This week, we’re sharing an interview with Heatscore and Nuke of sub.Media about their new documentary series, InterRebellium. The first episode, entitled El Estallido Social about the social uprising that flared up in 2019 in lands controlled by the state of Chile featuring anarchist and Mapuche voices on the conditions in which the uprising developed, experiences of it and its aftermath. You can view the film for free at sub.Media/InterRebellium alongside materials for discussion. We also speak about the role of film and media production in radical organizing and critique and upcoming episodes of the series.
This week, we’re sharing an interview with Talia Lavin, author of Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy. In this chat, we speak about her more recent book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America. There’s a lot in the book, most of it pretty disturbing (especially, I’m sure, for anyone who is ex-vangelical) and there is discussion of hateful ideology and child abuse and corporal punishment, though not in lurid detail, so listener discretion is advised. We hope to cover related topics in the future.
This week on the show we feature an interview with two anarchists activists in southern California about the recent resistance to Federal-led immigration raids in Los Angeles and the wider region. Both guests speak about their experiences working in rapid response structures to immigration raids, to anti-homeless sweeps and other community needs over the years and how they’ve changed as conditions and technologies have changed. We talk about inviting and engaging new activists and some strategies that showed success.
This week, we spoke with Richard Amm, a member of the Disability Action Research Kollective, or DARK, which they describe as a disabled-led group working to make disability perspectives, history, and research more accessible to a general audience. Amar and Richard speak about disability, eugenics, radical history the Corona virus and other topics. You can learn more about the project at linktr.ee/disabilityark
First up, A-Radio Berlin shared a conversation about the political motivated arrests and harassment of members of the Labor Desk Confederation of Trade Unions in Azerbaijan, which is calling for international solidarity.
The Labor Desk Confederation of Trade Unions in Azerbaijan is calling for international solidarity following the politically motivated arrests of its chairman Afiaddin Mammadov and fellow unionists Aykhan Israfilov, Elvin Mustafayev, and Mohyaddin Orujov. These arrests are part of a systematic crackdown on independent labor organizing in Azerbaijan..
Next, Črna Luknja from Ljubljana conducted an interview with OLTA (Open Leftist Assembly of Antifascist, Carinthia) from south-west of austria.They are mobilizing against the so-called “Burschentag” of the Austrian Pennaler Ring ,which is the association of the conservative fraternities.The austrian Pennaler Ring is connected with the ruling, fascist party FPÖ and extra-parliamentary extreme right.
This week on the Final Straw Radio, we’re sharing an interview with Matt Hart of the Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross chapter of the ABC Federation. We talk about the book Matt just released via PM Press, an expanded edition of Boris Yelensky’s history of anarchist prisoner support “Shadows In The Struggle For Equality”, illustrated by NO Bonzo. Matt talks about the work of the LA-ABCF, ABC’s pre-history with the Narodnik movement in mid-19th century Russia, prisoner defense under the nihilist movement, some moments in resistance and mutual aid through the following hundred and fifty years or so, some colorful moments and comrades up into the 21st century. We hope you enjoy! [ 00:01:16 – 01:19:36 ]
Then, we’ll share a reading of the 2025 June 11th statement since this week is the day of Solidarity with Long Term Anarchist Prisoners. More info on that initiative at June11.noblogs.org and the original text can be found there [ 01:19:41 – 01:30.51 ]
This week we spoke with Moira Meltzer-Cohen, an anarchist and lawyer with the National Lawyers Guild who practices mostly in New York City. For the hour, Mo talks about knowing ones rights and risks during interactions with law enforcement in the US during Trump 2.0, why even scofflaws should know some basic Bill of Rights trivia, info on warrants and house visits, airports and borders, and the importance of face-to-face practice with local lawyers who know the legal precedents on the ground in your jurisdiction.
We’re a week and a half out from the annual June 11th Day of Solidarity with Long Term Anarchist Prisoners. If you’re in the Asheville area, Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at The Odd (1045 Haywood Rd near Firestorm in West AVL) . $10 door, opens at 7pm, music at 8pm
If you’re elsewhere, you can check out announced local events in your area by checking out the social media accounts for June11.Noblogs.Org, particularly their mastodon account on @june11@kolektiva.social
Fire Ant Movement call to action
Finally, the Fire Ant Movement released the following statement concerning June 11, 2025:
“Fire ant movement defense, an organization that works to gather mass opposition to the political prosecutions of the stop cop city movement in atlanta, is calling for a “movement defense day of action” on June 11 to support stop cop city defendants and long term anarchist political prisoners. Their statement reads: This year, June 11th arrives amid growing repression: Pro-palestine protesters are facing indefinite detention in ice facilities, and in Georgia, the state continues its aggressive persecution of the stop cop city movement, with 61 activists currently facing RICO charges.
In response, we call for a united front, to link the defense of the stop cop city struggle with the june 11th tradition of solidarity with long-term anarchist political prisoners.
We invite people to learn about Marius Mason and other long-term anarchist prisoners, host public events, drop banners, throw fundraisers, and take action to defend our movements for total liberation.”
Fire ant movement defense says that this will be the first of many movement defense days of action, drawing connections and lines of solidarity between movements fighting for liberation. You can find more information at fireantmovement.org and follow them on instagram, twitter or bluesky.”
This week, we’re sharing an interview with Garret Felber, author of the book A Continuous Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Martin Sostre, which is due out May 5 from AK Press. Garret speaks about the life of Martin Soster, famed jailhouse lawyer who successfully won cases related to the constitutional rights of prisoners, was politicized in prison by the Nation of Islam in the 1950’s, ran radical Afro-centric bookstores in Buffalo NY to radicalize the youth, embracing anarchism during his time imprisoned on a frame up during which he was a celebrated political prisoner resisting cavity searches through the courts, went on to organize after his release for tenants rights and rehabilitating disused buildings for community centers and helping run a childcare. Sostre was a mentor to Lorenzo Komb’oa-Ervin and Ashanti Alston and laid important foundations for modern Black Anarchism in the US.
There’s a lot in here and we hope you enjoy the book and that the story inspires complex, creative and combative resistance to all forms of domination. The transcript for this chat is currently on the post and soon we’ll have a zine and pdf up on our zines page.
Rashid was “compacted” on May 1 to the Perry Correctional Institution in South Carolina, 430 Oaklawn Rd., Pelzer, SC 29669. His ID number in South Carolina is 397279.
In the transit van, he was severely injured – probably a broken bone – in his left leg. He has not been given any treatment for it.
He is in solitary confinement, with only a concrete slab to sleep on. He can make only one phone call per week. A comrade is helping him get onto the “GTL Getting Out” app so that he can communicate with everyone.
Meanwhile, he has been on hunger strike since he got there. He lost 17 pounds during the first week.
He appeals for maximum publicity and pressure.
The phone numbers listed for the prison are: 864-243-4700 and 803-737-1752.
Make calls and spread the word. Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, ID number 397279, must be treated humanely, given good medical care and a decent place to sleep and allowed full access to communicate with his lawyers and supporters. Tell the authorities to meet his demands so he can end his hunger strike.
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Featured Track
Standing At The Crossroad by Eddie and Ernie from Lost Friends
This week, an interview with Clifton Ariwakhete Nicholas and Franklin Lopez about about the film currently in production via Amplifier Films, A Red Road To The West Bank: An Indigenous journey of resistance and solidarity. The conversation covers some about relationships between the people of occupied Palestine and Kanehsatà:ke in so-called Canada, histories of settler colonialism and resistance of it. Clifton and Franklin are attempting to raise $10000 CAD for the film.
This week, we’re sharing an interview with Ángel, an ICE detainee currently incarcerated in Otero Detention Center in New Mexico. Ángel is a trans-masculine lesbian of Mapuche heritage, whose family moved hir to the US from Chile at the age of 7 and has lived undocumented since, attaining DACA status under Obama. During the 2020 George Floyd Uprising she pled guilty to charges related to arson of police vehicles in Little Rock, serving 15 months before moving to Chicago and where s/he was detained by ICE. Approaching 30 years old, the majority of which has been in the so-called USA, Angel made the hard choice to waive the right to fight deportation and has been in detention centers since on hir way to being sent to Chile to join hir mother and family now living there.
For the hour, Ángel speaks about conditions at Prairieland and Otero detention centers, the conditions of hir fellow prisoners, the hurdles they face in access to healthcare, quality food, clean facilities, legal resources, access to communications with their families, ability to communicate needs and demands with staff and guards who only speak English, and other topics.
If you want to learn more about 2020 Uprising prisoners (from 2022 & 2023), you can find our interview with one of the people running the website UprisingSupport.org linked in our show notes.