Amitav Ghosh, SMOKE AND ASHES & Manjula Martin, THE LAST FIRE SEASON

We talk with Amitav Ghosh about his masterful history of the opium trade, Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories.

Then, Manjula Martin tells us about her personal and “pyro-natural” history of California wildfires — the ones she lived through in 2020 and the ones Indigenous people lived with before white settlers moved in and took their land. Her book is The Last Fire Season.

And finally, we read a poem from Mosab Abu Toha’s book Things You May Find Hidden In My Ear.

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Key Words: Amitav Ghosh, history, opium trade, author interview, Manjula Martin, climate change, global warming, fire season, memoir, podcast, book podcast, author interview, Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon

Narco States of Colonial Capitalism

When Amitav Ghosh finished the novels of his famed Ibis Trilogy, he became curious about the opium trade. The lives of his characters, 19th-century sailors and soldiers who navigated the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, were intertwined with the currents that carried not just ships, but their precious cargo—opium.

He was surprised to find how much that commodity had shaped the destinies of not only India, but of China, colonial empires — and the United States.

What startled Ghosh even more wasn’t just the historical backdrop, but the realization that his own family history was entangled in that trade.

Enter Smoke and Ashes: a book that combines travelogue, memoir, and historical research to weave together threads of horticultural history, the myths of capitalism, and the enduring impacts of colonialism.

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Read The Transcript

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Fire Season: Past, Present and Future

Manjula Martin traded city life for the serene woods of Northern California in pursuit of a deeper connection to the wilderness of her childhood. Struggling with chronic pain, she sought solace in tending her garden beneath the majestic redwoods of Sonoma County.

However, the very landscape she cherished was under threat from escalating wildfires exacerbated by climate change.

As wildfires ravaged the West in 2020, Martin and countless other Californians were forced to evacuate amidst a global pandemic. The Last Fire Season delves into the intricate role of fire in the ecology of the Western landscape while at the same time shining a critical lens on the colonialist practices that have contributed to their current plight.

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Transcript: Amitav Ghosh

When Amitav Ghosh finished the novels of his famed Ibis Trilogy, he became curious about the opium trade.

The lives of his characters, 19th century sailors and soldiers who navigated the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, were intertwined with the currents that carried not just ships, but their precious cargo, opium.

He was surprised to find out how much that commodity had shaped the destinies of not only India, but of China, colonial empires, and the United States.

What startled Ghosh even more wasn’t just the historical backdrop, but the realization that his own family history was entangled in that trade.

Enter Smoke and Ashes.

It’s a book that combines travelogue, memoir, and historical research to weave together threads of horticultural history, the myths of capitalism, and the enduring impacts of colonialism.

Amitav Ghosh, welcome back to Writers’ Voice.

Thank you very much.

It’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.

This book, Smoke and Ashes, Opium’s Hidden Histories, is really a fascinating look into, as you say, hidden, a history tha...