Category Archives: Author

Author, General, History, Philosophy, Prisons, Surveillance

“The Inspection House”, surveillance, Bentham, Foucault & intentions (with Emily Horne & Tim Maly)

http://www.chbooks.com/catalogue/inspection-house
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Jeremy Bentham (died 1832) on display at London College into the 1970’s. Note his mummified head between his feet…

This week William speaks with Emily Horne and Tim Maly about their book “The Inspection House; An Impertinent Field Guide to Modern Surveillance”, which was published in October 2014 by Coach House Books in their Exploded Views series. This interview comes right before the authors book tour of locations in Canada.

From the book’s website:

“In 1787, British philosopher and social reformer Jeremy Bentham conceived of the panopticon, a ring of cells observed by a central watchtower, as a labor-saving device for those in authority. While Bentham’s design was ostensibly for a prison, he believed that any number of places that require supervision—factories, poorhouses, hospitals, and schools—would benefit from such a design. The French philosopher Michel Foucault took Bentham at his word. In his groundbreaking 1975 study, Discipline and Punish, the panopticon became a metaphor to describe the creeping effects of personalized surveillance as a means for ever-finer mechanisms of control.

Forty years later, the available tools of scrutiny, supervision, and discipline are far more capable and insidious than Foucault dreamed, and yet less effective than Bentham hoped. Public squares, container ports, terrorist holding cells, and social networks all bristle with cameras, sensors, and trackers. But, crucially, they are also rife with resistance and prime opportunities for revolution.”

 

In the interview, Emily and Tim talk about Jeremy Bentham’s life, the intended and actual uses of the panopticon, the dangers of the well intentioned, and more!
The book has a lot of good stuff in it, history and analysis and humor. For more info about “The Inspection House” and about the author’s Canadian tour, you can visit http://www.chbooks.com/catalogue/inspection-house

The Panopticam (live streaming & timelapse from the top of the cabinet in which Jeremy Bentham sits)

Metro.UK article on Jeremy Bentham’s attendence record at the University College of London since his passing in 1838.

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Anarchist, Anarchist Media, Author, General, History

Fifth Estate Magazine: A conversation with Peter Werbe

Fifth Estate : Anti Marx
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This week William talks with Peter Werbe, a long time editor of Fifth Estate magazine based in Detroit, MI for now. Fifth Estate is an “anarchist, anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian, anti-profit project” which is published cooperatively three times a year, and this year marks its 50th year of publication. The magazine tackles current events, issues, theory, and praxis which would be of interest to an anarchist audience. To find out more about this project, and to subscribe, you can visit http://www.fifthestate.org

Peter and William talk about the magazine’s historical trajectory, from its inception in 1965 as a weekly, less political periodical, to its takeover by anarchists in 1975, to what it is today. They talk about the Eat The Rich Gang and its associations with Fifth Estate magazine, as well as directions the project could take. For more on Peter Werbe’s radio work, you can visit http://www.peterwerbe.com

This entire episode’s music is from The Layabouts, which is a Detroit based anarchist ska punk project (not to be confused with the London based techno-house project of the same name). Many of its members did or do work on Fifth Estate. For more on them you can visit http://www.thelayabouts.com

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Anarchist, Author, General, History

Candace Falk on preserving Emma Goldman’s works

sunsite.berkeley.edu/goldman
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The full chat on finding Emma’s letters

This week’s episode features a conversation with Candace Falk, founder and main editor at the Emma Goldman Papers Project in Berkeley, CA.

A quick introduction. Emma Goldman was born in what is today Lithuania in 1869, moving to the U.S. at the age of 16. As a Jewish woman immigrating from Eastern Europe to New York city, she was not alone in the struggles she would face in terms of racism, patriarchy, nativism capitalism and so more. But Emma became involved in the Anarchist movement after the Haymarket Massacre and subsequent show trials of the next year and would grow to become known for a time as the most dangerous woman in America (J. Edgar Hoover). Her agitation and writing in support of free love, athiesm, the abolition of state and capitalism, contraception, beauty, literature, gender parity and more made tidal waves in her day and have continued to inspire people since she died in 1940. She aided would-be assassins, was jailed for agitating against World War I, was exiled to Russia, preached against the corruption of the Soviet Government, did propaganda work on behalf of the Spanish Anarchists in their Revolution, loved, lived and lost.

