Category Archives: History

activism, Anarchist, communization, Earth First!, General, Grand Jury, History, Labor, PNW, Police, Prisons, Quebec, repression, Security Culture, Student

Montreal Student Strikes (part 2)

2013/04/03 The Final Straw Radio

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

Transcript of Pt 1 & Pt 2
PDF of Pt1 & Pt2 (Unimposed) – pending
Zine of Pt1 & Pt2 (Imposed PDF) – pending

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

activism, ALKQN, Anarchist, Author, communization, conspiracy, CounterInsurgency, Earth & Animal Liberation, General, Grand Jury, History, Immigration, Occupy, PNW, Police, Prisons, repression, Security Culture

Life During Wartime: Counterinsurgency in the U.S.

2012/08/19 The Final Straw Radio

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

activism, Anarchist, Asheville, gender, General, History, Immigration, Music, Police, Prisons, Queer, repression

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

2012/06/24 The Final Straw Radio

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

activism, Anarchist, General, History, Israel, Palestine, repression

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

2012/05/20 The Final Straw Radio

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.

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

2012/05/06 The Final Straw Radio

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 →

activism, Anarchist, Asheville, General, History, Labor, Marxism, May Day, Music

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

2012/04/29 The Final Straw Radio

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/

activism, Anarchist, Author, communization, Da Bay, gender, General, History, Labor, Marxism, Occupy

Communisation and its Discontents: An interview with Dr. Ben Noys

2012/04/22 The Final Straw Radio

from http://www.ashevillefm.org/the-final-straw/04/2012/communisation-and-its-discontents-an-interview-with-dr-ben-noys:

This week’s show features a conversation with Dr. Benjamin Noys, editor of a new book entitled “Communisation and its Discontents”. Communisation theory evolved out of post-68 ultra-left communism and today is being explored and promoted by authors and journals like Riff-Raff, Theorie Communiste, End Notes, Sic and Tiqqun. This show is a short introduction to the theories and plays with the problematics of communisation including gender, terminology, identity, and activity.

The text of the book is available online for free at Libcom:
http://libcom.org/library/communization-its-discontents-contestation-critique-contemporary-struggles

Related projects that may be of interest include:
LibCom’s archive of communisation texts (http://libcom.org/tags/communisation)

Riff-Raff (http://www.riff-raff.se/en/9/)
Sic (http://sic.communisation.net/)
Tiqqun & Invisible Committee related (http://libcom.org/tags/tiqqun)

Anarchist, Assassins, General, History

Tyrannicide Day 2012!

2012/03/11 The Final Straw Radio

from http://www.ashevillefm.org/the-final-straw/03/2012/tyrannicide-day-2012

This week’s show is dedicated to Tyrannicide. As discussed at the end of last week’s show, the ides of march approacheth. this date is celebrated as the date of the assasination of the tyrant, Julius Caesar. It also approximates the date of the assasination by the Nihilist group Narodnaya Volya, or people’s will of Czar Alexander the second of Russia, albeit after 7 attempts. We celebrate today
the equalling of the playing field, those who strove to be actors on the stage of history, lone wolfs if you will. I will say of the theme of today’s show that whether or not the Attentat, or propaganda of the deed, actually creates the change that people expect or desire is debateable. Maybe not. Maybe it just doesn’t. But, then, let’s celebrate those brave and/or crazy individuals who took it upon themselves to roll the dice in the face of authoritarianism and make at least one foul tyrant suffer.

Annoucement of local event can be found here:
http://mountaindistress.com/archives/222

Playlist for the show can be found at AshevilleFM

Anarchist, conspiracy, Earth & Animal Liberation, Eric McDavid, General, History, Ian Coldwater, Marius Mason, Police, Prisons, repression, RNC8

Conspiracy Trials, Grand Juries and Security Culture

2012/02/12 The Final Straw Radio

This week’s show features a conversation with Ian Coldwater, a co-founder of the Coldsnap Legal Collective, about Conspiracy Trials, Grand Juries, Security Culture and technology. We discuss some of the trials that have come up against Anarchists, Animal and Earth defenders and other radicals over the last 8 years in the U.S. and Canada with an eye towards what we can learn in order to increase our safety as activists and radicals.

For more info, check out the following links:

Keep an eye open for local events by the Never Alone Tour in your area.

Anarchist, Author, General, History, Kristian Williams, Police, Prisons, Racism, repression, Transcribed, zine

Police Abolition: An interview with Kristian Williams

2011/08/12 The Final Straw Radio

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). The show will air at 1pm EST at www.ashevillefm.org and be archived for a week at www.ashevillefm.org/the-final-straw .

Transcript

PDF (Unimposed)

Zine (Imposed PDF)

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

The Final Straw Radio Podcast