Rania Khalek Dispatches

When the war in Ukraine began, Western officials bragged that they were going to “turn the ruble into rubble” and bring Russia to its knees. Seven months later, as the war and sanctions drag on with no end in sight, it’s the Euro that is turning to rubble and Europe being brought to its knees. It turns out sanctioning your largest gas supplier with no alternative in place, following years of stagnation and an economy-destroying pandemic, isn’t a great idea. To discuss the economic fallout for the Europe and the impact it’s having under neoliberalism, Rania Khalek was joined by Prahbat Patnaik, Marxist economist, Professor Emeritus at JNU, and author of “Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present,” co-authored with Utsa Patnaik.Articles discussed in this episode: https://www.newsclick.in/Why-US-Cut-up-With-OPEC-Decision-Cut-Output https://www.thenorthlines.com/opecs-decision-to-cut-oil-output-is-a-challenge-to-us-hegemony/ https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/the-crisis-within-ascendancy-of-neofascism-and-how-to-counter-it/cid/1890382https://peoplesdemocracy.in/2022/1009_pd/acceleration-eurozone-inflation-rate

As the U.S. pours a seemingly endless amount of weapons into Ukraine to weaken Russia, Western officials and pundits are very casually setting us up for a potential nuclear war that would be catastrophic for humanity. Meanwhile European hardship continues to skyrocket as sanctions on Russia destroy its economy and cause gas shortages while European leaders and media demonstrate shocking levels of racism and hypocrisy.To help make sense of it all Rania Khalek is joined by Ali Abunimah, director of The Electronic Intifada and author of “The Battle for Justice In Palestine.”Follow The Electronic Intifada on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/electronicintifadaListen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

How can we comprehend the victory of Giorgia Meloni, an admirer of Mussolini, in Italy's recent elections? Is she a fascist? Does this represent a surging far-right trend in Europe? How has the war in Ukraine impacted Italian politics? And where is the Italian left in all of this? To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Maurizio Coppola, a member of the international office of the Italian political party Power to the People!.Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

Navid Zarrinnal, a Columbia Univ. PhD and Iranian scholar at Stanford University, joined Rania Khalek to help make sense of the unrest in Iran over the morality police or guidance patrol amid the death of Mahsa Amini and the way Western governments are using a legitimate grievance to promote instability in Iran. They also discuss the way the protests have been exaggerated by Western anti-Iran media, the role of hawkish exiles in promoting false narratives about a “revolution” and the actual conversation about the hijab mandate taking place inside Iran. Navid welcomes feedback, you can get in touch with him at nz67@stanford.eduListen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

To discuss the history of the Arab Gulf states as Western imperial outposts and the damage they have done and continue to do to the left and progressive movements around the world, Rania Khalek was joined by As’ad Abukhalil, a Lebanese-American professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus.Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

To understand what Brazil has gone through in recent years, the significance of the recent election results and what it could mean for the country and the world, Rania Khalek was joined by Michael Fox, a freelance journalist based in Latin America, former editor of NACLA and host of the new podcast Brazil on Fire. Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mfox_us Michael’s podcast Brazil on Fire: https://nacla.org/brazil-on-fire-podcast Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

With the Democratic Party hopelessly incapable of doing anything to address our many crises, the far-right has managed to brand itself as subversive using oligarch funding for anti-woke and pseudo-populist campaigns. The result is to send more and more lost and alienated people down the reactionary rabbit hole. How do we understand and navigate our way through this dystopian political scene? To discuss this and more Rania Khalek was joined by Matt Christman, co-host of the popular podcast Chapo Trap House.Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez sat down with BT’s Rania Khalek following the UN General Assembly to discuss why so many countries oppose the U.S. blockade, how U.S. official hostility towards Cuba hurts both countries and his own personal history volunteering in the liberation struggle of Angola against racist apartheid. 

The British Queen’s death has given rise to conversations about the crimes of colonialism as well as defenses and denials of it. Meanwhile the US can’t impose itself on the Global South the way it used to, it appears both at home and abroad to be an empire in decline. To discuss empires, both dead and dying, why colonialism still matters and the anti-imperialist struggle around the world, Rania Khalek was joined by Sina Rahmani, creator of East Is A Podcast.Sina on Twitter: https://twitter.com/urorientalistEast Is A Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/east_podcastListen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK

To discuss the disinformation industry and how it's contributed to the collapse of foreign reporting in the West, Rania Khalek was joined by Ben Norton, a Latin America based journalist and founder of Multipolarista. Ben’s article discussed in the episode: https://multipolarista.com/2022/04/14/new-york-times-attack-propaganda/Listen to every episode of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts.Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK