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Support this show! Mint is an rpg designer and blogger from New Foundland, Canada. She runs There's a TTRPG For That, an rpg recommendation blog on tumblr, which has lists for all kinds from the general to the very specific, "games that are grunge" to "two player games" to "games where you don't need to write anything down". She's currently working on a game called Protect the Child, a game of monster babysitters, that is equal parts comedy and queer found family. You can find the Protect the Child playtest server here. Show Notes: 02:53 - Getting started with Lady Blackbird 10:18 - RPG scene on tumblr 17:03 - Protect the Child's themes 26:44 - Protect the Child's design 39:09 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Bones Deep, Mothlight, Spectaculars 42:07 - Tyranny of Numbers 44:38 - Re:Play 45:59 - All advice is advice for myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
FEATURED FILM: Turning Red (2022). OTHER FILMS DISCUSSED: The Lion King (1994), V for Vendetta (2005), House of Wax (2005), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Roman Holiday (1953), Heart of a Dog (2015), Tarnation (2003), Red Cliff (2008), Mothlight (1963) Filmmaker, video producer, singer, musician, ethereal angel and ray of sunshine Reina Lam goes over every single time Turning Red made her cry (apprx every five minutes) and why! Reina also tells the story of the very cool community screening she attended of the film, the similarities between Chinatown San Francisco and Chinatown Toronto, which movie 4-year-old Reina helped her grandpa not be scared of (in theory), why seeing a movie with the Lam Fam is basically a heist, Reina roars "MOAR!", we talk metaphors and generational family trauma, and how representation can encourage us to pursue the beauty of imagination rather than tolerating an intolerable reality! This beautiful chat with Reina is full of wisdom, tons of heart and fun, laughs, and tears. Enjoy, all you popcorn pandas! Follow Reina Lam on Instagram Follow BYOP: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook Become a treasured kernel in the BYOP bucket over on PATREON! For as little as $3 a month, you'll get access to the Bonus Episode series, exclusive photos, videos, polls, merch, a sense of buttery community, and more! Wanna talk? Email BringYourOwnPopcorn@gmail.com! Check out Newsly! Download and use Newsly for free now from newsly.me, and use promo code OwnPopcorn to receive a 1-month free premium subscription. MUSIC: "Adult Problems" by Richard and the Julians Copyright Richard and the Julians 2015; "Popcorn Frog" by MC Chris Copyright mc chris llc 2013. "Turning Red" Copyright Ludwig Göransson 2022. BYOP Logo by @MilkMyth.
The legacy of Stan Brakhage looms large in the crowded world of 1960s experimental film. His style of filming and editing has become instantly recognizable, as are the themes of nature, bodies, and children that he always circles back to. Having rejected a more conventional lifestyle, inspired in part by experimental artists he met in San Francisco and New York, Brakhage developed his own unique style of filmmaking from a young age – one that dabbled equally in refracted light, microscopic detail, inverted images, frenetic editing and aniline dyes. By the start of the 1960s, Brakhage had already begun to gain popular recognition on the film and arts scene. By the end of the decade, he had solidified his importance as, perhaps, the most influential experimental filmmaker of his century. In this episode, Bart and Jenna challenge themselves to sit down to watch over five hours worth of largely silent experimental film. Which, funny enough, wasn't actually as painful to either of them as it might have sounded when they started. For two people who consider themselves to be narrative supremacists, they sure have a lot to say about how to approach Brakhage for the first time and how to interpret his work. Heck, they might have even learned to love him a little bit… (NOTE: They highly recommend you spend 3 minutes and 13 seconds, respectively, getting a little taste of Brakhage before listening, if you're coming in completely blind. Though be warned: these pixelated transfers on YouTube are shoddy substitutes for Criterion's gorgeous HD masters.)The following films are discussed:• Mr. Tompkins Inside Himself (1960, 16 mm, 42 mins.)• The Dead (1960, 16 mm, 11 mins.)• Thigh Line Lyre Triangular (1961, 16 mm, 6 mins.)• Dog Star Man: Prelude (1961, 16 mm, 25 mins.)• Blue Moses (1962, 16 mm, 10 mins.)• Sartre's Nausea (1962–1963, 16 mm, 4 mins.)• Dog Star Man: Part 1 (1962, 16 mm, 31 mins.)• Mothlight (1963, 16 mm, 3 mins.)• Dog Star Man: Part 2 (1963, 16 mm, 6 mins.)• Dog Star Man: Part 3 (1964, 16 mm, 8 mins.)• Dog Star Man: Part 4 (1964, 16 mm, 6 mins.)• Song 1 (1964, 8 mm, 3 mins.)• Song 2 (1964, 8 mm, 1.5 mins.)• Song 3 (1964, 8 mm, 3 mins.)• Song 4 (1964, 8 mm, 3 mins.)• Song 5 (1964, 8 mm, 4.5 mins.)• Song 6 (1964, 8 mm, 2 mins.)• Song 7 (1964, 8 mm, 2.5 mins.)• Song 8 (1964, 8 mm, 3.5 mins.)• Fire of Waters (1965, 16 mm, 7 mins.)• Pasht (1965, 16 mm, 5 mins.)• Two: Creeley/McClure (1965, 16 mm, 3 mins.)• Song 9 (1965, 8 mm, 4 mins.)• Song 10 (1965, 8 mm, 3 mins.)• Song 11 (1965, 8 mm, 3 mins.)• Song 12 (1965, 8 mm, 3 mins.)• Song 13 (1965, 8 mm, 3 mins.)• Song 14 (1965, 8 mm, 3 mins.)• 23rd Psalm Branch (1966–1967, 8 mm, 69 mins.)• Scenes from Under Childhood (Section One) (1967, 16 mm, 24.5 mins.)• Eye Myth (1967, 35 mm, 9 secs.)• Love Making (1968, 16 mm, 36 mins.)Also mentioned:• Metaphors On Vision (1963, book by Stan Brakhage)• Film as a Subversive Art (1974, book by Amos Vogel)• Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde 1943-1978 (1979, book by P. Adams Sitney)• Brakhage (1999, documentary directed by Jim Shedden)• Stan Brakhage: Filmmaker (2005, book edited by David E. James)
In this very special episode, Justin is interviewed by three guest hosts: Ema, Eli, and Nychelle! Our hosts get a bit silly, then we talk about Justin's highly anticipated post-fall sci-fi game, Mothlight, and the process of iterating on your designs through playtests, feedback, and experience. We talk about what to change, what to keep, and how to take feedback, as well as the huge changes that Justin has made to Mothlight over its development.You can hear Justin as our usual host on most of our prior episodes, and you can find him on twitter here! You can also find Mothlight on itch.io here!We're currently doing an actual play stream of Mothlight on our twitch page. Come watch Wednesdays at twitch.tv/hackedinthedark! Episodes will also be posted soon to our youtube page here.You can find Ema on twitter here, and her current game Crescent Moon here.You can find Eli on twitter here, and his current game Errant Deeds here.You can find Nychelle on twitter here, and her website here.
Our guest on this episode is the American filmmaker Nathanial Dorsky, a prolific and poetic filmmaker who has been making short experimental films since the mid 1960's. His book Devotional Cinema is essential reading for anyone interested in the transformative nature of film. We discuss shooting the light on a plant, his approach to open form editing and why he only shows work at 18 fps. We also talk about his relationship with Stan Brakhage, who of course, we named this podcast after. Thank you to Graeme Hogg (aka Hogge)for recording his own 16mm projector running at 18 fps for this episode. This episode of Into the Mothlight is sponsored by The Film and Video Poetry Society
Today, Justin is joined by a member of the team, Mark, to talk about Science Fiction adaptations of Blades in the Dark through his Sci-Fi/ Fantasy game Runners in the Shadows. We talk about how to accomplish the tones and themes of science fiction, as well as how Mark balances and blends futurism with magic. Mark also teases his future game, Voyagers in the Dark, a military sci fi game inspired by Star Trek, and we contrast Runners with Justin's sci-fi game, Mothlight.Mark has been a huge part of building Hacked in the Dark and helping us thrive, so check out his game on itch.io here!You can also follow Mark on twitter here. You can watch Mark GM Runners in the Shadows on our youtube channel here!
