From Minneapolis to Iran with Nick Estes

<p>In this episode, I’m joined by returning guest Nick Estes—associate professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota, cofounder of The Red Nation, and author of <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/products/600-our-history-is-the-future" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><em>Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance</em></a><em> </em>(Verso Books, 2019)—to discuss last winter’s federal occupation of Minnesota during the Trump Administration’s ‘Operation Metro Surge.’ In this wide-ranging conversation, we attempt to complicate the artificial distinction between the ‘domestic’ and ‘foreign’ spheres, instead situating the fascist violence of Metro Surge within a larger context of both settler-colonial violence in the United States and escalating global aggression by the decaying American empire. </p><p><strong>About the show:</strong></p><p><em>Return to Bandung</em> is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his <a href="https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">website</a>, as well as on his Substack blog, <a href="https://www.culture-shock.xyz/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><em>culture shock</em></a>.</p><p><strong>Support </strong><em><strong>Return to Bandung</strong></em><strong>:</strong></p><p>If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review or rating, and subscribe to the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! If you’re able, please also consider supporting my work—which encompasses both my writing and this podcast, as well as various other political education projects by signing up as a paid subscriber to my Substack or making a one-off contribution:</p><ul><li><p><a href="http://www.culture-shock.xyz/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Become a paid Substack subscriber</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://buymeacoffee.com/returntobandung" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Buy Me a Coffee</a></p></li></ul><p><strong>Sources and helpful links:</strong></p><ul><li><p>Nick Estes — <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/products/600-our-history-is-the-future?srsltid=AfmBOoqbTfgW_VGJ-ZSW9TawP28N2wjKjzRRP4pNCVvKkb0ZP-aZ0r2K" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠<em>Our History Is the Future:Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance</em>⁠</a><em> </em>(Verso Books, 2019)</p></li><li><p>Pranay Somayajula — <a href="https://newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/fighting-for-the-future-in-occupied" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Fighting for the future in occupied Minneapolis (<em>The Drift</em> newsletter</a>, January 2026)</p></li></ul><li><ul><li><a href="https://www.returntobandung.com/episodes/indigenous-resistance-north-america" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><em>Return to Bandung</em> episode with Nick Estes on Indigenous resistance in North America</a> (February 2025)</li></ul><ul><li><a href="https://minnesota15.org/">⁠⁠Minnesota 15 Anti-Repression Committee website⁠⁠</a></li></ul></li><ul><li><p>Adam Serwer — <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/the-neighbors-defending-minnesota-from-ice/685769/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>, January 2026)</p></li><li><p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/4JhDOL82eFoxKjtPTNXHaC" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><em>The Red Nation Podcast </em>episode with Nick Estes and Jimmy Patiño on Red, Black, and Brown Power in the Twin Cities</a> (August 2024)</p></li><li><p>Benjamin Prostine — <a href="https://lawcha.org/2026/03/18/communal-sensibility-the-m