The second and final episode of our series on Nauru. After gaining independence and taking control over the phosphate industry, the island undergoes an unprecedented economic boom, followed by a devastating crash. Amid financial crises, Nauru finds temporarily lifelines in two new industries- lifelines that further entangle the island with extractive capitalism and a dark colonial legacy.

Hosted by Jesse Black and Shannon Rawlings

Music by California Death Worm (californiadeathworm.bandcamp.com)

Asylum and Extraction in the Republic of Nauru by Dr. Julia Morris

Nauru: Phosphate and Political Progress by Dr. Nancy Viviani

Dr. Diva Amon (@divaamon.bsky.social)

DSM Observer (dsmobserver.com) by Dr. Andrew Thaler (@drandrewthaler.bsky.social)

Donate to help asylum seekers in the Pacific:

Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

Gifts for Manus and Nauru

For full works cited list, see the episode description for on substack here.

(It should be free to access- you might have to put in your email first? Idk substack is weird sometimes).

Finally, all of our research episodes are entirely free, but
you can get access to sillier and generally less disturbing premium content for
just a dollar a month on our patreon (patreon.com/sludgefest)! We’ve got a
bunch of cool stuff cooking!