The Control Zone

In this episode of The Control Zone, hosts Jessica Buxbaum and Kellie Kuenzle end their conversation on the US occupation of Hawai'i by speaking with Dr. Laurel Mei-Singh, an assistant professor of Geography and Asian American Studies at the University of Texas in Austin, on how the US government turned the islands into a military outpost. Highlighting the case of Mākua Valley on Oahu, we look at how US militarization of Hawai'i has contributed to the desecration of indigenous land and environmental destruction, and the ways in which Hawaiians are resisting.  This is the final episode in our three-part series on the US occupation of Hawai'i.  Find us on: Instagram: @thecontrolzone Twitter: @ControlZonePod  Have an idea or story tip? E-mail [email protected] or Signal +12037310505 This project is entirely self-funded. Please consider supporting us at https://buymeacoffee.com/thecontrolzone

In this episode of The Control Zone, hosts Jessica Buxbaum and Kellie Kuenzle continue their conversation on the US occupation of Hawai'i, speaking with Dr. Uahikea Maile, an assistant professor in the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity at the University of Chicago, on Hawaiʻi’s transition from a US territory to a state in 1959. We explore the aftermath of US control—what happened to indigenous lands, Native Hawaiian resistance to US occupation, and how these issues still shape sovereignty struggles today.  This is the second episode in our three-part series on the US occupation of Hawai'i.  Find us on: Instagram: @thecontrolzone Twitter: @ControlZonePod  Have an idea or story tip? E-mail [email protected] or Signal +12037310505 This project is entirely self-funded. Please consider supporting us at https://buymeacoffee.com/thecontrolzone

In this episode of The Control Zone, hosts Jessica Buxbaum and Kellie Kuenzle speak with Dean Saranillio, author of Unsustainable Empire: Alternative Histories of Hawaiʻi Statehood, about Hawaiʻi’s transformation from a sovereign kingdom into a US territory and, eventually, a state in 1959.  This discussion examine how race, economic interests, US expansionism, and Cold War anticommunism shaped the debate over Hawaiʻi’s incorporation into the United States—and how Native Hawaiian opposition was marginalized or excluded from that process. This is the first episode in our three-part series on the US occupation of Hawai'i.  Find us on: Instagram: @thecontrolzone Twitter: @ControlZonePod  Have an idea or story tip? E-mail [email protected] or Signal +12037310505 This project is entirely self-funded. Please consider supporting us at https://buymeacoffee.com/thecontrolzone

In this episode of The Control Zone, hosts Kellie Kuenzle and Jessica Buxbaum speak with Siranush Sargsyan, an Artsakhtsi Armenian journalist and human rights advocate who was displaced from her homeland in 2023. Currently in Portugal, Sargsyan talks to The Control Zone about living through war, her experience as a refugee in Armenia and abroad, and her hopes to return to Artsakh. This is the third and final episode in our three-part series on the Occupation of  Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), where we break down Armenian and Azerbaijani occupation of the region and how ethnic tensions and fight for the land shaped the two states and the South Caucasus as a whole.  Check out Sargsyan's work in the BBC, Armenian Weekly, and Institute for War and Peace Reporting and follow Sargsyan on Twitter @SiranushSargsy1 Find us on: Instagram: @thecontrolzone Twitter: @ControlZonePod  Have an idea or story tip? E-mail [email protected] or Signal +12037310505 This project is entirely self-funded. Please consider supporting us at https://buymeacoffee.com/thecontrolzone

In this episode of The Control Zone, hosts Kellie Kuenzle and Jessica Buxbaum speak with Javid Agha, an Azerbaijani journalist currently in exile in Warsaw, Poland, on the history of Armenian and Azerbaijani occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, or Artsakh. We speak with Agha on the conflict's origins, Soviet influence, and the international community's short attention span in regards to solving the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis. Agha shares the Azerbaijani perspective of the region's wars and conditions for peace. Our conversation reveals how the struggle for self-determination and sovereignty can often create a political gray zone where nationalist fervor and state violence takes root.  This is the second episode in our three-part series on the Occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), where we break down Armenian and Azerbaijani occupation of the region and how ethnic tensions and fight for the land shaped the two states and the South Caucasus as a whole.  Follow Javid Agha on Bluesky @cavid.info, Twitter @cavidaga, and Instagram @cavid_aga and find his work in Eurasianet, BNE Intellinews, OC Media, France24, and VOA Azerbaijani.  Find us on: Instagram: @thecontrolzone Twitter: @ControlZonePod  Have an idea or story tip? E-mail [email protected] or Signal +12037310505 This project is entirely self-funded. Please consider supporting us at https://buymeacoffee.com/thecontrolzone