All tagged War

Rumination On Truth: The Destruction Of Iraq, Twenty Years On / Dahr Jamail

Rumination On Truth: The Destruction Of Iraq, Twenty Years On / Dahr Jamail

Patrick Farnsworth
Dahr Jamail, 345, Transcript

Author and former climate journalist Dahr Jamail returns to the podcast to discuss the 20th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq by United States-led coalition forces. Jamail began his journalistic career as an unembedded journalist documenting the war from the ground beginning in 2003, highlighting the countless war crimes committed by the occupying forces against the civilians of Iraq, superbly documented in his first book on the subject, Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq published in 2007 by Haymarket Books. 

The War In Ukraine: An Update To An Ongoing Catastrophe / Eric Draitser

The War In Ukraine: An Update To An Ongoing Catastrophe / Eric Draitser

Patrick Farnsworth
Eric Draitser, 333

Independent political analyst and CounterPunch Radio host Eric Draitser returns to the podcast to provide an update on the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. The last we spoke about this subject was March 2nd, seven days into the invasion.

Eight months into this war, I ask Eric: Where do the Russians and Ukrainians stand in this blatant war of aggression by Putin? Who stands to gain from prolonging this conflict? What are Russia and NATO's endgame? For all the calls for an end to the conflict through negotiation, what, in fact, could or would that even look like? As the war drags on, we look on in horror as this neocolonialist, revanchist invasion grinds more human bodies on the fields of battle. Russia, to meet the imperialist vision laid out before the world, conscript thousands of men to continue the war. Many more flee the country to escape such a dire fate. While Ukraine is reduced to rubble, Russian society is flung into numerous, cascading crises — both material and existential in scope. Geopolitical conflicts proliferate across Europe and Asia, generating new and preexisting tensions between nations. Eric, in covering this war since its first days, provides a measured and nuanced overview of events as they stand today. 

The Invasion Of Ukraine: An Imperialist War, An Unfolding Conflagration / Eric Draitser

The Invasion Of Ukraine: An Imperialist War, An Unfolding Conflagration / Eric Draitser

Patrick Farnsworth
Eric Draitser, 314

Eric Draitser, independent political analyst and host of CounterPunch Radio, joins me to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We recorded this discussion March 3rd 2022 — exactly seven days into this ongoing conflict.

Eric has been publishing very concise, clear, and measured analysis of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military almost daily since it began — mostly through 15-20 minute videos published publicly, and through his Patreon page for his supporters. He applies a principled anti-imperialist, anti-war, and leftist approach to his detailed summaries of this situation as it unfolds — pointing to the roles that both Russian leadership (primarily Russian President Vladimir Putin) and the United States and its NATO partners in Europe have played in the escalation of this conflict. What are the short-term, and long-term, aims of Russia in this invasion? What is the historical context this war sits within? What are the ideological components to this? And most importantly, who ultimately suffers from this conflagration in Eastern Europe? We discuss all this and more in this interview.

War, Art + The Hardships That Shape Our Lives / Milica Popovic

War, Art + The Hardships That Shape Our Lives / Milica Popovic

Patrick Farnsworth
Milica Popovic, 105

In this episode, Cynthia Jones and I speak with Milica Popovic, Associate Professor of Art at the College of Southern Idaho. Milica discusses her personal experiences with the social and economic disintegration in her home country of Serbia, during the fracturing of the Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. She describes how her and her husband left their home country and made their way to the United States, where Milica eventually settled in Twin Falls, Idaho, and took up a position at the College of Southern Idaho, where this interview was conducted. In our discussion, Milica also discusses the impact trauma has had on her art, and how producing art has helped her work with the traumatic memories she carries with her to this day. 

Our Humanity In Times Of Peril: War, Community + Revisiting Trauma / Samra Culum

Our Humanity In Times Of Peril: War, Community + Revisiting Trauma / Samra Culum

Patrick Farnsworth
Samra Culum, 95

Samra Culum is Student Development Coordinator at the College of Southern Idaho (CSI), and a refugee. As a child, Samra fled with her family from war-torn Bosnia, and through the CSI Refugee Resettlement Program, settled in Twin Falls, Idaho with her family.

In this episode, Samra discusses what her and her family experienced in her community in Bosnia as underlying tensions and divisions broke out into war and ethnic cleansing, and what the process of escaping and eventually resettling in the United States was like. Samra then goes over her feelings and thoughts about the recent surge of anti-refugee sentiment that has emerged in the Twin Falls area surrounding the CSI Refugee Resettlement Program in recent years, and how difficult, painful, and important it is to revisit traumatic memories and experiences and process them in a meaningful way.