“Under The Shadow”… of the US →

Kickstarter fund-raising campaign for new podcast series by Michael Fox,
in co-production with NACLA / The Real News

Michael Fox writes:

"Under the Shadow" is a highly produced, sound-rich, investigative podcast series, that takes listeners across Latin America to the scenes of some of the region’s most devastating, revolutionary and historic moments — both good and bad.

Season 1 dives deep into the past of Central America, uncovering the history of U.S. intervention that still lingers in the region today. With first-hand reporting, profound interviews and archival footage, each of the 9 episodes stands alone. But they also fit together as part of a larger story of the legacies of repressive governments, revolution, and the role of the United States in invasions, coups, and the wars of the 1980s.

Under the Shadow

This is Under the Shadow — a narrative podcast series that walks back in time, to tell the story of the past, by visiting momentous places in the present. In each episode, I take you to a location where something historic happened. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument or a museum. But every place I bring you shook countries, impacted lives and left a mark. I’ll try to discover what lingers of that history today. We'll dive deep into the past and I’ll take you there with me. 

For the last six months, I've been traveling across Central America — from Guatemala to Panama — where the legacy of the revolutionary wars and counterinsurgency of the 1980s runs deep, as does the memory of U.S. support for brutal authoritarian regimes.

I've retraced the footsteps of William Walker, and visited a U.S. military base, the site of former United Fruit operations, and memorials for the dead and disappeared. 

I'm raising funds to help cover costs while I edit, produce, and finish reporting the series. I'll be working with a media collective in Southern Brazil to help with audio production and sound design.

Why "Under the Shadow"?

History is often lost in the past. Hard to grasp. Difficult to explain. The story of the U.S. role abroad is often muddled or forgotten. In this podcast series, I make that history come to life, by taking listeners to places in the present on a search for the legacies of the past. It's a search for the ghosts that still linger. I also grapple with what it all means today. 

This is particularly important this year — 2023 — as it is the 200-year anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. foreign policy that enshrined Washington's view of Latin America as its backyard, to do with what it would like. 

Latin America is not just "under the shadow" of the United States, but of the Monroe Doctrine, which has condemned the region to constantly be under the thumb of the United States. And yet, everywhere there has been pushback — a revolutionary spirit of the past and ongoing movements in the present.

Previous podcast

Hosted by independent journalist Michael Fox in partnership with The Real News Network and NACLA, Brazil on Fire is the story of President Jair Bolsonaro’s rise, his far-right government that set the country ablaze, and how the United States helped him do it.

Over six episodes, Brazil on Fire takes listeners on a journey to understand Brazil’s turn toward fascism. We’ll meet Bolsonaro supporters, victims of Brazil’s brutal 21-year dictatorship, and protesters demanding former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s release from jail. We’ll visit the birthplace of Brazilian Nazism, evangelical churches, and Indigenous villages in the Amazon.