Last Born In The Wilderness

Kristen Ghodsee, professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, joins me to discuss her work and lived experience researching the collapse of the Soviet Union and state socialism in Eastern Europe, the immediate and long-term impacts this event had on those that previously lived under those regimes, and how the rapid privatization and the imposition of capitalism impacted their lives in the decades thereafter. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/kristen-ghodsee // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow-in-Residence of the Post Carbon Institute, returns to the podcast to discuss the massive power outages several regions of the United States, in particular Texas, have experienced over several weeks in February, leaving millions of people without electric power and potable water. He explains the increasingly precarious situation we find ourselves in as fossil fuel energy production meets numerous intersecting crises, including, but not limited to: an aging and outdated energy grid, abrupt climate disruption-related weather events, rapidly depleting cheap fossil fuel reserves, and the fracturing of consensus reality.   // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/richard-heinberg-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Stephen Jenkinson, author of Die Wise and Come of Age, returns to the podcast to discuss what he and musical collaborator Gregory Hoskins have been up to since their Nights of Grief and Mystery global tour was cancelled when coronavirus lockdowns began last year. Released in November, they put together two albums, DARK ROAD and ROUGH GODS. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/stephen-jenkinson-3 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Political strategist and organizer Akin Olla joins me to discuss the history of the FBI’s assault on left-wing activists over the decades and the absolute necessity for organizers to have operational security in today’s political climate as Big Tech companies “depoliticize” their platforms in the wake of the Capitol siege last month. We address several of his recent articles published at The Guardian, including: The FBI can't investigate white extremism until it first investigates itself; Facebook is banning leftwing users like me – and it's going largely unnoticed; and The US Capitol riot risks supercharging a new age of political repression. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/akin-olla // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

David Nickles—Managing Editor of Psymposia, underground researcher, and harm reduction advocate—joins me to discuss the ongoing commodification, medicalization, and corporatization of psychedelics and the intersections between the far right, conspirituality, and psychedelia. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/david-nickles // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Award-winning writer, poet, and scholar Frank B. Wilderson III joins me to discuss his book ‘Afropessimism,’ a "seminal work on the philosophy of Blackness" that, through a combination of profound personal reflection and meta-critical theory, peers deeply into the heart of the Black experience in the world today. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/frank-wilderson // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Professor Alex Vitale, sociologist and author of The End of Policing, joins me to discuss the Capitol siege on January 6th, the role the Capitol police played in the event, and the deeply political reasons the police were under-resourced, under-staffed, and completely overwhelmed in the face of the mob. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/alex-vitale-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Journalist, activist, and researcher of far right movements, Spencer Sunshine returns to the podcast to discuss the MAGA siege on the Capitol on January 6th, what led up to it, and what to expect from the far right as we transition into Joe Biden’s presidency. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/spencer-sunshine-3 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Joe Brewer—change strategist, complexity researcher, and cognitive scientist—returns to the podcast to update us on the regenerative land restoration work he and his family have been engaged in since we spoke early last year. This discussion includes themes elaborated on in his new book The Design Pathway published on the Earth Regenerators website, as well as what it means to be "future indigenous" in our time of biospheric collapse, and the near and long-term goals of the Barichara Regeneration Fund. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/joe-brewer-4 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Duncan Tarr, prison abolitionist and researcher for Perilous: A Chronicle of Prisoner Unrest Across the US and Canada, joins me to discuss their recent report on the wave of strikes, rebellions, and general acts of civil disobedience—organized by detainees in prisons, jails and ICE detention centers—that have occurred since the coronavirus pandemic began early last year. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/duncan-tarr // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast