Last Born In The Wilderness

In this episode, I speak with writer and editor Vicky Osterweil, author of In Defense of Looting: A Riotous History of Uncivil Action, published through Bold Type Books. In her book, Vicky discusses the history of looting—the mass act of publicly and directly seizing goods—and the vital role this act of wealth distribution has played (and continues to play) in movements toward addressing injustices of and abolishing the state, white supremacy, and capitalism. "From slave revolts to labor strikes to the modern-day movements for climate change, Black lives, and police abolition, Osterweil makes a convincing case for rioting and looting as weapons that bludgeon the status quo while uplifting the poor and marginalized." / Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/vicky-osterweil // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, and Julian Walker, hosts of the Conspirituality podcast. In continuing my exploration into QAnon and the widespread proliferation of and cult-like adherence to conspiracy theory thinking in the United States, I felt it was time to have this discussion with the hosts of this timely, well crafted, and increasingly needed podcast project. Conspirituality uncovers the intricate dynamics at play in the merging of the Health and Wellness community and its online influencers with this far right conspiracy theory — including the cult dynamics at play in its popularity and spread, the role social media plays in disseminating these ideas, and what the popularity of these ideas means for political action and discourse in our time of rising authoritarianism and right wing populism. / Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/conspirituality // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Margaret Killjoy—anarchist author, musician, and crafter. In the wake of the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests and uprisings since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, "anarchists" have been in the news. Whether it's President Trump calling for the arrest of "radical-left anarchists" and "Antifa," or Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden stating that “arsonists and anarchists should be prosecuted,” there is a long history of anarchists being scapegoated by the political elite in times of civil unrest. I ask Margaret to provide some historical context to these statements by Trump and Biden, pointing to the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the Haymarket Affair of 1886 in the United States, and the role anarchists played in each of these respective events. From there, we move into discussing a recent essay published on her website Art and the Void, in which she explores creativity and artistic exploration, using the metaphor of an "ice floe, floating in an infinite sea" to examine our mutually expressed and shared reality and our contributions to it. / Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/margaret-killjoy // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with eco-radical philosopher, writer, and poet Julian Langer.  We begin this discussion by addressing Julian's recent essay The Whole is Less than the Sum of its Parts, in which he redefines what we commonly understand "collectivism" and "individualism" to be. Also, we address themes addressed in some of his other writings, including his thoughts on solitude in A Thought On Solitude, as well as his recent reviews of the journal Against Green Reactionaries and my new book We Live in the Orbit of Beings Greater Than Us. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/julian-langer-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this interview, I speak with political commentator Jared Yates Sexton, author of the upcoming book American Rule: How A Nation Conquered The World But Failed Its People. As I remark on in this discussion, I first became aware of Jared and his work from his analysis of the QAnon conspiracy theory. I ask him to expound on the tenets of this alarmingly popular and increasingly pervasive belief system (which we characterize as having the attributes of a pseudo-religious cult), its roots on the anonymous online forum 4chan, as well as the impacts this reality-bending narrative is having on contemporary politics in the United States. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/jared-yates-sexton // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with anti-racist and environmental activist Hilary Moore, author of Burning Earth, Changing Europe: How the Racist Right Exploits the Climate Crisis–And What We Can Do About It, and co-author of No Fascist USA! The John Brown Anti-Klan Committee and Lessons for Today’s Movements. In her booklet Burning Earth, Changing Europe, Hilary examines how right wing ideology, in its various forms, reacts to, co-opts, and inserts its agendas into the discourse and activism surrounding climate change and environmentalism at large. As she points to in this interview:  1. Climate change is not an inherently progressive issue. 2. How you think and talk about climate change may prop up racist right-wing positions. 3. The far right does not need to govern to influence. With these truths in mind, Hilary points to how social justice itself must be central to any environmental and climate movement. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/hilary-moore // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this interview, I speak with journalist and author Vincent Bevins, author of The Jakarta Method: Washington’s Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World. The events that have shaped our world, particularly in the post-Cold War era, are often unexamined and under-appreciated. This is especially true in a time of rising right wing populism and reactionary violence in nations around the globe, with the rise of such far-right leaders as Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the United States, as well as the growing concentration of wealth by the global capitalist elite, facilitated by decades of neoliberal economic policies and austerity. How did we get to this point? // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/vincent-bevins // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Bayo Akomolafe, author of These Wilds Beyond Our Fences. We begin by discussing Bayo's recent essay, I, Coronavirus. Mother. Monster. Activist. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/bayo-akomolafe-3 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with dear friend, healer, and counselor Barbara Cecil. This is a griefful time. We are witnessing systems fail and a deep fracturing of our collective shared experience of reality, particularly for those embedded within the dominant culture of North America, to which many of us are tied to. More and more, time seems to be quickening and grinding to a stuttering halt, all at once. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/barbara-cecil // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with feminist writer and teacher Silvia Federici. We discuss the themes of her new book, Beyond the Periphery of the Skin: Rethinking, Remaking, and Reclaiming the Body in Contemporary Capitalism, published through PM Press.  The body—our sense of “self” in relation to others—has been restricted, reduced, and mutilated under Capitalism and the impositions of the State. This is particularly true with women, as Federici has thoroughly examined throughout her decades of research, in particular with her seminal work Caliban and the Witch, which lucidly explores the brutal transformation European populations were forced to endure as these societies began to transition to the social order of Capitalism, now global in scope and reach. Occurring over centuries, this transition—with the enclosure of the Commons and the femicidal witch hunts—dramatically restricted of the sovereignty of the peasant class and brutalized the bodies of women. This process was fundamental in the constriction of the individual and its relations “beyond the periphery of the skin,” the consequences of which we can see up to the present moment. // Episode notes + transcripts: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/silvia-federici-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast