finance and regional integration.

Made Supriyatma, a researcher on Indonesian politics and civil-military relations, and Rihanna Subianto, a communication professor who studies Indonesian left politics, trace centuries of Dutch corporate and territorial rule. They map VOC mercantilism, contract-based control, cultivation regimes, commodity extraction, racialized legal orders, and how colonial infrastructures and bureaucrats reshaped society.

Salar Mohandesi, teacher and writer on emancipatory politics and internationalism. Ben Mabee, organizer and strategist involved in left analysis and anti-war work. They dissect US imperial behavior, how modern war-making shields power from popular resistance, why broad anti-war movements have waned, and strategies for rebuilding durable, cross-issue anti-imperial organizing.

Geoff Simpson, PAC director at Justice Democrats who builds insurgent House slates, talks left primary politics and strategy. He outlines why 2026 feels existential. He discusses recruiting working-class candidates, confronting AIPAC and corporate money, rising Muslim donor power, and the need to build durable left infrastructure.

Peter Linebaugh, historian of commons and working-class resistance, shares vivid stories of Luddite machine-breaking and their defense of artisanal life. He traces links between enclosure, capital punishment, and state violence. He connects past commons struggles to modern tech control, gig work, and the fight to reclaim shared resources.

Peter Linebaugh, historian of the commons and enclosure, explores long histories of commoning and how shared labor sustained communities. He traces enclosure as violent dispossession tied to empire and legal change. The conversation follows commons’ customs, resistance movements like the Diggers, and links between rural expropriation and colonial conquest.

JaNaé Bates Imari, faith organizer building mass mobilizations; Greg Nammacher, seasoned labor leader for janitorial and security workers; Emilia González Avalos, immigrant-rights and community organizer. They discuss how decade-long organizing in Minneapolis scaled into rapid resistance against ICE occupation. Conversations cover faith-based action, labor strategies, mutual aid-to-organizing pipelines, coordinated citywide noncompliance, and lessons for scaling movement infrastructure.

Nick Srnicek, Senior Lecturer in Digital Economy and author of Silicon Empires, maps AI as a geopolitical and economic battleground. He breaks down the AI stack, explains who might capture value, and contrasts US AGI bets with China’s diffusion strategy. Conversations cover vertical integration, defense‑tech fusion, export controls, and the social fallout of data centers and automation.

Aslı Bâli, a law professor specializing in international law and human rights, and historian Greg Grandin explore the MAGA model of U.S. imperialism. They dissect Trump's unique blend of resource-driven foreign policy and civilizational nationalism. The conversation delves into the revival of the Monroe Doctrine, the mixed motives behind intervention in Venezuela, and how U.S. aggression may provoke backlash in Latin America. They also connect the dots between foreign coercion, immigration, and domestic policing under Trump.

Alejandro Velasco, a Latin American historian, Gabriel Hetland, a professor of Latin American Studies, and Yoletty Bracho, a political science expert, explore the U.S. assault on Venezuela and the implications of President Maduro's kidnapping. They discuss Trump's imperialist motives, the role of expatriate opposition in shaping narratives, and fears of authoritarian rule in Venezuela. The panel delves into the complexities of Venezuelan politics, migration, and the symbolism of oil, while considering potential backlash across Latin America.