Blood Work

Mean Streets: Post-Fordist Cities & Political Repression, Part One

In the first of a two-parter, we trace the evolution of the modern city from industrialisation to the 1970s, when a trio of crises laid the foundation for an anti-political backlash
If you enjoyed this episode:– Support Blood Work via Patreon– Leave a rating or review on your podcast app– Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter
Image: A photograph taken on Leyden Street, London, during the 1979 ‘Winter of Discontent’ (Source: Maurice Hibberd/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin ProductionThis episode was produced by Thomas O’MahonyOur theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis TronOur artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel
THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Even in Death, They Will Still Degrade YouALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOFor this week’s newsletter, Gregk uses a resurfaced comment by filmmaker Joe Russo from 2023 to provide some commentary on the modern AI craze and the historical ties between technology, pornography, and violence.
 
Sources:
Robert A. Beauregard (2006), When America Became Suburban
Jordan T. Camp & Christina Heatherton [eds.] (2016), Policing the PlanetL Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter
Peter Eisinger (2000), ‘The Politics of Bread and Circuses: Building the City for the Visitor Class’, Urban Affairs Review [35:3]
Antonio Gramsci (1971), Selections from the Prison Notebooks
Stuart Hall et al (1978), Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order
Margaret Kohn (2004), Brave New Neighborhoods: The Privatisation of Public Space
Mark Neocleous (2021), A Critical Theory of Police Power
Paul A. Passavant (2021), Policing Protest: The Post-Democratic State and the Figure of Black Insurrection

Intermezzo: Extraction/Consequences

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Gregk and Thomas pause to reflect on some of the topics covered since they last spoke, and meditate on recent events.
Image: A still from Werner Herzog’s 1992 documentary Lessons of Darkness
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin ProductionThis episode was produced by Thomas O’MahonyOur theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis TronOur artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel
For more:
– Support Blood Work via Patreon
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THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Look What They Made Us DoALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOFor this week’s newsletter, we use a recent piece from The New Republic to question America’s flailing attempts to disentangle itself from a war of its own making – in narrative, if not in actuality. 
 

This is How You Kill Them: Genocide w/ Joe Kassabian

Joe and Gregk use Gregory Stanton’s ‘Ten Stages of Genocide’ to discuss the tactics & techniques states deploy to legitimise and perpetrate mass murder.
Image: Remains of victims of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide retrieved from a mass grave in Huye District in January, 2024.
Follow Joe Kassabian on Bluesky
Listen to Lions Led by Donkeys
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin ProductionThis episode was produced by Thomas O’MahonyOur theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis TronOur artwork is provided courtesy of KT KobelIf you enjoyed this episode:– Support Blood Work via Patreon– Leave a rating or review on your podcast app– Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter
 
THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Blue DanubeALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOFor this week’s newsletter, enjoy some brief thoughts on the election results which rolled out of Hungary last week, and what it might mean for that country and Europe now that the American right’s favourite lap-dog is hitting the skids.
Sources:
Gregory Stanton (1996), ‘Ten Stages of Genocide’, available at Genocide Watch

In So Many Words [PREVIEW]

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We take a foray into the world of euphemisms, turns-of-phrase and the disingenuous world of militarese
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin ProductionThis episode was produced by Thomas O’MahonyOur theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis TronOur artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel
For more:
– Support Blood Work via Patreon
– Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter
THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Stupid GamesALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOFor this week’s newsletter, we offered some commentary on the (then ongoing) peace talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad, some surrounding issues, and predictions on the course those talks might take. (News moves fast these days.)

Mona Lisas: Female Suicide Bombers

We look at the history of women’s participation in suicide bombing attacks and how society has tried to make sense of women who carry out the most extreme political act of all.
If you enjoyed this episode:– Support Blood Work via Patreon– Leave a rating or review on your podcast app– Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin ProductionThis episode was produced by Thomas O’MahonyOur theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis TronOur artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel
 
THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: If You Want Blood…ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOFor this week’s newsletter, we take a look at a recent essay by Iranian diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif in Foreign Affairs and provide some commentary on what he gets right and why, and also why neither Washington nor Tehran are likely to listen to him.
 
Sources:
BBC, ‘UK Fire girl still defiant’, BBC
Burku Pinar Alacoc (2018), ‘Femme Fatale: The Lethality of Female Suicide Bombers’, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism
Mia Bloom (2007), ‘Female suicide bombers’, Daedalus
John Campbell (2020), ‘Women, Boko Haram and Suicide Bombings’, Council on Foreign Relations
Paige Whaley Eager (2008), From Freedom Fighters to Terrorists: Women and Political Violence
Freedom Fighters of Israel Heritage Associaton (FFI-LEHI), ‘Raskin, Fania – Freedom Fighters of Israel Heritage Association’
Jordan Galehan (2019), ‘Instruments of Violence: Female suicide bombers of Boko Haram’, International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice
Audrey Gillan (17 Feb 1999), ‘'We came here not to get out alive. We're ready for anything'’, The Guardian
Bilal Tawfiq Hamamra (2018), ‘Witness and martyrdom: Palestinian female martyrs’ video-testimonies’, Journal for Cultural Research
Vesna Markovic (2019), ‘Suicide Squad: Boko Haram’s Use of the Female Suicide Bomber’, Justice, Law, and Public Safety Studies Department Faculty Articles
Tanya Narozhna and W. Andy Knight (2016), Female Suicide Bombings: A Critical Gender Approach
Al Chukwuma Okoli, ‘Gender and Terror: Boko Haram and the Abuse of Women in Nigeria’, available at Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Ann Preesman (2021), ‘Female Suicide Bombers: An Uncomfortable Truth’, available at King’s College, London
G. Julie Rajan (2011), Women Suicide Bombers: Narratives of Violence
Leandra Bathal Serrano (2024), ‘Female Suicide Bombers As A Security Threat: Towards A More Comprehensive And Inclusive Approach’, available at European Student Think Tank
Keren Wang (2025), ‘Boko Haram’s Strategic Use of Female Suicide Bombers: Where Women Have No Choices’, Politics and Security Governance
Image: A photograph of Sana’a Mehaidli, 16, a Lebanese woman who became the first female suicide bomber in 1985.

Wildfire: The History of the AK-47, Part Four [PREVIEW]

This is a preview. To hear the entire episode and help Blood Work to survive and thrive, become a supporter on Patreon.
In the conclusion to our series, we look at what happened when the Soviet Union collapsed, and the rifles it had been making for over four decades started leaking out into a rapidly changing world.
Image: A screencap from a video dated June, 2001, showing al-Qaeda militants wielding Kalashnikov rifles at al-Farouq training camp, Kandahar, Afghanistan
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin ProductionThis episode was produced by Thomas O’MahonyOur theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis TronOur artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel
For more:
– Support Blood Work via Patreon
– Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter
THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: A Quiet PlaceALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOThis week, we return to the civil war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, spurred by new in-depth reporting of the RSF’s devastating siege and assault on El Fasher in October of last year.

The Facilitators: On Engineers w/ Gareth Dennis & Justin Roczniak

Gareth and Rocz join Gregk to account for the many crimes of modernity’s slow, silent killers – engineers, technicians, and urban planners.
Follow Gareth and Rocz on Bluesky
Watch Well There’s Your Problem on YouTube
Watch RailNatter on YouTube
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin ProductionThis episode was produced by Thomas O’MahonyOur theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis TronOur artwork is provided courtesy of KT KobelIf you enjoyed this episode:– Support Blood Work via Patreon– Leave a rating or review on your podcast app– Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter
THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: The PendulumALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOThis week, we’ve got two stories about different pendulum swings in the political world, and the people attempting to ride the wave and come out unscathed. They’re stories about elites in political media, and so there are no winners, only losers. But spare a thought for them, won’t you? Or don’t. They're all reprehensible.
Image: An overhead photograph of the ‘Futurama’ diorama presented at the 1939 World’s Fair created by Norman Bel Geddes with sponsorship from General Motors [GM].

Wicked Game: The History of the AK-47, Part Three [PREVIEW]

This is a preview. To hear the entire episode and help Blood Work to survive and thrive, become a supporter on Patreon.
As the Soviets entered the Cold War, they had a gun they could use as conduit, commodity, or currency. The US, meanwhile, hit the snooze alarm. In Vietnam, a rude awakening awaited them.
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin ProductionThis episode was produced by Thomas O’MahonyOur theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis TronOur artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel
For more:
– Support Blood Work via Patreon
– Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter
THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: The Stinging TreeALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOFor this week’s newsletter, we look at the long arc of US-Iran relations during the twentieth century, and place the Persian state’s current horizontal deterrence strategy against its American and Israeli aggressors in its proper historical context.
Image: A Viet Cong soldier posing with a Type 2 AK-47 rifle during a POW exchange in 1973. (Source: SSgt. Herman Kokojan, Defence Visual Information Centre)

Blood Flows: Arm Transfers

We trace the evolution of international arms transfers from mercantilism to the modern era, and the perverse incentives produced by the symbiosis of private enterprise and state imperatives in arms production.
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin ProductionThis episode was produced by Thomas O’MahonyOur theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis TronOur artwork is provided courtesy of KT KobelIf you enjoyed this episode:– Support Blood Work via Patreon– Leave a rating or review on your podcast app– Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter
THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Killstreak InboundALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOInspired by the Pentagon’s recent deployment of computer game graphics to promote its illegal bombardment of Iran, producer Thomas takes a longer view at the relationship between the United States military and the video games industry.
Sources:
Amnesty International (June 1995), ‘RWANDA: Arming the Perpetrators of the Genocide’, available at Amnesty.org
Jonathan Beatty and S. C. Gwynne (1993), The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart Of BCCI
Steve Boggan (Nov. 23, 1996), ‘Bloody trade that fuels Rwanda's war (Operation Insecticide), available at The Independent
Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
George Cryle (2003), Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
Owen Greene and Nicholas Marsh (eds.) (2012), Small Arms, Crime and Conflict: Global Governance and the Threat of Armed Violence
Nicholas Kotarski (2018), ‘Whose Monster? A Study in the Rise to Power of al Qaeda and the Taliban’, History Theses, 47
Keith Krause (1992), Arms and the State: Patterns of Military Production and Trade
Mamello Mosiana, Hennie van Vuuren and Daniel Ford (Nov. 13, 2024), ‘Unaccountable 00040 | Willem ‘Ters’ Ehlers – apartheid’s secretary turned genocide arms dealer’, available at Open Secrets
John U. Nef (1950), War and Human Progress: An Essay on the Rise of Industrial Civilization
Robert Pear (Apr. 18, 1988), ‘Arming Afghan Guerrillas: A Huge Effort Led by U.S.’, available at The New York Times(archived)
Frederic S. Pearson (1994), The Global Spread of Arms: Political Economy of Economic Security
Peter Dale Scott (2007), The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America
William Shawcross (1988), The Shah’s Last Ride
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute [SIPRI] (2010), ‘End-User Certificates: Improving Standards to Prevent Diversion’, available at SIPRI
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute [SIPRI] (2024), ‘The SIPRI Top 100 Arms-Producing and Military Services Companies, 2024’, available at SIPRI
Rachel Stohl and Suzette Grillot (2009), The International Arms Trade
Joe Stork (Nov. 1, 1995), ‘The Middle East Arms Bazaar After the Gulf War’, available at Middle East Research and Information Project
Andrew T. H. Tan (ed.) (2010), The Global Arms Trade: A Handbook
Adam Tooze (Mar. 23, 2023), ‘Chartbook 204: Iraq’s economic impasse twenty years after the invasion’, available at Chartbook | Adam Tooze
Mark Townsend (Oct. 28, 2025), ‘UK military equipment used by militia accused of genocide found in Sudan, UN told’, available at The Guardian
Matt Wells (Feb. 10, 2000), ‘Arms firm linked to Rwandan army chief’, available at The Guardian
Brian Wood and Johan Peleman (2000), The Arms Fixers. Controlling the Brokers and Shipping Agents
Image: Soldiers patrol outside of Goma International Airport in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo (2022)

Uncle Joe’s Insurance Policy: The History of the AK-47, Part Two [PREVIEW]

This is a preview. To hear the entire episode and help Blood Work to survive and thrive, become a supporter on Patreon.
It’s time to tell the story of Mikhail Kalashnikov, his eponymous gun, the horrors of the Eastern Front, and one of the biggest fumbles in US military history.
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin ProductionThis episode was produced by Thomas O’MahonyOur theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis TronOur artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel
For more:
– Support Blood Work via Patreon
– Follow us on Bluesky / Instagram / Twitter
THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Pox AmericanaALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIOFor this week’s newsletter, we provide a little Blood Work commentary on two morbid eruptions borne from the American imperial violence machine. Chronic and acute, all at once.
Image: Mikhail Klashnikov posing with the AK-47 at an event commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the gun’s creation in 2007