This is a free preview of the episode "China Ep. 11: Tibet w/ Ken Hammond." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber, you'll get access to biweekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly show, and it will also give you access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes along with stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. You'll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. In this conversation, episode 11 in our ongoing series on China, we're joined by Ken Hammond to talk about Tibet. Ken Hammond is Professor of History at New Mexico State University, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, or PSL, and the author of several books, including China's Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future and China and the World. Our conversation begins by situating Tibet geographically and providing a deeper history of Tibet stretching back to the 7th century and through to the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912. We then look at Tibet 1912, describing the state as a sort of feudal theocracy dominated by monastic rule and with a life expectancy in the 30s. We then explore the period during and after the 1949 communist revolution, discussing the long and winding process of how socialism was gradually introduced in Tibet—a story which includes an uprising, land reform, CIA sabotage plots originating in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and more. We talk about the transformations in land, education, and housing which accompanied socialist transformation in Tibet once monastic rule was ended in the late 1950s and how these transformations resulted in literacy rates rising, infant mortality dropping, and life expectancy more than doubling. We then discuss the "Free Tibet" movement and some of the ways that the State Department, CIA, and other elements of the US government attempted to manufacture a narrative around "cultural genocide" in Tibet, including the Dalai Lama's connection to the CIA. We end by exploring China's ethnic communities in relation to the PRC's new ethnic unity law, the boureois media's attempts to attack China in their coverage of the recent glacial collapse and mudslide in Nepal and Tibet, and by providing an overview of just how much the PRC has supported Tibetan development in the past 75 years. Further resources: China's Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future The Idea of the 'Uyghur Genocide' and the Realities of Xinjiang, Vijay Prashad On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, Mao Related episodes: Our ongoing series on China Upstream is a labor of love—we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.