Upstream

COVID has in many ways monopolized the public imagination in the last year or so, and at times it’s seemed like many other conversations were put on hold — or at least had their volume turned down. Now, with the threats of COVID subsiding — at least in the U.S., and at least for the time being — we’re remembering some of the other important conversations that need to be picked up again. Perhaps the most pressing of all is the conversation around climate change. In this Conversation, we spoke with Thea Riofrancos, Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College, and co-author, along with Kate Aronoff, Daniel Aldana Cohen, and Alyssa Battistoni, of "A Planet to Win: why we need a green new deal," published by Verso. In this conversation, Thea gives us an update on where we are on climate change — and what the Biden administration is proposing to do about it (spoiler alert: it’s not nearly enough). We also talk about the problems with neoliberal attempts to address climate change, how capitalism i

In this conversation, we spoke with Niki Franco, AKA, Venus Roots. Niki is a Caribbean abolitionist community organizer, multidisciplinary cultural worker, writer, podcaster, and facilitator of spaces for collective study. Currently based in Miami, Niki serves as the political education director for (F)empower MIA and civic engagement organizer for Power U Center for Social Change. We spoke with them about abolition, the phenomenon of Black capitalism, the insidious nature of neoliberal feminism, capitalism’s tendency towards co-opting its own opposition, disaster capitalism amidst COVID, why Instagram is probably bad for us, and much more. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond Intermission music is "Cut From the Cloth" by The Evens Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Upstream. Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodca

Throughout history, crises and disasters have always catalyzed new strategies to make the world cheap and safe for capitalism. We are seeing this during COVID through the blatant disregard for the lives of essential workers and the refusal of wealthy nations to lift COVID vaccine patents which restrict poorer countries from manufacturing their own supplies. In this 2-part Conversation, we spoke with Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore, who co-authored the book, A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet. In our conversation, Raj and Jason explore how capitalism relies on cheapness, the era of the capitalocene — which the authors prefer to the more common term, anthropocene — the myth of overpopulation, which has its roots in racism and often borders on ecofascism, and much more. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond Intermission music is "Decaying" by Capitalist Casualties Cover Art by Agitpropdoll (on Instagram and Facebook) Upstream is a l

In this Conversation, we spoke with Eric Holt-Gimenez, author of the book, “A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism: Understanding the Political Economy of What We Eat.” Why does hunger exist? What are the causes of food insecurity? Why do those in working in the food system, from the farmers who till the soil to the server who places your meal on the table, receive largely unlivable wages? Eric’s answer to these questions is simple: capitalism. Together we trace a line from the enclosures of the early 17th century to the present, looking at how food was commodified and how the market capitalist economic system has done a great job of overproducing food, and a poor one of distributing it equitably. Portions of this interview were originally published as a written Q&A by Truthout.org. Upstream theme music is composed by Robert Raymond Intermission music by Fire Ant Season (www.fireantseason.com) Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Pleas

It’s been a year since Covid hit the United States and radically altered our lives. It won’t be news to most that the Trump administration completely botched their response to the pandemic, and even under a Biden administration, the state has been slow to move on a lot of the promises that were made during the lead up to November’s election. Is this changing? In this conversation, we dove deep into the details and specifics of the United States’ political response to Covid with Eric Levitz, senior writer for New York Magazine's Intelligencer blog. Eric wrote a piece titled, “Coronavirus Creates an Opening for Progressivism — Also Barbarism,” where he explored what Covid means for the future of politics in the United States. What political cracks in fishers has Covid opened up? What divisions has it given rise to? What new forms of connection? How has it demonstrated the vulnerabilities and weaknesses in our political system, both domestically and also in how we interface with the rest of the world? Is the Uni

Over the last few decades, mindfulness has gone viral. These days, the practice has found its way into corporations, prisons, schools, police departments, and even the U.S. military. There are many benefits to mindfulness of course, but in his book, “McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality,” author Ron Purser explores the more pernicious part of the practice by examining how capitalism had co-opted mindfulness to further exploitation and extraction. Interestingly, it turns out that mindfulness can be very compatible with our current neoliberal ideologies of individualism, inward-focus, and the watering-down of sociality. It has been expertly applied in a way which encourages us to only look inside for solutions to our problems, instead of challenging the systems and structures that drive the suffering we experience. McMindfulness is a way of pacifying a population and instilling a victim-blaming mentality: if you’re stressed, anxious, depressed, just “mindfulness up,” and get ove

