Green & Red: Podcasts for Scrappy Radicals

In the past ten years, we’ve also seen state repression of movements coming out of Occupy Wall Street, the Ferguson uprising, Standing Rock, Line 3 and various anti-Trump movements. Green and Red has had numerous episodes on radical movements and state repression of political movements from antifascists in Portland and Austin to water protectors at Line 3 to DAPL saboteur Jessica Reznicek.  But, before that, we had the era known as the "Green Scare," where radical environmental and animal rights activists were targeted by the "state" (corporations, politicians, law enforcement) for its anti-capitalist politics and escalating tactics that included sabotage, animal liberation, property destruction and arson. The FBI called their operation to stop these radical movements “Operation Backfire.” After 911, they labeled people taking action "domestic terrorists." Congress passed corporate lobbyist written legislation, such as the Animal Enterprise Terror Act and the Patriot Act, to stop them. In our latest episode, we talk with Daniel McGowan (@thetinyraccoon), an anarchist organizer, Earth Liberation Front (ELF) member and partisan during the Green Scare era. He was part of two ELF actions in 2001. After another ELF member turned informant, he was arrested by the FBI and charged with arson, property destruction and conspiracy.  In June, 2007, McGowan was sentenced to seven years in federal prison and given a "terror enhancement" for his actions.  Most of his time in prison was spent in a secret prison unit called a Communication Management Unit.  Daniel tells us about his journey as a radical environmentalist, actions with the ELF, time in federal prison and, now, supporter of political prisoners.  Daniel McGowan is a former political prisoner and former member of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). He spent 48 months in experimental Communication Management Units operated by the federal Bureau of Prisons during his seven year sentence. Daniel has been involved with political prisoner support and prison struggles for most of his activist life. He is currently a member of the Certain Days collective, NYC Books Through Bars and the Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF). Daniel works on the campaign to defend and free anarchist political prisoner Eric King and is an advisory board member of the Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC) & the Coalition for Civil Freedoms. Daniel is a lifelong New Yorker and grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, NYC. He works  professionally as a paralegal and consults with people preparing to go to prison and their family & friends in setting up defense committees. --------------------------------------- Outro// Catharsis "Arsonist's Prayer"  Links// Daniel's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tinyraccoon G&R: Dakota Access Pipeline Saboteur Jessica Reznicek Sentenced to Prison (https://bit.ly/FreeJessRGandR) G&R: The Story of SHAC (https://bit.ly/StorySHACGandR) Follow Green and Red// https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast Check out our new website: https://greenandredpodcast.org/ Join our Discord Party: https://bit.ly/36hqx7X Donate to Green and Red Podcast// Become a recurring donor at  https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott  (@sparki1969).  “Green and Red Blues" by Moody.  Editing by Isaac.

In December, the Pentagon got a $768 billion budget approved, despite the withdrawal from Afghanistan, with the aim to counter China and build Ukraine's military strength. This has been a bonanza for arms makers like Raytheon, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Northrup Gruman.   Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes popped the champagne open when saying "“…[W]e  are seeing, I would say, opportunities for international sales. We just  have to look to last week where we saw the drone attack in the UAE,  which have attacked some of their other facilities. And of course, the  tensions in Eastern Europe, the tensions in the South China Sea, all of  those things are putting pressure on some of the defense spending over  there. So I fully expect we’re going to see some benefit from it." After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we saw a spike in these companies' stock prices.   In our latest episode, we talk about arms manufacturers with William Hartung of the Quincy Institute. We discuss how the war in Ukraine, potential conflict in the South China Sea and wars in Yemen and other parts of the world are critical to their business model. We also talk about how the bureaucracy of the Pentagon and Washington D.C. gives these companies so much influence. And how Pentagon spending drastically overshadows spending on critical issues like the climate crisis and social programs. William D. Hartung is Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and an expert on the arms trade, Pentagon spending and strategy, and nuclear weapons policy. His most recent book is Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex. Outro- "1 Trillion Dollars" by Anti-Flag.  ---------------------------- Links// Pathways to Pentagon Spending Reductions: Removing the Obstacles (https://bit.ly/3ugnWmN) Ukraine has will, but Russia has might: How their military forces match up (https://bit.ly/3wuuKAh) Hartung: “Arming Repression: U.S. Military Support for Saudi Arabia, from Trump to Biden.”(https://bit.ly/3L4IoxJ) Follow Green and Red// https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast Check out our new and improved website: https://greenandredpodcast.org/ Join our Discord Party: https://bit.ly/36hqx7X Donate to Green and Red Podcast// Become a recurring donor at  https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott  (@sparki1969).  “Green and Red Blues" by Moody.  Editing by Isaac

