In this week's episode of Trippin' on the Shoestring, co-hosts Shelby Lee and Dusty Christensen explore the connection between local politics in western Massachusetts and U.S. foreign policy, the consequences of which continue to roil the region. Protests have exploded across the region, for example, over the U.S. government’s arming of the Israeli government as it continues to bombard Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. And with the United States continuing to be a leading greenhouse-gas polluter globally, western Mass has experienced record-breaking heat and rainfall – events that can be directly attributed to climate change. Joining the podcast to talk about all of those issues — all the way from Santiago, Chile — is the renowned scholar, journalist, and dissident Vijay Prashad. A longtime resident of western Massachusetts, Prashad is the director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and has written over 40 books on many topics including Palestine, U.S. imperialism, climate change, and more.