The Worker's Cauldron
A podcast about the cultural politics of the paranormal. Where Karl Marx shakes his fist at the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot speaks to us about the legacies of colonialism. We discuss the contemporary obsession with all things supernatural through a socialist, feminist lens and ask what our strange experiences and beliefs tell us about the society we live in.
The Worker's Cauldron
Vampires, Vigilantes, and Violence
Are violent villagers really hunting vampires in the African country of Malawi? This week we discuss the history of this small nation, how Western news outlets mischaracterized the movement against alleged vampires, and look for the real bloodsuckers--social precarity, the forces of international finance capital, and neocolonialism.
Our sources are:
Protesting unemployment and precarity? Mapping Community Perspectives on the Anti-bloodsucker Protests in Mulanje District, Malawi
By Daniel Kabunduli Nkhata
Monsters of the Market: Zombies, Vampires and Global Capitalism
By David McNally
Speaking with Vampires: Rumor and History in Colonial Africa
By Luise White
As always, special thanks to Ian Lee for his spooky rendition of the Internationale.