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The Book on Fire Podcast

Latest episodes

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Sep 1, 2023 • 1h 32min

BONUS: Sympathy for the Serpent :: Liberatory Readings of the Garden of Eden

We go slightly off-book for this episode to explore whether we can find something to affirm in the Garden of Eden myth. Mentioned: Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent Per Faxneld, Satanic Feminism Peter Grey, Lucifer: Princeps -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "Earth Wakes Up" by Sarah Louise. Cover image by Thomas Little @a.rural.pen Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
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Jul 26, 2023 • 2h 21min

Gardens of Adonis :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 6

A close look at the early days of cultivation and domestication. Check out our Book on Fire EXCLUSIVE timeline of dates and places from the chapter Mentioned on the show: "Engels was Right: Early Human Kinship was Matrilineal" by Chris Knight "Anatomy of a Backlash: Concerning the Work of Marija Gimbutas" by Charlene Spretnak "The Dangerous Populist Science of Yuval Noah Harari" by Darshana Narayanan A random mainstream anthropology site delineating "horticulture" as a subsistence strategy   -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "That Glow in the Morning" by Sarah Louise. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]       The
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Jun 24, 2023 • 1h 54min

Many Seasons Ago, Part 2 :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 5

The rest of our discussion of Chapter 5. Towards the end of this episode we share thoughts about where the book has taken us so far. - Mentioned on the show: "Why foragers choose acorns before salmon: Storage, mobility, and risk in aboriginal California" by Shannon Tushingham and Robert Bettinger Jasper Bernes' essay on Revolutionary Motives - For more on wild tending in California and in general: Tending the Wild by M. Kat Anderson Wild Tending series at the Ground Shots podcast -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "Maintenance in Loving" by Anna Luisa. "Barbarism Begins at Home" by the Sm/ths. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
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Jun 5, 2023 • 1h 23min

Many Seasons Ago, Part 1 :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 5

Why are people different from their neighbors? The first half of our discussion of Chapter 5. Since we recorded this we learned that the Northwest Coast Hall of New York's Museum of Natural History, created by Franz Boas in 1899, and which we describe on the podcast as being outdated, recently underwent a 5-year renovation in which a member of the Huupa‘chesat-h First Nation participated, and reopened in 2022. (New York Times) Mentioned on the show: Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "That Glow in the Morning" by Sarah Louise. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
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Apr 28, 2023 • 1h 22min

Free Peoples and the Origin of Property, part 2 :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 4

The continuation of our conversation about Chapter 4 of The Dawn of Everything: Free People, the Origin of Cultures, and the Advent of Private Property. Mentioned: What is Politics? podcast (youtube) An article by David Wengrow about Graham Hancock's Ancient Apocalypse Netflix series The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell Mountain Gardens Mountain Gardens on Youtube -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "Offering" by Anna Luisa. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
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Apr 7, 2023 • 1h 25min

Free Peoples and the Origin of Property, part 1 :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 4

Recorded during a windstorm amidst trees falling around the house, the first half of our conversation about Chapter 4: Free People, the Origin of Cultures, and the Advent of Private Property. Mentioned: "The Original Affluent Society" by Marshall Sahlins -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" and "Thank you for the Path" by Big Blood. "That Glow in the Morning" by Sarah Louise. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
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Mar 22, 2023 • 2h 20min

Unfreezing the Ice Age :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 3

In Chapter 3, Graeber & Wengrow use elaborate ice age burials and impressive building projects, along with more recent examples of cultures who changed their social structures according to the seasons, to suggest that perhaps our original political freedom is the freedom to erect and dismantle hierarchies at will. We're experimenting with including visual timelines to help us keep track of all the history that's included in the book. See the timeline for Chapter 3. (A different presentation of the same timeline, in website form, is here.) Mentioned in the episode: Kolomoki Mounds "Resetting History’s Dial? A Critique of David Graeber and David Wengrow, The Dawn of Everything" by Walter Scheidel Seasonal Variations of the Eskimo, by Marcel Mauss and Henri Beuchat -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "Deliberation" by Sarah Louise. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
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Mar 8, 2023 • 2h 6min

Bullies, Mothers, and Others :: Anthropology Beyond The Dawn of Everything

In this episode we put the book down and explore some anthropology that the Dawn of Everything is at odds with. Take it slow--it's a long one and there's a lot to cover. Mentioned on the show: What is Politics? podcast Hierarchy in the Forest by Christopher Boehm Sarah Hrdy, primatologist and anthropologist Radical Anthropology Group "Gender Egalitarianism Made us Human" by Camilla Power "Did Communism Make us Human?" by Chris Knight The Evolution of Beauty by Richard Prum The First Domestication by Raymond Pierotti and Brandy R. Fogg -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "Earth Wakes Up" by Sarah Louise. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
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Feb 22, 2023 • 1h 42min

Wicked Liberty :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 2

"Wicked Liberty: The Indigenous Critique and the Myth of Progress", in which we see how indigenous Americans' devastating critique of European society caused a stir when it made its way back to Europe. This one ends on a spicy note--Dave is not happy with how the chapter ends. Mentioned: Chapter 3 of Caliban and the Witch, "Taming the Rebel Body" on how the Age of Enlightenment made way for capitalism. NEW: We've started a Discord community in case folks are interested in more discussion around these books and ideas. Join us! Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" and "Thank you for the Path" by Big Blood. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
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Feb 8, 2023 • 1h 52min

Farewell to Humanity’s Childhood :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 1

We return! In our new season we are reading The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber & David Wengrow, a fascinating and controversial book of anthropology and social theory. There's enough groundwork laid in Chapter 1 to make this episode a longer one than we're used to releasing. We hope you find it stimulating. The Dawn of Everything at archive.org NEW: We've started a Discord community in case folks are interested in more discussion around the books and ideas we engage with. Join us! Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "That Glow in the Morning" by Sarah Louise. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]

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