Last Born In The Wilderness

In this episode, I speak with Filipino citizen and activist Ja Reyalidad from his residence in Manila. We discuss the current situation in the Philippines in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the nation undergoes a national lockdown. As Ja explains, large segments of the Filipino population, particularly in the crowded metropolitan areas of the nation (like Manila), are facing staggering levels of "involuntary hunger" as the nation grapples with the outbreak of COVID-19. Very little is being done to aid the most affected (the working class and poor), as social distancing measures are imposed, domestic travel is severely limited, and testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) is being hoarded by the political and economic elites. To make matters even worse, President Duterte "took to the airwaves with a chilling warning for his citizens: Defy the lockdown orders again and the police will shoot you dead." // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/ja-reyalidad // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with author, journalist, and political researcher Shane Burley. We discuss mutual aid in the time of COVID-19, the Autumn of the Alt Right, and the underlying structure of conspiracy theories in the age of information. We begin this discussion with Shane describing what mutual aid and solidarity looks like in our time of the coronavirus pandemic, with millions of workers in the United State without jobs as a result of widespread economic disruption and lack of a comprehensive government aid. From there, we move into what he explored in an earlier article he published at Commune Magazine, titled Autumn of the Alt Right. I asked him what the state of the Alt Right is currently, in particular what the ultimate failures and successes the far right movement has made in their attempt to shift the political discourse in the U.S. further to the Right. Finally, we end this interview with an examination of the underlying structure of conspiracy theories in the age of information, which is especially relevant in light of the spread of baseless suppositions surrounding the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, that the pandemic is a “hoax,” and so on. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/shane-burley-4 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Gods & Radicals Press co-founders and Empires Crumble co-hosts Alley Valkyrie and Rhyd Wildermuth. This discussion was recorded on March 22nd, 2020 from each of our respective locations, with Alley currently living in France and Rhyd in Luxembourg. We discuss the "state of exception" and “a world that has stopped” in the midst of this global pandemic and state-mandated lockdowns, as discussed in Alley’s essay, Dispatches From a World That Has Stopped, and Rhyd’s essay, Pandemics and the State of Exception. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/valkyrie-wildermuth-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Brian Mier, journalist and co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent for TeleSur English. I asked Brian to discuss the current political situation in Brazil under far right president Jair Bolsonaro, as the nation begins to reel from the coronavirus pandemic and the wholly inadequate, and frankly psychopathic, response from President Bolsonaro. The editors at Brasil Wire starkly condemned the Brazilian president in their recent article, Bolsonaro and Coronavirus: A Tragedy Foretold. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/brian-mier-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Joe Brewer—change strategist, complexity researcher, cognitive scientist, and evangelist for the field of culture design. We discuss living regeneratively in the COVID-19 pandemic and the message Gaia is sending in the midst of this crisis, community resilience in the age of planetary collapse, the Earth Regenerators study group, and the Earth Regeneration Fund and the "Regenerative Death Clause" as presented in his recent essay, A “Regenerative Death Clause” for Coronavirus. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/joe-brewer-3 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Forrest Palmer, writer and editor at Wrong Kind of Green.  Forrest and I discuss the impact the novel coronavirus COVID-19 is currently having on US society, as it wreaks havoc on human health and the global capitalist economy at large. We explore what the response to this pandemic means in the grand scheme of things as we confront numerous cascading crises, whether that be ecological, climatological, economic, or cultural in nature. As Forrest illustrates so well in this discussion, this pandemic is but a precursor of things to come, as we collectively head towards the inevitable collapse of industrial civilization, and our potential extinction as a species as well. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/forrest-palmer // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Mikkel Krause Frantzen, author of Going Nowhere, Slow—The Aesthetics and Politics of Depression, published by Zero Books. We discuss depression, capitalist realism, and revolution, as discussed in his essay, A Future with No Future: Depression, the Left, and the Politics of Mental Health, published at Los Angeles Review of Books. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/mikkel-krause-frantzen // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF) at the Institute for Policy Studies. We discuss the impact the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has had on the global economic system, as laid out in his article, Will the Coronavirus Kill Globalization?, published at FPIF and CounterPunch. There are plenty of adequate resources currently available on the nature of the coronavirus, including how it spreads, the common symptoms to look out for, and the demographics most likely to suffer and potentially die from exposure to it. What needs to be explored a bit more is the impacts this global pandemic has had and will continue to have on the global economic system as numerous governments respond to this public health emergency. I ask John to provide some insight into the impact this virus has had on globalization at large, with whole sectors of the global supply chain experiencing dramatic shortages as numerous economic sectors shut down, impeding international trade into the foreseeable future. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/john-feffer-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with prolific writer and dissident Kollibri terre Sonnenblume. We discuss two articles he recently published, Russiagate: The Toxic Gift That Keeps on Giving published at CounterPunch, and Coming Atrocities published on his website. We begin this discussion by addressing the McCarthy-era tactics, other forms of character assassination, the corporate media and the DNC have directed against the Bernie Sanders campaign as we approach the 2020 presidential election in November. After addressing this topic, we move into the massive level of environmental deregulation that has occurred under the Trump Administration and what is currently at stake in this election, as Kollibri addresses in his article Coming Atrocities. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/kollibri-terre-sonnenblume // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this interview, I speak with Brian Pace, PhD, evolutionary ecologist and co-host of the Psymposia podcast Plus Three. We discuss his recently published article at Psymposia, Lucy In The Sky With Nazis: Psychedelics and the Right Wing. Brian dispenses with much of the cultural baggage that surrounds psychedelic use, including the assumption that psychedelic use alone will lead individuals towards more egalitarian and anti-authoritarian attitudes and dispositions. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/brian-pace // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast