The Book on Fire Podcast

"...those feelings of anguish and rage are the same itch the seed feels in the last days of Winter, before it bursts open and sends out its buds into the world... Remember this story, and there will be hope for Spring." First published on Unsettling America. Audio version originally published by Resonance. ---------------------------------------------- Music by Big Blood and I Love You. Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com The Book on Fire Facebook group [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

Witch hunting did not end in Europe. In fact it didn't even end. The final chapter of our book. Mentioned: Debt: The First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber The anthropologist Michael Taussig "Conviction: American Panic" podcast Janet's essay about finding and connecting with nature anywhere  ----------------------------------- Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com The Book on Fire Facebook group [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

Why were women especially targeted by the Witch Hunt? The continuation of Chapter 4.   Mentioned: The Witch Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray The Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Ehrenreich and English Stephany Hoffelt's Domestic Medicine blog Diane Purkiss ----------------------------------- Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com The Book on Fire Facebook group [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

Arguably the most important chapter of the book. "The Great Witch-Hunt in Europe" Mentioned: Malleus Maleficarum or The Hammer of the Witches ----------------------------------- Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com The Book on Fire Facebook group [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

Capitalism needed to invent a new kind of person, a new subject to fit into its scheme. Science and rationalist philosophy was happy to provide. Mentioned on the podcast: Harriet Washington Medical Apartheid Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene Jared Diamond Guns, Germs, and Steel Excellent critique of Diamond's book from the Savage Minds blog  ----------------------------------------------- Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com The Book on Fire Facebook group [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

We return to finish chapter 2. Mentioned on the show: The podcast series "Seeing White" from Scene on Radio Dr. Kim Tallbear on For the Wild podcast   Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com The Book on Fire Facebook group [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

We begin discussing the pivotal second chapter. There was too much to fit into one episode, so this conversation will be continued. Mentioned: Q, the novel, by Luther Blissett The World Turned Upside Down, by Christopher Hill   Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]    

Life during feudalism, popular revolt, heretical resistance: "All the World Needs Jolt: Social Movements and Political Crisis in Medieval Europe". Further reading: Tragedy of the Commons on Wikipedia "First as Tragedy, then as Fascism", article from The Baffler about the legacy of Garrett Hardin, who popularized the "tragedy" in a 1968 essay. The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem (PDF) Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

Caliban and the Witch is much more than a book of history. Today we introduce our new book, get oriented to the subject matter, define some terms, and cover highlights from the preface and the introduction. Order the book from AK Press here. It can also be found free online as a scanned PDF here And possibly as an EPUB ebook here. ---------------- Also mentioned: Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture by Arthur Evans Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]  

To begin Season 2 we are following threads from last season's discussions of Donna Haraway's Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene before starting our next full book. Next time we will also have new music, so enjoy Reanimator one last time. We discuss articles by two authors, all of which can be found online. First up is a piece by Australian artist Tega Brain, called "The Environment is Not a System" Then we move on to three articles by Stephanie Wakefield on living in the Anthropocene's "Back Loop" find them at these links: https://brooklynrail.org/2017/06/field-notes/Field-Notes-from-the-Anthropocene-Living-in-the-Back-Loop https://www.affidavit.art/articles/dreaming-the-back-loop https://www.academia.edu/37771372/Inhabiting_the_Anthropocene_back_loop Diagram of the adaptive cycle: Also mentioned on the podcast: Dave's article: Sun Medicine / Moon Medicine Next time we will begin discussing Silvia Federici's Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation, a historical work about the previous worldwide transition that the planet experienced at the birth of capitalism in the era of European colonization. Order it from AK Press here. It can also be found free online as a scanned PDF here And possibly as an EPUB ebook here? See you next time! Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

In the final episode of our first season we revisit highlights from the book, and ask ourselves how we would integrate the lessons and insights into our ongoing work. How could the ideas in book be extended? What does Haraway leave out that we can provide? This is a thoughtful episode, processing and integrating many big ideas that we've been waiting until now to fully unpack. Thanks to all who have stayed with us for the whole ride. We intend to continue this book club experiment with short readings throughout the summer, and begin a full new book in earnest in the fall. Stay tuned. As a bonus, we managed to locate the full documentary "Donna Haraway: Storytelling for Earthly Survival" online. Follow the link to take it in. [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

With some delay, this is our discussion of the last chapter of Staying with the Trouble, a speculative fiction called "The Camille Stories: Children of Compost".  Stay tuned for our for our final thoughts about Haraway's book before we move on to new material. Mentioned in this episode: The trailer for Donna Haraway: Storytelling for Earthly Survival Inhabit: Instructions for Autonomy [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

Apologies! this episode was accidentally deleted and is now being re-posted. Mentioned in this episode: More about Dave & Janet Ursula Le Guin's Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction essay (PDF) Everything Matters: Why This is No Time for Cynicism by Janet The Evolution of Beauty (book) by Richard O. Prum A recent Radiolab episode about The Evolution of Beauty [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]  

Two chapters this week: "Making Kin" and "Awash in Urine." Haraway proposes that voluntary non-reproduction may be a solution to ecological crisis. Is she right? Mentioned in this episode: Kim TallBear's lecture "Making Love and Relations Beyond Settler Sexualities" Permaculture and the Myth of Overpopulation and as always.. The Book on Fire Facebook group Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

Could our intestinal microbiome be luminescent? In this episode we discuss "Sympoiesis: Symbiogenesis and the Lively Arts of Staying with the Trouble", chapter 3 of our book. Link to Our new Facebook discussion group   Featured in the show: The Hawaiian Bobtail Squid   The Bee Orchid comic from xkcd.com   Website for the Crochet Coral Reef (note:  Dave's excited explanation of the hyperbolic mathematics involved in the crochet reef didn't make the final cut for this episode. But the math is fascinating. Check it out.)   The Indigenous Critique of the Green New Deal   Navajo Churro ram   Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

Discussion of Chapter 2 of Staying with the Trouble, "Tentacular Thinking: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene" Music by our friends Reanimator, from their album "Special Powers" Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

We discuss the Introduction and First Chapter of Donna Haraway's "Staying with the Trouble". Music from our good friends Reanimator, from their 2000 album Special Powers. Mentioned in the episode: Navajo grandma shows her string figures The Songlines, by Bruce Chatwin Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

In this episode Janet & Dave introduce themselves, the podcast, and introduce the first book we'll be reading-- Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene by Donna J. Haraway. (Music by Reanimator) Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]