The Pen is My Machete:
An Anti-imperialist Podcast

On this episode, Ju-Hyun Park (Nodutdol) and Christine Hong (Korea Policy Institute and author of A Violent Peace: Race, U.S. Militarism, and Cultures of Democratization in Cold War Asia and the Pacific) join AISC members Betsy Yoon (Nodutdol) and Nina Farnia to talk about the recent Jaju Solidarity Brigade to South Korea, organized by Nodutdol with participation from dozens of anti-imperialist organizations. The brigade visited cities and villages impacted by US militarism and built solidarity with organizers on the frontlines of Korea’s ongoing struggle for national liberation at a time when the US is readying the Pacific for war against China, with South Korea as a lynchpin in the US military strategy in the region. South Korea hosts the third largest overseas presence of the US military, with 80 US military installations and bases, 28,500 troops, and the largest overseas base in the world hosted in Pyeongtaek. Dangerous US-ROK joint military exercises which began in 1955, are now conducted annually with such regularity that it has become a part of everyday life. As the US drive towards the Pacific War ramps up, people-to-people exchanges and solidarity across movements are needed now more than ever. The Jaju Solidarity Brigade is part of this broader effort to bridge international struggles and to bring back lessons from our homeland to fortify our fight here. Link to Christine Hong's book: A Violent Peace: Race, U.S. Militarism, and Cultures of Democratization in Cold War Asia and the Pacific https://www.sup.org/books/literary-studies-and-literature/violent-peace

Join AISC members Nina Farnia, Tamanisha John, and Jemima Pierre this Friday, August 28, 2026 at 3:00 pm for a discussion on AISC's response to the Guardian Letter. The Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective (AISC) strongly condemns “To Iran’s political prisoners, trapped ‘between two blades of a scissors’,” the open letter published on 20 August 2026 in The Guardian and signed by Western academics and cultural workers in the imperialist core. The letter distorts history, obfuscates the current geopolitical conjuncture, and provides ideological cover for the intensification of the ongoing war against Iran.[1] Similar to accusations against the Palestinian resistance that equate the zionist genocide to resistance-to-genocide, the letter creates a false and dangerous equivalence between the defensive actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the aggressions of the United States and Israel, the most powerful and genocidal imperialist forces in world history. The letter names multiple historical events without analysis, context, or citations. The absence of Iran’s resistance to the century-long genocide of the Palestinian people is deeply troubling. Additionally, the letter does not address the past century of imperialist intervention, during which Europe, the United States and most recently, Israel, have undermined Iranian and Arab sovereignty through coup attempts, kinetic wars, mercenaries, information warfare, sanctions, economic violence, and sabotage. Instead of addressing this execrable record, the authors offer a vague reference to “the anniversary of the 1988 mass executions in Iran” and a deracinated acknowledgement of the 1953 US-backed coup. As US imperialism accelerates and the resistance against it strengthens, the battle of ideas continues to intensify. This is the time when the responsibility of the anti-imperialist intellectual is to be rigorous and vigilant. We therefore find it necessary to name the stakes and clarify the distortions and obfuscations in the Guardian letter. The claims must be challenged and the motivations for its publication unearthed, especially because, as of the writing of this response, the letter’s authors remain obscured, the social media page that originally posted the letter is erased, while imperialist war drums continue apace. What follows is AISC’s initial response to this alarming, pro-imperialist document.”

AISC member Corinna Mullin, along with Suzanne Adely (NLG), Austin Cole (BAP), and Rosemari Mealy (author of Fidel & Malcolm X: Memories of a Meeting) will discuss the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) recent delegation to Cuba for the International Colloquium "Fidel: Legacy and Future." They will cover their participation in this historic gathering, the revolutionary spirit of the Cuban people in the face of the intensifying U.S. genocidal blockade and broader context of imperialist assault on the region, meetings with Cuban and international comrades, material aid and solidarity distributions to local projects and organizations, and ongoing organizing against the blockade and in solidarity with the Cuban revolution here in the belly of the beast as the McCarthyite repression intensifies.

AISC members, Orisanmi Burton and Toussaint Losier will discuss the origins of Black August, an annual, month-long observance to honor Black political prisoners/POWs, study their struggles, and rededicate ourselves to the liberation struggle. Burton and Losier will also link its origins in California prisons in the 1970s to those taking place today in and outside of prisons, jails, and detention camps. This discussion with be facilitated by AISC member Diego Alcalá. Follow AISC X (@penandmachete) Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. http://anti-imperialists.com/

The Trump regime’s racist termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians has left 350,000 people without deportation protection and at the mercy of ICE. Join us, AISC members Jamima Pierre and Diego Alcalá, as we discuss TPS in a broader historical and political context. We explain why Haiti remains a key laboratory for US imperial terror. Follow AISC X (@penandmachete) Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. http://anti-imperialists.com/

Join ASIC Members Navid Farnia and Diego Alcalá for a critical discussion on the latest developments in the global anti-imperialist struggle.

