Category Archives: Author

AK Press, Antifa, Asia, Author, Colonialism, gender, History, Immigration, India, Politics, Racism, Transcribed, United States, zine

Maia Ramnath on Resisting Hindutva

Maia Ramnath on Resisting Hindutva

book covers of "Decolonizing Anarchism" & "Art For Life" and the text "TFSR 2-19-23 | Maia Ramnath on Resisting Hindutva"
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This week, we spoke with Maia Ramnath about her essay contribution to ¡No Pasarán!: Antifascist Dispatches From a World in Crisis. The essay was entitled “The Other Aryan Supremacy: Fighting Hindu Fascism in the South Asia Diaspora”.

 

For the hour, we talk about about Hindutva, a brand of Indian ethno-religious-nationalism some have called fascism, the organizations that carry it in India and in the sub-continental or Desi diaspora around the world, some of the ideas and actions attributed to it, Islamophobia, Hindutva’s connections with the project of Israel, also it’s overlaps with far right, Nazi-inspired ideologies and how non-Desi anti-fascists can stand in solidarity against it.

Some publications by or including Maia Ramnath:

Other interviews on related topics:

Bursts also recommends Azadi by Arundhati Roy, which includes lots of thoughts on these topics. And you can hear our 2020 interview with Pranav Jeevan P. in Karela state in India which covers many of these same topics, which is also transcribed.

Phone Zap for #StopCopCity Arrestee, Emily Murphy

#StopCopCity protestor Emily Murphy has been in jail for almost a month since being arrested 1/22 following the protest against the police killing of Tortuguita. Emily has been vegan for many years, but the Atlanta City Dentention Center has not been giving them food they can eat. They describe being emaciated and having physical problems after a month of starvation. We are asking that you listen to Emily’s statement, participate in our call in campaign, and show up at Atlanta City Dentention Center at 7pm this Friday (2/24/23) to voice your discontent. We present Emily in their own words

You can find info on this in Blue Ridge ABC’s mastodon post on the subject.

Continue reading Maia Ramnath on Resisting Hindutva →

AK Press, Anarchist, Author, History, Kristian Williams, Philosophy, Prisons, Queer, Rebroadcast

Resist Everything Except Temptation (Rebroadcast)

Resist Everything Except Temptation (Rebroadcast)

book cover of "Resist Everything Except Temptation" with a cartoon of Oscar Wilde + a text bar on the right "TFSR, Rebroadcast, 02-12-2023"
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We’re re-airing Scott’s 2020 interview with Kristian Williams about his book, Resist Everything Except Temptation: The Anarchist Philosophy of Oscar Wilde.

From the original post:

I found this interview extremely illuminating, perhaps like many other people who might not have strong ties to either academia or popular education models of learning, I had sort of written Oscar Wilde off as this kind of white dead rich guy who carried little to no relevance apart from a model of queerness that we could look back on. This interview very much proved that this isn’t the case, and that he and the circumstances around him very much influence how we as queers and as anarchists can sense historical threads that pull on our lives very tangibly today. Thanks a million to Scott for researching and conducting this interview!

You can learn more about the author, Kristian Williams, who is most known for his book Our Enemies in Blue, which is a critical history of American policing and police, at his website kristianwilliams.com.

You can hear our past interviews with Kristian on:

Continue reading Resist Everything Except Temptation (Rebroadcast) →

abolition, activism, Anarchist, Author, Capitalism, Colonialism, Education, Rebroadcast, Transcribed, United States, zine

Eli Meyerhoff on ‘Beyond Education’ (Rebroadcast)

Eli Meyerhoff on ‘Beyond Education’ (Rebroadcast)

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This week we are re-airing an interview from November 10th, 2019, by Scott Branson with Eli Meyerhoff about his book “Beyond Education: Radical Studying for Another World”. In this book, Meyerhoff “traces how key elements of education emerged from histories of struggles in opposition to alternative modes of study bound up with different modes of world-making. Taking inspiration from Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, and Indigenous resurgence projects, he charts a new course for movements within, against, and beyond the university as we know it.” and this quote is from the University of Minnesota webpage, who also published his book.

This interview covers a lot of issues such as the historical and colonial construction of what we think of today as education. In this interview, Scott and Eli talk about his book, the vast terrain that the book covers, experiences in academia when one is operating as politically radical, and some alternatives to education that we can see and experience in the world around us.

Eli Meyerhoff can be found at elimeyerhoff.com and the Abolition University at abolition.university.

