Podcast Summary: It Could Happen Here Weekly 224 — March 21, 2026

Main Theme

This episode is a wide-ranging, multi-segment dive into ongoing global and domestic collapse, with a special focus on three major topics:

The privatization (and moral crisis) of maritime security during renewed conflict in the Strait of Hormuz
Fault lines within Palestinian politics and the question of armed tactics amid the Gaza crisis
The emergence of techno-capitalist “network states,” their global impact, and the rise of venture capital as a semi-sovereign imperial force

Throughout, hosts Robert Evans, Mia Wong, James Stout, and Garrison Davis—with additional reporting from Dana Elkhorn and guest Shanley—explore how these disparate events amount to a chronicle of system breakdown, authoritarian drift, and the challenge of building better futures.

Private Maritime Security and The Strait of Hormuz Crisis

Discussion Overview

Host(s): James Stout, Garrison Davis
Timestamps: [02:40]–[42:04], [173:17] onward

Key Points

Context: Renewed attacks by Iran on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz threaten a global oil and trade choke point.
Marines and PMCs (private military contractors) have become the real enforcers of maritime security, filling the vacuum left by retreating nation-states.
Most commercial ships now have private armed contractors, a system with minimal legal oversight.
International law is evaded with "flags of convenience"—vessels registered offshore for lax regulations, taxation, and safety standards.
Major piracy incidents (like the Maersk Alabama hijacking) spurred the explosion of PMCs on vessels, but accountability remains virtually nonexistent, both for these and for labor abuses at sea.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On the nature of private maritime security:

"The reason we can have private security contractors, often with machine guns, on boats is the same reason that horrific labor abuses are perpetrated on boats daily." – James Stout [04:54]
On flags of convenience:

"Liberia is not going to be of much assistance.” – Garrison Davis [15:13] “Yeah, they're not coming. The Liberian Navy is not available to help you..." – James Stout [15:16]
On the brutality of the industry:

"Industry standards that the industry itself sets... Those have generally not been the best means of accountability." – James Stout [21:19]
On current U.S. and Iranian naval capabilities:

“The Iranians only have to make transiting the Strait of Hormuz uninsurable to succeed.” – James Stout [27:56]

Insights & Analysis

Private security has become the de facto system for maritime law, with companies openly arming ships and facing virtually no oversight due to international legal loopholes.
The idea that nations control the high seas is disproved daily—shipping companies and their private armies effectively run the show, and neoliberalism turns a blind eye as long as the "treats keep moving."
The region’s instability and the vulnerability of critical global supply lines—oil, gas, trade goods—are such that private violence may be about to become even less regulated, with escalating risk to civilians.

"It is wild that right now the solution of the global shipping industry seems to be: some of these people will die, but we will keep the oil moving and the treats moving. But that has been... the status of the shipping industry for most of the 21st century." – James Stout [41:33]

Palestinian Politics: Disarmament and Debate in Gaza

Discussion Overview

Host: Dana Elkhorn (Palestinian/Arab Politics Expert)
Timestamps: [45:06]–[63:05]

Key Points

Ceasefire & Humanitarian Situation: Despite supposed truce, Israel continues demolitions, attacks, and restricts humanitarian aid in Gaza.
The debate over Hamas disarmament is front and center; the U.S. and Israel demand full demilitarization as a prerequisite for reconstruction.
Divergent Palestinian Views:
- Hamas: Any disarmament must come in the context of real self-defense guarantees; won't fully surrender arms unilaterally.
- Fatah/PA: Argues for disarmament as the price of international legitimacy and future statehood; sees itself as the only party able to unite and govern.
- Civil Society: Many Palestinians support neither party; call for real national consensus mechanisms and functional, revitalized institutions.
Polling Data: Support is fragmented; neither Fatah nor Hamas commands a true mandate.
Moral Self-Reflection: Intellectuals have debated both strategy and morality of armed resistance well before October 7; internal critique exists despite prevailing Western narratives.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On disarmament as an "international demand":

"How would Palestinians navigate this? ...Hamas should be more flexible on the weapons and disarmament issue, especially given the degree of people suffering and the need for reconstruction in Gaza." – Dana Elkhorn summarizing Mustafa Ibrahim
On lack of consensus:

"There is no national consensus and it’s not because Palestinians don’t know how to resolve these issues. It’s because they haven’t been given the space to do so." [52:00 approx.]
On the wider lesson:

"Disempowering Palestinians, ignoring their aspirations and ignoring the need for their input or blocking them from undergoing this essential process will only prolong the conflict and prolong the suffering." – Dana Elkhorn [62:40]

The Techno-Fascist “Network State”: Global Venture Capitalism as Proto-Empire

Discussion Overview

Host: Mia Wong with guest Shanley (VCinfodocs)
Timestamps: [63:05]–[101:47] and [101:14]–[137:05]

Key Points

The Problem: Popular focus on tech billionaires' personalities (Thiel, Altman, Yarvin) misses the reality—a vast, tightly networked ecosystem of “cartelized” venture capital that coordinates not just startups, but government policy, global finance, and even war.
How VC Firms Operate:
- Act as command hubs, coordinating trillions of dollars in capital.
- Major firms (Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Sequoia) are consolidating near-monopoly power.
- VC is intertwined with defense (hundreds of new weapons contractors), crypto, and sovereign wealth from authoritarian states.
- CIA (via In-Q-Tel), BlackRock, Wall Street, and Gulf dictatorships (especially Saudi Arabia) fund and co-own this machine.
Crypto as a Parallel Sovereign System:
- Crypto becomes the shadow banking system for VC, enabling extreme tax evasion, international law evasion, and providing financial rails for globally deregulated, untraceable capitalism.
Network State as Strategy:
- “Network states” are new private political entities carving out extralegal zones (special economic zones) worldwide, enabling deregulated medical, biotech, war-tech, and resource extraction activities.
- Medical experimentation without oversight, neo-colonial mineral extraction, labor exploitation, and the active destabilization of countries (via compliant politicians like Bukele, Milei).
Tech Fascism and Eugenics:
- VC class increasingly adopts a self-conscious “civilizational” identity, aiming for selective breeding, hyper-productivity, and a form of engineered techno-eugenic “future race.”
- Israel is seen as a model—an advanced technocratic (and militarist) state with high birth rates among its "elite."
- Imperial ambitions butt up against Belt and Road and China, forming a new axis of global right-wing authoritarian competition.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On the real structure of power:

“VCs act as a central coordinator of this giant machinery of startups and technological development... It is a cartel that has a central financial backbone.” – Shanley [68:16]
On the Network State's core pitch:

“They want global deregulation, they want global suspension of taxes all over the world... They need to recolonize Latin America and Africa. Ultimately this all unfolds within a war with China.” – Shanley [100:00]
On corporate colonialism:

"When VC contacts these countries, it is transforming them, it's changing their politicians, it's changing their policies, it's changing their land, it's changing their financial system... over time that’s like a global tech fascist axis." – Shanley [115:12]
On the scale of the threat:

“They are so much more advanced in these projects than anyone has awareness of. Things are way beyond the emergency moment and we need global response... We need resistance.” – Shanley [129:48]
On building resistance:

“If we just let this go for an end, like, today is our best chance of stopping it… we need to be professional resistors and anti colonialists and anti fascists and take this as not just an ideological thing, but this is a tactical situation—we need to be figuring out strategies and tactics to take this down.” – Shanley [135:47]

Domestic U.S. Collapse and News Roundup

Light-Hearted Start

Hosts joke about “executive dysphonia” while lampooning their inability to report live from the Buffalo Wild Wings at SeaWorld. [137:29–140:18]

“As a British person, the SeaWorld location in Orlando, Florida is our spiritual home.” – James Stout [139:52]

Key U.S. News

Meta shuts down its VR Metaverse on June 15th [140:18]
Election update: Kat Abu Ghazali’s strong but unsuccessful run in Evanston. [140:58]
Columbian student Lika Cordilla released from ICE detention after a year [141:32]
Cuba faces blackouts due to U.S. blockade and lack of Venezuelan imports [141:51]
Ecuador bombs Colombia by mistake amid regional instability [142:36–143:04]
White House seeks to end shutdown by cosmetic reforms to DHS; heavy skepticism follows [143:04–145:07]

ICE, Border Patrol, and Domestic Policing

Gregory Bevino ("Greggy B.") retires early as Border Patrol leadership shifts in response to mounting deaths, scandals, and political shifts, possibly signaling broader re-evaluation of mass deportations. [145:07–148:28]
Minneapolis resistance to ICE & Border Patrol noted as a rare people-victorious moment [148:28]

Gambling on War and News Integrity

Polymarket (crypto prediction market) users harassed an Israeli journalist to try to manipulate payout after a rocket attack, highlighting how finance will warp even violent crises for speculative profit. [149:08–156:27]

"Once people are putting fortunes on the line around stupid shit—like betting whether or not a missile made it through—the vested financial interest in going after people over stuff like this is going to become the norm." – Robert Evans [155:04]

Antifa, Federal Trials, and New Legal Dangers

Discussion Overview

Host: Garrison Davis, with Robert Evans
Timestamps: [158:24]–[171:52]

Key Case: Prairieland Antifa Trial

First mass antifa “terrorism” conviction: 8+ activists convicted on charges including riot, conspiracy to carry explosives (fireworks), and material support. Lead defendant convicted of attempted murder for firing at a police officer during a protest at an ICE facility.
Federal prosecutors, aided by a hate group “expert,” constructed “Antifa” as a de facto terrorist organization, linking defendants through ideology and group chat evidence.
Evidence included anarchist zines, black bloc clothing, and political affinity groups (SRA, John Brown Gun Club), now potentially criminalized as evidence of conspiracy.
Use of broad statutes on "material support to terrorists" was broadened to criminalize protest organizing and mutual aid (e.g. zine distribution).

"Just establishing someone is a member of 'antifa' is not really what they’re going after, but they're using 'antifa' this way to link the defendants through this ideological unity to show… conspiracy." – Garrison [172:05]

The Iran War, Economy, and Global Unraveling

Strait of Hormuz remains impassable; oil/natural gas infrastructure damaged
G7+Netherlands can’t/don’t want to actually open the Strait
Attacks, counterattacks:
- Israel strikes Iran’s key gas field → Iran hits Qatar’s LNG processing (cuts 17% of Qatar’s export capacity for years), risking global supply crisis [173:17–181:31]
- Brent crude passes $100/barrel; looming possibility of catastrophic $200/barrel scenarios.
- U.S. deploys thousands of Marines & naval forces, but no military solution is apparent.

Antisemitism, Resignations, and Domestic Fracture

Joe Kent resigns as National Counter Terrorism Center chief, blaming American subservience to Israel in explicit antisemitic rhetoric; further exposes the resurgence of “red-brown” alliances and old-school antisemitism across both the far-right and sectors of the online left. [194:03–199:10]

"His reason for retiring is, like, explicitly anti-Semitic." – James Stout [195:21]
Hosts warn of normalization of ZOG, antisemitic tropes on both left and right.
Cesar Chavez sexual abuse revelations receive brief mention.

Calls to Action & Closing Thoughts

Techno-fascism and VC extraction cannot be defeated by focusing on personalities—the struggle must be global, tactical, and rooted in structural, anti-capitalist, and anti-colonial analysis.

“We need global emergency response and we need resistance. When venture capitalists show up to these areas, the people there don’t know what’s hitting them. And that’s even true in the U.S... We need global defense from this.” – Shanley [129:48]
Hope grounded in history: The episode closes with reminders that collective struggle has, in the past, achieved the seemingly impossible, from anti-globalization summits to anti-colonial revolution.

Notable Timestamps & Segments

Private Maritime Security: [02:40]–[42:04]
Gaza and Palestinian Politics: [45:06]–[63:05]
Tech Fascism / Venture Capital: [63:05]–[101:47]; [101:14]–[137:05]
U.S. Domestic News & Polymarket: [137:29]–[156:27]
Federal Antifa Trial Analysis: [158:24]–[171:52]
Iran, Oil, Global Economy: [173:17]–[194:03]
Antisemitism Red-Brown Warning: [194:03]–[199:10]

Tone

Conversational, critical, bleakly humorous, deeply analytical. Hosts shift comfortably between dense reporting, historical context, and moments of dark humor or exasperated banter. The voice is anti-authoritarian, explicitly anti-fascist, and committed to structural, systems-level understanding of ongoing collapse.

Recommended Further Listening/Reading

“The Outlaw Ocean” — Podcast on maritime labor abuses, recommended by James [22:02]
VCinfodocs.com — For further info on the tech/VC/crypto/capitalist empire (per guest Shanley)
Defector article: "Trump to World: Please Help Me Unshoot My Own Leg Off" — On the unresolvable Strait crisis

For a full experience of the immersive, ever-worsening collapse—and the ways resistance is still possible—this episode is worth listening to in its entirety.

Podcast Summary: It Could Happen Here Weekly 224 — March 21, 2026

Main Theme

This episode is a wide-ranging, multi-segment dive into ongoing global and domestic collapse, with a special focus on three major topics:

The privatization (and moral crisis) of maritime security during renewed conflict in the Strait of Hormuz
Fault lines within Palestinian politics and the question of armed tactics amid the Gaza crisis
The emergence of techno-capitalist “network states,” their global impact, and the rise of venture capital as a semi-sovereign imperial force

Private Maritime Security and The Strait of Hormuz Crisis

Discussion Overview

Host(s): James Stout, Garrison Davis
Timestamps: [02:40]–[42:04], [173:17] onward

Key Points

Context: Renewed attacks by Iran on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz threaten a global oil and trade choke point.
Marines and PMCs (private military contractors) have become the real enforcers of maritime security, filling the vacuum left by retreating nation-states.
Most commercial ships now have private armed contractors, a system with minimal legal oversight.
International law is evaded with "flags of convenience"—vessels registered offshore for lax regulations, taxation, and safety standards.
Major piracy incidents (like the Maersk Alabama hijacking) spurred the explosion of PMCs on vessels, but accountability remains virtually nonexistent, both for these and for labor abuses at sea.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On the nature of private maritime security:

"The reason we can have private security contractors, often with machine guns, on boats is the same reason that horrific labor abuses are perpetrated on boats daily." – James Stout [04:54]
On flags of convenience:

"Liberia is not going to be of much assistance.” – Garrison Davis [15:13] “Yeah, they're not coming. The Liberian Navy is not available to help you..." – James Stout [15:16]
On the brutality of the industry:

"Industry standards that the industry itself sets... Those have generally not been the best means of accountability." – James Stout [21:19]
On current U.S. and Iranian naval capabilities:

“The Iranians only have to make transiting the Strait of Hormuz uninsurable to succeed.” – James Stout [27:56]

Insights & Analysis

Private security has become the de facto system for maritime law, with companies openly arming ships and facing virtually no oversight due to international legal loopholes.
The idea that nations control the high seas is disproved daily—shipping companies and their private armies effectively run the show, and neoliberalism turns a blind eye as long as the "treats keep moving."
The region’s instability and the vulnerability of critical global supply lines—oil, gas, trade goods—are such that private violence may be about to become even less regulated, with escalating risk to civilians.

"It is wild that right now the solution of the global shipping industry seems to be: some of these people will die, but we will keep the oil moving and the treats moving. But that has been... the status of the shipping industry for most of the 21st century." – James Stout [41:33]

Palestinian Politics: Disarmament and Debate in Gaza

Discussion Overview

Host: Dana Elkhorn (Palestinian/Arab Politics Expert)
Timestamps: [45:06]–[63:05]

Key Points

Ceasefire & Humanitarian Situation: Despite supposed truce, Israel continues demolitions, attacks, and restricts humanitarian aid in Gaza.
The debate over Hamas disarmament is front and center; the U.S. and Israel demand full demilitarization as a prerequisite for reconstruction.
Divergent Palestinian Views:
- Hamas: Any disarmament must come in the context of real self-defense guarantees; won't fully surrender arms unilaterally.
- Fatah/PA: Argues for disarmament as the price of international legitimacy and future statehood; sees itself as the only party able to unite and govern.
- Civil Society: Many Palestinians support neither party; call for real national consensus mechanisms and functional, revitalized institutions.
Polling Data: Support is fragmented; neither Fatah nor Hamas commands a true mandate.
Moral Self-Reflection: Intellectuals have debated both strategy and morality of armed resistance well before October 7; internal critique exists despite prevailing Western narratives.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On disarmament as an "international demand":

"How would Palestinians navigate this? ...Hamas should be more flexible on the weapons and disarmament issue, especially given the degree of people suffering and the need for reconstruction in Gaza." – Dana Elkhorn summarizing Mustafa Ibrahim
On lack of consensus:

"There is no national consensus and it’s not because Palestinians don’t know how to resolve these issues. It’s because they haven’t been given the space to do so." [52:00 approx.]
On the wider lesson:

"Disempowering Palestinians, ignoring their aspirations and ignoring the need for their input or blocking them from undergoing this essential process will only prolong the conflict and prolong the suffering." – Dana Elkhorn [62:40]

The Techno-Fascist “Network State”: Global Venture Capitalism as Proto-Empire

Discussion Overview

Host: Mia Wong with guest Shanley (VCinfodocs)
Timestamps: [63:05]–[101:47] and [101:14]–[137:05]

Key Points

The Problem: Popular focus on tech billionaires' personalities (Thiel, Altman, Yarvin) misses the reality—a vast, tightly networked ecosystem of “cartelized” venture capital that coordinates not just startups, but government policy, global finance, and even war.
How VC Firms Operate:
- Act as command hubs, coordinating trillions of dollars in capital.
- Major firms (Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Sequoia) are consolidating near-monopoly power.
- VC is intertwined with defense (hundreds of new weapons contractors), crypto, and sovereign wealth from authoritarian states.
- CIA (via In-Q-Tel), BlackRock, Wall Street, and Gulf dictatorships (especially Saudi Arabia) fund and co-own this machine.
Crypto as a Parallel Sovereign System:
- Crypto becomes the shadow banking system for VC, enabling extreme tax evasion, international law evasion, and providing financial rails for globally deregulated, untraceable capitalism.
Network State as Strategy:
- “Network states” are new private political entities carving out extralegal zones (special economic zones) worldwide, enabling deregulated medical, biotech, war-tech, and resource extraction activities.
- Medical experimentation without oversight, neo-colonial mineral extraction, labor exploitation, and the active destabilization of countries (via compliant politicians like Bukele, Milei).
Tech Fascism and Eugenics:
- VC class increasingly adopts a self-conscious “civilizational” identity, aiming for selective breeding, hyper-productivity, and a form of engineered techno-eugenic “future race.”
- Israel is seen as a model—an advanced technocratic (and militarist) state with high birth rates among its "elite."
- Imperial ambitions butt up against Belt and Road and China, forming a new axis of global right-wing authoritarian competition.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On the real structure of power:

“VCs act as a central coordinator of this giant machinery of startups and technological development... It is a cartel that has a central financial backbone.” – Shanley [68:16]
On the Network State's core pitch:

“They want global deregulation, they want global suspension of taxes all over the world... They need to recolonize Latin America and Africa. Ultimately this all unfolds within a war with China.” – Shanley [100:00]
On corporate colonialism:

"When VC contacts these countries, it is transforming them, it's changing their politicians, it's changing their policies, it's changing their land, it's changing their financial system... over time that’s like a global tech fascist axis." – Shanley [115:12]
On the scale of the threat:

“They are so much more advanced in these projects than anyone has awareness of. Things are way beyond the emergency moment and we need global response... We need resistance.” – Shanley [129:48]
On building resistance:

“If we just let this go for an end, like, today is our best chance of stopping it… we need to be professional resistors and anti colonialists and anti fascists and take this as not just an ideological thing, but this is a tactical situation—we need to be figuring out strategies and tactics to take this down.” – Shanley [135:47]

Domestic U.S. Collapse and News Roundup

Light-Hearted Start

Hosts joke about “executive dysphonia” while lampooning their inability to report live from the Buffalo Wild Wings at SeaWorld. [137:29–140:18]

“As a British person, the SeaWorld location in Orlando, Florida is our spiritual home.” – James Stout [139:52]

Key U.S. News

Meta shuts down its VR Metaverse on June 15th [140:18]
Election update: Kat Abu Ghazali’s strong but unsuccessful run in Evanston. [140:58]
Columbian student Lika Cordilla released from ICE detention after a year [141:32]
Cuba faces blackouts due to U.S. blockade and lack of Venezuelan imports [141:51]
Ecuador bombs Colombia by mistake amid regional instability [142:36–143:04]
White House seeks to end shutdown by cosmetic reforms to DHS; heavy skepticism follows [143:04–145:07]

ICE, Border Patrol, and Domestic Policing

Gregory Bevino ("Greggy B.") retires early as Border Patrol leadership shifts in response to mounting deaths, scandals, and political shifts, possibly signaling broader re-evaluation of mass deportations. [145:07–148:28]
Minneapolis resistance to ICE & Border Patrol noted as a rare people-victorious moment [148:28]

Gambling on War and News Integrity

Polymarket (crypto prediction market) users harassed an Israeli journalist to try to manipulate payout after a rocket attack, highlighting how finance will warp even violent crises for speculative profit. [149:08–156:27]

"Once people are putting fortunes on the line around stupid shit—like betting whether or not a missile made it through—the vested financial interest in going after people over stuff like this is going to become the norm." – Robert Evans [155:04]

Antifa, Federal Trials, and New Legal Dangers

Discussion Overview

Host: Garrison Davis, with Robert Evans
Timestamps: [158:24]–[171:52]

Key Case: Prairieland Antifa Trial

First mass antifa “terrorism” conviction: 8+ activists convicted on charges including riot, conspiracy to carry explosives (fireworks), and material support. Lead defendant convicted of attempted murder for firing at a police officer during a protest at an ICE facility.
Federal prosecutors, aided by a hate group “expert,” constructed “Antifa” as a de facto terrorist organization, linking defendants through ideology and group chat evidence.
Evidence included anarchist zines, black bloc clothing, and political affinity groups (SRA, John Brown Gun Club), now potentially criminalized as evidence of conspiracy.
Use of broad statutes on "material support to terrorists" was broadened to criminalize protest organizing and mutual aid (e.g. zine distribution).

"Just establishing someone is a member of 'antifa' is not really what they’re going after, but they're using 'antifa' this way to link the defendants through this ideological unity to show… conspiracy." – Garrison [172:05]

The Iran War, Economy, and Global Unraveling

Strait of Hormuz remains impassable; oil/natural gas infrastructure damaged
G7+Netherlands can’t/don’t want to actually open the Strait
Attacks, counterattacks:
- Israel strikes Iran’s key gas field → Iran hits Qatar’s LNG processing (cuts 17% of Qatar’s export capacity for years), risking global supply crisis [173:17–181:31]
- Brent crude passes $100/barrel; looming possibility of catastrophic $200/barrel scenarios.
- U.S. deploys thousands of Marines & naval forces, but no military solution is apparent.

Antisemitism, Resignations, and Domestic Fracture

Joe Kent resigns as National Counter Terrorism Center chief, blaming American subservience to Israel in explicit antisemitic rhetoric; further exposes the resurgence of “red-brown” alliances and old-school antisemitism across both the far-right and sectors of the online left. [194:03–199:10]

"His reason for retiring is, like, explicitly anti-Semitic." – James Stout [195:21]
Hosts warn of normalization of ZOG, antisemitic tropes on both left and right.
Cesar Chavez sexual abuse revelations receive brief mention.

Calls to Action & Closing Thoughts

Techno-fascism and VC extraction cannot be defeated by focusing on personalities—the struggle must be global, tactical, and rooted in structural, anti-capitalist, and anti-colonial analysis.

“We need global emergency response and we need resistance. When venture capitalists show up to these areas, the people there don’t know what’s hitting them. And that’s even true in the U.S... We need global defense from this.” – Shanley [129:48]
Hope grounded in history: The episode closes with reminders that collective struggle has, in the past, achieved the seemingly impossible, from anti-globalization summits to anti-colonial revolution.

Notable Timestamps & Segments

Private Maritime Security: [02:40]–[42:04]
Gaza and Palestinian Politics: [45:06]–[63:05]
Tech Fascism / Venture Capital: [63:05]–[101:47]; [101:14]–[137:05]
U.S. Domestic News & Polymarket: [137:29]–[156:27]
Federal Antifa Trial Analysis: [158:24]–[171:52]
Iran, Oil, Global Economy: [173:17]–[194:03]
Antisemitism Red-Brown Warning: [194:03]–[199:10]

Tone

Recommended Further Listening/Reading

“The Outlaw Ocean” — Podcast on maritime labor abuses, recommended by James [22:02]
VCinfodocs.com — For further info on the tech/VC/crypto/capitalist empire (per guest Shanley)
Defector article: "Trump to World: Please Help Me Unshoot My Own Leg Off" — On the unresolvable Strait crisis

For a full experience of the immersive, ever-worsening collapse—and the ways resistance is still possible—this episode is worth listening to in its entirety.