Category Archives: History

Oscar Wilde an Anarchist?: An interview with Kristian Williams

Oscar Wilde
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(This Episode Aired on January 29, 2012)

This week’s show features an interview with Kristian Williams, author of the books, “Our Enemies in Blue,” “American Methods” and numerous articles on policing, torture, anarchism, cartoons and much more. Kristian speaks about his in-progress book on the Anarchism of Oscar Wilde, Wilde’s experiences in prisons and his sexual politics.

Find articles by Williams on this and many other topics at www.kristianwilliams.com

Anarchism in Post-Revolutionary Spain, pt2

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This week’s episode of the final straw picks up where last week’s left off. The features speakers are Ana and Pablo, two anarchists living in Barcelona, and they’ll be discussing the rise and struggle of Anarcha-Feminism in Spain since the social revolution of the 1930’s through to current times. We’ll also be discussing intersections of anarchist struggle and healthcare in the age of austerity and visions of autonomous and anarchist forms of health care. This show also features a scene report of Anarchists in Spain today by Pablo and Ana presents some closing thoughts on struggles to engage in.

Following the discussion, you’ll be hearing some new metal tracks from Brighton’s own Light Bearer. Light Bearer is a 4 album project themed around the fall of Lucifer. Light Bearer shares members with the band, Fall of Efrafa, an epic crust band themed around the novel Watership Down. The 2nd album in the series, Silver Tongue, has just been released by the band to a mediafire file.

We’ll also hear a metal track posthumously released from the Austin Texas anti-civ anarchist sludge project, Ecocide. For archives of this and other episodes of the Final Straw, check out radio4all.net and search the show title.

The playlist can be found here

Anti-civilization Anarchism: A Conversation with John Zerzan

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This episode features a conversation with Anarchist philosopher, author and radio host John Zerzan. John has authored six books, including Elements of Refusal, Running on Emptiness and, most recently, Future Primitive Revisited (2012, Feral House). Some of his writings have been recently compiled into Origins: A John Zerzan Reader (2010, FC Press jointly with Black and Green Press). His radio show airs every Tuesday at 7pm EST on 88.1 FM on KWVA radio out of U of O in Eugene, Oregon.

This week we talk about Mr. Zerzan’s critiques of Civilization, Domestication, Symbolic Culture, ecological destruction, Patriarchy and other topics.

John Zerzan.Net

For a nice compilation of writings from Individuals Tending Towards The Wild, check out this link at LBC books or find more info at 325 Magazine’s Website.

Victoria Law on the Struggles of Incarcerated Women

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This week’s show features a conversation with Victoria Law.

This week we speak to Vikki about the second edition of her book, Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women.” We discuss patriarchy, criminalization & invisibility that is faced by those held in women’s prisons. We also talk about resistance, organizing, support and engagement of those on the inside and about the organizing that formerly incarcerated people do to help their comrades on the inside.

From her PM Press Author’s page:

“Victoria Law is a writer, photographer, and mother. After a brief stint as a teenage armed robber, she became involved in prisoner support. In 1996, she helped start Books Through Bars-New York City, a group that sends free books to prisoners nationwide. In 2000, she began concentrating on the needs and actions of women in prison, drawing attention to their issues by writing articles and giving public presentations. Since 2002, she has worked with women incarcerated nationwide to produce Tenacious: Art and Writings from Women in Prison and has facilitated having incarcerated women’s writings published in larger publications, such as Clamor magazine, the website “Women and Prison: A Site for Resistance” and the upcoming anthology Interrupted Lives.”

Montreal Student Strikes (part 2)

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This week’s show features the second part of my conversation with Maria about anarchist perspectives on the student strikes in Montreal,
Quebec. Maria continues to draw the history of this last year of student strikes that have developed into a nascent social strike and talks about the call to help block the start of the next semester in early August of this year

The second half of this episode features music from and about the struggle of Miners against the bosses and the state and for survival and self-determination. The playlist can be found here.

Call Out to
block the next semester

Greve
Montreal

Life During Wartime: Counterinsurgency in the U.S.

