Warp & Weft: Afghan War Rugs

Warp & Weft: Afghan War Rugs

We explore the cultural history of rug-weaving in Afghanistan, and how decades of war caused that country’s craft and conditions into a morbid reciprocity. If you enjoyed this episode: – Support Blood Work via Patreon [http://patreon.com/BloodWorkShow]– Leave a rating or review on your podcast app – Follow us on Bluesky [http://bsky.app/profile/bloodwork.show] / Instagram [http://instagram.com/bloodworkshow] / Twitter [http://twitter.com/bloodworkshow] Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production [https://www.instagram.com/scamgoldin/]This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel [https://www.instagram.com/endless.fuckery/] THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Super Smash TV [https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-week-in-tv-159663098?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO [https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-week-in-tv-159709273?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]This week, some light entertainment for you, in the form of recent developments surrounding the Trump administration’s planned UFC fight on the White House lawn as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Sources: Afghan Rug Shop, ‘80cm x 60cm Fall of Afghanistan War Rug’, Afghan Rug Shop Naman P. Ahuja (2019), ‘War Rugs’, Marg Publications, available via academia.edu [https://www.academia.edu/42030582/War_Rugs] Max Allen (2008), ‘Battleground: War Rugs from Afghanistan’, Textile Museum of Canada, available via archive.org [https://archive.org/] Rachel Edman (2020), ‘An introduction to War Rugs’, MacGuffin Magazine, available via Rachel Edman [https://racheldedman.com/An-introduction-to-War-Rugs] Bettina Gräf (2023), ‘Drone Rugs: Knotted Images as a Reminder of the Cruel Global Present’, Suzanna in the Bath. Essays on Middle East Studies and Public Discourse, available via academia.edu [https://www.academia.edu/106742407/Drone_Rugs_Knoted_Images_as_a_Reminder_of_the_Cruel_Global_Present] Impart (2025), ‘Afghan War Rugs’, Impart [https://imp-art.org/articles/afghan-war-rugs/] Nigel Lendon and Tim Bonyhady, Rugs of War [https://rugsofwar.wordpress.com/] (Wordpress) RespectableLawyer (2018), ‘THREAD: Afghan War Rugs and the Lossy Compression of Cultural Coding’, Twitter/X [https://x.com/RespectableLaw/status/992125693365452805], available via Threadreader [https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/992125693365452805.html] and archive.today [http://archive.today/lPFok] Ron O’Callaghan (2003), ‘Afghan War Rugs: A Sub-group With Iranian Influence’, Rug Review, available via archive.today [http://archive.today/YsXM] Kevin Sudeith, WarRug.com [https://warrug.com/] Brian Spooner (2011), ‘Afghan Wars, Oriental Carpets, and Globalization’, Expedition (53:1), available at Penn Museum [https://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/53-1/spooner.pdf] Pamela D. Toler (2021), ‘How Afghanistan’s “Rugs of War” Helped Its Citizens Tell the Story of Conflict’, Historynet [https://historynet.com/rugs-of-war/] Kelly Wilson (2014), ‘Afghan War Rugs’, Art Amongst War: Visual Culture in Afghanistan, 1979-2014 (Exhibition Booklet), The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) Art Gallery, available via academia.edu [https://www.academia.edu/7425735/Art_Amongst_War_Visual_Culture_in_Afghanistan_1979_2014_Exhibition_Catalogue?rhid=40399958251&swp=rr-rw-wc-42030582&nav_from=52030b99-316d-422a-a6f6-4e4d01cbf97c] Image: A high quality example of a typical 9/11 war rug, woven and knotted by hand in the aftermath of the 2002 US invasion of Afghanistan

Combat 18, Part 3: Crisis of Ladsculinity w/ Gareth Watkins

This is a preview. To hear the entire episode and help Blood Work to survive and thrive, become a supporter on Patreon [http://patreon.com/BloodWorkShow/]. Gareth returns to continue our history of ‘90s Britain’s most notorious neo-nazi gang, recounting the time Will Browning convinced a Scandinavian to mail a package bomb to an Olympic swimmer. Image: Thomas Nakaba marching at a far-right rally in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the 1990s. Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production [https://www.instagram.com/scamgoldin/]This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel [https://www.instagram.com/endless.fuckery/] For more: – Support Blood Work via Patreon [http://patreon.com/BloodWorkShow] – Follow us on Bluesky [http://bsky.app/profile/bloodwork.show] / Instagram [http://instagram.com/bloodworkshow] / Twitter [http://twitter.com/bloodworkshow] THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Protecting the Organism [https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-week-in-159094058?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO [https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-week-in-159093954?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]This week we’ve got a recent report from the BBC regarding activities by a para-state political organisation in Russia which appears to be assuming ever greater policing and security prerogatives within that state amidst the exceptional situation of the war on Ukraine – and becoming further radicalised and emboldened in the process.

Do Your Own Research: Conspiracy, Paranoia & the Drive to Violence w/ Julian Feeld

Do Your Own Research: Conspiracy, Paranoia & the Drive to Violence w/ Julian Feeld Julian and Gregk discuss the history of conspiracy, lone wolves, mass psychoses, and his new show SUPER STRUCTURE on the power of propaganda, political repression & revolutionary struggle. If you enjoyed this episode: – Support Blood Work via Patreon [http://patreon.com/BloodWorkShow]– Leave a rating or review on your podcast app – Follow us on Bluesky [http://bsky.app/profile/bloodwork.show] / Instagram [http://instagram.com/bloodworkshow] / Twitter [http://twitter.com/bloodworkshow] Image: ‘Pizzagate’ gunman Edgar Maddison Welch being apprehended by police shortly after storming the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington D.C. on December 4, 2016. (Sathi Soma/AP) Follow Julian Feeld [https://www.instagram.com/julianfeeld/] on Instagram Learn more about SUPER STRUCTURE [https://superstructurepodcast.com/] at their website or follow the show [https://www.instagram.com/superstructurepodcast/] on Instagram Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production [https://www.instagram.com/scamgoldin/]This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel [https://www.instagram.com/endless.fuckery/] THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Before the Law [https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-week-in-law-158432735?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO [https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-week-in-law-158493189?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]This week, Gregk presents three separate news stories which each communicate different but interrelated ideas about the relation between law and violence, particularly in our present conjuncture.

Valley of Malls: Post-Fordist Cities & Political Repression, Part Two

This is a preview. To hear the entire episode and help Blood Work to survive and thrive, become a supporter on Patreon [http://patreon.com/BloodWorkShow/]. We conclude our two-parter with a story that runs through Lewis Powell, Times Square, 9/11 and Occupy, and concludes by considering a vanguard of neoliberal authoritarianism: The Olympics. Image: An interior shot of the amusement park at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production [https://www.instagram.com/scamgoldin/]This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel [https://www.instagram.com/endless.fuckery/] For more: – Support Blood Work via Patreon [http://patreon.com/BloodWorkShow] – Follow us on Bluesky [http://bsky.app/profile/bloodwork.show] / Instagram [http://instagram.com/bloodworkshow] / Twitter [http://twitter.com/bloodworkshow] THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Cóndor Dos, Águila Moribunda [https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-week-in-dos-157826871?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO [https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-week-in-dos-157859597?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]For this week’s newsletter, we’ve got two news stories for you, which are separate, but which are nonetheless connected in a strange, poetic way. Collectively, we think they say something about the current condition of US empire, and what happens when imperial ambitions extend beyond even empire’s grasp.

Mean Streets: Post-Fordist Cities & Political Repression, Part One

In the first of a two-parter, we trace the evolution of the modern city from industrialisation to the 1970s, when a trio of crises laid the foundation for an anti-political backlash If you enjoyed this episode: – Support Blood Work via Patreon [http://patreon.com/BloodWorkShow]– Leave a rating or review on your podcast app – Follow us on Bluesky [http://bsky.app/profile/bloodwork.show] / Instagram [http://instagram.com/bloodworkshow] / Twitter [http://twitter.com/bloodworkshow] Image: A photograph taken on Leyden Street, London, during the 1979 ‘Winter of Discontent’ (Source: Maurice Hibberd/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production [https://www.instagram.com/scamgoldin/]This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel [https://www.instagram.com/endless.fuckery/] THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Even in Death, They Will Still Degrade You [https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-week-in-in-157193071?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO [https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-week-in-in-157235123?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link]For this week’s newsletter, Gregk uses a resurfaced comment by filmmaker Joe Russo from 2023 to provide some commentary on the modern AI craze and the historical ties between technology, pornography, and violence.   Sources: Robert A. Beauregard (2006), When America Became Suburban Jordan T. Camp & Christina Heatherton [eds.] (2016), Policing the PlanetL Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter Peter Eisinger (2000), ‘The Politics of Bread and Circuses: Building the City for the Visitor Class’, Urban Affairs Review [35:3] Antonio Gramsci (1971), Selections from the Prison Notebooks Stuart Hall et al (1978), Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order Margaret Kohn (2004), Brave New Neighborhoods: The Privatisation of Public Space Mark Neocleous (2021), A Critical Theory of Police Power Paul A. Passavant (2021), Policing Protest: The Post-Democratic State and the Figure of Black Insurrection