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listener comments? Feedback? Shoot us a text!Our sponsors: Arkeogato ToursShop AztlantisGO PREMIUM!Indigenous people of the Americas and the Horse  Every once in a while, we see a story posted on social media claiming that horses never went extinct in the Americas and that Indigenous people had the horse long before the arrival of Europeans. If you spend any time on Indigenous social media, you probably know what we are talking about. Supporters of this claim seek to dispel what they view as a Eurocentric myth. A myth that, in their eyes, buries the true history of the horse in the Americas by discounting Indigenous oral traditions and ignoring archaeological evidence that would reshape our understanding of history.But do these claims stand up to scrutiny? Did the horse really go extinct in the Americas? And what does all of this have to do with a religious zealot from the 1800s? Well dear listeners, hold on tight because it's going to be a bumpy ride as we explore:Your Hosts:Kurly Tlapoyawa is an archaeologist, ethnohistorian, and filmmaker. His research covers Mesoamerica, the American Southwest, and the historical connections between the two regions. He is the author of numerous books and has presented lectures at the University of New Mexico, Harvard University, Yale University, San Diego State University, and numerous others. He most recently released his documentary short film "Guardians of the Purple Kingdom," and is a cultural consultant for Nickelodeon Animation Studios.@kurlytlapoyawaRuben Arellano Tlakatekatl is a scholar, activist, and professor of history. His research explores Chicana/Chicano indigeneity, Mexican indigenist nationalism, and Coahuiltecan identity resurgence. Other areas of research include Aztlan (US Southwest), Anawak (Mesoamerica), and Native North America. He has presented and published widely on these topics and has taught courses at various institutions. He currently teaches history at Dallas College – Mountain View Campus. Cited in this podcast:  Pleistocene Megafauna in Beringia Archaeological Fantasies Pseudoarchaeological Claims of Horses in the Americas New Research Rewrites the History of American Horses Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and northern Rockies Pratt CaveSupport the showFind us: Bluesky Instagram Merch: Shop Aztlantis Book: The Four Disagreements: Letting Go of Magical Thinking

The origins and nature of nationhood and nationalism continue to be topics of heated scholarly debate. This major new reference work with contributions from an international team of scholars provides a comprehensive account of ideas and practices of nationhood and nationalism from antiquity to the present. It considers both continuities and discontinuities, engaging critically and analytically with the scholarly literature in the field.  The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism (Cambridge UP, 2024) also explores nationhood and nationalism's relationships with a wide variety of cultural practices and social institutions, in addition to the phenomenon's crucial political dimensions. Its wide range of regional case studies brings a truly global, comparative perspective to a field long constrained by Eurocentric assumptions. Volume I tracks turning points in the history of nationhood and nationalism from ancient times to the twentieth century. Volume II theorizes the connections between nationhood/nationalism and ideology, religion and culture. Together, they enable readers to understand the roots of how nationhood and nationalism function in the present day. Cathie Carmichael is Professor of European History at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Matthew D'Auria is a Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of East Anglia. Aviel Roshwald is an American historian and Professor of history at Georgetown University. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

The origins and nature of nationhood and nationalism continue to be topics of heated scholarly debate. This major new reference work with contributions from an international team of scholars provides a comprehensive account of ideas and practices of nationhood and nationalism from antiquity to the present. It considers both continuities and discontinuities, engaging critically and analytically with the scholarly literature in the field.  The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism (Cambridge UP, 2024) also explores nationhood and nationalism's relationships with a wide variety of cultural practices and social institutions, in addition to the phenomenon's crucial political dimensions. Its wide range of regional case studies brings a truly global, comparative perspective to a field long constrained by Eurocentric assumptions. Volume I tracks turning points in the history of nationhood and nationalism from ancient times to the twentieth century. Volume II theorizes the connections between nationhood/nationalism and ideology, religion and culture. Together, they enable readers to understand the roots of how nationhood and nationalism function in the present day. Cathie Carmichael is Professor of European History at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Matthew D'Auria is a Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of East Anglia. Aviel Roshwald is an American historian and Professor of history at Georgetown University. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

The origins and nature of nationhood and nationalism continue to be topics of heated scholarly debate. This major new reference work with contributions from an international team of scholars provides a comprehensive account of ideas and practices of nationhood and nationalism from antiquity to the present. It considers both continuities and discontinuities, engaging critically and analytically with the scholarly literature in the field.  The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism (Cambridge UP, 2024) also explores nationhood and nationalism's relationships with a wide variety of cultural practices and social institutions, in addition to the phenomenon's crucial political dimensions. Its wide range of regional case studies brings a truly global, comparative perspective to a field long constrained by Eurocentric assumptions. Volume I tracks turning points in the history of nationhood and nationalism from ancient times to the twentieth century. Volume II theorizes the connections between nationhood/nationalism and ideology, religion and culture. Together, they enable readers to understand the roots of how nationhood and nationalism function in the present day. Cathie Carmichael is Professor of European History at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Matthew D'Auria is a Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of East Anglia. Aviel Roshwald is an American historian and Professor of history at Georgetown University. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The origins and nature of nationhood and nationalism continue to be topics of heated scholarly debate. This major new reference work with contributions from an international team of scholars provides a comprehensive account of ideas and practices of nationhood and nationalism from antiquity to the present. It considers both continuities and discontinuities, engaging critically and analytically with the scholarly literature in the field.  The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism (Cambridge UP, 2024) also explores nationhood and nationalism's relationships with a wide variety of cultural practices and social institutions, in addition to the phenomenon's crucial political dimensions. Its wide range of regional case studies brings a truly global, comparative perspective to a field long constrained by Eurocentric assumptions. Volume I tracks turning points in the history of nationhood and nationalism from ancient times to the twentieth century. Volume II theorizes the connections between nationhood/nationalism and ideology, religion and culture. Together, they enable readers to understand the roots of how nationhood and nationalism function in the present day. Cathie Carmichael is Professor of European History at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Matthew D'Auria is a Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of East Anglia. Aviel Roshwald is an American historian and Professor of history at Georgetown University. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/world-affairs

The origins and nature of nationhood and nationalism continue to be topics of heated scholarly debate. This major new reference work with contributions from an international team of scholars provides a comprehensive account of ideas and practices of nationhood and nationalism from antiquity to the present. It considers both continuities and discontinuities, engaging critically and analytically with the scholarly literature in the field.  The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism (Cambridge UP, 2024) also explores nationhood and nationalism's relationships with a wide variety of cultural practices and social institutions, in addition to the phenomenon's crucial political dimensions. Its wide range of regional case studies brings a truly global, comparative perspective to a field long constrained by Eurocentric assumptions. Volume I tracks turning points in the history of nationhood and nationalism from ancient times to the twentieth century. Volume II theorizes the connections between nationhood/nationalism and ideology, religion and culture. Together, they enable readers to understand the roots of how nationhood and nationalism function in the present day. Cathie Carmichael is Professor of European History at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Matthew D'Auria is a Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of East Anglia. Aviel Roshwald is an American historian and Professor of history at Georgetown University. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter.

What if the concept of decadence holds the key to understanding our societal and political structures today? This episode challenges traditional narratives by dissecting Samir Amin's unfinished work on revolution and decadence through a Marxist lens. We navigate through Afibung's critique of decadence theory, contrasting Marxist views with more coherent conservative critiques of current institutions. Furthermore, we tackle the pressing issues in the education systems of the U.S. and Britain and ponder how the normalization of capitalist problems by the left may hinder societal progress. Our dialogue draws on insights from Christopher Lasch's "Culture of Narcissism" to suggest that the root of societal issues may go deeper than mere narcissism.Join us on a journey through historical socio-political frameworks as we question Eurocentric grand narratives and explore the tributary mode of production. With a critical eye, we scrutinize the tendency of Marxist scholars to generalize historical categories and contrast this with the nuanced perspectives of civilizations like the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, and Ottoman empires. This discussion probes the coherence of these generalizations and their role in understanding the evolution of productive forces and state structures, challenging the utility of broad historical categorizations.Imperialism and socialism's past and present dynamics take center stage as we analyze the challenges of forming anti-imperialist alliances in today's fragmented world. Reflecting on historical parallels, from the Roman Empire to modern Western capitalism, we examine the enduring divisions of labor and the pressures facing nations like China and Cuba. Through the lens of global socialist states, we explore Hugo Chavez's vision for a Fifth International and the ongoing struggles of socialism in the context of economic development and class struggle. This episode invites listeners to reconsider the nature of revolutions and the implications of bourgeois ideologies in shaping new modes of production.Check out Revolution or Decadence by Samir Amin. Send us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan

The contemporary era of black intellectual thought 1975 to the present is characterized by a growth in black feminist thought, an expansion of rainbow coalitions by prominent black leaders, an explosion of the black middle class and a black bourgeoisie, and an extension of black political, social, and cultural ideas by influential scholars and academics. In opposition to the New Left Movement, there was a significant rise in conservatism not just in America but throughout the globe. This led to a drastic decrease in liberal welfare programs as well as a decrease in the practical reliance on socialism: Booker T. Washington's ideology specifically concerning education became the norm in the contemporary era. This period also witnessed the rise of the New Jim Crow: a system of mass incarceration and control of millions of primarily poor black and brown people as evidenced by millions of dollars governmental investment in for-profit prisons throughout America. The eventual election of President Barack Obama was not only a call to transcend the partisan bickering of Washington, but his presidency stood as a symbol of black excellence against traditional social hierarchies of white supremacy. The feminist Barbara Smith at the 1980 Combahee River Collective argues that world changing revolution don't have to just redistribute resources, but they also must be pro-feminist and antiracist to be comprehensive enough to include the most historically marginalized people in the modern era, black women. Many feminist and male freedom fighters such as the black panthers, were political prisoners who have garnered immense support for freedom in the modern era. Furthermore, the seminal first black mayor of Chicago Harold Washington through his reform of the segregated city revealed its racist structure and sought to undermine it. Intellectual feminists such as Audre Lorde indicated the necessity of identifying the elements of the oppressor in the oppressed, while Dr. Bell Hooks sought to illustrate the hierarchies of race, class, and gender and how we can overcome them. This era also saw massive opposition to the South African Apartheid state that lasted for four decades by such black icons such as Randall Robinson and Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson's rainbow coalition from his run for presidency in the mid 1980s would foreshadow the rise of Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008, 20 years later. However, education perspectives would transform more than politics. Academic scholars would shift the consciousness of minority student towards a greater appreciation of education by moving away from Eurocentric models of learning. What scholars like Dr. West and politicians like President Obama would recognize is that political advancement is more seated in understanding the need for hope, meaning, and purpose rather than identifying elements of subjugation against black America. These ideas would be drawn from many black figures of the past such as academics like W.E.B. Du Bois and social reformers like Dr. King and President Abraham Lincoln.

Rescue and patchwork relationship.B Book 3 in 18 parts, y FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.Loving your enemy is easy, you know precisely where both of you stand(Right where we left off)The closest Marine had been waiting for me to finish my bonding moment with Menner before speaking. He walked and talked like an officer."You are certainly Mr. Cáel Nyilas," he nodded. "I'm Lt. Robeson, United States Marine Corps. I would like to take you and your party home. What is the situation?""Lieutenant, this young lady is Aya Ruger. She was kidnapped along-side me and managed to kill over twenty of our enemies, so be careful around her." I was deadly serious about what I said. Aya should get proper credit for all the people she sedated then drowned. Dead was dead, even if it was accidental."These two," I pointed to Zhen and Mu, "are Lúsìla ninda and Amar, Taiwanese nationals suffering some shock from the abrupt crash landing of the aircraft. They don't seem to know why they were kidnapped, but they were instrumental in aiding Aya and me making it to shore during the typhoon.""If you say so, Sir," he nodded. He did believe me, yet a soldier was taught to be skeptical of anything a civilian told him about a military situation. "The bodies?""Those are the corpses we found after the storm. I decided we should attempt to place them in your custody so you can figure out who they are," I suggested."Sir, I don't think we can let civilians keep their weapons aboard the flight," the Marine Lt. stated since I had both a pistol and submachine gun, Aya had her pistol and Zhen had her and Mu's blades. A Marine NCO sent a party to gather the dead."Marine, I am Cáel Nyilas, Irish diplomat, freebooter and Champion of the worst possible causes," I began my spiel."You probably have some orders concerning bringing me in alive. I am not so constrained and am more than willing to steal this aircraft and fly back to Hawaii without you. My team keeps their weapons, or you give me your best shot, right now," I met his gaze. He mulled over his options. Two Romanians and two Marines were starting to load the ad hoc body bags aboard the C-37B."Normally I don't take that kind of crap from a civilian and I don't want you to think I'm making an exception because of your Security Clearance. I'll let your people keep your weapons, but if something goes wrong, I'm shooting you first," he assured me."Done deal," I offered my hand and he shook it."Oh and Happy Tibetan Independence Day," he congratulated me."What?" I gasped. Rescue and patchwork relationships{6 pm, Sunday, August 17th ~ 22 Days to go}{11 pm Sunday, Aug. 17th (Havenstone Time)}{And just this once, 11am Monday, Aug. 18th Beijing Time}"Oh and Happy Tibetan Independence Day;, nice work.," the Marine congratulated me."What?""How is that possible?" muttered Mu."Yippee!! No more burning monks," Aya fist-pumped. Personally, I think she did that for the enjoyment of our guardians and to piss off Zhen and Mu just a tiny bit more.(Mandarin) "Brother," Zhen studied her brother's pained expression. "What has gone wrong?"(Mandarin) "The province of Tibet apparently has broken away," he groused. In English, to the Marine Lieutenant he repeated, "How is this possible?""I take it you didn't know Peace Talks had broken out?" he grinned. I doubted the Lt. bought my 'these are my two Taiwanese cobelligerents' story, but belief was above his pay grade, so he didn't give a shit."Yes," Mu mumbled, "we knew of the proposed cease-fire.""Yes, you mean both sides actually honored it?" I added. I really had been out things for a while."Nearly two days ago, noon, Peking Time, the People's Republic of China and the Khanate put a six month cease-fire into effect which has remained intact for forty-one," he looked at his watch, "forty-one and a half hours." He was being a cock to the petulant Mu. No one called Beijing 'Peking' anymore. I had even ordered Beijing Duck on several menus. Peking was the height of Western Imperialist thinking, or so it looked to Mu.(Mandarin) "He is yanking your chain, Mu," I explained. "You are looking pissed off at being rescued, which isn't doing my alibi for you much good.""My apology," Mu nodded to the lieutenant. "Is there any news from the Republic of China? Are they free as well?" That was nice of Mu to call Taiwan by its pet name, the ROC."Not yet," he patted Mu's unwounded leg, "but with the utter shellacking the Khanate put on the People's Navy (really the People's Liberation Army Navy, but the Marine was getting his shots in) it is only a matter of time."I had been translating in a low voice to the V nători de munte in order for them to keep up with the conversation. They all started laughing. The Marines joined in. There was a huge joke here that we had missed out on while stranded.(Romanian) "So, ask them if they know where their aircraft carrier is," Menner chuckled. Most Romanians had grown up knowing of only one China.Me: (Romanian) "What!"A Naval Corpsman who didn't know Romanian, but knew 'aircraft carrier' just fine jumped in: "Oh yeah, the missing Chinese Aircraft carrier," she chortled.Mu: "What!"I'd only been gone two and a half days. What the hell had been going on?(What had transpired in my absence and the subsequent consequences)(Notes:P R C = People's Republic of China; PLA = People's Liberation Army;P L A N = People's Liberation Army Navy;P L A A F = People's Liberation Army Air Force;R O C = the Republic of China {aka Taiwan, aka Chinese Taipei, aka the "other China"};The First Unification War {aka what the Khanate did to China in 2014};Truce lasts from August 16th 2014 until February 15th, 2015 = 183 days)There are several classic blunders grownups should know to avoid: never fight a land war in Asia, never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line, and, if you are going to cross a master thief, first make sure you have nothing of value. For the land war in Asia, check with my partner, the Khanate. Substituting Black Hand for Sicilian ~ check with Ajax, use an Ouija board. So far, destiny was batting .500.The last blunder I created entirely on my own, but I felt it was the true and right response for the circumstances. So witness the Six Families of the Ninja and the greatest theft in all of recorded history.In the closing hours of the First Unification War, as in many wars, some serious theft was going on; mainly it was the People's Republic getting fleeced.The most obvious and immediate blows came in the Spratlys and Parcel Islands where Khanate forces (actually, elements from all the JIKIT players) seized the key island in the Parcel chain, Woody Island, and secured the P L A N base the Chinese had created there, including the 2,700 meter runway built there in the 1990's. The 1,443 Chinese civilians and 600 military inhabitants in the area were incidental complications and the survivors were about to be 'repatriated' to the mainland anyway; the Khanate didn't want them hanging around as they prepared for the inevitable end of the six-month truce.Yes, the Khanate had stolen the most important island airfield ~ an unsinkable carrier really ~ in the South China Sea. It was also the northern end of the potential People's Republic of China's stranglehold on the east-west sea lanes between East Asia and the rest of the World, i.e., roughly 25% of all global trade.The southern end? That would be the Spratlys. There are few 'real' islands in that 'island group' and only two worth having: the artificial one the P L A N was building and the one the ROC has a 1200 meter airfield on. That artificial island and every other PRC/P L A N outpost in the region was also stolen by the Khanate between 4 a.m. and noon of that final day of active conflict.Every geological feature that had been the basis for the PRC's claims to all of the South China Sea was now in Khanate hands. Considering how much the P L A N had bullied everyone else in that portion of the globe, the Khanate taking over their geopolitical position was incredibly awkward. It was going to get worse.Technically, the Khanate hadn't stolen the P L A N 'South Sea Fleet' (SSF); they'd blown the fuck out of it, including sinking the sole fully-functioning P L A N carrier Liaoning as well as five of the nine destroyers and six of the nineteen frigates in her battle group. The Liaoning and one destroyer had died in those last few hours as the SSF was racing for the relative safety of Philippine waters ~ so close, but no cigar.So the Khanate had stolen the ability of the P L A N to project power in the South China Sea until February 15th, 2015 when the U N brokered truce ended. But that was not the epic theft, though. That distinction went to the Ninja. What did they steal? A semi-functional Chinese nuclear powered super-aircraft carrier still under construction.The beast had no official name yet, but she was a 75,000 ton engine of Global Domination laid down in 2011 and clearly complete enough to float and to be steered under her own power. (To be on the safe side, the Ninja included stealing four tugboats to help in their getaway.) So, you may be asking yourself, how does one 'steal' a nuclear-powered, 1000 foot long, 275 foot wide and ten-story tall vessel?For starters, you need a plan to get on board the sucker. We had begun with the Black Lotus. They wanted to sneak onboard, exit the dockyard the ship was being built in, then sink it off the coast so it couldn't be easily salvaged. That was plan A.Enter the Khanate and their plans; they too wanted to sink this vessel, and destroy the dry docks while they were at it. That was plan B. Actually, the Khanate desire was to contaminate that whole section of the port city with fallout from shattered reactors. They knew they would have to apply overkill when they smashed that bitch of a ship because the PLAN had hurriedly put on board its defensive weaponry ~ ensuring that the Khanate couldn't easily destroy it. For their approach, Temujin's people wanted the Black Lotus' help with the on-the-ground intelligence work. But the Black Lotus didn't want to help anyone irradiate Chinese soil.Enter JIKIT as referee. All those islands the 'Khanate' was busy stealing were actually part of a larger JIKIT mission called Operation Prism. Another object that was a part of the overall plan was Operation Wo Fat, the sinking of the Liaoning ~ again GPS direction and distance to be courtesy of the Black Lotus.JIKIT absolutely needed the Black Lotus. The Black Lotus wouldn't help anyone planning on poisoning any part of China for the next thousand years. Sinking the unnamed and incomplete vessel off the coast in deep waters meant no nuclear leakage and plenty of post-war time to salvage the wreck before it did start to hemorrhage. The Khanate wanted to kill this potential strategic nightmare no matter what it cost the Chinese ecology.JIKIT went to the Ninja to help them adjudicate the issue. All the lights flared brightly in Ninja-Town when they heard of that delicate dilemma. They could make everybody happy and send a clear message to the Seven Pillars expressing how unhappy the six surviving families were about the 7P's trying to annihilate them when all of this 'unpleasantness' began.The Khanate was already going to blast the shipyards and docks, the Black Lotus was already going to sail the ship into deep waters, so why not take it one step further, sail the ship into Japanese waters and declare it Khanate property as a colossal Fuck You! to the PRC, PLAN and specifically the Seven Pillars, all at the same time?Now normally, you can't steal a ship that big. The owners will notice it is missing and come looking for it. And you can't sell or hide the damn thing. So, you steal it at the tail end of a war before the players can capture, or sink it. It just so happened the Ninja had access to a war and such a time table.The next problem: where do you put it? The Khanate's closest safe haven was 8,000 km away at the Eastern Mediterranean Seaport of Izmir.But wait!The Khanate was about to steal an island airbase with its own (albeit small) harbor. The Khanate was confident that a few weeks after the truce, an alternate port, or two, would become available for the two-to-three year process it would require to prepare the vessel so it could be commissioned as the true warship it was meant to be.So, how do you steal a well-guarded, humongous ship with its skeleton crew of 500? You need a distraction ~ a big one. Remember those Khanate airstrikes? They intended to destroy the dockyards anyway. Now all they had to do was 'miss' the carrier.They could do that. If you recall, to dissuade the Khanate from sinking the ship in the final days of the war, the PLAN had hastily put teeth on the thing by giving it all its pre-designed defensive weaponry and added jury-rigged radar and sonar systems. The carrier could defend itself if needed. With the new plan (C), the airstrikes could avoid those teeth, thus reducing the risk of losing their precious planes and pilots.A series of bombing runs and missile hits near the carrier would convince the PLAN admiral in charge to hurriedly put some distance between the ship and shore, Not out to sea. That would be stupid. Within the harbor, his weaponry could adequately defend his ship. And if she took serious damage, he could run her aground, so the vessel wouldn't really sink.The only problem was that out in the harbor, with everything exploding, he was away from the only ground security support available. That was when the Amazons, Black Lotus, Ninja and JIKIT mercenaries would make their move. How could they sneak up on such a big, important ship? By using the submarines the US Navy, the British Royal Navy and Japanese Defense Force were providing, of course.Note: As I stated earlier, Lady Fathom, Addison and Riki had wandered way off the reservation . By this time, if you were a Japanese, British, or American submarine commander in the Yellow Sea and you weren't part of this madness, you were insanely jealous of those who were.The missions JIKIT was sending them on were:-definitely Acts of War if they were ever discovered,-far more dangerous than any war game exercise they'd ever been part of, and-the ultimate test of their crews and equipment.These people weren't suicidal. They believed they were the best sneaks under the Seven Seas and now they could prove it ~ in 50 years when this stuff was declassified (if it ever was).For the one American, two British and four Japanese submarines inserting the assault teams, this whole mission had a surreal feel to it. They were transporting a packed assortment of women of Indian, Malaysian and Indonesian descent along with some very lithe Japanese ladies and gents, none of who talked a whole lot.There was a third group with the spooky women and spookier Japanese teams, and that group was scared shitless about the sudden turn their lives had taken. They were all former American and British servicewomen (to not tick off the Amazons too much) with carrier and/or nuclear reactor experience who had been RIFed (Reduction in Force, aka fired) in the past five years from their respective national navies.Around a week ago, they had all answered an advertisement by a logistics support corporation that was going to do a 'force modernization' in an unnamed country. They all knew that mean the Khanate. The job had been laid out as 'basically your old job with the addition of training the natives' and it included the promise of no combat.It was a guaranteed five year contract with an option for a year-to-year extensions for another five years if you desired to stick around. For that, you received your 'pay grade upon retirement + 20%', free room and board, private security, judicial protections and a $10,000 to $10,900 signing bonus. For many struggling military families, it was manna from Heaven and thousands were signing up.Then 72 hours ago, a different group from the same company came knocking on the women's doors. If you could come with them right then and there, they had a satchel of money, $100,000 to $109,000, tax free, and a Non-disclosure Agreement for you to sign. Sure, the deal sounded shady, but the money was very real.Twenty-four hours later those who accepted the money found themselves in a small fishing village on Ko Island, Japan. There some rather fiercely intense people outlined the job they were needed for. From a submarine, the assault teams would sneak aboard the carrier, neutralize the crew and then the new crew (them) would sail it to Jeju, Jeju Island, South Korea.At that point they would be allowed to stay with the vessel (preferred), or depart for a non-war zone of their choice. Both options came with another $100,000 to $109,000 payment. Anyone who declined this particular job would remain incognito on Ko Island for another 48 hours then be allowed to leave without the need to return their initial payment.Of the 312 job applicants, 293 volunteered for both the first and second parts of the assignment. With the technical and linguistic expertise of the Amazons and 9 Clan members that would be enough to get their prize to Jeju Island's temporary safety and then make the last leg to Woody Island and a more permanent anchorage.Besides the airstrikes to goad the carrier away from the wharves, all the Khanate had to do with the carrier was put three or four clearly Mongolian faces onboard when the various nations of the world came calling. After all, what was the public going to believe:, the Khanate had pulled off yet another daring (i.e., mostly JIKIT) Special Forces coup, just as they'd managed to do throughout this short war, or that 'Ninjas stole my Battleship, umm, carrier' stuff some PRC leaders were claiming? Forty-eight hours later the whole globe was able to watch the newly named Khanate supercarrier, the  z Beg Khan, passing through Japanese territorial waters while being escorted by South Korean and Japanese warships.The PRC did complain to the United Nations over the 'theft' of both the carrier and 'their' islands, but the Security Council, led by the UK, could and would do nothing about the 'latest round of injustices heaped upon the People of China'. By the time the UN got around to doing nothing, the next round of JIKIT diplomacy was causing the PRC even greater headaches.That greatest theft, while remarkable in its own right, was really a sideshow to the reordering of the political order in Southeast Asia. The big winner wasn't the Khanate. And it certainly wasn't the mainland Chinese. No, the nations to immediately prosper were an unlikely pair, the Republic of India and the People's Republic of Vietnam (PRV). The Republic of China (R O C) was also getting its own small boost as well.By gambling their precious navy, India had become the largest power broker in the South China Sea's resource bonanza. She went from a minimal presence to being the critical ally of the Khanate and the 'big stick' (naval-wise) of Asia's new dynamic duo. The Indians had the only two functional aircraft carriers in the region and the Khanate had Woody Island with a mega-carrier number of planes sitting on it.Their combined naval aviation was not something any of the others powers wanted to mess with. The duo then sealed their supremacy by making the duo a trio. That third member was the PRV. Vietnam was the land-based logistical anchor of the three regional powers.Not only did Vietnam gain the prestige denied it for over two centuries, it redressed the P L A N humiliating treatment of their own navy for the past thirty years. The Khanate's naval aviation would shield Vietnam's economic exploitation of the Parcel Islands. The Indian Navy could counter anything the P L A N South China fleet could come at them with.Yes, the P L A N had two other fleets, the Northern and Eastern, but both had been put through their own 1001 levels of Hell by the Khanate's air power, plus they had to protect the Chinese heartland from Russia and North Korean ambitions. The South Koreans and Japanese were suddenly a very real threat from the East too. But for the time being, the Indians had the decisive edge.The final location for the  z Beg Khan was an old familiar haunt for some Americans, Da Nang, PRV. It had the facilities, courtesy of the US military from the 1960's and 70's, to be the new base for the Khanate's Eastern Fleet and logistical hub for their naval aviation forces in the Parcel Islands.The Vietnamese were thinking with more than their testicles, as were the Indians. Sure, geopolitical clout was nice, yet that was only the icing on the economic cake that was the Parcel Island Accords. That hasty bit of JIKIT backroom dealings gave a 50% stake in the Parcels to the PRV.India got 20% of something she had 0% in a month ago. The Khanate gained a 20% stake for their audacity and the ROC gained 10% because the other three would protect its share from the PRC. Something was better than nothing and the three legitimate powers agreed to the deal because in less than six months, the PRC would be back in the game.The Indians and Vietnamese wanted the Khanate to stay interested in the region and the Taiwanese wanted to forge closer ties to the Khanate. That treaty was a 'no-brainer'. Within one week, the Vietnamese were strutting like peacocks and internal political opposition to the Indian intervention into the South China Sea in the Indian parliament was silent.The Spratly Islands was a tougher deal to work out within the six month timetable. There were more players ~ the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand (who had a non-functional carrier). The JIKIT deal gave everyone but the Indians a 10% piece of the huge natural gas, oil and fisheries pie and the Indians got 20% once more.The Philippines and Malaysia were both very opposed to this treaty; they believed they deserved a far larger portion of those regional resources. Indonesia and Thailand also felt they could hold out for a bigger slice and weren't happy with India getting so much for basically having a double handful of ships (34 actually) sailing about.That 'handful of ships' was the point JIKIT was trying to make. If the PRC beat the Khanate next year, did any of the players think the PRC would give them anything, even if they promised them more right now? Really? When the PLAN had the biggest guns, they hadn't respected any other claims to the region. Why would that change in the future?The reality was this: India would only stick around if they had the economic incentive to remain. Vietnam, the Khanate and the ROC were watching the clock and realized this was the best deal they would get. Brunei and the Philippines were also coming to that understanding. Brunei was tiny (thus easy to defend), very rich already and a good ally of the British.The Philippines had a very weak navy and a non-existent naval air force. They couldn't even enforce their current claims versus Brunei, much less confront the PLAN, or any other nation's current military. The Philippines was, sadly, relatively big and very poor. Its big traditional ally was the United States, and the US was currently busy doing 'not much' about the South China Sea situation.The world's biggest navy was partially taking up its traditional (and treaty bound) role of interposing itself between the North Koreans, PLAN/PLAAF and Russians arrayed near Japan and South Korea, or busily not 'ratcheting up tensions' in the region by sending more forces into the front lines.President Obama was urging dialogue and 'stepping back from the brink' even though every country in Southeast Asia felt the brink had already dissipated the moment the PRC was forced to accept the cease-fire. In this context, the Philippines had good reason to be feeling lonely at the moment.Bizarrely, both New Delhi and Hanoi were singing the praises of US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Rt. Honorable Phillip Hammond, Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for the UK, for their deft handling of the crisis, thank you, Riki Martin and Lady Yum-Yum.Riki wasn't expecting any thanks. She was certain she'd be fired and imprisoned for the rest of her life. Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke was sure she'd get two additional knighthoods out of the deal, which would look very nice engraved on her tombstone. Javiera had long ago decided to face the music and go down with the ship, so to speak.The CIA's Addison Stuart already had her exit strategy. She was going to go work for the Khanate, building up their clandestine service when this whole mad scheme collapsed into recriminations and 'extreme sanctions'. Mehmet, Air Force Sr. Master Sgt. Billings and Agent-86 had all decided to go with her. Katrina had their escape plane on standby. Mehmet's family was already 'vacationing' in Canada.Anyway, the Republic of India, the Khanate, the Republic of China, the People's Republic of Vietnam (the Vietnamese were happy to already be getting half of the Parcel Island windfall), the Sultanate Brunei (Lady Fathom 'knew' some people and the Sultan was an autocratic Muslim ruler, just like the Great Khan) and the Philippines (because they had no other true choice) were all coming around to signing the Spratly Accords.Indonesia and Thailand were kind of waiting for a better deal. Malaysia was downright hostile, having gravitated toward the PRC over the past decade and been assured by the PRC a better apportionment would be their reward for upsetting the treaty process.The Great Khan's answer was simple. He publically threatened the Malaysian Federation in general and both the King (Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah) and Prime Minister of Malay (Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak) in particular with military action if they kept dragging their feet.He even told them how he'd do it. He'd butcher or expel every living thing in the states of Perlis and Kedah (~ 2.1 million people) and give those empty lands to Thailand to settle along with the added sweetener of Malaysia's 10% of the Spratlys. He would also invade Eastern Malaysia, taking the island state of Labuan for himself while giving Sarawak to Indonesia and Sabah to the Philippines if those to states agreed to the split.He'd also decimate their navy & air force before devastating every port city, just like he'd done to China. He'd already killed more than two million Chinese. What was another two million Malays to him? Also, Indonesia wanted Sarawak and the Philippines had claims on Sabah. While they were openly and publically defying the Great Khan's plan, could Malaysia really take the chance?What would India and Thailand do while this was going on? Thailand stated that it would protect its territorial integrity, whatever that meant. India wasn't returning Malaysia's phone calls while showing their populace re-runs of Malaysian violence against their Hindu minority, the bastards!To the world, the Indian Navy proclaimed it would 'defend itself and its supply lines' which was a subtle hint that they would shepherd any Khanate invasion force to their destination. Why would the Indians be so insensitive? The Malaysians were screwing up their deal to get 20% of both the Parcel and Spratlys wealth, that's why.If the Khanate went down, there was no way India could defend their claims (which they'd won by doing nothing up until now). Oh yeah, Vietnam began gathering up warplanes, warships, transport ships and troops for the quick (710 km) jaunt across the Gulf of Thailand to north-eastern Malaysia to kill Malaysians because Vietnam needed the Khanate to ensure their own economic future as well.That military prospect had a cascade effect, especially among the Indonesian military. If the Indian Navy remained active, the vastly more populous Western Malaysia couldn't reinforce the state of Sarawak. Sure, the Philippines was unlikely to conquer Sabah on their own, but all the Indonesians needed was for Sabah to be kept pre-occupied while their army took their promised territory, fulfilling a fifty year old dream of conquest/unification.The United Nations blustered. It wasn't that they didn't care, they did. They also cared about the deteriorating situations in Libya, Nigeria, Syria and Ukraine. The situation was complicated by the unwillingness of the permanent members of the Security Council, namely the PRC and Russia, to recognize the Khanate.In reverse, when those two tried to stick it to the Khanate, the UK stoically vetoed them. Why? Well, more on that later. Let's just say the Khanate was good for business in the European Union in general and the United Kingdom in particular because the Khanate was prepared to economically befriend the British. Ireland was being treated in a promising manner too. The United States,the United Nations?Let's just say that in the two months following the cease-fire, the Khanate bloodily and brutally solved the ISIS conundrum and the Donbass Crisis. When the smoke cleared, the Khanate had reintroduced the practice of impalement to the modern battlefield, driven the separatists from the Ukraine and was on the border with Israel and Jordan.Sure, the Ukrainians were stun-fucked by the Khanate's 'peace-keepers' going on a bloody rampage through the eastern rebellious regions, but they had delivered up peace by mid-September. Yes, the Russians were in an uproar about the impalements.As the Khanate spokesperson said, 'if they aren't your people, then it is not your problem' and 'there are no more Russians left alive in the Ukraine'. In fact, fewer than a thousand people, all armed insurgents, were executed in such a manner, but the terror created by the highly publicized killings had the effect of sending a hundred thousand people stampeding over the frontier into Russia proper.Next, the Khanate said it wanted to 'reexamine' the Crimean situation. There were Turcoman in that area and they weren't being treated well, or so it was claimed.Even as Russia and the Khanate were posturing in the Donbass, the Khanate struck in the Middle East. By the end of September, Syria and Lebanon had ceased to exist as organized entities. Most of those two countries as well as portions of western Iraq became Turkish provinces in the Khanate infrastructure. Northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq became the Khanate state of Kurdistan.It was a campaign reminiscent of the 13th century Mongol conquest, not a modern military struggle. Whole villages were eradicated. The entire Arab population of Mosul was exiled to the new territories in the East. The city was repopulated with Kurds from Turkey. Back in Turkey, those Kurds were replaced by Armenians from Azerbaijan, cauterizing another internal issue within the Khanate.Jordan was cautiously hopeful. Israel? "We don't seem to be having problems with Hezbollah anymore," with a shrug and "it could be worse." As for ISIS; there really was an Islamic State controlling more than half of Iraq and all of Syria now and it allowed no other pretenders to that distinction. By the time the world woke up to that reality though, the Great Hunt had happened and I was dealing with the consequences of that.A larger ideological and political matter was occurring in the United States, the United Kingdom (and to a limited extent Australia and Canada). The Ramshackle Empire (aka the Khanate) was just that ~ a Frankenstein nation fueled more by nationalistic pride and nostalgia for a Super-State (that only two living people had firsthand experience with) than an integrated armed forces and infrastructure.It may have been built upon more than a 13th century creation and two hundred years of real and imagined oppression. It did have long term planning and real genius driving it forward. Having throttled the PRC into giving them six precious months of peace to 'tidy up the backyard' (aka the Middle East and Russia) and forge a true nation, the Khanate was now hiring experts to aid them in the task.First and foremost, Temujin and the Earth & Sky had envisioned an armed state built upon military principles and discipline. Fate had delivered to them the means of their own salvation in the form of NATO's policy of disarmament and 'Reduction-In-Force' levels (RIFed).The US and UK had trained tens of thousands of male and female volunteers in their Armed Forces in infrastructure creation and management for the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns. From 2010, those militaries had informed those experts that their services were no longer required. Unlike the shrinking militaries of the 1990's, there was no private sector to 'soak up' the majority of those personnel.The Earth & Sky had been working on the problem of nation-building on a time table and they kept coming up short. They had to fight to create their state first, so the all-important after-battle had been something their leaders dreaded. Temujin had been understanding about not everything being 100% ready. Few wars were fought that way.Then a young male Amazon of mixed Magyar ancestry talked history with the Earth & Sky representative to a seemingly inconsequential personage's funeral. A few critical E&S leaders (a minority, to be sure) immediately sought ways to cultivate this man into what was a ten year plan to open doors to the Amazons. Then that man saved the Great Khan's life and everything changed.Before the E&S had even remotely considered directly approaching the Amazons for help, the Amazons came knocking on their door. The Seven Pillars of Heaven had tried to kidnap a camp full of Amazon children ~ an assault on their future. The two secret societies were bound by one unique, fortunate idiot and a mutual thirst for vengeance.They were also directed by two incredibly foresighted, ambitious and brilliant people. In Katrina of Epona, the E&S elders found someone who equaled their hope to see the Seven Pillars humbled and humbled immediately. Moreover, these were the Amazons they were dealing with. Amazons always sought both lightning decisions and long term solutions.From the moment Iskender left his third meeting with Cáel Nyilas, Katrina put the fruits of the First Directive (the Amazons efforts to recruit militant outsider women) into overdrive. Havenstone had the apparatus in place to screen potential inductees. All they had to do was add a "can you suggest any other people who might be interested in this line of work" box to their employment forms.That brought men into the process in surprising numbers. The market was flush with military veterans having trouble readjusting to the civilian community. The Khanate wasn't hiring killers. They wanted ex-military and civilian police officers to create a national police force.They also wanted engineers and builders, cadres for their cadet corps and a whole range of specialist in jobs most of the Western World took for granted. The money came from off-shore accounts funded by Havenstone International. The employment opportunities came from Earth & Sky front companies operating in the UK and the US (and Israel, but that was another matter).They had already started hiring scores of civilian English-speaking experts to help build their newborn nation's infrastructure before the first blow landed. English hadn't been chosen out of any cultural bias. Relying on Russian and Chinese sources wasn't feasible, the Khanate wasn't overly linguistically gifted where distant tongues were concerned and, as pointed out, the English-speaking world had a glut of applicants.Now to the problem, there were people in the US and UK who weren't happy with their citizenry going to the Khanate and helping them to survive and thrive. These power groups wanted the Mongol-Turkish Empire to keep the resources flowing to the West, without any reciprocal commitment on their part.Imagine their surprise when some wonks at the State Department and Foreign Ministries found bundles of expedited passport requests to the (former) nations of Turkmenistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Mongolia (and later Afghanistan and Iraq). The Department of Defense  Ministry of Defense were discovering their former military personnel and civilian contractors with Security Clearances were heading the same way.Of all those destinations, only Mongolia and Kazakhstan were under any kind of 'Restricted Travel' advisories. Barring any coherent anti-Khanate strategy from their administrations, the bureaucracies were doing their jobs, with Havenstone exerting just enough influence to get the job done while flying beneath the radar.After JIKIT was created, the group had a US Senator greasing the wheels to get the requests expedited. In England, Lady Worthington-Burke shamelessly used the people at the other end of the O'Shea hotline to get the job done overseas. She did have to sell out a teammate, but that was what good boys were for ~ taking one for the team. (That would be me, if there was any misunderstanding.)When Cáel Nyilas was kidnapped under the watchful eye of the FBI (I wasn't sure how they got that bum-wrap), the whole situation exploded. The PRC didn't have me, yet promised they might produce me if certain concessions were made. According to Addison, I was worth 5,000 barrels a day of refined fuel oil and 50 tons of coal a month, and the Great Khan agreed to pay! Woot! I was loved by somebody who was a somebody.All that attention drove home some salient points. I was a noble scion of Ireland, Romania, Georgia and Armenia (in no particular order) and they all wanted to know why the US had let me be kidnapped. Didn't my president know I was a sacred national treasure? After JIKIT tracked down the bribes and clandestine activities to Chinese shell corporations, those powers wanted to know what sanctions would be applied.'But wait, wasn't I a private citizen?' my national leaders pleaded. Then the PRC made a case which boiled down to 'I had it coming for being a fiancé to Hana Sulkanen and a brother to the Great Khan', while ignoring me being snatched in the territorial US of A. Of course, they didn't claim to have actually done the kidnapping.Javiera was waiting on that one; 'What was their excuse for kidnapping a little US girl to force my compliance?' The furious Federal authorities even found two dead adult bodies and two digits from said child to add to the media frenzy. To prove I had migrated to fantasy land, the CNN journalist got it right ~ they had tortured the girl and I had killed two of them for it. Just ask the Romanian Army how lethal I could be.In a rare comment, Temujin informed the international press that he believed I was still alive. Why did he believe that? If I wasn't, they would have been able to spot the pile of dead enemy around me and my 'boon companion' (go Aya!) from orbit. Until they discovered this carnal pit from Hell, I was surely still alive.Just at the cusp of turning publically against the Mongol barbarians, the world suddenly got angry with their enemy, the PRC. The principal two Western regimes were paralyzed with indecision until my miraculous cry for help from the middle of the Pacific showed the world I was alive, had punished my enemies and rescued others from under the opponent's cruel thumb.Clearly if I started ranting against the People's Republic of China, my government would be rather peeved with me. I hadn't screwed a dozen poli-sci majors to miss out on that obvious situation. I behaved and hoped they wouldn't make me die from an embolism, or some other equally implausible cause.(DC is a marvel. 9 pm, Monday, August 18th. 21 days)I'd been dragged to DC, to honor promises made in Rome a week ago. I had another choice; I could have justifiably said I was still getting over my kidnapping ordeal. But that choice fucked over Javiera Castello, my boss at JIKIT (Joint International Khanate Interim Task force).That was how I ended up in a 'secret and secure' meeting with Tony Blinken, Deputy National Security Advisor (DNSA) and his experts. He was someone I didn't know. The rest, I'd had a verbal run-in with them after the Romanian bloodbath. I'd been cranky. I would hardly consider us to be on good terms now.All four experts were from the US State Department. They were foregoing their usual group of flunkies because this meeting wasn't really happening. All the participants were officially somewhere else, mostly not even in D.C. Had this soiree 'really happened', the Congressional sub-committees would have been able to request the minutes of Tony's meeting with members of JIKIT and:·         Victoria Nuland, Ass. Sec. of State for European & Eurasian Affairs (ASSEEA)·         Robert O. Blake Jr., Ass. Sec. of State for S & C Asian Affairs (ASSCAA)·         Daniel R. Russel, Ass. Sec. of State for E. Asian and Pacific Affairs (ASSEAP)·         Bill A. Miller, Director of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) (aka Big Willy)We made stiff, formal introductions (which signaled the utter lack of trust in the room.) Javiera hadn't wanted to put me through an interrogation this soon after my near-death experience, considering my snarky nature when stressed. The White House was putting the squeeze on her. The main player was Tony, who talked with the Leader of the Free World on a weekly, if not daily, basis.The Diplomatic Security Service people had successfully peeled off Pamela and my SD Amazons only after they agreed I could keep Aya. They tolerated me keeping the nine-year old girl despite the obvious fact she had gone through worse hardships than I had endured and was still packing her Chinese QSW-06 suppressed pistol.I had already fabricated and submitted my report on how I'd overcome a plane-full of rogue delinquents from the Forumi i Rinis  Eurosocialiste t  Shqip ris  (Euro-socialist Youth Forum of Albania) bent on recruiting impressionable European socialites by accessing my Twitter account.That's right, the Albanians had it out for me. I reiterated that critical bit of data to the Department of Homeland Security when they questioned me on the veracity of my memories. The two ethnic Chinese I was found with? I thought they were from Taiwan, and they both appeared to be suffering from amnesia.I was already suffering repercussions from my pathological refusal to take life seriously. Javiera believed I was about to get a formal apology from Ferit Hoxha, Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations. Damn it! Now I had to do something nice for the Albanians. Maybe I'd offer them membership in the Khanate, full-statehood with an economic package to sweeten the deal.Yes, that was how Albania and Kosovo joined the Khanate, a product of my love for exaggeration and a little post-Ottoman solidarity over Tarator (cold soup made of yoghurt, garlic, parsley, cucumber, salt and olive oil with a side of fried squids), Tav  Kosi (lamb meatballs) and Flia & Kaymak (a dessert I highly recommend).We had toasted the Pillars of Kanun (Albanian oral law and tradition): ~ Nderi (honor), Mikpritja (hospitality), Sjellja (Right Conduct) and Fis (Kin Loyalty), ~ and he promised to tell his people that I had Besa which was an Albanian-ism for being a man who would honor his word of honor (despite us being brought together by my lie). The shit-ton of financial and military aid I asked the Great Khan to sweeten the pot with might have helped as well.Later, Lady Yum-Yum told me that the military leaders of NATO called it a 'master-stroke' in neutralizing Comrade Putin's Russian-backed 'Greek threat

In this episode of Radio ReOrient, Salman Sayyid and Chella Ward spoke to Professor Marc Van De Mieroop about Sumerian history. They discussed the role that the so-called ‘Ancient Near East' might play in reorienting history, from redefining the history of philosophy to telling a less Eurocentric story about writing and textual evidence. Marc is Professor of the Ancient Near East from the beginning of writing to the age of Alexander of Macedon, at Columbia University. His many important books and articles were the subject of our fascinating conversation.

There's new research saying that women who use dating apps are more likely to get cosmetic procedures. So how are you feeling about getting work done and dating?? We hear from you about whether it's affecting your body image, your partners, and your experience on the apps.SHOW NOTES:Research on dating apps and cosmetic procedureshttps://www.unisa.edu.au/media-centre/Releases/2025/swipe-style-surgery-why-dating-apps-are-fuelling-cosmetic-procedures/SBS - Sasha Kutabah Sarago chats on Eurocentric beauty standardshttps://www.sbs.com.au/audio/podcast-episode/sasha-kutabah-sarago-chats-about-challenging-eurocentric-beauty-standards/u5vrg5m0jDM us your thoughts, questions, topics, or to just vent at @triplejthehookup on IG or email us: thehookup@abc.net.auThe Hook Up is an ABC podcast, produced by triple j. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.

A Walk In the Park  & Aya's Finest Hour.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.Professional, conscript, or volunteer, they all have run away from battle.A Note on terminology and the metaphor of Cael's WorldThe terms Weave of Fate and 'Weave ' are interchangeable. Weave expresses the intersection ~ the sieve that all the possible futures entered to create what we perceive as this 'now'. Fate is the keeper of the sieve. The Present is what is happening right now. It is that infinitesimal which we interpret as Reality.The Legend is what happens when the present is pulled back through the weave and becomes the past. It is called the Legend because, as the former presents fade into the past, they blur; each becomes less precise and more open to interpretations. (It is as if you were looking at one thing through a prism; as you shift your stance, what you see appears to change.) Within the Legend exist mystic creatures, divinities, demons, spirits, all the Paradises and Hells.The Endless Black Sands is the final resting place for all failed legends. It is the place where all is forgotten until even former realities break down into the Black Sands. That Alal found a way to cheat this doom and retrieved Shammuramat, was truly remarkable; even though Fate 'balanced accounts' with him by sending Ajax and his war band along that path as well.If you wonder how that was a balancing, consider this:The only people Alal cares for (in his own brutal fashion) are Shammy, now Sakura, and his only true offspring in 5,000 years, Cáel.Fate sent Ajax.With Ajax available to test Cáel, how could Alal resist the temptation to place one of the planet's greatest killer on a collision course with both of his loves in order to test Cáel?The Veil is a function of the Weave that protects sentient perception from perceiving the Weave and disguises the otherness of creatures of legend, unless they willingly allow themselves to be seen, which they usually do only so they can 'physically' interact with the Present. Some sentient minds, through horrific trauma such as the Augurs' self- poisonings, through the quirks of Fate via Holy Men, Mad Prophets and Doomsayers such as Temujin, or through the touch of legends such as Ishara, can sense the fluctuations in the Veil and the things behind it. Cáel, in truth, has been shaped by all three vehicles (Ishara, the Augurs and Temujin's legend.)Oblivion is what awaits Reality if the Weave ever fails beyond its ability to heal itself. This threat is what keeps the creatures of legend from constantly traversing the Weave. They have to weaken the Weave to do so or to use powers in Reality, the greater the distortion they create, the greater the weakening that occurs.End Note(Two days ago, with thirty days left)"That was fantastic, Lady Yum-Yum," I sighed."What did you just call me?" she panted softly. We were naked in one of our Task Force bedrooms that was actually used for sleeping, and now sex. I was still pressed against her reposed body, despite our recent exertions. She was on her stomach, arms stretched down her sides.She was sweaty and short of breath. She still had her wits about her and an awareness of our situation: victory sex, me still aroused and her fingernails scratching my thighs and buttocks. My equally sticky body was pressing down on her, even though I supported my weight with outstretched hands placed on either side of her shoulders."Lady Yum-Yum," I mumbled as I kissed the back of her head. "That was the first thing that sprang to mind when you introduced yourself." I could see her working that through her highly complex mind."When writing your memoirs, please remember to me refer to me that way," she began to flex her thighs and abdominal muscles, so that her ass was pumping against my hips."Only if this helps persuade you to give me a repeat performance.""I'll consider,," she purred, then paused to catch her breathe. "You are in phenomenal shape, young man. Do any of your other lady-loves have pet names?""Nope," I grunted as I withdrew.She had teased me with anal sex hints repeatedly, yet never delivered. She liked the game and the power she wielded. My body being on top of hers was only an illusion of a tactical advantage. She knew me pretty well already. I wasn't the kind of guy who would use physical strength to overwhelm her vulnerable position. This being so, a cerebral skirmish only excited her more.We waged a war that was based on intakes of breath, the shimmying of muscles and the trembling of fatigued flesh. The prize for me was the winning. Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke played tricky-clever, but I was better. And at times like this, she admitted it. She gave me what I wanted. I rolled her.Straight, face-to-face fucking. The Lady's pulsar gaze trapped my vision. She smiled, grudgingly at first, then more and more sensually as my glans returned to her g-spot that it had scouted out earlier. This was 'surrender by the Fathom method'. She gave me what I wanted, so I took what I wanted, and pleasured her at the same time."Mmm, you are a bad, bad boy," she lapsed into her trashy West-End Londoner accent. It was perfect and an erotic whiplash when added to her native, refined manner of speech. This wasn't a trick this time, it was a treat. It was a gift, reciprocated. The tactile sensation of her cervix becoming a soft, spongey chalice for my final penetrations was icing on an all-so-luscious cake.I tendered her a tribute worthy of my first love, Dr. Kimberly Geisler. It was strange to find a woman like her. Outside of Kimberly, I had found only one other woman who graciously offered her ultimate pleasure paean to the hundreds of lovers who had become before. That other woman, it still floored me, was Buffy Du, no, Buffy Ishara, First of my House."Oh!" and several heartbeats later, "Cáel!" several hissed series of breathes and then, "Goddess! You are better than good!"Two thoughts collided within me:A) I had never seen a more controlled orgasmic explosion in my life. I was going to have to tell Buffy about this, once we were safely in bed. If it was office talk, she'd punch me through a window and that would make Aya cry. I couldn't have that.B) Goddess? I thought she was Anglican. This needed further study. This treatment was really nice. I leaned in, kissed her. Lady Yum-Yum smiled. "Take me to the shower. Play time is over, Cáel," and she was back to all business."You are treating me like a fleshy vibrator," I pointed out."But you are a very finely-trained, fleshy vibrator, you wonderful boy," she stroked my cheek. "Shower! Now!" So, like a Good Boy, International Merchant of Death and Chosen Son of a Divine Amazon Goddess, I slid off her, then cradled her in my arms as I rose from our totally trashed mattress.I didn't smile when it was confirmed that I wasn't carrying her out of any romantic after-coitus gesture. She couldn't walk. Woot! It took a bit of effort to get us into the walk-in shower and to get the water just perfect, all while keeping her cradled. She helped out by keeping her arms tightly around my neck."Cheeky bastard," she whispered in my ear. "You are gloating." Then she nibbled on my earlobe for good measure."Damn right," I did gloat as I let her slide down to her feet. "You are pretty sweet for an Old Chick." She wasn't angry, oh no."If you were trying to get me to say, 'I'll get you next time," she licked, nipped and sucked on my nipple as if I was the one with the mammaries in this relationship, "it worked." Double-Woot! I was going to get that damn four-way! I did coax a vigorous shower-quickie out of my Lady. Afterward, she shifted herself so she could get under one of the steaming showerheads."Cáel, why didn't you use a condom," she mused. Gak!"You aren't on Birth Control?" I panicked. She laughed at me."No. I've never been a fan of hormones replacement. I like the way I am. Do you expect the women to do all the anti-pregnancy measures?""No," I gulped."Don't' be so worried," she laughed. "We had unprotected sex one time. The odds are astronomical that an 'oops' happened, right?" Yes, it was a single sexual encounter, but included three firings of the one-eyed hydra, sigh."You are asking a man who has five children on the way, Fathom," I cautioned her."Oh, I'll update my files and make an appointment to seen a local, reliable O B G Y N," she slipped back into her unflappable British resolve. "Get along. I need to get cleaned up," she cupped my scrotum, ", again. So scoot." I scooted.I had updated my condom supply despite the forbiddance Dot Ishara, my Matron Goddess, beamed to me from the Other Side. She could only complain so much. I'd upped my selection of fortune cookies and added a fresh raisin chocolate brownie for my next visit with her. I had to get over to the other side of the floor to get a fresh shirt, and boxers.Yum-Yum had ripped off my shirt (a little kinky) and boxers (a little painful). I wasn't going commando, so I decided to quick step it before something important happened that required me to yank yet another solution out of my sexually-fueled creative imagination.How Lady Yum-Yum and I ended up in bedThe Secret Societies' long awaited war had begun in Africa and in India. The Amazons couldn't effectively reinforce these two homeland regions. No, my people's edge came from my stupid stunts (e.g., the fight outside that club in Chicago), the judicious application of a few kind words and a whole lot of targeted killing on my part along with that of my Amazons.Those actions convinced the Booth-gan (aka the Thuggee, but we no longer say that because it irritates them) and the Coils of the Serpent to toss in their lot with their local Amazons. They did the whole 'hostage exchange' thing as well. Two children from each side. That was a no-brainer on my part. All three concerned parties were willing to let their adults die if necessary. Their children were another matter.In Asia, the Seven Pillars had made only minimal progress. We now suspected the 7P had planned to roll over the three of the 9 Clans that were in their Sphere of Influence, the now 6 Ninja Families, the Black Lotus and the Booth-gan in rapid succession. A preemptive strike against both the Khanate and the Ninja were supposed to cripple those two factions.Against the Khanate, that had been a dismal failure. In Nippon, the Ninja were in dire straits and would be decades recovering from the original 7P blitz. But the combination of US black ops help and the infusion of Amazons and Okinawans had staved off extinction for the moment. Strategically, these failed actions were tying down 7P resources that the largest Secret Society had planned to move elsewhere.In China, the Black Lotus exhibited the same resilience and deceptiveness they'd shown in combating the Seven Pillars by themselves for the past 65 years. The chaos gripping the PRC was a blessing from the Ancestors, the four sacred spirits (lung/dragons, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise), and the nine entities (I now really had to know this stuff.) Word that a 'dragon' had appeared in the West had only heightened their desire to aid in our new alliance.Those factors meant a reprieve for India. As the 7 Pillars began ramping up their operations; increasing racial tensions, minor terrorist action and military and industrial sabotage; the Booth-gan and Amazon united resources and purpose. The Booth-gan would assassinate 7P operatives and pawns while the Amazons would hit 7P front companies and businesses based out of the People's Republic of China. (This activity also helped ratchet up India-PRC tensions and anti-PRC public sentiment in India.)In Africa, the Condotteiri had squandered precious hours reallocating resources before launching their assaults. Like everyone but the 7P, they had been caught flat-footed by the renewal of the Secret War. The Coils of the Serpent had never been overly antagonistic toward the Condos, since their interests rarely collided. The same went for the Coils and the Amazons.Two factors inspired a deep Amazon-Coil bond. They were both groups with deep African roots and a shared Central-Western African spirituality. Added to that was the growing power of the Coils of the Serpent in the past fifty years. Their main opponents had been the Illuminati who had a Eurocentric view. Pan-Africanism was in the Coil's best interest, but ran contrary to European economic interests.Long term, allying with the African Amazons was a good investment for the Coils. The 9 Clans relationships had already proved to be advantageous on multiple occasions in the past. The leaders of the Coils knew their power was rising with the fortunes of Sub-Saharan Africa. To them, the rise of the PRC and the Seven Pillars was a looming threat in the East.They had been handed a golden opportunity to deal with this enemy before the enemy was ready to deal with them. They had been 'gifted' with over 2000 highly-skilled, fanatical Amazon warriors as stealthy muscle to add to their own, more subtle arsenal. For the Amazons, it was access to continent wide clandestine intelligence network that could unmask their enemies' hiding places.The Condotteiri wiped out an Amazon freehold in Cameroon and a few Coils safe houses in Lagos, Nigeria. In the Republic of Mali, over 250 Condo mercenaries were slaughtered at a 'secret' installation and their armory was looted. Ebola kept breaking out in the West. The dominant regional powers, the Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, were tottering as a result of decades of economic mismanagement, civic, ethnic, tribal and religious strife, corruption and unreliable militaries.The scene was ripe for a secret conflict as well as public carnage. For the Joint International Khanate Interim Taskforce (JIKIT), this presented a dilemma. They were involved with a growing global struggle that went far beyond the Khanate and Central Asia. Their secret society allies strenuously objected to bringing any more 'outsider' people into the group.Handing over covert intelligence to other governmental agencies in the US and UK, then telling them they wouldn't divulge their sources went over like scuba diving with cement goulashes. Explaining to upper level bigwigs that they had a 'trust-based' team went nowhere. Those officials didn't care about a bunch of domestic/international criminals' sensibilities.They wanted names and faces. They wanted addresses, phone taps and bank account numbers. It would all be 'Secret', 'Top Secret', or 'Eyes Only'. It would all be vulnerable to all kinds of governmental subpoenas too. No threats were made from 'my' side. They'd killed more people than the Black Death and the lives of a few thousand bureaucrats (and their families) in London and Washington D.C. didn't mean shit to them.Selena did offer to kidnap some family members to get the message across. Javiera put her hands over her ears and began singing 'la-la-la' as she stormed out of the room. Lady Fathom suggested that we arrange a private meeting with the UK Prime Minister and the US President. It took a few seconds for Mehmet and Javiera to realize she wasn't kidding.That was a nearly impossible task, which on this taskforce meant we had to give it a shot. Let's just say that the US Attorney General, Eric Holder and Chairman John Jay of the British Joint Intelligence Committee thought their respective representative had lost her God-damn mind. I went to the Khanate for help.Twenty-four hours later Azerbaijan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Armenia and Georgia (yes, two tiny Christian nations) joined the Khanate. The integration of the first two nations had been in the works since the formation of the Turkic Council in 2009. For me, Temujin upped the time table strictly for our benefit. Turkey and Azerbaijan became the two newest states within the Khanate.The third, Tajikistan was different and the shakiest addition. The unoccupied title of 'Khwarazm Shah' was created, suggesting the Iranian Tajiks had a special status inside the Khanate. 'Khwarazm' referenced the Khwarazmian dynasty that ruled the last of the great, Persian-led, Iranian Super-States and dated back to the 13th century AD. 'Shah' was Persian for King.The announced status of Armenia and Georgia was quite a bit different. They become 'Protectorates', i.e., semi-autonomous states within the Khanate who were 'vassal' states, responsible only to the Great Khan and his personal representative in the region (ah, that would be me.)So, the first three entries made sense, strong geographic, ethnic and/or religious ties, plus this was part of the Khanate's agenda anyway. But Armenia and Georgia? That was the doing of the other regional secret society, the Hashashin.The Caucasus Mountains were the backyard of the Hashashin. They knew who to blackmail, pinch and kill to make the 'take-over' possible. The main stumbling block was the long Khanate-Hashashin history: the Mongols had destroyed the historical stronghold of the Hashashin, Alamut, in 1256 CE. In a way, that disaster had transformed the sect, making it move away from their strict Nizārī Ismaili roots and into a more ethnically and religiously diverse group that was centered in the Caucasus region.Temujin made it clear to this group that he was making a deal under my auspices. Both Armenia and, Georgia (as well as the future Kurdistan, his plans for the creation of that last state were told to me under condition of secrecy) would be part of my palatinate principality (along with Hungary, if we ever got there). Riki Martin defined the terms for me: I was the voice of those three regions in the Khan's court.They wouldn't have to deal with Muslim Khanate officials. They would deal with me and 'my officials'. If the Khanate had a problem with my principality, they came to me to resolve the issue. That translated to me giving a nod to the existing regimes ruling in Armenia and Georgia (along with the infusion of a few Hashashin supporters.)Publically the future of those three political and ethnic entities would be confirmed later. The existing governments knew three things.1) I was that madman who had led the charge in Romania, clearly a man of bravery and humility. The odds were good that I was going to be a man they could rely on to adequately represent their interests with the government that currently mattered the most (aka The Khanate.)2) The Great Khan thought the world of me and in this nascent New World Order that meant way more than membership in NATO, or begging the United Nations to apply sanctions of dubious value.3) There would be a change of leadership by about 2040. Children of excellent ethnic parentage would succeed me in this ceremonial role in the region. These new princes and princesses would be the scions of the line of Nyilas and representatives of the various states (translation: I was going to be sexing it up with Georgian, Armenian and Kurdish members of the Hashashin).That would establish the three 'cadet' branches of House Ishara (Nyilas) (which I've listed because all three alphabets are so freaking beautiful) that could weave the Amazons, 9 Clans and the varying ethnic identities into a quilt that could stand together as a force in the Great Khan's inner circle. This new spate of aristocratic, 'Archer'-themed lineages would be:1.       Moisari, in Georgia.2.       Aġeġnajig, in Armenia.3.       Ram- alsham, in Kurdistan.This fiction made the key named entities happy. The combination of all these events applied another jolt to the heart of the global power structure (after all, Turkey was in NATO) and made the US and UK governments back off.By tidying up the world map, we'd brought our governmental chiefs to the chilling revelation that their sole conduit for insider information regarding the ongoing global calamity had reacted to their intransience by simply letting them be blind-sided by events. After the fact, Javiera and Lady Fathom relayed that message very clearly.

