Everyday Anarchism

Everyday Anarchism goes back to where it all began: the romantic anarchism of J.R.R. Tolkien. Meredith Veldman, author of Fantasy, The Bomb, and the Greening of Britain, joins me to talk about the romantic protest underlying The Lord of the Rings. We discuss the romantic quest for reintegration at the heart of the novels, the appeal that romanticism has for both anarchists and fascists, and why Palantir is such an ironically good name for Peter Thiel's big data company.

My colleague David Hill rejoins the show to discuss Twilight of the Idols, one of Nietzsche's last works, and one in which Nietzsche directly discusses anarchism.In addition to Nietzsche's putdowns of anarchists, David and I also discuss the ancient Greeks in Nietzsche's thoughts, the unsavory aspects of Nietzsche's philosphy, and Nietsche's attacks on liberalism.For background to this conversation, check out this episode on games and philosophy in ancient Greece: https://do-things-with-words.captivate.fm/episode/1-5-agon-and-ancient-greek-society-david-potter/

Robin Schuldenfrei joins me to discuss her new book Objects in Exile, which is about the many afterlives of the Bauhaus school and its practitioners. Robin and I particularly focus on the relationship between Bauhaus and city planning, especially focusing on Chicago and the work of Ludwig Hilberseimer. Key questions include:How can societies ensure that everyone has at least enough space to live? How can cities provide for both growth and planning, and blend different kinds of buildings and spaces into an organic whole? And how can we see the rigid grid of American cities as a tool for anarchy?Here's the information about Robin's book and an interview with her about the bookRobin Schuldenfrei, Objects in Exile: Modern Art and Design across Borders, 1930–1960https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691232669/objects-in-exileInterview, Robin Schuldenfrei on Objects in Exilehttps://press.princeton.edu/ideas/robin-schuldenfrei-on-objects-in-exile

"What is joy when everything has been monetized and optimized?" For Carson Lund, the answer is rec league baseball, and his new film Eephus is about how a meaningless, anachronistic activity like a local baseball league can actually be the most meaningful and important thing you can do. The film is an ode to baseball, a comedy, and "an argument for democracy at a more human level, people just figuring things out."You can find ways to stream Eephus or watch it in the theater here: https://www.eephusfilm.com/And here's the Hawthorne quote I got totally wrong in the episode:The novels of Anthony Trollope "just as real as if some giant had hewn a great lump out of the earth and put it under a glass case, with all its inhabitants going about their daily business, and not suspecting that they were being made a show of."

John McGowan joins the podcast again to discuss a recent republication of Hannah Arendt's essay "Civil Disobedience, which responds to Plato's Crito, Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government," and the leftwing mass movements of the 1960s. John and I discuss Arendt's importance as a theorist of revolution and totalitarianism, as well as the complex life of the idea of civil disobedience and its reception by Tolstoi, Gandhi, and King.

Jaz Brisack joins me to discuss their new book, Get on the Job and Organize. Jaz and I discuss why billionaires take union organizing personally, how organizing is different in the 21st century, and how you can organize your workplace.Jaz might be coming to a town near you soon - here's the link to their book tour sites: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Jaz-Brisack/225399070 And a link to buy the book:https://flyleafbooks.com/book/9781668080795

Brian Merchant, author of the newsletter Blood in the Machine, returns to the show to talk about the newsletter, ai, tech oligarchs, the neoliberal "abundance" agenda, jobs, and pretty much everything else you want to know about the terrible, horrible, no good collusion between Trump, Tech billionaires, and ai. Fight the tech billionaires. Support Blood in the Machine!https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/ You can also check out Brian's previous appearance on his book about the luddites - also called Blood in the Machine: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/a05a3ed4-471c-4224-9ac6-4af204b7ff1d/ Oh, and you can find some of my work on ai here:https://aideas.captivate.fm/ https://www.aiedu.org/aiedu-blog/guest-author-ethics-culbertson-1

In which I end my series on David Graeber's Debt, apologize for mistakes, and offer some hope for a new world in which we have more money and less monetarism.Thank you to all of the listeners to this series, and my wonderful lineup of guests: Dirk Ehnts, Eleanor Janega, Cory Doctorow, Bill Maurer, Henry Farrell, James K. Galbraith, Fuad Musallam, Clif Mark, Luke Kemp, John Weisweiler, Chris Isett, and Yanis Varoufakis.The whole series can be found here: https://www.everydayanarchism.com/david-graebers-debt/

When capitalists developed their neighborhood with a giant mall, eight artists developed an abandoned space in the mall into an apartment. It was art without permission, and now there's a documentary about what it was like to make a secret mall apartment as a form of art. Jeremy Workman, the director of Secret Mall Apartment, and Michael Townsend, the originator of the idea, join me to discuss the film and what it means to make art without permission.I highly recommend that you check out Michael's public art, which you can learn about here: https://www.tapeart.com/

Max Cafard (which is a pen name) and Vulpes (which is also a pen name) join me to discuss their fantastic new graphic novel Anarchy in the Big Easy, which is just what it sounds like. Max and Vulpes and I discuss the cosmic anarchy, political anarchism, and everyday anarchy that's flowed through what is now called New Orleans for centuries and millennia. Plus we get frequently confused by the pen names. And yes, as happens occasionally, Max has a squeaky chair.You can order the book from PM press here: https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1766

Yanis Varoufakis joins me to discuss his new book, Technofeudalism, how the world economy has changed since Graeber wrote Debt, and where things might be going next.Live long and prosper.

Constance Bantman joins me to discuss the history of anarchist political violence through the prism of Luigi Mangione - and vice versa. Some of the questions we cover include:Can the history of nineteenth-century anarchist terrorism help us understand the recent assassination of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson by Mangione, and its rapturous reception in some quarters of public opinion? What is the place of political violence in democracies? And what of Mangione's forthcoming trial?For more historical context, I highly recommend the recent podcast episode of In Our Time about the Haymarket Affair, which features Ruth Kinna: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0023gm2

Luke Kemp returns to the show to discuss Two Cheers for Anarchism, James C. Scott's six essays or "fragments" applying an anarchist squint to the world. Luke and I discuss the joy of Scott's book, it's controversial place in anarchist theory, and why it's a good place for the anarcho-curious to start their journey into anarchism.Along the way I also highly recommend Agnes Varda's amazing film, Daguerréotypes https://www.criterionchannel.com/daguerreotypes Luke should appear on the podcast later this year to discuss his new book about societal collapse, Goliath's Curse! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/691357/goliaths-curse-by-luke-kemp/

Christopher Isett joins me to discuss the rise of capitalism and "The Great Divergence," in which Christendom transformed itself from an obscure corner of the world into the dominant global power. Just how did that happen, what part did capitalism play in it, and why did capitalism develop in Europe? And what does China have to do with all of it?Chris gives his answers to all of these questions, especially drawing on the work of Robert Brenner. Here's Brenner's page on the Verso website, if you want the full story: https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/authors/brenner-robert

Today Mitch Abidor joins me to discuss Victor Serge: acclaimed novelist, anarchist, Bolshevik, anticommunist, and all-around 20th century contradiction. Mitch and I discuss the legend of Serge, what's true about it, and the ways that Serge fails to live up to the legend.You can find Mitch's writing all over the place, but here's a good place to start: https://jewishcurrents.org/author/mitchell-abidor And here's the NYRB page for Serge's work: https://www.nyrb.com/collections/victor-serge

What is capitalism?It's not efficient markets, factories, and free labor.It's the financialization of empire and slavery, using greed, shame, indignation, and debt.

Kim Stanley Robinson returns to discuss his novel Green Earth, a technothriller about a near future world in which scientists work to solve the global climate crisis. Stan and I discuss how the book went from a trilogy to a single volume, its similarity to The Ministry for the Future, and its place in the genre of naturalism. Plus Emerson and Thoreau!And yes, I get the title of The Ministry for the Future wrong every time I say it in this episode. Oops.

Mark Bittman returns to Everyday Anarchism to discuss Community Kitchen, his new model for how we can do restaurant food better by running nonprofit restaurants rooted in their communities.But we also talk about RFK's crusade against seed oils, what's wrong with Pod Save America, why food is so cheap in the US, the recent US presidential election, and whatever else happened to come up.Find more from Mark at https://bittmanproject.com/

Shawn Vulliez from SRSLY Wrong joins me to discuss the new collection of David Graeber essays, The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World. Shawn and I talk about the tyranny of economics and how Graeber gave us permission to reveal that the emperor of economics has no clothes.Warning: Contains discussion of the recent election. Stay away if you just can't handle it anymore. I understand.

A spectre is haunting the Everyday Anarchism series on the English revolution: the spectre of Christopher Hill's 1972 book The World Turned Upside Down. It turns out most of the ideas I've shared in this series came from Hill's book!Ann Hughes joins me to discuss the book, and we talk through the following questions:Did Hill invent the idea of the English revolution?How did the radicalism of the 1960s affect Hill's approach?Was Winstanley an anarchist?Was the English Revolution the beginning of modernity?Thanks so much to Ann and all the other guests in this year-long series, now (probably) concluded!

Eleanor Janega, the very first guest on the Graeber's Debt series, comes back on the show to discuss what the middle ages were, how they were a global phenomenon, and why they weren't as bad as you've heard

I'm joined by Karl Gerth, professor of modern Chinese history at the University of California, San Diego, to discuss the Chinese Communist Revolution and how Maoism attempted to avoid the mistakes of the USSR and yet largely repeated them.

In Graeber's middle ages, empires fell apart while temples and monasteries kept everything together with metaphysical debt. Oh, and Europe isn't very important.Eleanor Janega returns later this month to discuss the chapter in the next Debt discussion!

Following on my discussion with John Weisweiler, more detail on Graeber's account of the Axial Age

In this episode in my series on Graeber's Debt, I'm joined by John Weisweiler to discuss Chapter 9, "The Axial Age." John and I discuss Graeber's insights into the relationship between money, debt, and community, and the way that Graeber often got the ideas right even before the archaelogical record had gotten there.

Ruth Kinna comes back on the show to celebrate 3 years of Everyday Anarchism. We talk about the relationship between anarchism and protest, and where everyday anarchism fits with capital-A Anarchism. Plus Occupy!

Luke Kemp joins me to discuss Chapter 8 of Debt, asking the question: Is Graeber right when he says that history follows clear cycles?Sort of!

I'm joined by Alfie Kohn to discuss No Contest: The Case Against Competition, his 1986 book about how competition hurts rather than helps people do their best. We cover the problem with grades, the reason why excellence and competition are opposed, and whats wrong with rewards and what makes awards even worse.For more from Alfie, check out his website:https://www.alfiekohn.org/

The Debt series returns, hopefully to finish by early 2025.This my reading of Chapter 8 (and a little of Chapter 7), soon to be followed by a discussion with Luke Kemp.

This episode publishes on the hundredth anniversary of Colin Ward! Colin was one of the popularizers of many of the ideas featured in this podcast, and I've stayed away from covering him for fear of copying him. But my guest today, Roman Krznaric, convinced me to do an episode on Colin's thought, and we had a thrilling conversation about anarchy, city planning, protest, and Kim Stanley Robinson.I highly recommend Colin's book Anarchy in Action from PM Press: https://www.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=814Here's Roman's website for more from him: https://www.romankrznaric.com/

Here's a crossover episode from my other podcast, Plumbing Game Studies.Things have been crazy lately, and I have emails from back in April I haven't responded to. My apologies if you've emailed me and not heard back. I hope to get caught up soon, or at least in 2024!

Who create the modern theory of political sovereignty?Thomas Hobbes.What was Hobbes afraid of?Anarchy.What made Hobbes so afraid of anarchy?The English Revolution.Today's guest is Alison McQueen, who can be found at https://www.alisonmcqueen.info/

Clif Mark, host of the Good in Theory podcast, joins me to discuss honor and degradation in Graeber's Debt. Also I make Clif talk about representation in Star Wars, for some reason.

One of the most famous author's in the English language, John Milton, was a 17th century English radical who not only supported but also worked for the English revolutionary government. I'm joined by Nigel Smith, a returning guest, and Nick McDowell, author of Poet of Revolution: The Making of John Milton, to discuss Milton's radicalism and its relationship to the English Revolution.

A little belatedly, here's my episode about Graeber's Debt, Chapter 7. A discussion on honor and dignity will be coming later this month with Clif Mark of the Good in Theory podcast!

Kate Peters, author of Print Culture and the Early Quakers, joins me to discuss the Quakers, the last of the radical groups we're covering the English Revolution series. You can hear about how the Quakers can be seen as the end of political radicalism in the revolution, or alternately as a different form of radical organizing, as evidenced by William Penn's political declarations in the 1701 charter for Pennsylvania:https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/1701-pennsylvania-charter-of-liberties

In this debt discussion, Fuad and I discuss Chapter 6 of Debt, "Games with Sex and Death," and especially the way that Graeber is writing in the grand theory tradition of anthropology. Fuad also taught with David at the London School of Economics, and is able to explain how Graeber approached these same concepts in anthropology as a teacher and colleague.You can find Fuad's anthropological work on activism here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/dasa/musallam-fuad

In the next episode of Radicalism in the English Revolution, I'm joined by Bernard Capp to discuss The Fifth Monarchists - a radical protestant sect that was trying to bring about the end of the world, and wanted Cromwell to help them!

Graeber explains human economies, economies in which money can only be used to shore up social relations, and can't be used to buy things - to the utter confusion of anthropologists trying to buy things

My former professors John McGowan and Meili Steele join me to discuss Richard Rorty's final book, Pragmatism as Anti-Authoritarianism.

James K. Galbraith joins me to discuss the flaws in the field of economics and its pseudoscientific justifications

Stuart Klawans joins me to discuss his recent book Crooked but Never Common about the films of Preston Sturges, the first writer-director of the Hollywood sound era. Informed by the work of Stanley Cavell, Stuart's book reads these comedies as asking important questions about democracy, business, the New Deal, marriage, and other pressing questions. Plus they're a joy to watch!

The chapter of Debt which inspired this podcast - get ready to hear the origin of everyday anarchism!

Philosopher of games C. Thi Nguyen joins me to discuss his current work on the intersection of anarchism and games studies. The conversation was so much fun that I started a whole new podcast, Plumbing Game Studies, to continue exploring this topic.For more from Thi, here's his website: https://objectionable.net/ Here's the website for the new podcast, Plumbing Game StudiesSpotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/4axfbEJzRpVg6NXIaycm8d?si=272f3a6401024df6 Apple Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/dk/podcast/plumbing-game-studies/id1734827141

In this episode I'm joined by Henry Farrell, who got into an internet spat with David Graeber over Debt. Henry recently wrote a reflection on the kerfuffle at the blog Crooked Timber, and also co-wrote a book, Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy, that came about in part as a response to Graeber's Debt.

Kim Stanley Robinson to talk about his Mars trilogy, the theory of revolution that animates it, and where anarchism and anarchists fit in. This conversation is a direct sequel to our conversations on the Three Californias triptych, which you can listen to here:https://www.everydayanarchism.com/093-the-wild-shore-three-californias-kim-stanley-robinson/https://www.everydayanarchism.com/096-the-gold-coast-three-californias-kim-stanley-robinson/https://www.everydayanarchism.com/100-the-pacific-edge-three-californias-kim-stanley-robinson/

Happy Mardi Gras! The show should be back publishing new episodes in March. In the meantime, here's a rerun, and a link to a couple of interview I did late last year:https://pod.link/1705765872/episode/716e36494d7eff56dc142642d55c7c3bhttps://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jelle-laverge/episodes/The-Core-Curriculum---Episode-1---Interview-with-Graham-Culbertson-e2aeujb

Radicalism in the English Revolution gets to the Ranters, the radical group of protestants who may or may not have practiced free love - but definitely sparked a moral panic!In this extra-long discussion, Nigel Smith and I discuss the roots of Ranterism, its connections to the Diggers, its legacy for romanticism, and its connection to later American radical movements. Plus we talk about punk rock, especially in connection to Nigel's book: A Collection of Ranter Writings: Spiritual Liberty and Sexual Freedom in the English Revolution

For my very first repeat episode, I'm reposting a conversation with Ruth Kinna about Santa Claus, Kropotkin, and the prefigurative practice of Christmas.You can read Ruth's article on the topic here: An Anarchist Guide to Christmas

Diane Purkiss joins me to discuss the Christmas Wars, in which Puritans attempted to prevent the celebration of Christmas in the 17th century. Christmas was a carnival in which the world was turned upside down - and the Puritans weren't having it. We also discuss the Lord of Misrule, Twelfth Night, and that 21st century lord of misrule: Lord Buckethead!

Debt Chapter 4, in which Jesus and Nietzsche show up!