Outernational Episode 8: Samora Pinderhughes

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Substack After a bit of a summer hiatus, we’re back with a fresh episode of Outernational, this time with artist, DJ, electronic musician and Venezuelan-New Yorker MPeach. MPeach aka Mariana Martín Capriles has been active in fundraising in the aftermath of dual massive 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes on June 24th. We talked about Mariana’s unique career as a diaspora artist who has prioritized returning regularly to the homeland to collaborate and perform, striving to build a bridge and maintain connections, especially with Afro-Diasporic artists and traditions. Mariana’s story also exists within a complicated historical and political context, one that is often over simplified. The nation was already in a fragile state following a U.S. invasion in January and the kidnapping of President Maduro. Now under the occupation of the U.S. military with a budget managed by little Marco Rubio who fancies himself a colonial viceroy, the government of Delcy Rodríguez is making massive deals with U.S. corporations to sell off Venezuela’s most valuable resource of oil to the highest bidder. There is no doubt this deal with enrich the elites of both the U.S. and Venezuela, leaving the people impoverished. As anti-imperialists with a commitment to human rights from each of our positionalities – me as leftist “United Statesian’ and citizen of the imperial core and her in the Venezuelan diaspora, a working artist on the left/anarchist spectrum, we acknowledged that each of our commitments requires something different of us. We both believe that first and foremost, solidarity with the working people of the world is our priority. This is a difficult but necessary conversation that often gets flattened into dehumanizing binaries, with people talking over each other. I immensely appreciated Mariana’s willingness to share her experience and have this conversation. How do we square these commitments that feel like contradictions? What does real solidarity with the working people of the world look like? While we can’t simply listen to any one Venezuelan as they’re not a monolith, it feels crucial to at least have conversations with those we claim to be in solidarity with and align on values and ideological commitments. The organizers, the trade unionists, the working people, including artists. We make the attempt here for understanding in the context of Mariana’s own story, towards principled solidarity.

I’m hitting you with a new fresh episode of Outernational with a musician, researcher, producer and thinker Alsarah, bandleader of the East African retropop band The Nubatones. We had a deeply engaging conversation about her roots in East Africa and her identity as a refugee, one that she emphasizes will be the future normal. From Sudan to Yemen, to Boston and finally New York, her story is both inspiring and deeply relatable in her journey of personal and political discovery. With the genocide still raging in the Sudan creating the largest humanitarian and displacement crisis on the planet, I was grateful to learn and hear from someone who has lived through the history that led to this moment. This episode is filled with resources if you’re looking for ways to support, reminding us that all struggles are connected. Please follow @bsonblast, @sunduqalsudan, and hashtags #keepyoureyesonsudan #freesudan. Enjoy this episode with Alsarah, recorded at Pioneer Works, engineered by me and produced by Z Park.

This episode is a bit of a special one, as we’re playing around with the format. In this one, my dear friend, Omar Ahmad interviews yours truly, your hostess with the mostess, in a flipped episode. For those of you who are just encountering me through the podcast, this one gives you some insight into who the heck I am, and my own music and practice is all about. We talk about my devotional, DIY and punk roots, my circuitous journey to where I am, and my focus as we navigate these apocalyptic times. While you’re at it, you can check out the episode where I interview Omar. You’ll see that these two chatterboxes can gab profundities for hours on end, so there’s plenty to chew on here. At this moment, you can listen to all archived episodes, but starting March 2nd you’ll only have access to the last few archived episodes, so check out the episodes with Greg Saunier of Deerhoof and Angel Bat Dawid while you still can! This podcast is self-funded, so I’m starting introduce some incentives for your material support. The podcast started with a generous fellowship from Pioneer Works in 2025, but as we move into 2026 I am trying to find ways to make this sustainable. In addition to paying my amazing producer Z, this labor of love takes a huge amount of time and work to keep going. You can check out the perks below and decide if this is something you can do at this time! February is the last chance to listen to all Outernational episodes for free! Starting in March, readers with any paid subscription ($5/monthly or $50/annually) can listen to / access all archived Outernational episodes. Paid subscribers can also access bonus content, including the full improvisation at Le Guess Who? from Episode 5, as well as future discounts on Elder Ones LPs and shirts. All paid subscriptions directly help the Outernational podcast to keep going! Free subscribers will continue receiving the monthly newsletter and will be able to listen back to the 3 most recent episodes of the Outernational podcast, but will not be able to comment or post and will not receive discounts for Elder Ones merchandise. Credits: Hosted by Amirtha Kidambi, Edited by Z Park, Music by Elder Ones “Live in Vilnius - Third Space”, Recorded at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn

A special live edition of Outernational from a panel discussion at Le Guess Who? festival in the Netherlands with the legendary poet/musician Saul Williams, South African musicians Masello Motana and Asher Gamedze, and Palestinian musician and Sonic Liberation Front founder Dirar Kalash. It is a truly inspiring, real, and hopeful conversation that is desperately needed right now. Mohammad Mehrabani of Saint Abdullah joins us in our live improv at the end of the episode! We had a kaleidoscopic conversation across borders, histories and struggles, using Le Guess Who? festival in the Netherlands as a community gathering. As Saul said during his set earlier that evening, every concert is a meeting. Music transcends borders and musicians know how to organize. Listening to this conversation again gave me much needed inspiration to persist among escalating terrors in the United States and around the world. Each of these artists is a deep thinker and organizer in their community, using their platforms in ingenious, creative and subversive trickster ways. The conversation is bursting with wisdom, from historical lessons to deeply embodied cultural memory. Listen, Like, Follow, Subscribe and Review on Substack / Apple Podcasts /YouTube Credits: Recorded Live at Le Guess Who? festival on November 8th, 2025 in Utrecht, Netherlands, produced by Z Park with a musical performance by the panelists and guest, Mohammad Mehrabani

In this installment, I chat with Palestinian American Composer, Sound Artist, Producer and Electronic Musician Omar Ahmad. We had a sprawling conversation that probably could have lasted several hours, discussing the complexities of being Palestinian in diaspora, being a skater kid in Bay Ridge, how it has been to make art during a genocide of your own people and some hopeful/helpful advice on what each of us might contribute in these maddening times. It’s a bit surreal to listen back to this one which we recorded over the summer, now in this “ceasefire” period when things feel unbelievably dark and in some ways, worse that there is a veneer of a new status quo. Listening to this convo again gave me hope, but more importantly some much needed perspective and I hope it can do the same for you! You can listen, subscribe, follow, like and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts and YouTube!