Solecast: Black Rose Federation Building Grassroots Working Class Power

On today’s episode of the Solecast I speak with a member of the Black Rose Federation.  Black Rose Federation has chapters across North America and utilizes an anarcho-communist tendency called “Specifismo:” which (according to wikipedia) has been summarized as:

• The need for a specifically anarchist organization built around a unity of ideas and praxis.

• The use of the specifically anarchist organization to theorize and develop strategic political and organizing work.

• Active involvement in and building of autonomous and popular social movements via social insertion.

In this interview we discuss:
Their organizing principles
Their approach to building working class power from below
Grass roots power vs local politics vs electoral politics
The need for a rigorous educational program within movements
Discussions on anarchist infrastructure projects
Thoughts on "protest,” their limitations and what they are good for
The life of Bakunin much more

Fore more information... visit Blackrosefed.org and sign up to their newsletter.

w/ Margaret Killjoy on Anarchist Sci-fi, The Cultural War, & Prefiguration

Todays episode is with Margaret Killjoy.  Margaret is an anarchist science fiction writer and electronic producer.  Her latest album "Always Forever" by "Nomadic War Machine" is available now on bandcamp.  Margaret has published several short stories and books, is currently working on a novel and releases a sci fi short story every month through patreon.   
In this podcast Margaret also reads one of my favorite short stories she has written called The Northern Host about a civil war in the year 2035, with some incredible plot twists.  

In this interview we talk about:

The tension between insurrection and prefiguration
Her new project Nomadic War Machine by Always, Forever
The role culture plays in building revolutionary potential
Living off the land and how it fits into a revolutionary strategy
The importance of infrastructure
Our relationship with technology
The writing process, the format of short stories
Weaving anarchist themes into science fiction and fantasy writings
The importance of radical honesty
and much more

Other Suggested Radical Sci-fi Readings:
"The Fifth Season" by NK Jemisin,
The short story "The Ogres of East Africa," by Sofia Samatar
"The Devil In America" by Kai Ashante Williams.
Everything Belongs to the Future by Laurie Penny

Solecast: "As Black As Resistance" w/ Zoe Samudzi

In today’s solecast I sit down with Zoe Samudzi to discuss the new book she just co-authored with William C Anderson called “As Black As Resistance.”  This book puts forth a compelling argument for a Black anarchism rooted in self defense & autonomy.    In their book they discuss the importance of linking Black liberation to Indigenous struggles, and point back to the Seminole War where Indigenous and Black folks successfully fought side-by-side and achieved the first emancipation proclamation.  In this podcast Zoe talks about the failure of respectability politics and  how appealing to liberals and the state gets Black People nowhere, because it is a system rooted on exploitation and killing of Black People.  Zoe also breaks down how people must overcome their own fears & potentially undermine their own class interests for a truly liberatory politics.   We also discuss  some of the challenges of building movements rooted around autonomy in areas of rapid gentrification and the need to create new kinds of movements/politics that don’t leave people behind.  We cover a lot of ground in this interview, and it barely scratches the surface of the book, pick it up now on AK Press. 

Follow Zoe on twitter or her website.  

In this talk Zoe mentions an article her co-author William wrote about “Cutting Capitalism Out Of Our Relationships."  

Outro music on this episode is Mic Crenshaw feat. Dead Pres "Superheroes"

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