In this episode of Radio ReOrient, Salman Sayyid and Chella Ward spoke to Professor Marc Van De Mieroop about Sumerian history. They discussed the role that the so-called ‘Ancient Near East' might play in reorienting history, from redefining the history of philosophy to telling a less Eurocentric story about writing and textual evidence. Marc is Professor of the Ancient Near East from the beginning of writing to the age of Alexander of Macedon, at Columbia University. His many important books and articles were the subject of our fascinating conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

In this episode of Radio ReOrient, Salman Sayyid and Chella Ward spoke to Professor Marc Van De Mieroop about Sumerian history. They discussed the role that the so-called ‘Ancient Near East' might play in reorienting history, from redefining the history of philosophy to telling a less Eurocentric story about writing and textual evidence. Marc is Professor of the Ancient Near East from the beginning of writing to the age of Alexander of Macedon, at Columbia University. His many important books and articles were the subject of our fascinating conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In this episode of Radio ReOrient, Salman Sayyid and Chella Ward spoke to Professor Marc Van De Mieroop about Sumerian history. They discussed the role that the so-called ‘Ancient Near East' might play in reorienting history, from redefining the history of philosophy to telling a less Eurocentric story about writing and textual evidence. Marc is Professor of the Ancient Near East from the beginning of writing to the age of Alexander of Macedon, at Columbia University. His many important books and articles were the subject of our fascinating conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rev. Renaldo McKenzie continues with the Caribbean Thought Lectures at The Jamaica Theological Seminary, concluding the discussions on The Afrocentric Paradigm and Centering Caribbean Studies and Caribbean Thought within a paradigm that begins with a position of victory rather than a position of victory. The Caribbean Reader asserts that the Caribbean is an invention.... But this is defeatist and based on a position of oppression than victory. Yet one may say this binary troupe is based on a philosophy of idealism than realism. Nevertheless, Renaldo explore the importance of a Caribbean history that must demystify history through critical reflections. The Lecture today culminates the conversations on Afrocentric, Eurocentric and conceptualizing Caribbean Thought. The course is accredited by The University Council of Jamaica and is delivered within the Department of Humanities. The Lecture is delivered by Rev. Renaldo Mckenzie, Author of "Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance," President of The Neoliberal Corporation, Creator and Host of The Neoliberal Round Podcast, Graduated from University of Penn holding a MA and a MPHIL and currently at Georgetown University in the Doctor of Liberal Studies Program. Renaldo is also at the department of Africology Temple University, Email The Professor via renaldo.mckenize@jts.edu.jm The Lecture is made available on Spotify an any podcast stream that carries The Neoliberal Round Podcast, for free, thanks to The Neoliberal Corporation and The Neoliberal Round Podcast and YouTube Channel. Subscribe https://anchor.fm/theneoliberalDonate to us: https://anchor.fm/theneoliberal/supportVisit us at https://theneoliberal.com and https://renaldocmckenzie.com.Visit the Seminary https://jts.edu.jm.Check out our store: https://store.theneoliberal.com.Subscribe to the podcast: https://anchor.fm/theneoliberal.Call us: 1-445-260-9198

   Dr. Leila Dehghan is a doctor-turned-nutritionist, activist, and educator. Her journey to veganism began as an animal rescuer, but she later discovered the healing power of a whole food, plant-based diet, which helped her overcome debilitating migraines. This experience shifted her career focus, leading her to earn a Master's in Clinical and Public Health Nutrition from University College London.   Leila is the founder of Plant-based Health Justice, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about the interconnectedness of oppression and advocating for a healthier, sustainable world by fostering justice, equity, and compassion for all.   Her passion for education also led her to create PlantEd Academy, where she develops courses, workshops, and resources that promote the benefits of plant-based diets in a culturally sensitive and inclusive way. Through her work, she challenges Eurocentric dietary norms and empowers individuals and communities to decolonize nutrition and reclaim their health.   Links:  Leila's free nutrition course https://plantedacademy.  com/planted-guide-to-plant-based-eating/  Dr Leila on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drleilad/  Leila's previous interview on FoS https://www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspecies/episode/dr-leila-dehghan-plant-based-health-justice  We mentioned our friend Anas Araft, co-founder of Plant the Land Team Gaza who coordinates mutual aid initiatives to provide clean water, food, blankets, and warm clothes to people in need in Gaza. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008448283358 The Ramadan fundraiser to help Anas's mutual aid efforts to supply food packages to families in Gaza. Please donate if you can and share this link with others https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-ramadan-in-gaza   Music we played on the live show:  Aateny El Nay We Ghanny by Fairuz  Ajab Sabri Khoda Darad by Sattar  Hind's Hall by Macklemore.  Please note that to adhere with copyright requirements we cannot include the songs in the podcast. The songs have been added to the FoS Spotify playlist  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3TJQujKYjGFoFP6LhBbaTS?si=6ghUWmzkQpyv...    Thank you for listening to Freedom of Species. If you would like to subscribe to 3CR please visit https://www.3cr.org.au/subscribe and consider nominating Freedom of Species as the show you wish to support. Paid subscriptions to 3CR Community Radio keep independent, grassroots media on the airwaves.

Welcome, everyone, to the 2025 series of lectures in Caribbean Thought at the Jamaica Theological Seminary! Today, we embark on a critical journey, asking: Is there a paradigm to the study of Caribbean Thought or Caribbean Studies. Should there be one, akin to the Afrocentric Paradigm championed by scholars like Dr. Molefi Asante and Dr. Ama Mazama?These are not mere theoretical questions; they challenge the very core of how we understand ourselves as Caribbean people, our place in the world, and our trajectory for the future. While the answers may not be fully realized today, we will begin to explore them as we contend with the idea of a Caribbean that is unique to its people and place, yet constantly shaped by external forces adjudicating its future.The Origins of Caribbean ThoughtWhen the study of Caribbean Thought was first conceived, its aim was largely historical—tracing a trajectory from colonialism to the early 2000s. This timeline often emphasized resistance to imperial domination, the hybridization of culture, and the formation of Caribbean identity. But as our tools of critical analysis and historical understanding have developed, we've uncovered something unsettling:• Our history, as we know it, is limited—if not corrupted.• Much of what we think we know about Africa, the Caribbean, and even religion is a distortion.• The Caribbean itself, as an idea, is an invention—born from colonial economic imperatives, geopolitical interests, and a sociopolitical framework dictated by external powers.In this light, the Caribbean emerges as a hybrid creation, one shaped by the forces of colonialism, globalization, and a lingering supremacist mold. This mold continues to affect the fortunes of Caribbean nations and their people, as evidenced in contemporary global politics—the U.S.-China tensions over Jamaica or Russia's actions in Eastern Europe. These dynamics highlight the persistent vulnerabilities of small nations in a world dominated by superpowers.The Invention of the CaribbeanIf the Caribbean is an invention, then we must interrogate the narratives handed down to us:• What is the Caribbean?• Is it merely a product of colonial extraction and hybridity?• Can it reclaim its agency by articulating its own paradigms of identity and thought?The answer lies in examining our cultural, historical, and spiritual foundations. Too often, the Caribbean has been defined against Africa, adopting European paradigms that denounce African spirituality and philosophies in favor of Eurocentric frameworks. These same frameworks perpetuated ideas of Africa—and by extension, Blackness—that are steeped in oppression, degradation, and dehumanization.To be Black in this logic is to be othered, associated with negativity, and subjected to oppression. But must we begin the history of the Caribbean from colonial trauma?Rethinking Caribbean ThoughtBorrowing from Afrocentrism, perhaps the solution is to begin, as Frantz Fanon suggested, with a tabula rasa—a blank slate. Yet, even as we acknowledge the damage wrought by colonialism, we must recognize that our history is not solely one of victimhood. It is also a history of triumph and resilience, stretching back to the civilizations of Kamit (ancient Egypt) and beyond.While the Afrocentric Paradigm centers Africa in the study of African peoples and their place in the world, Caribbean Thought must grapple with its own complex hybridity. It cannot simply adopt Afrocentricity wholesale but must instead forge its own epistemology and axiology—one that:• Recognizes the intersections of African, European, Asian, and Indigenous influences in the Caribbean experience.• Centers the Caribbean people's agency, starting not from oppression but from resistance and victory.• Seeks to reclaim a sense of identity that is neither derivative of Africa nor Europe but un... Listen to the full Lecture by Rev. Renaldo McKenzie Visit us: https://theneoliberal.com, https://jts.edu.jm Subscribe: https://anchor.fm/theneoliberal

Dría de Dóchas is a trans-femme Latinx creative worker and interdisciplinary artist whose practice responds to imperial and colonial violence on the Earth and its inhabitants. A significant body of her work surrounds her alter ego and drag persona, the Dryad, and their existential journey as a queer embodiment of the Earth during the late stages of capitalism. Through the means and materials available to her, de Dóchas seeks to cultivate a sense of solidarity and kinship across different forms and walks of life, challenging Eurocentric notions of social, political, and economic value. Dría attended the University of New Mexico, earning an MFA from the Art + Ecology program in the spring of 2022. Her work has been exhibited and published both nationally and internationally—most notably in the 2022 Venice Biennale—and she has contributed to and performed in internationally-exhibited, award-winning films. Dría currently teaches courses at Boise State University and The College of Idaho.

Raising strong, confident girls in today's world isn't always easy, and this episode is here to help. Dr. Jo-Ann Finkelstein chats with Dr. Emily Edlynn about her book, Sexism & Sensibility: Raising Empowered, Resilient Girls in the Modern World, and dives into how we can support girls as they face things like cultural pressures, objectification, and the subtle sexism that still lingers. They share real, practical tips on helping girls think critically, find their voices, and navigate the media they're exposed to. If you're a parent, caregiver, or just someone who wants to make a positive difference, this conversation is full of valuable insights you won't want to miss. Listen and Learn:  Exploring the inspiration behind Sexism and Sensibility How societal norms shape women's voices and learn how Jo-Ann's book helps shift the narrative Progress and pitfalls: The dualities of feminism and girls' empowerment in modern culture How beauty culture, Eurocentric ideals, and self-objectification steal women's power and potential A parental guide to empowering your kids to combat self-objectification  The social dynamics that shape girls' voices and confidence, and why it's crucial for parents to intervene How can fathers empower their daughters to speak up while protecting them from societal biases? Resources:  Book: Sexism & Sensibility: Raising Empowered, Resilient Girls in the Modern World: https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9780593581162 Website: https://www.joannfinkelstein.com/ Substack: https://joannfinkelstein.substack.com/ Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joannfinkelstein.phd Connect on X: https://x.com/finkeljo?lang=en Connect on Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/100086974203277/ Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joannfinkelstein.phd/ About Jo-Ann Finkelstein: Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and the author of Sexism & Sensibility: Raising Empowered, Resilient Girls in the Modern World. She was educated at Harvard University and Northwestern University and now maintains a private clinical practice. An expert blogger for Psychology Today, her work has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Harvard Business Review, Oprah Daily, and CNN, among others. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Ms., Your Teen, and other publications. Dr. Finkelstein serves on the Advisory Board for Stop Sexual Assault in Schools. She lives in Chicago, Illinois. Related Episodes: 381. Reimagining Boyhood with Ruth Whippman 369. Good News About Adolescence with Ellen Galinsky 337. Puberty Is Awkward with Cara Natterson and Vanessa Kroll Bennett 332. Middle School Superpowers with Phyllis Fagell 317. Growing Up in Public with Devorah Heitner 290. Shared Sisterhood: Collective Action for Racial and Gender Equity at Work with Tina Opie and Beth Livingston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While in New Zealand, I had the opportunity to interview Kendall Clements, a professor of biology at the University of Auckland. His name may sound familiar because, in 2021, Clements was the lead author of a controversial letter titled "In Defence of Science," published in The New Zealand Listener. The letter (commonly referred to as the “Listener Letter”) was a direct response to a proposed curriculum that sought to promote the discussion and analysis of how science has been used to support the dominance of Eurocentric views, including its role in the “colonization” of Māori peoples and the “suppression” of Māori knowledge.  The curriculum also proposed that science itself, as a Western European invention, could be viewed as a tool of European dominance over Māori and other indigenous groups. We discussed this and more. Watch this episode on YouTube.

This Week In White Supremacy 1HOOD throws back to an intense and unfiltered discussion with their favorite guest, Dante King. Broadcasting from the 25th White Privilege Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this April 2024 dialogue centers on Dante's direct confrontation of white supremacy and the backlash he faces for his unapologetic stance about the complexities of Black identity, the inherent anti-Blackness in white standards, and the psychological warfare against Black people. Adding to the richness of the discussion is, the legendary poet Jessica Care Moore who joins to share her experiences growing up in Detroit, dealing with anti-Black institutional pressures, and her revolutionary work in poetry and Black publishing with reflections on navigating cancel culture, fostering Black family liberation, and the importance of building lasting Black institutions --To help us build liberated communities through arts, education, and social justice visit our website 1hood.org to purchase your official 1HOOD apparel or consider making a tax-deductible donation to 1Hood Media. --WATCH THE SHOW: youtube.com/@twiws--FOLLOW 1HOOD youtube.com/@1hoodfacebook.com/1hoodmediainstagram.com/1hoodmediax.com/1hood--About:This Week In White Supremacy is The 1Hood podcast discussing the cultural effects and weekly injustices surrounding white supremacy; through intelligent, insightful commentary and often comedic conversations this podcast is geared towards adults who want to digest the latest news and events with humor and Hip-Hop.--DISCLAIMERS: The views and opinions expressed during this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of 1Hood Media, 1Hood Power, and or its affiliates. We do not own the copyrights to the selected songs, audios and/or videos shared in this broadcast. This Week In White Supremacy is brought to you by the 1HOOD Media NetworkExplicit LanguageParental Discretion is AdvisedTV-MA

In this episode of Across Generations, host Tiffany Cross dives into a candid discussion on evolving beauty standards with esteemed guests Harriet Cole, a lifestyle expert and author, and Jasmine Carthon, a trailblazing plus-size model and community advocate. Together, they explore the historical and cultural shifts in how beauty is perceived, the impact of legislation like the Crown Act, and the challenges faced by Black women in industries shaped by Eurocentric ideals. From personal anecdotes about self-acceptance to an honest examination of representation in media, this episode celebrates individuality and the journey toward redefining beauty on one's terms. RATE, REVIEW, AND FOLLOW ON APPLE PODCAST ‌

November 21, 2024 In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, Vernon interviews Pamela Standing, Co-Executive Director of the Minnesota Indigenous Business Alliance (MNIBA). Pamela shares strategies MNIBA employs to connect Indigenous business owners with resources. Pamela Standing's experience demonstrates that Indigenous-run organizations and businesses can thrive, achieve financial growth, and succeed within the mainstream business system without sacrificing cultural values. She is committed to bridging the disparity gap through cooperative efforts, collaboration, and establishing partnerships and alliances that lead to resource sharing. In 2019, through her partnership and contract status with Cooperative Development Services (CDS) she was able to participate in CooperationWorks' co-op developer training series. It was through her participation in this program that inspired her exploration into how Indigenous language, Cultural Lifeways and practices aligned with Eurocentric cooperative practices. This was funded by the Native American Agriculture Fund.

