The Anti Empire Project with Justin Podur

On June 30, 2021, I was honored to be among the speakers on a panel for educators called “Say Palestine”. The entire panel, which was moderated by the wonderful Javier Davila (who I address directly at the beginning of the talk), is available on YouTube. I talk about the dilemmas faced by educators who want … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/07/09/aep-88-my-comments-at-the-teaching-palestine-say-palestine-event-june-30-2021/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 88: My comments at the Teaching Palestine / Say Palestine event June 30, 2021"</span></a>

An emergency joint broadcast with The East is a Podcast about the assassination of Haiti’s president Jovenal Moise on July 7, 2021. Chris Bernadel is on the Haiti Committee of the Black Alliance for Peace. We talk a little bit about the assassination and the background of protests and massacres in Haiti that have gone … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/07/08/aep-87-haitis-president-jovenal-moise-assassinated-with-chris-bernadel/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 87: Haiti’s president Jovenal Moise assassinated, with Chris Bernadel"</span></a>

A complex multinational megaproject with layers of government corruption and massive government funds. A separatist movement created and sponsored by the US. A chunk of territory carved out of an existing country for imperialist use. Workers exploited to death. And a shining imperialist possession at the end. We talk about the creation of Panama and … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/07/03/civilizations-37e-yankee-imperialism-pt5-the-theft-of-panama-out-of-colombia/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 37e: Yankee Imperialism pt5 – the theft of Panama out of Colombia"</span></a>

Through their own efforts, Puerto Rican revolutionaries won a charter of autonomy from Spain and were on their way to winning independence. Then Spain handed its colony over to the US, and the US has colonized it ever since. We talk about how the US invented the concept of “odious debt” to avoid paying Spain’s … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/07/03/civilizations-37d-yankee-imperialism-pt4-puerto-ricos-thwarted-autonomy/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 37d: Yankee Imperialism pt4 – Puerto Rico’s thwarted autonomy"</span></a>

We tell the story of Cuba’s movement for independence from Spain following the remarkable career of Jose Marti from his teenage years to his unlucky demise. We pick up the story of the Spanish American War in Cuba from the USS Maine incident (“To Hell With Spain! Remember the Maine!”) and the possibility that it … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/07/03/civilizations-37c-yankee-imperialism-pt3-cuban-independence-vs-the-us-empire/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 37c – Yankee Imperialism pt3 – Cuban Independence vs the US Empire"</span></a>

A Canada Day reckoning as Indian Residential School properties become crime scenes with the (re)-discovery of mass graves of Indigenous children. We are joined by author of Canada in the World, TYLER SHIPLEY to discuss Canada’s first foreign policy – its genocide of the Indigenous nations in the path of capitalist settlement. This broadcast is a co-production … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/06/29/special-broadcast-canada-in-the-world-with-tyler-shipley-and-the-brief/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Special Broadcast: Canada in the World with Tyler Shipley and The Brief"</span></a>

Max Ajl has a new book, A People’s Green New Deal; Stan Cox, author of The Green New Deal and Beyond and the upcoming book The Path, joins me as a co-host as we talk about Green New Deals and imagine dealing with Climate Change as if the rest of the world existed (and mattered).

Starting in earnest in the early 1880s the US embarked on a prototypical regime change operation: propaganda demonizing the targeted regime, financial control of the targeted state, suborning of key government officials, deactivation and destruction of the sovereign military force from within, a coup, followed by an invasion disavowing any US ambition or interest, and … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/06/25/civilizations-37b-yankee-imperialism-pt2-regime-change-1893-the-us-overthrow-of-queen-liliuokalani-in-hawaii/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 37b – Yankee Imperialism pt2 – Regime Change 1893: The US overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani in Hawaii"</span></a>

At the end of the 19th century the US acquired a substantial overseas empire – Hawaii, Samoa, Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, as well as imperialist relations all around the world. In this miniseries we look at this Yankee Imperialism, focusing on the Spanish-American War. But first, the post-Reconstruction domestic situation in the US … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/06/12/civilizations-37a-yankee-imperialism-pt1-the-robber-barons/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 37a: Yankee Imperialism pt1 – the Robber Barons"</span></a>