Birth, sex, marriage, death. The movement of the stars and the planets, the chopping down of a tree. For Stan Brakhage, the prolific high priest of American experimental cinema, the entirety of existence was under the lens - something both beautiful and mortally terrifying. This week, the boys are joined by friend of the pod Daniel Neofetou to dissect some of Brakhage's most essential works: Anticipation of the Night (1958), Window Water Baby Moving (1959), Mothlight (1963), and Dog Star Man (1961-1964), among many, many others, charting his development from lyrical cinema and toward the so-called 'mythopoeic' style that came to dominate the painterly expressionism of his later films (such as The Dante Quartet, 1987). It's hard, hairy, and long, but really, really worth it.
Robert Delany and Bennett Glace join host Craig Wright to discuss a pair of later Stan Brakhage works that rarely receive the attention of earlier landmarks such as Mothlight (1963) or Window Water Baby Moving (1959). These films, one painted on film exploring the psychic effects of television (Delicacies of Molten Horror Synapse, 1990), the other shot on 16mm and produced shortly before Brakhage underwent surgery for bladder cancer (Commingled Containers, 1996), allow for discussions about how experimental cinema is taught in university settings and how to approach films that essentially challenge their viewers to unlearn everything they know about film viewing. Listen in and find out how these films demonstrate the range of this one-of-a-kind artist.
LUX is an international arts agency that supports and promotes artists’ moving image practices and the ideas that surround them. Founded in 2002 the organisation builds on a long lineage of predecessors including The London Film-Makers’ Co-operative, London Video Arts and The Lux Centre. Benjamin Cook is the founder director of LUX and LUX Scotland. He has been professionally involved in the independent film and visual art sector in the UK for the past 25 years as a curator, archivist, producer, writer and lecturer. In this episode of Into the Mothlight we’ll be looking at the role of Lux and how they support artists working in the moving image. In my chat with Benjamin Cook we touch on the history of the organisation, the collection of works they look after and the importance of being able to
Coming soon to a podcast outlet near you! Follow the show on Facebook for more updates @H2EEF! Voices heard in this trailer: (in order of appearance) Diana Reichenbach, Jean Detheux, Neil Brand, Stefano Miraglia, Joost Rekveld, MM Serra, Nicky Hamlyn, Vicky Smith, Steven Woloshen, Pip Chodorov Experimental film shows are not great in number, but H2EEF are proud not to be the only one out there, so do check out Into the Mothlight and Experimental Film Podcast as well to keep the discussion going!
Susanna Clarke, Adam Scovell, Lucy Arnold and Anton Bakker are Matthew Sweet's guests. Susanna Clarke talks about the inspiration behind the follow up to her best-selling first novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Piranesi is the springboard for a discussion about haunted spaces and mind-bending architecture in film, fiction and art from MC Escher to Christopher Nolan's Inception, Shirley Jackson to Mervyn Peake. The print maker Giovanni Battista Piranesi, who was born 300 years ago on Oct 4th 1720, became known for his etchings of Rome and images of imagined prisons. Piranesi drawings: visions of antiquity is an exhibition planned by the British Museum now due to open early in 2021. Susanna Clarke's novel Piranesi is out now. Adam Scovell writes on film for Sight and Sound and is the author of books including Folk Horror: Hours Dreadful and Things Strange and two novellas: Mothlight and How Pale the Winter Has Made Us. Dr Lucy Arnold researches contemporary literature at the University of Worcester and is the author of Reading Hilary Mantel: Haunted Decades. Anton Bakker's virtual exhibition Alternative Perspective at the National Museum of Mathematics in NYC can be visited via the MoMath website. Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Scumhead has published 5 games since he started developing at 15, is already working on his 6th & he is only 19 years old! Starting out in RPG maker making games like Mothlight & Orogenesis as Samu, he moved on to working in GZDoom creating Shrine, a short Lovecraft-inspired game full of grotesque body horror & ethereal metaphor. Recently he’s released Shrine 2 (with programmer Mengo) which will be featured at Realms Deep 2020 while we wait patiently for Vomitoreum. // Artwork by Haducant/Spaced // Shrine 2: https://www.moddb.com/mods/shrine-ii // Scumhead: https://twitter.com/Scumhead1 // Scumhead on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scumhead // Rainbow Bunchie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqV22NbR5Wc // The Keep: http://inthekeep.com/ // Realms Deep 2020: https://www.realmsdeep.game/ //Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/InTheKeep)
You could consider 12:32pm Thursday as an official time of death for The Mothlight , an anchor of Asheville's live music scene since it opened seven years ago. Within minutes of the announced closure on the club's Facebook page , fans and musicians flooded owners Jon and Amanda Hency with notes of shock, grief and gratitude.
Matthew Sweet talks to the Chilean French director and gets a take on his occult, drug filled and violently psychedelic world from critics Larushka Ivan Zadeh and Adam Scovell. Jodorowksy's 1973 surrealist fantasy film The Holy Mountain certificate 18 (the rating specifies that it contains strong bloody violence) has been re-released in cinemas in a 4K restoration and is being screened around the UK including events coming up at Tyneside Cinema, the ICA in London. The Alejandro Jodorowsky Collection is released on blu-ray 30th March 2020. Adam Scovell is the author of books including How Pale the Winter Has Made Us, Mothlight and Folk Horror. He writes for Sight and Sound. Larushak Ivan-Zadeh is Chief Film Critic for the Metro newspaper. Producer: Torquil MacLeod
In the fourth installment of Sticker and Sleeve and the final episode of 2019, Mark and Annelise start off deconstructing the good AND bad of the rampant year-end lists we all encounter this time of year. Jon and Amanda Hency, co-owners of one of our favorite music venues anywhere, sit down and discuss what it's like to run a club as a married couple, what the future looks like for The Mothlight, and how they got into this whole business in the first place. And we introduce a brand new segment, "Story Time with Steve Piano", a glimpse into the mind and experiences of one of the wildest customers we know. Recorded, mixed and edited by Colin Miller.Theme music created and recorded by MJ Lenderman and Owen Stone."This Week in Harvest History" theme by Casey Ellis."Story Time with Steve Piano" theme by Emily Easterly.
Shahidha Bari's guests include author Kirsty Logan and former League of Gentlemen writer and performer Jeremy Dyson, whose play Ghost Stories is back in the West End. Joining them is the film critic and author of a novella called Mothlight, Adam Scovell, poet Nisha Ramayya whose work States of the Body produced by Love speaks of goddesses who symbolise all the attributes of women and British Museum curator and expert on ancient Mesopotamian medicine and magic Irving Finkel.
The members of the Asheville band Secret Shame never really address the roots of their name. But when guitarist Nikki Gish talks about the music on the band's new album, "Dark Synthetics," Gish reveals a personal secret that could have broken up the band. "I have a major mental illness and I think that played a part in a lot of what shaped that album," Gish said, citing a bipolar disorder that causes simultaneous mania and depression. "During that time being untreated and then having this mental illness play out in the practice space, (the band) were very much a part of my paranoia and psychosis and delusion I was experiencing at the time," Gish said. "I think that shapes the music--that's literally what they were feeling--and chicken wire and duct tape were the only things that held it together." Secret Shame's album-release show for "Dark Synthetics" is Sept. 16 at the Mothlight in West Asheville.