For much of the twentieth century, the ideas of Karl Marx provided the backbone for social justice around the world. But today the legacy of Marxism is contested, with some seeing it as Eurocentric and irrelevant to the wider global struggle. In Global Marxism: Decolonisation and Revolutionary Politics (Manchester UP, 2024) Simin Fadaee argues that Marxism remains a living tradition and the cornerstone of revolutionary theory and practice in the Global South. She explores the lives, ideas and legacies of a group of revolutionaries who played an exceptional role in contributing to counter-hegemonic change. Figures such as Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah, Ali Shariati and Subcomandante Marcos did not simply accept the version of Marxism that was given to them they adapted it to local conditions and contexts. In doing this they demonstrated that Marxism is not a rigid set of propositions but an evolving force whose transformative potential remains enormous. This global Marxism has much to teach us in the never-ending task of grasping the changing historical conditions of capitalism and the complex world in which we live Simin Fadaee is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester and President of the International Sociological Association Research Committee on Social Classes and Social Movements. She is the author of Social Movements in Iran: Environmentalism and Civil Society; editor of Southern Social Movements; and Co-editor of Marxism, Religion and Emancipatory Politics. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

For much of the twentieth century, the ideas of Karl Marx provided the backbone for social justice around the world. But today the legacy of Marxism is contested, with some seeing it as Eurocentric and irrelevant to the wider global struggle. In Global Marxism: Decolonisation and Revolutionary Politics (Manchester UP, 2024) Simin Fadaee argues that Marxism remains a living tradition and the cornerstone of revolutionary theory and practice in the Global South. She explores the lives, ideas and legacies of a group of revolutionaries who played an exceptional role in contributing to counter-hegemonic change. Figures such as Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah, Ali Shariati and Subcomandante Marcos did not simply accept the version of Marxism that was given to them they adapted it to local conditions and contexts. In doing this they demonstrated that Marxism is not a rigid set of propositions but an evolving force whose transformative potential remains enormous. This global Marxism has much to teach us in the never-ending task of grasping the changing historical conditions of capitalism and the complex world in which we live Simin Fadaee is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester and President of the International Sociological Association Research Committee on Social Classes and Social Movements. She is the author of Social Movements in Iran: Environmentalism and Civil Society; editor of Southern Social Movements; and Co-editor of Marxism, Religion and Emancipatory Politics. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

For much of the twentieth century, the ideas of Karl Marx provided the backbone for social justice around the world. But today the legacy of Marxism is contested, with some seeing it as Eurocentric and irrelevant to the wider global struggle. In Global Marxism: Decolonisation and Revolutionary Politics (Manchester UP, 2024) Simin Fadaee argues that Marxism remains a living tradition and the cornerstone of revolutionary theory and practice in the Global South. She explores the lives, ideas and legacies of a group of revolutionaries who played an exceptional role in contributing to counter-hegemonic change. Figures such as Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah, Ali Shariati and Subcomandante Marcos did not simply accept the version of Marxism that was given to them they adapted it to local conditions and contexts. In doing this they demonstrated that Marxism is not a rigid set of propositions but an evolving force whose transformative potential remains enormous. This global Marxism has much to teach us in the never-ending task of grasping the changing historical conditions of capitalism and the complex world in which we live Simin Fadaee is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester and President of the International Sociological Association Research Committee on Social Classes and Social Movements. She is the author of Social Movements in Iran: Environmentalism and Civil Society; editor of Southern Social Movements; and Co-editor of Marxism, Religion and Emancipatory Politics. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/world-affairs

For much of the twentieth century, the ideas of Karl Marx provided the backbone for social justice around the world. But today the legacy of Marxism is contested, with some seeing it as Eurocentric and irrelevant to the wider global struggle. In Global Marxism: Decolonisation and Revolutionary Politics (Manchester UP, 2024) Simin Fadaee argues that Marxism remains a living tradition and the cornerstone of revolutionary theory and practice in the Global South. She explores the lives, ideas and legacies of a group of revolutionaries who played an exceptional role in contributing to counter-hegemonic change. Figures such as Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah, Ali Shariati and Subcomandante Marcos did not simply accept the version of Marxism that was given to them they adapted it to local conditions and contexts. In doing this they demonstrated that Marxism is not a rigid set of propositions but an evolving force whose transformative potential remains enormous. This global Marxism has much to teach us in the never-ending task of grasping the changing historical conditions of capitalism and the complex world in which we live Simin Fadaee is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester and President of the International Sociological Association Research Committee on Social Classes and Social Movements. She is the author of Social Movements in Iran: Environmentalism and Civil Society; editor of Southern Social Movements; and Co-editor of Marxism, Religion and Emancipatory Politics. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

For much of the twentieth century, the ideas of Karl Marx provided the backbone for social justice around the world. But today the legacy of Marxism is contested, with some seeing it as Eurocentric and irrelevant to the wider global struggle. In Global Marxism: Decolonisation and Revolutionary Politics (Manchester UP, 2024) Simin Fadaee argues that Marxism remains a living tradition and the cornerstone of revolutionary theory and practice in the Global South. She explores the lives, ideas and legacies of a group of revolutionaries who played an exceptional role in contributing to counter-hegemonic change. Figures such as Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah, Ali Shariati and Subcomandante Marcos did not simply accept the version of Marxism that was given to them they adapted it to local conditions and contexts. In doing this they demonstrated that Marxism is not a rigid set of propositions but an evolving force whose transformative potential remains enormous. This global Marxism has much to teach us in the never-ending task of grasping the changing historical conditions of capitalism and the complex world in which we live Simin Fadaee is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester and President of the International Sociological Association Research Committee on Social Classes and Social Movements. She is the author of Social Movements in Iran: Environmentalism and Civil Society; editor of Southern Social Movements; and Co-editor of Marxism, Religion and Emancipatory Politics. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

For much of the twentieth century, the ideas of Karl Marx provided the backbone for social justice around the world. But today the legacy of Marxism is contested, with some seeing it as Eurocentric and irrelevant to the wider global struggle. In Global Marxism: Decolonisation and Revolutionary Politics (Manchester UP, 2024) Simin Fadaee argues that Marxism remains a living tradition and the cornerstone of revolutionary theory and practice in the Global South. She explores the lives, ideas and legacies of a group of revolutionaries who played an exceptional role in contributing to counter-hegemonic change. Figures such as Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah, Ali Shariati and Subcomandante Marcos did not simply accept the version of Marxism that was given to them they adapted it to local conditions and contexts. In doing this they demonstrated that Marxism is not a rigid set of propositions but an evolving force whose transformative potential remains enormous. This global Marxism has much to teach us in the never-ending task of grasping the changing historical conditions of capitalism and the complex world in which we live Simin Fadaee is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester and President of the International Sociological Association Research Committee on Social Classes and Social Movements. She is the author of Social Movements in Iran: Environmentalism and Civil Society; editor of Southern Social Movements; and Co-editor of Marxism, Religion and Emancipatory Politics. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

    Thabo Shole-Mashao in for Clement Manyathela speaks to Mavuso Msimang, an ANC veteran about why the ANC chose to form a government with the parties in the government of national unity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special episode of Restorative Works!, host Claire de Mezerville López welcomes Leah Koumentaki, Ph.D., and is joined by co-host Federico Reggio, Ph. D., from the European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ), to celebrate Restorative Justice Week. This episode is part of a special series, "Restorative Justice in Local Communities Around the World," created in partnership with the EFRJ. Join us as we explore Dr. Koumentaki's research and the unique and enduring restorative justice practice known as "Sasmos."  Dr. Koumentaki delves into the heart of this vernacular restorative process, revealing how it continues to serve as a community-driven alternative to the Greek judicial system. Through the lens of Cretan cultural values like solidarity, respect, and belonging, Sasmos offers a powerful model for addressing harm and wrongdoing, while prioritizing reconciliation and the reintegration of individuals into their communities. Dr. Koumentaki's decolonial and critical approach to research challenges traditional Eurocentric frameworks and emphasizes the importance of ethnography in restorative justice practices. By weaving together tradition and innovation, Dr. Koumentaki's work offers valuable insights into how ancient justice systems can inform modern restorative practices. Dr. Koumentaki successfully completed her doctoral studies in Criminology at the University of Essex in 2022. She conducted the first comprehensive and systematic research on the Cretan Sasmos, which she concluded is a vernacular restorative justice process. Dr. Koumentaki's work highlights how Sasmos is closely related to the tradition of justice in Crete while, until today, is employed into highland communities of the island, predominately in lieu of the operation of the Greek judicial authorities. Prior to her doctoral studies, Dr. Koumentaki co-ordinated research projects on restorative justice and other topics related to criminology. During her doctoral research she was involved in teaching as an assistant lecturer in Criminology and Sociology, both at University of Essex and Royal Holloway University of London. She currently works as a lecturer in Criminology at University of Keele. Her research interests focus on social harm, criminality, punishment and justice from a decolonial, critical, and zymological strand of view. Dr. Reggio is an associate professor of philosophy of law and public ethics at the University of Padova. He serves as Senior Researcher at the University of Padua, Professor of Philosophy of Law, and Scientific Director of the Winter School Transforming 21st Century Conflicts. He chairs the Scientific Committee of the EFRJ and is the Scientific Director of the Mediares Journal. Tune in to learn more about Sasmos, the future of restorative justice, and the importance of preserving indigenous knowledge and traditions in our pursuit of fairness and equity.

This OPTalks episode features a conversation between Dr. Yohana Junker and Rev. Dr. Aizaiah Yong exploring the intersections of art, spirituality, and decolonial studies within theological education. Reflecting on their co-teaching experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, Drs. Yong and Junker highlight the necessity of cultivating inclusive and compassionate classroom environments. The dialogue highlights how spiritual practices and artistic expression are vital tools for healing and social justice, which enable students to bring their full selves into the learning process while deepening connections. They discuss the transformative power of relationships within the context of higher education while critiquing Eurocentric individualist frameworks from their chapter, "Contemplative Practices and Acts of Resistance in Higher Education: Narratives Towards Wholeness." They also argue for a holistic approach that honors the interconnectedness of students' emotional, psychological, and vocational lives. Their collaboration as co-educators emphasizes how mutual support, compassionate listening, and convivencia foster resilience and hope in academic spaces often marked by structural violence and disconnection. Additionally, the ongoing challenges of navigating personal and collective grief while striving for justice and liberation can be met in these spaces. Dr. Junker says she, "…didn't want to just write out of like, oh, here's a spiritual practice, this is going to…help you in these ways, without sitting with the actual grief of working in institutions of higher education, working within power structures that are very asymmetrical, that have perpetrated, you know, historically so much violence against people like you and me,” to which Rev. Dr. Yong responds, “We're also confronting intergenerational trauma, historical trauma, against people, groups done in the name of religion and white supremacy.”

As the daughter of immigrants, Sahaj Kaur Kohli grew up understanding what it means to straddle multiple cultures at once. She wrestled with questions like what it meant to forge one's path, establishing personal values while embracing one's origins; if prioritizing mental health meant a rejection of culture; how to set boundaries and engage in self-care when family and community are so important. Even after becoming a therapist herself, she saw those same gaps in the mental health world, leading her to wonder, like so many children of immigrants: what about us? Kohli's latest book, But What Will People Say? Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love, and Family Between Cultures, weaves together personal narratives with research. She offers advice and tools for everything from navigating generational trauma, guilt, and boundaries, to breaking down stigmas around therapy and celebrating cultural duality. While mental health is arguably less stigmatized than before, models can often be individualistic and Eurocentric. Kohli aims to both democratize and decolonize the way we think about mental health and self-help, shifting the paradigm, incorporating community building, and speaking to those who are left out of the dominant narratives. Sahaj Kaur Kohli, MaEd, LGPC, is the founder of Brown Girl Therapy (@BrownGirlTherapy), the first and largest mental health and wellness community organization for adult children of immigrants; a licensed therapist; and a columnist for the Washington Post's advice column Ask Sahaj. Sahaj's words and work have been featured in Today, Good Morning America, CNN, TED, The New York Times, HuffPost, and more. Sahaj also serves as a consultant, educator, and international speaker. She has sat on panels and delivered workshops and keynotes for nonprofits, higher education institutions, and the White House. This is her first book.​ Ruchika T. Malhotra is the best-selling author of Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work. Ruchika is also the founder of Candour, an inclusion strategy practice. A former international business journalist, Ruchika is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Harvard Business Review and a recognized media expert on inclusive leadership and workplace culture. She is working on her next book, Uncompete: Dismantling a Competition Mindset to Unlock Liberation, Opportunity, and Peace. Buy the Book But What Will People Say?: Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love, and Family Between Cultures The Elliott Bay Book Company

Send us a textIn this episode, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle Director of Research, Lawrence Grandpre, critiques the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) framework, showing how it centers Eurocentric norms of trauma—focusing on individual and family experiences—while neglecting African-centered views of cultural and political trauma.We discuss how institutional responses to ACEs in Black communities often blame the community and rely on clinical interventions, instead of addressing the collective conditions of oppression that lead to childhood trauma. Drawing on The Body Keeps the Score, we argue that trauma-informed approaches can reflect the politics of whiteness, encouraging children to pathologize their parents rather than seeing them as victims of racialized oppression.We also examine troubling elements in trauma solutions, such as partnerships with police and reactionary martial arts training, and how childhood trauma assessments have been used to justify predictive policing against Black youth.Ultimately, we reveal how the ACEs framework risks pathologizing Black communities under the guise of liberatory politics, echoing stereotypes from the Progressive Eugenics Movement. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of revolutionary body movements, like Capoeira Angola, and social movements in fostering the collective agency needed to move beyond trauma-informed politics.Support the showIn Search of Black Power is a Black-owned internet show and podcast. This podcast is sponsored and produced by Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS). The internet show is published in collaboration with Black Liberation Media (BLM)

In this episode of Walk Talk Listen's "Brews, Bites, and Banter" series, Mahdi Ahmad, a dynamic 19-year-old student and activist, discusses his disappointment with the lack of youth representation at the UN Summit for the Future, despite the critical role young people play in shaping policies for the future. He calls for greater youth involvement in decision-making processes, not just as token participants but as key contributors. Mahdi also stresses the importance of interfaith dialogue and the unifying power of faith in tackling global issues like poverty, climate change, and inequality. As the Global One Youth Champion and Barnet Multi-Faith Youth Forum Facilitator, he advocates for bridging generational gaps through collaboration between youth and elders to address systemic issues and promote economic sustainability.   Mahdi is a student at King's College London, pursuing a degree in History and Political Economy. As an active leader in interfaith work, he serves as a Youth Champion for Global One, the world's only Muslim women-led NGO, and a Facilitator for the Barnet Multi-Faith Youth Forum in London. In addition to his academic pursuits, Mahdi is a passionate advocate for youth inclusion, environmental sustainability, and economic development, regularly participating in global platforms like the UN Summit for the Future. He also runs a podcast called Decolonizing the Narrative, where he explores Islamic and Eastern history with the aim of challenging Eurocentric narratives.   His social media handles: LinkedIn and Instagram:  -   Follow Us: Support the Walk Talk Listen podcast by liking and following us on Twitter and Instagram. Visit our website at 100mile.org for more episodes and information about our initiatives. Check out the special WTL series "Enough for All" featuring CWS, and the work of the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).

In 2021, I began the Doctoral program in Liberal Studies at Georgetown University, where I completed the Foundations of Liberal Studies. The initial course, DLS 1, explored the history of humanity, beginning with Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. While Homer briefly references Egypt and Africa, mentioning an "old man" as a source of stories, many Africologists, such as Professor Kimani Nehusi, author of Person and Personality, critique the omission of Africa's foundational role in the history of civilization. At Georgetown, the course left out any acknowledgment of Africa or ancient Egypt (Kemet) as part of the foundation of Western civilization. After meeting members of the Ausar Auset Society in Philadelphia, conducting an interview with them, and learning about Kemet I realized that my studies were not as accurate or inclusive of Africa's contributions. I embarked on research to uncover sources that place Africa at the foundation of human history, or at least prior to Greek civilization, which itself is influenced by African traditions and culture. Scholars like Dr. Ana Mazama, Chair of the Department of Africology at Temple University and author of The Afrocentric Paradigm, argue that what we know of ancient Egypt has been "bastardized" by the Eurocentric retelling of history, diluting the contributions of Kemet and Africa.I subsequently enrolled in the PhD program at Temple University, where I started courses in Africology and African American History, including African Civilizations, The Afrocentric Paradigm, and a Proseminar in Africology. The Afrocentric paradigm, like the Eurocentric one, begins with a people, place, culture, and the stories that give meaning to their lives, shaping lasting communities and advancing the progression of life. However, when we view history through an Afrocentric lens, the conflict is not merely class-based, as Marx described, but cultural. Afrocentrism challenges Eurocentric notions of humanity's origins, placing Africa at the center, and works to deconstruct and decolonize white supremacy and the idea that Eurocentrism is universal. Afrocentricity emphasizes agency, cultural dissemination, and economic empowerment while rejecting Marxism, postmodernism, and even Black nationalism.I disagree with the claim that postmodernism denies or rejects culture entirely. Instead, postmodernists argue that culture is not divine, natural, or universal, but rather, a reflection of human egos and experiences.So, where do we begin? According to Dr. Nehusi, the question "Who am I?" must start with Africa as the center, which means beginning with Kemet. However, I believe we must first begin with the Ultimate—God. For God is "that which nothing greater can be conceived or imagined," and He has revealed Himself to all humanity, as we are made in His image. In response, humanity creates civilization or culture, shaped by their context and environment. However, cultures—whether African, European, or Chinese—have often been privileged over one another, leading to revolutions or wars that impose and erase. This cultural domination has been particularly evident in the African experience, where European art, history, and values supplanted African ones, leading to what could be described as cultural genocide. Yet, as Dana Berry highlights in Price for Her Pound of Flesh, the African spirit has preserved its history, preventing total annihilation.God's revelations to humanity are not exclusive to any one group, and each culture's response to divine inspiration varies. Yet, why is one narrative privileged over another? Today, I sat with Jermain Reason to begin my reflections on Africology as I continue my journey toward Afrocentricity. Renaldo McKenzie, Creator/Host, The Neoliberal Round Podcast/YouTube Channel, Author of "Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance," PhD Student, Temple University https://anchor.fm/theneoliberal/support. The Neoliberal Corporation, https://theneoliberal.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theneoliberal/support

In this episode, Loren Richmond Jr. welcomes Rev. Dr. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi, who delves into her recent research, including the Latino Congregations Trends from the Faith Communities Today (FACT) study and the Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations (EPIC) study. She highlights key findings on the state of Latino congregations in the U.S., including challenges related to building ownership, generational wealth, and reliance on fundraising. Kristina also shares insights from her book, Unraveling Religious Leadership, which examines the Eurocentric norms in theological education and the need for a more inclusive approach to ministry. Rev. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi, Ph.D. (she/her/ella) is Associate Professor of Leadership and Formation and Faculty Director of the Office of Professional Formation at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. In addition, she co-directs the Doctor of Ministry in Prophetic Leadership at Iliff and coordinates the Certificate in Latinx Studies for the Iliff/DU Joint PhD in Religion. Her teaching and research interests include organizational leadership, liberative and decolonial approaches to ministry, intersectional pedagogical practices, and applied research methods. Kristina is the author of Unraveling Religious Leadership: Power, Authority, and Decoloniality (Fortress, 2024), author of the report "Latino Congregations: Trends from the Faith Communities Today (FACT) and Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations (EPIC) Studies" (Hartford Institute for Religion Research, 2023), and co-editor of Explore: Vocational Discovery in Ministry (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022). She is an Ordained Minister in the United Church of Christ.   Episodes Referenced: Scott Thumma: https://futurechristian.podbean.com/e/understanding-the-impact-of-societal-changes-on-congregational-dynamics-insights-from-dr-scott-thumma/   Presenting Sponsor: Phillips Seminary Join conversations that expose you to new ideas, deepen your commitment and give insights to how we can minister in a changing world.  Supporting Sponsors: Restore Clergy If you are clergy in need of tailored, professional support to help you manage the demands of ministry, Restore Clergy is for you! Future Christian Team: Loren Richmond Jr. – Host & Executive Producer Martha Tatarnic – Guest Host / Co-Host Paul Romig–Leavitt – Associate Producer Dennis Sanders – Producer Alexander Lang - Production Assistant  

Send us a textBessel van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score has become a global sensation, shaping mental health services and public conversations by centering trauma. Originally aimed at improving doctor-patient relationships, trauma-informed analysis has evolved into a political tool, with some advocating for its use in resource allocation to historically oppressed communities. But can focusing on a community's trauma truly empower them? Many grassroots Black practitioners are now questioning the emphasis on trauma in discussions about serving the Black community.In this multipart series, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle's Director of Research, Lawrence Grandpre, introduces van der Kolk's ideas, contrasting his view of trauma with African-centered concepts of communal and political trauma. Eurocentric, individualistic views of trauma often obscure more complex, holistic understandings of wellness. We also critique a key defense of trauma-informed care, arguing that claims of “objective” neurological effects of trauma reflect cultural and political biases more than scientific fact.This analysis warns that centering trauma risks pushing oppressed people to politicize their suffering in order to elicit guilt and political concessions, ultimately glorifying trauma rather than fostering community-driven solutions. Trauma-informed politics can place decisions about how Black communities should address trauma into the hands of white liberal institutions, diverting focus from Black self-determination as the long-term solution to the root causes of trauma.Support the showIn Search of Black Power is a Black-owned internet show and podcast. This podcast is sponsored and produced by Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS). The internet show is published in collaboration with Black Liberation Media (BLM)

