Independent Thought & Freedom: Recent Episodes
Kirk Meighoo
Listen to people who are shaking up politics, economics, society and ideas around the world, in conversation with Dr. Kirk Meighoo, author, academic, TV host, and former Independent Senator.Broadcasting from the Caribbean, Meighoo provides a uniquely global spin and perspective on current issues and controversies.We don't only hear about our guests' ideas and movements. Meighoo also seeks to understand what gives each of these people their freedom to think and express themselves independently, with a view to inspiring listeners as well as stimulating them.
Yesterday, I published an excellent conversation with Christopher McIntosh, author and researcher of the Western esoteric (e.g. Rosicrucian, Freemason) and pagan (e.g. Celtic, Germanic, Norse) traditions.
There was something disturbing that happened in the aftermath of our conversation that I want to reflect upon here.
The discussion between Christopher and I was wonderful. It followed his journey to find himself and his roots, placing this within the context of the contemporary world where such contemplation is often vilified for Europeans, being seen as racist. (My emphasis, not his.)
Out of fear, he asked for a part to be censored. Here are my reflections on that.
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Christopher McIntosh, author and scholar of Western esoteric (e.g. Rosicrucianism) and pagan traditions (e.g. Celtic, Norse/Scandanavian, Germanic), used to work with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and it affected him deeply. But not in the way you might expect.
McIntosh noticed a globalist agenda in the UNDP and a worshipping of the "God of Economic Growth", which profoundly dislocated people for the sake of the economy.
Today, in the global battle between nationalism and globalism, paganism has informed much of the "alt right", for example, and many nationalists opposed to to globalism.
But to conceive of paganism and the search for roots as "right wing" is to misunderstand it from the start, as it is also tied to environmentalism and feminism, for example. Indeed, it is very much associated with the hippie movement of the 1960s and New Age Movements thereafter.
Join me in conversation with Christopher McIntosh as we embark on this fascinating discussion of Paganism, globalism, politics and the contemporary demonisation of the search for one's roots and origins.
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My topic on tomorrow's "Independent Thought & Freedom" is "Paganism vs. Globalism" where I speak to author and researcher on paganism, Western esotericism, and formerly with the United Nations Development Programme, Christopher McIntosh.
We talk about his work in the context of the current debates on Nationalism vs. Globalism throughout the world.
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My "origin story" on how and why I started this podcast as a business, and why podcasting is so amazing
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Nobel Laureate VS Naipaul strenuously denied allegations by his official biographer, Patrick French, that he had beat and buggered his mistress Margaret Gooding, which was one of the more sensational aspects of his official biography, The World Is What It Is.
VS Naipaul allegedly had signed papers giving Patrick French total freedom in writing up the official biography. Accordingly, Naipaul could not say anything about this while he was alive.
Naipaul’s close friend, Farrukh Dhondy, revealed this in conversation Dr. Kirk Meighoo on his podcast, Independent Thought And Freedom, which was officially launched this month on iTunes.
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Excerpt from my conversation with Erica Williams-Connell:
“I’m the one who was pushing him [to resign]…
I felt that there were a lot of ingrates. I felt that he was tired. I felt that he could have time for himself, to write his books. I just wanted him out. …
You have to remember that the Regiment wanted to string my father up in Woodford Square. They wanted to hang him in Woodford Square in 1970.
There’s no daughter who would want her father to be … in the same position, to have the same thing happen again.
I’m the one who was 19 years old, slept with a .38 calibre Special under my pillow in his bedroom, with my glasses on for the first two nights when I arrived. Because if somebody burst into the room I had to see to be able to shoot them.”
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Erica Williams-Connell has embarked on a mission -- to keep alive and extend the legacy of her father, the world-famous historian of Slavery, Imperialism, and the Caribbean, and the first Prime Minister of independent Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Eric Williams.
The Eric Williams Memorial Collection, which she heads, is included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. But as with any great political figure, Dr. Eric Williams and his legacy is not without controversy by any means. Was his party's continuous 30-year reign in power dictatorial in any way? What was his record of race, religious and ethnic relations, between the Africans, Indians, Whites, Chinese and others? And he faced serious rebellions from the radical trade unionists, Black Power activists, and others right from 1960s up to his passing.
Erica Williams-Connell tells the fascinating story of growing up as a young child during these tumultuous years, after the death of her mother, leaving her father to care for her alone. Her experience of the Army Mutiny, the Black Power Revolution, and Independence -- where her father was sometimes hero and sometime "villain" -- are explored among other things.
If you missed last week's episode, please make sure that you listen to it first. There are some real gems there.
This is an exciting, lively discussion that you don't want to miss.
We re-join the second half of the conversation, in progress
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Erica Williams-Connell has embarked on a mission -- to keep alive and extend the legacy of her father, the world-famous historian of Slavery, Imperialism, and the Caribbean, and the first Prime Minister of independent Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Eric Williams.
