The Triploi Podcast

EP 23: Cuba - Socialismo o Muerte!

Why is the United States so possessively obsessed with Cuba? In this episode we dive into the history of Cuba. From the native Taíno, Ciboney, and Guanahatabey societies that organised the island around community and cooperation, to their world being shattered by the Spanish invasion, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and the brutal extraction of Cuba’s resources that would lay the foundation for modern capitalism. Join Triploi as we look at the rise of Havana as an imperial hub, the sugar revolution, and the independence war that saw a dying empire replaced by an emerging one. From the US backed Batista dictatorship, to the 1959 Communist revolution, the brutal US embargo, and the resolver spirit that saw Cubans endure the unendurable. All the way to modern Cuba, where a declining US empire, looks onward at one final attempt to seize the island it could never let go. Listen on PODBEAN 👉 The Triploi Podcast [https://historytrippin.podbean.com/] Listen on APPLE PODCASTS 👉The Triploi Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-triploi-podcast/id1818987735] Listen on (but preferably boycott) SPOTIFY 👉 The Triploi Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/0FwfakQIaqqfooRY96xKg8]   References and reading list: * Ada Ferrer, Cuba: An American History (2021) * Hugh Thomas, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (1971) * Sidney W. Mintz, Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History (1985) * Fernando Martínez Heredia, In the Shadow of Marx: The Cuban Revolution and Socialist Thought (ed 2018) * Ernesto Che Guevara, Guerrilla Warfare (1960) and Episodes of the Revolutionary War (1963) * Carlos Rafael Rodríguez, Cuba in Revolution (1966). * Samuel Farber, The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered (2006) * Steve Cushion, A Hidden History of the Cuban Revolution (2016)

Ep 22: Fall Of The Soviet Union

If the Soviet Union achieved so much, why did it collapse in 1991? In this episode we dive into the history of the USSR. From the shockwave of the 1917 revolution, to its the hard won post WWII peak, and then the sudden, violent unspooling of the whole socialist project. Join Triploi as we follow the chain reaction of the Soviet meltdown, from de‑Stalinization to the threat of thermonuclear war, to the stagnation of the Soviet economy, the war in Afghanistan, the Chernobyl disaster, to the catastrophic misfire of glasnost and perestroika, and how all of it built up to break the Union for good. And looking back at the faded brutalist concrete of the Soviet Union’s memorials, we reflect on what lessons we may yet learn.   --- Listen on PODBEAN 👉 The Triploi Podcast [https://historytrippin.podbean.com/] Listen on APPLE PODCASTS 👉The Triploi Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-triploi-podcast/id1818987735] Listen on (but preferably boycott) SPOTIFY 👉 The Triploi Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/0FwfakQIaqqfooRY96xKg8] --- References and reading list: * Isaac Deutscher - Russia After Stalin: With a Postscript on the Beria Affair (1953) * Moshe Lewin - The Gorbachev Phenomenon: A Historical Interpretation (1991) * David Kotz and Fred Weir - Revolution From Above: The Demise of the Soviet System (1997) * Stephen F. Cohen - Failed Crusade: America and the Tragedy of Post-Communist Russia (2001) * Samir Amin - The Future of Maoism (1983) * Michael Parenti - Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism (1997) * John Perkins - Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (2004) * Max Hastings - Inferno: The World at War, 1939–1945 (2011)

Ep 21: Beidh Éire Saor

When the colonialism earthquake rocked the world, what was it like living next to the epicentre? In this episode we dive into Ireland’s long fight against the British Empire at the height of its power. From the Tudor conquest, to the birth of capitalist plantations, famine, rebellion, revolution, partition, and the Troubles, all the way to today’s fight against corporate neo-colonialism. Join Triploi as we dive into this 500 year history of Ireland, and learn what it is like being the neighbour of history’s most insatiable colonial empire… and the price that must be paid for freedom. --- Listen on PODBEAN 👉 The Triploi Podcast [https://historytrippin.podbean.com/] Listen on APPLE PODCASTS 👉The Triploi Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-triploi-podcast/id1818987735] Listen on (but preferably boycott) SPOTIFY 👉 The Triploi Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/0FwfakQIaqqfooRY96xKg8] --- References and reading list: * James Connolly - Labour in Irish History (1910) * R.F. Foster - Modern Ireland 1600-1972 (1988) * Christine Kinealy - This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845-52 (1994) * Charles Townshend - Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion (2005) * Diarmaid Ferriter - The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000 (2004) * J.J. Lee - Ireland 1912-1985: Politics and Society (1989) * Fintan O'Toole - Ship of Fools: How Stupidity and Corruption Sank the Celtic Tiger (2009) * Kieran Allen - The Corporate Takeover of Ireland (2007) * Kevin Whelan - The Tree of Liberty: Radicalism, Catholicism and the Construction of Irish Identity 1760-1830 (1996) * Mary P. Murphy - Ireland and the Politics of Change (2020)

Ep 20: What IS Socialism?

If colonialism and capitalism were the earthquake that reshaped our world, and all the horrors and fascism we still face are the aftershocks, then what's the actual solution? Join Triploi as we break down, in the simplest terms, the principles of socialism; from dialectical materialism and the dictatorship of the proletariat, to seizing the means of production, environmental sustainability, decolonisation, and the ultimate goal of a classless, stateless communist society.  Whether you're new to socialism or deepening your understanding, this episode provides a comprehensive guide for building a world after the fall of capitalism. --- Listen on PODBEAN 👉 The Triploi Podcast [https://historytrippin.podbean.com/] Listen on APPLE PODCASTS 👉The Triploi Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-triploi-podcast/id1818987735] Listen on SPOTIFY 👉 The Triploi Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/0FwfakQIaqqfooRY96xKg8] --- References and reading list: * Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels - The Communist Manifesto (1848) * Vladimir Lenin - What Is to Be Done? (1902) * Mao Zedong - Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung (various dates) * Michael Parenti - Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism (1997) * Bhaskar Sunkara (ed.) - The ABCs of Socialism (2016) * Danny Katch - Socialism... Seriously: A Brief Guide to Human Liberation (2015)

Ep 19: Venezuela and the curse of oil

Is it a curse to be a rich country? Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserve, yet its people face seemingly endless economic depression. How did this contradiction happen? Join Triploi as we explore Venezuela's journey from Spanish colony to the Bolivarian revolution, to the discovery of the world’s largest oil reserve, to economic collapse, and now imminent war with the United States. This is the story of a nation caught between the ghost of Simón Bolívar's dream and the enduring reality of living next door to world’s most aggressive and violent superpower. --- Listen on PODBEAN 👉 The Triploi Podcast [https://historytrippin.podbean.com/] Listen on APPLE PODCASTS 👉The Triploi Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-triploi-podcast/id1818987735] Listen on SPOTIFY 👉 The Triploi Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/0FwfakQIaqqfooRY96xKg8] --- References and reading list: * Eduardo Galeano - Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent (1971) * Greg Grandin - Empire's Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism (2006) * Naomi Klein - The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (2007) * Mark Weisbrot - Failed: What the "Experts" Got Wrong About the Global Economy (2015) * Jeffrey Sachs - A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism (2018) * George Ciccariello-Maher - We Created Chávez: A People's History of the Venezuelan Revolution (2013) * Fernando Coronil - The Magical State: Nature, Money, and Modernity in Venezuela (1997) * Michael Parenti - Against Empire (1995) * William Blum - Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II (2004) * Vijay Prashad - The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World (2007) * Walter Rodney - How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (1972) * Simón Bolívar - Selected Writings (various, compiled editions) * Terry Lynn Karl - The Paradox of Plenty: Oil Booms and Petro-States (1997) * UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan - Report on Venezuela (2021)