Return to Bandung

Defending the Cuban Revolution with David Ramírez Álvarez

In this episode, I’m joined by David Ramírez Álvarez, Second Secretary and cultural attaché at the Embassy of Cuba to the United States in Washington, D.C., to talk about the history of Cuba’s socialist revolution and the ongoing fight to defend it in the face of escalating imperialist aggression from the United States. We discuss the history and effects of the blockade, the current situation on the ground in Cuba, and the successes and challenges of building a revolutionary society under siege, as well as the importance of international solidarity from those of us who are located in the belly of the beast. About the show: Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website [https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/], as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/]. Support Return to Bandung: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review or rating, and subscribe to the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! If you’re able, please also consider supporting my work—which encompasses both my writing and this podcast, as well as various other political education projects by signing up as a paid subscriber to my Substack or making a one-off contribution: * Become a paid Substack subscriber [http://www.culture-shock.xyz/subscribe] * Buy Me a Coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/returntobandung] Sources and helpful links: * Mallory Memorandum [https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499] (April 1960) * Anna Heikkinen — US sanctions, power cuts, climate crisis: why Cuba is betting on renewables [https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/feb/18/us-sanctions-power-cuts-climate-crisis-why-cuba-is-betting-on-renewables] (The Guardian, February 2026) * Nicole Acevedo, Carmen Sesin and Orlando Matos — Cuba’s president says ‘we would die’ to defend against U.S. invasion [https://www.nbcnews.com/world/cuba/diaz-canel-invasion-trump-nbc-news-interview-rcna273638] (NBC News, April 2026) * Cheyanne M. Daniels — Cuban military is ‘prepared’ for potential US aggression, deputy foreign minister says [https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/22/cuban-military-aggression-foreign-minister-00839400] (Politico, March 2026) * Fidel Castro — speech to the Cultural Congress of Havana [https://platypus1917.org/wp-content/uploads/SKM_C554e18013016480.pdf] (January 1968) Social links: Return to Bandung: * Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/returntobandung⁠ [https://x.com/ReturnToBandung] * Instagram: ⁠instagram.com/returntobandung [https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/] Pranay Somayajula: * Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/p_somayajula⁠ [https://twitter.com/p_somayajula] * Instagram: ⁠instagram.com/pranay.somayajula [https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/] * Website: ⁠pranaysomayajula.com [https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/] * Substack: ⁠culture-shock.xyz [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/] David Ramírez Álvarez: * Twitter: twitter.com/DvidTwit [https://twitter.com/DvidTwit] Embassy of Cuba in the United States: * Twitter: twitter.com/EmbaCubaUS [https://twitter.com/EmbaCubaUS] * Instagram: instagram.com/embacubaee.uu/ [https://www.instagram.com/embacubaee.uu/]

Reviving the European Left with Peter Mertens

In this episode, I’m joined by Peter Mertens, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB), to discuss the current situation and future outlook of the European left. We discuss the PTB’s meteoric rise as one of the most prominent and fastest-growing left-wing parties in Europe today, the fight against a rising tide of militarism and far-right nationalism, and the role of parliamentary politics in revolutionary struggle, and discuss what role Europe—and in particular, the European left—has to play in a shifting international order. About the show: Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website [https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/], as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/]. Support Return to Bandung: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review or rating, and subscribe to the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! If you’re able, please also consider supporting my work—which encompasses both my writing and this podcast, as well as various other political education projects by signing up as a paid subscriber to my Substack or making a one-off contribution: * Become a paid Substack subscriber [http://www.culture-shock.xyz/subscribe] * Buy Me a Coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/returntobandung] Sources and helpful links: * Workers’ Party of Belgium website [https://international.pvda-ptb.be/] * Joe Todd — Between Autonomy and Control [https://www.rosalux.de/en/publication/id/54532/between-autonomy-and-control] (The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, March 2026) * Marc Botenga — A Marxist in the European Parliament [https://jacobin.com/2019/05/ptb-belgium-european-parliament-workers-party] (interview in Jacobin, May 2019) * Rosa Luxemburg — The Junius Pamphlet [https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1915/junius/ch01.htm] (1915) * Grace Blakeley — Inside Die Linke’s Resurgence [https://jacobin.com/2025/03/die-linke-resurgence-germany-left] (Jacobin, March 2025) * David Pestieau — Facing a Tilting World and the Rise of European Militarism: Why Peace and Socialism Matter Now [https://international.pvda-ptb.be/articles/facing-tilting-world-and-rise-european-militarism-why-peace-and-socialism-matter-now] (speech at the 2025 European Forum in Vienna) * Peter Mertens — Mutiny: How Our World is Tilting [https://leftword.com/product/mutiny/] (LeftWord Books, 2024) * Peter Mertens — A Mutiny Against the West’s Order [https://jacobin.com/2024/10/belgium-workers-party-imperialism-mertens] (interview in Jacobin, October 2024) * Johan Grimonprez — Soundtrack to a Coup D’État [https://kinolorber.com/film/soundtrack-to-a-coup-d-etat] (documentary, 2024) * Rosa Luxemburg — Peace Utopias [http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1911/05/11.htm] (1911) Social links: Return to Bandung: * Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/returntobandung⁠ [https://x.com/ReturnToBandung] * Instagram: ⁠instagram.com/returntobandung [https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/] Pranay Somayajula: * Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/p_somayajula⁠ [https://twitter.com/p_somayajula] * Instagram: ⁠instagram.com/pranay.somayajula [https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/] * Website: ⁠pranaysomayajula.com [https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/] * Substack: ⁠culture-shock.xyz [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/] Peter Mertens: * Twitter: twitter.com/peter_mertens [https://www.twitter.com/peter_mertens] * Instagram: www.instagram.com/mertens.p [https://www.instagram.com/mertens.p/] Workers’ Party of Belgium: * Twitter: twitter.com/pvdabelgie [https://www.twitter.com/pvdabelgie] * Instagram: instagram.com/pvdabelgie [https://www.instagram.com/pvdabelgie/] * Website: https://international.pvda-ptb.be/ [https://international.pvda-ptb.be/]

Resisting Empire From Within with Torkil Lauesen

In this episode, I’m joined by Marxist theorist and anti-imperialist revolutionary Torkil Lauesen, author of numerous books including The Principal Contradiction (Kersplebedeb, 2020) and Unequal Exchange: Past, Present, and Future (Iskra Books, 2025), to discuss the challenges and contradictions of anti-imperialist resistance in the imperial core. We explore key concepts such as the labor aristocracy and unequal exchange and their relationship to the prospects of resistance within imperialist countries, and discuss how revolutionaries located in the heart of empire can overcome these challenges to weaken empire from within. About the show: Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website [https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/], as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/]. Support Return to Bandung: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review or rating, and subscribe to the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! If you’re able, please also consider supporting my work—which encompasses both my writing and this podcast, as well as various other political education projects by signing up as a paid subscriber to my Substack or making a one-off contribution: * Become a paid Substack subscriber [http://www.culture-shock.xyz/subscribe] * Buy Me a Coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/returntobandung] Sources and helpful links: * Arghiri Emmanuel Association Website [https://unequalexchange.org/] * Torkil Lauesen — Unequal Exchange: Past, Present and Future [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/68ed338d2e083114d762ecb7/t/6971030b87b41e42ac0f23ef/1769014029261/Iskra+Books+-+Unequal+Exchange+Past+Present+Future+-+Original.pdf] (Iskra Books, 2025) * Vladimir Lenin — Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism [https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/] (1917) * Hodee W. Edwards — Labor Aristocracy, Mass Base of Social Democracy [https://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/contemp/whitemyths/edwards/] (1978) * Arghiri Emmanuel — Unequal Exchange: A Study of the Imperialism of Trade [https://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/books/Economics/UnequalExchange_ArghiriEmmanuel.pdf](Monthly Review Press, 1972) * Jason Hickel, Morena Hanbury Lemos, and Felix Barbour — Unequal exchange of labour in the world economy [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49687-y] (Nature Communications, 2024) * Return to Bandung episode with Jason Hickel [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/p/return-to-bandung-ep-24-imperialism] * Jason Hickel — The Divide: Global Inequality from Conquest to Free Markets [https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Divide/] (W.W. Norton, 2018) * Katharina Buchholz — How Many Hours Of Work Pay For An iPhone 17? [https://www.forbes.com/sites/katharinabuchholz/2025/09/12/how-many-hours-of-work-pay-for-an-iphone-17/](Forbes, September 2025) * Torkil Lauesen — The Global Perspective: Reflections on Imperialism and Resistance [https://leftwingbooks.net/en-us/products/the-global-perspective-reflections-on-imperialism-and-resistance](Kersplebedeb, 2018) * Torkil Lauesen — Anti-imperialist comeback: an interview with Torkil Lauesen [https://mronline.org/2018/07/18/anti-imperialist-comeback-an-interview-with-torkil-lauesen/](Left Wing Books, July 2018) * Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen — The Imperial Mode of Living: Everyday Life and the Ecological Crisis of Capitalism [https://www.versobooks.com/products/916-the-imperial-mode-of-living?] (Verso Books, 2021) Social links: Return to Bandung: * Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/returntobandung⁠ [https://x.com/ReturnToBandung] * Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/] Pranay Somayajula: * Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/p_somayajula⁠ [https://twitter.com/p_somayajula] * Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/] * Website: ⁠https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/⁠ [https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/] * Substack: ⁠https://www.culture-shock.xyz/⁠ [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/]

Imperialism and Resistance in Mexico with Alex Aviña

In this episode, I’m joined by Alexander Aviña, historian of Mexico and associate professor of Latin American history at Arizona State University, to discuss imperialism and anti-imperialist resistance in Mexico. We discuss the long history of revolutionary struggles in Mexico, the imperial origins and present-day violence of the U.S.-Mexico border, and how Mexico’s relationship with the United States has shaped the last century of American imperialism in the Western Hemisphere—as well as how all of this has been affected by recent developments in the last decade of Mexican politics. About the show: Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website [https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/], as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/]. Support Return to Bandung: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review or rating, and subscribe to the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! If you’re able, please also consider supporting my work—which encompasses both my writing and this podcast, as well as various other political education projects by signing up as a paid subscriber to my Substack or making a one-off contribution: * Become a paid Substack subscriber [http://www.culture-shock.xyz/subscribe] * Buy Me a Coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/returntobandung] Sources and helpful links: * Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective Website [https://www.anti-imperialists.com/] * The Sun Never Sets: Making Sense of Modern Empire book announcement [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/p/the-sun-never-sets-making-sense-of] * Pranay Somayajula — Reviving the Bandung Spirit [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/p/return-to-bandung-ep-23-reviving] (Socialism 2025 conference lecture) * Alexander Aviña — Specters of Revolution: Peasant Guerrillas in the Cold War Mexican Countryside [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/specters-of-revolution-9780199936595?cc=us&lang=en&] (Oxford University Press, 2014) * Greg Grandin — America, América: A New History of the New World [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/747326/america-america-by-greg-grandin/](Penguin, 2025) * Kelly Lytle Hernández — Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands [https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324004370] (W.W. Norton, 2023) * Alexander Aviña — Mexico’s Long Dirty War [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10714839.2016.1201271] (NACLA Report on the Americas, July 2016) * Chris Gilbert — Commune Or Nothing! Venezuela’s Communal Movement and Its Socialist Project [https://monthlyreview.org/9781685900243/] (Monthly Review Press, 2023) * Christina Heatherton — Arise!: Global Radicalism in the Era of the Mexican Revolution [https://www.ucpress.edu/books/arise/paper] (University of California Press, 2024) * José Marti — Nuestra América [https://misiones.cubaminrex.cu/en/articulo/our-america-jose-marti] (El Partido Liberal, January 1891) Social links: Return to Bandung: * Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/returntobandung⁠ [https://x.com/ReturnToBandung] * Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/] Pranay Somayajula: * Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/p_somayajula⁠ [https://twitter.com/p_somayajula] * Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/] * Website: ⁠https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/⁠ [https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/] * Substack: ⁠https://www.culture-shock.xyz/⁠ [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/] Alex Aviña: * Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alexander_Avina [https://twitter.com/Alexander_Avina] * Website: https://alexanderavina.com/ [https://alexanderavina.com/] * Substack: https://substack.com/profile/43151775-alex-avina/ [https://substack.com/profile/43151775-alex-avina/]

