Solecast: Food Forestry & Perennial Vegetables w/ Aaron Parker of Edgewood Nursery

in this episode of The Solecast I talk with Aaron Parker of Edgewood Nursery.  Aaron is a self-taught Horticulturist, Food forest designer and lover of Perennial Vegetables.  We talk about food forest concepts and he breaks down some of his favorite perennial foods to grow & eat.    We also discuss his work with Mt Joy in Portland, Maine,  a free public orchard and food forest on the Eastern Promenade.  Throughout this conversation we discuss some of the challenges of perennial vegetables, the health benefits and the history of pre-Columbian Americas as some of the largest food forest/agro-forestry projects in human history.    

For more information on his work, or to buy some insane rare perennial plants from him check out his website or instagram. 

Building The "Commune," Veganism, Civilization & Anarcho-Homesteading

In this episode I took topics from patreon subscribers.  Originally this was going to be another "exclusive" episode but I had so much fun doing it I decided to release it.  

In this interview I talk about:

Spotify/ streaming servies & their impact on artists
New music plans
Plans for our farm & little fun facts about permaculture plants
Anarcho-Homesteading
"Desert" and "environmental nihilism"
Small communities vs mega societies
The Singularity Web Blog
Exodus from Denver
Political shifts after having a child
Veganism vs Animal Rights
Alienation

If you want to help sustain this work please consider becoming a patreon subscriber for as little as $1 a month.

The Secret History of Animal Resistance w/ Jason Hribal (re-air from 2014)

This is a re-air of one of my first and favorite interviews, its a conversation with Jason Hribal, the other of Fear Of An Animal Planet. Its a book that examines the history of animal resistance, in zoos, circuses and other exploitative situations humans put animals in. We talk about the relationship between the war on pagananism, the rise of calvanism and the loss of the commons and how thats effected animals. He also talks about how animals are part of the working class, and important agents in history that are capable of solidarity, empathy and of course... resistance. 

Solecast: w/ Nancy Monson on Radical Education & Child Psychology

In todays solecast I sit down with Nancy Munson from Running River School.  Nancy is my wife’s former boss and for years ran a radical nature based experiential school outside of Boulder.  This year Nancy closed Running River down and will be spending the next few years in New Mexico to reflect on what they have learned and where this approach to education needs to go next.   

In our interview we talk about how important play is as an aspect of learning, how getting kids in nature invigorates all their senses and how to promote agency in early childhood.  We talk about the impact of technology on developing minds and how vital feedback and incorporating the parents into the educational process is to healthy development. Nancy talks about how her life spent living in intentional communities has helped shape her philosophy about education, why running & regular exercise  is so important and how vital it is for parents to remain open and vulnerable to promote those same values in young people.  In this interview you will find tons of nuggets about child psychology and how children actually learn, as opposed to the military training they get in public education.  So whether you are a teacher, a parent or someone like me who didn’t pay any attention to this stuff till I actually had a kid… even us up-tight adults can gain something critical from Nancy’s approach.  

Reach out to Nancy through the Running River website

Solecast: Anarchist Movement Building With Its Going Down

Todays solecast is an in-depth discussion with an editor from Its Going Down.  

IGD just launched a new anarchist news podcast called “This is America,” which is meant to be a short, every-other-day digest of anarchist analysis and activity.  Check it out.

In this episode have a wide ranging discussion about what anarchist & anti-authoritarian resistance has looked like under Trump and potential paths for the future.  We talk about lessons learned from J20, Standing Rock, Prison Strikes, Airport Shutdowns and more.  We talk about the things anarchists have done with disaster relief, anti-fascism and pipeline blockades.  We discuss certain modes of resistance that people might be interested in replicating, whether its anarchist student groups, unions (like the Burgerville union) or The Black Rose Federation in LA helping to organize resistance against ICE Deportations.  We also talk a little about media & ideology.   

Solecast Audience Questions: On Theory, Gardening, Practical Organizing, Music Stuff & Anti-fascism.

On this episode I take questions from folks who subscribe through patron about a wide range of subjects. Everything from thoughts on Communization Theory, to anti-fascism to practical ways to engage in movement work.  Folks sent in great questions & had a blast making this.  

In this episode I talk a bit about the recent passing of my old friend & collaborator, Alias aka Brendon Whitney.  He leaves behind 2 young girls and his wife Jenn and every penny donated is greatly appreciated. If you want to donate to his memorial fund, you can do so here.  

If you want to support this podcast  through patreon please do so here.  

Solecast: Insights From The Implosion of The Tradionalist Workers Party w/ Chris of Unicorn Riot

An in-depth discussion w/ Chris of Unicorn Riot about what was uncovered in a treasure trove of internal communications on Discord servers that Unicorn Riot leaked.   The Unicorn Riot report details a year of the inner workers of one of the most visible & violent neo-nazi groups in the US.  

In this interview we talk about:

- The ways white supremacists/neo nazis organize and recruit
- Troubling discussions about white sharia, fondness for mass killers like Dylan Roof, and open discussions of violent acts.
- Members of the TWP openly collaborating with the Atomwaffen Division, a NEO Nazi group that openly promotes acts of "terror."
- How groups like TWP are using leftist rhetoric to appeal to the "white working class"
- TWP is a FEC recognized political party, and their legal support of William Planer, (a white supremacist who allegedly stabbed anti-fascists in Sacramento) possibly constitutes a legal breach.
- How the group was brought down by a strange love triangle
- Who these people are, what they believe and why people like them can not be ignored

Solecast w/ Cindy Milstein on Rebellious Mourning

Todays Solecast is with Cindy Milstein on her new book out on AK Press, Rebellious Mourning.  Cindy is a long time anarchist organizer, author and participant in the Institute For Anarchist Studies.  In our interview we discuss how mourning, empathy and grief can shape our revolutionary efforts, as we talk about various examples & pieces in her book.   Follow her on twitter, instagram and check out her website.  

Pick up Rebellious Mourning

More on Rebellious Mourning(On AK Press):

"We can bear almost anything when it is worked through collectively. Grief is generally thought of as something personal and insular, but when we publicly share loss and pain, we lessen the power of the forces that debilitate us, while at the same time building the humane social practices that alleviate suffering and improve quality of life for everyone. Addressing tragedies from Fukushima to Palestine, incarceration to eviction, AIDS crises to border crossings, and racism to rape, the intimate yet tenacious writing in this volume shows that mourning can pry open spaces of contestation and reconstruction, empathy and solidarity. With contributions from Claudia Rankine, Sarah Schulman, David Wojnarowicz, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, David Gilbert, and thirty-two others. Also includes a 32-page color insert featuring artists like Jet Chalk, Oree Originol, Melanie Cervantes and Jesus Barraza, and more.

Cindy Milstein is the author of Anarchism and Its Aspirations, co-author of Paths toward Utopia: Graphic Explorations of Everyday Anarchism, and editor of the anthology Taking Sides: Revolutionary Solidarity and the Poverty of Liberalism. "

Solecast: Efrim Manuel Manuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Today's episode is with Efrim Manuel Manuck from Godspeed! You Black Emperor / Silver Mount Zion.  Efrim and his comrades have been making radical, innovative and genre defying music for over 2 decades, fusing post-rock, punk ethos and classical aesthetics.   Efrim’s new album Pissing Stars is out now on Constellation records.

In this interview we discuss:

• His new album Pissing Stars
• His relationship with anarchism and radical politics
• Thoughts on having a kid in these times
• What it means to maintain a career in music with a semblance of integrity
• How people in North America are lost people adrift on a stolen continent
• The trauma of the Bush years
• The influence of religious imagery and poetry in his work
• A story about their run in with the FBI and some fucked up cop in Oklahoma 

Solecast "Medicinal Herb Garden 101 w/ Stephanie Syson"

In this episode of Solecast I sit down with Stephanie Syson from Biodynamic Botanicals/ Colorado Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute. Stephanie is a permaculturist, educator, gardener, & herbalist.  She also hosts a show on Colorado Public Radio called "Living Permaculture." In this interview we talk about herbalism, plants, permaculture and all the basics you need to get started with planting & cultivating your own medicine garden. 

Also discussed:

Growing Avocados & tropical fruit in the Rockies w/ climate battery greenhouses
Herb Spirals (a permaculture design for planting perennial herbs)
Human evolution & our co-evolution with plants
Some comments on "invasive species” vs "native plants”

Plants Stephanie discusses & recommends :

Motherwort. 
Skullcap
Yarrow
Comfrey
Burdock
Oats
Elderberry
Astralgus
Marshmallow
Elecampagne
Dandelion
Nettle
Mint
Tulsi
Plantain
Calendula

Lemon Balm (Bonus)

(get these at Strictly Medicinal Seeds) 

Check out Stephanie's podcast "Living Permaculture" w/ Jerome Ostentowski

Learn more about Biodynamic Botannicals & The Colorado Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute

Solecast w/ Radical Underground On Let Them Eat Sand

This is an interview I did on Radical Underground Podcast about my new album.  Radical Underground is a global music podcast that highlights revolutionary music  from around the world.  Old supporters were quick to comment that this is one of the best interviews they've heard me do, these folks asked in depth questions based around the lyrics and what they understand/share politically about my work.  We spent most of the interview really digging into the themes and inspirations behind the album and also talked about the creative process on how the songs were written and the beats were made.  Highly informative and fun conversation with one of my favorite podcasts.  