What do you see when you peek behind the curtains of neoliberal capitalism? What happens when you lift the veil off? Well, you see a mythological character. An apparition that haunts our collective consciousness. A spectre that permeates our institutions and that has epistemologically imprisoned us. Homo economicus. The term Homo economicus, or economic man, is a core principle in mainstream economic thinking. It’s a portrayal of humans as being inherently rational, greedy, and self-interested. We first got interested in the idea of Homo economicus when we started noticing a consistent barrier that many people have with the possibility of imagining a more just, solidaritistic, and sustainable economic future, stems from their assumptions about human nature. Time after time, we’ve heard — “But, humans are naturally selfish, so any system based on trust, equity, and true democracy would never work.” Where did the idea of Homo economicus come from? Why is it so embedded in mainstream economic thinking? And most

In this episode, we’re bringing you a special solstice // New Year's conversation. Upstream host Della Duncan comes out from interviewer's chair to be in conversation with two other baddass womxn podcast hosts — Manda Scott (Accidental Gods) and Nathalie Nahai (The Hive) to debrief all that has been 2020 and to look ahead to what is possible and potentially emerging in 2021. Nathalie is the host of The Hive Podcast, exploring our relationship with technology, one another and the natural world. She is also an international speaker and author of Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion. Manda Scott is the host of Accidental Gods, looking at the liminal space between science and spirituality, philosophy, politics, and creativity – working towards the conscious evolution of humanity. She’s also the award-winning author of the Boudica novels, a screenwriter, and a political activist.

It won’t come as a surprise to most to hear that the Trump administration has completely dropped the ball on their response to the covid pandemic. The misinformation campaign, lack of empathy, and outright failure of this administration to address the dangers and impacts of covid are jaw-dropping. But it’s not just a matter of this particular administration. In his new book “The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself,” Richard Wolff, a professor of economics and founder of Democracy at Work, outlines how the root cause of the failure to adequately respond to this pandemic is rooted in our economic system itself — capitalism. We spoke with Richard Wolff about how the Trump administration and our current economic system are both responsible for the disastrous response that the United States has shown in the face of such a major disaster. We go over how other countries have responded, how the United States could have done things differently, why capitalism is doomed to

The idea of Silicon Valley means many things to many people. The most prominent associations with this region and culture probably have to do with the tech industry — but that’s not the whole story. Not even close. There’s a dark side to Silicon Valley that doesn’t always make it into mainstream conversations and popular assumptions. Beneath the image there is a stark reality. In this Upstream Conversation, we spoke with Wendy Liu, an author and Silicon Valley insider turned critic. Her debut book, Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology From Capitalism, is a memoir and a manifesto on how to transform the tech industry from the hypercapitalist culture of inequality, gentrification, and greed that it is to something more equitable, accessible, and supportive of the real disruptions we need today. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductibl

What if you got your neighbors together and occupied the public spaces on your book, transforming them into whatever you would all want it to be? What would you include? ...A solar-paneled tea station? A little free library? A mural? This is the type of urban placemaking that the City Repair Project in Portland, Oregon inspires and facilitates. In this Upstream Conversation, we spoke with Mark Lakeman an urban place-maker, permaculture designer, and community facilitator who co-founder of The City Repair Project. In the last decade, he has directed, facilitated, or inspired designs for more than three hundred new community-generated public places in Portland, Oregon alone. We spoke with him while he was visiting Santa Cruz about the capitalist history of the Urban Grid and how to reclaim our streets, revive community, and belong once more to place. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and f

Dr. Nafeez Ahmed is a journalist and researcher who uses systems thinking to support the just transition to a more equitable and sustainable future. We contacted him after we came across his article, "White Supremacism and the Earth System," connecting the worldview that underpins capitalism to the racism that the Black Lives Matter movement is working to address, as well as the climate chaos and environmental devastation that we are experiencing globally. In this conversation, we spoke about why systems thinking is a useful practice, the connection between capitalism and white supremacy, and the great potential we are in for a global phase shift to a post-capitalist world. Nafeez is the executive director of the System Shift Lab and a research fellow at the Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems. He currently writes for VICE and he is the author of "A User's Guide to the Crisis of Civilisation: And How to Save it," and "Failing States, Collapsing Systems: BioPhysical Triggers of Political Violence." Up

Continuing our focus on the coronavirus pandemic and its intersection with capitalism, in this Conversation, we spoke with London-based economic anthropologist Jason Hickel. Jason in the author of The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and Its Solutions, Jason’s new book, “Less is More,” is being published in August by Penguin. We spoke with him about international capitalism during the pandemic, new opportunities for degrowth economics, and how to fundamentally move to a post capitalist world — which will take more than just a shift in economic policy, but a fundamental shift from the world view of capitalist thought. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast Twitter: @ups

Continuing our focus on the coronavirus pandemic and its intersection with capitalism, in this conversation we speak with Doug Henwood, an economist and host of the radio show and podcast Behind the News. Doug is a regular guest on our show, and in this conversation he helped make sense of much of the economics surrounding the coronavirus, explaining the failure of the government's response, the different possibilities of how we might come out of this pandemic in the long run, and what coronavirus has taught us about the failures of capitalism. The interview was conducted by Upstream producer, Robert Raymond. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Thanks to Haley Heyderickx for the intermission music. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation — Thank you! www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Faceb

Continuing our focus on the coronavirus pandemic and its intersection with capitalism, in this conversation we speak with New York State Senator, Julia Salazar, who represents New York's 18th district in northern Brooklyn, which includes the neighborhoods of Bushwick, Cyprus Hills, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and East New York. This pandemic has hit New York City harder than any other city in the world, and the neighborhoods represented by Senator Salazar are some of the hardest hit in New York City itself. We spoke with the Senator about how she got into organizing and politics, democratic socialism, feminist economics, and the economics of the coronavirus pandemic. This interview is part of a series of Upstream conversations about the coronavirus, capitalism, and potential systemic interventions and solutions during this challenging time. Upstream's theme music composed by: Robert Raymond. Thanks to Will Stratton (willstratton.com) for the intermission music. Upst

It’s unfortunate that it’s taking a global pandemic to reveal it, but the unprecedented crisis catalyzed by the coronavirus has exposed our capitalist economy for what it is: an economic system that puts profit over people (and the planet). This pandemic is an unprecedented event, but it’s the sharpening of class divides, the gutting of our social safety net, and the mentality of selfish individualism encouraged by capitalism which have turned this pandemic into an unimaginable crisis. In this conversation we speak with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed about our current epidemic of insecurity and how it has unfolded through this current crisis. El-Sayed is a doctor, an epidemiologist, a candidate in Michigan’s 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary election, and the author of "Healing Politics, A Doctor’s Journey Into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic," just out this month (April 2020). Senator Bernie Sanders has referred to El-Sayed as "One of the brightest young stars in the future of the progressive movement." This int

In recent months, thousands of people from coast to coast have confronted politicians and asked them to take action on climate change. Few of these political leaders seem to be listening, however, and so, in the face of this inaction, and with a renewed sense of urgency, people of all ages and backgrounds have begun taking directly to the streets and participating in mass disruption events in the United States and beyond. Extinction Rebellion (XR) is on the forefront of these actions. XR is a global environmental movement with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid ecological collapse. Growing out of the United Kingdom in 2018, XR now has an international presence. You may know them through their provocative style of direct action which includes intentional arrests, public swarms, banner drops, die-ins, gluing themselves to prominent structures, and more. Gail Bradbrook is a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion. We spoke with her in southwest England. Upstream

What do an indigenous ceremony in Canada, Burning Man, and an occupied salami factory in Rome have in common? They are all expressions of the gift economy featured in a new documentary by Robin McKenna, the guest of this Upstream conversation. Robin McKenna has worked in film for twenty years on several projects, including The Take with Naomi Klein (a film about workers who take over the means of production in Argentina in the wake of an economic collapse). Drawing inspiration from Lewis Hyde’s book, The Gift, Robin McKenna set out to chronicle gift cultures around the world that are challenging the logic of global capitalism. The result is her first feature-length documentary — GIFT, which is out now in theaters across the United States and Canada. Gift-giving is a radical act of resistance to the status quo. It requires trust, being open to receiving, and confronting traditional notions of wealth, ownership, and property. In this conversation we share stories of gifting, imagine what a more gift-oriented wo

It's often said that the economic system is rigged. The truth, however, is that the system is working exactly as it was designed to. Those in power, whether they hold public office or whether they sit in the boardroom of a multi-billion dollar international corporation, have taken great lengths to set up a system of rules that benefit them and maintain the status quo. Helena Norberg-Hodge, a pioneer of the New Economics movement, has spent many years studying the driving forces behind why our economies are failing us, and what we can do about it. Helena’s perspectives are informed by a systems thinking and colored by the many years she spent in Ladakh, part of the larger region of Kashmir, where she watched global capital completely transform entire communities. Helena Norberg Hodge is the Founder and Director of Local Futures, producer and co-director of the documentary films The Economics of Happiness and Ancient Futures: Lessons from Ladakh and Right Livelihood Award Laureate. We spoke with her in her home

The dark shadow of Silicon Valley is growing longer everyday, covering more and more of the globe and spreading not just technology, but a particular value set as well. By this time many know about the hyper-exploitative business models of companies like Uber or TaskRabbit. Or about how AirBnB has heavily reduced housing stocks in cities worldwide. But in his new book, Keith A. Spencer goes further than just picking on a few high profile companies. He lays out an argument for why Silicon Valley, at its core, is a highly exploitative and problematic industry. With a look at the tech world from the vantage point of the marginalized and oppressed—those who have not benefited from the incredible wealth bubbling up in the valley—”A People’s History of Silicon Valley: how the tech industry exploits workers, erodes privacy, and undermines democracy,” presents a damning thesis for why this new world of addictive gadgets and union-busting is increasingly undemocratic and dangerous. A People’s History of Silicon Valley