A strategically bankrupt expedition by a vindictive, racist, imperialist power to conduct a series of genocidal atrocities on a Muslim population solely because they dared to fight back. And no, we aren’t talking about last week – we conclude the Islam & Imperialism segment of Civilizations with the Anglo-Afghan wars starting with the Army of … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/06/05/civilizations-36b-islam-imperialism-3b-the-rest-of-the-anglo-afghan-wars/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 36b: Islam & Imperialism 3b – the rest of the Anglo-Afghan Wars"</span></a>

In early May 2021, I had the honor of being on a panel on the Rise of the Right with Prof. Apoorvanand of Delhi University (and some other great speakers as well). I asked Apoorvanand to have a follow-up discussion with me here to analyze how the far-right ecosystem of organizations and institutions infiltrated Indian … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/05/28/aep-85-the-rise-of-the-right-in-india-and-elsewhere-with-prof-apoorvanand/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 85: The Rise of the Right in India and Elsewhere, with Prof. Apoorvanand"</span></a>

We reconvene the roundtable to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza. Nora Barrows-Friedman is an editor at the Electronic Intifada, Jon Elmer is a journalist who lived for years in Gaza, Justin Podur is the author of Siegebreakers, and Tarek Loubani is an emergency room doctor, often at Shifa, Gaza’s main hospital. This broadcast is a … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/05/27/special-broadcast-ceasefire-in-gaza/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Special Broadcast: Ceasefire in Gaza"</span></a>

In the wake of Israel’s 2021 massacres in Gaza and violence elsewhere in Palestine, and a few days into the ceasefire, Carl Zha and I talk about the histories of India and China with Israel and Palestine. We speculate about what the future of a multipolar world with a stronger China might portend for the … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/05/25/aep-84-kung-fu-yoga-china-india-and-israel-palestine-with-carl-zha/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 84: Kung Fu Yoga – China, India, and Israel/Palestine with Carl Zha"</span></a>

Concluding the miniseries by Dan Freeman-Maloy. Gandhi’s slogan was “Do or Die”, following Byron’s poem about the (pointless) Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. He emphasized that he would prefer violent resistance to cowardice or surrender. So, the question arises: would Gandhi have supported armed resistance in Palestine?

The focus on Hamas is a product of the rolling amnesia of empire, as if the history of Israeli attacks on Palestinians can be narrowed to the last few decades, then distorted further. Against this tendency, this episode reviews the basic historical and geographic background to this crisis, showing the place of Palestine and the … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/05/21/monsters-in-our-midst-3-what-is-the-gaza-strip-why-support-the-resistance/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Monsters in our Midst 3: What is the Gaza Strip? Why Support the Resistance?"</span></a>

Episode 2 of a mini-series on Israel/Palestine by Dan Freeman-Maloy. Sometimes the connections are obvious. The American-Israeli Meir Kahane, for example, worked as a white-backlash activist in the United States, targeting Black-led social movements, before moving to Palestine and coaching settlers to kill Palestinians, with what Jewish organizations across the world then denounced as racist … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/05/20/monsters-in-our-midst-2-anti-black-and-anti-palestinian-racism-are-connected/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Monsters in our Midst 2: Anti-Black and Anti-Palestinian Racism are Connected"</span></a>

Episode 1 of a new mini-series by Dan Freeman-Maloy. Since the Israeli elections of March 2021, a political philosophy, Kahanism, that was once banned even by Israeli law is openly proclaimed in the Israeli legislature. To the quieter brutality of Israeli colonial rule have been added firebombing Israeli hate crimes against Palestinians – horribly reminiscent … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/05/19/monsters-in-our-midst-israels-descent-into-fascism-1-what-yeshayahu-leibowitz-meant-by-judeo-nazis/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Monsters in our Midst: Israel’s Descent into Fascism 1"</span></a>

Recorded on Day 7 of the war in Palestine, this roundtable brings together decades of experience working in Palestine. Nora Barrows-Friedman is an editor at the Electronic Intifada, Jon Elmer is a journalist who lived for years in Gaza, Justin Podur is the author of Siegebreakers, and Tarek Loubani is an emergency room doctor, often … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/05/18/special-broadcast-war-in-palestine-2021/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Special Broadcast: War in Palestine 2021"</span></a>