For the hour we talk about how Candace came to love Emma Goldman, the creation of the EGPP archives, what they provide, their relationship with the University of California at Berkeley and what the future may hold for the project. Candace also shares stories of how curating a history of Emma has bled into including bits of related and overlapping history and the rewards of this sort of seeking.

More on the project can be found at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/goldman

Anarchist, Art, Author, General

Artnoose on zines, anarchism, and Letters of Insurgents + Aragorn!’s introduction

artnoose2
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This week, we spoke with Artnoose. Artnoose is a zinester, author, printer, parent, anarchist and more. She gives a brief history of her relationship with art, her long-running personal letter-pressed zine entitled Kerbloom!, how she became an anarchist, the Berkeley Anarchist Study Group, the Cyber Punk Apocalypse fiction-writing house in Pittsburgh, erotica and more!

Later in the conversation we discuss Letters of Insurgents, an epistolary novel written by Fredy Perlman. The book is a series of letters between two characters separated by two decades and a continent and discusses politics, intentions, memory, age, communication, deception and more. There is a free audio version of the book that Artnoose helped to narrate, it’s available in pdf form for free on theanarchistlibrary.org and was just recently reprinted and made available for sale via Left Bank Books. This episode also features a recording of Aragorn!‘s introduction to the new edition of the book.

Artnoose and Aragorn! both participated in the 2010 internet-based reading group of Letters of Insurgents known as Insurgent Summer.

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Anarchist, Anti-Civ, Author, Canada, Feminism, gender, General, Health, Layla AbdelRahim, Quebec, Rebroadcast

Layla AbdelRahim on domestication, childhood and wildness (rebroadcast)

http://layla.miltsov.org/
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This week, The Final Straw takes pleasure in re-presenting a conversation with Layla AbdelRahim about her book, “Wild Children – Domesticated Dreams: Narratives of Civilization and Wilderness”. She is an anarchaprimitivist who explores ideas of education, domestication and civilization in terms of childhood development and overall human health. In these excerpts from the conversation we define some terms and talk about instrumentalization of living things and symbolic thought and how they are used to shape the child’s mind into the civilized and non-empathic perspective. Info on the book can be found at http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca

More of her writings can be found at http://layla.miltsov.org/

This conversation initially happened in June of 2014

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activism, Anarchist, Author, communization, CounterInsurgency, General, Philosophy, Police, Security Culture, Tom Nomad

Tom Nomad on Insurgent Theory

http://isiw.noblogs.org
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This week, Bursts speaks with Tom Nomad. Tom is a midwest-based anarchist who authored The Master’s Tools: Warfare and Insurgent Possibility and a member of the Institute for the Study of Insurgent Warfare, which recently published the first issue of Insurgencies: A Journal on Insurgent Strategy. Tom talks about anarchist approaches towards ethics and strategic choices, the Insurrectionalist turn in North America and the growing focus among many of a study of Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency for the purpose of reframing our struggle against State, Capital and other enemies. There’s also brief discussions on Deep Green Resistance, ISIS, YPD, Policing, Summit hopping and more!

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Anarchist, Art, Author, Bomani Shakur, General, History, Rebroadcast

Paul Z. Simons on Modern Slavery (rebroadcast) (December 21, 2014)

http://modernslavery.calpress.org
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This week is a rebroadcast of William Goodenuff’s interview of last year with Paul. Z. Simons of Modern Slavery Magazine. The description will be found below. This week, Sean talks about Keith “Bomani Shakur” Lamar’s ongoing court appeal for his life. More updates on Lamar’s case can be found at http://www.lucasvilleamnesty.org , including audio from some of the court proceedings.