Subscribe to Radical Underground in I-Tunes.

Pick Up Let Them Eat Sand on bandcamp:
https://sole.bandcamp.com/album/let-them-eat-sand

Let Them Eat Sand Album Pre-order

 

Pre-order Let Them Eat Sand

This album was created through patreon, become a subscriber here for exclusive music,
unreleased tracks & material support for the solecast

Subscribe to the Solecast in iTunes or Sticher.

Check out more music on Black Box Tapes.

Let Them Eat Sand:

10,000 years of the failed experiment called civilization. 80 years till cities start disappearing into the ocean. 15 years till the Oglala aquifer is depleted and America’s breadbasket is a desert. 1421 people killed by cops in 2017. 1 year of Donald Trump.

Rising Fascism. Rising wealth inequity. Generations lost to memes and smartphones. Political discourse that reifies inequality & alienation. Brave resistance from Standing Rock to Trumps Inauguration. Heavy repression from Standing Rock to Trumps Inauguration.

Rapid gentrification displacing working people. All out attacks on all marginalized communities. The building of walls and jails. Apocalyptic forest fires, floods and storms. A totalitarian state.

An "apocalypse" that isn't coming, but already here.

Solecast: w/ the pedestrian on Identity, Aesthetics, & Not Giving A Fuck

In this edition of the Solecast I speak with the pedestrian.  pedestrian is a scholar, rapper and  co-founder of anticon records.  He is one of my oldest and best friends and has always been somewhat of a mentor to me.  I recently released his album unIndian II on Black Box Tapes and we will soon be announcing a vinyl edition of the record.   This podcast also features him reading some of his poems throughout the episode.  

We cover a wide range of topics:

- Identity
- California and armageddon
- Growing up in an apartheid state
- Anecdotes about anticon
-The Folk Tradition
- His relationship with radical politics
- His new album unIndian II
- The importance of Project Blowed & The Goodlife Cafe
- How fucked up the world of academia is
- The #MeToo movement
- Our mutual friend DJ Stef who recently died suddenly

Solecast: W/ Kalyn Heffernan of Wheelchair Sports Camp

In this episode of the Solecast I sit down with Kalyn of Wheelchair Sports Camp.  Wheelchair Sports Camp is a hip-hop band out of Denver that makes light-hearted yet politically charged rap songs with a dope live band setup.  The lead singer in the group, Kalyn is a disabled queer with a condition called osteogenesis imperfecta.  Her condition is sometimes described as “fragile bones” and she has had over 100 fractures, this really took me by surprise because I have been in many marches  & situations with her where shit could have easily gone sideways, but that doesn’t deter her. 

We talk about her evolution in activism from participating in Occupy,  Black Lives Matter,  Standing Rock and her own personal/political journey that lead her to examine the plight of disabled people.  She discusses learning about the history of disabled folk and how her music has brought her into community with disabled people all over the world.  We talk about her recent tour through Mexico.  She also talks about her experience as a music teacher at Youth on Records, the organization started by The Flobots.      

Pick up their new album "No Big Deal" out now on Strange Famous Records:

Solecast: Long Live The Olympia Fracking Blockade

In this episode of the solecast I chatted with 4 participants from the Olympia Fracking Blockade, an occupation that shut down the port of Olympia for 2 weeks in November 2018.   We take a look back on the occupation in the wake of its raid. 

In this interview we discuss:

The history of shutting down the Olympia Port from anti-war resistance to environmental actions
The subtle beauty of occupations and how they serve many purposes
The importance of blockades vs symbolic acts
The role of music & dance in building a culture of resistance at the blockade
How Freedom Of Information Act requests can inform actions
Perspective on the decision to not resist the eviction
Critical discussion of things that the people I talked to think could have been done better
Tons of amazing and informational anecdotes from the blockade

For more information visit the Olympia Stand Fedbook & Twitter

Solecast: Kill The Activist In Your Head w/ Scott Crow

Scott is a long time organizer and activist and is best known as a co-founder of the Common Ground Relief Effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrine.  Common Ground is the subject of his seminal book, “Black Flags & Windmills."  His upcoming book “Setting Sights” is available for pre-order now on PM Press. 

In this episode we have a critical and informative discussion with Scott Crow about new ways of thinking beyond resistance towards a politics of possibilities.   We discuss some of the pitfalls of “activism” and the toxic subculture that can tend to exist within in  it.  Scott explains about how the vocabulary we use can alienate us from our goals and the world we want to build.  We talk some shit about Alex Jones, right wing media and the dangers of it as well.  

For more information on Scott, follow him on twitter, check out his website and pre-order his new book “Setting Sights” on PM  Press.  

K Death of Moodie Black on Noise-Rap, The Moodhouse, & Coming Out As Trans

On this episode of the Solecast I sat down with K Death of Moodie Black.  Moodie Black is a noise-rap group out of Minneapolis and is one of my favorite rap acts in North America.  K-Death hosts a podcast called the Moodhouse.  We talk about their upcoming album “Lucas Acid,” their take on hip-hop and the music industry.  K-Death came out a few years ago as trans, and is my first friend to do break out of the gender binary.  They talk about their experiences as a youth exploring gender fluidity before having the language for it and debunking myths associated with transgender.  K-Death discusses the experience of being a trans person of color and navigating this racist transphobic world.    

Check out their podcast at moodhouse.com

Pick up their albums on Fake Four

or go to noiserap.com to learn more

Solecast & Final Straw on Political Prisoner Support, J20, The Situationists, Sci-Fi & CZN.

Final Straw is one of the longest running anarchist radio shows in North America focusing on anarchist struggle and political prisoner support(among many other things).  Bursts and I have been working closely together over the past year on the Channel Zero Podcast Network and while he was in town for the North American Anarchist Black Cross Conference we had a chance to hang out in my yard before the weather got cold and talk some shit.

We talked about:

CZN and its aspirations
J20 Repression
Political prisoner support
Why the Anarchist Black Cross is so awesome
The Situationists and folk traditions In music
Science fiction books we are geeking out on
Much more!  

Check out the final straw on twitter, I-tunes and their website.

Solecast: Erin Gallagher on Hacking Public Opinion, Twitter Bots & Cyborgs

On todays episode I do an in-depth with Erin Gallagher.  Erin is a truly independent journalist who has been tracking and studying the phenomena of twitter bots, their human operators ( herein referred to as 'cyborgs'), and "hacking public opinion."   We go in depth on how social media bots engage in dark propaganda campaigns to sway elections and more.  We talk about how information cascades through our networks and manipulates public opinion.  We talk about specific cases going back as far as 2012 in places like South Africa, South Korea and Central/South America.  We also discuss "Patriotic Programmers" and other actors who are spreading fake news & divisive propaganda with an (often)  extreme right wing agenda.   For more information on this subject follow Erin on Twitter or Medium and check out the following articles:

South Korea spy agency admits trying to rig 2012 presidential election

Sepulveda "How To Hack an Election"

Federal Election Board Denies Bots Exist

Patriotic programmers

I Bought A Bot Army For $100

Erin Gallagher's Mapping of Fake Antifa Accounts Made With Gephi

Music: Sole & DJ Pain 1 "Teachings Of Ice Cube(Memory Remix" 

Solecast March Fundraiser

For the month of March The Solecast is doing a flash fundraiser selling T-shirts, tote bags and hoodies.  Grab some merchandise in the sole store.

In 2017 The Solecast went from having a few hundred followers to thousands and continues to grow every day.  What began as a humble exploration of philosophy, art and its intersection has expanded to informational episodes explaining everything from how to plant a garden to create a FOIA request, to exploring rare histories and taking theory out of the ivory towers and into our lives.  

So far I’ve put out about 70 episodes, which are never about current event or news and are always meant to be timeless long form interviews that go deep.   Although this project is coming from an anarchist perspective, I interview anyone who I think has something to offer people who are looking to learn more about how to truly effect change in the world, to better our circumstances and most importantly spread and popularize radical ideas… which is humanity’s only hope if we wish to survive this century.

All of this is a lot of work.  I work alone on this project, doing all the research for the interviews, editing, producing, tracking down and booking the guests, creating the artwork, managing the social media bullshit and making sure that each episode is interesting, informative and original.  This year I want to push this project even further, do more with it and dedicate more time to it.   This March we are doing flash fundraiser by selling hoodies, t shirts and tote bags to amass resources for 2018.   If you'd like to support this project you may do so by picking up any of these fine goods:

Solecast Tote Bag $10

Solecast T-shirt

Solecast Hoodies $40

To support the Solecast in a more consistent way, please becoming a monthly sustainer via patreon.  If you want to donate crypto currency, you can do so here:

Crypto Currency Donations:

Bitcoin: 1HScxi7AYyeRVWyEgHPJ1J3JVHmtiWtpfE
Bitcoin Cash: 15Co1GNcQTq8BNZCDHCdj7LosrQdRtvk2M
Etherium: 0x287D7dea9C6ab36512551939CB1ff483804a2f10
LC: LXG9Mff77mAjPcX6vKKrTQruQQ6zArYChT

(More options will be added in the very near future)