The Problem with Western Marxism with Gabriel Rockhill

In this episode, I’m joined by guest host Ashwin Shantha of the Journal of International Solidarity [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0C_D6OE1kuURWJ5hyLhCyAhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0C_D6OE1kuURWJ5hyLhCyA]podcast to interview Gabriel Rockhill, professor of philosophy at Villanova University and author of Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism? (Monthly Review Press, 2025) about how the ‘imperial theory industry’ has served to undermine actually-existing socialist projects and national liberation struggles while maintaining a superficial guise of ‘radical’ politics. We discuss the political economy of knowledge production, the longstanding entanglements between Western academia, the national security state, and the capitalist ruling class, and what it means to understand the cultural and intellectual spheres as sites of political struggle. About the show: Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website [https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/], as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/]. Support Return to Bandung: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review or rating, and subscribe to the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! If you’re able, please also consider supporting my work—which encompasses both my writing and this podcast, as well as various other political education projects by signing up as a paid subscriber to my Substack or making a one-off contribution: * Become a paid Substack subscriber [http://www.culture-shock.xyz/subscribe] * Buy Me a Coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/returntobandung] Sources and helpful links: * Gabriel Rockhill — Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism? [https://monthlyreview.org/9781685901349/] (Monthly Review Press, 2025) * Domenico Losurdo — Western Marxism: How it was Born, How it Died, How it Can be Reborn [https://monthlyreview.org/9781685900632/] (Monthly Review Press, 2024) * Frances Stonor Saunders — Who Paid the Piper?: The CIA and the Cultural Cold War [https://granta.com/products/who-paid-the-piper/] (Granta Books, 1999) * Gabriel Rockhill and John Bellamy Foster — Western Marxism and Imperialism: A Dialogue [https://monthlyreview.org/articles/western-marxism-and-imperialism-a-dialogue/] (Monthly Review, March 2025) * Return to Bandung episode with Ashwin Shantha on anti-imperialist political education [https://open.spotify.com/episode/5oGhEhx8qMMTUtwKpun4J8] (October 2025) * Roberto Fernández Retamar — Caliban: Notes towards a Discussion of Culture in Our America [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25088398] (The Massachusetts Review, Winter/Spring 1974) * Fidel Castro — Speech at the 8th Congress of the Cuban Young Communist League [http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2004/ing/f051204i.html] (December 1998) Social links: Return to Bandung: * Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/returntobandung⁠ [https://x.com/ReturnToBandung] * Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/] Pranay Somayajula: * Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/p_somayajula⁠ [https://twitter.com/p_somayajula] * Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/] * Website: ⁠https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/⁠ [https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/] * Substack: ⁠https://www.culture-shock.xyz/⁠ [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/] Journal of International Solidarity: * Substack: https://intlsolidarity.substack.com [https://intlsolidarity.substack.com] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6pbGw76EukzP0xPisBS9Sj [https://open.spotify.com/show/6pbGw76EukzP0xPisBS9Sj] * YouTube: https://youtube.com/@JournalofIntlSolidarity [https://www.youtube.com/@JournalofIntlSolidarity] * Instagram: https://instagram.com/journalofintlsolidarity [https://www.instagram.com/journalofintlsolidarity] * Twitter: https://twitter.com/revintlist [https://twitter.com/revintlist] Gabriel Rockhill: * Website: https://gabrielrockhill.com/ [https://gabrielrockhill.com/] * Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabrielRockhill [https://twitter.com/GabrielRockhill]