The Eric Williams Memorial Collection, which she heads, is included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. But as with any great political figure, Dr. Eric Williams and his legacy is not without controversy by any means.
Erica Williams-Connell tells the fascinating story of growing up as a young child during the first tumultuous years of Independence, following the death of her mother, leaving her father to care for her alone. Her experience of the Army Mutiny, the Black Power Revolution, and Independence -- in which her father was sometimes hero and sometimes "villain" -- are explored, among other things.
This is an exciting, lively discussion that you don't want to miss.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/kirk-meighoo/message
Prof. Michael Rectenwald vs. Left Authoritarianism and the New Conformism
Universities and the world's biggest Corporations are pushing a new conformity and "Social Justice Warriors" -- on and off campus -- are their shock troops. They have ushered in a Left Authoritarianism that intensively polices both public and private thoughts, opinions, and language, to weed out dissent, publicly shame and, sometimes, personally destroy.
Professor Michael Rectenwald is one of the few courageous voices taking on the SJWs in the University faculty, administration and even student body, and taking his "philosophical whistelblowing" to the biggest companies in the world, which are supporting this agenda: Google, Facebook, and Big Tech.
Join us for this fascinating and entertaining discussion, as we unveil the absurdity, surrealism and danger in this pivotal political moment.
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The Audacity of Basdeo Panday, Part 3: Staying for the Struggle, Radical Trade Unionism, the Heartbreaking Death of Bhadase Maraj, Black Power, the Army Mutiny, Bloody Tuesday
We continue our discussion with former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Basdeo Panday, radical trade unionist and first PM from the country's very large Indiian community.
Panday's life is entwined with the most important global issues of the 20th and 21st century: colonialism, decolonisation, socialism vs. capitalism and the Cold War, the rise and fall of trade unionism, race relations, poverty and development, Black Power, African-Indian relations, the nature of political power
He overcame the disadvantages of his poor village background, faced his personal fears, and took strong stands on these major issues for his whole life, ready to pay the price when necessary.
His personal story is important for the world.
In Episodes 2 and 3, we spoke about his background in the poor, agricultural village of St. Julien in Trinidad, his going to London to become a lawyer and his subsequent acting career in major films and television in the 1950s and 1960s, and how he gave up his Commonwealth scholarship in Law to dive into politics for the first time, in a radical new party that was challenging the neo-colonial status quo that was emerging in Trinidad and Tobago just three years after Independence from Britain.
We re-join the interview when Panday takes the stage in a small village meeting in Trinidad with the world renowned intellectual and writer, CLR James, his first unsuccessful stint in politics, joining the radical trade union movement, and confronting neo-colonialism, anti-unionism, and racial division in newly independent Trinidad and Tobago.
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Farrukh Dhondy, VS Naipaul, and CLR James Shape the World after the End of Colonialism
The pioneering British-Parsi writer and political activist, Farrukh Dhondy, speaks about his political and writing career, the impact of the Trinidadian Marxist activist and writer CLR James, Nobel Laureate VS Naipaul, and working at the highest levels of the very different British and Indian arts and film industry. In this context, the extent and limits of globalisation, nationalism, and capitalism are also discussed.
A great discussion with some genuinely new information about Naipaul's view of his controversial biography, and CLR James's role in helping Dhondy find his calling as a writer of international importance.
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The Audacity of Basdeo Panday,Part 1: Colonial Trinidad, Life in London, Film Roles, and Eric Williams's Independence Movement
A lively conversation with The Honourable Mr. Basdeo Panday, former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.
To a global audience Mr. Panday may not be very widely known, but my strong view is that he and his story should be.
Basdeo Panday's life spans the 20th and 21st century and touches on most important global issues of his day: colonialism, decolonisation, socialism vs. capitalism and the Cold War, the rise and fall of trade unionism, race relations, poverty and development, Black Power, African-Indian relations, the nature of political power.
He took strong stands on these major issues for his whole life.
His personal story is important for the world.
He really shook things up over the span of his life, and those are the people I want to interview on this podcast.
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Welcome to the First Episode of Independent Thought & Freedom.!
Listen to find out what we have planned in the upcoming weeks and months, and where we want to go with this.
Independent Thought & Freedom is going to concentrate on interviewing the some of the most important people in the WORLD who are SHAKING things up in politics, economics and society. I share with you my Dream / Fantasy list of podcast guests and topics. You'll never guess how ambitious this list is!
Unlike most of the interviews that these guests normally do, I will be putting their ideas and movements in a truly global perspective, instead of just speaking about America or their own national contexts.
I not only want to hear about their ideas and movements, though, I also want to understand what gives each of these people their freedom to think and express themselves independently. In today’s world, it is so hard and sometimes dangerous to express how you really feel about what’s happening in your life, and all around you, let alone to start to do something about it.
I want to help you think independently and achieve your own freedom.
It's going to be thought-provoking, inspiring and exciting!
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