Welcome back to our mini-series on the 2001 Uprising in Argentina.

If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, I'd suggest you go back and listen to that one first. Before we start, a quick note to continue making these podcasts because of the support of our listeners on Patreon.

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For instance, Patreon supporters got early access to this episode without ads, and they also get exclusive access to our two Patreon-only podcast series, Radical Reads and Fireside Chat.

Our patron supporters also get access to two exclusive bonus episodes in this mini-series with more information and context.

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At the end of Part one, Thomas had just

woken up following a chaotic two-day ordeal trying to secure tickets for the final game

at the Argentine football season, in which his beloved team Racing Club de Aveaena

were on the cusp of winning their first championship for 35 years. What Thomas had not expected, however, was that

when he awoke, his city would be the epicenter of a rebellion that would shake the country's

political system to its core. At the same time, during our interview, Thomas also wanted

to underline that while he was in Argentina, both in the immediate lead-up to and during the 2001 uprising,

he was essentially quite isolated from the movement itself, having lived for so long outside of the country.

There's nothing that would make me more uncomfortable than to, in any way, shape, or form give the impression

that I had an organizing hand in doing the hard work, the grassroots work of organizing

to prepare the conditions for that uprising.

So I had this kind of unique perspective of a person who is Argentine, who is of the left,

who kind of knows the structures and the peoples and the past and the battles and the, et cetera, but who wasn't, you know, sometimes you miss the forest for the trees. I wasn't in any organization. I wasn't in any sectarian battle because I hadn't been putting in the work. I was essentially a homegrown tourist, but who was very much willing to be like, oh, we need people.

...