Turbulence

Laleh Khalili joins us to discuss the mechanics, strategy, and economics of Iran’s wartime closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Laleh Khalili is a professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and the author or editor of seven books, including Heroes and Martyrs of Palestine: The Politics of National Commemoration (Cambridge 2007), Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula (Verso 2020), and Extractive Capitalism: How Commodities and Cronyism Drive the Global Economy (Profile Books 2025).
We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.
For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.
Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.
Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.com
Follow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_pod
Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)
Art: Vivek Venkatraman


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit turbulencepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit turbulencepod.substack.com

Darryl Li joins us to discuss his work deconstructing the concept of the “foreign fighter” and how ideology shapes our perception of who is fighting for what on battlefields from Palestine, to Afghanistan, to Syria, and beyond.
Darryl Li is an anthropologist and legal scholar thinking mostly about questions of war, law, migration, empire, and racialization in the currents between the Middle East, South Asia, and the Balkans. He is the author of The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity (Stanford University Press, 2020), an ethnographic and archival study of "jihadist foreign fighters" in the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.
For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.
Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.
Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.com
Follow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_pod
Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)
Art: Vivek Venkatraman

We continue our coverage of what’s been called the “The Ramadan War” with a discussion of the strategic landscape, the supposed ceasefire negotiations, Iran’s development of the “Hormuz weapon,” and the prospects of a US ground invasion.
This is a special public release of our News of the Week series, which is usually available exclusively to paid subscribers.
We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.
For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.
Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.
Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.com
Follow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_pod
Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)
Art: Vivek Venkatraman


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit turbulencepod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit turbulencepod.substack.com

We continue our coverage of the Iran war with a discussion of shifting US and Israeli strategies, attacks on energy infrastructure, the assassination of Ali Larijani, and Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon.
Please consider donating to support families displaced from southern Lebanon here, here, here, and here.
We’re committed to independence and will n…

Darryl Li joins us to assess the post-October 7 conjuncture, the US-Israel relationship, and the new regional order emerging out of the Iran war.
This is the first part of a two part conversation. Part 2, where we discuss Darryl’s work deconstructing the concept of the “foreign fighter,” will be available as an exclusive for paid subscribers on April 3.
Texts mentioned: Arghiri Emmanuel, White-Settler Colonialism and the Myth of Investment Imperialism.
Darryl Li is an anthropologist and legal scholar thinking mostly about questions of war, law, migration, empire, and racialization in the currents between the Middle East, South Asia, and the Balkans. He is the author of The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity (Stanford University Press, 2020), an ethnographic and archival study of “jihadist foreign fighters” in the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
We’re committed to independence and will never run ads or take money from institutions. That means Turbulence is entirely listener-funded.
For $5 a month, paid subscribers gain access to weekly news analysis bonus episodes, where we respond to events as they unfold, follow up on previous discussions, and draw connections across the conflicts shaping our world.
Most importantly, paid subscriptions make it possible for us to keep doing this work independently, week after week.
Subscribe today at turbulencepod.substack.com
Follow along on Twitter/X and Instagram @turbulence_pod
Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)
Art: Vivek Venkatraman


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit turbulencepod.substack.com/subscribe