This video is private.

AISC members, Navid Farnia and Aby Sene will discuss the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) struggle for sovereignty and fight against imperialist assault, as well as what the federation means for Pan-Africanism in the 21st century. The discussion will be facilitated by AISC member Jemima Pierre. Date of Recording: May 29th 2026 Follow AISC X (@penandmachete) Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

AISC members Tamanisha John, Jemima Pierre, and Diego Alcalá Laboy join Navid Farnia to talk about U.S. imperialism's current machinations in the Caribbean and the current state of regional resistance and solidarity. They discuss the U.S.'s ongoing colonial occupations of Haiti and Puerto Rico, along with the attacks on Cuba. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow AISC X (@penandmachete) Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete https://www.anti-imperialists.com/ Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

In this emergency livestream, AISC members Nina Farnia, Jemima Pierre and Diego Alcalá are back to discuss the latest aggression by the United States on the Islamic Republic of Iran. We will discuss the history of nuclear armament, the largest funeral in world history, the global impact of the Iran war from Ukraine to the Caribbean, and where the war is heading. Join us!

Join us tomorrow, Thursday June 11th at 1pm EST / 10am PST for an emergency livestream podcast with AISC members Nina Farnia, Navid Farnia, Toussaint Losier and Corinna Mullin in breaking down AISC Red Paper #2: The Multiple Fronts of Iranian Anti-Imperialism — we'll analyze the material stakes of the multiple zionist-imperialist violations of the ceasefire, including the zionist-imperialist attacks on Iran and Lebanon and ongoing genocide in Gaza, Iran's insistence on keeping both Lebanon and Gaza within the terms of any ceasefire, and the critical role of Iran and the Axis of Resistance in materially decolonizing West Asia. 🔗 For essential background, read the full Red Paper here: https://www.anti-imperialists.com/red-papers/aisc-red-paper-no-2-the-multiple-fronts-of-iranian-anti-imperialism/ 📖 Plus two key articles from our latest Pen Is My Machete Special Issue on Iran: 🔗 "A Primer on the Axis of Resistance: A World-Historical Force for Liberation" — https://www.anti-imperialists.com/magazine/a-primer-on-the-axis-of-resistance-a-world-historical-force-for-liberation/ 🔗 "Zionism, US Imperialism, and the Capitalist Ruling Elite" — https://www.anti-imperialists.com/magazine/zionism-us-imperialism-and-the-capitalist-ruling-elite/ Photo: Fars Media Corporation, CC-BY 4.0

AISC members Jeannette Graulau and Corinna Mullin will discuss the radical ideas behind Latin American Marxist dependency theory, its origins and contributions to Third World Marxism, and why it matters for understanding Latin America today.

AISC members, Navid Farnia and Aby Sene will discuss the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) struggle for sovereignty and fight against imperialist assault, as well as what the federation means for Pan-Africanism in the 21st century. The discussion will be facilitated by AISC member Jemima Pierre.

This podcast will feature AISC members Diego Alcala in conversation with Rabab Abdulhadi about the enduring significance of the ongoing Nakba- the genocidal Zionist-imperialist colonization of Palestine- amid the unyielding resistance of the Palestinian people and the irreversible shift triggered by the Al-Aqsa Flood. This year’s commemoration takes place at a moment of US imperialist decline, even as the Zionist-imperialist war on Iran, Lebanon and the broader region persists. The discussion will also explore the relationship between Iran’s resistance and its role in materially decolonizing the region and the Palestinian national liberation struggle. Follow AISC X (penandmachete) Instagram (penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete https://www.anti-imperialists.com/ Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

No More Bombs, Blockades, or "Backyards"Friday, May 8 | 3:00 PM EST AISC members Charisse Burden-Stelly and Tamanisha John will be joined by Kimberly Miller for a wide-ranging conversation centering the Caribbean as a primary site of analyzing, critiquing and ultimately overthrowing U.S. imperialism. From the use of extraordinary force to the imposition of genocidal sanctions to the discursive violence of declaring the Caribbean as its ‘backyard’, this region is the connection point of U.S. domination. Follow AISC X (@penandmachete) Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Join us for another livestream AISC members Aby Sene and Navid Farnia will discuss the imperialist attacks on Mali and examine the role of France and the United States in sowing instability in the Sahel region. Follow AISC X (@penandmachete) Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. https://www.anti-imperialists.com/ Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

On this May Day livestream, AISC members Peter Hudson, Corinna Mullin and Jemima Pierre will be joined by Brahim Rouabah to discuss why imperialism is still the primary contradiction and has been for centuries. We will tackle the latest news in the war on West Asia and the capitalism v. white supremacy debates that raged on social media. The show will be hosted by Nina Farnia, with Corinna Mullin reporting live from New York City's May Day march.

On our regular Friday podcast livestream, AISC members Nina Farnia, Navid Farnia, and Diego H. Alcalá Laboy discussed the latest news and offered analysis about West Asia’s battle against empire. Follow AISC X (penandmachete) Instagram (penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. https://www.anti-imperialists.com/ Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

A live conversation featuring TRN Podcast host Nick Estes, Jeannette Graulau, and Aby Sène Co-published with Anti-Imperialists Scholars Collective. @penandmachete

On this episode, AISC member Navid Farnia speaks with guest and friend of the show, Professor Setareh Sadeqi (@Leelako). They discuss all things Iran and the United States, including the renewed negotiations between the two countries, the brutal Zionist-U.S. urban war against Iran in January, the possibility of U.S. military aggression, and Iran's preparedness. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel (Coming soon!) Follow AISC X (penandmachete) Instagram (penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

AISC members Tamanisha John, Jemima Pierre, and Diego Alcalá Laboy join Navid Farnia to talk about U.S. imperialism's current machinations in the Caribbean and the current state of regional resistance and solidarity. They discuss the U.S.'s ongoing colonial occupations of Haiti and Puerto Rico, along with the attacks on Cuba. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow AISC X (@penandmachete) Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete https://www.anti-imperialists.com/ Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

In this interview conducted by Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective member Corinna Mullin, H.E. Yuri Gala López, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cuba to the United Nations, reflects on the decades-long U.S. blockade and broader imperialist campaign of sabotage and ideological warfare directed at Cuba’s socialist project, including recent escalations targeting the island’s oil and energy supplies. The conversation also explores why Cuba continues to serve as a powerful example for the world of internationalism, sovereignty, and the possibility of organizing society around human need rather than profit. We encourage viewers to explore the latest special issue of The Pen Is My Machete, “Against U.S. Empire: From the Monroe Doctrine to Labor Imperialism,” which provides critical context on the long history and ongoing imperialist assault on Cuba and its impact on the Cuban state and people, while highlighting the island’s enduring resistance and internationalist role through original analysis, historical statements and documents, government reports, and other Follow AISC X : penandmachete) Instagram : penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. www.anti-imperialists.com/ Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

AISC members Diego Alcalá Laboy, Jemima Pierre, and Navid Farnia focus on the zionist-imperialist war against Iran and highlight how Iran is waging a strategic resistance campaign. They discuss how the situation reached this point, provide updates regarding battlefield developments, and examine the global implications of the war. Follow AISC X : penandmachete) Instagram : penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. www.anti-imperialists.com/ Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

This episode, hosted by AISC member Bikrum Gill, addresses the recent US attack on Venezuela and the brazen kidnapping of President Nicholas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. We are joined by journalist Camila Escalante, who begins the episode with important updates on the situation in Venezuela and shares key insights regarding the need to be vigilant against psychological warfare in this moment. This is followed by a roundtable discussion with AISC members Layla Brown, Jemima Pierre, Diego Alcala Laboy, and Tamanisha John. Here, we discuss the history of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela, why the Bolivarian state poses such a distinct threat to US imperialism, and how the struggle in Venezuela links to broader anti-imperialist struggles in the region and globally. Follow AISC X (@penandmachete) Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Hosted by AISC co-founder Nina Farnia, this episode features two distinguished guests and friends of AISC, Venezuela's former vice minister of foreign affairs Carlos Ron and University of Tehran professor Mohammad Marandi. We initially filmed a 2025 anti-imperialist roundup on December 30, 2025, but just a few days later the US invaded Venezuela and abducted President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flires. We brought our guests back after the abduction to discuss the invasion, the abduction, and the future of the Bolivarian Revolution in the face of US imperialism. Both episodes are included here. Follow AISC X (@penandmachete) Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

In this episode, Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective members Jeannette Graulau and Corinna Mullin are joined by Arto Artinian for a wide-ranging discussion on the US/NATO proxy war in Ukraine, drawing on a recent AISC-convened roundtable and special issue edited by Jeannette Graulau on “Russia Today.” At a moment when Russophobia dominates mainstream discourse and critical scholarship is increasingly marginalized within Western academia, the conversation works to restore historical and political clarity. Situating the war within the longer arc of Western encirclement, sanctions warfare, and attempts to recolonize the post-Soviet space, the discussion challenges dominant narratives that frame Russia as an imperialist aggressor. Arto Artinian is a musician and political theorist whose work focuses on Marxism, imperialism, and Eastern European political thought. Raised in Bulgaria and the Soviet Union, he later pursued his studies in the United States. His current research includes Homo Datum, an examination of political subjectivity under contemporary capitalism, and June 1941: Soviet Ukraine, a historico-philosophical reconstruction challenging revisionist accounts of the Nazi invasion. He is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY) and a member of the editorial collectives of Marxism & Sciences and Situations: Project of the Radical Imagination. Follow AISC  X (@penandmachete)  Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Hosted by AISC members Bikrum Gill and Corinna Mullin, this episode features Suzanne Adely, a movement lawyer, longtime Arab community organizer, and president of the National Lawyers Guild with decades of experience in international labor solidarity, and Sachin Peddada, Research Coordinator at Progressive International whose work maps military supply chains and the political economy of war. Together, they examine labor imperialism and labor Zionism through the intertwined struggles of Palestine and Venezuela. Situating the conversation in the wake of the November 28–29 Disarm Genocide Now days of action—when workers, unions, students, and communities mobilized to hold labor bureacrats accountable, uphold the Palestinian BDS picket line, and boycott Black Friday—the episode traces the historical role of U.S. labor institutions in sustaining Zionist settler colonialism and imperialist power, while recovering suppressed traditions of anti-imperialist and anti-racist labor internationalism from below. Moving from supply-chain disruption in solidarity with Palestine to the AFL-CIO’s role in undermining the Bolivarian socialist revolutionary project in Venezuela, the discussion shows how labor struggles against genocide and sanctions are part of a single global fight against capitalist-imperialist accumulation—and why building militant, internationalist working-class power is essential to confronting both. Follow AISC on X (@penandmachete) and Instagram (@penandmachete). Visit anti-imperialists.com to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast.

On Episode 5 of the AISC podcast, members Diego Alcalá, Bikrum Gill, and Navid Farnia discuss the U.S. continued buildup in the Caribbean, focusing particularly on the implications for Venezuela and Puerto Rico. They also explore the ongoing imperialist attacks against Lebanon, the West's failing military campaign against Russia, and the popular discourse on the relationship between the Zionist entity and the United States. Follow AISC on X (@penandmachete) and Instagram (@penandmachete). Visit anti-imperialists.com to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast.

On this episode of the AISC podcast, members Bikrum Gill and Navid Farnia address the US's ongoing military buildup in the Caribbean and the energy conflict between the US and China. They also provide more analysis of the Gaza "ceasefire" and comment on the flareup between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Follow AISC on X (@penandmachete) and Instagram (@penandmachete). Visit anti-imperialists.com to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast.

On this episode of the AISC podcast, members Charisse Burden-Stelly and Navid Farnia discuss the passing of the revolutionary Assata Shakur, the ceasefire in Gaza, the Nobel Peace Prize as a mechanism to ramp up imperialist pressure on Venezuela, and the US government's overture to universities in order to induce ideological alignment. Follow AISC on X (@penandmachete) and Instagram (@penandmachete). Visit anti-imperialists.com to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast.

On this episode of the Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective podcast, AISC members Alex Aviña, Bikrum Gill, and Jemima Pierre discuss and historicize the current imperialist occupation of Haiti. They consider the ramifications of the US-led occupation for the broader Caribbean region and specifically, for the US's military buildup and hybrid war against Venezuela. They also respond to the "peace plan" presented by the US imperialists and their regional collaborators to the Palestinian resistance (note: this episode was recorded before the ceasefire was reached on October 9). Follow AISC on X (@penandmachete) and Instagram (@penandmachete). Visit anti-imperialists.com to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast.

On this inaugural episode of the Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective podcast, AISC members Diego Alcalá and Bikrum Gill introduce the collective and highlight our Principles of Unity. Follow AISC on X (@penandmachete) and Instagram (@penandmachete). Visit anti-imperialists.com to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast.