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In our inaugural episode on Marx’s Capital, we took a deep dive into Capital Vol. 1, the first of three volumes on political economy written by Karl Marx in the late 19th century. Capital Vol. 1, though, is just the beginning—and unfortunately most people stop there. But Vol. 1 really just looks at one aspect of capitalism—how surplus value is produced. It doesn’t dive into the entire circulation process—or what we refer to as the circuits of capital. Vol. 2 provides the full picture of how capitalism functions—and we’ve brought on two terrific guests to help us make sense of it all.   Richard Wolff [https://bsky.app/profile/profwolff.bsky.social] is an economist, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School in New York, host of the Economic Update [https://economicupdate.libsyn.com/] and The Dialectic at Work [https://www.democracyatwork.info/dialectic_at_work] podcasts, and founder of Democracy at Work [https://www.democracyatwork.info/].  Shahram Azhar is a political economicst, musician, Associate Professor of Economics at Bucknell University and host of The Dialectic at Work [https://www.democracyatwork.info/dialectic_at_work] podcast.  In this episode, we talk about the process that went into writing and compiling Marx’s Capital Vol. 2. We talk about how Capital Vol. 2 builds off of Vol. 1, going from an analysis of how surplus is produced in the productive circuit of capital to really looking at the whole process of capital circulation. We talk about capital as a process as opposed to a thing, the various stages it passes through, what the implications are for the concept of the working class, the different antagonisms between the various kinds of capitalists—industrial, merchant, banking—and much more.  Further resources: * Democracy at Work [https://www.democracyatwork.info/] * The Dialectic at Work [https://x.com/dialecticatwork] * Capital Volume Two (marxism.org) [https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1885-c2/] * Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian, by Richard D. Wolff and Stephen A. Resnickolff  [https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262517836/contending-economic-theories/] * On the Question of Free Trade [https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1888/free-trade/] Related episodes: * Marx's Capital Vol. 1 w/ David Smith [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/marxs-capital-vol-1-w-david-smith] * Trade Wars and Tariffs w/ Richard Wolf [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/trade-wars-and-tariffs-w-richard-wolff] * Inflation with Richard Wolff and Dean Baker [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/inflation-with-richard-wolff-dean-baker-in-conversation] * Dialectical Materialism w/ Josh Sykes [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/dialectical-materialism-w-josh-sykes] Intermission music: Ultrabonus [https://ultrabonus.bandcamp.com/] Covert art: Berwyn Mure [https://bmure.com/] Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast [https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast] or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support [https://www.upstreampodcast.org/support] If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship [https://gate.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fupstreampodcast.org%2Fsponsorship&token=fb395-1-1663029755269] For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org [https://gate.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upstreampodcast.org&token=efc9f5-1-1663029755269] and follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/upstreampodcast/] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/upstreampodcast.bsky.social]. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532] Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/4KwWOMp24P9cVVR6d0i7Zq?si=ec90ca944bcb43cf&nd=1], or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

This is a free preview of the episode "Third Worldism and the Bandung Spirit w/ Pranay Somayajula" You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast [https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast] As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly show, and it will also give you access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes along with stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Third Worldism—a term that might feel outdated but which is anything but—is on the rise. When we talk about the Third World, or the Global South, we are talking about the nations of the world which have been subjugated and exploited by the global imperialist order over the past several centuries. Colonialism, far from ever being abolished, is alive and well in these countries in a new and even more insidious way. And in order to help us understand exactly what this means, and what Third Worldism is, we’re going to take you back to 1955—the year that the Bandung Conference was held in Indonesia—to look at a view of colonialism and imperialism, and the resistance to it‚ from within the Third World.  Pranay Somayajula [https://x.com/p_somayajula] is a writer, organizer, political educator, researcher, and host of the podcast Return to Bandung [https://x.com/ReturnToBandung]. He’s the author of several pieces that we’ll be discussing today, including most recently a piece from his Substack titled "this is the human race speaking..." reviving the bandung spirit in a multipolar world [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/p/this-is-the-human-race-speaking]." In this conversation, we talk about the Bandung Conference—a groundbreaking and pivotal meeting of many newly decolonized—and we’ll unpack this term much more as we go along—states in Asia and Africa. We’ll explore what was so significant about the Bandung Conference, the global context in which it occurred, the fight by the imperialist powers to keep the Third World subjugated all throughout the 20th century, how the spirit of Bandung lives on, and much, much more.  Further resources: * Return to Bandung podcast [https://www.returntobandung.com/] * Pranay's Substack [https://substack.com/@pranaysomayajula] * "this is the human race speaking..." reviving the bandung spirit in a multipolar world [https://www.culture-shock.xyz/p/this-is-the-human-race-speaking], Culture Shock * Bandung's Ghosts [https://proteanmag.com/2025/04/18/bandungs-ghosts/], Protean Magazine * Decolonization and Its Discontents [https://monthlyreview.org/2025/05/01/decolonization-and-its-discontents/], Monthly Review Related episodes: * Our onging series on the Alliance of Sahel States [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/aes] * Our ongoing series on Iran [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/Iran] * Our ongoing series on China [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/China] * Our ongoing series on NATO [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/nato] * Western Marxism w/ Gabriel Rockhill [https://www.patreon.com/posts/113877813/edit] * The Fight for The Congo w/ Vijay Prashad [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/the-fight-for-the-congo-w-vijay-prashad] * A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations w/ Vijay Prashad [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/a-history-of-the-cia-coups-and-assassinations-w-vijay-prashad] Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast [https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast] or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support [https://www.upstreampodcast.org/support] If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship [https://gate.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fupstreampodcast.org%2Fsponsorship&token=fb395-1-1663029755269] For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org [https://gate.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upstreampodcast.org&token=efc9f5-1-1663029755269] and follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/upstreampodcast/] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/upstreampodcast.bsky.social]. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532] Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/4KwWOMp24P9cVVR6d0i7Zq?si=ec90ca944bcb43cf&nd=1], or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

It’s not hyperbole to suggest that the imperialist wars waged upon the Global South by the United States and the imperialist bloc that it leads are akin to a protracted genocide. The sheer amount of death, carnage, destruction, immiseration, crushed dreams, is almost unfathomable. But it’s real. And it’s the status quo for what we love to refer fondly to as "Western Civilization." And there’s no other force more responsible for implementing this protracted genocide on the Third World than NATO. And in today’s conversation—Part 2 of our ongoing series on NATO—we’re going to explore the role that this military alliance has played in the long war on the Third World.  Pawel Wargan [https://x.com/pawelwargan?lang=en] is an organizer and researcher based in Berlin and the coordinator of the secretariat of the Progressive International [https://progressive.international/]. He’s the author of the Monthly Review piece “NATO and the Long War on the Third World” [https://monthlyreview.org/2023/01/01/nato-and-the-long-war-on-the-third-world/] which we’ll be focusing our conversation around today.  In this episode, Pawel tells us about the fascist roots of NATO, its “dark mandate” which ushered in an era of terror against the populations of the Global South leading to a protracted genocide that has left tens of millions dead and even more immiserated. We talk about the way that NATO operates in Africa, Poland, and how NATO has served as a leading opposition to liberation struggles in the Third World and across the globe.  Further resources: * NATO and the Long War on the Third World, Monthly Review [https://monthlyreview.org/2023/01/01/nato-and-the-long-war-on-the-third-world/] * Progressive International [https://progressive.international/] Related episodes: * Our ongoing series on NATO [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/NATO] * Our ongoing series on Iran [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/Iran] * Our ongoing series on Palestine [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/Palestine] * Our ongoing series on China [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/China] * Our ongoing series on the Alliance of Sahel States [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/aes] * Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/imperialism-the-highest-stage-of-capitalism-w-breht-oshea-and-alyson-escalante] * The Imperial Boomerang w/ Julian Go [https://www.patreon.com/posts/imperial-w-go-128322809] Intermission music: "Black Serpent" by Noroth [https://noroth.bandcamp.com/track/black-serpent] Covert art: Soviet anti-NATO propaganda poster Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast [https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast] or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support [https://www.upstreampodcast.org/support] If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship [https://gate.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fupstreampodcast.org%2Fsponsorship&token=fb395-1-1663029755269] For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org [https://gate.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upstreampodcast.org&token=efc9f5-1-1663029755269] and follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/upstreampodcast/] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/upstreampodcast.bsky.social]. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532] Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/4KwWOMp24P9cVVR6d0i7Zq?si=ec90ca944bcb43cf&nd=1], or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

This is a free preview of the episode "Alliance of Sahel States Pt. 2: A View from Within w/ Inem Richardson." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast [https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast] As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly show, and it will also give you access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes along with stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. It can be quite difficult for someone on the left in the United States or the UK—or in any Western state for that matter, to feel patriotic. Patriotic? About what, exactly? I mean, for most of us, the American flag is a symbol that represents nothing but pain, immiseration, destruction, genocide…so it’s hard to imagine what it must feel like to be a part of a state project that you’re actually proud of. One that’s standing up to that blood-drenched American flag—standing up to the flags of all the imperialists and genocidaires across the globe.  But there are countries where national pride is well-deserved, where patriotism is appropriate, and where hope for a better future is alive and well. And in Part 2 of our series on the Alliance of Sahel States, we’re going to be in conversation with someone who is right in the middle of one of those countries.  Inem Richardson is the President and Co-Founder of the Thomas Sankara Centre for African Liberation and Unity, a member of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, and a journalist with African Stream based out of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. In this conversation, Inem tells us about the journey which brought her to Burkina Faso and led her to co-founding the Thomas Sankara Centre. We talk about what it was like to live through Burkina Faso’s revolution, some of the undertakings and achievements of Ibrahim Traore’s government, what the Alliance is up against, and what its future might hold, and why the world should be paying attention to what’s happening right now in the Sahel.   Further resources: * The Thomas Sankara Centre [https://www.instagram.com/burkinabooks/] * The All-African People's Revolutionary Party [https://aaprp-intl.org/] * The Coalitioin for the Elimination of Imperialism in Africa (Instagram) [https://www.instagram.com/abasimperialism/] * Africa's Last Colonial Currency: The CFA Franc Story by Fanny Pigeaud and Ndongo Samba Sylla [https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745341798/africas-last-colonial-currency/] * Libyan Arab Jamahiriya [https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Arab_Jamahiriya] Related episodes: * Our onging series on the Alliance of Sahel States [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/aes] * Our ongoing series on Iran [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/Iran] * Western Marxism w/ Gabriel Rockhill [https://www.patreon.com/posts/113877813/edit] * Listen to our ongoing series on China [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/China] * The Fight for The Congo w/ Vijay Prashad [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/the-fight-for-the-congo-w-vijay-prashad] * Walter Rodney, Marxism, and Underdevelopment with D. Musa Springer & Charisse Burden-Stelly [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/walter-rodney-marxism-and-underdevelopment-with-d-musa-springer-charisse-burden-stelly] Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast [https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast] or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support [https://www.upstreampodcast.org/support] If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship [https://gate.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fupstreampodcast.org%2Fsponsorship&token=fb395-1-1663029755269] For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org [https://gate.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upstreampodcast.org&token=efc9f5-1-1663029755269] and follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/upstreampodcast/] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/upstreampodcast.bsky.social]. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532] Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/4KwWOMp24P9cVVR6d0i7Zq?si=ec90ca944bcb43cf&nd=1], or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

NATO—The North Atlantic Treaty Organization—far from being just a defensive alliance between the United States and Europe, is actually the spear tip of imperialism’s military arm. It’s the force used to discipline any global actor who dares to defy US hegemony and dominance on the world stage. From Greece to Libya to Ukraine—NATO is where we must look to understand how destabilization occurs and how defiant states across the globe are subjugated and opened up to Western markets and capital. And we’re lucky enough to have a terrific guest on today to tell us all about how it all takes place.  Elina Xenophontos [https://www.instagram.com/elina.xenophontos/?hl=en] is an international law and economic globalisation specialist. She produces much of her own material on her Substack [https://substack.com/@elinaxenophontos] and is also featured regularly on the Colonial Outcasts [https://www.youtube.com/@elinaxenophontos] podcast.  In this episode, Part 1 of what will be an ongoing series on NATO, Elina presents a history of NATO, exploring its role as a force against communism and for capitalist discipline in Europe and the Global South and laying the foundations for what will be deeper dives in coming episodes. We explore its expansion during the Cold War and post-Cold War periods as a military arm of imperialism, its role in Yugoslavia, Libya, Ukraine, Iran, and other wars or conflicts, its drive to destabilize any state that refuses to be subjugated under the boot of US imperialism, and why it’s crucial for the Western left to correctly identify NATO’s role in global capitalism and imperialism in order to effectively combat it.  Further resources: * Support Elina's work on Patreon [https://patreon.com/ElinaXenophontos] * Elina Xenophontos (Substack) [https://substack.com/@elinaxenophontos] * Elina Xenophontos (Youtube) [https://www.youtube.com/@elinaxenophontos] * Colonial Outcasts [https://www.youtube.com/@elinaxenophontos] Related episodes: * Our ongoing series on NATO [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/NATO] * Our ongoing series on Iran [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/Iran] * Our ongoing series on Palestine [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/Palestine] * Our ongoing series on China [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/China] * Our ongoing series on the Alliance of Sahel States [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/category/aes] * Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante [https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/imperialism-the-highest-stage-of-capitalism-w-breht-oshea-and-alyson-escalante] Intermission music: "Love Life" by Daily Ghost [https://dailyghost.bandcamp.com/album/theres-still-beauty-2] Covert art: Soviet anti-NATO propaganda poster Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast [https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast] or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support [https://www.upstreampodcast.org/support] If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship [https://gate.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fupstreampodcast.org%2Fsponsorship&token=fb395-1-1663029755269] For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org [https://gate.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upstreampodcast.org&token=efc9f5-1-1663029755269] and follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/upstreampodcast/] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/upstreampodcast.bsky.social]. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upstream/id1082594532] Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/4KwWOMp24P9cVVR6d0i7Zq?si=ec90ca944bcb43cf&nd=1], or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.