The British imperialists made much of the bad experiences they had invading and pillaging Afghanistan beginning in 1839, coining terms like the “Graveyard of Empires” and inspiring racist poets like Kipling. We tell the story straight – a bloody imperialist aggression designed to set back Afghan society. Still, the story has some unforgettable characters – … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/05/15/civilizations-36a-islam-imperialism-pt3-the-first-anglo-afghan-war-aka-the-invasion-of-afghanistan/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 36a: Islam & Imperialism pt3 – The First Anglo Afghan War aka the Invasion of Afghanistan"</span></a>

An urgent update on the massive protests in Colombia andAn urgent update on the massive protests in Colombia and the criminal response by the regime, which has massacred dozens of protesters and disappeared hundreds of people. Nonetheless, protesters have returned to the streets day after day in spite of every attempt to terrorize them into … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/05/08/aep-83-update-on-colombiaresiste-with-manuel-rozental/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 83: Update on #ColombiaResiste with Manuel Rozental"</span></a>

A briefing about India’s COVID-19 crisis – its immediate causes in the premature declaration of victory, and its longer-term causes in the privatized and underfunded health system and the global system of vaccination production and distribution for private profit.

Part 2 of our series on Islam and Imperialism in the 19th century: the Persian Empire’s struggles with the imperialists. In this period Persia was dominated by the Qajjars. We talk about their rise, the multiple wars with Russia, the attempts to modernize, the unequal treaties. We tell the story of Griboyedev’s demise from both … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/05/01/civilizations-35-islam-and-imperialism-pt2-persias-wars-with-russia/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 35: Islam and Imperialism pt2 – Persia’s wars with Russia"</span></a>

A podcast event! I teamed up with a co-host, Sina Rahmani of The East is a Podcast, to interview Manan Ahmed, author of The Loss of Hindustan – The Invention of India. The interview is about history, identity, imperialism – the usual! – but all centered on the concept of Hindustan and the way history … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/04/29/aep-81-the-loss-of-hindustan-with-manan-ahmed-and-sina-rahmani/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 81: The Loss of Hindustan – with Manan Ahmed and Sina Rahmani"</span></a>

For however long the construct of “Modern Western Civilization” has existed, its Eastern foil has been the Ottoman Empire. And for as long as we’ve been taught the glories of the West, we’ve been taught about Ottoman “decline”. We talk about the Ottoman Empire, show that the history is a little bit more complicated than … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/04/24/civilizations-34-islam-imperialism-pt1-the-ottoman-empire-and-decline/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 34: Islam & Imperialism pt1 – The Ottoman Empire and “decline”"</span></a>

Justin reads the Afrocentrists and makes a pitch; David hangs on to the universalist perspective, as we talk about all the racist rewriting of history, the famous racist literature of imperialism, and the stunningly racist statements by public figures of the 19th century, from Kipling to Roosevelt and more.

I was a guest on the fantastic podcast, In the Context of Empire, where I spoke with co-host Matt McKenna about lots of things, but mainly about how imperialist propaganda works.

The old saying goes that Science ain’t an exact science, and nowhere is that more true than with the Scientific Racism of the 19th century. From its predecessors in the 18th century, we get into the unholy trinity of Pearson, Galton, and Fisher. We talk about craniometry, phrenology, IQ testing, “race development” (now called International … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/04/10/civilizations-33b-scientific-racism/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 33b: Scientific Racism"</span></a>

Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species was read by Lord Elgin before he burned down the palace in Beijing and by Marx, who was so excited he asked Darwin if he could dedicate a volume of Capital to him (Darwin politely declined, not wanting to offend religious sentiment). We talk Darwin and the … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/04/06/civilizations-33a-darwin-and-19th-century-scientific-advances/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 33a: Darwin and 19th century scientific advances"</span></a>

Racism, imperialism, repression of sexuality, hypocrisy, pugilism, world fairs, parades, animals on display, worship of a royal family… we look at the Victorian era and the Queen herself. Good thing we’ve come so far since those days… right?

On March 1, I was on a panel hosted by the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, the Canadian Peace Congress, World Beyond War, the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, and Just Peace Associates. The topic was “the Arrest of Meng Wanzhou and the New Cold War on China”. Other panelists were Radhika Desai, William Ging … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/03/24/aep-80-my-comments-on-the-arrest-of-meng-wanzhou-and-the-new-cold-war-on-china/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 80: My comments on The Arrest of Meng Wanzhou and the New Cold War on China"</span></a>

By pure coincidence, we are publishing this episode on the day the world contrasted the the Alaska Summit – a US-China meeting in March 2021, in which China told the US to stop posturing, to the humiliations of the Boxer Protocol of 1901. In this episode, we talk about the terrible famines of 1876 and … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/03/20/civilizations-31-the-first-anti-imperialist-uprising-of-the-20th-century-yi-ho-tuan-or-boxer-rebellion-of-1900/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 31: The first anti-imperialist uprising of the 20th century: Yi Ho Tuan, or Boxer Rebellion of 1900"</span></a>

By the 1860s it was Korea’s turn to face the dilemma of how to deal with the imperialists. Qing China and Meiji Japan had a lot to say about what they thought Korea should do. We talk about the attempts to reform, Donghak Uprising in Korea, and the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5.

I’m joined by Nora Barrows-Friedman and Asa Winstanley, both of the Electronic Intifada podcast. We’re piecing together the story of how lifelong anti-racist Jeremy Corbyn of the UK Labour Party was taken down by a smear campaign, which began by targeting those around him. Having taken him down, the smear campaign continued and managed to … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/03/09/aep-79-sorry-for-using-the-word-corbyn-in-canada/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 79: Sorry for using the word “Corbyn” (in Canada)"</span></a>

India had Plassey in 1757, China had Opium War 1 in 1839, and Japan had Commodore Perry’s visit in 1853. After centuries of keeping the imperialists at bay, Japan found them knocking down the gates. And in a series of events studied by everyone in Asia but never imitated, Japan went from having a brief … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/03/06/civilizations-29-japan-joins-the-imperialists-1853/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 29: Japan joins the imperialists, 1853"</span></a>

I bring Carl Zha on for another Kung Fu Yoga episode, this time about Canada. We discuss the unanimous declaration by the Canadian parliament (followed by the Netherlands parliament days later) in February 2021 that a genocide is taking place in Xinjiang. What’s really behind this declaration, and how can Canadian history, and Chinese history, … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/02/28/aep-78-a-look-at-canada-as-it-declares-genocide-in-xinjiang/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 78: A look at Canada, as it declares genocide in Xinjiang"</span></a>

Having burned the palace of the ruling Qing dynasty, the imperialists decided to take their side and help them defeat the Taiping. As Zeng Guofan’s encirclement strategy takes hold, the imperialists are running the Ever Victorious Army with figures like Garnet Wolesley (who fought Louis Riel in Canada) and Charles Gordon (who we’ll meet again … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/02/27/civilizations-28c-taiping-rebellion-pt3-the-fall-of-the-rebels/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 28c: Taiping Rebellion pt3 – the fall of the rebels"</span></a>

Anjuli Raza Kolb is the author of Epidemic Empire: Colonialism, Contagion, and Terror 1817-2020, new from University of Chicago Press. It’s a huge book with many threads, so in this discussion we pick up one: the idea of “colonial science”, how imperialism manages to co-opt and use every type of knowledge; and the question of … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/02/25/aep-77-talking-epidemic-empire-with-anjuli-raza-kolb/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 77: Talking Epidemic Empire, with Anjuli Raza Kolb"</span></a>

In the midst of the most destructive war in China’s history, the imperialists decided it was time to sack and burn China a second time. In this episode, on the Second Opium War, we talk about the deepening imperialism, get you into the bizarre imperialist mind of Lord Elgin as he rationalizes the burning of … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/02/20/civilizations-28b-opium-war-2-1856-1860/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 28b: Opium War 2, 1856-1860"</span></a>

The end of the first Opium War was just the beginning of the horrors China faced under imperialism. Beginning in 1850, China was rocked by a 10-year long civil war that took an estimated 20-30 million lives. You read that correctly. In the middle of that war, the imperialists attacked China again and fought a … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/02/13/civilizations-28a-the-worst-civil-war-in-history-taiping-rebellion-pt1-1850-1856/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 28a: The worst civil war in history – Taiping Rebellion pt1 1850-1856"</span></a>

We reach back in time a little bit to start the Civilizations Series on 19th century China – now known as the century of humiliation. The Opium War was one of the moments that turbo-charged imperialism. We tell the story the way Civilizations does – going back and forth between the imperialists and the local … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/02/06/civilizations-27-opium-war-1-1839-40/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 27: Opium War 1, 1839-40"</span></a>

By 1885, the Indian Act was in place, most Indigenous people were forced onto reserves, and the nadir of Canadian colonialism (so far) was set. Part 3 of 3 our series on Canada takes us through the residential school system and the racialist ideologies openly expressed throughout this phase of Canadian history.

Along with colonialism, smallpox and the driving to extinction of the beaver and then the buffalo played an immense role in the creation of what is now Canada. We tell the story of these factors in the development of Canadian colonialism from the days of New France and the Hudson’s Bay Company to the Riel … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/01/16/civilizations-26b-canada-pt2-disease-extinctions-and-colonialism-up-to-the-riel-resistance/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 26b – Canada pt2: disease, extinctions, and colonialism up to the Riel Resistance"</span></a>

Part 1 of at least 3 on Canada, this one sets up the story of Canadian colonialism with some required historical touchpoints about Canada’s devolution into independence from Britain, the story of Confederation as a series of business deals, and the role of racism in Canadian immigration policy.

The Paris Commune was so much more than a short bloody two-month interlude in European politics. In this episode, the story of the Paris Commune as related by Karl Marx in his address to the International Workingmen’s Association. From passing debt relief programs to tearing down militarist statues, the Paris Commune was a real revolution, … <a href="https://podur.org/2021/01/04/civilizations-25-the-1870-paris-commune-as-told-by-karl-marx/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 25: The 1870 Paris Commune, as told by Karl Marx"</span></a>

In 1865, Paul Bogle led an uprising in Jamaica that was repressed with extreme violence by the British, led by Jamaica’s Governor Eyre. The reaction was disproportionate and the story was big news in Britain, leading to a committee questioning Eyre’s brutality and a counter-committee forming to defend him. Both committees have some big names … <a href="https://podur.org/2020/12/27/civilizations-24-jamaica-1865-morant-bay-uprising-shakes-the-british-empire/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 24: Jamaica 1865 – Morant Bay Uprising shakes the British Empire"</span></a>

We conclude our 4 part series on the American Civil War following WEB Du Bois’s book Black Reconstruction in America, talking about the brief, glorious moment of potential for genuine racial equality in the United States. In some ways, despite the gains made a century later, we still live with the consequences of the fall … <a href="https://podur.org/2020/12/12/civilizations-23d-american-civil-war-pt4-the-rise-and-fall-of-reconstruction/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "Civilizations 23d: American Civil War pt4 – the Rise and Fall of Reconstruction"</span></a>

Opposing a series of Farm bills that will render them destitute and further enrich India’s billionaires, a farmer’s movement has converged on Delhi demanding that the legislation (passed in September) be repealed. I talk to historian Navyug Gill about the laws, the history, and the politics of the Farmer’s movement in India, a sustained opposition … <a href="https://podur.org/2020/12/09/aep-76-punjab-farmers-movement-confronts-the-modi-juggernaut/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 76: Punjab Farmer’s Movement Confronts the Modi Juggernaut"</span></a>

Maria Victor and I talk about the December 6 legislative elections in Venezuela. Turnout was low at 31%, but that’s normal for legislative elections* in a pandemic (Romania had around the same turnout on the same day, as others have pointed out). We talk about the electoral system in Venezuela, why it’s more fair than … <a href="https://podur.org/2020/12/08/aep-75-the-dec-6-venezuelan-legislative-elections/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 75: The Dec 6 Venezuelan Legislative Elections"</span></a>

The American Civil War from Lincoln’s election in 1860 to the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomatox Court House. The major events, the commanders, and the decisive role of what Du Bois called the General Strike of the Black Worker. Part 3 of 4 on the US Civil War.

Sayf Carman runs the Ummah Fight Camp martial arts youtube channel and has recently started Mindscrub, an intellectual channel. Carman teaches martial arts in New Jersey. He has been in the Nation of Islam, the Communist Party, has studied Buddhism and Western Philosophy. We talk about different approaches to thinking, teaching, and techniques and approaches … <a href="https://podur.org/2020/11/20/aep-74-the-fighting-intellectual-with-sayf-carman/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text"> "AEP 74: The Fighting Intellectual, with Sayf Carman"</span></a>