Turbulence

Basil Farraj joins us to discuss Israeli carceral violence, the evolution of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, and the life and thought of Walid Daqqa.Texts mentioned: “Parallel Time”: Cultural Productions from the Small Prison to the Large Prison; My Father Is One of Thousands Disappeared in Israel’s Prisons.Basil Farraj is the Director of the Ibrahim Abu Lughod Institute of International Studies, and an assistant professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at Birzeit University.Basil is working to establish a fellowship specifically for research on Israel’s carceral regime. To support that effort, donate at this link and select “Ibrahim Abu Lughod Institute Donations” from the drop down menu “Programs/Campaigns.”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

Adam Hanieh joins us to discuss the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, how the petrodollar system shaped US-Gulf relations, the role of oil in US foreign policy, the economic rise of China, and what the war on Iran means for the climate crisis.Texts discussed: Crude Capitalism, Venezuela’s Oil in the Grip of US Empire. Also check out Hanieh’s latest in the FT, The Coming Global Food Crisis.Adam Hanieh is Director of the SOAS Middle East Institute and Professor in the Development Studies Department at SOAS, University of London. His current research looks at the interplay of fossil fuels, capitalism, and the climate emergency, with a particular focus on the Gulf states of the Middle East. He is the author of four books, including Money, Markets, and Monarchies: The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Political Economy of the Contemporary Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2018), which won the 2019 British International Studies Association IPE Group Book Prize and Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market (Verso 2024), which was co-winner of the 2025 Best Book by an International Scholar, Global and Transnational Section of the American Sociological Association.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

Karim Makdisi joins us to discuss the recent widespread Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the re-emergence of Hezbollah as an active fighting force in the broader regional war, what the Lebanese government is hoping to achieve with diplomacy, and the future of Israel’s struggle for hegemony.Karim Makdisi is an Associate Professor of international politics at the American University of Beirut, and the co-host of the Makdisi Street Podcast. His research focuses on the international politics of the Middle East, politics and history of the United Nations, and disarmament. He is currently working on a book project centered around Israel’s 2006 war on Lebanon.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

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

Laleh Khalili joins us to discuss the mechanics, strategy, and economics of Iran’s wartime closure of the Strait of Hormuz.Laleh Khalili is a professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and the author or editor of seven books, including Heroes and Martyrs of Palestine: The Politics of National Commemoration (Cambridge 2007), Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula (Verso 2020), and Extractive Capitalism: How Commodities and Cronyism Drive the Global Economy (Profile Books 2025).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

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

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

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

We discuss the US and Israel’s war of aggression on Iran that has dragged the entire region into chaos.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

In the first installment of our Political Economy of Genocide series, we are joined by Edward Ongweso Jr. to discuss the use of artificial intelligence in war, Silicon Valley’s relationship with Israel, and ongoing resistance within the industry.Texts mentioned: The Eye of the Master by Matteo PasquinelliEdward Ongweso Jr. is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, NY. Most of his work centers around tech criticism, labor and financial reporting, and book reviews. From 2019 to 2023, he was a staff writer at Motherboard, the technology section at VICE News. After leaving VICE, he was a Reporter-in-Residence at the Omidiyar Network and a guest columnist for The Nation. In 2023, He joined Logic(s) as a columnist and finance editor. In 2024, he became a Senior Researcher at Security in Context, where he focuses on artificial intelligence.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

Stuart Schrader joins us to discuss the Cold War origins of modern policing, the ongoing ICE and CBP deployments, and Zohran Mamdani’s attempts to reform the NYPD.Stuart Schrader is an associate professor of history at Johns Hopkins University, where he is the founding director of the Chloe Center for the Critical Study of Racism, Immigration, and Colonialism. He is the author of Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves, to be published by Basic Books in April 2026. He is also the author of Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing. He lives in Brooklyn.Twitter/X: @stschrader1 Read the full statement from the family of Jabez Chakraborty 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 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

Andreas Krieg joins us to discuss the United Arab Emirates’ regional rivalry with Saudi Arabia, its cultivation of an ‘Axis of Secessionists,’ and what its network-centric geopolitical approach portends for the future of the world system.Texts mentioned: A Thousand Plateaus by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari.Dr. Andreas Krieg is an associate professor at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London and a Fellow at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies. His research focuses on network-centric statecraft, information operations, and security dynamics across the Middle East. He has been seconded to the Royal College of Defence Studies since 2018. Dr. Krieg has published extensively on networked statecraft, proxy warfare, and the weaponization of narratives, with a particular emphasis on Gulf security and the geopolitical rivalry between regional actors. He is the author and coauthor of several books, including Subversion, Surrogate Warfare and Socio-Political Order & Security in the Arab World. He is the director of the London-based geostrategic risk consultancy MENA analytica since 2019.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