Dr. Nikolas Kosmatopoulos, political anthropologist and founder of the InsurgenSeas project, sets the stage for a new conversation about oceans and politics. Drawing from years of academia and activism across the Mediterranean, he reflects on how the sea, often seen as empty space or a border to be policed, can be reimagined as a site of radical possibility.
Why turn to the sea at all? What does it mean to think politically from the waterline? Through stories, historical traces, and theoretical provocations, Kosmatopoulos invites listeners into an oceanic way of seeing: one that connects frontline struggles, defies state control, and opens space for new forms of solidarity.
Oceans of Palestine VI: Countermapping the sea & the Global Sumud Flotilla
In this episode of InsurgenSeas, we sit down with Daniel Powers, Lizzie Malcolm, and Stefanos Levidis to explore how the sea is being remapped from below.
Our conversation moves through the Flotilla Tracker as a tool of maritime activism: who builds and uses it, who it serves, and how it circulates within networks of solidarity. We trace the origins and ambitions of Forensic Architecture, unpacking its methods and political commitments to evidentiary practice against state violence. Together, we reflect on the power of mapping to make movements at sea visible, while questioning how visibility itself is shaped by the state’s surveillance gaze and migrant “mobility tracking.”
Turning to the tragic Pylos shipwreck, Stefanos shares insights into documentation efforts and the challenges of contesting state narratives and legal obfuscation surrounding responsibility for mass death at sea. The discussion broadens to “mapping from below”, who these counter-mapping practices serve, who their allies are, and how they reconfigure the terrain of struggle across maritime borders.
Finally, we pause to reflect critically on mapping as an aesthetic practice: does it risk beautifying suffering and movement, or can it hold space for political urgency without flattening lived realities?
A conversation at once academic and human, this episode invites us to rethink the sea as a contested archive where evidence flow alongside currents of control.
Link of episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIprW8-d10U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIprW8-d10U)
8 Nov 2025
Oceans of Palestine V: The Global South with tricontinental director Vijay Prashad
Notes:
25 Sept 2025
Oceans of Palestine IV: Aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla
In this episode, Kostas Fourikos, a filmmaker and activist, speaks to us aboard the Greek ship of the Sumud Flotilla, sailing south of Crete on its way to Gaza.
His life’s work moves between cinema, cultural organizing, and political struggle and on this ship, all of these threads meet.
We discuss the flotilla as a refusal of siege, borders, occupation, and genocide. From a country whose government conforms with the global order of domination and war, even when its people have showed histories of solidarity, Kostas reflects on what it means to resist within and against these structures.
5 Sept 2025
InsurgenSeas Ep. 03:Oceans of Palestine III : Maritime Labor Solidarity, with Prof. David Featherstone
- The importance of maritime spaces and labour in relation to shaping forms of internationalism from below.
- The significance of recognising the Interplay between past and present forms of maritime solidarities.
- Foregrounding some of the contested and ambiguous aspects of maritime spaces and labour eg in terms of racialisation and automation.
- Situating solidarity as a space of learning/ exchange and challenging more top-down/ one way flows of strategy/ knowledge.
31 Jul 2025
Oceans of Palestine Solidarity Part 2: Yemeni Embargo with Dr. Isa Blumi
In this episode, Dr. Nikolas Kosmatopoulos is joined by historian Dr. Isa Blumi and student Dina Al Amood for a powerful conversation on the Yemeni embargo in the Red Sea as an act of maritime solidarity in support of Gaza and Palestine.
Dr. Blumi explores the dynamics of the Yemeni embargo on the Red Sea, positioning it within a longer history of indigenous resistance and maritime autonomy. The conversation unpacks how the current blockade reflects the tactical response to the ongoing Gaza war, Blumi also discusses how Yemenis have long resisted external interventions through their continued relation to the sea.
Drawing on his extensive research, Blumi connects the embargo to broader transformations in the global political economy, while also emphasizing the significance of reading Yemen from the coast, rather than the capital. The episode invites listeners to consider how indigenous relationships to the sea open new ways of understanding sovereignty, survival, and solidarity in the age of maritime warfare.
14 Jun 2025
Episode 01: Oceans of Palestine Solidarity part I: Ships to Gaza, with Huweida Arraf
Activist Huweida Arraf discusses the Gaza Freedom Flotillas and the political impact of collective action at sea with Dr. Nikolas Kosmatopoulos and Roua Chakaroun in this interview, highlighting water as a site of protest and resistance.
14 Jun 2025
Pilot: Aboard the podcast
Host Dr. Nikolas Kosmatopoulos introduces InsurgenSeas, exploring how the sea can be reimagined as a site of radical possibilities and community reclaiming, offering a new perspective on oceanic change.
Podcast Authority Score: 8 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
16
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
0
Contact InsurgenSeas
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of InsurgenSeas?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