Anne McElvoy and new ways of understanding post-war Germany and Austria through history, film and literature with Florian Huber, Sophie Hardach, Adam Scovell and Tom Smith. Florian Huber Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself explores a little understood wave of suicides across Germany towards the end of the Third Reich Sophie Hardach's latest novel called Confession with Blue Horses follows a family living in East Berlin who try to escape to the West. Adam Scovell is a film critic and author whose new novella is called Mothlight and blogs at Celluloid Wicker Man Tom Smith teaches German at the University of St Andrews and is a 2019 New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to select academics who can turn their research into radio. You can hear an Essay about the Stasi persecution of queer soldiers recorded at the York Festival of Idea here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07dgydc Producer: Jacqueline Smith
The walking & photographs of WG Sebald on show in Norwich, American poet Carolyn Forché on the stranger who gave her an insider's view of politics in El Salvador whilst she was in her '20s. Plus an exhibition of money and Jewish history. Laurence Scott presents. Adam Scovell, Philippa Comber and Sean Williams discuss the influence of the German writer WG Sebald who settled in Norfolk. His novel The Rings of Saturn follows a narrator walking in Suffolk, and in part explores links between the county and German history and emigrants. Lines of Sight: W.G. Sebald’s East Anglia An exhibition celebrating the work of the author W.G. Sebald on the 75th anniversary of his birth runs at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery 10 May 2019 – 5 January 2020 in collaboration with The University of East Anglia Adam Scovell is a film critic and author whose new novella is called Mothlight. Dr Seán Williams is a New Generation Thinker who teaches Germanic Studies at the University of Sheffield Phillippa Comber is the author of Ariadne's Thread – In Memory of W.G. Sebald and In This Trembling Shade, ten poems set to music as a song cycle. BBC Radio 3/AHRC New Generation Thinker Brendan McGeever is at the Pears Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism at Birkbeck University London which was involved in developing the exhibition Jews Money Myth running at the Jewish Museum London until July 7th 2019. Carolyn Forché's Memoir is called What You Have Heard is True. A man who might be a lone wolf, a communist, a CIA operative, a sharpshooter, a revolutionary, a small coffee farmer, drives from El Salvador to invite the 27 year old Forché to visit and learn about his country and she decides to say yes. Producer: Eliane Glaser
Kitty Tsunami is surf-punk-garage-pop band in Asheville led by the couple Meg Caldwell and Tommy Tsunami. They spoke with Blue Ridge Public Radio as they released their debut full-length album, titled "Cosa Nostra." Kitty Tsunami shares the stage with local improvisational/atmospheric band Pink Mercury March 11 at the Mothlight to close out the Winter Music Series from the Asheville Area Arts Council and Asheville FM. Here, the couple tell a little about themselves and their music.
Where, and how, does nature writing intersect with architectural criticism? Urban exploration? Hauntology? Nationalism and fascism? This week, Tom Overton talks to writer and Influx Press co-founder Gary Budden about how his collection 'Hollow Shores' blends nature writing and weird fiction, his collaborations with filmmaker and fellow Influx author Adam Scovell and illustrator Maxim Peter Griffin, how writers as aesthetically and politically diverse as Derek Jarman and Henry Williamson have represented the English landscape, and more. SELECTED REFERENCES Robert Aickman – https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/burial-plots-robert-aickmans-eerily-ordinary-stories DARRAN ANDERSON, Imaginary Cities (2015) – https://www.influxpress.com/imaginary-cities GARY BUDDEN (ed.), Acquired for Development By … A Hackney Anthology (2012) – https://www.influxpress.com/acquired-for-development-by GARY BUDDEN, Hollow Shores (2017) – https://deadinkbooks.com/product/hollow-shores-paperback GARY BUDDEN & MAXIM GRIFFIN, The White Heron Beneath the Reactor – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1194866830/make-100-the-white-heron-beneath-the-reactor KIT CALESS, Spoon’s Carpets: An Appreciation (2016) – https://wetherspoonscarpets.tumblr.com/about Ramsey Campbell – http://www.ramseycampbell.com BRIAN DILLON, The Great Explosion (2015) – https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/03/the-great-explosion-brian-dillon-review-kent-disaster-gunpowder-war The Garden (dir. Derek Jarman, 1990) – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099634 Greenteeth (dir. Adam Scovell, 2017) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypFbKpxzF1c NIALL GRIFFITHS, Grits (2000) – https://www.influxpress.com/blog/the-anti-canon-series-niall-griffiths NIALL GRIFFITHS, Kelly and Victor (2002) – https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/apr/27/fiction.reviews James Herbert – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Herbert Tim Jarvis – https://timothyjjarvis.wordpress.com TOM JEFFREYS, Signal Failure: London to Birmingham, HS2 on Foot (2017) – http://www.tom-jeffreys.co.uk/signal-failure Jubilee (dir. Derek Jarman, 1977) – https://thequietus.com/articles/23978-derek-jarman-jubilee-review-anniversary-bfi The Last of England (dir. Derek Jarman, 1987) – http://www.thedoublenegative.co.uk/2014/11/in-profile-derek-jarmans-the-last-of-england-1988 PAUL LEWIS & ROB EVANS, Undercover: The True Story of Britain’s Secret Police (2013) – https://www.theguardian.com/uk/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans Arthur Machen – http://www.arthurmachen.org.uk HERMAN MELVILLE, Moby-Dick (1851) - https://voices.clickhole.com/the-time-i-spent-on-a-commercial-whaling-ship-totally-c-1825124286 D. A. NORTHWOOD, Judderman (2018) – http://www.newlexicons.com/blog/2017/11/21/da-northwood-the-eden-book-society Sátántángo (dir. Béla Tarr, 1994) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111341 ADAM SCOVELL, Mothlight (2019) – https://www.influxpress.com/mothlight W. G. Sebald RICHARD SMYTH, ‘The Dark Side of Nature Writing’ (2018) – https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/5331/the-dark-side-of-nature-writing David Southwell (Hookland project) – https://hookland.wordpress.com Werckmeister Harmonies (dir. Béla Tarr, 2000) - https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/apr/19/artsfeatures ELEY WILLIAMS, Attrib. (2017) – https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/01/attrib-and-other-stories-by-eley-williams-review HENRY WILLIAMSON, Tarka the Otter (1927) - https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/tarka-the-otter-as-an-allegory-of-war
Sex Worker Outreach Project Behind Bars w/ Dr. Jill McCracken This week, William spoke with Jill McCracken, codirector of SWOP Behind Bars, or the Sex Worker Outreach Project, Behind Bars chapter. Jill is also a professor at University of South Florida at St. Petersburg teaching rhetoric and gender and sexuality studies, with a focus on sex work, prostitution, and trafficking in the sex industry. For the hour we'll hear Jill speak about the work that SWOP and SWOP Behind Bars do, FOSTA/SESTA and some realities faced or worked through by sex workers in the U.S. The mission statement for SWOP Behind Bars reads: “SWOP Behind Bars is a national social justice network dedicated to the fundamental human rights of people who face discrimination from the criminal justice system due to the stigma associated with the sex trade. We advocate for full decriminalization of consensual sex work, ending cash bail, drawing attention to the effects of generational poverty on sexualized violence against marginalized and vulnerable women while providing services and support with a focus on ending violence and stigma through education and advocacy.” More about SWOP Behind Bars can be found at https://swopbehindbars.org and more about SWOP in the U.S. in general can be found at https://swopusa.org with other groupings findable online. You can email Jill's group at swopbehindbars@gmail.com, find them on twitter or fedbook! One person name dropped by Jill during the interview was Magali Lerman, a consultant at Reframe Health + Justice consulting, who said that a product of FOSTA was to destroy the middle class of sex workers. Announcements Blue Ridge ABC events First, a reminder that Blue Ridge ABC has a plethora of events this coming weekend here in Asheville starting 6pm sharp on Friday, Feb 1st at Firestorm with a showing of Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal about the prisoner, his writing and struggle for freedom. Then at 8pm, VVITCHGANGCoven will present a showcase of local talent from their crew and beyond at The Mothlight. Local Hip Hop and Beats, ya know? It's a benefit for Blue Ridge ABC, so come visit the table. And on Sunday from 5-7pm at Firestorm, BRABC will host it's monthly political prisoner letter writing event. Resist the KKK in GA, Feb 2nd If you've got the means to travel, on Saturday February 2nd in Stone Mountain Georgia there will is a call for people to oppose white nationalists at Stone Mountain, GA and their call for a rally there. The racists don't have a permit and are pissed off that they keep losing their racist monuments around the South. For those opposing, we interviewed an organizer with Front Line Organization Working to End Racism (or FLOWER), about what it's all about and what to expect. You can hear that on our January 13th episode. Jason Reynard Walker still facing repression Jason Reynard Walker is a prisoner who has been punished by prisoncrats in Texas again. He was transferred on January 11th to the Allred Unit and his supporters are very concerned about the welfare and health of Mr. Walker. He reports being denied his prescribed medications; being forced to stand outside in the rain; being denied basic necessities of blankets, sheets, toilet paper, soap, etc.; being served food he is allergic to; being denied requested medical services. All these abuses must be corrected immediately. You can find info on how to support Jason up at the IGD article entitled “Abuse at the Allred Unit”. Sean Swain is Back! Sean Swain's segment is back! Listen in and he'll update us on how he's been. Past segments, all available for listening, broadcasting and sharing, can be found here. You can write to Sean Swain at his NEW / old address at: Sean Swain #243-205 Ohio State Pennitentiary 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd, Youngstown Ohio, 44505 To read more of Sean's writings and keep up on his case, check out seanswain.org . … . .. Playlist
Support Anarchist Prisoner Eric King This week Bursts spoke with the wife of vegan, antifascist and anarchist political prisoner, Eric King. Eric was was convicted of attempting the September 11, 2014 firebombing of the Kansas City office of a Missouri Democratic Congressman in solidarity with the Ferguson Uprising that kicked off after the killing of Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO. The office was attacked at roughly 3am when it was empty. Eric took a non-cooperating plea agreement for 10 years in Federal prison with no chance of parole. Recently, prison administrators at Florence and later Leavenworth Federal prisons have been abusing, isolating and moving Eric around and his support crew have initiated a call-in campaign, which we mentioned last week. Visit SupportEricKing.org for more details and to keep up on what's happening. Here are a few articles on subjects spoken of in the episode including Daniel McGowan's recent story published by the ACLU entitled "What the Government Shutdown Really Means for Federal Prisoners". Here is a link to the situation unfolding at Florence CI. And this is a link to Eric's call in campaign, including all relevant phone numbers and a script! To write Eric King, you can address letters to: Eric King # 27090045 USP LEAVENWORTH U.S. PENITENTIARY P.O. BOX 1000 LEAVENWORTH, KS 66048 An Update with A-Radio Berlin on the Mapuche Caravan in so-called Chile Before the main interview tho, we are pleased to present audio from the recent episode of B(A)DNews: Angry Voices From Around The World, the monthly podcast of the A-Radio Network. This time, Crna Luknja from Ljubljana, Slovenia spoke with a member of A-Radio Berlin who is traveling with a media caravan through Mapuche Territory to cover news there, and to offer media equipment and trainings to communities in Wallmapu, in so-called Chile and so-called Argentina. You can find the full episode of B(A)DNews at a-radio-network.org and click the menu option to the upper left of the screen. There you can also learn more about A-Radio Network, the participating projects and how to get involved. A Few Upcoming Events in Asheville Tranzmission Prison Project would love for you to join them on January 24nd, the 4th Annual International Day of Solidarity with Trans* Prisoners, to send letters and drawings of support, love, cheer, and solidarity to incarcerated trans* folks and incarcerated folks with trans* experiences and identities. Cards will be provided, as will envelopes, stamps, and snacks — just bring yr undying desire to end the Prison-Industrial Complex. . ... . .. On Friday February 1st at 6pm sharp, Blue Ridge ABC will be viewing "Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey With Mumia Abu Jamal." This is 2 hour documentary from 2013 about former Black Panther, journalist, author and activist who many believe was framed up on charges of killing a cop by the Philadelphia PD in 1981. Mumia has always held his innocence. In any instance, the case betrays biases in the court and policing system of that great city that held a man on death row for nearly 3 decades, a man who has fought from within to document America's excesses and for the rights of the oppressed inside and outside of prison. . ... . .. After the movie, starting at 8pm at the Mothlight, VVITCHGANGCOVEN presents a showcase of local hip hop and beats including Vvitchboy x Akuma, Scarlaween, Cool World Order, Herb Da Wizard & Xor. The show is a benefit for Blue Ridge ABC and more details can be found on pricing and such at brabc.blackblogs.org. This show is a must see for lovers of dreamy, alien, fierce, witchy hiphop so come out! . ... . .. Playlist here.
Donald Rooum, pt1 This week, we invite you to listen in on the first part of a conversation we had with 90 year old anarchist, cartoonist and author, Donald Rooum. Donald was born 1928 in Bradford, UK. Donald is most known for his longtime illustration of the wiley, bomb-throwing, firebrand anarchist cartoon character, Wildcat. In this episode, Donald talks about his early political trajectory and development from childhood involvement during World War II in a Communist Party front group into anarchism via the speakers corner in Hyde Park. Donald talks about the Malatesta Anarchist Club, his artistic development and love of cartooning and engagement with activism to stop corporal punishment in schools in the U.K. and ideas about social change and anarchist intervention. Donald's work was recently the focus of an animated film by film-maker Adam Luis-Jacob. Here's a brief biography with some of Donald's art (including some Wildcat comics). We'll release the second half of the conversation with Donald in the near future. Some notes from the conversation (followed by announcements): Publications featuring Donald: Peace News website and wikipedia page Freedom (newspaper) website + wikipedia + Donald's history of Freedom Freedom Press website and wikipedia page Donald's Intro to Anarchism on anarchistlibrary Donald's "The Ethics of Egoism" on anarchistlibrary Some low-quality images of Donald's at Spunk.Org People that Donald mentions: Philip Sansome (UK anarchist) wikipedia Vernon Richards (UK anarchist) wikipedia Article from 1945 reprinted on shutting of the War Commentary / Freedom Paper Abdulrahman Mohamed Babu (Zanzibari Revolutionary Nationalist) wikipedia Colin Ward (UK anarchist) wikipedia works by Colin Ward at anarchistlibrary David Hockney (artist) wikipedia Nicholas Walter (anarchist + atheist) wikipedia Benjamin Tucker (American anarchist) wikipedia Works by Benjamin Tucker at anarchistlibrary STOPP in wikipedia . ... . .. . ... . .. . ... . .. . ... . .. Announcements Sean Swain "Sean Swain, a long-term anarchist prisoner in Ohio, has come under fire by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The ODRC has increased Sean's security level from 3 to 5b, an increase that has sent him to solitary confinement, led to him being handcuffed during visits, and further removed him from any possibility for parole. Additionally, the ODRC is threatening to put Sean on interstate compact, a system that ships subversive prisoners around the country, places heavy restrictions on communication, and interns them in the black hole of the interstate compact system. We're calling for any who feel compelled by Sean's plight to call ODRC director Gary Mohr and demand that Sean's appeal to the current disciplinary hearing be granted and that Sean's security