In this opening episode of Modern Insurgent: Mexico, Joe Collins speaks with Professor Ben Smith — historian at the University of Warwick and author of The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade.

Together, we trace the roots of Mexico’s modern conflict: how colonial legacies, rural inequality, and decades of U.S. intervention helped shape a war that was never just about drugs.

From the birth of the Sinaloa traffickers to the militarisation of Mexico’s countryside, this conversation lays the foundation for understanding the violence, corruption, and resilience that define today’s drug war.

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