“This week William talks with Paul Z. Simons, a contributor to and editor of the journal Modern Slavery; A Libertarian Critique of Civilization available at http://modernslavery.calpress.org. Mr. Simons is also an essayist and former contributor/editor of Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed and Out of Anarchy among other projects. Modern Slavery delves into the conception of a modern slavery through an explicitly radical discussion of the history and present condition of wage economies and wage slavery. In addition, the journal showcases poetry, short stories, book reviews, and art. If you wish to become a contributor, you can do so through the journals website.

Among other topics, William and Paul discuss the inspiration for and inception of the journal, some forms a post collapse society could take, other forms of modern day slavery, and the socially chaotic potential of horror movies.”

activism, Author, Capitalism, Dean Spade, Feminism, gender, General, Music, Neoliberalism, Prisons, Queer, Racism, Rebroadcast

Dean Spade on “Normal Life” (rebroadcast) + metal + punk

http://www.deanspade.net/
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“This week features a conversation with attorney, educator and trans activist, Dean Spade about his new book, “Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the limits of law”, just out from South End Press. Normal Life is a finalist for the 2012 Lambda Literary Awards. Follow Mr. Spade’s writing at http://www.deanspade.net/”

In the conversation, we discuss “mainstreaming” efforts by liberal LGBTQI organizations towards pressing for same-sex marriage, removal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, hate crimes legislation and other reformist measures in the U.S. Dean contrasts these efforts and visions with abolitionism. We also discuss calls for justice in the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin, attempts to reform aspects of the Prison Industrial Complex and discuss Foucaultian models of power in society.

Following the interview, we featured tracks from Skaphe, Youth Avoiders, Oblivionation and more for the last half of an hour.

Anarchist, Author, Capitalism, CounterInsurgency, General, History, Kristian Williams, Police, Racism, Rebroadcast, repression

Kristian Williams on Police Abolition (orig. Aug 2011)

www.kristianwilliams.com
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This show originally aired in August of 2011

Today’s show features an interview with the Portland-based author and activist, Kristian Williams. Williams speaks on his first book, Our Enemies in Blue (a history of policing in America), on recent articles about community policing and the counterinsurgency training shared between the U.S. military and domestic law enforcement agencies and the growing movement calling for the abolition of police in the United States, and the Pacific Northwest in particular).

Check out www.kristianwilliams.com for more information on the interviewee.

A-Radio Berlin, Author, Bomani Shakur, General, Keith Lamar, Lucasville Uprising, Prisons, Rebroadcast

Keith Lamar (AKA Bomani Shakur)’s Final Appeal, December 2nd (November 30, 2014)

http://www.lucasvilleamnesty.org/p/background.html
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This week on the Final Straw….

Tuesday December 2nd in Cincinati, Ohio, Keith Lamar faces his final appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals. Keith is a defendant in the Lucasville Uprising case, facing the death penalty for allegedly leading a death squad of prisoners who killed snitches in April of 1993, of which he claims innocence. The Lucasville Uprising, for anyone unaware, was a prison revolt resulting from the administration’s refusal to work around the religious needs of Sunni Muslim prisoners at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility who were facing a tuberculosis test including alcohol. More on the case can be found at http://www.lucasvilleamnesty.org/p/background.html

This week we rebroadcast Neka’s interview with Keith Lamar, also known as Bomani Shakur, about his recent book entitled Condemned. Find out more about his case and check out his book at his website, http://keithlamar.org and if you’re in or around Ohio on Tuesday, December 2nd, there’s a call-out for folks to assemble at the Potter Steward Courthouse at 100 East 5th St in Cincinnati at 2pm to support Keith. There’s also a call for folks to show up at 5:30pm for a vigil.

Also in this hour, a short interview by Anarchistisches Radio Berlin with a participant in the 2014 Pinksterlanddagen, an anarchist camp that’s been recurring annually for 80 years in Appelscha in the Netherlands, for a glimpse into what other anarchist gathers look like. More on that camp at http://www.pinksterlanddagen.org/english
More from A Radio at http://aradio.blogsport.de

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