level be lowered. (A script for the call can be found below.) Thank you all. Your solidarity means so much. some friends of Sean Swain" Call: Director Gary Mohr 614-387-0588 drc.publicinfo@odrc.state.oh.us melissa.adkins@odrc.state.oh.us (Administrative Assistant for Mohr) CALL-IN SCRIPT: “I am calling on behalf of Sean Swain, inmate #243-205. I am a friend of Sean. I am calling to request the ODRC grant Mr. Swain's appeal regarding his most recent disciplinary record, drop the charges, and lower his security level from 5b to 2. Mr. Swain is not a physical security risk, and there is no reason to keep him at such a high security rating where he will be unable to get the programming he needs to be eligible for rehabilitation and parole. Thank you for your consideration.” Good News! Nicole Kissane, indicted in 2015 for conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act via releasing thousands of animals from fur farms and destroying breeding records in Idaho, Montana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, was released after 21 months in federal prison. She still has 3 years of supervised release, but she's out from behind the actual bars. Welcome home, Nicole! Pansy Fest II If you're in the Asheville area next weekend, August 3-5, consider Pansy Fest II, a DIY queer/trans music and art festival. The fun starts at 2pm on Friday the 3rd at the Mothlight with a full-ticket of bands and ending out with a dance party til 2am. The weekend includes workshops at Firestorm Books & Coffee with more shows & after parties. Proceeds will go to support the Trans Kindred Fund & Tranzmission Prison Project. More info on their fedbook, or by emailing pansyfestavl@gmail.com #AllOutAugust First, coming up fast in early August, fascist and proto-fascist groups are trying to build up some steam for the one year anniversary of the Unite The Right rally on August 12th. The Islamophobic and Western Chauvinist groups Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys are calling for a demonstration and plan to amass a large and likely violent mob in Portland, OR, on August 4th. Antiracists are organizing under #AllOutPDX & #StopTheHate. So a coalition called PopMob, or popular mobilization, is organizing a broad event on August 4th at 10:30 at PDX city hall and then moving at 11:30 to join the larger event at Chapman Square. You can find more information by checking itsgoingdown.org, or finding the events on fedbook called "Stop The Hate" and "Resist Patriot Prayer". The latter is being called by Eugene Antifa & other groups and will meet up at 11:30 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Then a week later on the east coast of the so-called U.S. on August 12th there is a call for an Antifascist/Abolitionist Bloc to join the resistance to the far right's call for the Unite The Right 2 at a time and place to be announced on the site ShutItDownDC.org and news can be found under the tag #DefendDC & #AllOutDC. Mumia Abu-Jamal On August 30th in Philadelphia, PA at 13th and Filbert there will be a rally during the hearing of imprisoned journalist, intellectual and former Black Panther, Mumia Abu-Jamal. From 8am til 11am people are asked to show up in support of this man who has spent nearly 40 years in prison, 30 of it in solitary on death row, for a political show trial for the killing of a cop many believe he didn't commit. Whether he did or didn't, Mumia was obviously railroaded for his political beliefs and his reporting critical of the Philly PD & the administration of Frank Rizzo. More on the event, including the nature of the current legal motion, can be found on fedbook. #August21 Repression Starts People are pushing back. For starters: Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan There is a phone zap in support of Lucasville Uprising prisoner and death row inmate, Siddique Abdullah Hasan, a voice you've heard on this show before. Hasan, a member of the Free Ohio Movement and outspoken activist behind bars for peoples dignity, is believed to be suffering similar repression as he did in the run up to the 2016 National Prison Strike. He has been transfered into the hole, likely as a way to shut him up. There is a phone zap called by the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee on Monday, July 30th between 9am and 5pm central time. Details forthcoming on the fedbook event. Kevin “Rashid” Johnson Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, a leader of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party (NABPP) and member of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), whose organizing was discussed in DHS/FBI fusion center “terrorism threat assessment” publications as far back as 2009 (page 50) is being kept in solitary confinement after being given an “inciting a riot” charge for writing an article about the Operation PUSH strikes in Florida, and has faced punitive transfer after transfer.; Keith “Comrade Malik” Washington Keith “Malik” Washington, a Texas inmate who is also involved with the NABPP and IWOC, has spent the past two years in ad-seg (solitary confinement) on a bogus riot charge connected to his involvement in the 2016 prison strike. He was due to be released from ad-seg, but then had his clearance abruptly revoked and was sent back to solitary on the grounds that the classifications committee had “received additional information” from the Fusion Center in Texas. He has also had issues with medical information about his health issues mysteriously disappearing, leading to the administration putting him in dangerous situations, and is currently being held in an extremely hot and humid punishment cell that he describes as being like “a living hell” and causing headaches, nosebleeds and dizziness.; Jason Renard Walker Meanwhile, Jason Renard Walker, another Texas inmate involved with the NABPP and the 2016 strikes, and a contributor to the Fire Inside zine, has managed to get released from solitary, but faces constant threats and harassment from staff, including threats to send him back to solitary on bogus charges for things as simple as asking for water and medical attention, and trying to get back into his own cell so he can use a fan to cool down. Both Malik and Jason have reported having their mail tampered with, and the explicitly political nature of this censorship was made clear in a conversation with a prison official who told Jason that any writing containing the words “black panther” would be treated as gang material. Supporting the prison strike means monitoring and opposing the repressive methods that the prison system uses to try and break it, and paying attention to the treatment of 2016 strike organizers like Rashid, Malik, Jason and others can indicate the tactics that are likely to be used more widely in the weeks to come. Numbers and scripts to call in with for Malik's situation: Malik has specifically requested a call-in campaign urging Texas legislators to investigate the conditions at the McConnell Unit. Below are some details of Texas legislators and TDCJ officials, along with a suggested script you can use: John Whitmire, chair of the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee - (512) 463-0115 or (713) 864-8701 john.whitmire@senate.texas.gov (713) 864-5287 (fax) Sylvia Garcia, member of the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee - (512) 463-0106 or (713) 453-5100 sylvia.garcia@senate.texas.gov (512) 463-0346 (fax) José Menéndez, member of the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee - (512) 463-0126 or (210) 733-6604 jose.menendez@senate.texas.gov or (512) 463-2424 (fax) James White, chair of the House Committee on Corrections - (512) 463-0490 or (409) 283-3700 James.White@house.texas.gov or (512) 463-9059 (fax) Alma Allen, vice-chair of the House Committee on Corrections - (512) 463-0744 or (713) 776-0505 Alma.Allen@house.state.tx.us or (512) 463-0761 (fax) Abe Martinez, US Attorney – (713) 567-9349 or abe.martinez@usdoj.gov Ryan K Patrick, US Attorney – (713)-567-9000 Bryan Collier, TDCJ Excecutive Director – (936) 437-2101 / (936) 437-2123 or exec.director@tdcj.texas.gov Billy Hirsch, TDCJ Deputy Director – Billy.Hirsch@tdcj.texas.gov Philip Sifuentes, McConnell Unit Warden – (361) 362-2300 or philip.sifuentes@tdcj.texas.gov Miguel Martinez, Regional Director with responsibility for the McConnell Unit – (361) 362-6328 or miguel.martinez@tdcj.texas.gov Patricia Chapa, Assistant Regional Director – Patricia.Chapa@tdcj.texas.gov Emil Garza, Assistant Regional Director – Emil.Garza@tdcj.texas.gov Garth Parker, Telford Unit Warden – (903) 628-3171 garth.parker@tdcj.texas.gov Billy Howard, Assistant Regional Director with responsibility for the Telford Unit – billy.howard@tdcj.texas.gov Carl McKellar, Assistant Regional Director with responsibility for the Telford Unit – carl.mckellar@tdcj.texas.gov “Hello, my name is ----, and I am contacting you about conditions in the prisons run by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. I demand that the dangerous conditions of extreme heat and humidity that are widespread in units such as the McConnell and Telford Units are fully investigated and rectified immediately. I further request that immediate heat relief measures are put in place, as this is especially urgent for prisoners with health issues. The prison administration needs to stop the retaliation and harassment of whistleblowers such as Keith Washington (TDCJ 1487958) and Jason Walker (TDCJ 1532092). This retaliation includes, but is not limited to, unjustified use of solitary confinement as a punishment for constitutionally protected speech, denial of parole applications, and direct threats of harm. Please be aware that the State of Texas and the TDCJ may be held legally responsible for any harm suffered by these or any other inmates as a result of the administration's negligence or punitive actions. The practice of giving guards quotas of disciplinary reports to meet must also be stopped at once, as this leads to the generation of false or trivial reports as a way of meeting quotas. In closing, I also wish to state my support for the demands of the ongoing prison strike movement. Yours sincerely,” Other ways to help Malik: 1. *Finding legal representation* Malik has stated that he urgently needs professional legal help in challenging the various forms of harassment he has been subjected to, particularly the interference with his mail. If you know of any sympathetic lawyers or other legal-minded folk who might be able to help, please contact them and ask if they could take the case on. 2. *Write to the comrades!* Every letter they receive lifts their spirit and protects them, because it lets prison officials know they have people around them, watching for what happens to them. It should also be possible to contact them via jpay.com if you prefer. Keith H. Washington, #1487958 McConnell Unit 3100 South Emily Drive Beeville, TX 78103 Jason Renard Walker, #1532092 Telford Unit 3899 Hwy 98 New Boston, TX 75570 Kevin Johnson, #1007485 Sussex 1 State Prison 24414 Musselwhite Dr. Waverly, VA 23891 Shameless Plug If you've made it this far into the announcements, you are obviously a glutton for punishment. Congrats! Now, we'd like to invite you to help us out a bit. The Final Straw Radio has been bringing you interviews with anarchists, anti-capitalists, feminists, eco-defenders, anti-racists and anti-fascists, prison rebels and prison abolitionists, authors and iconoclasts every week since 2009. And we've only been getting better. 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Introducing Into The Mothlight by into the mothlight podcast
This week William got the chance to speak to Bruno Renero-Hannan, who is an anarchist historical anthropologist from Mexico City, about their solidarity work around two of the original 250 Loxicha Prisoners in the state of Oaxaca. This rebellion and imprisonment occurred almost simultaneously to the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas in the mid-late 90s with very different results. We talk about the long and complex history of this case, the similarities and differences between this uprising and that of the Zapatistas, the ongoing political repression of Alvaro Ramirez and Abraham Ramirez, and the economic solidarity push being orgainized by our guest, as well as some stark parallels between this case and that of the remaining 59 J20 defendants. If you would like to see the 45 minute broadcast edit of this interview, you can go to The Final Straw Radio Collection on archive.org To contribute to freedom for Alvaro and Abraham, please visit patreon.com/KeepLoxichaFree. As per the very reasonable request on the part of the folks doing support for Alvaro and Abraham, we have omitted the Sean Swain segment for this episode. The You Are the Resistance topic did not pair well with the main interview content nor were Keep Loxicha Free supporters aware of the segment. We regret any confusion or discomfort that this caused. We would like to take a bit of space here to explain to new listeners that many of the Sean Swain segments are meant in the spirit of satire; Swain himself has been a political prisoner for over 25 years at this point, and his humor is sometimes abrasive, but he is a committed believer in the dismantling of all forms of oppression. He and we are open to feedback on this segment, and any content we present! You can reach us at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net, and he can be reached by writing to: Sean Swain #243-205 Warren CI P.O. Box 120 Lebanon, Ohio 45036 Resist Nazis in Tennessee On Saturday, Feb 17, Matthew Heinbach of the Traditionalist Workers Party will be speaking at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville from 1-4pm. If you don't like this, you can contact the University by calling 8659749265 and demand that they disinvite this open neo-nazi organizer from their campus! Some Benefits in Asheville For the drinkers in Asheville, this week features two libation-centric benefits for books to prisoners projects. On Wednesday, February 14, Valentines Day, three bars in Asheville will be participating in a drink special that will raise money for Tranzmission Prison Project, our local LGBT books to prisoners project with a national scope. You can visit the Crow & Quill on Lexington, the Lazy Diamond around the corner in Downtown or the Double Crown on Haywood in West Asheville on Wednesday for more details. On Thursday, February 15th at the Catawba's South Slope Tasting Room & Brewery (32 Banks Avenue #105) for their first New Beer Thursday fundraiser of 2018!! Starting with the release on the 15th and running through March, a portion of the cost of every glass of their pomegranate sour sold will be donated to the Asheville Prison Books Program! More events coming up this week include: Thursday the 15th at 7pm Blue Ridge ABC is holding a benefit show at Static Age for a local activists with a sliding scale cost. Bands featured are Kreamy Lectric Santa, Cloudgayzer, Secret Shame, Falcon Mitts & Chris Head Later that night in Asheville, the monthly benefit dance party called HEX will be holding an event at the Mothlight to raise money and materials for A-Hope, which provides services locally to houseless and poor folks. Bring socks, footwear and camping gear to donate! On Tuesday, April 20th at 6pm at The Shell Studio, 474 Haywood Rd on the second floor, there will be a showing of the locally produced documentary entitled Hebron about human rights struggles in Palestine. On Friday the 23rd at 6:30pm, the Steady Collective will be participating in a Harm Reduction forum at the Haywood Street Congregation at 297 Haywood St. in downtown. Also that night, BRABC will be showing the latest TROUBLE documentary by sub.media at 7:30pm at firestorm books and coffee. This will be a second on Student Organizing around the world. Finally, on Saturday the 24th 9am to 3pm at Rainbow School, 60 State Street in Asheville there'll be a Really Really Free Market organized by the Blue Ridge General Defense Committee or GDC. Bring stuff that's still good to share and come back with other stuff that's still good for free! Perfect for spring cleaning or dealing with inclement weather on a budget. A Call for Art Submissions for ACAB2018... A reminder that if you are the sensitive, artistic type, the ACAB2018, or Asheville Carolina Anarchist Bookfair is soliciting art for fundraising and advertising purposes. If you have image ideas that you can put into action and want to share them, that'd be dope. We're looking for things we can put onto postcards, t-shirts, posters and other swag to spread word about the event and help us cover the costs of operation. Contact us at acab2018@riseup.net ...and for Yours Truly at TFS Likewise, if you are feeling artsy fartsy and want to help out this show, we're looking for swag imagery, either as a logo or a standalone piece of art we can feature for fundraising purposes. If you like the show and want to help, post your files on share.riseup.net and send us a link at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net or share it with one of our social media identities. If we choose to use your art, we'll send you a mix tape with one side produced by each of our regular contributing editors.
For a 59 minute long, radio clean version for syndication purposes, please visit the archive.org collection. Cascadia Forest Defenders This week William had the opportunity to speak with someone who works closely with the group Cascadia Forest Defenders, which is based around Eugene Oregon. This crew has been opposing logging in the Willamette National Forest, and was recently driven out of the camp by forest workers and employees of Seneca Jones Timber Company. We talk about this incident, plus much much more in the way of contextualizing and re-contextualizing forest defense in a time of climate change, plus some important things to keep in mind if you are looking to join established political movements like this. More on this group, this struggle, and the many ways to get involved can be found at forestdefensenow.com To follow up on something that I said toward the beginning of the interview, about logging around the Asheville area, there were plans in place to log in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests as of 2014. The stated reasons for this logging were environmental and maintenance minded in nature, but it's thought that those endeavors would help literally pave the way for future commercial logging by establishing a roadway system through the forest. As promised, here are some links for further reading: USFS proposes opening most of Pisgah-Nantahla National Forest to logging Forest Service logging plan draws criticism Logging on the Nantahala and Pisgah Logging in Pisgah, Nantahala forests hanging in the balance Defend J20, Upcoming Trials The J20 inauguration arrestees case is starting on November 15th. There is a call out for court support including note takers, as well as folks to fill the court in their finest black dress clothes, also for fundraising and any legal support you can muster. For a really good article on the topic, check out https://itsgoingdown.org/j20-case-need-know/ . Despite the good news that 2 of the Felony "Riot" and "Conspiracy To Riot" charges being dropped down to Misdemeanors this case still has a long way to go. And a few local announcements from Blue Ridge ABC For those in the Asheville area coming up Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross has 3 events we'd like to share with you. Firstly, today from 5pm to 7:30pm BRABC will be hosting it's monthly Political Prisoner Letter Writing Night. The first Sunday of every month, join BRABC, who'll provide stationary, stamps, pens, camaraderie and the addresses of political prisoners with upcoming birthdays you can write to. Or, just take the time to hang, or write to someone you know behind bars. This month, they'll also be showing TROUBLE #7 about anarchist disaster relief in the Western Hemisphere plus maybe another film. The pre-registration for BRABC's benefit Ping Pong Tournament is coming up fast. If you wanna play and help earn some money for legal support coffers, send an email to blueridgeabc@riseup.net by November 12th and then show up November 15th at 6:30pm at the Standard Pizza at 755 Biltmore Ave in South Asheville to battle for a good cause. If space allows and you miss the pre-register, show up the day of and there might be a spot. On Friday, November 17th at 9pm at The Mothlight in West Asheville, get ready for a #ItsARiot benefit comedy show for autonomous disaster relief efforts in Mexico City and Oaxaca in the aftermath of 3 deadly and destructive earthquakes this year and an incredibly inept government response. Door donations will go to some of the folks on the ground in those cities. The night of comedy will be hosted by Moira Goree, featuring the stylings of Kira Magcalen, Chesney Goodson and a special guest. More info on these and other events from Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross can be found at https://brabc.blackblogs.org Sole and Bursts Podcast Eminent Also, keep an eye on our website, thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org, this week for a special podcast conversation between Bursts and the anarchist hip hop artist, podcaster and rad dad outta Denver, Sole. Should be dropping Tuesday. We talked about Channel Zero Network, about prisoner support, the J20 inauguration case, the Situationists and a bunch of other topics. You can hear some of Sole's work including his podcasts at his website. Show playlist here
Interview with São Paulo member of Indymedia This week on The Final Straw, we're featuring an interview produced by comrades from Anarchistisches Radio Berlin with Elisa. Elisa has been involved in the anarchist movement for a long time and is one of the co-founders of the Brazilian Indymedia. Which in turn is one of the earliest counter information projects using the name and mode of Indymedia. In the conversation they talk about the political developments in Brazil of the last years as well as how the autonomous movements have been reacting to them. More audio from A-Radio Berlin can be found at aradio.blogsport.de. A-Radio Berlin is a member of the International Anarchist Radio Network that produces B(A)D News: Angry Voices from Around The World, a monthly English-language bulletin from many radio projects around the world. This conversation we're airing was recorded in July of 2017. We air this audio in the wake of the German government raiding and shutting down the website, linksunten.indymedia.org, allegedly for being infrastructure used in the organizing of the G20 Hamburg protests and other mass mobilizations and direct actions. Autonomous media is super important, and we suggest you check out the crimethinc article on the subject. On the subject of autonomous and anarchist media initiatives, A-Radio Berlin is also a member of the Channel Zero Network of English-language anarchist radio and podcast projects. Along these lines, we also want to share the following jingle for Rustbelt Abolition Radio, another member of CZN. Check out our 24/7 audio stream at channelzeronetwork.com Announcements: Stay Safe Berkley! Firstly, much love and solidarity to those fighting nazis in Berkley today. We are thinking of you here. Stay safe out there! Benefit for grand jury resistor Katie Yow On Tuesday August 29th at the Double Crown there will be a benefit show, bbq, and cake auction for grand jury resistor Katie Yow! BBQ sandwiches start at 6pm, with vegan and non vegan options for all you cats, with a cake auction to follow! Then music will commence with Bob Boob, Nomadic War Machine, Wyatt Yurth and the Gold Standard, Snake Musk, and Darien! All proceeds will benefit our brave comrade fighting state oppression and putting her safety and freedom on the line by doing so. Comedy Show to benefit J20 Arrestees And also, because Asheville loves a benefit show, there will be a night of laughs and comedy at the Mothlight on Monday September 4th at 9pm! This event is described as: "An evening of comedy by some of #Asheville's leading comedians: Minori Hinds, Kelly Morgan, Moira Goree & Dana Williams! 9pm, Labor Day 2017 at The Mothlight in West Asheville The proceeds will go to help cover legal and travel costs for defendants from the mass arrest at the protests against Donald Trumps inauguration in Washington D.C. on January 20, 2017. More info on the case at http://defendj20resistance.org/" This is hosted by Asheville's own Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross, and to see the facebook event you can go to the beast itself. Also, Sunday, September 3rd is the monthly Prisoner Letter Writing event that BR(A)BC hosts at Firestorm. Joshua Zero Cartrette post release fundraiser Here is an announcement on behalf of Joshua Zero Cartrette, who is an incarcerated member of IWOC and an anarchist. From his support page: "After years of struggling behind bars for prison abolition and against white supremacy Joshua Zero Cartrette will be returning to the community sometime in the next few weeks! But the struggle continues! Let's make sure our comrade who has been so important in the fight against white supremacy and the prison industrial complex in Oregon has the chance they deserve to build a life beyond prison walls! While incarcerated, Josh was an active member of the IWW's Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) and the founding member of the Anarchist Black Cross Oregon Prison Chapter. Over the years Josh encouraged dozens of Prisoners around the state of Oregon to contribute to the Oregon Prisoner Forum – a monthly newsletter that circulates articles and information from incarcerated peoples – which he also founded. (Read about that here). Josh also became an outspoken anti-racist and spent years mentoring incarcerated youth to escape the trappings of the white supremacist movement. For his organizing, he was repeatedly targeted by organized white supremacist gangs with death threats, forcing him to spend much of his time in protected custody. Across the state Josh was able to form several study groups that provided both basic civil rights education as well as more in-depth political analysis for prisoners. Josh's educational work has empowered prisoners from across the state to take steps towards self advocacy and to take a stand to improve the deplorable conditions they are subjected to – the 2016 prisoner work strike at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution being just one example (read more here). On September 9th 2016 prisoners across the country self-organized to take a historic stand against prison slavery and its continuation of institutionalized white supremacy and genocide. Oregon joined other states across the country in the wave of resistance that worked its way into institution after institution. As a result of the subsequent wave of repression across the country, Josh was subjected to over 6 months of solitary confinement (a punitive practice considered across the world to be a form of torture) when prison officials found him to be working to “orchestrate Oregon prison inmates to become involved in a massive prison work stoppage in all