Do you feel insecure with your living situation? Rents always on the rise while wages stagnate? Getting priced out of your neighborhood? Want some ideas on how you might strike back and who against?
This week, Bursts spoke with James Tracy about gentrification and displacement in San Francisco and elsewhere. In his recent book, Dispatches Against Displacement maps some of James’ nearly 25 year struggles around housing rights in SF, mostly in The Mission District, as well as larger histories of the struggle to grow and sustain communities on commodified lands. James is a co-founder of the San Francisco Land Trust, former member of the Mission Anti-displacement Coalition and other groups. We discuss Dot-Com, Tech 2.0, Urban Renewal, Spatial Displacement and more.
This week’s episode features the rest of a conversation with Layla AbdelRahim about her recent book, Wild Children – Domesticated Dreams: Civilization and the Birth of Education. We played the start of this conversation near the end of last week‘s show and continue it throughout this hour. Layla talks about education, domestication, patriarchy, capitalism, instrumentalism, empathy and much more. More of her writings can be found at http://layla.miltsov.org/
Sean Swain’s segment this week talks about ISIL/ISIS, the crisis in Iraq and revisits the stupidity and cruel ignorance of U.S. intervention into Iraq since the 1980’s.
2nd, “On March 21st, 2012 Higinio Ochoa III aka w0rmer, was arrested and charged with hacking law enforcement agency websites and posting the personal information of police officers online, as well as being accused of defacing a government website in Alabama. Hig was part of an Anonymous crew called the Cabincr3w.” (Anon-Sweden support page). w0rmer will be released into a halfway house after 2 years of incarceration this August, however he’ll be forced to live in Austin, TX, 4 hours from where his wife and now-1-year-old son live. Support folks are trying to raise $6,000 to help cover the move and some living expenses until both find gainful employment in Austin. More info at: http://www.youcaring.com/other/help-the-ochoa-family-to-reunite/190052
This week’s show features mainly a dubbed interview by comrades at A-Radio Berlin with a member of a Comite Popular da Copa in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The interviewee speaks about the context of resistance in Brazil and how it’s developed, public discourse around elections, the cost of living, developments around the FIFA World Cup and upcoming Olympics in Brazil. He discusses the links between politicians supporting these huge events, the political power of the construction companies, the displacement of poor, urban peoples and the further gentrification of cities under the guise of facilitating these huge events that draw short term profits but cause longterm damages. Information about the Comite Popular da Copa in Sao Paolo can be found at: http://comitepopularsp.wordpress.com/
At about 40 minutes into the show, we begin presenting a conversation with Layla AbdelRahim about her recent 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 this portion, 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
Sean Swain, this week, talks about the corruption and enslavement involved in the construction of the Ohio State Capital building in Colombus.
This week, William speaks with Dan Berger – who is an author, prison activist and movement historian – about his new book “The Struggle Within: Prisons, Political Prisoners, and Mass Movements in the United States” just out from PM Press. They speak about histories pertaining to radical mileus as well as the much debated term “political prisoner” and how it relates to prison abolition and support work, among other topics. More about him and his work can be found at http://danberger.org.
Also included is a piece by comrades at ARadio Berlin entitled “Practical Self Help; An Abortion Hotline in Chile”. More of their works can be found at http://aradio.blogsport.de.
Sean Swain’s segment this week is read by The Stimulator of http://Submedia.tv, check out their radical films at that site. Sean is still refusing meals, so far as we are aware. Updates can be found at http://seanswain.org
This week we present quite the variety of consumables. Firstly couple of announcements about KOWA-LP and AshevilleFM and an update on the 5E prisoners from Mexico which includes a description of life and bribery culture in the prison where Carlos is currently held.
Next, the TFS crew’s newest member, Neka, interviews Keith Lamar (AKA Bomani Shakur), 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. Keith is the author of a new book, Condemned, which he talks about alongside talking about his case and his upcoming final appeal. 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 and can make his hearings, please do show support.