Continue reading Eli Meyerhoff on ‘Beyond Education’ (Rebroadcast) →

AK Press, Anarchist, Anarcho-Syndicalism, Author, Capitalism, Communism, Environment, General, Labor, Philosophy, Transcribed, United States, zine

Libertarian Syndicalism with Tom Wetzel

Libertarian Syndicalism with Tom Wetzel

book cover of "Overcoming Capitalism" featuring a red fish swimming away under distress from a school of smaller white fishes shaped like a large fish, "TFSR 1-29-23"
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This week, we share our chat with Tom Wetzel on his recently published book Overcoming Capitalism: Strategy for the Working Class in the 21st Century (AK Press, 2022). Tom is an organizer with Worker’s Solidarity Alliance, an anarcho-syndicalist group relaunching in the SF Bay Area, which publishes to Ideas & Action journal online and is affiliated with the International Worker’s Association IWA/AIT.

For the hour we talk about the book, questions of economics and self-management, the ecological feasibility of Tom’s Libertarian Socialist model, recent labor struggles and other subjects. We hope you enjoy and suggest giving the book a read if this conversation tickles your fancy.

Continue reading Libertarian Syndicalism with Tom Wetzel →

activism, Anarchist, Author, Disaster Relief, Mutual Aid, Pluto Press, Transcribed, zine

Rhiannon Firth on Disaster, Mutual Aid and Anarchism

Rhiannon Firth on Disaster, Mutual Aid and Anarchism

"TFSR 1-16-2023" and the cover of Rhiannon Firth's "Disaster Anarchy" book
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We’re happy to share Scott’s interview with Rhiannon Firth about her recent book, Disaster Anarchy: Mutual Aid and Radical Action. You can get the book at a discount using the code “firth30”, on the Pluto Books website or you can get a digital read for free, linked in the shownotes.

Rhiannon’s: facebook; twitter; email.

Continue reading Rhiannon Firth on Disaster, Mutual Aid and Anarchism →

Author, Capitalism, Children, Family, Feminism, gender, Philosophy, Queer, Race, Transcribed, Verso, zine

Sophie Lewis on Abolishing the Family

Sophie Lewis on Abolishing the Family

"TFSR 1-1-23" + red book cover of "Abolish The Family by Sophie Lewis"
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I’m sure that many people coming out of this holiday season, returning from visiting relatives will wonder: “couldn’t we abolish the capitalist family structure?” We’ve got great news! We’re happy to present this conversation between Scott and Sophie Lewis, author of “Abolish The Family: A Manifesto of Care and Liberation”.

In this episode, Sophie speaks about the book, the ideas and inspirations she’s pulling from, the critique that the family form not only passes property and generationally allows concentrations of it, but simultaneously limits our horizons of care to these small, private and often abusive relationships. Here we also find ideas of Child Liberation, a challenge to the state form and capitalism, and an invitation to imagine beyond what we’ve been taught is the natural nucleus of human relationships in what turns out to be a long lineage of ideas cast back through Black feminisms of the 70’s and beyond.

Anyway, there was a lot here and we hope you enjoy. For a related chat, check out Scott’s July 10, 2022 interview with Sophie on the show, and you can find more recordings and essays at her site, LaSophieLle.org and support her freelance writing on her patreon.

Continue reading Sophie Lewis on Abolishing the Family →

AK Press, Anarchist, Author, General, History, Mexico, Prisons, Transcribed, United States, zine

The Legacy of Ricardo Flores Magón

The Legacy of Ricardo Flores Magón

A sketch of Ricardo Flores Magón at Leavenworth Prison, writing while looking out the window with the US flag flying, "Ricardo Flores Magón, TFSR, 12-4-22"
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We just passed the 100th anniversary of the murder by incarceration and hounding of Mexican Revolutionary anarchist communist Ricardo Flores Magón on 21st of November. For this hour or so, I spoke with Mitchell Cowen Verter, co-author of the 2005 AK Press book, Dreams of Freedom: A Ricardo Flores Magon Reader (also free from archive.org). We talk about RFM’s life, ideas and legacy.

Apologies for the sound quality, Mitchell was on wifi at a hostel in Cambodia for the conversation.

Other RFM Writings

Other pieces by Mitchell Cowen Verter

Xinachtli

Chicano anarchist communist prisoner of war Xinacthli, held by the State of Texas on some BS charges, had a support rally in Austin, Texas, on November 21st this year. There’s a link in these show notes to a recording someone passed us of him telling his story like a decade ago. You can learn more on his case at FreeAlvaro.Net.

Sean Swain’s segment on marriage starts at [ 01:15:00 – end]

Continue reading The Legacy of Ricardo Flores Magón →

AK Press, Anarchist, Anarcho-Syndicalism, Author, Capitalism, Communism, History, Labor, Marxism, Philosophy, Politics, St-Imier, Transcribed

The First International and the Birth of the Anarchist Movement (with Robert Graham)

The First International and the Birth of the Anarchist Movement (with Robert Graham)

book cover of "We Do Not Fear Anarchy, We Invoke It!" featuring a woman holding a torch and red flag in what appears to be a scene of chaos
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I’m happy to share this interview with anarchist author and historian, Robert Graham about the split in the historic left that led to the birth of the anarchist movement. Robert published the book We Do Not Fear Anarchy, We Invoke It!: The First International and the Origins of the Anarchist Movement with AK Press in 2015.

As I say in the interview, I was excited to have this conversation with Robert since the 150th anniversary of the first anti-authoritarian International hosted by the anarchist watchmakers in St-Imier, Switzerland. I’m definitely not a history or theory head, so I’ve been pleased to take this opportunity to broaden my horizons and areas of study. To hear about the 150th Anniversary gathering, check out the segment by comrades at A-Radio Berlin from August 2022’s Bad News podcast. And check out Anarchy2023.Org for info on next year’s gathering.

Part 1: [00:11:45 – 01:11:58]

Part 2: [01:14:32 – 02:13:22]

The interview begins at after Sean Swain’s segment on the protests in Iran [00:03:20 – 00:11:45]

The book is available from Firestorm at the above link, also from the publisher at AKPress.Org, and you can check out an online version from Archive.Org for free as well. Or now at TheAnarchistLibrary.Org for easy & free download.

Here’s a link to an archive of Open Road, the anarchist journal Robert participated in in the 1970’s

For a related historical interview we conducted in 2014 with Andrew Zonneveld of On Our Own Authority! on an anarchist historical compilation called “The Commune: Paris, 1871”, linked in our show notes. Also of note, Coffee With Comrades just conducted an interview Jim Yoeman on his recently published AK Press book, Print Culture and the Formation of the Anarchist Movement in Spain, 1890-1915

Continue reading The First International and the Birth of the Anarchist Movement (with Robert Graham) →

Africa, Anarchist, Asia, Author, Colonialism, Colonization, Conflict, Education, Middle East, Pluto Press, Transcribed, United States, zine

Islam and Anarchism with Mohamed Abdou

Islam and Anarchism with Mohamed Abdou

Book cover of "Islam and Anarchism" featuring Arabic writing and the words "TFSR 10-02-2022"
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This week, Scott spoke with Mohamed Abdou, a North African-Egyptian Muslim anarchist activist-scholar who is currently a Visiting Scholar at Cornell University and an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the American University of Cairo. Mohamed is the author of the recent book, Islam and Anarchism: Relationships and Resonances published by Pluto Press in 2022.

For nearly 2 hours, Scott and Mohamed speak about Mohamed’s experience of the Tahrir Square uprising of 2011 and the western media coverage of it, current unrest in Iran, Orientalism, decolonial education, Islam, Settler Colonialism, anarchism and a lot more.

You can follow Mohamed on Twitter at @minuetInGMajor or on facebook at @MohammadAbdou2020

Continue reading Islam and Anarchism with Mohamed Abdou →

Anarchist, Author, Capitalism, Communism, Labor, Marxism, Rebroadcast, United States

Wayne Price on Anarchism and Marxist Economics (rebroadcast)

Wayne Price on Anarchism and Marxist Economics (rebroadcast)

Book cover of “The Value of Radical Theory” by Wayne Price with the notes “TFSR 9-18-2022”
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This week we’re re-airing our 2020 conversation with Wayne Price, longtime anarchist, author and then-member of Bronx Climate Justice North and the Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Council, or MACC, in New York City.

From the original post:

After reading his book, The Value Of Radical Theory: An Anarchist Introduction to Marx’s Critique of Political Economy (AK Press, 2013), I became excited to speak to him about his views on anarchists engaging Marxist economic concepts and some of the historical conflicts and engagements between Marxism and Anarchism. We talk about his political trajectory from a pacifist Anarchist in high school, through Trotskyism and back to anarchy. Wayne talks about common visions of what an anarchist economy might look like, how we might get there, class and intersection of other oppressions, critique of State Capitalism. Wayne sees the oppressed of the world having a chance during this economic freeze to fight against re-imposition of wide-scale capitalist ecocide by building libertarian, anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist and heterogenous future societies in the shell of the old.

You can find his books Anarchism & Socialism: Reformism or Revolution? available from at AKPress.Org and The Abolition Of The State: Anarchist & Marxist Perspectives (AuthorHouse, 2007) or through a fine, independent radical bookstore in your area that could use support. A reminder that AKPress published books, such as “The Value…” can be purchased in e-book format for free from AKPress.org. You can find some of Wayne’s writing at this mirror of AnarchistLibrary, as well as at the site for the Platformist Anarkismo Network, Anarcho-Syndicalist Review, and The Utopian Journal (seemingly out of print).