institutions” where the “purpose of these prison work stoppage was to shut down the daily operations of the institutions based on the inmate's perception that institutions utilize inmate labor for capitalist needs”. (See Joshes Report back and the ODOC official Misconduct Report here) White supremacists openly organize, fascist violence creeps back into the commonplace and the reactionaries are all abuzz – in this age, we have an obligation to support those who contest the fascist creep in the belly of the beast, where it festers and finds its most fertile recruiting grounds. Not only does the prison industrial complex act not only as a coercive and disciplinary institution created to enact and “legitimize” violence against marginalized communities, it serves as an incubation chamber for supremacist ideology and street violence by routinely allowing open white supremacist gangs to promote their toxic ideas, thus recruit more henchman and build lucrative criminal syndicate networks – within and outside its walls. The severity of racism in Oregon prisons was expressed by the all afrikan revolutionary Rashid Johnson while incarcerated in Oregon in 2011, “while the mainstream postures to project racism as a thing of the past, its rabid forms persist. Which I found upon my imprisonment in Oregon, where in contrast to most everywhere else in Amerika, the prison population is overwhelmingly white and thus feels no compulsion to conceal its bigotry. Security in numbers. …despite the delusions of many, is the level of civilization in Amerika, which one sees reflected in Oregon prisons, where a rabid racist culture parades openly stripped of pretense and lying in wait for the moment it can be given free violent expression.” To bring down the walls of racism and fascism we must begin by bringing down the prison walls. Anti-racists and anti-fascists have an obligation to support those on the inside –the ones engaged in a life or death battle against these forces – and to welcome back our comrades when they re-enter our communities. Support your fellow worker, fellow anti-racist, anti-capitalist and anarchist Joshua Ames Cartrette! We are asking folks across the country to consider throwing a benefit show or a letter writing night to incarcerated anti-racists and to donate some funds to Josh's re-entry. Help him get his life off the ground once again and continue the work that he once began in prison. The funds will be used to help josh find a new place to live and with all of the associated move in costs and to provide him time to look for work and to recover from the traumatic experience of incarceration." Please check out his support page here! Playlist here
Black Women's Defense League This week I spoke with Niecee X of the Dallas Texas based group Black Women's Defense League, which has been in existence for a bit over 2 years. In this interview we speak about BWDL and the circumstances around its formation, the work it engages in, and the political climate it exists within. We also speak about feminism and misogyny within this context, as well about the status of and tools for addressing anti blackness and sexism in anarchist scenes. The interview you are about to listen to has been edited down for broadcast, and we will release the longer version for on the podcast feed. On top of that, this is the second of two interviews that we recorded, and in the coming months I am planning to synthesize the two conversations into one long podcast version, which we'll announce once it is ready for listening. If you would like to get in touch with Black Women's Defense league, you can go to http://blackwomensdefenseleague.com, hit them up on Instagram or Facebook by searching their name, or email them Announcements For folks in the Pacific Northwest: The Tilted Scales Collective will be holding workshops called "Fighting Charges, Strengthening Movements." On Monday, April 10th in Olympia there'll be 2 workshops, the first at 3:30pm at Evergreen College in Lecture Hall 6 and the second at 6pm at Last Words Books. In Seattle on Wednesday April 12th at 7pm in the Bannon Science Building at Seattle University, check it out in rm 102. On the 15th Tilted Scales will be in Eugene, on the 16th in Portland and ending up at the Humboldt Anarchist Bookfaire on Saturday, April 29th in Arcata, CA. For folks in the South and South East of Turtle Island: Tomorrow, Monday the 10th in Durham, NC, there will be a "No War With Syria Rally" at CCB Plaza, 201 N. Corcoran St at 6pm. Word is that this event is being planned by the World Workers Party, a Stalinist and Russian-apologetic organization that has a knee-jerk reaction to support anyone the U.S. is in tension with as anti-imperialist. So, make up some nice anti-Assad, Anti-US, Anti-Russian, Anti-Nation-state slogans for your signs and engage the organizers. Anti-war should mean ALL warmongering governments and groups, not the populations that suffer the bombs and torture. Friday, April 14th at 9pm in Asheville, the HEX 1 dance party benefit for OurVoice will be taking place at The Mothlight at 701 Haywood Rd in West Asheville. The event will be DJ'd by DJ Lil Meow Meow, DJ Malinalli & DJ Abu Disarray. The beneficiary, OurVoice, is a non-profit rape crisis center in Asheville that offers counseling services, offers many educational workshops around consent and other topics, does outreach to bars around decreasing drug-assisted sexual assaults and does a lot more. More info on the project can be found at. Keep an eye out for future HEX Asheville benefits. In Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, April 14th at 10pm there'll be a benefit for Louisville Anti Racist Action. The show will be held at The Cure, 1481 Shelby St, in Louisville. The bands include Blind Scryer, Boneclaw (Evansville), Satellite Twin & Black Kaspar. Louisville ARA self-describes as "here to help build, defend, educate and create an effective cultural resistance against fascism." Saturday, April 15th in Asheville from 1-7pm, local rads will be hosting the Anarchist Field Day community event in the West Asheville Park at 198 Vermont Ave. It's an all-ages, potluck event that brags kick-ball, face painting, grilling with vegan and gluten-free grill space and food, friend-making and May Day banner-making. You can find them near the baseball diamond in the park and if rain chases folks away, there's a reschedule date for a week later on April 22nd at the same place and during the same hours. https://www.facebook.com/events/1860190510916621/ Playlist
Mothlight is a 3 piece dream pop outfit from Los Angeles, CA. It has been called, at times, chillwave, dream pop, psychedelic pop. Blog Diamond Deposits described Annie as “Packing immense sky high vocals set among a lush psychedelic sheen of sunlit melodies. It’s quite the treat for the ears!” and German blog, Orange Peel, compared our sound “à la M83 oder Fleet Foxes.” Initially the solo project of Matt Billings, Mothlight released 3 EPs from 2008-2012. Matt joined with longtime friend, Grant Stevens, to release the Calico LP (2014) and after a year or so of writing new material the duo found and recruited drummer Andrew Smith and it’s been a happy marriage ever since. Mothlight will be releasing a new EP in early spring 2016.
Mothlight is a 3 piece dream pop outfit from Los Angeles, CA. It has been called, at times, chillwave, dream pop, psychedelic pop. Blog Diamond Deposits described Annie as “Packing immense sky high vocals set among a lush psychedelic sheen of sunlit melodies. It’s quite the treat for the ears!” and German blog, Orange Peel, compared our sound “à la M83 oder Fleet Foxes.” Initially the solo project of Matt Billings, Mothlight released 3 EPs from 2008-2012. Matt joined with longtime friend, Grant Stevens, to release the Calico LP (2014) and after a year or so of writing new material the duo found and recruited drummer Andrew Smith and it’s been a happy marriage ever since. Mothlight will be releasing a new EP in early spring 2016.
A production coordinator from Hollywood, Jil Szewski talks to Paul and Chris about working shows, unions, the long hours, and practical jokes on imdb. Chris has learned “What do you do?” is a bad question thanks to reading our last guest, Nicole Bélanger. Jil is currently working on Whose Line Is It, Anyway? (Content not available in Canada, peep this instead.) GVSU Alumni reunion for those cats interested. Experimental film featuring bug parts, Mothlight. You can probably find it on Youtube. Maya Deren’s rad experimental film, Meshes of the Afternoon. Again, you can probably find it on Youtube. Jil had the awkward task of finding Christmas decorations in the summer when she worked on A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. We learn that web series are very big right now in Hollywood. Chris recommends Chef, but Jil who worked on the film, warns that it will make you very hungry. Paul is currently watching Arrow and The 100. Chris is watching Helix, Supernatural, 12 Monkeys and he’s waiting for Orphan Black and Silicon Valley to start up again. Jil went to the wrap party for season 2 of Silicon Valley where they showed a gag reel and she said it looks really good! Aren’t 5 stars better than 1? Michigan had a film incentive (you can read more about it here), but then it ended and now some folks are trying to get it going again. Jil’s fiance worked on HBO’s True Detective which is a very good show. Jil schools Chris & Paul on the various unions and the requirements to join. Chris admits his only understanding of Hollywood unions comes from Full Tilt Boogie. Resident bad movie lover Chris is sad when Jil reveals that her uncredited acting credit for Avalanche Sharks on imdb.com is a joke played on her by some friends. Jil loves Elvis! Chris wishes she was on the Harum Scarum episode of Film Frown to recommend some decent Elvis films. Thanks again to our guest Jil! Be sure to check out her current show, Whose Line Is It, Anyway? And thanks to you for listening. Support Montreal Sauce on Patreon