Made in Asia/America: Why Video Games Were Never (Really) about Us (Duke UP, 2024) explores the key role video games play within the race makings of Asia/America. Its fourteen critical essays on games, ranging from Death Stranding to Animal Crossing, and five roundtables with twenty Asian/American game makers examine the historical entanglements of games, Asia, and America, and reveal the ways games offer new modes of imagining imperial violence, racial difference, and coalition. Shifting away from Eurocentric, white, masculinist takes on gaming, the contributors focus on minority and queer experiences, practices, and innovative scholarly methods to better account for the imperial circulation of games. Encouraging ambiguous and contextual ways of understanding games, the editors offer an “interactive” editorial method, a genre-expanding approach that encourages hybrid works of autotheory, queer of color theory, and conversation among game makers and scholars to generate divergent meanings of games, play, and “Asian America.” Rudolf Inderst is a professor of Game Design with a focus on Digital Game Studies at the IU International University of Applied Science, department lead for Games at Swiss culture magazine Titel kulturmagazin, editor of “DiGRA D-A-CH Game Studies Watchlist”, a weekly messenger newsletter about Game Culture and curator of @gamestudies at tiktok. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Made in Asia/America: Why Video Games Were Never (Really) about Us (Duke UP, 2024) explores the key role video games play within the race makings of Asia/America. Its fourteen critical essays on games, ranging from Death Stranding to Animal Crossing, and five roundtables with twenty Asian/American game makers examine the historical entanglements of games, Asia, and America, and reveal the ways games offer new modes of imagining imperial violence, racial difference, and coalition. Shifting away from Eurocentric, white, masculinist takes on gaming, the contributors focus on minority and queer experiences, practices, and innovative scholarly methods to better account for the imperial circulation of games. Encouraging ambiguous and contextual ways of understanding games, the editors offer an “interactive” editorial method, a genre-expanding approach that encourages hybrid works of autotheory, queer of color theory, and conversation among game makers and scholars to generate divergent meanings of games, play, and “Asian America.” Rudolf Inderst is a professor of Game Design with a focus on Digital Game Studies at the IU International University of Applied Science, department lead for Games at Swiss culture magazine Titel kulturmagazin, editor of “DiGRA D-A-CH Game Studies Watchlist”, a weekly messenger newsletter about Game Culture and curator of @gamestudies at tiktok. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-american-studies

Made in Asia/America: Why Video Games Were Never (Really) about Us (Duke UP, 2024) explores the key role video games play within the race makings of Asia/America. Its fourteen critical essays on games, ranging from Death Stranding to Animal Crossing, and five roundtables with twenty Asian/American game makers examine the historical entanglements of games, Asia, and America, and reveal the ways games offer new modes of imagining imperial violence, racial difference, and coalition. Shifting away from Eurocentric, white, masculinist takes on gaming, the contributors focus on minority and queer experiences, practices, and innovative scholarly methods to better account for the imperial circulation of games. Encouraging ambiguous and contextual ways of understanding games, the editors offer an “interactive” editorial method, a genre-expanding approach that encourages hybrid works of autotheory, queer of color theory, and conversation among game makers and scholars to generate divergent meanings of games, play, and “Asian America.” Rudolf Inderst is a professor of Game Design with a focus on Digital Game Studies at the IU International University of Applied Science, department lead for Games at Swiss culture magazine Titel kulturmagazin, editor of “DiGRA D-A-CH Game Studies Watchlist”, a weekly messenger newsletter about Game Culture and curator of @gamestudies at tiktok. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Contemporary Vulnerabilities: Reflections on Social Justice Methodologies (U Alberta Press, 2024) centres on critical reflections about vulnerable moments in research committed to social change. Exploring the many vulnerabilities within social science research, this interdisciplinary collection gathers critical stories, reflections, and analyses about innovative methodologies that engage with unconventional and unexpected spaces of research that scholars inhabit and share. The authors encourage us to collaborate within, reflect on, and confront the frictions of inquiry around social change. Towards an aim of contesting the dominance of Eurocentric epistemologies, the collection includes modes of storytelling and examples of knowledge gathering that are often excluded from academic texts in general and methodological texts in particular - such as queer, crip, and indigenous ways of being and knowing. Scholars and students across all disciplines will find provocation and recognition in this volume. See the full Table of Contents here. Claire Carter is Associate Professor in the Department of Gender, Religion, and Critical Studies at the University of Regina Chelsea Temple Jones is Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University Caitlin Janzen is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at York University and also works at the Postdoc Office of the University of Calgary. Tatiana Klepikova is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Regensburg, where she leads a research group on queer literatures and cultures under socialism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Contemporary Vulnerabilities: Reflections on Social Justice Methodologies (U Alberta Press, 2024) centres on critical reflections about vulnerable moments in research committed to social change. Exploring the many vulnerabilities within social science research, this interdisciplinary collection gathers critical stories, reflections, and analyses about innovative methodologies that engage with unconventional and unexpected spaces of research that scholars inhabit and share. The authors encourage us to collaborate within, reflect on, and confront the frictions of inquiry around social change. Towards an aim of contesting the dominance of Eurocentric epistemologies, the collection includes modes of storytelling and examples of knowledge gathering that are often excluded from academic texts in general and methodological texts in particular - such as queer, crip, and indigenous ways of being and knowing. Scholars and students across all disciplines will find provocation and recognition in this volume. See the full Table of Contents here. Claire Carter is Associate Professor in the Department of Gender, Religion, and Critical Studies at the University of Regina Chelsea Temple Jones is Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University Caitlin Janzen is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at York University and also works at the Postdoc Office of the University of Calgary. Tatiana Klepikova is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Regensburg, where she leads a research group on queer literatures and cultures under socialism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Why should you look beyond Eurocentric wine and food pairings? What's so special about making vineyard-designated wines? How can you get the most out of your next trip to Sonoma County? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with superstar winemaker Theresa Heredia who has worked for some of California's most prestigious wineries. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks   Giveaway One of you will win a bottle of Gary Farrell wine. To qualify, all you have to do is email me at natalie@nataliemaclean.com and let me know that you've posted a review of the podcast.  I'll choose one person randomly from those who contact me.  Good luck!   Highlights What's the difference between making vineyard-designated wines versus blends? What flavours and aromas are imparted by including ripened stems in the fermentation process? How many different types of soil are found in Sonoma County and how did this diversity develop? How do microclimates differ across the wine neighbourhoods of the Russian River Valley and what is their influence on the wine's characteristics? What makes Chardonnay more of a “survivor” grape compared to other varieties? What are some of the challenges that sustain the low level of diversity in the male-dominated wine industry? How has being a gay woman impacted Theresa's experience in the wine industry? What can wineries do to be more inclusive towards the LGBTQ community? What are Theresa's top tips for your next visit to Sonoma County and the Gary Farrell winery? What can you expect from Gary Farrell Wines Hallberg Vineyard Pinot Noir and Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir and how do they differ? Why should we expand beyond some of the traditional Eurocentric wine and food pairings?   Key Takeaways Eurocentric pairings don't account for cultural and socioeconomic differences. We have to flip a switch in our brains to think of different descriptors and different food pairings that are more relevant to people from different cultural backgrounds. Theresa loves making vineyard-designated wines because they each have unique characteristics. Some of them produce dark fruit, like Colberg and McDonald Mountain, versus an inland vineyard called the Middle Reach. Acid is there. It's a defining characteristic, but it's not quite as prominent as in those cooler climates. Theresa advises getting out to Sonoma County restaurants. She also says to avoid booking too many tastings, perhaps just two or three in a day. Choose a well-known winery and one that's off the beaten path.   About Theresa Heredia Theresa Heredia started her career at Saintsbury and has also worked at Joseph Phelps Vineyards and Domaine de Montille in France. She became Winemaker at Gary Farrell Winery in 2012 and achieved critical acclaim for her wines. At Gary Farrell, she developed strong relationships with some of the most prominent vineyards in California. She was twice nominated as Winemaker of the Year by Wine Enthusiast and has received numerous other accolades.         To learn more, visit https://www.nataliemaclean.com/299.

Today, we talk with theologian and activist Jesse Wheeler about the rotten fruit of the West's theology in Palestine and the broader region. We get into:-        How everyday Christians can tell the difference between good and bad theology-        Examples of the fruit of bad Western theology in Palestine and the region of the Middle East/North Africa-        How we must acknowledge the horrible effects of the Zionism on both sides of the political aisle, even while rejecting Trump-        What the political witness of Christians should be with respect to how we handle power-        And after the interview, Sy and Jonathan discuss the Christian nationalism and bigotry in faith leaders' response to controversies at the OlympicsMentioned in the Episode-            Our anthology, Keeping the Faith-            Jesse's essay from the anthology, “Bad Theology Kills”-            Jesse's book, Serving a Crucified King-            Jesse's organization, Friends of Sabeel North America-            The new Institute for the Study of Christian ZionismCredits-            Follow KTF Press on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Subscribe to get our bonus episodes and other benefits at KTFPress.com.-        Follow host Jonathan Walton on Facebook Instagram, and Threads.-        Follow host Sy Hoekstra on Mastodon.-        Our theme song is “Citizens” by Jon Guerra – listen to the whole song on Spotify.-        Our podcast art is by Robyn Burgess – follow her and see her other work on Instagram.-        Editing by Multitude Productions-        Transcripts by Joyce Ambale and Sy Hoekstra.-        Production by Sy Hoekstra and our incredible subscribersTranscriptIntroduction[An acoustic guitar softly plays six notes in a major scale, the first three ascending and the last three descending, with a keyboard pad playing the tonic in the background. Both fade out as Jonathan Walton says “This is a KTF Press podcast.”]Jesse Wheeler: The Kingdom of God, or Christians, or those who would seek to be citizens of the kingdom, cannot live in such a way that emulates the kingdoms of this world. What that entails is, I call it the proper use of power. It's not like physical versus spiritual as sometimes we try to kind of get. It's like, no, it's actually how we understand power and why Jesus through going to the cross, he was basically saying, “Okay, empire, the forces of violence and hatred and exploitation, give me your all.” And he took it to the cross and took it on the cross, and he rejected the violent option.[The song “Citizens” by Jon Guerra fades in. Lyrics: “I need to know there is justice/ That it will roll in abundance/ And that you're building a city/ Where we arrive as immigrants/ And you call us citizens/ And you welcome us as children home.” The song fades out.]Sy Hoekstra: Welcome to Shake the Dust, seeking Jesus, confronting Injustice. I'm Sy Hoekstra.Jonathan Walton: And I'm Jonathan Walton. We have a great show for you today, including an interview with another one of our authors from our anthology on Christianity and politics in the era of Trump. This one's on how regular Christians can discern between good and bad theology, and how we can see bad theology playing out in the Middle East. Plus afterwards, hear our thoughts on the interview, and we'll be doing our segment, Which Tab is Still Open, diving deeper into one of the recommendations from our newsletter. This week it's all about the Olympic opening ceremony controversy, trans athletes at the games and the White Christian persecution complex.Sy Hoekstra: [laughs]. We should probably say non-trans athletes at the Olympic Games.Jonathan Walton: I was literally about to be like, “and not?” [laughs] but…Sy Hoekstra: Yeah, that's part of the persecution complex. But we will get to that folks, don't worry. You will hear the whole story on how ridiculous it is. Before we get there, a quick reminder, please, everybody consider going to KTFPress.com and becoming a paid subscriber. We will not be able to continue doing this work beyond this election season if we do not get a lot more paid subscribers. So if you want to see this work continue, please go there and sign up. That gets you all the bonus episodes of this show. It gets you access to our monthly Zoom subscriber chats and more community features. So please KTFPress.com, become a paid subscriber.If you already are a paid subscriber, consider upgrading to a founding member level and please share widely with your friends and family to anyone who you think might be interested in joining our community here. Thank you so much all. All right Jonathan, tell everybody about our guest this week.Jonathan Walton: Yes, we have the amazing Jesse Wheeler. For almost three years, Jesse has served as executive administrator and development director for Friends of Sabeel North America, an interdenominational Christian organization seeking justice and peace in the holy land through education, advocacy, and nonviolent action. Prior to that, he served just shy of seven years in Beirut, Lebanon as a project's manager for the Institute of Middle East Studies at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary. He also ran the Master of Religion in the Middle East and North African studies program, working also as support instructor for MENA history, politics and economics.He has served in Nazarene, evangelical free and Presbyterian churches, and he holds a PG certificate in baptistic histories and theologies from the University of Manchester, a master of divinity with an emphasis in Islamic studies from Fuller Theological Seminary and a BA in diplomatic in Middle Eastern history with a minor in political economics from the University of California Berkeley. Jesse's wife Heidi is Palestinian-American, and they have three amazing boys. Now, Jesse's essay in our anthology was called Bad Theology Kills: How We Justify Killing Arabs. We actually published that at one point on KTFPress.com, so we'll have the link in our show notes to that. And you can get the entire anthology with all 36 essays at Keepingthefaithbook.com. That link will also be in the show notes.Sy Hoekstra: So we did this interview like we did a lot of our interviews a few months ago, at this point [laughs]. We've been releasing these slowly. This one we did in April, which is relevant. I only say that now because we talk about Biden a decent amount, and when it comes to Palestine, which is what we're talking about when we mention Biden, there's not a lot of distance between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.Jonathan Walton: Nope.Sy Hoekstra: So [laughs], I just wanted to note that up top so that you know that effectively all the content, all the things that we actually say on the subject don't really change given the candidate switch. But that disclaimer behind us, here we go with the interview with Jesse Wheeler.[the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]Jonathan Walton: Jesse Wheeler, thank you so much for being with us today on Shake the Dust. We really, really appreciate it.Jesse Wheeler: Yeah, no, thank you so much for having me. I'm really happy to be with you guys.How Everyday Christians Can Tell Good Theology from Bad TheologyJonathan Walton: Yeah. We were privileged to publish your essay in our anthology, and you gave us a relatively simple and accessible test for judging the value of the theology that we hear from leaders. Could you talk a little bit about the fruit test?Jesse Wheeler: Yeah. The fruit test, basically, it's taken straight from the Sermon on the Mount. It's no secret that there are different theological systems that exist in the world, different schools of thought, different ways of thinking, and it can be overwhelming, actually. And I'm even thinking of either my own context back when I was in seminary and sort of some of the destabilizing aspects of it, or when I was working at a seminary and working with students who are introduced to new ideas. And it can be overwhelming even epistemologically overwhelming when they're getting ideas that sort of might butt up against core ideas that maybe they were grown up with that are core parts of their identity. It can be very destabilizing.And this question of is there a way to distinguish good theology quote, from bad theology quote- unquote, if, I mean, those are very reductionist [laughs] the terminology itself, of course. But I think it comes straight from the Sermon on the Mount actually. And Jesus in the concluding sections of Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7, Jesus gives this, “By your fruit you will recognize them.” How to tell true prophets from false prophets on the basis of their fruit. He doesn't necessarily say, go get a doctorate in systematic, [laughs] in dogmatics to determine whether they are… He's like, look at the fruit of what is happening.Jonathan Walton: Right.Jesse Wheeler: And it's for normal people too. This is like normal people without massive theology to say, “Hey, look at this. I see that the fruit of this is leading to hurt and harm and destruction, or the fruit of this is leading to healing and health and flourishing.” It's not to denigrate or dismiss theology. I mean, the title of my chapter is Bad Theology Kills. I think Theology is important.Jonathan Walton: ExactlyJesse Wheeler: [laughs] It's a litmus test for assessing theology. And right there, Jesus chapters five, six, and the first part of seven, he gives a whole list of instructions of teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, and then concludes with, “Therefore do to others what you would want others to do for you. This summarizes the law and the prophets,” which is of course, the scriptures. Basically saying, if you wanna know what the scriptures teach, what God is expecting of you, do for others. And even in other parts of the gospels, when people ask, “Oh, what's the greatest commandment?” And he comes back to, “Love the Lord your God,” it's the Shema.And then right on adds it, and your neighbor as yourself taking that from the Leviticus. And he's like, there you go. Basically says that and then immediately goes into this section on two roads, easy road and narrow road. And then right after that talks about the false prophets who will come, who might speak eloquently, lovely, and yet the fruit is rotten.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jesse Wheeler: The fruit is rotten.Sy Hoekstra: Absolutely.Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Sy Hoekstra: Out of the three of us, I feel like I am the one in the position to most appreciate your point, that you don't need a big theological education to apply this test [laughs]. Because for me and for a lot of the people listening, if you don't have a master's in divinity like Jesse, you haven't been doing ministry and Bible studies and everything for years and years like Jonathan, the more you learn about how little as kind of lay people we know about the whole wide world of theological academics and whatever, the more you realize, I don't feel equipped [laughs]. And so this is, I think, like Jonathan said, it's accessible. It's something that the average person can apply and have some success [laughs] according to Jesus, trying to figure out what's good and bad.Theologies that Have Born Rotten Fruit in the Middle East and North AfricaSy Hoekstra: And then I would like to hear from you, in your work doing work with advocacy in churches in the MENA, in the Middle East and North Africa, sometimes abbreviated MENA region, what have you seen bearing bad fruit? What kinds of theologies have you seen bearing bad fruit?Jesse Wheeler: So, I mean, I could start with the three I listed in my chapter, but I think I kind of want to say like, there is so, so much misunderstanding and prejudice and straight up bigotry that's filtered through a theological system that attempts to justify it.Colonialist PaternalismJesse Wheeler: But I'm going to start with the three I listed in my chapter, and the first one, colonialist paternalism.Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Jesse Wheeler: It's a theology of colonial supremacy. Why one person gets to make the decisions for another person, gets to invade another country, gets to conquer, but it's couched in a paternalistic language, often. In a this is for your own good language.Jonathan Walton: Right.Jesse Wheeler: It's the, I'm not going to attempt to do the French, but the civilizing mission [laughs], hand in hand with the White man's burden from back in the 19th century of bringing our civilization, our Christianity, on one hand… I mean, sometimes it was the church and sometimes it was full on those modern secularists springing [laughs] their enlightened, was just, it was hand in hand with the colonial project too. And that's actually what muddies up the water sometimes in our discourses, especially on more left side of the aisle discourses [laughs].Sy Hoekstra: Yeah, absolutely.Jesse Wheeler: Because you go from there and you go into speaking right in the Middle East, right after World War I, when you had the three competing promises, you had deals, you had The Balfour Declaration on the one hand, you had Hussein McMahon promising the Arabs of the Hajj, the like the Hussein family, a state, an Arab state, if they would help fight against the Ottoman Turks. And then you had the Sykes-Picot which was basically France and Britain getting together and saying, “Okay, here's how we're going to divide up the spoils.” [laughs]Sy Hoekstra: And the Balfour Declaration was Britain's intent to make a Zionist state.Jonathan Walton: Right.Jesse Wheeler: Yeah. Basically a Zionist state in historic Palestine. And so, but you get into afterwards and you had the 14 points, and Wilson came in with, “Oh, we're gonna create a whole new world of peace and…”Sy Hoekstra: The League of Nations.Jesse Wheeler: The League of Nations, yeah. And the mandate system, like the fruit of 2that, where basically it's like Sykes-Picot. It's like Britain takes control, France takes control of Lebanon, Syria, Britain, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, and they had Egypt too. So it's just, but it's couched in this language of, it's for your own benefit. We are here to provide guidance to these native populations who need to be trained in the ways of democracy.Jonathan Walton: It's framed as benevolence. Like this is a good thing.Jesse Wheeler: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a good thing. It's like we are colonizing you for your good thing. Of course, land extraction, resource extraction [laughs], all of these marks of colonialism are part of this, right, but this is how it's justified, how it's sold, how it's…Sy Hoekstra: But the theology, like basically you're saying there were always churches and people propping up those colonialist ideas in the Middle East with basically the stamp of approval of the Bible or the church.Jesse Wheeler: Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. And it's not a total. I do need to make the point that sometimes the missionaries were very much… actually in the Middle East and in, or very much part of the colonial project, sometimes they actually would actually fight and counter the colonial project in certain ways, even though they were also facilitated by it. But yeah, these theologies, the colonialist paternalism. But to continue on, you have a theology of the Cold War developed almost of democracy and we'll bomb your entire country, but we will protect you from communism [laughs], you know.Jonathan Walton: Right.Jesse Wheeler: To very much part of my life, the war on terror. We're bringing democracy to the Middle East.Sy Hoekstra: Right. I was going to say that just sounds like George W. Bush, like everything that they were saying post World War I. It hasn't changed a lot.Jesse Wheeler: It has not. It has not. And so that's the first one.Henotheism: My Good God Will Defeat Your Bad GodJesse Wheeler: The second one in my book I describe as, I take this term from a scholar Joseph Cumming, he's a comparative theologian of Christianity and Islam, but he calls, he speaks of Henotheism.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jesse Wheeler: Which is sort of your tribal deity. I don't want… people push back on using tribal as a negative, but sort of the sense of like God is our God and we are the holy ones, and their God is a demon, and we will defeat them and destroy them. And so I even take this quote again from this, the war and terror era where a general speaking about fighting this warlord, whatever, in North Africa, talking about, “We have God on our side, and their god's a demon, and that's why we're gonna win and be victorious.” And this is so much in situations of conflict and situations, you very much have this sense of, “we are the good, our God is the good, they're the evil. And so because they're so evil, any violence is justified against them.”Sy Hoekstra: And that dates like straight back to the crusades.Jonathan Walton: Yep.Jesse Wheeler: Oh, yeah. This is crusades [laughs]. Exactly. Exactly. It's a crusader theology, but it's also when you really dig into it and you ask, well, these are supposed monotheists. And isn't the whole point of monotheism that there's actually one God for everybody, and thus it's to turn the God of the cosmos, the monotheistic God into a territorial idol.Settler Colonialism/ZionismJesse Wheeler: I'll move on to the third one, which I think is very relevant in that what I listed as manifest destiny. But it's the settler colonial theology, where it's different from the colonialist paternalism, because this is really, it's a theology that justifies why I deserve to go into a land, remove the indigenous people and take it for my own, basically.Sy Hoekstra: Which is the difference between settler colonialism and like metropolis, distant ruler colonialism.Jesse Wheeler: Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. And Jim Wallace, once he wrote, the most controversial statement I ever wrote talking about something he previously wrote was how America was founded on the genocide of one people and the enslavement of another. There was a time in my life where hearing words like that would be so deeply, deeply disorienting for me. My identity, my understanding of who I am. I think part of that discomfort, which is very real, because that's part of my background, and is I think what drives people to someone like Trump. Less the logic behind it, but the emotional, the emotions of feeling safe to have this champion on my side. But that's the simple truth. I mean [laughs], there's this belief that we are god's, we have this divine mandate to come into this new territory. And so I'm talking here about America, but of course this happened all over the world, actually. France and Algeria.Jonathan Walton: Right.Jesse Wheeler: That was so utterly destructive of traditional Algerian society. And France would even talk about, “Algeria is fully France. We are one.” And so I don't understand why these people are rebelling because we've given them democracy and freedom, when it's like, no, you've completely disrupted their entire civilization and ruled, but how it affects the news, you have the whole Charlie Hebdo incidents and these attacks in France. And this was violent murderous acts, yes. And morally they should be condemned, but you have to see them in their historical context [laughs] of this, the Algerian conflict. But South Africa, this was a deeply theological Dutch Calvinist movement. Even Argentina was a settler colonial context as well.Sy Hoekstra: I mean, most things in the Western hemisphere are [laughter].Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Jesse Wheeler: Yeah. No, you're absolutely right. But in a way of the natives were cleared out more.Sy Hoekstra: Oh, yes. I see what you're saying. Right. In Argentina, yes.Jesse Wheeler: Compared to like Brazil, just to the north. And then of course, Zionism is right in there with that. I think it's a theology that justifies why one group gets to come in and displace another group. And those three are three big ones.The Rotten Fruit of Colonialism and Zionism is on Both Sides of the Political AisleJonathan Walton: Yeah. I think those three, if we could hold them together as we press into the conversation, all of them are relevant. As we kind of move from the anthology into the present day. So in 2020 you wrote, “If our task is to examine the fruit and avoid falling prey to seductive rhetoric, it is crucial to note that from the vantage point of the Middle East, Republican drones don't look or act much differently than Democrat drones. Biden's record on the Iraq War or Israel-Palestine, while not as appalling or destructive as that of the Republicans is nevertheless quite bad. He's the only viable choice put before us on election day, yet we must remain vigilant in holding a potential Biden administration to account in the weeks, months, years that follow.”Now, I don't think any of us knew when you wrote that [laughs], how relevant, prophetic and important that last sentence would be. Especially when we talk about the settler colonial ideas that you just talked about, and the deep enmeshment and entanglement with Christian Zionism and the colonial state that is Israel. So, can you… I don't know how to say this just in a simple way. Can you tell us a little bit about what you've been up to with the Friends of Sabeel over the past several months, since October 7th? And what are your thoughts about the two candidates? Because they're the same [laughter], as we look towards the election in the Middle East now. And I will also say our thoughts and prayers are with your friends and family in Palestine.Jesse Wheeler: Thank you.Jonathan Walton: And we've been praying that they would be safe in Jesus' name.Jesse Wheeler: Yeah. No, thank you. I'm trying to think of where do I start digging in? First, my wife is Palestinian. Her family, still a lot of family in Bethlehem. My kids therefore are Palestinian. So I have a deep personal connection. And so to your listeners, knowing that [laughs] who is this guy? I definitely have a deep and emotional pull and connection to what's happening right now. But to go back to what you were first saying is, as you were reading that quote, that passage, and you had wrote, Biden is the only viable [laughs] candidate, my heart sank [laughs]. I'm like, “Ugh.” I understand why I said it at the time, but the listeners need to understand the depth of feeling of the pain, the sense of betrayal, especially amongst the Arab and Palestinian-American community and even wider Muslim community. The utter hurt that they felt in these last six months by everything that has happened.And so, it's so hard because Trump, just to get into the politics of, it's like I don't even need to say it. From my perspective, from where I stand, Trump is bad [laughs]. I mean, it's like he's out there saying, re-implement the Muslim ban and all completely bigoted and horrible. His son-in-law's talking about, “Oh, yeah, and there will be prime real estate in Gaza,” and [laughs].Sy Hoekstra: Yes. Right.Jesse Wheeler: You know, back to settler colonialism. And yeah, it's terrifying. But the thing about Biden, and here's where I just have to say, he will in one breath talk about the importance of combating anti-Arab bigotry and Islamophobia, and in the next breath give billion more dollars of armed shipments to a country that the International Criminal Court is saying in their legal language, is very plausibly in the midst of an active genocide [laughs]. I'm not a lawyer. Sy, you're the lawyer [Sy laughs]. And it's just the duplicity is what hurts. So KTF shaped, you talk of Christian nationalism a lot and the dangers of Trump, and that largely the anthology was digging into that. And I remember writing the idolatrous fruit is rotten. I mean, that is like, the man thinks he's Jesus, I mean, or… [laughs] It's just horrifying.Sy Hoekstra: But it's still there with Biden.Jesse Wheeler: It's still there.Sy Hoekstra: Right.Jesse Wheeler: It's like when you are connected to the Middle East, either via family or study, or I lived in Lebanon for seven years, when you're paying attention, it's very hard to cheerlead one political party versus another when it comes to the American presence in the Middle East, which has been incredibly destructive.Sy Hoekstra: And we have come back to that point that you made in your essay. If you listen to a lot of episodes of this show, you will have heard Jesse's name and this point brought up before [laughs].What Should the Political Witness of Christians Be?Jonathan Walton: Mm-hmm. You explained in the essay and just now, drones do not own political parties. The bombs that are dropping are the same. The impact they have is the same, devastation is the same. So the idea of the cross to so many people around the world, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, the MENA region is a symbol of hatred and violence when it's supposed to be like the ultimate expression of God's holy love. We are recording this just after Easter, contemplating the death and resurrection of Jesus. To you, what should the political witness be of people who carry the cross of Jesus?Self-Sacrifice and a Rejection of Imperial ViolenceJesse Wheeler: Self-Sacrificial love. Quite simply what the cross represents. But at the same time, to dig into it a little more, the cross is what? It's a instrument of imperial violence, that's what it is. There's a reason Jesus died on the cross. It is ultimately a rejection of the Imperial way. Theologically, we need to talk a lot of the kingdom of God and how the kingdom of God exists as a direct challenge to the kingdoms of Pharaoh, of Babylon, of Caesar. And one of the brilliant things of the Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament is the fact that it's also the kings of Israel and Judah [laughs], who become the Babylonian leaders. So you have the prophets who rail against the injustices of the Assyrians, but also look back at their own kings.And when Jesus comes proclaiming the kingdom of God, and when he comes before Pilate and he's brought before Pilate, what does this show right now? And I'm just pulling straight from N. T. Wright, so don't [laughs] pretend I'm like some great Bible scholar here. No. But you have Jesus, who is the representative of the kingdom of God standing before Pilate, who is the full legal representative of Caesar, son of God as they were known and called. And it's just a straight back and forth. And what does Jesus say? He says, my kingdom, there's the quote that always gets misinterpreted. So if you're talking politics and faith, my people say, my kingdom is not of this world. Well, people tend to say, oh, well, Jesus is, it's a spiritual kingdom.So all we do is sit and pray, and then you just let the world live as what empire, as injustice, like do we have nothing to say? No, he says it's more like, my kingdom is not from this world. It's not in kind to those kingdoms of this world, but it's very much in and for this world. Why?Jonathan Walton: Amen.Jesse Wheeler: Otherwise, Jesus says, going back to the garden, we just came through holy week, otherwise what? My disciples would've fought. They would've picked up arms, they would've become revolutionaries, they would've fought my arrest. They would've holed up in the mountains. They would have… So you have the kingdom, but going full back to the cross, kingdom by way of cross. So the kingdom of God cannot, or Christians, or those who would seek to be citizens of the kingdom, cannot live in such a way that emulates the kingdoms of this world. What that entails is, I call it the proper use of power. It's not like physical versus spiritual as sometimes we try to kind of get… It's like, no, it's actually how we understand power and why Jesus, through non-violence, through going to the cross, he was basically saying, okay, empire, the forces of violence and hatred and exploitation, give me your all.And he took it to the cross and took it on the cross, and he rejected the violent option. He did not take up the swords and the arms. He just said, just previously, those who live by the sword will die by the sword. And so that is the witness of the cross. It's self-sacrificial love. It's not this assertion of like, “Hey, this is mine. This is my space, this is my territory.” This is why, back to America, this is why the Christian nationalism is so idolatrous.Sy Hoekstra: We just had a, our March bonus episode, you're like hitting a bunch of our points, actually [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Yes. Keep going.Jesse Wheeler: Oh, no. Yeah. Thanks [laughs]. It's why it's so idolatrous, is because it's complete rejection of the way of Jesus. It's a complete rejection of what the cross is and what it's supposed to represent. I mean, scrolling through social media, I came across what this is like giant muscle Jesus breaking free from the cross. I'm like, no, that's the complete… no, the cross is the… Like Jesus says, you don't think… back in the garden, he says, you don't think I could call down angels? Call down [laughs] fire from heaven, and just like in an instant, make this all go away? He's like, “No, I'm going to the cross.” It's an example for us to follow.It Takes Faith in the Resurrection to Use Power Like JesusJesse Wheeler: And it's an article of faith. This is where people will come back and say, this is why it is hard for people, because it is a belief in the resurrection.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Jesse Wheeler: All the forces of death and all the things we do to avoid death. All the killing we do of others, the things we… all the hoarding of resources. All the things we do that we try to preserve ourselves and in the process hurt other people. And we build walls and we break them down. He's like, let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Go to the cross because the resurrection is happening. And it's hard for people because if you don't believe in resurrection, in a sense it's very difficult. But it is very much a faith stance and a faith position.The Roots of Sabeel in the Political Witness of Palestinian Liberation TheologyAnd going back to, you asked about Sabeel, you asked about where I work. So Sabeel is an organization founded by Palestinian-Christians out of the time of the first Intifada, the Palestinians uprising. Very much a movement, a spontaneous movement that didn't involve the PLO, which was largely external at the time, or the Palestine political leaders, and was a complete shock to many of the global leaders.And largely involved a lot of nonviolent direct-action, sort of creative actions, creative resistance and great violence actually was to try to throw it down in response. And yet, Naim Ateek, he was the founder of Sabeel, he wrote a book, published it 1989. It's called Justice and Only Justice, A Palestinian Theology of Liberation, basically started asking the question, how does our faith, our Christian faith, does it have anything to say to the situation, to us being under this violent, brutal occupation? And sort of the traditional, across the board, Orthodox Catholic, Protestant theologies weren't really saying much.So they started just, would preach there in St. George's Episcopal Church right in Jerusalem. And after the service, they'd kind of get together and start discussing. Like let's read a passage and let's think and just look. It's very much like you, if you think of the classic liberation theology in Latin America. The base communities just getting together. It's basically kind of got together and started thinking, but it grew from there to, so Naim Ateek sort of was the founder, but then it was really this core group that formed and they started inviting… because even back then, they're like, “We know the narrative imbalance that people are not hearing the Palestinian side of the story. Let's bring people and show them.”And they bring people, they show them, and immediately people are converted once they see the reality. People go on tours with the holy land all the time, they're highly curated and they don't go to those scary Palestinian areas. But the moment you enter Palestinian areas and are greeted with wonderful Arab hospitality and like [laughs]… But then here's what the reality of being under their military occupation is. And it is like, oh, I see it now. So people would go back and they founded, I work for Friends of Sabeel North America, but there's groups all over and it's been still going on. And then there's subsequent groups that have formed and other great partners too that we work with.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jonathan Walton: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.Sy Hoekstra: Thank you so much for being here. I mean, you didn't just write for the book. You were an enormous help in actually getting it published. You did a ton of work for us, source checking and all kinds of other things. You were… and were not running around looking for credit for any of that. So you definitely had your head down and you were doing [laughs] what you needed to do to get the word out. And thank you so much for being here today to talk to us.Jesse Wheeler: Thank you for doing it. I mean, I was really proud to be.Jonathan Walton: Thank you so much, man.Jesse Wheeler: Thank you for having me. And thank you for your witness. I mean, Palestine is a wheat and chaff issue, and I feel like those who've really stood for the truth and stood for justice and stood for what's right in the face of so much that's wrong. And it's just been amazing to see the witness of you guys, and I just want to thank you for that. It's very, it means so much.Sy Hoekstra: No, thank you for everything you do as well. We so appreciate it, man.Jonathan Walton: Amen. Blessings on you and Friends of Sabeel. Amen.Jesse Wheeler: Thank you so much. Blessings to you guys.Jonathan Walton: Amen. Thanks.[the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]Jesse's Social Media and RecommendationsSy Hoekstra: You can find Jesse @intothenoisejsw on Instagram and Twitter. His organization, the Friends of Sabeel North America is at FOSNA.org, and those will both be in the show notes. And also, Jesse wanted us to mention another organization that just kind of had its grand opening over the summer after we recorded this interview. It's called the Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism. It's a really cool new organization with a lot of people involved who you may recognize if you're familiar with kind of the field of that particular branch of theology [laughs]. And basically, they want to be a one-stop shop, a hub, a go-to resource for everything related to fighting the heresy, as they call it, of Christian Zionism.And so, that you can find that organization at Studychristianzionism.org. We'll also put that in the show notes, obviously.Jonathan's and Sy's Reactions to the InterviewSy Hoekstra: Okay, Jonathan. After that interview, what are your thoughts?Jonathan Walton: Bad theology kills people.Sy Hoekstra: Yes. Uh-huh. It's not a joke.How We Resist Institutions Built to Protect and Reinforce LiesJonathan Walton: [Laughs] I think we need to lean into that and say it over and over and over again. We cannot divorce what we believe from what we do. Can't. They are intertwined with each other. And it's baffling to me that particularly American Christians, and this like runs a gamut like Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, native, all the things, how strongly we cling to, I believe this, I believe this, I believe this, how deeply committed we are, how there are institutions, there are studies and conversations, there are all these different things that are built up around things that are just not true. Like just the level of intricacy of every apparatus to hold together a lie is mind-boggling to me.And it is so effective that we can get caught up in all the details and never think about the impact, which is what I feel has happened. Like, oh, all I do is read these books. All I do is write these articles. All I do is do these podcasts. All I do is give money to this organization. All I do is pray. All I do is watch these documentaries. All I do is host these little dinners at my house. Not knowing at all that it is undergirding the bombing of Palestinians and the rampant Islamophobia and the destruction of Palestinian Christian life. Don't even know it because it's just an encased system. So I think for me, I'm reminded of the power of the gospel transformation because the gospel and liberation is also a complete process, just like colonization is and settler colonialism is.So I'm challenged because the next time I think to myself, I'm going to change the world. I'll remember this conversation and realize only Jesus can [laughs] do that. And I need to have just as robust of a theology and apparatus built around me and participating as a follower of Jesus as the forces that are hell bent on destroying people's lives. That was just a thing I've been holding onto, particularly as we were talking about Easter, as we are reflecting on the reality of the resurrection, we need a theology of life, abundance and liberation that is just as robust, just as supported, just as active and engaged as the theology of destruction that we have now.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah. The theology, specifically what he was talking about kind of toward the end about the use of power.Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: I had that same thought basically that you just said. Like the way that we use power via sacrifice as opposed to using power via dominance. Like that needs to be as emphasized as anything else in our Christian discipleship.Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Sy Hoekstra: Because it is just, it's so absent. You cannot insist to so many Western Christians that that aspect of our faith is as important as the stuff that we'll get into a minute about arguing about like sexuality or whatever [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: We have just so deprioritized these things that were so central to Jesus when he said things like, my kingdom was not of this world. So there's that.We Emphasize the Importance of Theology for the Wrong ReasonsSy Hoekstra: The other thing that I was thinking about was also related to what you just said, which is, you say bad theology kills, and we need to understand how important our theology is in that sense. But we also need to understand the way that our theology is important because we actually do think theology is really important just in the wrong way.Jonathan Walton: Yeah. Right.We think theology is really important for defining who is in and out of Christianity or just for having proper orthodoxy and that sort of thing, just to tick all the boxes to make sure that your beliefs are correct.Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: Which absolutely pales in comparison to the real reason that theology is important, which is it shapes our behavior, or it can shape our behavior [laughs]. Or it interacts with our behavior and they reinforce and shape each other in ways that create policies and government actions and whole social transformations and systems across the world [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: So yeah. That's what I am coming out of this thinking. We need to stay focused on. And I'm just so happy that there are people like Sabeel and others fighting in that way. And by the way, back on the point of how we exercise power and how important it is to exercise power in the way that Jesus did. Jesse actually wrote to us after the interview and said kind of, “Oh, shoot, there's a point that I forgot to make,” [laughs] that I wanted to bring up here, which is something that, so the founder of Sabeel, his name is Naim Ateek often raises, which is that, like Jesse said, Sabeel was founded after the first Intifada in 1987. But he says, there are two organizations that were founded out of that Intifada.One of them was Sabeel and the other was Hamas. And he said, basically just look at the two approaches [laughs]. There's armed insurrection and then there's non-violent direct action and education and advocacy and whatever. Like it is small what Sabeel is doing. It is certainly smaller than what Hamas is doing. And it is one of those things that probably to the rest of the world looks like it's less powerful, it's less effective. And like Jesse said, it is an article of faith to believe that that is actually the stronger way to go. You know what I mean? That is the more powerful road to take, even though it is the much more difficult one to take. And I just really wish that we could all have a faith like that.Jonathan Walton: Yes. Yes, and amen.Sy Hoekstra: Shall we get into Which Tab Is Still Open, Jonathan?Jonathan Walton: [laughs], all the tabs Sy. Let's go.Which Tab Is Still Open?: Christian Reactions to the OlympicsSy Hoekstra: All the tabs are still open. We're gonna talk about two stories that have to do with the Olympics, that also have to do with Western Christians [laughter], and how persecuted we feel.Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Sy Hoekstra: I'm just, let me quickly summarize what happened here. The details are very silly on the first one. You probably heard about this one, this is probably the more popular story. During the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, well, here's some background. The opening ceremonies to the Olympics are weird. They're always weird. They've always been weird [laughs]. I always come away from them thinking, “Wow, that was weird,” [laughter]. They usually include some kind of tribute to ancient Greece where the Olympics came from. And in this case, one of the things they did was a little tribute to the Festival of the Goddess Dionysus. Wait, goddess? Was Dionysus supposed to be a man or a woman?Jonathan Walton: A man. Dionysus is a man.Sy Hoekstra: [laughs] Okay.Jonathan Walton: No. Diana is a woman, but yeah.Sy Hoekstra: All right, fine [laughs]. So anyways, they had this staging of a feast, and the way it was staged with all of the people sitting at the table facing the audience and the cameras reminded a lot of Christians of the way that Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper is staged with Jesus and all the disciples facing the painter [laughs]. But all of the, or not all, but the most of the people sitting at the table were drag queens. And so Christians took this as a massive insult, that people must be mocking the Last Supper and our religion and our beliefs about conservative traditional sexuality and et cetera. The Olympic organizers came out and said, “This had nothing to do with Christianity, we apologize for the offense. This was about Dionysus, and that was kind of it. We weren't talking about Christianity, but we're sorry if we offended you.”And that was the end of it. But basically Christians said, “We're being mocked, we're being persecuted, they hate us,” et cetera. Second story, a female boxer by the name of Imane Khelif was in a fight with an Italian female boxer and hit her pretty hard a couple of times. And then the Italian boxer quit and said that Khelif is a man who is a trans woman fighting in the women's competition in the Olympics. The only reason that this was a viable thing for the Italian woman to say was because in the year before that, at the 2023 World Championships, the International Boxing Association disqualified Khelif from the competition saying that she had elevated testosterone levels and that she had XY chromosomes and was in fact a man. So she failed the gender eligibility test.The reason this is a ridiculous thing for them to have said [laughs], is that Khelif was born assigned female at birth. Her birth certificate says she's a woman. She has lived her entire life as a woman, she has never claimed to be trans in any way. And they never published the results of the test. And they only came out and said that she had failed these gender eligibility tests after she defeated a previously undefeated Russian boxer. Why does that matter? Well, the president of the International Boxing Association is Russian, has moved most of the IBA's operations to Russia, has made the state-run oil company the main sponsor of these boxing events, has close ties to Putin, et cetera [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Yep.Sy Hoekstra: It has become a Russian propaganda machine. The International Boxing Association, the International Olympic Committee has actually cut ties with them, is no longer letting them run the World Championships or the Olympic games boxing tournaments. They have suffered from corruption, from match fixing by referees, lack of transparency in finances, et cetera. It is a big old mess, and they never published the results of these gender eligibility tests. And it is pretty clear that they were made up in order to preserve the undefeated title of a Russian favorite boxer [laughter]. So it's absolute nonsense is what I'm saying.Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: But that has not stopped anyone, including people like Elon Musk and JK Rowling from saying, “what we clearly saw here in the Olympics was a man punching a woman. And this is where you get when you follow the transgender agenda,” and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Obviously I just named, well, Rowling is a Christian, but lots of Christian leaders jumping on this same train. Jonathan, these were yours.Jonathan Walton: [exasperated exhale] These are mine.Sy Hoekstra: Why did you include these? You have been, I'll say you have been very focused on these, the Christian reaction to things going on in the Olympics has been on the brain for you. Why [laughs]?Fusing Faith with American PowerJonathan Walton: Because I think there's a couple things because bad theology kills people. Sy, we talked about this and like…Sy Hoekstra: Well, no, wait. How is this, explain the relation there, please.Jonathan Walton: Gladly. Gladly. So I think [laughs], I'm gonna read this quote by Andy Stanley who posted this after the Dionysus thing and then took it down because I think he realized the err of his ways. But I am grateful for the interwebs because somebody screenshot it. Here we go [Sy laughs]. “Dear France, the Normandy American Cemetery is the resting place of 9,238 Americans whose graves are marked by 9,238 crosses. American soldiers, who in most cases volunteered to come to your shores in your time of need. Their final prayers were to the God whose son you mocked in front of the entire world. It was during the very meal you went to such creative pains to denigrate, that Jesus instructed his followers to love one another and then define what he meant. Quote, greater love has no one than this, that one laid down his life for his friends, end quote. While you host the Olympic Games, remember your nation hosts 172.5 acre reminder of what love looks like. You don't just owe Christians an apology. You owe the West an apology.” End quote.Sy Hoekstra: It's so much Jonathan [laughs].Jonathan Walton: It is. That's a book. That is a book. It's called 12 Lies.Sy Hoekstra: That's your book, yeah [laughs].Jonathan Walton: And then it's an anthology that like [laughs] called Keeping the Faith, right? So that to me, and what's happened in this season of the Olympics has crystallized something for me that I think about. But these are such concrete, clear, succinct, edited examples of like, here is what happens when geopolitical power of the American apparatus is just completely inseparable, completely fused, completely joined together with the Jesus of empire.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jonathan Walton: So much so that minutes after this ceremony was completed and broadcast, you have people with the language, you have people with the vocabulary, you have people with statistics. He's like, this is the number of crosses. That means he Googled something, he don't just know that.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah [laughs].Jonathan Walton: We are primed as… not me, because I'm not. But the White American church and folks affiliated and committed to White American folk religion, like this race-based, class-based, gender-based environmental hierarchy that dominates this false gospel of the merchant, the military and the missionary all coming together. Like that is just so frustrating to me. And it's not going to stop because the apparatus is in like, I feel like a full maturation right now because it is under threat and constantly being exposed. So what tab is still open for me is the reality that the people who are armed with a false gospel are finally being met online and in real life by people who are willing to challenge them.And so what was amazing to me was watching a Fox News segment where someone came on and said, “Hey, Imane Khelif was born a woman, is a woman. This is not a trans issue.” There are people willing to go on and say the things. There's an online presence of people willing to go online and say the things. And I think we have an articulation of faithful followers of Jesus who are willing not just to say this is wrong, but name the connection that when we have conversations about Christians being persecuted, boom, here's a picture of Christians actually being persecuted, Palestine. Right?Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jonathan Walton: When we have conversations, oh, we are being persecuted and violence is being committed against us. No, no, no. Violence is actually happening to trans people at a staggering level. And it correlates with when we have these nonsensical conversations that actually create environments that are more dangerous for them in the bathroom, in schools and wherever they go. And so, I can have a conversation with someone and say—this was a real conversation—we have the luxury of having this conversation as people who are not involved directly, but we do not have the luxury of as followers of Jesus is not then following up and saying, “I was wrong.”So I had conversations about Imane Khelif with Christians who said, “You know what? Oh, I didn't know that. Let me go back and post something different. Let me post an apology. You know what, I see what you're saying. I clicked on the links. Yeah, we shouldn't be doing that. I'm gonna go and have a conversation with these people.” That to me is hopeful, and at the same time, I know that this will not stop because my mama would say, “When the lights come on, the roaches run everywhere.” I fully suspect that there will be more examples like this leading up to and beyond the election.Sy Hoekstra: Oh, for sure.Jonathan Walton: …as there is more light on the sheer nonsense that Andy Stanley and these other people are propagating on a regular basis.Christians Demonstrated How Christian Nationalism is Common and Acceptable in White ChurchesSy Hoekstra: And people who jumped on this by the way, were like, Ed Stetzer and people who are kind of like in the middle politically in America and in American politics at least. They're not Trumpers. These are regular Christians [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Right. And that's the thing that we talked about a few episodes ago. This is the soft Christian nationalism, socially acceptable American exceptionalism. All these things are totally normal, totally fine in quote- unquote. that normal Christianity.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah. And actually, so one of the things I want to emphasize about that thing you, that someone screenshotted from Andy Stanley, was that his idea of love in that post is like, I'm gonna sacrifice myself for you and then in exchange I get control over your culture so that you will not insult me.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: Which is not the love of Jesus. The love of Jesus is laying down your life for your friends, period, end of story. Jesus laid down his life for people who have nothing to do with him. You know what I mean? Who can't stand him, who don't like him, whatever.Jonathan Walton: Who desired to kill him [laughs]. Right.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah, exactly. And did not demand then that they conform to his way. He let them go on their way.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: The quote unquote love that says, all these soldiers at Normandy sacrificed, therefore you cannot insult us, is not Christian. Has nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus. And it does have everything to do with tying your faith to an empire that uses military might to demand conformity. That is colonizing faith, period.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Why White Christians Invent Enemies Where None ExistSy Hoekstra: That aspect of it then kind of plays into some of the stuff that I was thinking about it, which is that like if you are someone who has so fused your faith with dominance like that, then you are constantly looking for enemies who don't exist to come and defeat you because that's your way of living. You live by the sword. So it's almost like a subconscious, like you live by the sword, you expect to die by the sword. You live by cultural dominance, you expect people to culturally dominate you. So you're going to find insults against one European artist's rendering of a scene from the Bible where none exist. Just because they had drag queens you don't like.You are going to find trans women who don't exist [laughs] and argue that they are a sign of the things that are destroying the culture that you built in the West. And I just think that is so much more revealing of the people who say it than it is of anything that they were trying to reveal through what they said.Jonathan Walton: Absolutely. I wonder if there were followers of Jesus who when da Vinci painted what he painted, said, “This is not my savior.”Sy Hoekstra: I can think of one reason, but why would they have said that Jonathan?Jonathan Walton: [laughs] Because the Last Supper is a parody of an event in the scriptures. The reality is Jesus is not a Eurocentric figure sitting with flowing robes with people surrounding him. That's not how it happened. That's not how Passover looks[laughs]. So I mean, the reality of them being these American insurrectionist pastors who say, “You know what, we are going to get angry about a parody that isn't a parody, about a parody that we believe is actually sacred.”Sy Hoekstra: [laughs]. Well, okay. Calling the Last Supper parody I think is a little bit confusing.Jonathan Walton: No, the…Sy Hoekstra: Because I think da Vinci meant it the way that he… [laughs].Jonathan Walton: No, I'm sure da Vinci reflected his cultural reality on the scripture, which is something we all do.Sy Hoekstra: Right.Jonathan Walton: But to then baptize that image to be something that can be defiled and then demand capitulation because of our quote- unquote military might, those lines are bonkers to me. So I can be frustrated that I feel mocked, because that's a feeling, I feel mocked. But what should happen is we say, I feel mocked because I don't actually have cultural understanding and acuity to be able to differentiate my own emotional realities from the theology of the Bible when we don't have those skills. And actually we don't have that desire because we desire for them to be one and the same, like you said. I desire to feel affirmed and good and empowered all the time.And if that comes under any threat, then it's either the merchant, let's take money from you. Let's sanction you, let's get you out of the economic system so you cannot flourish in the way that we've defined flourishing to look. We will bring missionaries and people and set up institutions to devalue and debunk your own cultural narratives and spiritual things that you hold dear. And if that doesn't work, we'll just shoot you and make sure it does. Anyway, that's was more forceful than I expected it to be.Sy Hoekstra: [laughs] It wasn't for me because you keep putting these Olympics things in the newsletter and you keep telling me how frustrated you are about them, but it goes to stuff that is extremely important and I appreciate you bringing up and bringing us into this conversation.Outro and OuttakeSy Hoekstra: We have to go. You specifically have to leave in a couple minutes, so we're going to wrap things up here. Even though you and I could talk about this subject forever [Jonathan laughs]. Maybe Jonathan, maybe we'll talk about it more at the next monthly Zoom conversation.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: …on August 27th that people can register for if they become paid subscribers at Ktfpress.com, which you all should please go do if you want to see this work continue beyond this election season, get access to all the bonus episodes of this show, the ability to comment, other community features like that. The anthology, again, is at Keepingthefaithbook.com, that's what Jesse wrote for and what 35 other authors wrote for trying to give us a faithful path forward as so much of the church idolizes Donald Trump and the power that he brings them in this particular political era. Our theme song is Citizens by Jon Guerra. Our podcast Art is by Robyn Burgess, transcripts by Joyce Ambale, editing by Multitude Productions. Thank you all so much for listening and we will see you in two weeks.Jonathan Walton: Bye.[The song “Citizens” by Jon Guerra fades in. Lyrics: “I need to know there is justice/ That it will roll in abundance/ And that you're building a city/ Where we arrive as immigrants/ And you call us citizens/ And you welcome us as children home.” The song fades out.]Jonathan Walton: The White Christian persecution complex. [Jonathan lets out a deep, croaky “Maaaaaaaah”].Sy Hoekstra: I really should have… what was that noise [laughter]?Jonathan Walton: I think it's appropriate [Sy laughs]. It was the exasperation of my soul. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ktfpress.com/subscribe

“So much of what Bash and I do through our work is what we call this Revised Americana…we've had such a Euro-Centric what American storytelling is, but how can we change that narrative through the films that we make, through the commercials that we make, through all of the content that we put out there…I think Breakin' was an opportunity to do that…”Breakdancing?  At the Olympics? Hell. Yes.  Welcome to another special episode where I will be interviewing trailblazers from all backgrounds. Because let's face it, being Tuckered Out is universal.Jamaal Parham and Bashan Aquart are known as the Brooklyn-based directing team Jams and Bash and have spent the last decade crafting award-winning TV shows, commercials, documentaries, music videos, and a film. They worked with people like Michael B. Jordan, Robert DeNiro, Mindy Kaling, Samuel L. Jackson- just to name a few.Their work is driven by their innate desire to tell stories of the authentic American experience, infused with magical realism and rooted in a love of boundary-pushing design and classical filmmaking technique.We discuss breakdance's origins and growth, its cultural relevance, and whether it should be considered sport, art, or both (it's a topic my friends), their relationship with art and storytelling, and all agreed that stories that begin and end in NYC are stories that could never happen anywhere else or be replicated anywhere else.We dive into their latest documentary, "Breakin' On the One," they share their thoughts on the challenges of doing comedy in "sensitive times," the importance of preserving African American cultural heritage through dance, how communication through a cypher of  movement it is such a beautifully uniquely black and brown thing, and what our Bboy names would be if we could all actual breakdance.Mine is Trick Tucker.Also, Bashan was attacked by a beetle during the interview.  He survived. Early Creative Influences: Jamaal and Bashan's diverse backgrounds + family expectations influencing their creative careers (7:20)Finding their Place in the Creative Realm: The moment Jamaal and Bash discovered their calling for storytelling and filmmaking (12:00)Inclusivity, Humor, and Career Building: Making people laugh without offending them + transition from theater to film and TV + the importance of building long-term relationships with clients (27:00)"Breakin' On the One" and the NY Competitive Spirit: Creating a documentary on breakdance + New Yorkers against NY + breakdance as a life saver (38:20)Breakdance is Art or a Sport, its Global Spread: Jamaal details the European tour of breakdancing crews + the artistic elements of breakdance + acceptance of breakdance in Eurocentric cultures (48:30)Connect with Jamall Parham:Visit Jams and Bash's websiteLinkedInIMDb pageConnect with Bashan Aquart:LinkedInIMDb pageLet's Connect:InstagramThis podcast is produced by Ginni Media

How can the indigenous or pre-colonial worldview reshape our understanding of our world? How can it reconnect us as humans, as mammals once again? Is her power accessible to everyone? Should it be....?Join Unshod Today!In today's episode, we are joined by my dear friend and mentor, Wahinkpe Topa, or Four Arrows, navigating the intersections of indigenous wisdom, its non-binary worldview, and the transformative power of becoming fully human: a relation, a kin with nature and not her dominator. We kick off this conversation with a critical discussion on the film "Indian Horse," co-produced by Christine Habler and Clint Eastwood, spotlighting the nuances of indigenous portrayal in media and the importance of authenticity and sincerity when we embrace the indigenous worldview in our own lives. Through Four Arrows' perspective, we differentiate between place-based wisdom and overarching indigenous worldviews, drawing argumentative connections with Iain McGilchrist's theories on brain hemispheres and their cultural implications.We then challenge the conventional academic frameworks held by our colonial institutes by introducing critical neurophilosophy, merging indigenous wisdom with contemporary neuroscience. This segment critiques McGilchrist's exclusion through indigenous perspectives and examines the essence of oneness, implicit in the indigenous worldview. We discuss Four Arrow's book Restoring the Kinship Worldview, which illuminates the power of worldview and the indigenous worldview's 28 precepts: nature-based and human-centered worldviews.Our conversation takes a deeper turn as we redefine hope and human connection amidst global crises. Drawing inspiration from Sitting Bull and indigenous spiritual practices, we explore concepts such as reincarnation, hypnosis, and the intrinsic value of interconnectedness. The episode culminates in a powerful discussion about moving from a fear-based or courageous culture to one of fearlessness, emphasizing the power to rebuild society through indigenous principles. We also reflect on Abraham Maslow's encounter with the Blackfoot people, challenging the Eurocentric biases that have shaped traditional views on self-actualization.Watch this Conversation on YouTubeBuy Daniel's Latest Book, StagtineWahinkpe Topa's Books:Full list HERE. Restoring the Kinship WorldviewSitting Bull's Words For a World in CrisisUnlearning the Language of Conquest Scholars Expose Anti-Indianism in America

In this episode of "The Truth in This Art," host Rob Lee converses with Bronx-based artist and designer Walter Cruz. They explore Walter's artistic journey, focusing on how architecture and design intersect with the experiences of marginalized communities. Walter shares personal anecdotes that sparked his interest in architecture, emphasizing the psychological impact of spaces and the importance of historical context. This discussion highlights the influence of ancestors and collective knowledge on artistic vision. Walter also promotes his latest projects and upcoming exhibitions, reflecting his commitment to community engagement and the transformative power of art.Episode Highlights:Walter's Artistic Focus (00:01:05) Walter shares his interest in the built environment and its connection to Black and Brown communities.First Architectural Experience (00:02:17) Walter recalls his first visit to Times Square, igniting his passion for architecture and design.Intersection of Disciplines (00:04:44) Walter Cruz explores how art, design, and architecture intersect, particularly for marginalized communities.Researching Black Designers (00:07:36) Walter shares his journey of discovering Black architects and designers, challenging Eurocentric narratives.Empowerment through History (00:10:30) Walter finds empowerment in learning about historical figures in design and architecture.Present Influence on Work (00:15:54) He reflects on being present and observant in his surroundings, shaping his current artistic work.Experimenting with Concrete (00:22:26) Walter describes his exploration of using concrete as a medium to express his artistic ideas and heritage.Returning to Baltimore (00:28:15) Walter shares the story behind his upcoming show in Baltimore and his connection to the venue's renovation.Visual Design for Advocacy (00:43:25) Walter talks about his work with the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and its significance.Key Takeaways:1. Design with Empathy: Always consider the emotional and psychological impact of spaces on the people who use them.2. Celebrate Diverse Contributions: Make an effort to learn about and highlight the achievements of marginalized communities in your field.3. Honor Collective Wisdom: Recognize that your creative work is part of a larger historical and cultural continuum.4. Embrace Everyday Materials: Use familiar, everyday materials in your art to create a deeper connection with your audience.Socials:Instagram: 2oceansLinkedIn: Walter CruzCheck out Walter's Show here:currencystudio.us/blogs/heather-grey-gallery/walter-cruz-carry-on-tradition-at-heather-grey-gallerywww.artscape.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Carry-On-Tradition-document

Get ready for an electrifying journey as the Afrocentric podcast returns for its highly anticipated Season 3, hosted by the dynamic Morgan Gray. This season, we dive deeper into the heart of Black excellence, uncovering untold stories from ancient African kingdoms to modern-day trailblazers. The revolution will not be televised, but it will be digitalized. In this season, you won't just listen—you'll experience the powerful narratives of Black scientists, artists, and philosophers who have shaped our world. Morgan will lead you through a fearless deconstruction of Eurocentric myths, rewriting history through an Afrocentric lens. Expect thought-provoking discussions on systemic racism, cultural appropriation, and the unyielding power of Black unity.Join us as we confront societal biases and celebrate Black excellence. Navigate predominantly white spaces with cultural pride and self-assurance. Through insightful interviews with activists, scholars, and community leaders, this season promises to reshape the global Black experience.By tuning in, you're not just a listener; you're part of a movement. Together, we'll redefine history and create a future where Black excellence is not just recognized but celebrated. The revolution will not be televised, but it will be digitalized.