If you’re in the line of travel for Black Bird Raum, pick up a copy of Keith’s book from their tour. http://www.blackbirdraum.net/
After that we are happy to present a recently translated interview by comrades from Anarchistisches Radio Berlin with a member of the Anarchist Black Cross of Belarus about a number of topics including prisoner support and anti-repression work the ABC is doing, the confusing nationalist and anarchist alignments occurring in parts of Ukraine, repression in Russia and much more. More from ARB can be found at http://aradio.blogsport.de
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.
This week Bursts spoke to Leslie James Pickering about a range of different subjects. Mr. Pickering worked for the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office (NAELFPO), acting to spread the message and communiques of the ELF, from 1997 to 2002. Obviously, he experienced heavy state oppression during that period of time. And recently, it’s become apparent that the state hasn’t forgotten him.
Leslie James Pickering is no longer allowed to enter Canada (despite no relevant arrests in the last decade and a half) and has found that he’s got a “Mail Cover” via the Post Office where his mail is photocopied and tracked by an as yet unidentified Law Enforcement Agency. He’s also had friends on the West Coast contacted by the Buffalo (NY) FBI Office and asked if Leslie has enemies or do direct action and business contacts of Leslie’s have been subpoenaed to Grand Juries around Burning Books Radical Bookstore. Leslie is an owner of that radical bookstore in Buffalo, which carries books, zines and hosts political events and via which, according to the FBI, Leslie is “stirring up the youth.”
We spend most of the hour talking about government surveillance in his case in particular and in general in the U.S. and also about the prosecution of Jeremy Hammond. Leslie shares some thoughts on parts the forgotten history of radical resistance in the U.S. In particular, he talks about his recent book on the Evan Mecham Eco Terrorist International Conspiracy (EMETIC), a predecessor to the ELF, as well as his earlier book on a radical, white, working class radical named Sam Melville who bombed government and capital centers in New York and inspired the Weather Underground. Melville, who’s the focus of Pickering’s book “Mad Bomber Melville”, went on to organize at Attica before and die during the Attica Prison uprising in 1971. In Pickering’s view, the importance of recognizing and learning from radical history allows us to better strategize for current and future struggles.
Lastly, we briefly touch on the story of Martin Sostres, who’s ideological journey brought him from Nation of Islam through Black Nationalism to Anarchism. Sostre was framed up on drug charges in order to silence his organizing and shut down his bookstore in Buffalo, NY, in 1967 and served 10 years before having his case overturned. Martin Sostre now lives in New York City. There was a 1974 documentary about his case called “Frame-Up!: The Imprisonment of Martin Sostre” (Pacific Street Films). The film HAS been available for streaming at christiebooks.com, alongside MANY other films in many languages.
This week’s episode features an interview with Peter Gelderloos. Peter is the author of “How Nonviolence Protects the State”, “Anarchy Works” and most recently of “The Failure of Nonviolence: From the Arab Spring to Occupy.”
In this hour Peter discusses the arguments in “The Failure…”, surmises the efficacy of nonviolent civil disobedience mass movements since the end of the Cold War, looks at some of the main and most visible supporters of the NVCD and what a more verdant struggle might look like.
This week’s show features a conversation with one of the editors of the recently released journal of Nihilist Anarchism called Attentat, available from Little Black Cart.
We explore some of the history of the term nihilism and some of the philosophical underpinnings to it, as well as what intellectual nihilism today and active nihilism today look like around the world and in the U.S. in particular. The editor speaks about what they think nihilism can bring to anarchism and vice-versa.
This week on the show we interview Bay Area author Alden Wood about his book “Crime Thought; Theorizing CrimethInc.” published in 2012 by Little Black Cart.
In this interview we discuss the anarchist publishing project CrimethInc., which has been active and extremely prolific since the early 1990’s. It serves as an entry point for many people who are just becoming acquainted with anarchism as a political ideology. We discuss CrimethInc.’s successes and shortcomings as a unified front of political analysis, as well as possible jumping off points for people interested in exploring anarchism further.