Part two of our wide-ranging conversation with our good friend Prof. Clinton Fernandes on the U.S. empire and Russia's invasion of the Ukraine. In this second part, we also discuss the tensions in the South China Sea and the impact of the Ukraine conflict on Australia's coming election. Finally, we get an update on Clinton's law suit trying to get the Australian government to release documents showing intelligence agencies supporting Pinochet's coup in Chile in 1973.   This is definitely important listening. So please check it out.   Clinton Fernandes holds dual appointments at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Australian Centre for Cyber Security, UNSW Canberra. He has published on the relationship between science, diplomacy and international law, intelligence operations in foreign policy, the political and regulatory implications of new technology and Australia’s external relations more generally. He is a former Australian Army officer who served in the Australian Intelligence Corps. He is the author of Island off the Coast of Asia: Instruments of Statecraft in Australian Foreign Policy. And What Uncle Sam Wants: U.S. Foreign Policy Objectives in Australia and Beyond (2019).   Outro- Eve of Destruction with the Philly Symphony feat. Lemmy ---------------------------- Links// Clinton Fernandes: What Uncle Sam Wants: U.S. Foreign Policy Objectives in Australia and Beyond (https://bit.ly/3MOTbOi) Follow Green and Red// https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast Check out our new and improved website: https://greenandredpodcast.org/ Join our Discord Party: https://bit.ly/36hqx7X Donate to Green and Red Podcast// Become a recurring donor at  https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott  (@sparki1969).  “Green and Red Blues" by Moody.  Editing by Isaac

Our latest episode on the Ukraine is a wide-ranging conversation with our good friend Prof. Clinton Fernandes on the U.S. empire and Russia's invasion of the Ukraine. In part one, we discuss everything from Russia and Putin's adventures in Georgia and Ukraine to the lack of strategic empathy from the West (particularly the U.S.). We break down the motives of the U.S. drive to expand NATO and encircle Russia, and the effect it has on global politics.  This is definitely important listening. So please check it out.  Clinton Fernandes holds dual appointments at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Australian Centre for Cyber Security, UNSW Canberra. He has published on the relationship between science, diplomacy and international law, intelligence operations in foreign policy, the political and regulatory implications of new technology and Australia’s external relations more generally. He is a former Australian Army officer who served in the Australian Intelligence Corps. He is the author of Island off the Coast of Asia: Instruments of Statecraft in Australian Foreign Policy. And What Uncle Sam Wants: U.S. Foreign Policy Objectives in Australia and Beyond (2019). Outro- Oh What a Lovely War! ---------------------------- Links// Clinton Fernandes: What Uncle Sam Wants: U.S. Foreign Policy Objectives in Australia and Beyond (https://bit.ly/3MOTbOi) Follow Green and Red// https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast Check out our new and improved website: https://greenandredpodcast.org/ Join our Discord Party: https://bit.ly/36hqx7X Donate to Green and Red Podcast// Become a recurring donor at  https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR This is a Green and Red Podcast   (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott  (@sparki1969).  “Green and Red Blues" by Moody.  Editing by Isaac

We've got another briefing on the larger contexts of the current  conflict between Ukraine and Russia.  Sure, Putin is a horrible and brutal force in the world and the attack on Ukraine is indefensible, but we ignore the larger contexts at our own peril.     We talk about the impact of the breakup of the USSR, the privatization of the Russian economy, the sense of western/NATO encirclement felt by  Russia, and U.S-Russia-Ukraine economic and trade relations.  -------------------  Follow Green and Red//   https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast   Check out our new and improved website: https://greenandredpodcast.org/     Join our Discord Party: https://bit.ly/36hqx7X Donate to Green and Red Podcast//   Become a recurring donor at  https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast  ** Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR     This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced   by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969).  “Green and Red Blues"  by Moody.  Editing by Scott.

Welcome back to G&R co-host Bob Buzzanco!  We wish we had a happier story to share today for his return.    This week, Russia invaded the Ukraine sparking the largest land assault on the European continent since World War Two. The markets went into turmoil. The price of oil and gas went up. Political and media establishments scrambled to act on what's next.  Biden moved 7000 US troops to the Polish-Ukrainian border and NATO is expected to send more troops. In cities across Russia, antiwar protestors took to the streets to protest Vladimir Putin's war with over 2000 being arrested. Finally, the Biden administration and allies have begun a sanctions war against Russia's people, it's elite institutions and Putin himself.    In our latest episode, we go deep into the history of the Ukraine-Russian conflict and the bipartisan involvement by the U.S. ruling class.  We discuss the break up of the Soviet Union, the expansion of the North American Treaty Organization (NATO), the role of the 1999 war in Kosovo in all of this and the Russian invasion of the former Soviet republic of Georgia in 2008. Most importantly, we talk about how U.S. foreign policy has sought to contain Russia and wield economic and political influence over Europe and the former Soviet republics.    Right now, in this moment, the global elite are trying to contain another shock to the political economy and turn it into a profitable enterprise. And G&R is talking about what led us to this moment.    Our hearts go out to the ordinary Ukrainians fighting back, being displaced and killed by the Russian attack, and to the ordinary Russians  who will be affected by the West's sanctions and are taking to the streets against Putin monstrous invasion.    We close out with a quote by a great American socialist politician (and not the one you're thinking of) Outro- Neil and Eddie "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World."  -------------------------------------------  Links//  In Gazprom deal, JPMorgan takes on business that some banks fear (https://reut.rs/3sv6yLL)  John Matlock: NATO and the origins of the Ukraine crisis  (https://bit.ly/3si5Uku)  U.S. companies push Biden, Congress for caution on Russia sanctions (https://reut.rs/3hgdYMe)   War and Anarchists: Anti-Authoritarian Perspectives in Ukraine (https://bit.ly/3JWzSjT) Follow Green and Red//  https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast  Check out our new and improved website: https://greenandredpodcast.org/   Join our Discord Party: https://bit.ly/36hqx7X Donate to Green and Red Podcast//  Become a recurring donor at  https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast  Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR   This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced  by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969).  “Green and Red Blues" by Moody.  Editing by Scott.

For a month, a group of truckers, anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers and  various elements of Canada's far right occupied the streets around Canada's capital in Ottawa. They've also occupied border crossings between Canada and the U.S. The so-called "Freedom Convoy" has demanded  everything from an end to vaccine mandates and mask mandates to the jailing of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. They've targeted  Canada's liberal ruling class, but have disrupted and harassed the lives of Ottawa residents. Police and the Conservative Party either have  stood by or been in active support   This past week, Trudeau declared a state of emergency not seen since  unrest in Quebec in the 1970s. The police first cleared the trucker  blockade on the Ambassador Bridge. And then police moved in to clear the truckers occupation of Wellington Street resulting in 100 arrests.    In this episode, flying solo, Scott first talks with Prof Roberta Lexier (@rlexier) of Mount Royal University about the situation, what is driving these protests, Canada's politics and how the left in Canada can  respond.    And then he talks with organizer James Hutt (@jamesrhutt),  a labor  organizer, about what's happening on the ground in Ottawa and how the  truckers occupation has led to disruption and harassment of vulnerable communities throughout Ottawa. James also talks about the "Battle of  Billings Bridge," where communities have organized to stop truckers' resupply into downtown Ottawa.    Music- during the break, we played "And We Thought Nation States Were a  Bad Idea" by the Clusterfuck Theory. And the outro music is "Failed  States" by Propagandhi.   --------------------  Links//  https://robertalexier.com/   How we blocked the convoy in Ottawa (https://bit.ly/3I5tmH1)  Freedom convoy is steering pandemic response to the right (https://bit.ly/3sRufwx)  What the Left can learn from the “Freedom Convoy” (https://bit.ly/3Bw1nOq)  James Hutt: The Battle of Billings Bridge (https://bit.ly/3Bw1nOq)   Follow Green and Red//  https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast  **Check out our new and improved website: https://greenandredpodcast.org/   Donate to Green and Red Podcast//  Become a recurring donor at  https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast  Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR   This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969).  “Green and Red Blues"   by Moody.  Editing by Isaac.  Thanks to Executive Consultants Jeff and Jen. 

California prides itself on being more progressive than most on solving the issue of the climate crisis. Whether it's phasing out the internal combustion engine or promises to take on the state's many oil extraction sites. There is a notion of "climate exceptionalism" in California's liberal ruling elite.    But the California state government is captured by oil interests like many others. The pro-industry legislation and political action just comes in different forms.    Flying solo, Scott talks with Gary Graham Hughes (@vozsilvestre) from Biofuelwatch (@biofuelwatch) to discuss the idea of California's "climate exceptionalism." They discuss the false solutions to the climate crisis being promoted by industry.  Gary gives us a background on false solutions like carbon capture and storage, "net zero" and market schemes like cap and trade. They also talk about the revolving door of public sector employees, lobbyists for industry and the Big Green non-profit industrial complex. And how corporate media lifts up the ruling classes' ambitions for climate capitalism and false solutions.    Bio//  Gary Graham Hughes (@VozSilvestre) is the California Policy Monitor at Biofuelwatch and the co-Host/co-Producer of Terra Verde on KPFA in Berkeley, CA.  He also has Masters in Environmental Science from the University of Montana and splits his time between the San Francisco Bay Area and Humboldt County.   ----------------------------------  Links//  Biofuelwatch: https://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/ Biofuelwatch: Carbon Capture or Captured Futures (https://bit.ly/3rANbQR)   Follow Green and Red//  https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast  Donate to Green and Red Podcast// * Become a recurring donor at  https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast* Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR  This is a Green and Red Podcast production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969).  “Green and Red Blues" by Moody.   Editing by Isaac

Last year, Indigenous women led movements waged a fierce campaign to stop  Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline. Police escalated in a multitude of ways (felony charges, high bails, rubber bullets, tear gas, etc) against water protecting pipeline opponents.    Thanks to the bold reporting of outlets such as The Intercept and Unicorn Riot, we're still finding out the strategies that the Canadian oil giant and the Minnesota police state colluded on to neutralize water  protectors.    We talk with Alleen Brown (@AlleenBrown) about the latest on policing  the Line 3 pipeline protests.    Alleen Brown is New York-based reporter, focused on environmental  justice issues. Prior to joining The Intercept, she worked as an  education reporter in Minnesota. Her work has been published by The  Nation, In These Times, YES! Magazine, and various Twin Cities  publications. --------------------  Links//  Policing the Pipeline (https://bit.ly/3utRUFP)   Pipeline Giant Enbridge Uses Scoring System to Track Indigenous Opposition (https://bit.ly/3BdxsKI) Prosecutors Hit Anti-Pipeline Protesters With Felony Charges to Send a Message, Defense Says (https://bit.ly/3oKSzz4) Follow Green and Red//  https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast  https://greenandredpodcast.org/   Donate to Green and Red Podcast//  Become a recurring donor at  https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast  Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR   This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969). “Green and Red Blues" by Moody.  Editing by Isaac.

Another professor from Collin College has been fired in retaliation for  speaking out against President Neil Matkin's continued rejection of  their First Amendment rights and their concern for safety on campus.   Michael Philips has now been fired along with Suzanne Stateler Jones,  Audra Heaslip, and Lora Burnett, all in violation of their First  Amendment righs.  Philips first was reprimanded by Collin College for  being active in a campaign to remove Confederate statues in Dallas in  2017.   More recently he has defended his fired colleagues and he has  urged mask-wearing amid the COVID pandemic, though Matkin has told  professors they are not allowed to mention it.      Weeks ago, he was notified that his contract would not be reviewed  though he has been one of the best-regarded and most popular professors  on campus for 15 years, with nothing in his background to merit any kind  of penalty.     Philips is another victim of Matkin and the local Republican Party to  remove anyone who is not in lock-step with them and who is concerned  about the COVID pandemic and who believes in free thought on campus. We talk with Dr. Phillips about his firing and the political situation  at Collin College.    Outro- The Nervebreakers "Politics" ------------------------------------ Bio// Michael Phillips is a scholar of American race relations, Texas history,  right-wing politics, and apocalyptic religions.  After a seven-year  journalism career, including a stint at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he  received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002. His dissertation won the University of Texas at Austin Outstanding  Dissertation Award and was published as White Metropolis: Race,  Ethnicity and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001, That book won the 2007  Texas Historical Commission’s prize for best book on Texas history.    Phillips has combined his scholarship with activism and was one of the  leaders of the movement to take down Confederate monuments and rename  schools named after Confederate leaders in Dallas.  In 2019 he was named part of the first group of community college  professors to receive a Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies  Community College research fellowship for his project on the history of  eugenics in the state of Texas. Phillips, and his wife and research  partner Betsy Friauf, are under contract with the University of Oklahoma  Press to write an upcoming book, The Strange Career of Eugenics in  Texas, 1854-1940.  Since 2007, he has taught at Collin College in Plano, Texas and is  currently engaged in a fight over free speech and labor rights at that  institution.  ----------------------------------  Links//  Yet Another History Professor Says Collin College Fired Him Over Free  Speech Concerns  (https://bit.ly/3Gx9GKP)  Dallas Morning News:Collin College doesn’t renew contract of historian, author who claims retaliation  (https://bit.ly/3LagNMN)  G&R: Professors fired from Collin College, Retaliation in Texas (https://bit.ly/TXFiredGandR) (from Feb. 2021)   Follow Green and Red//  https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast   Donate to Green and Red Podcast//  Become a recurring donor at  https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast  Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR   This is a Green and Red Podcast production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969).  “Green and Red Blues" by Moody.    Editing by Isaac.