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This week’s show features a conversation with William Munger, co-editor and contributor to the upcoming AK Press book, Life During Wartime (2013). We talk about the application of Counterinsurgency praxis by law enforcement domestically in the U.S. and what that looks like in it’s varying forms.

What is COIN (Counterinsurgency)? How is it being applied to movements and communities in the United States? How do we resist it? These are among the topics covered during the conversation.

Among other things, Will’s research has focused on the case study of the relationship and dialogue developed between law enforcement in Salinas, California and the Monterey, California-based Naval Postgraduate School. This relationship has allowed NPS to conduct the beginnings of a proxy-war on the local Latino populations with a focus on eradicating gang networks. Will’s essay, “Social War in the Salad Bowl” won a grant from the Institute for Anarchist Studies this last year.

U.S. Army Field Manual 3-24: Counterinsurgency Warfare
NPS: Gangs and Guerrillas

The playlist for this show can be found at AshevilleFM

What if we could swish AND fight? (2012 Redux of Stonewall show)

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This week’s show is a conversation with Parks (a member of Tranzmission Prison Project) about Stonewall, the cooptation of it’s rememberance in the form of Pride marches, the split of the liberation movement into the pride movement and continued radical struggles.

The playlist for the show can be found here

Anarchists Against The Wall: Resistance and Solidarity in Palestine (May 20, 2012)

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This week’s show features an interview with Abrasha Blum and Ruth, who work with Anarchists Against The Wall. AATW is a coalition of Israeli Anarchists doing solidarity work alongside Palestinians struggling against the aparthied wall and system in and around the West Bank. As the 45th anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War approaches (June 5th-10th), we talk about Zionism, the Settlers, solidarity and how folks can support the popular struggles for Palestinian autonomy and dignity. If you have the ability to help them cover legal fees, check out awalls.org and donate.

Main Episode:

Birthright Program Segment

An archive of this show, as well as an extra segment on the Birthright Program and the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement can soon be found on www.archive.org by searching the show title.

Other useful links include:

  • http://www.icahd.org/ – Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions website
  • http://www.awalls.org/ – Anarchists Against the Wall website
  • http://www.popularstruggle.org/ – Popular Struggle Co-ordination Committee website
  • http://www.alternativenews.org/english/ – Alternative Information Centre
  • http://www.addameer.org/ – Palestinian prisoner and human rights organisation
  • http://972mag.com/ – daily commentary from West Bank, Israel and Gaza
  • http://www.taayush.org/ – direct action group supporting Palestinian farmers particularly in South Hebron Hills
  • http://www.bdsmovement.net/ – In 2005, Palestinian civil society issued a call for a campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights. A truly global movement against Israeli Apartheid is rapidly emerging in response to this call.
  • http://boycottisrael.info/ – Israelis supporting the BDS call
  • http://activestills.org/ – Israeli and Palestinian photography collective
  • http://www.btselem.org/ – Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
  • http://punksagainstapartheid.com/ – clue is in the title 😉

George Katsiaficas and South Korea’s Peoples Movements in the 20th Century (May 6, 2012)

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This week we’re speaking with Dr. George Katsiaficas, author and contributor to over a dozen books on Peoples Movements and the elucidator of the Eros Effect. For over a decade, Dr. Katsiaficas has been studying the culture and history of South Korea and it’s culture and has just published the first volume of a two part series on People’s uprisings in Asia, entitled “Asia’s Unknown Uprisings: South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century” from PM Press.

For more of Dr. Katsiaficas’ writing, check out his website at www.eroseffect.com

Continue reading George Katsiaficas and South Korea’s Peoples Movements in the 20th Century (May 6, 2012)

May Day Choir in Asheville: A conversation with Saro and Kila

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This week’s show will be a conversation with Saro Lynch-Tomason and Kila Donovan, members of the Asheville May Day Choir about music, resistance, history and the upcoming May Day celebrations in Asheville. Saro and Kila are also members of the band, Red Wind. The show features in-studio renditions of some beautiful resistance songs that we’ll be hearing this year. The two jamboree shows will be a benefit for Blair Pathways.

http://www.blairpathways.com/
http://redwindmusic.com/