Podcast / Start Making Sense / Feb 14, 2024

The Families That Made Fortunes Selling Opium, Plus the News from Haiti

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Amitav Ghosh explains what the “China trade” was actually doing, and Amy Wilentz reports on the continuing American disaster in the Caribbean.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

The Families that Made Fortunes Selling Opium, plus the News from Haiti | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

The blue-blood families that made fortunes in the opium trade: Amitav Ghosh recounts the origins of much of the wealth for the 19th century New England elite on this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast. He wrote the cover story for The Nation's latest print issue. His new book is called Smoke and Ashes.

Also on this episode: The latest US moves in Haiti are framed in democratic rhetoric but are deeply anti-democratic in their effect. Amy Wilentz is on the podcast to explain. She’s written two books about Haiti, most recently the award-winning Farewell Fred Voodoo.

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A messy empty hospital dormitory room after an armed attack forced the closure of Fontaine Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

An empty hospital dormitory is in chaos after an armed attack forced the closure of Fontaine Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, November 18, 2023.

(Richard Pierrin / AFP via Getty Images)

The blue-blood families that made fortunes in the opium trade: Amitav Ghosh recounts the origins of much of the wealth for the 19th-century New England elite on this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast. He wrote the cover story for The Nation‘s latest print issue. His new book is called Smoke and Ashes.

Also on this episode: The latest US moves in Haiti are framed in democratic rhetoric but are deeply antidemocratic in their effect. Amy Wilentz is on the podcast to explain. She’s written two books about Haiti, most recently the award-winning Farewell Fred Voodoo.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Mamdani’s Socialism—and Us; plus Football and Concussions | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

Zorhan Mamdani takes office in four weeks as the first socialist mayor of New York City. How should we understand the constraints he faces, without accepting those constraints? Bhaskar Sunkara has our analysis; he’s president of The Nation and author of ‘The Socialist Manifesto.’

Plus: Sports Talk on The Nation podcast! Of course Thanksgiving was a big weekend for football on TV – a weekend where millions of viewers got to see a festival of brain injuries — concussions after receiving blows to the head. Dave Zirin will comment – he's the long-time sports editor of The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast.

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Jon Wiener

Jon Wiener is a contributing editor of The Nation and co-author (with Mike Davis) of Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties.

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