Modern Insurgent

Modern Insurgent

by The Modern Insurgent

History Politics

Season 2

ANARCHY IN THE EAST: Unravelling the Role of BOAK in the Ukrainian War

As a wrap-up and bonus, we speak to our Chief Reporter, Michael Archer, to investigate the elusive role of BOAK in the Ukrainian War. Thanks to Michael's work on BOAK (including our documentary on the group), we use primary information to analyse their tactics, alliances, and their broader impact on regional stability and conflict dynamics.

Season 3

HISTORY OF CONFLICT : Mexico's Shaping Forces

In this opening episode of Modern Insurgent: Mexico, Joe Collins speaks with Professor Ben Smith — historian at the University of Warwick and author of The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade. Together, we trace the roots of Mexico’s modern conflict: how colonial legacies, rural inequality, and decades of U.S. intervention helped shape a war that was never just about drugs. From the birth of the Sinaloa traffickers to the militarisation of Mexico’s countryside, this conversation lays the foundation for understanding the violence, corruption, and resilience that define today’s drug war. Hosted by Joe Collins moderninsurgent.org Follow on Instagram: @moderninsurgent

COCAINE : Digging the Roots

Before cocaine reaches Mexico, an entire world has already moved it through forests, fields, and forgotten borderlands. In this episode, our host Joe Collins interviews Toby Muse and digs through the roots of the cocaine trade. Cocaine : Digging the Roots out now!

CARTEL CHRONICLES : Inside Mexico's Drug War

In this episode, journalist Ioan Grillo, author of El Narco, Gangster Warlords, and Blood Gun Money, joins Joe to unpack two decades of reporting on Mexico's drug cartels and the broader architecture of the global drug war. A deep dive into the lived reality behind the headlines, from the streets of Sinaloa to the corridors of Washington.

CRIME, CONFLICT, AND POLICY : Inside the Grey Zone

In this episode, Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and one of the world’s leading experts on organized crime and insurgency joins Joe to dissect the murky intersection where illicit economies, state power, and armed conflict collide. We explore how criminal networks shape governance, how states negotiate with armed actors, and why conventional security policy often fails in the so called “grey zone” between war and peace.

EXPOSING POWER: Corruption and Cartels in Mexico

In this episode, Joe is joined by one of Mexico's most iconic journalists, Anabel Hernandez. She connects the links between Mexico's state apparatus and some of the most brutal criminals in history. Not an episode to miss!

NARCO LIVES : Culture, Crime, and Gender

We sit down with Deborah Bonello, top level investigative journalist and author of Narcas. We explore the realities of the lives of women in Mexico. From female cartel leaders, to the officers who chase them, to the average woman trying to care for a family. Each one has a story.

ZAPATISTAS RISING : Chiapas in Revolt

Joined by Rowan Glass, resident Modern Insurgent editor and filmmaker, to discuss how without an understanding of the context of the Zapatistas and their 1994 uprising, you can never understand Modern Mexico.

GUACAMAYA LEAKS : The Cost of Mining

In this one, we speak with Ryan McLiverty, former TMI writer and current Computer Security Expert to break down the Guacamaya Leaks. A series of hacks that released military and state secrets across Latin America. We explore what was leaked, by who, about who, and what hacktivism really means.

THE ECONOMICS OF CRIME AND CORRUPTION

Joined by Edgardo Buscaglia, one of the worlds foremost experts on the economic analysis of organised crime, to discuss how the Mexican Drug War is intrinsically linked to state corruption.

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