Podcasts about mutual aid disaster relief

It's Mutual Aid March for our third episode of 2025! We sit down with friends out of West Virginia who tell us about their super cool project known as "The Holler House," where they are reclaiming culture and crafting space that serves as a portal for community from birth to death and all that comes in between. Our conversation explores the idea that almost everybody (including you--yes, you!) is already doing mutual aid in one form or another, they just don't call it that necessarily. And we talk about the key ingredient of mutual aid magic: human relationships, with all their messiness and vulnerability.You can support this podcast at www.ko-fi.com/rednecksrising; for all the places you can find us, check out our linktree. If you want to share your story on the show, get in touch with us at rednecksrising@gmail.com.To stay in touch with today's guests and support their work at the Holler House, contact them at hollerhouse@proton.me.For more on Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, check out their website: mutualaiddisasterrelief.org.

This week we're sharing recent chat with Jazz and Badger, two residents of Barnardsville, a small village just outside of Asheville, NC. We spoke about the community, the impact of Hurricane Helene, some lessons learned from coordinating among the neighbors and how people are faring now, nearly 5 months out from the storm. You can find their website at MutualAidBarnardsville.com To hear similar stories from after the storm you can find links to past interviews in our show notes alongside links to groups working in the area, a few articles concerning government response and interviews recorded by Blue Ridge Public Radio: Voices of Helene. Articles on recovery referenced: https://www.bpr.org/bpr-news/2025-01-13/are-fema-rules-to-blame-for-slow-wnc-housing-recovery-heres-what-we-learned https://www.newsweek.com/fema-kicking-hurricane-survivors-housing-administrator-responds-2013660 https://www.bpr.org/bpr-news/2025-02-03/gov-stein-calls-for-1-07-billion-in-state-funding-for-helene-recovery Recent Storm Support for EKY, ETN, SWVA + WV Recent floods in middle Appalachia in the middle of an intense winter cold snap have left many without potable water or other basic needs. ATV donation / loan / operation request to help check on people in hollers, help clear roads, drive supplies: reach out to theferalraccoon (a t) proton (d ot) me OR MutualAidDisasterRelief ( at) gmail (do t) com. EKY One place you can look for where to send resources is Eastern KY Mutual Aid, found on Instagram or Facebook under the name Hillbillies Helping Hillbillies. And you can find out more by visiting the website or checking social media for Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Some of the useful links are here for those unable to use the platforms: EKY Mutual Aid Patreon Volunteer form if in the region EKY Mutual Aid Cashapp: $SoupBeansFriedTaters EKY Mutual Aid Paypal: @EKYMutualAid In Pikeville, KY, there's a request for food grade 5 gallon for water filtration where municipal water isn't running or wells are contaminated there's a request for restaurants to save buckets for water filtration. People interested can contact Cara at 859_533_0349 DROP OFF LOCATION: Pike Central HS 100 Winners Circle Drive Pikeville, KY 41501 Other EKY sites: Appalachian Crisis Aid Fund The Y'all Squad https://TheYallSquad.org/donate SWVA SAMS Lonesome Pine Mutual Aid Paypal: @SAMSVA The Care Collective of SW VA Venmo: @carecollectiveofswva Cumberland Mountain Mutual Aid Paypal: cumberlandmountainmutualaid (a t) gmail (d o t) com Venmo: @CMMAID CashApp: $CMMUTUALAID WV WVUMC Disaster Response Ministries https://WVUMC.org/donate Bluejay Rising https://BluejayRising.org/donate Spark of Love Foundation CashApp: $sparkoflove4thekids PayPal: The Spark of Love Foundation ETN Disaster Relief at Work https://www.drawbuckets.org/donate

This Week's Themes: Intimacy and Transformation As the Sun transits into Scorpio, the Sign known for its depth, passion, and mystery, we explore the theme of intimacy. Scorpio governs the most private areas of life—secrets, sexuality, and private financial matters. During this transformative period, it's crucial to be mindful of who you share your energy with, both physically and energetically. Powerful changes happen when these intimate exchanges occur. With the Sun, the Planet of Vitality, moving through this Psychic Sign—associated with magic, the occult, and taboo subjects—be intentional about surrounding yourself with those who uplift your energetic frequency rather than deplete it. This is a time for deep transformation and empowerment. (17:01) Mercury in Scorpio Trine Saturn Retrograde in Pisces 13° – October 20 – 23 (Sunday – Wednesday) – Exact on Monday, October 21. (20:55) The Sun in Libra Square the Moon in Cancer 28° - October 21, 2024 at 2:00 PM PDT (23:01) The Sun in Libra Square Pluto Retrograde in Capricorn 29° - October 20 - 23 (Sunday - Wednesday) - Exact on Tuesday, October 22. (35:28) The Sun in Scorpio 0° – October 22 – November 21, 2024 The Sun typically transits through Scorpio from October 22/23 - November 21/22 every year depending on the time and place of where you are in the world. (44:47) Venus in Sagittarius Trine the North Node Retrograde in Aries 6° - October 21 - 24 (Tuesday - Thursday) - Exact on Tuesday, October 22. (52:01) Mars in Cancer Sextile Uranus Retrograde in Taurus 26° - October 20 - 27 (Sunday - Sunday) - Exact on Thursday, October 24. Mars in Cancer Trine Neptune Retrograde in Pisces 27° - October 23 - 30 (Wednesday - Wednesday) - Exact on Monday, October 28. Check out the Sag Moon Sisters Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSagMoonSisters/videos Donate to Wandering Star Wisdom All funds go to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief to support WNC. Project with Sarcastic Seagoat Astrology & The Sag Moon Sisters. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=WQR2CCWBX6WZQ Check out Scott and Dallisa discuss the transits for the rest of 2024 and the first half of 2025 including the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0RoLjUUICM You can support the podcast financially through Donor Box: ⁠https://donorbox.org/the-weekly-transit-podcast⁠ Scott - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theweeklytransit.com/ Gabriella - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gabrielladurso.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theweeklytransit/support

The theme this week is emotional courage. Are you ready to face your fears and embrace your authentic self? With powerful transits this week, the cosmos is supporting deep transformations, both within yourself and your relationships, culminating in the Full Moon in Aries. Symbolized by the Ram, this Full Moon urges you to release your fears—but first, you must acknowledge them. Venus also transits into Sagittarius, bringing blunt and honest energy to your connections, helping to free you and those around you from the weight of inauthenticity. Be yourself, unapologetically. Plus, we'll dive into the astrological transits impacting P. Diddy. (10:29) Venus in Scorpio Opposite Uranus Retrograde in Taurus 26° – October 12 – 16 (Saturday – Wednesday) – Exact on Monday, October 14. Venus in Scorpio Trine Neptune Retrograde in Pisces 27° – October 13 – 17 (Sunday – Thursday) – Exact on Tuesday, October 15. Venus in Scorpio Sextile Pluto Retrograde in Capricorn 29° – October 15 – 18 (Tuesday – Friday) – Exact on Thursday, October 17. (31:30) The Full Moon in Aries 24° - October 17, 2024 at 4:25 AM PDT Trine Lesath in Sagittarius, representing profound experiences through crises, confronting darker, more difficult elements of life, pushing individuals to evolve. Derives from the Arabic word, Al-Las'a, meaning, “the sting.” (40:27) Venus in Sagittarius 0° – October 17 – November 11, 2024 Previous times Venus has transited through Sagittarius. December 29, 2023 – January 23, 2024 November 15 – December 9, 2022 October 7 – November 5, 2021 (46:18) P. Diddy Check out the Sag Moon Sisters Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSagMoonSisters/videos Donate to Wandering Star Wisdom All funds go to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief to support WNC. Project with Sarcastic Seagoat Astrology & The Sag Moon Sisters. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=WQR2CCWBX6WZQ Check out Scott and Dallisa discuss the transits for the rest of 2024 and the first half of 2025 including the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0RoLjUUICM Subscribe to the Healings are Rising by Jennifer Palo: https://thehealersarerising.substack.com/ You can support the podcast financially through Donor Box: https://donorbox.org/the-weekly-transit-podcast Scott - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theweeklytransit.com/ Gabriella - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gabrielladurso.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theweeklytransit/support

Overwhelmed by the intensity of the recent eclipse season? We felt a profound shift in energy that forced us to want to sit down and reflect. We chat about the major shift compared to past eclipses, the biggest lessons we learned, and some challenges we faced along the way. Ready to dive in? Tune in now for our honest and heartfelt discussion on the eclipse season and our personal experiences! Hurricane Support: All Hands and Hearts: https://give.allhandsandhearts.org/campaign/623237/donate#!/donation/checkout The Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/dr/hurricane-helene.html/ Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/ Anthony's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthonylightz 

Do you like deep conversations? Mercury, the Planet of Communication, transits into the deepest, darkest, most passionate Sign, Scorpio, bringing your mental awareness to what goes in the shadows. With Mars continuing it's transit through Cancer, part of this awareness could be directed at the secrets that exist in your past, or ancestry. Who do you want to be vulnerable with? Who do you want to be intimate with? Do you have the courage to investigate? Do you have the courage to uncover your fears? If you do, there may just be wisdom to retrieve at the depths of your Soul. (5:49) Venus in Scorpio Trine Mars in Cancer 18° – October 6 – 10 (Sunday – Thursday) – Exact on Tuesday, October 8. (12:49) Jupiter Retrograde in Gemini Sextile Chiron Retrograde in Aries 21° – September 15 – November – Exact on Friday, October 12. (17:21) Jupiter Retrograde in Gemini 21°20' - October 9, 2024 – February 4, 2025 July 15, 2024 – Jupiter Enters its Retrograde Shadow in Gemini 11°16' October 9, 2024 – Jupiter Retrograde in Gemini 21°20' February 4, 2025 – Jupiter Direct in Gemini 11°16' April 30, 2025 – Jupiter Exits its Retrograde Shadow in Gemini 21°20' (22:40) Pluto Direct in Capricorn 29°38' - Friday, October 11 Pluto transited through Capricorn January 25 – June 13, 2008 November 26, 2008 – March 23, 2023 June 11, 2023 – January 20, 2024 September 1 – November 19, 2024 (25:22) Mercury in Scorpio 0° – October 13 – November 2, 2024 Previous times Mercury has transited through Scorpio. October 21 – November 9, 2023 October 29 – November 17, 2022 November 5 – 24, 2021 (33:24) The Sun in Libra Square Mars in Cancer Square Chiron Retrograde in Aries Opposite the Sun in Libra 21° – October 8 – 15 (Tuesday – Tuesday) – Exact on Sunday, October 13. Donate to Wandering Star Wisdom All funds go to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief to support WNC. Project with Sarcastic Seagoat Astrology & The Sag Moon Sisters. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=WQR2CCWBX6WZQ Scott - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theweeklytransit.com/ Gabriella - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gabrielladurso.com/workshops --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theweeklytransit/support

Margaret continues talking with Katy Stoll about some amazing acts of mutual aid, both DIY and institutional. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A conversation with Jimmy Dunson a founding member of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief network in US, a grassroots network of relief support operating in multiple communities across the country which are contending with the realities of extreme climate events in the context of the broader reality of climate change. The project is described this way: "Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a grassroots disaster relief network based on the principles of solidarity, mutual aid, and autonomous direct action." Info: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org Thank you to Cindy Milstein for helping to arrange this interview. Accompanying music on this edition is by Amir ElSaffar @amirelsaffar with the track March, info on the album on which the track is featured here: https://amirelsaffartworivers.bandcamp.com/album/rivers-of-sound-the-other-shore Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and airs on @radiockut 90.3FM at 11am on Wednesdays and @cjlo1690 AM in Tiohti:áke/Montréal on Tuesdays at 1pm on @ckuwradio 95.9FM in Winnipeg at 8am on Tuesdays, on @cfrc 101.9FM in Kingston, Ontario at 11:30am on Wednesdays. Now also broadcasting on @cfuv 101.9 FM in Victoria, BC on Wednesdays at 9am. Also Free City Radio is a podcast through both Spotify and Apple Podcasts, please encourage a friend to tune-in !

On this episode of the It’s Going Down podcast, we speak with someone from Mutual Aid Disaster Relief about autonomous responses in the wake of Hurricane Ian, which rampaged through the Caribbean and slammed into the coast of Florida in late September of 2022. During our discussion, we talk about both the response from the... Read Full Article

This past month has seemed like one natural disaster after another. From Hurricane Fiona, Hurricane Ian, and the earthquake in Mexico, our globe is seeing the very real impacts of climate change.When folks hear about a natural disaster, their thoughts may go to property damage caused by a disaster and folks losing their homes. Folks generally do not think about how interpersonal violence spikes during, and after, natural disasters.Join Racheal Reed (she/her) and the director of the PCA, Katherine Miller (she/her), as they talk about statistics behind women and children's experiences with interpersonal violence during and post-disaster, risk factors that increases folks' vulnerability to  experiencing interpersonal violence during natural disasters, and what policy makers can do to help mitigate these experiences from happening.Below is a list of grass-root and non-profit organizations you can donate too that directly support folks post-disaster.GeneralDirect Relief https://www.directrelief.org/ Mutual Aid Disaster Relief https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.orgPuerto RicoBrigada Solidaria del Oeste (BSO) @brigadasolidariadeloeste on InstagramDIASPORAXPUERTORICO https://www.diasporaxpuertorico.org/en/index.phpTaller Salud https://www.english.tallersalud.com FloridaCaring for Others: https://caring4others.org CitationsParkinson, D. (2019). Investigating the increase in domestic violence post disaster: An                                                 Australian case study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(11), 2333–2362. https:/doi-org.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/0886260517696876Smitha, R. (2020) A natural disaster and intimate partner violence: Evidence over time,Social Science & Medicine, Volume 247, 112804, ISSN 0277-9536, https://doi.org                             10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112804.Thurston AM, Stöckl H, Ranganathan M. (2021) Natural hazards, disasters and violence against women and girls: a global mixed-methods systematic review. BMJ Global Health; 6:e004377.

Episode Notes Episode Summary For this episode of This Month in the Apocalypse, Brooke, Margaret, and Casandra chat about more horrible things and some fixes. They talk about supply chain shortages, corn, ways to keep your house warmer without using a ton of energy or resources, dubious debunked how warming myths that also might burn it down, and a thorough introduction to hurricane preparedness. Host Info Casandra can be found on Twitter @hey_casandra or Instagram @House.Of.Hands. Margaret can be found on twitter @magpiekilljoy or instagram at @margaretkilljoy. Brooke is just great and can be found at Strangers helping up keep our finances intact and on Twitter @ogemakweBrooke Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Next Episode Hopefully will come out Friday, October 4th, and every two weeks there after. Transcript An easier to read version is available on our website TangledWilderness.org. This Month In the Apocalypse: October Brooke Hello and welcome to Live Like The World Is Dying, your podcast for what feels like the end times. I'm Brooke Jackson, one of your hosts today, along with the brilliant Margaret Killjoy and the iridescent Casandra. This is October 2022 installment of your most favorite Live Like The World Is Dying sub-segment, This Month In The Apocalypse. Today, we're going to talk about the latest shortages, the looming crisis in energy, fuel sources and what can be done about the crisis, war, climate disasters and probably some shit about the economy. But first, we'd like to celebrate being a member of the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcasts by playing a little jingle from one of the other luminous podcasts on our network. Doo doo doo. Jingle Speaker 1 Kiteline is a weekly 30 minute radio program focusing on issues in the prison system, you'll hear news along with stories from prisoners and former prisoners as well as their loved ones. You'll learn what prison is, how it functions and how it impacts all of us. Margaret Behind the prison walls, a message is called a kite, whispered words, a note passed hand to hand, a request submitted the guards for medical care. Illicit or not, sending a kite means trusting that other people will bare it farther along until it reaches its destination. Here on Kiteline, we hope to share these words across the prison walls. Jingle Speaker 1 You can hear us on the Channel Zero Network and find out more at Kiteline radio.no blogs.org. Brooke And we're back. Quick introductions for those of you who might not remember each of us or might be listening for the first time. I'm Brooke an indigenous, baby anarchist woman who loves spreadsheets home remodeling and connecting with the land. And I'm going to toss to Margaret. Margaret I'm Margaret, and I am someone who writes a lot and is on podcasts a lot. And does useful stuff too. But, those are some of the things I do. And I will pass it to Casandra. Casandra I wasn't prepared for an introduction. Margaret Neither was I. Casandra My name is Cassandra. I garden and weave. Check! Margaret Yay. Brooke And do amazing art. Casandra Yeah, I make books. And drink tea. Okay. Margaret That's good tea. Casandra Yeah. Margaret Back to you, Brooke. Casandra Oh, yeah, we're supposed to remember to plug things. Strangers In A Tangled Wilderness is putting out our...Well, it's not really technically our first book is it, Margaret? Brooke Speaking of books, I feel like there's a book that you've been working on lately. I know we're supposed to plug things at the end. But this sounds great to mention it now. Margaret No, but it's our first book is a new collective. Casandra Okay, we're putting out our first book as the new collective. And also, first book in a long time, called "Try Anarchism For Life: The Beauty Of Our Circle" by Cindy Barukh Milstein. And I think I sent it to the printer yesterday. So fingers crossed. Brooke If people want to preorder that, Casandra, where can they do that? Casandra On the Stranger's site. And if you preorder it, you'll get some cute little book plates, which I didn't realize other people didn't know what book plates are. But, they're like the little stamps or stickers, you can put at the beginning of books. And it says "ex libris," which means 'from the library of,' and you can write your name so everyone knows it's your book. Brooke Nice. So check out our website for that awesome book, which is beautifully designed, and actually a really, really good read. I really enjoyed it. All right, in our very first episode of This Month In The Apocalypse, one of the things we talked about was things that were in shortage, and surprise, surprise, we are continuing to have supply chain shortages. The thing that made me recall this and want to bring it up, again, is that I saw an NPR article in the last week about the fact that Adderall is facing a shortage, which is interesting, and did a little more digging on what's going on there. And part of it is that they had labor shortages. So, they fell behind in their production. And then the part that was super interesting to me that I've never thought about, Adderall is a highly controlled substance. It's probably a well known fact, part of the part of the highly controlled portion of it is that manufacturers are regulated in how much of it they can produce. So, if they fall behind their schedule, it's not as easy as just like, "Oh, we're gonna do a double shift and make extra this month," they have to get like, special dispensation to be able to make more. So they can make the amount that they're allowed to, but not more than that without special permission. Margaret So they can't catch up? Brooke They can if like they apply for FDA approval and get, you know, temporary approval or whatever to make extra, assuming they can get the ingredients they need and workers to actually make the extra. But yeah, it's not as easy as just like, "Oh, we need to make extra." There's a whole bunch of extra stuff going on that they have to do to do that. Casandra Yay, bureaucracy. Brooke Yeah, totally. So ration your Adderall? That's probably probably not how that works. There are other medical supplies that are still in shortage too. This, I also found interesting because we haven't seen it in the headlines as much, or at least I haven't, right.? Like, it hasn't been in the news. But, there have been things that have continued to be in short supply of the throughout the whole pandemic. One of the items is gloves. There's lots of different kinds of gloves that medical providers use, you know, you've got vinyl gloves, and nitrile gloves, and powdered, and non powdered, and the thicker and thinner, and all of that kind of stuff. And so there's like several different types of specific gloves that are in short supply that.... Casandra When you said gloves, I was picturing like knitted gloves. Like why? Brooke Sorry, no, like medical gloves. Casandra That makes much more sense. Brooke Just get your grandma's to start knitting, and it'll be okay. Casandra Yep. Brooke Also, testing supplies are in short supply for medical providers. And specifically, it was like the equipment used to collect samples, store samples, transport samples, for medical tests, that portion of it. And then I guess, ventilator parts are still in short supply, as well. Margaret I guess that makes sense, since everyone wants that. Brooke Yeah. So that's the medical side of things. And then other things out in the real world, this is one I hadn't heard about, but tampons, I guess I've been in short supply. So it's good time to learn menstrual extraction. If you know somebody that can teach you that if you want to learn, or looking for other options, if you haven't previously been open to trying things like menstrual cups, might be a time to do that. Margaret, this is a fun throwback to our first one, there was this thing that was in short supply that you mentioned, and that each of us have two have on our respective homes. Margaret Um, wind...I'm trying to come up with something clever, I know the actual answer, but trying to come up with something funny. Casandra Garage doors? Margaret Yeah, it's garage doors. Brooke To the point where like, if you're a contractor, and you're going to build a house, they're recommending that before you start with anything related to the building of your house, the very first thing you do is order the garage doors, because it will take basically the whole time for them to get there. Like the last thing that will arrive and that you will install in the house is the garage door because of how long they taking. Casandra I knew it! Casandra Okay, I feel like every, like it's a running joke, and you all will always bring up garage doors. And every time I'm like, But, why is there a shortage? And then every time I forget, so I'm gonna ask again. Why? Brooke I don't think we talked about why last time. Margaret I don't think we have a 'why.' I think that there's just a lot of shit that is like, my guess is because it's so specialized that they make a certain amount. And then I don't know, but it might be something more about new homes? I don't know, The answer is I don't know, Brooke Part of it is lumber. Because remember, lumber was in short supply, like lumber mills shut down early in the pandemic. And so there was like a lot of lumber that was not being produced. And then when they started up again, because the price of lumber has gone up the price of garage doors are like two or three times higher, depending on where you live than they were pre pandemic. And part of that's because the lumber is so much more expensive. Margaret Okay, but hear me out. It'd be prettier anyway, it's instead of having the kind that rolls up above, just have like big old barn doors that swing open, and just make them out of two by fours. And it will totally work. And I'm sure there's no specific reason that people have developed a much more specialized solution. Brooke Yeah, definitely not. Casandra And there can just be like a rope from the door to your fence. So when you drive up to your fence, you can just grab the rope and pull it. Margaret Yeah, totally. Casandra And that will open the garage door. Margaret Yeah, or some sort of like system where you like knock something over as you're driving up towards your house. It like knocks over the ball, that rolls down the hill and it hits the thing and then it does the thing. And then the garage door swings open and then hits something that it shouldn't have and then starts another chain reaction and then the whole neighborhoods on fire. Casandra Yeah, totally secure Brooke I was with you till the end. So a real nice Rube Goldberg type of garage door opening. Margaret Yeah, I think that is the solution for most of these things that we're missing. Like for example, lack of gloves. Have doctors considered using knit gloves? Brooke Really great point, Margaret. Really great point. Moving on. Computer chips continue to be in short supply.That was an issue like this time last year. It got a little better. Casandra Wait, what news? Brooke Computer chips, Casandra Computer ships? I'm sorry, I... Brooke The ones that go into like everything, like not just computers, but like they go into cars now, they go into your television, they go you know... Casandra My contribution today is going to be to mishear everything. Brooke That's alright, it's going to be way more fun that way. Margaret Okay, so tortilla chips, also chips conduct electricity, probably if you put enough electricity into them. Brooke I don't know if they have any conductive materials in them, Margaret. Maybe we need to add some metal to our tortilla chips. Brooke And then they can do this. Margaret Yeah. Margaret It's good for everyone. And just mark it for anyone who has braces that they should avoid them. Brooke Okay, yeah. Excellent. Renewable too because corn. Margaret That's not something I'm going to talk about later about. Anyway. Brooke Sadly, baby formula continues to be in shortage. Again, that's not making the headlines like it was when it first started. But, that is still a major issue. So, check on your people. Do what you can to help out there. Unfortunately, that's ongoing and doesn't still doesn't have a solution in sight right now. They've been...like they ramped up production on it and stuff, but it's just still not enough. And then the raw ingredients that go into make it too, of course, have continued to have problems. Here's a really sad one for you, Margaret. It's it's one of your favorite things. And the concept of this item tends to be a sponsor of one of those other podcasts. Casandra Guns. Margaret Oh no, smiling children? Brooke No, there's plenty of them. You only really need one. So that's, that's okay. Margaret Don't tell me that there's no potatoes. Brooke Potatoes are in short supply. Margaret This has gone historically badly for my people. Brooke There was like a whole famine or something. Except there wasn't. Casandra Something. Brooke Yeah, sorry. potatoes, potatoes in short supply. Okay. Casandra But it's like harvest potato season right now? Are they just already anticipating that there won't be enough potatoes? Brooke Yeah, that's part of it. Again, we've talked about in previous episodes, how like, there have been really weird climate shit happening, especially like in the US that's affected the growth and production of things. Like here where we live, our Spring was way long and cold and wet. And it really fucked up the growing cycles of things. So, loss. Casandra Yeah, my potatoes didn't do great. Brooke Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So there were losses due to that early in the season of like potato plants. And then they're not anticipating, you know, what they are getting out of the ground to be, excuse me, as plentiful as it might otherwise be. Or normally be. Yeah, that's sad. Less sad, Christmas trees are probably going to be in short supply again, this year, they're not sure. But, they were last year, and the conditions that cause that are looking to be much the same. So yeah, living things that get chopped down in order to decorate your house for a month, fewer of those. Sorry? Margaret Alternatives include decorating a living tree, or moving into a house that some old weird person left a fake Christmas tree in the attic. Or using last year's tree. Casandra I'm a big fan of rosemary trees, and then you just plant it. Brooke You can also paint a tree on your wall somewhere and then just set out presents. You can make out of cardboard with your children. Margaret Or, you can realize its pagan idols idolatry and realize that a true Christian would never celebrate Christmas. Casandra Or you can convert, and do Hanukkah, because they overlap this year. Brooke Yes, I love it when they overlap. Casandra Menorahs are pretty. Margaret There's so many options. Yeah. Brooke Okay, cool. And then our last supply chain thing, which will be a nice toss is that energy and fuel are in short supply and expected to be in even shorter supply, which means I can toss this to Margaret to talk more about that issue. Margaret Yay, everything's doomed. I mean, everything's gonna be fine. Somewhere in between these two extremes is the truth. Okay, so Europe is having a power crisis. And not the old fashioned kind where people decide they don't want kings anymore, but kinda about natural gas mostly. And, it is the worst energy crisis since World War II. And, there's a lot of causes of it. The most immediate cause, that is absolutely the most immediate cause, and it's, it's not the straw that broke the camel's back, it's like the two by four that broke the camel's back, is the is that Russia has responded...Okay, so no, I'm gonna start at the beginning instead. Okay, so for 20 years or so... Brooke No, start in the middle! Margaret So for 20 years or so, Euroupe has been trying to use fossil fuels...If I was really starting at the beginning it would be like: the economic project that is Europe was caused by stripping all of the natural resources out of the developing world. But, for the last 26 years, Europe has been like, "We want to be the seen as the people who are really good. And so we're going to use fewer fossil fuels." And so, for about 20 years, they've been trying to work on that. However, this has basically increased their dependence on other places, like Russia, primarily Russia, in this case, where natural gas imports cheap, natural gas imports from Russia have been absolutely a mainstay. However, this has been crisis for the past two Winters too, even before the Ukrainian war, basically. Because, if you're going to have renewables as the way that you're trying to make a sustainable world, it has to be coupled with degrowth, instead of just like continuing to have a growing thing, because like, actually, renewables create less power overall at the moment, right. So, increased dependence on Russia, and then Russia has not officially cut off natural gas exports to Europe, what they did instead is they stopped 89% of their natural gas exports. And, they did it by saying, "Oh, we have a leak, and we can't fix it because of the sanctions. So, I guess you have to stop the economic sanctions against us, or you don't get any natural gas." And so they're blackmailing the West, and I don't know, whatever, I mean, I don't expect better of them. They're in the middle of fucking fading and genociding Ukraine, so whatever. But, this is a problem. And also increasing drought that's been hitting Europe really badly, it fucks up a bunch of other things, too. It fucks up their hydroelectric. And then, it even fucks up their coal, because coal is transported by river. And, they can't if the rivers are too low. And so the Right wing wants to blame a lot of this on Germany's shutdown of like the completely safe nuclear power plants or whatever. But, I think that that's worth contrasting with...France is actually at half nuclear power right now, because corrosion, lagging repairs, and general lack of safety have caused the nuclear power plants about to...to have to operate at about half capacity. So nucular, actually, sometimes complicated. And the heatwave has also meant that they can't use river water to cool the plants, because there's the nuclear power plants, and the other, I think other power plants too, because they use river water to cool it. But, I think it's a combination of the river water being much hotter than it usually is. And then also much less of it. Though, the one weird thing that people are like hoping will like pull it through at the last minute is there's now this new micro nucular reactor that's supposed to be safe, because it uses molten salts and fuel rods. And it fits onto a tractor trailer and powers 1000 homes, and is not yet being produced commercially. But, it's like a thing that people say that they've developed. So, the UK has seen energy prices, the energy price increase has doubled since last year's increase. So, it's not like...energy prices aren't double, but they have grown at double the rate, protests are breaking out, people are starting to burn their utility bills. And what's kind of cool is that you'd sort of expect this kind of protest to kind of go in a Right wing direction about like, you know, fuck you, let's go frack or whatever. But, actually, it's, at least what I've seen is that the protests are mostly coming out of a Left wing and a-political position. And, a lot of is like pushing to nationalize gas, and basically say like, "This is fucked up. This is affecting the poor people more than anyone else." Gas being, in this case used for heating, but also is used for power generation, and then a lot of industrial manufacturing. And, this is not just a matter of rising costs, it's literally a potential in the next couple of weeks, there might be blackouts and power rationing. Various places are limiting power use, like businesses are being encouraged to turn off their air conditioners, and all this kind of stuff. And of course, everything happens in a vacuum with this kind of thing. So, there's no way...wait, no, no, this will cause stagnation economically and could easily trigger a recession. Margaret And the other thing that it does, is it creates this awful fucking feedback loop. We talked about last time where like the feedback loop of like, all this flooding, destroying Pakistan, causing them to get IMF loans, which cause more austerity, which cause more, you know, climate change or whatever, you have a very similar feedback cycle, in that it's the...because of this stuff that's happening, more fossil fuel production is happening, coal plants are coming back online. Fracking is no longer banned in the UK. And of course, the pipeline attack that didn't help any of this, that was probably Russia, but Russia blames it on the US, was the largest methane release in documented history. So, even though the pipes weren't even an active use, the fact that they were ruptured caused the largest methane release in documented history. And of course, it was the heatwave the summer that spiked power usage. And so, climate change causes people to get more desperate for power. So, we enter to a vicious cycle, which will definitely not have any effects anywhere but Europe, and we can probably be done with that issue unless someone else has something to say about it affecting elsewhere. Casandra Yeah, I was reading about how the domino effect is impacting the US. It sort of seems self evident, but I'll talk about it anyway. So it looks like 40% of the US of our electricity is generated by natural gas, which I didn't realize. So, you know, in the US, we either heat our homes with natural gas or electric, but natural gas prices impact electricity prices, maybe someone else can explain that to me, because I don't quite get it. But, the moral of the story is that when natural gas prices go up, all of the other prices go up as well. Yeah, they're expecting anything from a 17% increase to a third increase? I don't understand. Yeah, thank you. 33%. So that sucks. It's not as bad as Europe, like I'm looking at...I was looking at Germany in the UK, and it sounds like their prices are way, way, way, way higher, but it's still not gonna be great here. So, I was hoping we could talk about things that people can do. Like ways they can keep their home warm, and insulated and stuff like that. Brooke and I are both in the Pacific Northwest, which is known for its mild winters, but we also get lots of rain and damp and then Margaret is on the East Coast and has much harsher winters. So maybe between the three of us, we can come up with some good ideas. Brooke Let me start with what I tell my kid which is put on some socks and a goddamn sweater. Casandra And a hat. Feet and head. Margaret And then what I tell your kid which is, "If you if you make a...if you build a fire, if you build a man a fire, he's warm for a day, but if you set a man on fire, he's warm for the rest of his life. Brooke Well we do like to set men on fire in this house, so that's that's perfectly acceptable here. If any men come in, you can be set on fire for our warmth. Margaret Yeah, yeah, that's a renewable resource. Casandra Because, I mean, we know that lumber and wood prices have gotten up and you got to use something in your fireplace, Margaret And I hear that they're made out of wood. That's why we throw them in the lake to find out. Cause men are witches. Wait, hold on. Okay, so sweaters and hats, okay. Okay. Casandra Some things I learned. So clothes dryers can be up to 20% of a home's energy bill. I had no idea. And in my head, a dry...like drying racks aren't good idea where we live because it's so damp here. But maybe that's not the case. So, I'm gonna try that this winter. Checking...I've always rented so the the idea of like checking the filters and shit on my whatever way your home is heated has never occurred to me, but apparently that's super important. Right, Brooke? Brooke Absolutely. I'm gonna be totally honest, I don't know if that has anything to do with the, I guess it probably helps the efficiency of the device. Yeah, I do it every six months, because I know it helps the air quality in my house. And that's important. Casandra I don't even know how to do that. So you should come over. Margaret There's both filters in the HVAC. Sorry. Casandra Let me know, tell me more, I don't understand. Margaret As far as I understand, there's both the filters that are like the big screen filters that people are like run out and strap to their fans to do air filter cleaning, right? And then there's like, at least in my house has an oil heater and in an oil heater, there's a filter, an oil filter, and so my presumption is that it just takes more power to push things through a clogged up filter, both air filter and oil filter. That's my guess. The main thing I learned the hard way by moving somewhere with harsh winters and an oil furnace is that if you let your furnace run dry, it breaks. And so you actually have to keep it full, which is cool because my gauge is broken, so I just need to every now and then like call and be like, "Hey, can you fill it up?" And they're like, "How much do you need?" And I'm like, "I don't know. You fill it up." I did learn that heating oil and diesel are functionally the same thing, although you're not allowed to put heating oil in your car, because that they'd like stain it red so that you can get caught if you do that. Casandra Weird. Margaret Yeah, and there are some diff...please don't run out and put diesel in your home oil filter because you heard some girl who lives in the mountains tell you to. I haven't fucking done this. And but, some people I think sometimes like top off, like in a hurry. They'll do that if they keep diesel around for like their tractor or whatever the fuck. Brooke I mean, it's probably better than...may be....I'm guessing, totally guessing, that it might be better than letting it run dry, because that can be an expensive fuckup. Margaret Yeah, if you do that you have to change at very least the oil filter. And then if not the also the fucking spark plugs and all this shit and the parts are cheap, the capacity to do it without exploding things is harder. This is sort of beside the point that only applies to oil. Let's talk about other ways to heat homes. Casandra So, yeah, other ways to heat your homes or more like how to keep heat in. I was researching this anyway, because my house has lots of windows like huge, like walls of windows, which is beautiful, but they're all single pane and none of them seal. Like literally, there's no, I don't even, I still haven't figured out what this type of window's called, but it's like slats of...horizontal slats of glass sort of layered on top of each other, and you can crank it so they tilt open or crank it so they tilt shut, but there's nothing actually...like air just you know, comes in. So using that fun, classy plastic stuff that's temporary to cover your windows. That's one of my plans this year, the few windows that don't have that tilty glass, that's an official term, I'm going around the edges and caulking them. I checked on my door seals. I learned that they're like energy efficient electric blankets. Casandra I'm anticipating that if I set my set my thermostat a lot lower and like use those while I'm working during the day or even at night, maybe that will be helpful. Margaret Oh, that's cool. Brooke Heavy curtains can help too. With Windows. Casandra Yeah! Inulated curtains! Brooke That can be a real trade off if you have any like seasonal effective disorder, light issues, but like they can do a lot to keep the cold back if you have a heavy curtain that you hang over the window. Casandra Totally, yeah, those are super effective. Margaret And then you can play the fun game of opening them when the sun's out and then closing them when the sun's gone. Casandra Though here when the sun's out, it's colder. Margaret Oh, okay. Yeah. Casandra So, that's why we're all sad all winter. Margaret Yeah. Casandra Let's see, did I find anything else exciting? People are on social media right now sharing all of these like wild ideas about how to heat your house. And, I haven't tried these. I'm not going to vouch for them. But some of them are really interesting. So, one is like, when you're baking, you put very, already dry, that's important, bricks in the bottom of your oven, because they hold in heat. So, when you're done baking, you can open your oven and turn your oven off and the bricks will keep your house apparently. People are making a little like tea light and flower pot heaters. Margaret Can I talk shit on those really quick? Casandra Yeah, please do. Margaret They're bullshit. They're absolutely bullshit. Casandra I kind of figured. Also, like open flames? Margaret Yeah, no. And like actually, a lot of them the the actual clay pot can get hot enough to catch the candle wax on fire. And so, there's been like a bunch of houses, people have like burned down their houses trying to use these fucking things. And it would take like, I think it I looked this up the other day, it would take like hundreds of these to heat a small room. The time in which that this is a reasonably efficient thing to do is an emergency or survival situation. If you make...if you're in a fucking tent, if you're in, if you're in your house, you can do this, you can throw a blanket. If you're trying to heat up the space hidden under a blanket. A candle can be a meaningful part of that. But, if you're trying to heat up even a small room, they're not a meaningful part of it in terms of the trade off, but the stuff about thermal mass like these bricks, sorry, is it okay to just tangent on this? Casandra No please do. These are my like things that people are talking about that kind of sketched me out. Margaret Yeah, and so it's like in that I haven't specifically researched putting the bricks in the oven. What I would probably do, I mean, you want thermal mass thermal mass doesn't heat things. It's like a battery. It's a heat battery, right? And so like for example, what a lot of people do is if you put like...thermal mass is often like clay or something like that. Some people even historically use like stored jugs of water and stuff where the sun comes in and heats it up or wherever your passive heating comes from. Then it radiates out that heat once the heat sources gone. And so, you can keep your house cooler at night by having a lot of thermal mass. This is one reason why cob houses have some advantages in a lot of climates and adobe and all that stuff right. And concrete even, can actually act as thermal mass, although I don't know as much about the efficiency of that. Brick houses have an advantage for this. But yeah, like a lot of the hacks around like, "Oh, light a candle," are like just a really good way to burn your house down. Casandra Well, it's not even just a candle. People are like building...like constructing these like...you take a flower pot. You know what I'm talking about? Margaret Oh, yeah, totally. Yeah, so and that doesn't actually amplify...Okay, so this idea where you take the candle and you put the flower pot on top of it and the terracotta flower pot is amplifies the heat, it doesn't amplify shit, you can't amplify heat. That's like one of the laws of thermodynamics. But you can't store the heat and you can centralize the, so it doesn't get lost as much, right? So in some weird ways as maybe like a handwarmer, it would like be maybe a little bit more effective, right? Because Casandra That's an expensive handwarmer. I'm gonna knit gloves. Margaret Yeah, totally. And so it, the, the flower pot itself does get so hot, and especially if you put enough candles under it to make it useful. And you can see there's a bunch of like research that people have done, where they're like, "Oh, the flower pot gets up to 170 degrees with one candle or like 400 something degrees with four candles," or something roughly like that. I don't have the numbers in front of me. But, it doesn't make enough heat to fill a space. It instead is actually specifically preventing that heat from going out into the space, which is... Casandra Which is why it gets so hot. Margaret Yeah, totally. And again, like I mean, I don't know, and there's some advantages to it. But overall, however, I think the alcohol lamps that people make, the like DIY, there's like, like the heater block, and I think it's Philly, I can't remember. Brooke Portland has one. Margaret They like make...you can make alcohol lamps, as little portable heaters. And, and when you're talking about like a tent or something in a survival situation, they are fairly effective. I actually don't know enough about the BTUs that they put out to, to in terms of heating and other spaces. That that's beyond what I know. That what's my rant about candles, sorry. Casandra No, I appreciate the rant. My contribution was gonna be like, people are talking about sketchy shit that I don't know about. So confirming that it's sketchy shit is great. Yeah, I don't know. Do y'all know any other fun ways? I'm trying to think about like, my grandparents live in a really old house, and they have a wood stove, which heats one room. And the house is very long and thin. So, it heats one room on one end of the house and their bedrooms on the other end. So, all of the weird shit I've seen them do over the years to stay warm, like the window plastic, or those like long sock things that you put at the bottom of doors, you know, I'm talking about? Margaret Oh, yeah, totally. My house. I mean, I clearly bought my house with like 'prepper' in mind, but my house has the two different wood burning stoves, or one's a pellet stove, which are more like human energy efficient, but they require electricity, so a little bit more complicated. It's like a wood burning stove, but it's a little pellets of fuel that you can buy super cheap, but you have to buy them. You can make them yourself, but it's super labor intensive and complicated. I looked into it for a while. And then I have a regular wood burning stove in the basement and the wood burning stove is actually hooked into the HVAC like vent system in my house. And so that is something you can do is you can put a wood burning stove and hook it up to...this is not a simple retrofit. Installation in general, just fucking add insulation to your house however you can, which sometimes means like, you know, tearing open the walls and putting in more insulation or putting more insulation in your attic. If you have an attic or Casandra Covering your fireplace when you're not using it, that's one I'm learning. Margaret Oh, really? Oh, that makes sense. Because it just goes up out into the...Yeah, Casandra Yeah, even when it's closed, it can still suck heat out. Not using fans for too long, which sucks. I'm thinking about like bathrooms. You know? Margaret I see Yeah, yeah. Casandra Like, above your kitchen stove. Margaret Yeah, hmm, that makes sense. Brooke One thing I've done for the last several years to conserve energy use is to consolidate where in the house I am located and or with my person, or people are located to a single room or a portion of the house and then closing up the rest of it and closing the vents that go there and all of that and just focusing the heat on wherever I am or I am with my kid or whatever it is. Casandra Oh, closing the vents you're not using as a good idea. Brooke Yeah, so like when she's off at school while I'm working, I close the door to my office, close most of the rest of the house. And then when it's like the two of us, we'll hang out in just her room with the vent open, or just our two bedrooms that are next to each other with vents open. Margaret And it's it's another advantage of people who choose to live communally is that I mean more people in a house is just going to warm things up a lot, like putting a bunch of people into a room with closed...that's like closed off and insulated is a real good way to stay warm. So like, I don't know, use this as an opportunity to get close to someone, I mean, very consensually and stuff. Brooke I was gonna say cuddling. Cuddling is a good way to provide heat. Margaret Get a dog. Brooke Or fucking Margaret I take back the part about the dog. Okay. Casandra They're also, both in Europe and I know state by state and the US, there're also energy and utility assistance programs and grants that have always been available, but it's seems like more are starting to become available. So, if you live somewhere colder than me, it's a good thing to look into. Margaret Well, and then also in Oregon, starting in 2024, Medicaid is going to cover expenses related to climate change in terms of like, generators and air filters and shit like that. Brooke That's amazing. I haven't heard that. Margaret I just read about it while I was getting ready for this episode. Brooke If you think you may qualify for one of the energy assistance programs, that's something to look into sooner rather than later, like, Now, instead of before the colds get real high, or the bills get real high. I know that one of the programs here in our town, for instance, only has a few days a month in which they accept applications. And we'll even close that, you know, for the next month if they got too many in the previous month kind of a thing. Casandra Yeah. Yeah, then, yeah. The The only other thing I wanted to bring up with all of this is that, you know, we've talked in past episodes about how expensive food is getting and how expensive everything's getting, and with rising energy costs, that's just going to contribute to inflation more because of businesses are having to pay more money to stay open. You know? Margaret Yeah. Brooke But Biden just passed the Inflation Reduction Act, so everything's gonna be fine now. Casandra Right? Brooke He did it. Casandra Okay? Brooke He solved it. Margaret Yeah, thanks, O-Biden. Casandra 'O-Biden?' is that what you said? Brooke Haven't you heard that joke? Margaret Usually, it's because you want to complain about something. The gas prices are high, like, "Thanks, O-Biden," because people always said, "Thanks, Obama." Casandra Okay. Yeah. Thanks for explaining jokes to me. Brooke Well, Biden's just Obama's puppet. I mean, haven't you heard that he's old and senile, and it's actually just secretly Obama still running the country through Biden? Margaret Who's totally not old and senile. Casandra I mean, according to Tulsi this morning, it's it's actually the elite Cabal. So. Brooke There's a whole other conversation I want to have with you about why everyone is so anti--fucking-semetic. But that's like not on our topic list. Casandra Oh, gosh, the French Revolution. Brooke If we want to do a segue I really really want to talk about it. Casandra Now we're gonna segue to talk about the French Revolution. Margaret Welcome to Mediocre People Who Made Lateral Moves, the new podcast about all the revolutions that have happened Casandra and how people blamed it all on the Jews. Margaret The only revolutions accepted are the Haitian Revolution, the Mexican Revolution kinda, yeah. Anyway, Brooke This is the thing I don't understand. Like, why why is anti-semitism been such a global thing for fucking ever? Like, I can't think of another group of people that have had it quite like the Jews. Casandra It's called the coldest hatred for a reason. Margaret I mean, everyone has it different. I think anti-blackness is also real fucking old and anti-indigenous as soon as we find y'all. Casandra There's these interesting accounts of of...We should not go on this tangent. Brooke But it's interesting. Casandra I could talk for too long. Brooke It's topical. Casandra It's always topical. Brooke Exactly. Casandra Oh, what were some of our other fun topics? Margaret Okay, let's talk about hurricanes. Can I talk about hurricanes? Casandra Hurray! Margaret Oh, wait first I wanna talk about about corn really quickly. It's like a short note. Okay, so by 2053, the Corn Belt won't be able to grow corn. Brooke What? Casandra Wow. Margaret Because there will be days 125 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. And of course, corn is already having trouble now. It's not like a switch that will be flipped in 30 years. And also, my cynical ass has been proven right every time someone's like, "All of the X will happen by 2080." I'm like, that's gonna be way sooner. And then like 2020 comes around, they're like, "Yeah, nevermind this is sooner." And then so some of the solutions that people are trying to come up with around this, some of them are like make a lot of sense about like, being a little less monocroppy and like, and people are like getting really into perennial grains. But, of course they're doing it in like weird capitalist ways. So there's like weird named ways to be less monocrappy. And there's also this perennial grain that's like trademarked called Kernza which is a plant name with a little reserved symbol after his name. So that's how you know, it's good. And basically, a lot of the existing perennial grains are actually more like hays and things are for foraging. And so intermediate wheat grass is Kernza. It's a type of intermediate wheat grass, which is not actually wheat, but has a similar grains. However, they're currently trying to hybridize it with wheat and it's hard to bake with because it's not as gluttony. Unfortunately, it still has some gluten, so it's not the solution for that problem, either. But, people are trying to do some weird shit. Then I could talk about hurricanes unless y'all wanna talk about corn. Casandra Most grass seed is edible. That's my contribution. Brooke Also tubers. So plant yourself some day-lilies, dahlias. Casandra Turnips. Brooke They're pretty and then you can eat them. Casandra We should bring back neeps as a instead of mashed potatoes, mashed neeps. Margaret Y'all are just making up things. Casandra We're listening now. Margaret Casandra's always making up plants that don't exist. There's only three plants: corn, potato, and grapes. Casandra I thought it was wheat. Margaret Oh, yeah, and wheat. Brooke I know you've seen apples. And also, I've given you kale. So. Margaret That's just fancy. It's just different forms of...okay to be fair, broccoli, kale...Can you help me list off all of these things that are the same plant? Casandra Brassicas? Margaret Yeah. Brooke Cauliflower? Brussels sprouts, cabbage, mustard. Margaret Everything is already secretly...the the secret cabal that we should be blaming is the brassicas. Casandra Plant families? Margaret No, just brassicas, because they're everything. Everywhere you look, it's brassicas. Casandra Unless it's a nightshade. Brooke I get what you're looking for. And I'm with you. Margaret Okay, so hurricanes. So, there's two things about hurricane survival. And one is like this, like promising thing, although it ties into some bougie shit is that like....cause obviously, people who are listening this...a lot of people are listening to us have dealt with hurricanes more immediately and recently than any of the three of us have. And so I don't mean to be light hearted about like, you know, like, whatever I want to say that, like people are dealing with this shit...I, I'm not trying to...It's a big fucking deal. Okay. One thing is that communities absolutely can be built to survive hurricanes. And it isn't done because people aren't rich enough. And because doing so is incentivized, and because people don't value this, right. It's like a combination of these things. Have you heard of this small town called Babcock Ranch that survived Hurricane Ian? Brooke Nope. Margaret Okay, there's this. It was built in 2015 People started moving into in 2018. It's a 2000 home community. And it's, it's sort of like actually mixed class a little bit. The houses start at 200,000 and go up to a million dollars. And it's, and they're like working on building condos and stuff. And it is meant to survive hurricanes. This is in fucking Florida. And it got hit by Ian. And so it makes sense to build things are meant to survive hurricanes. The streets are designed to absorb water. I think that they're designed to absorb water into like, basically almost a French drain system that runs underneath where there's like pipes or whatever. I know that they are capable of making this like some kind of concrete that water can just like flow right through. And I think that's what's happening. Yeah, Brooke Yeah, pervious concrete. yeah. Casandra What is that not everywhere? Brooke More expensive, Margaret Because people don't value infrastructure in this country. And and then there's, they use native landscaping everywhere to like limit flooding. They do all this stuff to like, make sure that...because flooding kills more people in hurricanes than wind. And so they do all of this stuff with native landscaping to limit flooding. The power and all the communication lines are buried, which is another thing that should just be happening everywhere, but isn't. Like where I live, I lose power all the fucking time, because like, "Oh, sorry, a tree fell on a power plant. Power Pole." Casandra Are you laughing at me Brooke? Brooke I'm picturing your backyard right now where you could like, garrote yourself with your power lines in your back yard. Casandra That my landlord is like, "This is not a problem." Yeah. Margaret Yeah, no, totally. And like, every...where I live like a tree falls on...it's like, it's like once a month, I lose power for a day, because I'm in the fucking mountains with really shallow soil, and so the trees fall over every time there's a windstorm, but we're in the fucking mountain. So there's wind storms all the time. Anyway, so they bury their power and internet lines. And the whole town has it's own solar array that powers like all of it, and 8000 other nearby homes. And so, to that 2.6 million people lost power during Hurricane Ian but not Babcock Ranch. And this was its first like trial by fire. And to be and to be fair to them they weren't total assholes about it. It wasn't like "I've got mine fuck you." They turned their school into a shelter for all the nearby folks, because it still had power even though, it like I think I think it couldn't be registered as an official storm shelter because didn't have a generator. But, it didn't need one. Casandra Cause it didn't need one? Margaret Because it had its own fucking micro grid. Casandra Wow, amazing. Bureaucracy. Margaret Yeah. So that's like, what we could be doing, right? We could have a society that like, prepares for these things, you know, and like there are ways to build things if people are able, if people are able to have the resources or like institutions are willing to give resources to make things that are appropriate to their area you know, you can have fire resistant homes you can have...I mean everything would just be concrete domes if I had my way as of the past six months, but then I'm sure get over this particular infatuation with concrete domes, but they're like everything proof. Okay, anyway. Except aesthetic proof. Okay, so actually, okay, whatever. The other thing that's... Brooke Also concrete is not great for the environment and climate change. It's really bad, actually. Margaret Yeah, but it has actually weirdly, I haven't looked in this little while, there's the embedded greenhouse gases and in terms of how long it lasts are like, compare favorably in a lot of ways. And also in terms of its insulating...Well, its insulating properties because of thickness. The way it's constructed is...the way it's made is not nice. You can you can also disagree with me about this. Brooke No, that's fair. And there's been recent research and work into putting cellulose into concrete mixtures that actually helps. I can't remember all the beneficial properties of it, but some really cool research that's out there about about mixing wood fibers. Margaret That's cool. Plus brutalism is way cooler than...anyways Okay, whatever. Now everyone's gonna hate me if I start talking about liking brutalism. Alright, so hurricanes, I have never survived a hurricane, just to be really clear. And so I'm not trying to tell everyone....okay, but I it's my disclaimer, I researched... Brooke You've also never not survived a hurricane. Margaret That's true. Oh, I see what you're saying. Every time I'm in a hurricane, I die. I've been playing this...I want...this video game I've been playing called...Okay. So, God, what if I was...the ultimate prepper would be Groundhog Day guy. That's what he really should have done. Margaret You ever seen that movie "Hurricane Day" where the person has no...groundhog, whatever, as a movie,... Casandra What? Casandra What does Groundhog Day have to do with hurricanes? Margaret Okay, but if you died and came back every single day, you could do so much research. The ultimate scientist Casandra No one can see me putting my head in my hands. Brooke They just heard the thunk of your skull on the table there. Margaret Alright, so what to do if you live in the path of a hurricane and you don't live in a little weird prepper neighborhood. First of all, if you live in a mobile home, I'm sure you already know that life sucks, because classism is real and awful, but mobile homes are in a really bad situation. And I'm sure you already know that. Hurricane timing is forcastable, but its course is less predictable. So, you can start knowing that a hurricane is possible, but you won't necessarily know where it exactly where it's going and exactly what kind of power it will have by the time it lands. Flooding kills more people than wind. And basically the best that I've been able to read and find different people have researched this is that like overall evacuating if the instructions say you should evacuate is probably the best move. And, voluntary evac happens before mandatory evac. Voluntary often comes earlier to basically give people to get a head start, because when everyone tries to leave an area all at once it fucking sucks. I'd love to at some point, talk to someone who has done more work into evac, and like talk about like what it means to transport oneself over a roads during those kinds of crises. But, and to be clear, mandatory evacuation doesn't mean they come around at gunpoint to force you out, it means that no one will help you while you stay. At least that's the official version of it. If you're going to stay or rather, if you like think that you might be stuck, consider being able to survive two weeks without outside help or without the grid. And the grid in this case means water. And it means probably the ability to heat food if you run on a municipal gas line or power, right. And that also means electricity. And so you want like for example 15 gallons of water per person in storage containers. You want two weeks of non refrigerated food that doesn't require utility cooking gas, because maybe you have a separate gas stove you know, or you're planning a cold cans of chili or whatever. You want a battery or hand crank radio, you want to get medical kit. If you're trained, you want a chainsaw, but one of the main ways that people kill themselves in the wake of disasters is using chainsaws incorrectly to try and like move down trees and stuff. One of the other main ways is like propane and propane accessories, and people trying to use like shit that you shouldn't use inside inside. Don't run a fucking generator in your house or your garage. Make sure everyone has a flashlight. When you're prepping your house. You want to bring in everything in your yard like furniture and tools. You want to get directions to local evacuation shelters and you want to have them printed out and or like saved offline in Google's maps. You want to prepare your house for internal flooding by moving shit up off the floor, and like getting everything that you don't want to get wet available. Make sure it's able to stay dry. You want to know how to shut off your utility gas, water and electric in your house. You do want to fill up your bathtubs for extra water, but don't fucking rely on this. This isn't the like "Haha," everyone's like , "Oh it's cool I got like you know this bathtub filled with water." You usually want to use bathtub water more for sanitation water. You want to turn your fridge and freezer to the coldest settings and make sure they're packed full of thermal mass like we were talking about. Thermal mass is also a battery for cold as well as heat. So for example, your freezer works way less hard if it's full of frozen bottles of water. And so, if you feel plastic water bottles like 90% full, and this is true generally speaking, right? A full fridge or freezer works way less hard. And, because you know it's not stuff that disappears every time you open the fucking door whatever. In general, your fridge or freezer can last about two days without power if they're like real packed full of thermal mass and set to the coldest. In terms of long term preparation for your house, if you live somewhere and you're trying to retrofit shit, you kind of want to go through and make sure that there's hurricane ties attaching your roof to your house. And do the same with your deck and shit, which are just basically these like metal straps that attach one piece of wood to another piece of wood. If you look up hurricane ties, you'll see pictures of them. And then you can go up to your attic or whatever and look to see if you have them. And you can you can retro actively add this, because what happens, the way that wind destroys a house, first, it like pulls off like shingles and siding and stuff that only sort of matter. And then it starts breaking out windows with debris, and doors flying open because of wind, and stuff like that. But then eventually you get to the point where the fucking roof rips off your house is like one of the main things, and then once the roof rips off your house, then the walls have nothing supporting them, so then they fall over. And so you can do a lot of stuff with your doors also to help protect them, especially if you have like double doors, you can add bolts to the inactive door, the door that doesn't open, or the door that doesn't have the handle or whatever, and you had bolts that go up into the ceiling and through the floor. It's also stuff that makes your house harder to break into, which is like cool bonus, right? And garage doors, our old friend garage doors. Casandra Why we're really talking about this. Margaret I know Margaret They they can be storm proofed, but it means you buy a new one. And, I have a feeling that they are expensive and hard to get right now. Like old articles are like "Oh, they cost between $1,000 and $5,000 for a storm proof garage door and I assume that that is not easily the case right now. Okay, and in terms of covering your windows, you want to cover all the windows in your house, not just the ones facing the water. And ideally, if you live there like long term, you want to actually get storm shutters, but those can be expensive. Worst case scenario, you can screw plywood or metal roofing over the windows and glass doors. With plywood you want to aim for about a half inch thick at least, half inch to five eighths. And particle board, don't use particle board or MDF, because probably not strong enough. I don't know and there's just like other shit right like you keep your car packed and facing outward with gas in it. However also, you might want to keep it in a garage and or at least next to a solid building, so that it doesn't fucking blow away or get destroyed by things. Fill up an extra gas can or two because fuck it there's often gonna be gas shortages after these sorts of things. Don't fucking drive through floodwater, that is another way that people die all the fucking time. Like it's about a foot or something of flood that will move a car that will like take a car away. It's way less than you think. Don't fucking drink floodwater. Most of the ways that people water filter don't filter out like gasoline and all kinds of other shit. With a generator, don't fucking run it inside. During the storm, don't go outside during the Eye of the Storm, it'll come back suddenly. Stay away from your windows and glass doors and such. Don't take a shower or a bath because of electrical risk. Kill the power of the main breaker if flooding is coming. And that is what I learned not through direct experience, because again I've died every time I've tried these...I've never been in a hurricane. I've been on the coast rain some storms, right, some tropical storms and shit. But I've never personally been through a hurricane. Brooke Full circle. Casandra We should add like Hurricane Preparedness Guide to our list along with the First Aid Guide. That'd be cool. We should talk to like Mutual Aid Disaster Relief folks or someone. Margaret Yeah. Agreed. Casandra Cool. But this isn't a Strangers meeting, so... Margaret No. Welcome to our Strangers meeting. Brooke You hurri-'can' survive. Margaret Hurri-'can't.' It's a hurri-'can', not a hurri-'can't.' But, that's...the hurricane itself can destroy houses. It can't...It's a hurri-'can' destroy houses not a hurric-'can't' destroy houses. Got it. You see what I'm getting at. It's a funny joke. Brooke You're hurri-canceled. Love it. Casandra When Margaret makes jokes... Brooke Margaret makes great dad jokes and I love it. So does my kid. Casandra It's us, not you. Margaret I say a few short things with our last five minutes. Margaret No, no, it's fine. It's fine. I mean, I'm trying to make you laugh, so you all laughing works. Okay, so I don't know, what other what other shit? I got. I got like some like little short things. Is anyone else have a major topic? We should talk about it? Should we go into short things? Margaret Okay, here's the ones I've got. Other people add them at the end. Monkeypox transmission is slowing. There's a small chance it's gonna go endemic, but like overall. monkeypox transmission is slowing. And that's cool. You should still go get fucking vaccinated, though. I should go get vaccinated. LA is installing water restrictors in houses of people who break their water limit, including like including rich people, which is great. Like basically if anyone is using more than 150% of their limit like they're going around and just like literally being like, "You get less water now." The Mississippi River is currently so low that grain and fertilizer transports are halted. Brooke And that's contributing to supply chain shortages in all kinds of ways, because they can't get stuff up here. Margaret It also fucks up China. They apparently...a lot of them...They get a lot of soybeans from the US, and 40% of the US soybean export to China comes through the Mississippi River. The Army Corps of Engineers, don't worry as dredging the river to deepen it. Brooke Great. Margaret So that they can still ship things there. Brooke I'm sure that no part of the Mississippi River is a Superfund site or anything like that, and highly toxic. Margaret Nah, it's fine. I'm sure it's good. I bet everyone who's working that job will be treated well. And a British Columbia river has dried up, and I think a bunch of British Columbia rivers have dried up. They're facing like one of the worst fucking droughts ever, which has killed 65,000 salmon, and has cut spawning by 70%, at least in this area. Bird flu in California is killing a ton of birds. I saw this thing, I was like reading oh, it's like a bird flu again. Goddamnit. And then I'm like, Oh, it's just killing birds...Wait, no, birds are good. Casandra Yeah, we need birds. Margaret Yeah. Oil prices might go up again, because OPEC countries are cutting oil production more. Thanks. O-Biden. Inflation is causing manufacturers to start using cheaper ingredients. That's like one of the main ways that like manufacturers are getting around this. And so like a lot of shit they're used to using and trust might now be made like shit. Casandra I've read about new homes they're building as well. Margaret Oh, great, because that's what we need is cheaper designed homes. Casandra Yeah, they're like, A) don't buy a home right now. But B) when you can buy a home in the future, maybe someday don't buy homes built right now. Brooke I hear that. Margaret That makes sense. Brooke But Biden passed the inflation Reduction Act, you guys, so it's gonna be fine. Margaret Yeah, the fine print is like, "Now use refined," I don't know, whatever, "corn syrup instead of..." Brooke And the Federal Reserve is raising the target interest rate. So, it's gonna be fine. Casandra Have you all seen the new like COVID antivax study that just came out? Margaret No. Brooke Nope. Oh, we were supposed to die yesterday. Casandra Apparently, I'm using air quotes, a study came out linking the risk of like heart disease with COVID vaccines in 'men' in particular, something like that. And so, you know, anti vaxxers are like, "See!" Margaret I wonder if it came out because...the the one that I had heard was that there was a study that came out and I don't have these numbers in front of me, and I'm sorry, audience. I think it's, I think that the the rate of death among Republicans is 18% higher than the rate of death among Democrats, with all other factors considered, as soon as the vaccine came out. And like, yeah, exactly just the vaccine came out people who didn't get it just fucking die more. Brooke Comparative Study. Margaret Conspiracy, to try and kill all the Republicans, by the Republican leaders. No, no, wait, go ahead, Brooke. Sorry. Brooke No, I was gonna give more details on the study. But y'all can y'all can look it up. It was definitely aninteresting study. And it's not like 100% due to COVID for sure. At least they can't like rule out... because it was like measure of excess deaths. And they don't have all the specifics on that. But yeah, a large portion of that is due to vaccine versus not vaccine. Than also there was some tweet that made the rounds that that we were all going to die on October 10 because something was gonna get activated in the vaccine. Y'all see this on Twitter at all? Margaret That explains why I died in the hurricane. Casandra I want to back up to the study I mentioned because I didn't clarify that there were like major issues with it. That's all. I didn't want. I didn't want to bring up like this study antivaxxers are using without saying like there were major issues with the study. Margaret Yeah. That makes sense. Casandra Yeah, that tracks. Margaret Well, does that do it for us this month? Casandra That was a lot. It really was a lot of bad things. Margaret Oh, one good final thing. Tankers that go around with like, all the stuff that they ship around, are starting to add sails back, and it saves about 10% of their fuel. This is a really minor thing. Brooke Sailing sails? Margaret Yeah, yeah. Brooke Math. Nice. Margaret Like all the container ships and shit. Not all of them, but they're starting to add sails to container ships to help alleviate the cost of fuel to move everything around. Whatever it is a really minor thing. I just thought was neat. This is my final note. Casandra Yay, sailboats. Margaret Yeah. The global economy that got us into this mess in the first place trudging along. Casandra Ohhhh. Well, stay warm out there, everyone. Margaret Brooke, you want to lead us out? Brooke Yeah, I do. So, I took your outro from from the last episode and transcribed it. I'm just gonna I'm gonna read it word for word, Margaret. Margaret Oh, God. Brooke Are you ready for how great this is gonna be? Margaret Yeah, let me hold on to something. Alright. Brooke And then maybe I'll do a real one after I do this. Thanks so much for listening. Algorithms suck, but if you like this podcast, please like comment, review, blah, blah, blah. It makes the algorithms give our show to more people. It's kind of the only way people end up hearing about our shows is word of mouth. All of that stuff's true. I'm not just saying it cynically, it's just that I have said it, like, whatever, I'm on Episode 50, or whatever. So I've said it like 50 times, and you can support us on Patreon by supporting our publisher, our publisher is Strangers In A Tangled Wilderness. The three of us are collective members of a collectively run publisher called Strangers In A Tangled Wilderness. It's been around for like 20 years, but it's like getting new mega forces Voltron combines version of itself lately, and it's primarily supported by Patreon. Brooke I think that was perfect. Flawless. And also, that means that Inmn doesn't have to transcribe it again. Margaret Yeah. Brooke You're welcome, Inmn. Just copy/paste. But more seriously, this podcast is produced by the anarchist publishing collective Strangers In A Tangled Wilderness. And you can connect with us on Twitter at Tangledwild. And I think we have like Instagram and stuff too. But I don't do Instagram and I think Instagram's

James and Gare sit down with Jimmy and Rain from Mutual Aid Disaster Relief  (@mutualaidrelief) to talk about rebuilding better after natural disasters with solidarity, not charity.  https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I recently sat down with my dear friend and comrade, Jimmy Dunson, who put together an anthology on mutual aid, disaster relief, and building dual-power called Building Power While the Lights Are Out. The anthology is gripping and brilliant and the two of us have a wide-ranging conversation on a number of the essays contained within the anthology. We talk about mutual aid as the process of making kin, the ways mutual aid is becoming less of a niche thing that just anarchists dressed all in black do, and the ways we can build dual-power both before and after a natural disaster. Pick up a copy of Building Power While the Lights are Out: Disasters, Mutual Aid, and Dual Power. You can donate to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief on PayPal by sending funds to mutualaiddisasterrelief@gmail.com. You can support MADR on Venmo at @mutualaiddisasterrelief. You can also support their work on MADR's Action Network. Enter our MADR Fundraiser to win a copy of Bloc by Bloc: Uprising! Send a screenshot of your donation via DM to Coffee with Comrades' Twitter or Instagram by 10/7/22 @ 12pm EST. Find out more about Bloc by Bloc by listening to Ep. 158 and Ep. 22. Visit Mutual Aid Disaster Relief's website and follow them on Twitter and Instagram. Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website. Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store. Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network. Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations! Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.

Episode Notes Episode Summary For this This Month in the Apocalypse episode Brooke, Margaret, and Casandra all researched different topics and discuss them. Margaret talks about climate collapse, droughts, floods, wildfires, the cost of wheat, and the dangers of rising humidity for wet bulb temperatures. Casandra talks about Monkey Pox, rises in other viral and vector borne illness, and discovers why rain might actually be a bad thing for your food. Brooke talks about student loan forgiveness and things you, brave listener, might not be aware you are forgiven for. Everyone attempts to get us sponsored by 'Big' Rain Barrel. If you're out there 'Big' Rain Barrel. Please sponsor us. Host Info Casandra can be found on Twitter @hey_casandra or Instagram @House.Of.Hands. Margaret can be found on twitter @magpiekilljoy or instagram at @margaretkilljoy. Brooke is just great and can be found at Strangers helping up keep our finances intact and on Twitter @ogemakweBrooke Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Next Episode Come out Friday, September 23rd, and every two weeks there after. Might be about thru-hiking, Parenting, or Archiving. Transript An easier to read version is available on our website TangledWilderness.org. Margaret 00:16 Hello, and welcome to Live Like The World Is Dying, your podcasts for what feels like the end times. I'm one of your hosts, Margaret killjoy. I have Brooke and Casandra with me as well as cohosts today, because today, you will be very excited to know that the world's still ending...that we are doing our second monthly This Month in the Apocalypse and we're going to be talking about basically the last month and the I guess that's in the name. Okay. So, Brooke, Casandra, do you want to introduce yourselves? Possibly with Brooke going first. Casandra 00:52 Your name was first. Brooke 00:53 Yeah. Okay, alphabetically. Hi, everybody, it's Brooke Jackson again, coming to you live? Oh, wait, no, this will be recorded by the time you hear it. From the sunny lands of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Casandra Johns 01:11 We're all in the Willamette Valley right now. Margaret 01:14 It's true. Casandra 01:15 It's true. This is Casandra. That's me. Margaret 01:19 Okay, and so this will be a very short episode, because actually, nothing bad has happened in the world, certainly not nything that feels end times ish, nothing out of the ordinary. I'm under the impression we have reversed most of the major...I mean, I think Biden passed a bill. So, I'm pretty sure climate change is over. And COVID is over. I learned that just the other day walking into a place where I thought everyone would be wearing masks, but it's over. So that's cool. Or, alternatively, let's talk about how China's in the worst heatwave in human history...in recorded history. We're gonna cut it up into segments. And I'm gonna go first with my segment. Casandra Johns 02:06 Do we need to say "Du duh duh duhh, Channel Zero? As part of the intro? Brooke 02:13 Do a Jingle? Margaret 02:16 Yes. Okay. You want to do it? Brooke 02:20 She just did. Casandra 02:21 Oh, yeah, I did. Duh duh duh duh! Margaret 03:19 Okay, and we're back. Okay, so, China...70 Day heatwave as of several days ago, now. And by the time you all are hearing this, I believe we're recording this about five days before this episode comes out. So, who knows what will have happened? There has been a lot of heat waves and floods all over the world this summer. And so China's in the middle of a 70 day heatwave. The drought has reduced hydroelectric output, which huge areas were reliant on the electricity because the water levels are so far down. And of course the electricity is what powers the AC. So no air conditioning is really fun as things get really hot. AC has been turned off in a lot of office buildings. It's cut power to tons of industry, including a bunch of car manufacturers where I'm a little bit like "Eh, whatever. Cars are bad." I mean, I drive cars so I'm kind of an asshole and hypocrite. Anyway. But also solar panel output and EV battery plants and like lots of stuff that's like being pitched as the alternative to things...y'all can feel free to cut me off too as I talk about these things. I'm just like going through my notes. And I don't know, it's breaking records all over the place by like four degrees in a lot of places. It's four degrees Fahrenheit. Brooke 04:44 What is heatwave in this context? Like are they having like, you know, 115 degree temperatures, are they just? Margaret 04:53 I mean, so. I mean, I believe in localized places. It's getting like crazy hot but what's interesting about this is that it's it's more the length of it and the abnormality to its usual that is, like, it's a lot of this stuff is like 106 degrees Fahrenheit and things like that. You know, things that are very not nice, but are...well, human survivable. Although we should probably at some point talk about wet bulb temperatures and how dry places are survivable at substantially higher temperatures than humid places. But yeah, so it's it's, it's an it's an abnormality causing problems as far as I understand, rather than like, just specifically, if you step outside, you will be scorched by the heatray that is the sun. It's affecting over a billion people, which is a lot of people. The area of the heatwave is 530,000 square miles, which for context is Texas, Colorado and California combined. Casandra Johns 05:57 Does that overlap with the area...like, isn't there like a massive wildfire happening in China right now? Margaret 06:04 I think you know, more about the wildfires than I do. Casandra Johns 06:07 I don't know what region it was in. Margaret 06:09 Okay. Casandra 06:09 I guess I'm curious. Of course, they're related because everything climate-y is related, ultimately. Margaret 06:16 Yeah. Casandra 06:19 Yeah, I'm curious how closely they're tied together. But, if you don't know, and I don't know, that's fine. Because there's also a massive wildfire. And that sucks. Margaret 06:27 Yeah. There's a massive wildfire. Brooke 06:31 Is that a continuous area, Margaret? That five? Whatever, something miles? Margaret 06:37 You all are exceeding my level of research that I did, because I did research about the entire world. So I don't know. Brooke 06:44 Okay, fair. Casandra 06:45 Oh, yeah. You have more. This is just like heat waves everywhere. Okay. Margaret 06:48 Yeah. Okay. And also joining us today on playing the squeaky toy in the background is Rintrah, the best dog in the world. Brooke 06:59 Can confirm. Margaret 07:00 The best dog in the world. No complaints? Okay. Yeah, I, you know, there's a lot more I don't know about this, right? But this was one that I haven't even seen really cropping up much in the media at all. And actually, one of the things that's sort of interesting and terrible and telling is that a lot of the information that I've been able to find about climate change disasters comes from the business media, like, a lot of this is about how it will affect stock prices, how it will affect, you know...300 Mines are shut down right now in China, or as of you know, two days ago when I did most of the research for this recording. And so it talks more about the 300 mines that have been shut down instead of the 119,000 people who have been evacuated from their homes. And it's just, it's a real problem. There's a lot of photos of like, low reservoirs that are like 20 meters below what they're supposed to be and things like that. And, of course, to tie everything into everything else, you know, things that happen in one place don't only effect that region. The drought is fucking up their harvest, and fertilizer for export has been affected, which will probably fuck up the world's food supply, which was otherwise very stable. So, I don't think that's gonna be a problem. Casandra Johns 08:16 The world's been chaos, but at least we know, food is cheap and available. Margaret 08:20 And will stay that way. Margaret 08:22 Okay, so then the one that I'm finally starting to see more get talked about in the media, thankfully, although it's annoying, because it's only been talked about because now there's like dramatic photos. But whatever. I mean, I'm not blaming people for not paying attention to everything that's happening in the world. Pakistan is having flooding, like just absolutely massive flooding. I've read reports saying that there's a half a million people living in refugee camps. It's taken at least 1000 lives, it's fucking up food production. Over a million homes have been destroyed. A third of the country is underwater. Have y'all seen the satellite image photos? Casandra 08:22 Yep Casandra Johns 08:59 Yeah, and they're referring to it as a 'lake.' Which makes me wonder like, are they anticipating at least some portion of it to remain? Like, "And look at our new lake!" Margaret 09:10 Yeah. Casandra 09:12 I heard I heard someone else I heard someone referred to it as a 'small ocean.' Margaret 09:18 Yeah. Margaret 09:19 Yeah. And, and Pakistan is the the fifth most populous country in the world after China, India, U.S., Indonesia, I think. Yeah. And so it's like, it's a big fucking deal and a big fucking problem. And one of the other problems because capitalism solves...makes everything worse. Pakistan has taken out a $1.1 billion dollar loan from the IMF, which for anyone following at home, the IMF is a predatory lending organization called the International Monetary Fund, that actually a lot of modern leftist politics, at least in the Western world and actually a lot of the developing world kind of cut its teeth in the...during the, the turn of the millennium fighting against the IMF and the World Bank, specifically because of the stuff that they do, which is that they loan predatory. It's like a payday loan. You know, it's like a paycheck loan place, but for entire countries, they loan you $1.1 billion, and then you're going to be paying off the interest for the rest of your life as a country. And of course, a lot of what's happening right now is that developing nations as they take out these loans are therefore forced to extract more fossil fuels from their own countries, in order to pay off the interest of their loan, not even touching the principal, trapping us further and further in the cycle of what's destroying everything. So that's all really fun. Okay, then, East Africa, particularly Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia, are also facing prolonged drought, rising food prices. A lot of this is because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is projected to leave 20 million people hungry with an estimated 3 million potential deaths if aid isn't delivered, and these three countries represent 2% of the world's population, but 70% of the extreme food insecurity. And most of...about 90% of the wheat imported by East Africa comes from Russia and Ukraine, which are of course, having some issues right now. They're not famously friends. But you're thinking to yourself, "Well, I'm a wheat farmer in the US, and the high prices are good for me." They are not. Things are not good with domestic wheat production here in the United States, either, which, of course, affects large quantities of the world. Also, the US is a major grain exporter. And so this is things that affect the US do affect everyone else. And not just because we're the center of Empire. Drought is affecting wheat fields in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Kansas is estimating a 30% drop in their harvest. Oklahoma is estimating a 50% drop, in its harvest. And so even though you have these, like record high prices for wheat, farmers are expecting to lose money, because they're not able to grow enough. You look like you have a question. Brooke 09:19 Oh wow. Casandra Johns 12:24 And yeah, so we talked about this a little bit the other day, I think, like I'm not sure if people realize what it means when the wheat crop is devastated. You know, it's not just like, "Maybe I can't eat bread." Brooke 12:43 There's more to it than that? Casandra Johns 12:45 Right! I mean, the next thing I think of is like, who eats the wheat? Not just humans. You know, like, I can't eat wheat, but like, I eat beef. Margaret 12:58 Yeah. Casandra 12:58 And chicken. Margaret 13:00 Yeah. Brooke 13:00 Was does that matter, Casandra? Casandra 13:03 Maybe they eat wheat. Just the like domino effect. Margaret 13:07 Yeah. Casandra 13:08 Yeah. When we talk about rising food prices and rising fuel prices, and how those are connected to like rising everything prices. Margaret 13:15 Yeah. And book prices most famously. Brooke 13:16 Okay, well, like, I have a solution. Casandra 13:19 Okay, what's your solution? Is it Communism? Brooke 13:19 Cause, we're all about solutions here. Well, you started talking about Pakistan being all flooded like the country's a giant lake. And then you said drought in the US and I'm like, "Let's just pick up some water over there and just put it over here." And then there won't be a drought or flood. Margaret 13:36 So what's so great and I'm gonna get to in a moment is that drought and flood are entirely related. I think you knew this, and we're just setting me up to say this, but they're absolutely related. The more drought you have, the worse flooding you have, which of course, like boggles my immediate science, right? My non science brain is like, "But water is the opposite of drought," you know, and we're gonna get to them second. Okay, so also in the US, Lake Mead is drying up. It's the largest reservoir in the United States, it provides water to 25 million people. It's possible that soon it won't have enough water to feed the Hoover Dam, which provides electricity to about a million people. And the one upside of all of this drought..this is really selfish. It's kind of like interesting the stuff they keep finding in the water. They keep find... Margaret 14:26 Yeah. They're like finding like some guys like "Oh, look a barrel," and he like pops open some barrel from the 1920s. And just like a dead guy with a bullet in his skull, and they're like, "Oh, the mafia really did just drop people off in barrels," which led me to the conclusion that apparently leaving dead bodies in large body in large bodies of water is more effective of a strategy than I've been led to believe. Casandra 14:27 Well, they haven't they also...hasn't also revealed like Nazi...like sunken Nazi ships and shit. And then they're like the.... Casandra 14:27 Crime? Margaret 15:01 Yeah, not in Lake Mead, though. Casandra Johns 15:04 Right. But then..No, but I'm just saying like everywhere it's revealing interesting things like in Europe the...what are the stones called? Margaret 15:12 The Hunger Stones. Casandra 15:13 Hunger Stones? Margaret 15:15 Yeah. Casandra 15:15 So apparently, what's the context for this? Previously, in history when there were massive droughts and like rivers dwindled down to nothing, people made carvings in the stones at particular water levels with these like really epic, maybe Margaret's looking at some examples, of these really epic miserable statements about like, "Fear ye, fear ye, if the water gets this low..." Margaret 15:40 You're dead. Casandra 15:40 Yeah, but people are seeing those now, which is terrifying and interesting. Margaret 15:47 Yeah. Terrified and interesting is a good way to describe the current epoch. Brooke 15:52 Cool. That's the silverling, the mud caked lining. Brooke 15:52 Yeah. There was. It's not happening right at this moment. But here locally, when the Detroit reservoir got real low a couple of years ago, there was a town that had been flooded when they built the dam there and it was low enough that like, remnants of this town were visible, including like an old wagon, like covered wagon base kind of wagon and other cool artifacts. Brooke 16:27 See some history before we all die. Margaret 16:30 Yeah, yeah, exactly. Brooke 16:31 Great. Margaret 16:32 So, in California, heat and drought are also combining as power usages reaches a five year high power use, because people are running more and more air conditions. I didn't quite realize exactly how...I don't I don't have a percentage in front of me...But like, air conditioning is a really, really big use of electricity. And so in California, the grid is estimated...is expected to become unstable, although that might have already happened. It was supposed to happen like this week. So that might happen by the time y'all hear this. Or maybe it didn't happen. And I'm here I am chicken littling, all day long. And, of course, Jackson, Mississippi flooding. The capital of Mississippi, which is primarily black city has left 150,000 people without drinking water. Sooo... Brooke 17:18 I haven't heard about this at all? Margaret 17:20 Oh, yeah. And there's some mutual aid groups on the ground. Cooperation. Jackson is a long standing organization that works to sort of build dual power and do all kinds of awesome stuff in terms of cooperative economics and things like that. And they are doing a lot of mutual aid work. I believe there's also a group and maybe this is actually not maybe they're not directly related. I'm not sure there's a group called Hillbillies Helping Hillbillies that I've at least seen talk a lot about this issue. I don't know if they do most of their work down there or if they've been more focused on the Tennessee floods. Casandra Johns 17:54 I know Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is also doing work there. Margaret 17:59 Yeah. So "Why does all this stuff happen, Margaret?" you might ask. Brooke 18:07 Why does all this stuff happen, Margaret? Margaret 18:09 Well, I am an expert named Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at the Woodward Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and my quote, that is definitely me is, "As the air and oceans warm under a thicker blanket of greenhouse gases, more water vapor evaporates into the air providing more moisture to fuel thunderstorms, hurricanes, nor'easters and monsoons." Basically, as the temperature rise of the Earth, the warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor, every degree of...every increase of one degree Celsius can boost the capacity for holding water vapor by about 7%. So that's fun. And also as things get more humid, you're like, "Okay, well, that's cool. It's like more tropical and stuff, right?" Higher humidity is substantially more dangerous, like heat and humidity is what kills people, because of the way that our bodies thermo regulate basically, like, if you're at 100% humidity, and the temperature goes above your body temperature, you die. Not like instantly, right? But your body loses its ability to thermo regulate. And so that is the wet bulb temperature is the temperature at 100% humidity, and that can be calculated out from there. So, for example, 105 degrees Fahrenheit at 5%. humidity is not that bad. It's like 61 degrees wet bulb, right? You're not in danger, I mean, you can be in danger zone from other parts of it, you need to get in shade, right? But like, whereas 105 degrees at 95% humidity is 103 degrees wet bulb. So, and for context, you know, it's like I used to never really think about the level of humidity that I lived in until I moved to the South and I had to worry about mold and all kinds of other shit. But, much of the South, and San Francisco and also I believe much of Alaska sit at around 80 to 90% humidity, whereas the Southwest might be at around 30% humidity. So, when you hear about temperatures at different levels in different parts of the country, the humidity that they're facing, like matters in terms of how catastrophic this type of thing is likely to be. And then the "What to do about it section!" Don't worry, we're almost done with the terrible climate shit part. Casandra Johns 20:20 I feel like earlier, you mentioned something about the relationship between flooding and drought. I was hoping you were gonna circle back to that. Margaret 20:28 Okay. Oh, yeah. So. So basically, the...some atmosphere shit I only half understand. But, as everything gets hotter, more of the air like sits...and more of the water sits in the air and that...it just fucks everything up. So, like, the rain falls off fucked up. I, I kind of like, wrap my head around it. And then I, it unraveled, you ever, like study things that are completely outside your thing? And then you like, you get your takeaway, and then the details like dissolve? That's what happened to me while I was researching this? Casandra Johns 21:00 No, that's I didn't realize it had I, I thought my assumption was it was going to be that, you know, you can look up videos of this where like, people put a cup of water upside down on like dry soil, you know, partially damp soil and like saturated wet soil. And the cup of water immediately, like seeps into the ground in the saturated soil, but it takes a really long time for the dry soil to absorb the water. Margaret 21:25 Yeah. Casandra 21:25 And so my assumption was like, "Oh, if there's a drought and the soil is bone dry, it can't absorb moisture very effectively." Margaret 21:33 Yeah. Casandra 21:33 Which is counterintuitive, maybe? But...then it floods. Margaret 21:36 I think that is a big part of it. Yeah. Casandra 21:38 Okay. Margaret 21:39 And then also, I was even just like...go ahead. Brooke 21:43 I was thinking about how matter can't be created or destroyed. And so the water still exist somewhere, even though it got sucked up from the dry places. And that might be why it ended up flooding in other places because the water still exists. Margaret 21:58 Well, a lot of places it's literally the same place will have droughts and floods. I think Texas was dealing with that I think it was Dallas, was having a record drought and might still be in a record drought and then had like, really fuck off flooding. I think it was about a week or two ago. That was like destroying everything. And, you know, because if the rain patterns are just completely different than Yeah, what the ground is used to absorbing and like, and which ties into what to do about it. A lot of what to do about it needs to happen at the scale that we're not necessarily going to talk about right now. But, rainwater catchment and drought areas is super important. And, you know, I was looking it up because there's this like. I'd always been sort of told that rainwater catchment like fucks up the water system of that area, you know, because Colorado has, they have re-legalized it a little bit in 2016. But it's been illegal for a very long time to catch rainwater in Colorado because they're like, "Oh, it's so dry here. We need all the groundwater." That was what I had always got told. The real reason's that Colorado made rainwater catchment illegal have a lot more to do with...capitalism, and the way that water rights are, you're basically stealing from people in entirely different areas if you catch the rainwater at the source or whatever. And, it it can affect things,right, if you like take water that could otherwise have ended up groundwater, but you're mostly it's mostly like shit that would have run off anyway. And so rainwater catchment increasingly in a lot of places, I believe Arizona has like new laws that like require new buildings to include rainwater catchment. There's entire countries who I didn't write down the names of that require rainwater catchment in all new buildings, especially island nations, I'm under the impression and so rainwater catchment is cool. And then, Arizona you can get rebates if you install rainwater catchment. In Colorado, it is now legal again for like home level and there's like all these like rules and shit. And you're, you're only allowed to store two barrels for a total of 110 gallons and you can only do it at like, home, or whatever. I'm sure there's ways that people could imagine catching rain water without getting caught. The CDC points out that rainwater is generally not safe to drink without treatment. You can use it to water non food plants without treatment. I say this, I showered with rainwater for the past three years and don't give a shit. But, maybe I shouldn't recommend that to other people. But, also filtering rainwater is like not the biggest deal in the world. And then... Casandra Johns 24:39 Also like, the idea of only using it on non food plants is really funny to me, because like it just rains on my plants, you know? And then I eat them. Margaret 24:51 Yeah. Brooke 24:52 You shouldn't let rain land of your plants. Margaret 24:54 You shouldn't be eating food from plants. Plants comes from stores, Casandra. Casandra Johns 24:59 Uh oh. Okay. And if they get rained on specifically then they're like poison. Margaret 25:06 Yeah, me, okay. Like, you walk out of a food store, the main place that people get food, like McDonald's, and you have your chicken nuggets, or... Casandra 25:14 And then they get rained on? Margaret 25:16 You wouldn't want to eat them now, would you? Casandra 25:18 Okay, I see what you mean. Margaret 25:20 Yeah, no, I like that part about the like non food plants or whatever is like to me is like that's what the CDC says. The CDC has lost a lot of...I don't trust it as much as I might have used to. Casandra 25:36 Interesting segue to... Margaret 25:39 Yeah. Well, there is one more part though that I believe one have you added to the notes about soil remediation and dry gardening? I'm wondering if you want to talk about some of that. Brooke 25:52 That has to be Casandra, cause it wasn't me. Casandra Johns 25:54 Oh, I mean, that was me thinking about like, how the what I was saying before how bone dry soil...the best place to store water is in the soil. Right? Margaret 26:04 Yeah. Casandra 26:06 Just like the best place to store nitrogen is in the soil. But, you know, if I lived in a super dry area, and this is only so effective for like the home gardener, this like ideally would happen on a large scale. But, if I lived in a really dry area, I'd be working really hard to like improve my soil health so that it can store more water. So that things like dry gardening are possible. So I can you know, have food even in a drought. Margaret 26:32 What is dry gardening? Casandra Johns 26:36 Dry gardening is gardening with little to no, like, manually added water. Margaret 26:43 Is that where you like mulch the shit out of it all to prevent evaporation? Casandra Johns 26:46 Yeah, you can do it that way. You can also...there. There's a...well, it's on my bookshelf, so I'm not gonna mention it because I can't remember the title right now. But yeah, mulching, spacing your plants a lot farther out, making sure that your soil can store water so that if you know we live, where I live, it rains a lot in the spring. And if the plants I plant have a room, and the soil is fluffy enough that they can send the roots really deep, then in the summer, when it's dry, they can still access the water that's stored in the soil. Does that make sense? Margaret 27:19 Cool, and then they grow chicken nuggets? Casandra 27:22 Yep. Margaret 27:23 Cool. Okay, so back to the clever segue that I broke about not trusting the CDC.... Casandra Johns 27:36 Yeah, yeah, I Okay. So, we realized we should probably say at least something about monkey pox. Because it's the thing that exists. My notes are titled monkey pox sucks. And... Brooke 27:52 Correct. Casandra Johns 27:53 Correct. Yeah. And I realized in researching this that I knew very little, I think I was just like, "We live in a time where there will be epidemic after epidemic," and I'm, you know, mentally overloaded on this topic. And had a lot of assumptions that were wrong. But, one interesting thing I found out is that the CDC is saying it's not transmitted....It's not airborne. Which, you know, they've kind of gone back and forth about whether masks are going to help...masks. I can't enunciate....whether masks are going to help prevent the spread. Brooke 28:37 If the mask prevents you from licking someone's open wounds, then then I say that would be helpful. Put your mask on. Casandra Johns 28:44 But, then there's there are other recommendations around like, avoiding close face to face contact with people. So that's all. I think I'm just affirming that I am also skeptical of CDC guidelines at this point, which is a bummer. Margaret 28:59 Yeah. Casandra 29:01 Anyway, do you want to hear all about monkeypox? Margaret 29:04 Yeah. Yay. Casandra 29:06 Yay. Margaret 29:06 What a fun show we make. Brooke 29:10 That's like a game, right? It's a children's game that you play. It's fun. Spread all over? Isn't it great? Casandra 29:18 No. Margaret 29:19 It's one of those games with a 1-3% death.... Okay, please continue. Brooke 29:24 That's pretty low. It's fine. Casandra Johns 29:26 Oh, my God, what a world that we live in. So apparently was discovered in 1958 in laboratory monkeys. So, you know, you can insert something here about blaming capitalism for everything. Because maybe it wouldn't have been a thing if monkeys were not in laboratories? Anyway, it's a cousin of smallpox in the first human case was recorded in 1970. When I first heard about monkey pox in May or whatever I was like, "Oh, cool and new disease." It's not new. It's been around for decades. So, it's really interesting that like, we don't have a vaccine that can quickly be rolled out. Do you want to guess why that is? Margaret 30:14 Is it Capitalsim? Brooke 30:14 I guess 'racism.' Casandra 30:15 Racism. Brooke wins with 'racism.' Brooke 30:23 Yay? Casandra 30:26 Yeah, so it was that to be uncommon in humans, but cases started increasing around 1980. And most of the cases have been documented in central and western Africa. That correct? In Africa. Margaret 30:41 Yeah, you said Nigeria is like one of the main spots of it? Casandra 30:45 For this outbreak. Margaret 30:46 Okay. Casandra 30:48 Yeah. So, and they think that one of the reasons....so there have been multiple outbreaks since it was first recorded in humans in 1970, which I didn't realize, because we don't hear about them, because mostly they've taken place in Africa. Which is just depressing. And I'll come back around to that in a minute. But, they think that that the increase in cases might be connected to the fact that it is related to smallpox. The smallpox vaccine, they think gives like, 85% that it is like, 85% effective against monkey pox. But most people don't get the smallpox vaccine anymore. Brooke 31:27 Yeah. Casandra 31:28 And I think that's related to the increase in monkey pox cases. Margaret 31:33 People don't get the smallpox vaccine anymore, because smallpox kind of went away because of vaccines? Casandra 31:40 Yeah, Brooke 31:41 No, it just stop being trendy. People were like, "That is not cool anymore. I'm not gonna take that one." Casandra Johns 31:48 Yeah, yeah. Which then is like, there's a whole tangent in here about who and how they decide a disease has been 'eradicated.' I'm doing air quotes that you can't see has been, 'eradicated.' Especially when something like monkey pox is trance was initially transmitted from animals to humans. And so, yeah, I don't know, is smallpox eradicated? I don't know. I'm not an epidemiologist. But I'm curious. So, let's see. Okay, so the current outbreak grew from one case in Massachusetts in the US, I'm talking about the US now, May 17. And at this point, you know, however many days it's been since May, there are almost 20,000 cases in the US, which is a lot of cases. Brooke 32:40 I mean, it sounds like a big number. But, also I know, there's a lot of people in the US, but also, I don't know how much cases of other things that we know about are common. So I don't have any frame of reference. Margaret 32:51 Yeah same. Casandra 32:53 Yeah. Brooke 32:54 Well, it's way smaller than Covid. Casandra Johns 32:57 Right. It is way smaller than Covid. But, you know, and it's, it's sort of like Covid, you're probably not going to die from it. But then there's the asterisk, 'unless you're immunocompromised already,' you know. So like, who are we? Who are we willing to throw under the bus for this? Brooke 33:13 So just Casandra. Casandra 33:13 Yeah, just me. Yeah. But then there's also public health experts are apparently warning that the virus is on the verge of becoming permanently entrenched here. Margaret 33:24 Cool. Casandra 33:25 So maybe 20,000 isn't, you know, a big chunk of the population, but in terms of like, a virus, it's bad news, because we don't really want it to become entrenched here, right? Brooke 33:38 Yeah, viruses, bad. Casandra 33:41 Virus equals bad. Okay. Okay, so, so there's been a lot of criticism about Biden's administration and their sluggish response to the outbreak. I read a really interesting report. I think WaPo [Washington Post] was the first place to report on this, but they said that, on August 4, US Health and Human Services officials plan to stretch the country's limited supply, or they announced, that they plan to stretch the country's limited supply of vaccines by splitting doses to cover five times as many people. This is after saying that they had plenty of doses. So, already sketchy. Yeah, cool, cool. And then the chief executive of Bavarian Nordic who's the vaccine manufacturer responded by accusing the Biden admin of breaching contract by planning to use them in this like inappropriate way by splitting the doses and then apparently threatened to cancel all future vaccine orders so that....Yeah, I'm not sure how that was resolved. Brooke 34:45 Capitalism. The other 'ism' now at play. Margaret 34:50 I was right. I was late. Casandra Johns 34:57 So the big concern for me in researching this was how it spreads, because I have a child who's about to go back to public school, so apparently animal to human transmission, it's spread by direct contact with blood, bodily fluids or cutaneous or mucosal lesions of infected animals. And then human to human transmission is close contact with respiratory secretions, which to me says airborne, right, right? Is that not what that means? Anyway, respiratory secretions, skin lesions of an infected person, or recently contaminated objects. So things like bedding, clothing, stuff like that. Um, but the CDC says it's not airborne. So, take that, as you will. I don't know. How are you gonna take that, Brooke? Brooke 35:41 Right. Well, I mean, respiratory secretions that does sound more significant than just like, you know, air droplets, like we talked about with covid, like, more moist, kind of things coming out of you, like sneezes and coughs and stuff that actually sprays more liquid matter? Casandra 36:07 So, use your imagination with that. Margaret 36:08 We could just go through and describe every act that could... Casandra 36:10 Don't spit in people's mouths. Brooke 36:14 Damn it, there goes half of my kink play. Margaret 36:18 I mean, it does seem like it's less contagious than like, because like, okay, right, like, because they said originally COVID wasn't airborne. And they weren't always wrong about that, right? But, the fact that it's been here for months, and is at 20,000 cases, is like, 'promising,' in that it seems less contagious than COVID? But that's, I guess I'm talking about like, the first or second most contagious virus that the world's ever faced. So, I guess it's a terrible benchmark to compare it to. Casandra Johns 36:49 Yeah, I think comparing everything to covid is probably not in our best interest, especially because a lot more people are comparing this to AIDS, in terms of the communities it's impacting, and how it's spreading. So it's, it's okay, let me go back to my list. Alright, so the incubation period is usually six to thirteen days, it's thought to be mainly spread through sexual activity, specifically, men who have sex with men and have multiple partners, though now they've sort of expanded that to include like queer and trans people, which is good. Not that it's spreading in queer and trans communities, but that they're changing language. So then I was like, "Well, is it an STI, right?" And I Googled "Is Monkey pox and STI? And the first two articles that came up, were: Number one, "Monkey pox is an STI and knowing that can help." And then number two is, "Monkey pox is spreading through sex, but it's not an STI." So you know, I'm not a doctor. Casandra Johns 37:02 It's not an STI. Casandra 37:29 Okay. Brooke 37:31 Because it's not it's, yeah, go ahead. Casandra Johns 37:52 But it seems to mainly be spreading through sex, probably because of the close contact involved. Margaret 38:02 Yeah, I mean, like, like, scabies is... Brooke 38:04 Yeah, like not through the sex itself. Casandra 38:06 Right. Brooke 38:07 But through the close physical contact of you know, that happens during sex. Casandra Johns 38:12 I think. I also saw a list. I think it's LA County. I was reading their like, list of eligibility criteria, and maybe risky behavior to avoid...'in void.' Would that even? Yeah, thank you. I was just trying to figure out what my made up word means. Risky behavior to avoid and they listed that, like, we're still learning about how it's transmitted, right, which is wild for a disease that's been around since the 70s. But, they listed that it could possibly be transmitted through semen. Like not solely but that could be another way that it's transmitted. Brooke 38:53 Sure, transmitted through bodily fluids, but the distinction when it when it's an STI is something that's sort of limited to being transmissible through kind of the genital region. Casandra Johns 39:10 Is that why one type of herpes is considered an STI, and the other isn't? Brooke 39:14 Yeah, so you can like can get both of them in both places because of oral sex. Casandra 39:21 Huh, that's interesting. Brooke 39:23 But yeah, technically. That's why. Casandra Johns 39:25 Thanks for knowing more about STI classification than me. I appreciate it. Brooke 39:29 Well, I fuck a lot. So I got to know these kinds of things. Casandra 39:35 All right, moving on with my notes. My next... Brooke 39:40 I just made everyone turn a scarlet blushing red color because I have non prude among this collective. Casandra Johns 39:48 I'm not blushing. I'm not prudish. I'm just Demi. Okay, so my next section is titled "Racism," which, yeah, so the virus isn't spreading in this specific outbreak of monkey pox is been spreading in Nigeria since 2017. Yet, somehow there are no clinical...there's no clinical trial data of the effectiveness of the vaccine or T pox, which is the antiviral they've developed. No human studies. I wonder why. Um, well, I as I said it's understudied because up until now, it's been isolated to central and west Africa. Yeah. What would have happened if we were vaccinating on a large scale in Nigeria? Would it have spread? Margaret 40:31 Yeah, I mean, that's like such a thing that I keep thinking about all this shit, where it's like, it's just seemed so obvious to me that, like the solutions to all the major things that we're dealing with right now, like don't make any sense in a world full of borders. You know? Being like, like, "We got ours. Fuck you," doesn't make any fucking it never made any fucking sense. But, it really doesn't make any fucking sense now, or it's like, yeah, if we had, like, I don't understand, even if I'm like a self interested, rich white American. I don't understand how I can be like, "Oh, new new disease just dropped and it's in another country." Let's go get rid of it in another country. That makes sense from...it's cheaper than building spaceships to Mars. Brooke 41:16 I think it's people still just not fundamentally understanding how deeply integrated we are now as a global society. Yeah. I mean, we shouldn't have figured especially in the last couple of years, if you haven't figured it out before, then like, you should understand that now. I feel like... Margaret 41:32 Yeah, acids been around for a long time. Casandra 41:39 Don't understand the reference? Margaret 41:43 Just like, oh, no, like, we're all one consciousness? Whatever. Casandra 41:52 Okay, my next subsection of notes is titled "Homophobia." Margaret 41:55 Hurray. Casandra 41:56 This is...I'm announcing these by way of a content warning. So yeah, so I read a few different, you know, I've seen like on Twitter and stuff, people talking about how homophobia relates to the way the language the government has been using and media outlets have been using around monkeypox, and also the government response to it and didn't fully understand that other than that it's mainly spreading in queer networks right now. But, I read an article that talked about how the homophobia they were seeing was mainly around the language that gay sex is quote, unquote, 'driving' the epidemic. Yeah, and just like really sex negative advice around how to keep from getting monkey pox. But, in reality, the drivers of the epidemic are the structures globally that have led to like vaccines and tests and treatments all existing for this virus, but not being accessible. Margaret 42:57 Yeah. Casandra 42:58 Yeah, I don't know if y'all have read any of the first person accounts of people trying to find access even to a test. Like I read an account of someone who went to their doctor was like, "I think a monkey pox." and the doctor, like, had to jump through all of these hoops just to access a test Margaret 43:14 Fucking hell. Margaret 43:16 So that's cool. Let's see, before I talk about the 'What we can do,' I want to circle back to climate change really quickly. Because, I think that in my brain, I know that epidemics and climate change are related, but I hadn't thought much about how in the particular mechanisms, but I read an interview that, that interested in me a lot. And they talked about how climate change is driving the risk of infectious diseases. I saw a report that 58% of the 375 infectious diseases they examined, have...this is a quote, "have been at some point aggravated by 'climatic hazards.'" So that's cool. Brooke 44:03 I...but how? I don't understand the connection. Casandra 44:06 Yeah. So. So one way is that climate change, they were talking about how it brings humans closer to animals, not in the sense that like "We are closer to nature," but just like, as we encroach on... Brooke 44:17 oh, sure. Casandra 44:20 And so, animal to human transmission is a thing. But, also if we're talking about like climate change and natural disasters, people get very sick of diseases and die after natural disasters. So, I'm sure that's part of what they mean by 'aggravated,' being 'aggravated by climatic hazards.' Warmer temperatures also attract insects and carriers of disease to parts of the world that they didn't used to exist in. Margaret. I feel like you were talking about...we were talking the other night and you mentioned like...no was it you? Maybe I was reading something? I've been reading too much lately. I was reading about a type of mosquito that is like, more likely to carry things like Dengue fever, and is now in the US, is now in the northern hemisphere. And. Margaret 45:08 Oh, that's exciting. Casandra 45:10 Yeah, and it has to do with warmer water temperatures where they can hatch their eggs and also with capitalism, because apparently they were transported here in 'tires.' Margaret 45:22 Huh? Casandra 45:23 Like when tires sit, you know outside in a wash, tje water pools? Yeah. Wild. Margaret 45:33 Which ties back to rain catchment and how don't do lazy rain catchment where you just put your downspout into the barrel, you should filter it, and you should prevent mosquitoes from breeding in there. Also algae, and all kinds of other stuff. Casandra 45:47 Yeah, it's true. Brooke 45:49 So today's episode is brought to you by capitalism and racism. Margaret 45:54 And I was thinking rain barrels. But Sure. Brooke 45:59 Well, the reason we have to talk about these horrible things is the 'isms.' Margaret 46:04 Right? Where as I was thinking about sponsors, Big Rain Barrel. The big sponsor of the show. Brooke 46:11 That'd be a great sponsor. I hope we get a free barrel. Casandra 46:14 Yeah. Brooke 46:14 Free barrel with every Ep [episode] Margaret 46:16 Yeah. I want to be able to talk about them personally. So, please contact us through the site. The advertisers. I want the I want Big Rain Barrel to...I just want a rain barrel. That's all. Please continue. Casandra 46:31 So in 2022, we're still experiencing the COVID outbreak, right? And now my monkey pox. And also polio. Margaret 46:40 Cool. Casandra 46:42 Yeah. Yeah, yes. Polio. Someone Someone got polio. For the second time since they declared polio like a...they don't use the word eradicated. But they were basically like, "Humans don't get this anymore." But two have since then. One was this summer. So that's...okay. Brooke 47:06 That's neat. Casandra 47:07 Yeah, what can we do about it? We can wash our hands a lot. I'm still gonna wear a mask, even though the CDC says it's not airborne, because I don't understand the difference. And also Covid's still a thing. We can research testing and vaccination in our areas, because it seems to be vastly different in different cities and counties and really confusing. So you can do the research ahead of time and share it through your network so people know where to access information and help. You can also get vaccinated if you qualify. However, I let's see, I looked at a few different counties and their eligibility criteria. And they all seem to have a few things in common. You have to be gay or bisexual men, or a transgender person who has had either 1) Multiple or anonymous sex partners in the last 14 days or 2) Skin to skin, skin to skin or intimate contact with people at large venues or events in the last 14 days. And then they're also starting to include people of any gender or sexual orientation who have engaged in commercial or [cuts out], so sex workers in the last 14 days. So yeah, if any of those are you, and you have a vaccination place near you, why not get it? Margaret 48:32 Because Bill Gates will be able to track all the sex you have? Brooke 48:38 Yeah, Casandra 48:39 The reason I agreed to research monkey pox for this episode is because, like I said, my kids about to go back to school. And I was really nervous. And I'm feeling a little bit less nervous for the moment about school because of the cases documented in children so far areextremely low. So, that's some good news for all of the other parents out there. Margaret 49:02 And the children listening Casandra 49:05 For any of the children listening. Margaret 49:06 It just occurred to me that children might listen to this podcast. I'm so sorry, children, about the world. Not about the cussing. I'm sorry about the world. Casandra 49:18 Speaking of school, Brooke 49:20 Hey, yo, student loan forgiveness that's been in the news. Right? And as the person with the background in economics, I feel like I have to talk about that. So, student loans, I'm fairly certain that of the two of you one of you has student loans and one of you does not. And I'm I'm curious how each of you feel about student loan forgiveness without...you can go ahead and not reveal which one of you it is and isn't for the moment. Just tell me if you like it? Is it good? Or bad? Casandra 49:56 Fucking-tastic I mean, not this version, this version is just like so. So, but like, should they forgive all of our student loans? Fuck yes, they should. Margaret 50:04 I agree. Brooke 50:05 Casandra says yes. Oh, and Margaret agrees Wait, but only one of you has student loans? Margaret 50:11 So, I don't have student loans. And...I can't imagine, I can't imagine anyone who doesn't have student loans giving a shit. Like I just like, I struggle so hard. Like, every time someone's like, "They did this with our taxpayer money," and I'm like, "Motherfucker, they invaded half the world with our tax money." Like... Casandra 50:35 There there other things you should be frustrated about being done with your tax dollars. Casandra 50:40 And this is not one of them. Margaret 50:40 Yeah! Margaret 50:42 Yeah. And then even with my like, even if I was like a self interest capitalist shit, it's like, I don't know, healthy economy is not one built on fucking debt. And I don't know, whatever. I'm just like... Brooke 51:00 Don't spoil my ending, Margaret. Margaret 51:02 Oh, sorry. Right. Casandra 51:04 But capitalism means that there have to be people who are suffering and poor so that I can feel superior and be stable and have more money. Margaret 51:13 Oh, that's a good point. Casandra 51:14 Yeah. Margaret 51:15 No, I take it back actually, Brooke. I'd like to change my answer. No one should. Casandra 51:21 Fuck Casandra. Margaret 51:26 No one should have the right to have debt forgiven. It should probably be transmitted to children and children's children. Oh, wait, that already happens. Just okay. Anyway. Casandra 51:36 What about corporations? Shouldn't they be able to get their debt forgiven, Margaret? Margaret 51:40 Oh, yeah. I mean, corporations, obviously should have their debt forgiven. I mean, otherwise, we wouldn't have an economy. Brooke 51:46 Like, God. Okay. You two know everything. My work is done here. Throw the topic and walk away. Excellent. Casandra 51:55 Sorry, Brooke. Brooke 51:56 No, I'm loving it. Casandra 51:58 This is how we cope with talking about money. Margaret 52:01 Yeah. Brooke 52:04 Oh, it's so good. No, I have you know, I have a couple of, of friends and or relations that are both on the against it side. Well, neither of whom went to college or have any students debt. Casandra 52:21 Why are they still your friends? Brooke 52:22 Well, Facebook friends, let's say that. Casandra 52:25 That's fair. Brooke 52:25 I think it's important to listen to what people say on the other side. So, I try and understand the arguments and can have a conversation back and hopefully bring them into the light. Margaret 52:34 Yeah, that's legit. But wait, what if we instead created an increasingly more insular and pure subculture? Brooke 52:44 It seems problematic I'm gonna say, but... Margaret 52:47 What? Brooke 52:47 That's probably for another episode. Okay. Margaret 52:50 Okay, I'll stop derailing you, Casandra Johns 52:52 it would only be the three of us. Everyone else is wrong in some way. Margaret 52:56 I think that that's probably true. I'm sorry Bursts, who's doing our editing, I'm sorry Inmn, who produce the podcast. Brooke 53:06 You better apologize to all the patrons right now too. Margaret 53:10 Yeah, if you want to be pure and join our pure culture. A $20 a month level. Brooke 53:19 No. No cults. No cults. Margaret 53:22 Everyone keeps saying that to me. Okay. Brooke 53:26 That's why I took away that book on cults that I showed you the other day, you don't need the help. Margaret 53:32 Please continue. Brooke 53:33 Oh, God. Right. So so the arguments against it. Like you were saying, you know, one of them's about the, "I don't want my tax dollars going to that," which, like you said, is a pretty wild argument, because we don't get to decide directly where our tax dollars go. There's plenty of things that I'm in...None of us like taxes...And amongst us, especially like, abolish the government abolish the taxes, but even people who are okay with taxes as a functioning society, we still, you know, you don't get to decide where each dollar goes. What's your question face? Casandra 54:10 You mean when I vote, it doesn't directly change things? Brooke 54:14 Oh, God, another topic for another whole podcast episode about how about how it actually works out there in the world. Yeah, so that argument is kind of wild. And then the other one that I that I have seen is the, you know, "Why should anyone else pay for their choices?" especially if it's their...other people's bad choices or whatever. Which again, is wild to me. Margaret 54:42 You mean the bad choice to loan $60,000 to a 17 year old? Brooke 54:47 Yeah, seems like maybe that should be not a not a thing. Margaret 54:51 Well, I just but it's a bad financial like, like come on. That's that's a that's part of loaning money is you take into account like, there's risk involved. It is a risky loan to loan a 17 year old money. Anyway, yep. Sorry. Brooke 55:07 Yeah, I saw one of my, you know, probably Gen X or Boomer aged relatives saying, "Hey, I signed up for the loans at 18. And I read the document, and I knew what I was getting myself into. And it was a choice. And it's everybody's choice." And it's so many bad takes so many bad takes... Casandra 55:24 I wonder how much their loan was compared to mine? Brooke 55:27 Yeah, and there's that. Casandra 55:28 I'm gonna guess significantly less. Brooke 55:30 Yeah, so let me get into a little bit of data here, because I love data. Let's talk also about what the loans are and aren't, because if you're only looking at the headlines there's a lot that's not captured in there. The number we see tossed around is the $10,000 of forgiveness. And that's up to $10,000 of forgiveness. So there's caveats on that, because there's a income limitation as to when you can get it. And it decreases a little bit based on what your income is. But also, if you were awarded a Pell Grant, at any point in your college education, you can actually get up to $20,000 in forgiveness, and Pell Grants are a federal grant, not a loan, but a grant, i.e. a gift, basically, that only go out to the lowest income kind of folks. So, if you qualified for a Pell Grant at the time that you also took out loans, then you can get a higher amount of loan forgiveness. And then it also only is it takes effect for people who had taken out a loan prior to June 30th of this year 2020. So if you're in school, right now, if you're just starting this fall, it doesn't apply to you. You had to have taken out a loan prior to that to qualify. Some of the cool things about it, though, are that it helps kind of all kinds of federal loans, which 95% of student loan debt is a federal loan. Only about 5% is private loans. So that's most people with loans, although it's only again, those income requirements, but that's still a large portion of folks. Where's the other one I was looking at? Oh, there's a type of loans that parents can take out to help their kids. So most of the federal loans that folks sign up for, they are signing up themselves, right, you're putting yourself in debt for it, even though you're only 18, or whatever. But parents can also get a loan, there's a federal loan called Parent PLUS, that you can take out to help your kids and those loans also qualify for forgiveness. And that is different than the student's loan. So if you're a parent who took out one of those loans for your kid, and your kid also took out loans, you both separately qualify for forgiveness. Casandra 57:48 Is this...Sorry, is this...I hadn't heard of those parent loans. Is the thought that they're taking out a loan to help pay for their kids college? Brooke 57:56 Yeah. Casandra 57:57 Okay. So, just like, "Look, another loan we can give to someone." Brooke 58:02 Yeah. And it's a federal federal one again, and you know, federal loans overall are, at least compared with like private student loans you can get they're way more reasonable, super low interest rates, longer repayment periods, you can get restructuring, if you're having financial issues or get a pause on it, there's more ways to get them forgiven, like working for a nonprofit or in the private sector, stuff like that. So, these are sort of nicer loans, which is one of the faults that people point out with it is that the the private loans that are the more of the predatory style loans, like we talked about with the IMF earlier, you know, higher interest rates, they don't care about how much you are or aren't making necessarily, they just say you have to start paying it at this point, and you have to pay this much and they'll come after your car or your dog or your firstborn child or whatever in order to get their repayments. And this federal forgiveness doesn't affect those folks. Margaret 58:59 Would you say that our listeners should take out predatory loans from payday loan places in order to buy rain barrels? Brooke 59:08 No. Because you should never support predatory loan places. You can steall from those places. Margaret 59:16 What if we, what if we start a rain barrel loan fund that offers predatory rates? Brooke 59:28 Then I would no longer call you an anarchist. You'd be an An-Cap [Anarcho-capitalist] and out of the club. Casandra 59:33 Is this you? Is this you segwaying into an ad break for our sponsors? Margaret 59:41 No, i was my brain's poisoned by how the fact that my other podcast is...has actual ad breaks. Casandra 59:48 Duh Duh duh duuuuh! I'm rain barrels! Brooke 59:49 Hey, if rain barrels would give away some, loan some rain barrels, I would let them plug a little ad on this ad-free anarchist podcast network. Yeah. Margaret 1:00:01 Yeah. Although, I'm holding out for big IBC tote. Brooke 1:00:05 Yes. Margaret 1:00:05 Cause IBC totes are 275 gallons, sort of 55 gallons. And that's what I showered with for the past three years, an IBC tote available from wherever you're willing to go get a really cheap thing that used to be full of detergent and wash it out vaguely. Margaret 1:00:11 Half an hour's drive, we can go grab some. Casandra 1:00:25 Wait, really? Margaret 1:00:26 Yeah, yeah. Casandra 1:00:28 We should talk about that after we're done doing a podcast which we are in fact doing right now. Margaret 1:00:32 Oh right, okay. Brooke 1:00:33 Okay, one of the other things that comes up when folks talk about student loans is you get like the the Boomer types that will say, you know, "I worked a part time job when I was in school and paid off my...paid for my school while I was going to school." And I think we all know that that's just not possible to do anymore. And that's because of the cost of education and how it has skyrocketed. So, if you look at the difference from 70s, 80s, or so, of like median income in the US with the average household makes, versus the average cost of college, the average income has gone up like half again as much since the 80s or so, whereas the cost of college is four times more expensive than it was. And then the other argument that comes up that people make is, well, "Everybody thinks they have to go to college. Now, you know, everybody's trying to enroll in college, not everyone needs to go to college. But everyone tries to." And when you look at the numbers of like, the portion of the population that has that's going to college and how that's changed in the last like 50 years, it's been pretty much steady for the last 25 years. It rose in the 60s, late 60s was kind of flat in the 70s then started to rise again through the 80s and the mid 90s. Probably because of the series of recessions that we had that were really severe in some places, like Oregon had a really severe recession. And when there was a recession, more people go back to school, but it hit a peak in the mid 90s And then dropped for a while and then has kind of been staying around that peak, on average, over the last 25 years. That and that's the number of people has gone up, but the portion of the population, right, so as a percent of the total population has actually been quite stable for a while now. Margaret 1:02:30 And like, I'm a big fan of having not gotten a degree, right? But, I even had a dream again last night where I like dropped out of school again. And I was like, "Fuck you, I quit." And it was really, but, but it's something that I think that a lot of people don't talk about when they talk about being like, "Oh, well, not everyone needs a college degree," or whatever it is they they don't understand that like how important upper higher education is to upward mobility and upward class mobility, especially for like people who are like, marginalized among other identities besides class, like specifically around race, you know, like, there's...so I think that...I think it's something that we can accidentally get a little to like, "Yeah!" like, you know, people get very, like "I'm so blue collar, everyone should drive forklifts," instead of going and studying gender studies or whatever, right? And just like not fucking getting how important class mobility can be for people and how that functions most of the time. And so I get really annoyed when people are like, "No one should ever go to college," or whatever, because I'm like, that is a really that is a position that comes from a specific place for some people, you know? Casandra 1:03:44 Yeah. Brooke 1:03:46 I think people also forget in that the fact that college classes can include courses for some of those types of jobs. So,talking about like the other four year degree, an apprenticeship. You know, if you're an electrician or a sheetmetal worker, you're probably you're going to take some classes and probably through a community college as part of your education to get those kinds of jobs. If you're doing a forklift or CNC, you have to take a course and they can be three months, six months, twelve months courses, and often again, through community college. So even though you're not getting a degree, you're still doing some post secondary education. Margaret 1:04:29 Yeah. Casandra 1:04:30 Do you want to know how much debt I have for my community college? Brooke 1:04:34 Oh, this is gonna hurt. Casandra 1:04:36 Forty Grand. Brooke 1:04:38 Shut the front door. Casandra 1:04:41 And that's like with grants and shit because like I good grades and all that. I was on the 'President's list.' Brooke 1:04:45 For a frame of reference, listeners, Casandra graduated more recently, like last couple years, or three or whatever it was, but fairly recently. Yeah. When I was looking at the numbers, here's my personal anecdote. The cost have the four year degree that I got 15 years ago. I'm taking some community college classes now. And if I did an associate's degree, it would cost me as much for two years of community college today as it did for a four year degree with two majors 15 years ago. Yeah, the cost has has exponentially risen again. Four times. It's it's four times higher than it was like 40 years ago. It's risen more than anything, any other good or commodity. The cost of college has increased. Margaret 1:05:40 I will say, my, like optimistic, putting on my optimism hat. I don't like hats. That's probably why I'm not great. Okay. When I think about like some of the most...the strongest that leftist movements, anarchist movements, I know more about anarchist movements, I do other movements. The strongest they've been is like often, while popular education, or the existing educational infrastructure is failing everyone. And, you know, like a lot of work around reframing education in both France and Spain was coming out of anarchists in the late 19th and early 20th century in the modern school movement, all this stuff, and people were getting, like, literally murdered for advocating for things like "What if boys and girls are taught in the same classrooms and shit," and it's like awild idea that anarchists came up with. And like not talking about God in the classroom. Oh, my god, we're actually losing on all of these. Okay, anyway. It's like, "Remember the fight for an eight hour workday?" And I'm like, "Man, I wish I had eight hour workday right now." Okay, and but, but so that's like, my like, my, like, optimism is that like, in a burned for us new weeds grow? You know, I think that there's a lot of opportunity for alternative educational systems, but not in a way where they could like, immediately step in and be like an accredited university that allows the sort of class mobility that we're talking about, or whatever, right, but like, it does seem like mutual aid schooling and education are like, probably in a better position to take a foothold than they used to be. I hadn't really...I'd only previously thought about this more for like, grade school type stuff, especially for the whole, like how public school is like also kind of like low key just like childcare. And like, hadn't quite thought about this in terms of like, how it ties into, you know, continuing education, but it could, we could have Anarchy University, and then everyone could have degrees and okay, I don't know where I'm going with this. Brooke 1:07:45 Anarcho-U. Casandra 1:07:45 You need another project, Margaret. So... Margaret 1:07:51 No, dear listener, you need a project. At Projects-R-Us, we will give you a project. Brooke 1:08:00 Wrong podcast. Wrong, wrong podcast. Margaret 1:08:02 Replace the continuing education system!. Brooke 1:08:04 Nope, wrong podcast. Margaret 1:08:04 Okay, fine. Brooke 1:08:06 Yeah, so, Casandra 1:08:07 That'd be like your ideal job, I think. Margaret 1:08:09 it really would be, yes, I have way better at coming up with things that I can dedicate my entire life to than dedicating my entire life to any of the individual things. Brooke 1:08:22 Oh, maybe, maybe you didn't need to start the cult just to find leaders fo

Jimmy Dunson on Poetry, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, and Building Power Building Power While the Lights Are Out: Disasters, Mutual Aid, and Dual Power: https://www.rebelheartspublishing.com/product/building-power-while-the-lights-are-out/ Sound Like Liberation: https://www.rebelheartspublishing.com/product/sounds-like-liberation-jimmy-dunson/ Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/ Rebel Hearts Publishing: https://www.rebelheartspublishing.com/ Jimmy Dunson Twitter: https://twitter.com/JimmyDunson Music by AwareNess: https://awareness0.bandcamp.com/ Please support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/timetalks Channel Zero Network: https://channelzeronetwork.com/

This week on the Project Censored radio show, we sit down with Fiore Longo of Survival International to discuss the colonialist and racist realities of so-called conservation, not least of all in the case of our own country's beloved national parks. Highlighting the current forced eviction of the Maasai from their ancestral lands, Fiore speaks to the need of shifting our paradigms on both eco-tourism and conservation, pointing out that removing tribal and indigenous peoples from an ecosystem not only harms the biodiversity of that place but perpetuates violence against these people. The so-called Global North's perspective of tribal and indigenous peoples must change, not only for the sake of human rights but in a very real sense for the sake of biodiversity and climate justice. There's no such thing as cuddly colonialism, there's no such thing as green capitalism. Later in the show we're joined by Jimmy Dunson, co-founder of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief to discuss the importance of community preparedness for extreme weather driven by climate chaos, as well as relational infrastructure. We also discuss his upcoming book Building Power while the lights are out - about mutual aid, disasters and dual power published by Rebel Hearts Publishing. Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

We're joined this week by some of the folks behind the Earthbound Farmer's Almanac, a self-published annual collection of art, comics, facts, articles and incitements to challenge us to thicken our relationship to the land and grow autonomy against state, colonialism and capitalism. You are welcome to  read the almanac for free in portions on the Lobelia Commons social media (fedbook or instascam). We also talk about spreading food forests and building neighborly food resilience with Lobelia Commons and a little about Ndn Bayou Food Forest (formerly the L'eau Et La Vie anti-pipeline camp) which can be found on fedbook or instascam. A few acronyms come up in the chat, and here's a breakdown: MADR is the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief network; Zeta & Ida were hurricanes that damaged the south east of Turtle Island, landfalling near to so-called New Orleans; NOMAG is the New Orleans Mutual Aid Group. You can hear a 2018 interview from L'eau Et La Vie against the Bayou Bridge Pipeline: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2018/01/14/no-bayou-bridge-pipeline-an-interview-from-leu-est-la-vie-camp/ . ... . .. Featured Track: Instrumental #2 (waltz) by Elliott Smith from Grand Mal: Studio Rarities disc 8  

Last week, Hurricane Ida, a category four storm, made landfall on the Gulf Coast. Over a million people were without power and 16 were killed. The hurricane then moved up the east coast hitting New York and New Jersey with powerful winds and floods. At least 52 people are reported dead in the Northeast. Ida made landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was a category 5 storm that caused over 1800 deaths and $125 billion in damage. An important part of the stories of Hurricanes Katrina and Ida has been mutual aid. During and after Katrina, an anarchist modeled relief effort called Common Ground Disaster Relief began in New Orleans to support impacted communities in the storm's aftermath. After Katrina and Common Ground, mutual aid networks have been growing to mobilize support those suffering from hurricanes, wildfires and various other disasters. To talk about Ida, Katrina and mutual aid, we are joined by two co-founders of Common Ground- Suncere Ali Shakur and scott crow With them, we discuss hope, community, disaster response by just regular people (not bureaucrats or professional non-profits) and becoming experts in the impossible. Suncere Ali Shakur. Originally from NW DC around 7th Kennedy St . Activists fronts include far housing , homeless, police brutality, anti-war and globalization. Gay rights, Education and co founder of Common Ground Relief New Orleans Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, Cleveland Ohio's Wolfpack Gunshot Response Team . A disciple of the black Panther party and a self proclaimed George Jacksoness. scott crow (@scott_crow) is an anarchist, speaker, author, organizer, musician and story teller. He's author of Black Flags and Windmills:Hope, Anarchy and the Common Ground Collective (PM Press) and a number of other books. scott has co-founded a number of diverse projects, businesses and organizations rooted in cooperative power sharing models including the Common Ground Collective, the largest anarchist inspired organization in modern US history, Treasure City Thrift, an anarchist worker coop, Red Square, an art coop, Century Modern, an antique coop and UPROAR, a community based organization, Dirty South Earth First! and the Radical Encuentro Camp. Outro music is Stealth Empire (feat. Mark Stewart) by Nun Gun on the Emergency Hearts label. Links// 'Human toll was tremendous': Ida's death count rises while 600,000 still lack power (https://reut.rs/3tmwqI8) Suncere Shakur Reporting back from Far Rockaway, Queens (https://bit.ly/3thqTTq) scott crow: www.scottcrow.org/ Mutual Aid Disaster Relief:https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/ Mutual aid groups give personalized help after Hurricane Ida (https://abcn.ws/3BMPzGh) Follow Green and Red// Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreenRedPodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodcastGreenRed Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenredpodcast YouTube: https://bit.ly/GreenAndRedOnYouTube Donate to Green and Red Podcast// Become a recurring donor at https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast Or make a one time donation here: https://bit.ly/DonateGandR This is a Green and Red Podcast production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969). “Green and Red Blues" by Moody. Editing by Isaac.

The New Orleans Saints could end up with the best of both worlds. A strong-armed and improved passer in Jameis Winston and an unlocked offensive weapon with Taysom Hill. If all goes well, these two can go from competitors to dynamic duo.Taysom Hill's run style is best suited for a catch and run role, his pass-catching acumen is best where Jameis Winston wants to throw, and his change of pace QB play could be more unpredictable. All in addition to his usual effectiveness as a redzone and third down bruising option.Unfortunate news around former New Orleans Saint David Patten, and what to do about getting your tickets to New Orleans vs Green Bay Packers in Jacksonville.Join the Locked On Saints Survivor Pool: https://www.runyourpool.com/join/pool_info.cfm?id=167129&p=kiptauFollow Ross on Twitter @RossJacksonNOLAImportant Links and how to help those affected by Hurricane Ida.Imagine Water Works (Local): https://donorbox.org/idaUnited Way SELA (Donate local, not national): http://UnitedWaySELA.org/IdaReliefWorld Central Kitchen (National): https://wck.org/Krewe of Red Beans: https://feedthesecondline.org/donateSecond Harvest Food Bank: https://no-hunger.orgSign up to Volunteer, even remotely with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZt2H_0g38h647DDWtTYjvU9ttzNLI2h5tVmyIFQZ3PVffyg/viewformSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you'll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.NorthOneWith NorthOne, you'll never pay overdraft or NSF fees again, saving you hundreds of dollars per month. To get started, visit apply.northone.com/locked.RunYourPoolCheck ‘em out TODAY and get $10 off at RunYourPool.com and use promo code LockedOn at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New Orleans Saints could end up with the best of both worlds. A strong-armed and improved passer in Jameis Winston and an unlocked offensive weapon with Taysom Hill. If all goes well, these two can go from competitors to dynamic duo. Taysom Hill's run style is best suited for a catch and run role, his pass-catching acumen is best where Jameis Winston wants to throw, and his change of pace QB play could be more unpredictable. All in addition to his usual effectiveness as a redzone and third down bruising option. Unfortunate news around former New Orleans Saint David Patten, and what to do about getting your tickets to New Orleans vs Green Bay Packers in Jacksonville. Join the Locked On Saints Survivor Pool: https://www.runyourpool.com/join/pool_info.cfm?id=167129&p=kiptau Follow Ross on Twitter @RossJacksonNOLA Important Links and how to help those affected by Hurricane Ida. Imagine Water Works (Local): https://donorbox.org/ida United Way SELA (Donate local, not national): http://UnitedWaySELA.org/IdaRelief World Central Kitchen (National): https://wck.org/ Krewe of Red Beans: https://feedthesecondline.org/donate Second Harvest Food Bank: https://no-hunger.org Sign up to Volunteer, even remotely with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZt2H_0g38h647DDWtTYjvU9ttzNLI2h5tVmyIFQZ3PVffyg/viewform Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you'll get 15% off your next order. BetOnline AG There is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus. Rock Auto Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. NorthOne With NorthOne, you'll never pay overdraft or NSF fees again, saving you hundreds of dollars per month. To get started, visit apply.northone.com/locked. RunYourPool Check ‘em out TODAY and get $10 off at RunYourPool.com and use promo code LockedOn at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers will play their game in Jacksonville, FL following the impact of Hurricane Ida in the Gulf Region. In preparing for that matchup, the Saints have already begun to shuffle their roster and fill out their practice squad.Jim Trotter of NFL.com and NFL Network joins to talk about the Saints' decision to start Jameis Winston as their 2021 quarterback, why Taysom Hill deserves some love, and what the Saints will look like with Jameis under center.Jim also just can't understand why people expect the New Orleans Saints to fall off this year with all of the talent still on the roster including the leadership and all-pro level play of linebacker Demario Davis, the rising star Marquez Callaway, and one of the NFL's best in Alvin Kamara.Follow Jim on Twitter @JimTrotter_NFLImportant Links and how to help those affected by Hurricane Ida.Imagine Water Works (Local): https://donorbox.org/idaUnited Way SELA (Donate local, not national): http://UnitedWaySELA.org/IdaReliefWorld Central Kitchen (National): https://wck.org/Krewe of Red Beans: https://feedthesecondline.org/donateSecond Harvest Food Bank: https://no-hunger.orgSign up to Volunteer, even remotely with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZt2H_0g38h647DDWtTYjvU9ttzNLI2h5tVmyIFQZ3PVffyg/viewformSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you'll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.NorthOneWith NorthOne, you'll never pay overdraft or NSF fees again, saving you hundreds of dollars per month. To get started, visit apply.northone.com/locked.RunYourPoolCheck ‘em out TODAY and get $10 off at RunYourPool.com and use promo code LockedOn at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers will play their game in Jacksonville, FL following the impact of Hurricane Ida in the Gulf Region. In preparing for that matchup, the Saints have already begun to shuffle their roster and fill out their practice squad. Jim Trotter of NFL.com and NFL Network joins to talk about the Saints' decision to start Jameis Winston as their 2021 quarterback, why Taysom Hill deserves some love, and what the Saints will look like with Jameis under center. Jim also just can't understand why people expect the New Orleans Saints to fall off this year with all of the talent still on the roster including the leadership and all-pro level play of linebacker Demario Davis, the rising star Marquez Callaway, and one of the NFL's best in Alvin Kamara. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimTrotter_NFL Important Links and how to help those affected by Hurricane Ida. Imagine Water Works (Local): https://donorbox.org/ida United Way SELA (Donate local, not national): http://UnitedWaySELA.org/IdaRelief World Central Kitchen (National): https://wck.org/ Krewe of Red Beans: https://feedthesecondline.org/donate Second Harvest Food Bank: https://no-hunger.org Sign up to Volunteer, even remotely with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZt2H_0g38h647DDWtTYjvU9ttzNLI2h5tVmyIFQZ3PVffyg/viewform Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you'll get 15% off your next order. BetOnline AG There is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus. Rock Auto Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. NorthOne With NorthOne, you'll never pay overdraft or NSF fees again, saving you hundreds of dollars per month. To get started, visit apply.northone.com/locked. RunYourPool Check ‘em out TODAY and get $10 off at RunYourPool.com and use promo code LockedOn at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NFL roster cuts have finally come and gone as teams set their initial 53-man rosters. For the New Orleans Saints, this is only the start of the team-building process ahead of week one against the Green Bay Packers. On today's Locked On Saints, Ross breaks down the initial 53 and the moves to expect going forward.Will the Saints send any of the multiple injured reserve candidates to IR like Adam Trautman, Nick Vannett, or Wil Lutz? Will they pursue a different kicker off of waivers with Jake Verity having been waived? The linebacker room is a little crowded with both Chase Hansen and Andrew McDowell making the cut, could that decision be indicative of Kwon Alexander's availability early in the season? So many questions to ask, but some good news to celebrate with fan-favorites Tony Jones Jr, and Juwan Johnson making the roster.Sean Payton also had some big news to drop on Tuesday. The Saints have officially announced Jameis Winston as their starting quarterback and what Taysom Hill's role will look like in the 2021 NFL season. The team also looks to heard to TCU, where many players have Louisiana roots, to continue their practice week in preparation to open their season as a currently undisclosed location with the Cesars Superdome currently not being an option.Follow & Subscribe to the Locked On Saints Podcast on these platforms… 

NFL roster cuts have finally come and gone as teams set their initial 53-man rosters. For the New Orleans Saints, this is only the start of the team-building process ahead of week one against the Green Bay Packers. On today's Locked On Saints, Ross breaks down the initial 53 and the moves to expect going forward. Will the Saints send any of the multiple injured reserve candidates to IR like Adam Trautman, Nick Vannett, or Wil Lutz? Will they pursue a different kicker off of waivers with Jake Verity having been waived? The linebacker room is a little crowded with both Chase Hansen and Andrew McDowell making the cut, could that decision be indicative of Kwon Alexander's availability early in the season? So many questions to ask, but some good news to celebrate with fan-favorites Tony Jones Jr, and Juwan Johnson making the roster. Sean Payton also had some big news to drop on Tuesday. The Saints have officially announced Jameis Winston as their starting quarterback and what Taysom Hill's role will look like in the 2021 NFL season. The team also looks to heard to TCU, where many players have Louisiana roots, to continue their practice week in preparation to open their season as a currently undisclosed location with the Cesars Superdome currently not being an option. Follow & Subscribe to the Locked On Saints Podcast on these platforms… 

The New Orleans Saints have already made some tough decisions with some notable roster cuts. But in the cases of Alex Armah, Easop Winston, and Kawann Baker, no doesn't mean never. How the roster rules work and could benefit the Saints as they look to potentially add players like Wil Lutz, Michael Thomas, Tre'Quan Smith, and Adam Trautman to injured reserve.There have already been some notable roster moves that impact the New Orleans Saints. Could they look to reunite Jameis Winston and Breshad Perriman? And one key roster move that keeps the Saints from addressing a premiere position.The Saints could be on the move for the first regular season game of the 2021 season against the Green Bay Packer, but out west won't be the solution. Sean Payton discusses potential options for the team. Meanwhile, more roster cuts are expected. Which to look out for within and outside of the organization.Follow & Subscribe to the Locked On Saints Podcast on these platforms… 

The New Orleans Saints have already made some tough decisions with some notable roster cuts. But in the cases of Alex Armah, Easop Winston, and Kawann Baker, no doesn't mean never. How the roster rules work and could benefit the Saints as they look to potentially add players like Wil Lutz, Michael Thomas, Tre'Quan Smith, and Adam Trautman to injured reserve. There have already been some notable roster moves that impact the New Orleans Saints. Could they look to reunite Jameis Winston and Breshad Perriman? And one key roster move that keeps the Saints from addressing a premiere position. The Saints could be on the move for the first regular season game of the 2021 season against the Green Bay Packer, but out west won't be the solution. Sean Payton discusses potential options for the team. Meanwhile, more roster cuts are expected. Which to look out for within and outside of the organization. Follow & Subscribe to the Locked On Saints Podcast on these platforms… 

The New Orleans Saints, like many of their community have relocated in the midst of Hurricane Ida. Here's their plan while in Dallas, TX and what happens moving forward.The Saints have to cut their rosters down to 53 by 4pm ET on Tuesday the 31st. We're projecting the initial 53 in our final roster prediction episode. Tony Jones Jr, Chase Hansen vs. Andrew McDowell, cornerback #2. Jameis Winston will need targets to throw to, which wide receivers can hold down a roster spot and contribute behind Marquez Callaway. Marshon Lattimore is looking for a new deal, can the Saints make it happen before Week 1? Growing expectation on suspensions for Deonte Harris and Lattimore could change the direction of the roster even after it's initially set. Michael Thomas's injury could be a factor, too along with Adam Trautman and Nick Vannett.So many big storylines around this team. We break it down to provide you some solace in what might be a tough day.Important Links and how to help those affected by Hurricane Ida.Imagine Water Works (Local): https://donorbox.org/idaUnited Way SELA (Donate local, not national): http://UnitedWaySELA.org/IdaReliefWorld Central Kitchen (National): https://wck.org/Sign up to Volunteer, even remotely with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZt2H_0g38h647DDWtTYjvU9ttzNLI2h5tVmyIFQZ3PVffyg/viewformSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you'll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.NorthOneWith NorthOne, you'll never pay overdraft or NSF fees again, saving you hundreds of dollars per month. To get started, visit apply.northone.com/locked.RunYourPoolCheck ‘em out TODAY and get $10 off at RunYourPool.com and use promo code LockedOn at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New Orleans Saints, like many of their community have relocated in the midst of Hurricane Ida. Here's their plan while in Dallas, TX and what happens moving forward. The Saints have to cut their rosters down to 53 by 4pm ET on Tuesday the 31st. We're projecting the initial 53 in our final roster prediction episode. Tony Jones Jr, Chase Hansen vs. Andrew McDowell, cornerback #2. Jameis Winston will need targets to throw to, which wide receivers can hold down a roster spot and contribute behind Marquez Callaway. Marshon Lattimore is looking for a new deal, can the Saints make it happen before Week 1? Growing expectation on suspensions for Deonte Harris and Lattimore could change the direction of the roster even after it's initially set. Michael Thomas's injury could be a factor, too along with Adam Trautman and Nick Vannett. So many big storylines around this team. We break it down to provide you some solace in what might be a tough day. Important Links and how to help those affected by Hurricane Ida. Imagine Water Works (Local): https://donorbox.org/ida United Way SELA (Donate local, not national): http://UnitedWaySELA.org/IdaRelief World Central Kitchen (National): https://wck.org/ Sign up to Volunteer, even remotely with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZt2H_0g38h647DDWtTYjvU9ttzNLI2h5tVmyIFQZ3PVffyg/viewform Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you'll get 15% off your next order. BetOnline AG There is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus. Rock Auto Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. NorthOne With NorthOne, you'll never pay overdraft or NSF fees again, saving you hundreds of dollars per month. To get started, visit apply.northone.com/locked. RunYourPool Check ‘em out TODAY and get $10 off at RunYourPool.com and use promo code LockedOn at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode Notes Summary You can find more information about Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, including the zines and resources Jimmy mentioned, a list of mutual aid networks, and social media pages, at https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/. The host Margaret Killjoy can be found on twitter @magpiekilljoy or instagram at @margaretkilljoy. You can support her and this show on Patreon at patreon.com/margaretkilljoy. Transcript Margaret Hello, and welcome to Live Like the World is Dying, your podcast for what feels like the End Times. I'm your host, Margaret Killjoy, and on this episode I'll be talking to Jimmy from Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. And we're going to be talking about what is involved in setting up and maintaining a mutual aid network and also what disaster relief looks like. Because, obviously, that's something that's on people's minds for some strange reason. And this podcast is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcasts. And here's a jingle from another show on the network. Da duuuuh! Jingle What's up y'all? I'm Pearson, host of Coffee with Comrades. Coffee with Comrades is rooted in militant joy. Our hope is to cultivate a warm and inviting atmosphere, like walking into your favorite coffee shop to sit down with some of your close friends and share a heart to heart conversation. New episode premier every Tuesday, so be sure to smash that subscribe button wherever you get your podcasts so that you never miss an episode. We are proud to be a part of the Channel Zero Network. Margaret Okay, so if you could introduce yourself with your name, which I guess I already said, and your pronouns and I guess your affiliations as relate to disaster relief. Jimmy Yeah, my name is Jimmy. I'm with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, any pronouns are fine. Um, and yeah, I've been part of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief since, you know, about five years ago. Um, and Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a people-powered disaster relief network based on the principles of solidarity, mutual aid, and autonomous direct action. And we work with communities especially, you know, the most marginalized, to assist folks in leading their own recoveries. And this network is a permanent network from below to respond to disasters, building off of the history and the legacy of Common Ground in New Orleans after Katrina, Occupy Sandy in New York after Superstorm Sandy, and other solidarity-based mobilizations. And we, we seek to provide some level of continuity for the larger movement of which we're only a small part. And then also, um, you know, continue to build off of the lessons learned so that we can, um, you know, build off the successes and avoid the mistakes of previous iterations of doing this type of organizing. Margaret Okay, could you give some examples of situations that you all respond to? Jimmy Sure. Yeah. So, you know, this last year we've been responding to COVID. You know, before that, um, you know, a lot of hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, fires, things like that. And we also, to a smaller extent, respond to what we call invisible disasters. So, you know, even though, you know, for example, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, it's not a hurricane that knocked out power or made it so people don't have heat to run their homes, it's the legacy of colonialism, you know. So, um, you know, we've tried to respond to disasters like those as well as the very visible climate-related disasters of hurricanes and fires and floods and things like that. Margaret Okay, so y'all are nationwide then? Jimmy Yes, we are. Margaret Cool. Um, I guess, so, I want to ask—one of the things that comes up a lot when people talk about, well, mutual aid networks, especially ones that are, say, nationwide rather than, like, specifically rooted in the communities where the disaster is happening, what does that look like for you all—like, are you outsiders coming in? Are you invited in? How do you all navigate that kind of tension? Jimmy Um, so yes, we, you know, we are—we're national, but we're also local. You know, so all of us are from local communities and involved in local mutual aid projects and movements, you know, for justice and liberation in our own local communities. You know, so Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, rather than trying to supplant or replace local spontaneous manifestations of mutual aid, whether organized through a local mutual aid group or just, you know, the people impacted, you know, assisting each other, we try to amplify that and support that and provide, you know, this ongoing organizing and backup for those, you know, for those mutual aid efforts. So this can look like, um, you know, um, uh, you know, like getting bulk supply donations, or help with clean up, solar infrastructure or water infrastructure. Um, you know, wellness, you know, either wellness checks or setting up Wellness Centers after disasters. We try to be really flexible and adaptive to whatever the self-determined needs of the impacted people are. We borrow the Zapatista principle of leading by obeying, you know, so, you know, both to, you know—we listen to impacted people directly, and respond to their self-determined needs, and we listen to, you know, local mutual aid groups or local solidarity base, you know, justice-ro0ted efforts, and listen to them, you know, and go from there and respond to, you know, and assist however, we can. However, we can leverage our ongoing organizing, and, you know, we have a number of different mutual aid survival programs, um, you know, so we have, you know, like, the Rebuilding a Better World which involves, like, debris cleanup, or, um, you know, cleaning up flooded homes, you know, that's our—we, with our local partners on the ground in Michigan are doing that right now, with the floods up there. Um, you know, with COVID most recently a lot of our efforts—we have been responding to impacted people directly when we're able to, when they reach out to us. But a lot of our focus with COVID has been supporting local mutual aid efforts. There's been a beautiful outpouring of mutual aid globally with COVID-19. And so Mutual Aid Disaster Relief has, uh, you know, supported and amplified and backed up those local mutual aid efforts whenever possible and however, we're able Margaret To take a step back, what is mutual aid? That's just charity but done by young idealists, right? Jimmy No, charity is top down. Charity doesn't question—it takes for granted the unjust power relationships in our society, and it at most provides a band aid. Whereas mutual aid or solidarity, it addresses the immediate survival needs of the people while simultaneously raising consciousness and advocating and being a part of these movements for long-term structural changes. So it both meets the survival needs of the people, and in that way, you know, um, you know, we get out of our silos and echo chambers and meet the people where they're at, you know. And also it's connected to a long-term vision for radical social change. And so mutual aid and solidarity, it's about sharing resources, um, but it's also about sharing power. You know, so people who are impacted by disasters, or—you know, whether it's, you know, climate-related, or the disasters of capitalism and colonialism—they have more at stake in their own survival and wellbeing than well-intentioned paternalistic givers of charity. And what we're all longing for, you know, when a crisis hits, is to be part of a communal recovery. And that's part of our healing process, part of how we cope with crisis or with extreme events. And so, you know, just because somebody is impacted by a disaster doesn't mean that they are passive consumers who are just like empty vessels to be filled with blankets or canned goods, you know. People, you know, have skills, have networks, have, you know, a lot to offer. And so one thing about mutual aid is that it's reciprocal. There's no this for that, there's no requirement, but it's, you know, we're giving what we can and receiving what we need. And all of us are, you know, whether it's, you know, people who are supporting, you know, or people who are impacted. And also those two, you know, are not mutually exclusive, they're usually overlapping. You know, so, um, you know, like, one thing that I'll often do is drive around a box truck with, you know, pick up supplies and drop them off in neighborhoods that are impacted. And so, you know, I'll be, you know, going all day, you know, passing out water, food, cleaning supplies, whatever I can get my hands on. But then also, you know, the local community, you know, they'll see that I'm, you know, in go mode, and they'll, you know, come out with an ice cold water, you know, which, you know, after a power outage and nobody has a fridge, it's like gold, you know, and, you know, and so, you know, that kind of mutuality, is, you know, really a key part of mutual aid. And also, there's also a component that I didn't learn until looking into other people's language and experiences around mutual aid and solidarity, is that, you know, with charity there's this emotional distance. There's, you know, like, oftentimes, you know, it's like a traditional, you know, client/service provider relationship, you know, and with mutual aid that is overturned. That, you know, there's an authentic relationship, there's authentic friendships, you know, that—you know, we're not isolated from each other and we get to know each other, we get—we become friends, we become, you know, close to each other. And when we understand, you know, that, you know, predatory landlords are, you know, evicting our friends, you know, we, you know, we join with them and resist, you know, and, you know, mutual aid is also about relationships. And so, um, you know, it's—and relationships are where power is. You know, oftentimes people think in terms—with regards to disasters—in terms of, you know, stockpiling or hoarding, you know, that's the popular imagination around disasters. But in reality, what almost unequivocably happens in almost every location after disasters, people come out of their houses, sometimes meet each other for the first time, and spontaneously come together to meet each other's needs. And oftentimes building off of the relationships that already existed before the storm—or before the disaster. And so, you know, one thing that we talked about a lot in our popular education trainings is that community organizing is the best form of disaster preparedness, and disaster relief is just another form of community organizing. Margaret You know, one of the things that we talk about a lot on this show is that even if sometimes I can get focused on like, you know, here's gear, or here's skills to learn, or whatever, is that people are the best resources and relationships are, like, not only one of the most important things to stockpile or whatever, but more than that just like being around people is actually really good in times of crisis and, like, which is the opposite of the right wing prepper mindset, you know. And, with the solidarity and mutual aid stuff, one of the things that—I've been trying to think about things more and more in terms of—so a lot of communities are extracted from, right? In the same way that a colony is extracted from, resources are extracted from it and brought to another place. A lot of communities are extracted from on a regular basis and therefore, like, need help, right? And charity is this way of like bolstering the extractive process. It's like this way of, like, watering the plants that you plan on harvesting, you know, it's a way of making sure that the extractive process can continue. And the way that I've been more recently thinking about mutual aid is this, ideally, a method of beginning to like reverse the extractive process instead of buffering it up. I don't know. Jimmy Absolutely, no, at its root mutual aid is radical care, you know, it is loving each other. And in a patriarchal capitalist colonial white supremacist and other, you know, innumerable forms of domination and oppression, to love each other, to love ourselves and to, um, you know, take care of each other is a radical act. Margaret Yeah. Could you talk about—I really like hearing, like, more, like, specific examples like what either, you know, like specific examples of disasters that you all responded to and how that worked, or just specific examples of when you felt like you knew that you were doing mutual aid instead of charity, like, not just like necessarily, like, gratitude of people, but in terms of what it looks like to have a mutual aid organization, if you could give more specific example. Jimmy Yeah, um, so one thing that I want to highlight, you know, just to begin with, is you don't have to have it all figured out all in the beginning. You know, so, um, you know, there's a story that Rebecca Solnit talks about in A Paradise Built in Hell, her book, that, you know, after the San Francisco earthquake, people started a community kitchen with one can and one spoon, you know, and then it just grew from there. Similar to that, you know, we, um, you know, sometimes it can feel impossible to start a hospital or a whole Wellness Center. But if we just set up a first aid station, and then have people rolling in and out, and then somebody says, "Oh, yeah, I'm a massage therapist." "Oh, yeah, I'm an acupuncturist." "Oh, yeah, I'm a nurse." "I'm a medic." You know, then it snowballs and takes on a life of its own. Same with, you know, like, maybe the idea of a whole warehouse of supply distribution seems far off, but if we start with a community fridge, or community pantry, just, you know, taking what's in our cupboards and sharing them with our neighbors and then giving, you know, making sure people have the awareness that they can put in too, that they can share as well, you know, that can easily you know, blossom and grow into something a lot larger. You know, Hurricane Irma and Maria hit Puerto Rico, pretty bad. And, um, you know, there was this colonial occupation that—I mean, Puerto Rico's been occupied for, you know, a long time—but it was ramped up, you know, after Hurricane Maria. And there was a beautiful explosion of mutual aid organizing throughout the island. There's [inaudible] that are still active that, you know, they took over a governmental buildings that were part of the Oversight Board, the Promesa. Former schools, former government buildings, and they turn them into mutual aid community centers. And out of these centers they have acupuncture, they have computer access for the kids, they have food kitchens, and one thing that we have assisted with for the last couple of years is the solar and water infrastructure. So especially solar, we've been able to access, you know, solar panels, and then, you know, the inverters, charge controllers, battery backup, and help install solar infrastructure at these mutual aid centers to bring them, you know, with, you know, our partners down there, to help with autonomous infrastructure and sustainability. And so one thing that we did in the beginning, um, you know, soon after Maria hit, you know, we were in Florida, we had already had active mobilization for Hurricane Irma in Florida, and so many people who were involved in that mobilization, you know, some of them had family ties and friend ties down to Puerto Rico. And so a delegation went down there. And one thing that we noticed real quick was, you know, our teams down there, was supplies were sitting in FEMA warehouses and not getting out to the people. So one thing that our folks did was they rolled up to the FEMA warehouse and said they're here for the 8am pickup. And the person that the the windows said, oh, we don't see you on the list. And they just insisted, we're here for the 8am pickup. And eventually they were allowed in, they flashed their Mutual Aid Disaster Relief IDs, and they were allowed in and were able to pick up a box truck and carloads full of supplies, and then get that out to the people. And then also, you know, before they had—before they left the island, we made Mutual Aid Disaster Relief badges for local community organizers so they could continue that supply hook up and, you know, continue to try to, you know, liberate those supplies, you know, from sitting in warehouses, to get to the people where they're actually supposed to go. That's one example of how, you know, through our ongoing organizing and just being willing to take risks, we can leverage, um, you know, our access to resources or status as Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, to support survival of the people, but also the local mutual aid organizing of the people as well. Margaret Okay, and welcome back, which you all won't even notice as a cut. But we lost connection for a moment. And it's funny, because one of the reasons that I don't know how the sound quality is going to be for the listeners, we have a good audio engineer, but I'm no longer—I recorded most of these at home. But now that the trees, now that the leaves are really coming in it blocks my antenna on the top of my house that boosts my cell phone signal enough to do a hotspot enough to do interviews. So now instead I have to go into town near a noisy office and road. So I just think it's ironic. There have been a couple interviews that I haven't been able to do because of my internet at home getting suddenly so much worse. But anyway, so that's why there's a strange break in the conversation. Do you want to talk about the history of mutual aid, whether the history of it like using that word, or the history of it as like a concept, and/or where ya'lls specific lineage comes in. I suppose those are three different questions, but if one of those appeals to you. Jimmy So mutual aid is—there's, um, I think—called Kropotkin who wrote a book called Mutual Aid. And it was kind of written in opposition to the Darwinian theory of, you know, like, survival of the fittest, that was misused by people. So what Kropotkin did was articulate and give voice to an organizing principle of life. Um, you know, like, what Kropotkin saw with plants and animals, with, you know, like indigenous societies, was that how people survived and thrived was not through competition, it was through cooperation. As far as Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Um, you know, I personally, and other people who are also involved and helped found Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, were part of the organizing in New Orleans after Katrina, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and surrounding areas. And there was a call from Malik Rahim, a former Black Panther, in the neighborhood of Algiers. There were white vigilantes that were roaming the streets shooting and killing unarmed black men. And Malik Rahim had a history of organizing in that community, you know, through the Black Panther Party, and then later through other, you know, movements for peace and justice and environmental justice. And, you know, so at this time it was, um, you know, there were these white vigilantes and also, you know, people stranded out the Superdome. People were trying to cross the bridge to safety and dry land from the east bank to the west bank and they were stopped by Gretna police to turn them back with rifles. And in this context, Malik sent out a call—Malik, you know, and Scott Crowe and others—you know, sent out a call for solidarity and support. Many of us who were involved in movements like Food Not Bombs, or street medics at global justice demonstrations, or indie media, radical independent movement-based media, um, you know, we had some experience with setting up community kitchens, we had some experience with, you know, doing medic work at demonstrations or setting up media centers, you know, for these, you know, big mobilizations against global capital. And many of us responded to that call. There was a blending of the wisdom and legacy of the Black Panther Party, you know, through Malik Rahim and the survival programs. You know, there's the most famous of their programs was the free breakfast program, but they had numerous survival programs. They were doing pest control—community-wide pest control—they were doing a free ambulance program. They did sickle cell anemia testing and education. You know, across the board they were meeting the survival needs of the people, and that's actually what made them the biggest threat to the FBI and to colonialism. They did have an armed component, but what was really the threat was that they were mobilizing the people in a mass way. And Malik Rahim continued that legacy and and then that was translated and melded with the legacy of the global justice movement, you know, where, you know, we were active with, whether it's Food Not Bombs or street medic organizing, and, um, you know, that coalesced in New Orleans after Katrina with, you know, a lot of vibrant mutual aid efforts, and it gave our movements some cohesion. You know, so even people as ideologically far apart as say, like, Michael Moore, the documentarian, or the writers of The Coming Insurrection, they could see what was happening in New Orleans after Katrina and be like, that's actually what we're for. That's what we're about. That's what the world that we're trying to build. And, you know, there were, you know, there was a at least one agent provocateur FBI informant who used his position of power to undermine the organization and take advantage of women. You know, there's a lot of conflicting feelings for many of us who were involved in that in that effort. And we saw again after Superstorm Sandy, you know, where Occupy Wall Street transitioned to disaster response. And again, this solidarity-based network model outperformed the top-down charity model. Margaret Can you explain that? Like, in what ways does Mutual Aid Disaster Relief do better than than top-down intervention? Jimmy So Naomi Klein talks about this term disaster capitalism. Disaster, capitalism refers to this idea of how the powerful will use shocks or disasters or crises to reinforce their privilege and power. They put in transformations to the economy or society that reinforce their privilege status. And in parallel to this, there's disaster colonialism. So after a disaster, there's a lot of guns that show up. And, you know, there's, you know, authorities, you know, with guns, the army, the National Guard, Blackwater, you know, similar mercenary type groups, and their general response is not, how can we help the people survive? Their general response is, how do we maintain order and keep people in their place? The nonprofits, the top-down nonprofit industrial complex, goes hand in hand with that militarized authoritarian response. The nonprofit's, they undermine local spontaneous manifestations of mutual aid and make it into this thing that is not reciprocal, that is not participatory, that is not power sharing, where people just wait in line and receive a few items and then, you know, are, you know, go back to being oppressed by their landlords or, you know, the, you know, police or the, you know, the state authorities. Margaret But what would you say to someone who, like, isn't ideologically committed to mutual aid and is looking for the most efficient response to disaster. Like, regardless of the—I mean, I believe ideologically in mutual aid, but I think that it's worth pointing out the ways in which the the actual just like straight up efficiency of decentralized movements can be so much greater and I was wondering if you can talk on that part of it. Jimmy Yes, absolutely. Um, a story I heard about with Occupy Sandy, that, um, you know, there were some people involved with FEMA that, you know, they got—they heard about this elder And they didn't have heat, they, you know it was getting cold and um, you know, these people, you know, in the FEMA organization had their hands tied because it's, there's so much bureaucracy, so much red tape, so much hoops to jump through. Even though they wanted to help this person, they could not do anything because the top-down nature of it is not participatory, is not liberating for those impacted or those, you know, involved in the relief efforts. So what they did, these people involved with FEMA, was they reached out to people with Occupy Sandy and people with Occupy Sandy weatherize the house, got them—got the elder situated and, you know, what they needed to survive. And then also, after that mobilization, the Department of Homeland Security issued out a report highlighting how movements like Occupy Sandy that are decentralized, that are people powered, network based, solidarity based, are actually more effective than their command and control top-down model. And these are the same people who regularly infiltrate our movements and undermine almost everything we try to do through infiltration, through agent provocateurs, you know, and even they, you know, have owned up to the fact that their top-down model is not as effective as our mutual aid model. Margaret Yeah, there's a—it's been going around Twitter lately—a leaked or, you know, declassified document about how to infiltrate leftist organizations and, you know, the behaviors that make leftist organizations less effective. And one of them is like, basically, like, put everything to committee. And like, basically try to stop autonomy within the organizations, try to stop people from acting on the organizations without, like, putting everything to the larger organization and everything to little subcommittees and shit like that. And I thought that was really interesting, not that the people who do that thing are inherently, you know, agent provocateurs, or whatever. But we always have this conception of infiltrators as these people who are, like, go there to like break things or instigate or escalate, right? And that does happen. But it really was telling to me that the main way they know how to fuck us up is to go in and get us stuck in endless meetings and get people to not just do things. And the thing that is our strength as people who practice direct action and people practice mutual aid is our capacity to just do things and then coordinate about the things we're doing rather than centrally plan all of the things that we're trying to do. Jimmy And that is the organizing principle of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is almost everything is done through affinity groups, through working groups, rather than through centralized planning or organizing. We have, you know, regular, you know, signal threads and conference calls and things like that. But it's mostly to provide updates with each other, um, rather than to do the nuts and bolts organizing. We, similar to the Zapatista principle of leading by obeying, there's this idea of subsidiarity, which means you devolve decision making to the localest scale possible. And so, with our organizing, we encourage everybody to be involved in, you know, affinity groups and local collectives and local mutual aid groups, and then partner with Mutual Aid Disaster relief. And, you know, oftentimes, you know, like, if your local affinity group or your local mutual aid group is unable to cover something after a disaster, maybe Mutual Aid Disaster Relief could, or vice versa. You know, there's some things that a local collective or affinity group or mutual aid group could do that Mutual Aid Disaster Relief couldn't. you know. And so, we kind of work in tandem and hand in hand, you know, and we combine both collective decision making and checking in with each other with respect for autonomy and direct action and self determination. Margaret I mean, it sounds good. And I've seen some of the work that folks associated with you all have done in eastern North Carolina and have always been impressed by, yeah, the non top-down structure organizing, but still the ability to get a lot of stuff done. To go back, there was like thoughts I was thinking about—I was like taking notes as you're talking about mutual aid and, you know, I remember reading this article in a science magazine in probably like, 2008 or something like that about mutual aid and gay birds. And it was—there had been this like thing that—I actually, as far as I understand, Darwin would not have appreciated social Darwinism, or maybe even didn't appreciate social Darwinism, like, the like, survival of the fittest thing, like, wasn't even the Darwinian concept of evolution. But then Kropotkin was, you know, most famously an anarchist. But well, at the time, he was also very famously, I believe, a naturalist and a scientist. And, you know, all of his work was around saying, like, oh, no, animals just take care of each other. Not always, right, there's like, you know, I mean, obviously, animals eat each other and shit too and like, there are animals that fuck up each other's like chances of reproduction or whatever. But people would sit there and they'd be like, why gay birds? Like, why are animals gay? And, I mean, I think, me as an animal know I am gay. But, you know, this is the kind of thing that rightwing thinkers will bring up all the time, right? And like Alex Jones, like, always freaks out about the gay frogs or whatever. And this article basically points out that it was like, well, the gay birds like do an incredible amount of service for the larger community of the animals and therefore, like, continue to propagate the species as a whole, even if they don't individually reproduce. And it was basically this realization that science was finally catching up—and maybe it had—pop science, at least, was finally catching up to the fact that Kropotkin was right about evolution and the, like, mutual aid theory of evolution is, like, as far as I understand it, predominantly the theory within evolution at the moment, and that it's not this, like, you know, war of one against all that people present. But—sorry, this is a rant I've been thinking about for a while. I do appreciate that it's like, mutual aid wasn't invented by kropotkin, right. And like, Kropotkin didn't think mutual aid was invented by Kropotkin. He was observing it, and he was observing it in, you know, the animal kingdom, plant kingdom, and also in the human, like, all, you know, different human societies all over the world have been practicing mutual aid largely before, essentially, like, various forms of colonization including, like, the internal colonization of Europe and things like that. Jimmy Mutual Aid predates anarchism. And it also is not a European ideology. It's how life survives and thrives. And it's something that, you know, mutual—Kropotkin noticed and gave voice to, you know, in his book. But also, you know, like, um, there's also a vibrant indigenous mutual aid network that has been growing, you know, over the last year plus. And I feel like their approach to mutual aid and solidarity organizing is also somewhat an antidote to the Eurocentric or ideological-based, you know, European-centric, you know, mutual aid organizing, you know, more broadly, that all of us, you know, involved and devoted to mutual aid and a better world, you know, should be engaging with and learning from and communicating with. Because, you know, indigenous people on this continent, Turtle Island, have centuries of experience surviving catastrophes and living through apocalypses. And there's a lot of wisdom there that those of us, you know, in the cities or, you know, involved in, you know, mutual aid that doesn't have that focus, you know, there's a lot that we can learn from, you know, there's a lot of interchange that can be, can be had there, that we can be attuned to. Margaret Yeah, and even anarchism as a concept. You know, one of the things that really interests me about this mutual aid revelation from Kropotkin's point of view is that anarchism, as a concept, as a Western concept, was basically just Western people figuring out, like, rediscovering something that so much of the world already knows. And so it wasn't like—anyone who presents like anarchism or these ideas as invented by the people who called themselves anarchists in France and Russia or whatever, right? It wasn't an invention, it was a rediscovering and an applying of things. You talked at the beginning about lessons that you've learned. So I'm really interested in how you all are providing continuity across—hm, how to I want to say this? It's like there's been this huge explosion in mutual aid groups in the past year since COVID started, right. And that's actually the most hopeful thing about the whole fucking crisis, from my point of view. And, you know, it's like the only thing at the beginning of it all that was giving me hope, was watching this mainstreaming of mutual aid. And obviously, with mainstream comes a lot of danger and a lot of people calling things mutual aid that might not be mutual aid. But on the other hand, that also seems to me the only hope because, I mean, I believe in a society that the economic system is essentially mutual aid rather than, you know, anything else. But you—I—one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you all is because you all predate this current explosion of mutual aid. And I was wondering if you could talk about what that explosion means, and like lessons that you're able to bring to people who are coming in this, like, newer group of mutual aid organizers, but also things that you've learned from the newer people who might be coming from a less ideological position, or just are younger, Jimmy We're totally inspired. And we've been, you know, sowing the seeds, you know, of mutual aid and watering them these past several years. And we all—we would always talk about how, you know, like, if we have a hope for survival, it's not gonna come from the state, it's not going to come from the nonprofit industrial complex, it's going to come from each other and these relationships of support, you know, that are horizontal, and participatory and, you know, from below. And I think still, though, even though we were already responding to disasters, and, you know, there's still an element of, you know, like, that, you know, we're talking about the future survival of humanity, you know, with this explosion of mutual aid with regards to the COVID, there's been over 600,000 people killed just in the United States alone, you know, from COVID. And, um, you know, there's evictions looming, mass evictions looming right now, I feel like we've all lost loved ones or lost, you know, or have friends or have family who have lost loved ones, and for both the climate and, you know, the pandemic, the future is now, you know. There's overlapping constant disaster, one crisis after another and, you know, these local mutual aid groups are, you know, they're carving out laboratory spaces and coming up with new ideas about how to meet people's needs, articulating their vision for social change. And it's hard work. So there is, you know, some stumbling in the dark while we—while people figure it out. And that's normal and that's to be expected. You know, with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, one thing that we've, you know, oftentimes—you know, previously with a hurricane, or a flood, or a fire or tornado, a lot of our efforts were in person, direct to people impacted, um, you know, face to face. You know, going to the neighborhood that was impacted and, you know, dropping off supplies, and then seeing what else they need, you know. And then, um, you know, with this explosion of local mutual aid groups it's, um, you know, shifted things somewhat of how Mutual Aid Disaster Relief has responded in that we are still meeting people's needs directly, you know, when needed or when we are able, but these local mutual aid groups are rooted in the community and they are able to respond in ways that, you know, sometimes a national network is not able to. You know, we've learned a lot, and one thing that we try to do to provide some level of continuity for this larger movement is be a clearinghouse of information and resources. So if people go on the website mutualaiddisasterrelief.org you can see a ton of resources, both about mutual aid in general, how to start a mutual aid network, what is mutual aid, you know, disaster response, and, you know, report backs from different mobilizations, different zines, news articles about the mutual aid responses for disasters. And so, you know, there's 1000s of different resources on there, and some of them we created, but many of them, you know, others, you know, local mutual aid groups, partner organizations and networks created and we, you know, help share because we see that that wisdom is valuable and needs to get elevated and out there more. So we try to, you know, offer a library online about disaster response and mutual aid, you know, for the larger movement. On there, one resource specifically that we put out last summer is our Lessons Learned zine. And so people can visit that, there's a dozen different lessons learned both, you know, like, ideas like moving at the speed of trust and at the speed of dreams. Um, you know, and also things to be aware of, you know, such as the savior complex or disaster patriarchy, and ways to, you know, maintain our principles and values while being responsive to the needs on the ground of those most impacted. Margaret Okay, let's like take some of those. You know, the moving at the speed of trust and the speed of dreams, what is what does that mean? Jimmy Yeah, so the speed of trust, you know, refers to this idea of, we need to be building bonds with each other. One of the most revolutionary things that we can do is find each other and build meaningful relationships, you know, that are, um, you know, based on care, based on mutual respect and a shared vision and affinity for that better world we know is possible and are trying to build. Um, it's hard to, you know, as a mutual aid network, whether local or national, to act if you don't have a level of trust and a level of connection, and affinity and love for each other. That basis of trust, um, is the foundation, you know, that we can build off of. We encourage people, mutual aid groups, to, you know, if you don't already have core values or guiding principles or foundation, like principles of unity, something like that, to take the time to come together and articulate that collectively. You know, there's so much that is, you know, adaptable and, you know, flexible, you know, in disaster response, oftentimes we need, you know, some principles or some core values to go back to ground ourselves. And, you know, like that, for us in Mutual Aid Disaster Relief that was, you know, a key part of building that trust initially, um, you know, so that we are coming at it from—we know that we are coming at it with a shared vision of what we're doing and where we're going. And then also this idea of the speed of dreams, it comes from, you know, the Zapatistas. It's this idea that when we put our hands and hearts and bodies in service of our dreams, they can manifest themselves exponentially. Far from being, you know, something that, you know, like, we plant seeds and then, you know, generations, they sprout and grow, we see the effects by moment to moment, you know, day to day and year to year when we are true to our principles and values and we, you know, are devoted to an ethic of solidarity and justice, it can be almost disconcerting, you know, how quickly our dreams can manifest into reality. It's that, you know, snowball thing I was talking about earlier is, you know, we can start with just the tiniest bit of liberated space or mutual aid, you know, organizing, and then as we cultivate it, it's amazing, you know, how quickly that can grow and blossom in 1000 different directions. Margaret Yeah, I mean, it's interesting that—one of the reasons I've always loved direct action as an organizing principle—sorry about the siren in the background if you all can hear it. One of the things I've loved about direct action as an organizing principle is that it involves actually like starting to solve problems. Like, you know, thinking of these examples that you talk about, about like Occupy Sandy going and winterizing someone's house. We often get so caught up, like, especially right now, when all of this bad shits happening, right? When we think, how do we stop climate change? And in some ways, how do we stop climate change is the wrong question because, while we need to stop climate change, it probably looks like solving specific problems along the way. It might be, how do we create a microclimate in this environment that is more resistant to the fires that are going to come? Right? Because we're not going to actually stop climate change. You know, we can stop the worst of it. And so it reminds me of one of the problems that I see lock up a lot of people in general is any given thing that you have to do, it's really hard to be like, well, I'm thinking about the entire problem and how do I solve the entire problem? So you just don't do anything. You know, whenever people are like, well, how do you write a book? And like any writer who's written books is like, I don't know, you start writing a book, and then it's shit so you go back and change things. And then the third time you write a book you, like, plan it out ahead of time better because you know what you're doing. But it really just starts with doing it. You know, there's the whole anarchist cliche that the secret is to begin. And that's one thing I've always loved about mutual aid organizing is like, yeah, I don't know how we—you know, people are always like, oh, what do you anarchist want or whatever. I'm like, look, I can't tell you everything about the economic system of the society that I want to create. I don't even think that would be a good idea. Because what I want to do is feed myself and feed the people around me who I care about, and then build up from there. And so that's one thing I really like about the work that you all do is that focus on, you just start doing it. And it's what, as you were saying, that's what people do is they're like, oh, shit bad's happening, I guess we should do something, you know? Jimmy Absolutely. And our mutual aid organizing his movement infrastructure. So, you know, there's this idea of dual power, to be simultaneously, you know, building up our own prefigurative resources and institutions and, you know, power from below, while also challenging, you know, the forces of oppression and occupation and colonialism and capitalism and contesting. You know, there's an element of mutual aid organizing that is, you know, all of us are involved simultaneously in mutual aid organizing and the other movements that are contemporaneous for, you know, the movement for Black Lives, or for the Stop Line 3, or the Dakota Access Pipeline, you know, and so, you know, when we build power from below for mutual aid, we're also building power from below to resist extensive resource extraction or, you know, attacks on indigenous sovereignty or on, you know, homeless sweeps. Mutual aid organizing is fertilizing, you know, the movement of ground beneath us to be stronger the next time, you know, we need to be out in the streets or be in front of the bulldozers at a pipeline camp. Margaret Yeah, and they all tie together, right? Because the only way that we can like really consistently save ourselves is by also stopping the machinery of destruction that is destroying the climate and destroying communities. Because it's like, well, we can, we can provide tents, to people who are currently without houses, but we also need to, like, stop the people who are stealing their tents and stop the system that leaves them without housing in the first place. Jimmy Exactly. And, you know, one thing that we talked about in our popular education is audacity is our capacity. You know, so, you know, oftentimes we're just limited by our imaginations, you know, we think something is not possible, so we don't try it. You know, but as soon as we shake off that sense of powerlessness and act, then, you know, we're filled with the sense of possibility and then, you know, things that were impossible, or we thought were impossible, are no more. Margaret I really liked that. And I think that might be a good note to end on. Besides, of course, the obvious joke about audacity as the primary thing that podcasters use that is suddenly spyware. So I'm avoiding making that joke. And you all should be very appreciative of this inside joke I'm not making that only—anyway. What—how can people find out more about your work or support you? Or are there other things like either final words, or, you know, plugging all this stuff that you all do and how people can support it? Jimmy Yeah, so people can go to mutualaiddisasterrelief.org to check out our website. We also have on there links to many other local mutual aid groups that you can also be involved in, we encourage people to do both—be involved in Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, and be involved in other locally-rooted mutual aid projects and organizations in general. We have a Facebook page, we have a Twitter, we have Instagram, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, you can find us on all of those. And also, um, we often share a quote from Buenaventura Durruti. Durruti was an antifascist during the Spanish Civil War. And one thing that he said was that our opposition might blast and ruin its world before it exits the stage of history, but we're not in the least afraid of ruins because we carry a new world here in our hearts. And all of us who dream of a better world are carrying that new world in our hearts. And we're going to create it, it takes takes lifetimes. Um, but you know, we're a part of that growing world and we know your listeners, you know, everybody listening to this is part of that growing world. And we're excited to see what we're able to build, you know, together. Margaret All right. Well, thank you so much. Thank you so much for listening. And I hope you enjoyed this episode. And also, you know, after we hung up Jimmy pointed out that basically everyone doing, you know, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is not as much an organization as it is a movement and that all of you listening who are working on preparedness and are working on mutual aid and things like that are all part of this thing we're all doing and just wanted to extend that thanks. And I would also like to extend that thanks. Not just for listening, but for talking, not just about this show, right, that's a tiny part of it all, but but talking about this stuff with people around you. So thank you so much. And if you'd like to support the show, you can do so by supporting me which will soon be supporting Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness which is an old zine collective that is now kind of rebooting to also do podcasts and YouTube channels—YouTube shows and all that shit. You can do so by supporting me on patreon@patreon.com/margaretkilljoy. And in particular I guess I'd like to thank Nora and Hoss the dog, Kirk, Willow, Natalie, Sam, Christopher, Shane, The Compound, Cat J, Starro, Mike, Eleanor, Chelsea, Dana, Hugh, and Shawn. And also tell people that there's now a YouTube show of Live Like the World is Dying. So far there's only one episode, if you want to see me talking about the emergency kits that I make and distribute, I determined that video would be a better format for that than doing a whole podcast where I just like talk to myself or Jack or someone about, you know, and then in my kit is a whistle. And, you know, like, I think that the video format worked better for that. And it's been a good reaction. So don't worry, I'm not gonna abandon the podcasting format. I personally listen to podcast more than I want YouTube because I like listening. Everyone's always like, "Oh, I don't have the attention span for podcasts." And I'm like, "I don't have the attention span for video." It just depends on your own mindset and also like where you like to consume content, I think, which is definitely stuff you were wanting to know my opinion about. You really wanted to know my opinion about the difference between podcasts and YouTube. So let me tell you more about—no, I'm not gonna tell you more about it. I instead want to say, again, thank you, and do as well as you can. And I hope that all of the things aren't so overwhelming. And if there's one lesson I'm going to remind myself from this conversation, it's that start with the small things, you know. We—it's so easy to get overwhelmed thinking about the magnitude of crisis that we're all in, everyone on the planet Earth is in and to various degrees, of course, I'm not trying to claim that my position is as bad as many, many other people's positions. But all we can do is we can take something we can do, we can think about what can I do? What can I do today? You know? I can go get hot hands, like hand warmers, and have them around or distribute them. Or I can learn how to build a campfire, or I can go talk to my neighbor that I don't talk to much and kind of get a sense of who she is and how we could support each other if things go wrong. Or we just do things one at a time and hope that collectively—because there's a lot of us on this planet, and if we all do things—well, we all did lots of little things and that caused the destruction of everything. So what have we all do lots of little things in the other direction? And I'm not talking—god, this sounds like I'm fucking talking about straws and shit, like fuck straws. I don't care one way or the other about individual consumerism that causes this issue. Anyway, I guess I'm done with the podcast. Thank you for listening and I will talk to you all soon. Find out more at https://live-like-the-world-is-dying.pinecast.co

The Story of Catcher Freeman – S02/E12 Lynxi WelcomeEpisode synopsis HBOMax Synopsis: Three very different versions of a slave revolt led by Huey and Riley's great great great great great great grandparents. Who says the 1860s couldn't be fun? Pre Show: No Tiara this week Welcome, again, to Demond Reminder:  https://www.patreon.com/boondockspod GOP blocks voting rights bill Mike Pence: Failing Up Insurrection Joe and Kamala Domestic terrorists The effects of Trump Show: How far back can Black folks go? The Freedom Train Being related to other famous Black people All presidents (but one) are related Modern-day house slave Crabs-in-a-barrel ni**as Being creative/finding your passion Queen (TV Mini Series 1993) White People Question: I came across this as a video on TikTok from @haventhehatian, but the one request they had for allowing us to use their story is that we give a shout out to https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a grassroots network whose mission is to provide disaster relief based on the principles of solidarity, mutual aid, and autonomous direct action. By working with, listening to, and supporting impacted communities, especially their most vulnerable members, to lead their own recovery, we build long-term, sustainable and resilient communities. Now the story:  https://www.tiktok.com/@haventhehaitian/video/6973705502060596486?lang=en&is_copy_url=0&is_from_webapp=v1&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6954730385100736006 Have a “Stupid White People Question” you want to leave us?Email us at Hosts@TheBoondocksPod.comor leave us a voicemail at ‪‪(760) 933-8636‬, that's (760) WE-3-UNDO. Post Show: Riley is a hypocrite Riley is also a troll Thelma was the real hero Legends vs true stories Women written out of history Next week:  The Story of Gangstalicious: Part 2 Need to see where we are on social media and such?  Come find us!  https://www.theboondockspod.com/links Trivia: The character of Catcher Freeman and the slave rebellion of the Colonel's plantation is a reference to Nat Turner and the famous slave rebellion of 1831, which was led by Nat Turner himself.  The part where Colonel Lynchwater wanted the slaves to stop singing was most likely a reference to how Nat Turner used to communicate with his recruits via song. Catcher Freeman quotes the final lines of the show's theme song while speaking with Thelma.  Show Music: Intro:  #Makeachange by K.I.R.K. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. Outro:  Good Times by Audiobinger is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Last weekend, mutual aid organizers from all over the world gathered together for the Solidarity Summit. Hosted by Humans United for Mutual Aid Networks (or HUMANS), the virtual event took place in order to build skills, relationships, and momentum while benefiting local work. During the Summit, we co-hosted a 2-part session which began with a screening of “The Response: How Puerto Ricans Are Restoring Power to the People” before transitioning into a live recording of The Response Podcast.  Today we're bringing you the audio from that event which featured several organizers from Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (or MAD Relief), a grassroots disaster relief network based on the principles of solidarity, mutual aid, and autonomous direct action.  Rather than focussing on the nitty-gritty, of how MAD Relief is successfully organizing with a non-hierarchical decentralized structure, this conversation illustrated 4 of the many stories of what the work actually looks like on the ground.  Featured Speakers: Rain: co-founder/co-coordinator of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief focused on sustainable disaster response and rebuilding – Louisiana (transplanted from Florida) mostly responding to events in the Gulf South/SE states Vanessa Bolin: Richmond Indigenous Society, Community Roots Garden, madr, and The Eyes Wide Open Project – Occupied Virginia on traditional Pamunky Territory  Siren Saricca: founder of the Michigan mutual aid coalition, a service that delivers groceries to seniors – Detroit MI Tyler Norman (co-host): mutual aid disaster relief – Wisconsin  Episode credits: Host and executive producer: Tom Llewellyn Series producer: Robert Raymond Theme Music: “Meet you on the other side” by Cultivate Beats The Response from Shareable.net, is a documentary film, book, and podcast series exploring how communities are building collective resilience in the wake of disasters. Find out more information about Mutual Aid Disaster Relief at mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/ Check out the work of Humans United for Mutual Aid Networks by visiting mutualaidnetwork.org

I'm back! I never released this episode during the first season because I wasn't ready to talk about all of this. However, my personal backstory with "mental illness" and finding god is an important precursor to the second season, where we're going to delve more into neurodivergence, disability, and ableism. Transcript: https://medium.com/@friendlyanarchism/s1e31-5-the-spiritual-radical-left-burnout-and-disability-with-the-young-quaker-pod-transcript-18fa785d2b5e Show notes: I spoke with Jessica Hubbard-Bailey about being religious in a lefty household, the radical spiritual revival, pain caused by Christianity, the creation of white slaveholder evangelism, finding spirituality and Quakerism, carving out space for spiritual leftists, the benefits of having a person of faith in your affinity group, inner peace as a service to community, burn-out culture, the danger of spreading anxiety and fear, gender-coding of work, our personal stories of disability, productivity as worth, lithium, Jesus' love of the sick, John the Baptist, letting people exist instead of trying to fix you, being held in the light, wheelchairs are freedom, and the social model of disability. 7:05: It gets mentioned a few times throughout the show, so I want to clarify that the idea that the right has "co-opted" Jesus is often used as a cop-out and an excuse folks use to evade holding christianity accountable for all the damage it has done. 9:26: Article removed from Forbes on the destruction of amerikan liberation christianity: https://www.politicalorphans.com/the-article-removed-from-forbes-why-white-evangelicalism-is-so-cruel/ 16:05: I speak lovingly about the Quaker meeting houses in Philadelphia (which are beautiful) but I have since found out were in part built using money from the slavery trade. I had not learned yet at the time this was recorded about the messy and disturbing relationship between Quakerism, slavery, and whiteness. More on that subject: https://www.friendsjournal.org/slavery-in-the-quaker-world/ 26:00: Ironic erasure of the existing spiritual radical left communities by assuming whiteness of the "radical left", my apologies! 30:16: Affinity groups can be formed for any reason, not just by type of work. These days I prefer groups of 4-6. More info on affinity group organizing: https://www.sproutdistro.com/catalog/zines/organizing/affinity-groups-essential 35:58: Did I use they/them pronouns for god? Why yes I did *foreshadowing* 38:15: I use the word "healthy" a few times throughout the show, which can have ableist undertones. More on ableist language: https://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2013/09/14/ableist-language/ 39:12: Mutual Aid Disaster Relief has an incredible list of resources about mental/emotional/trauma/wellness care: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/health-wellness/ 39:28: I heavily blamed myself for my burn-out but more was going on.. 51:48 : The term "differently abled" is widely understood as ableist, please forgive me as I was struggling to understand and express my own experience 55:23: Some feel that the phrase "hold you in the light" upholds the racist linguistic dichotomy of light/dark and prefer other variations such as "hold you in god's chocolate" 57:20: I learned about Juniper the Holy Fool from Mark Van Steenwyk's Deep Roots Podcast: https://www.markvans.info/deep-roots-podcast-at-play-with-the-holy-fools/ 57:15: *foreshadowing* - Also I meant to say "uncarved" block 59:30: I was 30 years old before hearing about the social model of disability vs. the medical model. Quick intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdzbyJq58Ws

WOAH A TUESDAY EPISODE??? THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS, BUCKY IS ONE YEAR OLDER!! As a present to them and a fun, cool treat for everyone else, we are blasting off to America^2: Beyond Canon, a.k.a. Hamilton: An American Musical. Please enjoy this episode with Rif and Momo, as there will be no Part Two. Content warning for: Mention of Lin Manuel Miranda's negative impact on the Hurricane Maria Relief Efforts; Discussion of the U.S. 2020 election; Discussions of bestiality; Discussion of Homestuck^2, Vriska, and Gamzee; Mention of circumstances of dubious consent; Discussion of American imperialism and slavery; and a gunshot sound at the end of the episode. Suggested Topics: Detroit: Becoming Miku Binder; Admitting to Hamilton Crimes; LMM :handshake: Hussie; Dirkska; Scourge Crimes; Another Hussie, but a cartoon this time; Calliope is England and Caliborn is America; Comedic Peggy Irrelevancy; EOA1: The World Turned Upside Down; French Karkat; Really Trying To Jam Some More Hussies In Here; Bad Cherub Ideas: The Podcast; Murderstuck is a verb now; "This is the part where we kill each other." Links to donate: Article on Mutual Aid in Puerto Rico (2017): https://itsgoingdown.org/puerto-rico-building-future-based-mutual-aid/ Article on Mutual Aid in Puerto Rico (2020): https://nacla.org/news/2020/08/07/mutual-aid-and-survival-resistance-puerto-rico Donate to Puerto Rico Rebuilds Campaign (via Mutual Aid Disaster Relief): https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/puerto-rico-rebuilds-campaign Donate to Sanado Puerto Rico: Healing Puerto Rico (via Mutual Aid Disaster Relief): https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/sanando-puerto-rico-healing-puerto-rico Podcast Links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/willithomestuck Editing by Jonaya and Bucky. Intro and midroll music by https://www.instagram.com/_tittle. Outro music by https://funkmclovin.bandcamp.com/ Twitters: Podcast: https://twitter.com/WillItHomestuck Bucky: https://twitter.com/raddifferent Jonaya: https://twitter.com/AltUniverseWash Rif: https://twitter.com/antleredCouncil or https://skeletorific.tumblr.com/ Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/F226ZVz Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/willithomestuck More information at our carrd: https://willithomestuck.carrd.co/

Roqayah is off this week, so Kumars is joined from the top of the hour by two organizers with the Southwest Louisiana chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America: Phil Peterson, an activist, organizer, and educator based in Lake Charles Louisiana, and Megan Romer, also an organizer, writer, and educator based in the neighboring city of Lafayette, Louisiana. After introducing listeners to their communities and their personal paths to organizing, Phil and Megan describe the devastation on the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Laura as DSA SWLA and allied groups like Mutual Aid Disaster Relief continue their recovery efforts despite a lack of interest from national media.  Phil discusses his experience of being displaced by the storm and the significance of Louisiana activists as innovators at the vanguard of climate struggle, and Megan explains the key lessons we can learn from DSA SWLA about organizing during a pandemic, along with the convoluted local politics behind the city of Lafayette’s refusal to accept refugees from Lake Charles in the aftermath of the police killing of 31-year-old Trayford Pellegrin on August 21. The gang highlights the willful abdication of responsibility by Louisiana’s Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards and the dire implications of local authorities’ decision to lift mandatory evacuation orders for the majority-black, heavily working class people of Lake Charles and the surrounding area, over 10,000 of whom are now forced by FEMA to pay out of pocket to subsidize New Orleans’s otherwise failing hotels.  You can follow Phil on Twitter @Sadsackjacobin and Megan @meganromer. To keep abreast of Southwest Louisiana DSA’s activities and to check for updates on how you can help, follow them on Twitter as well @DSASWLA, and donate to their GoFundMe here. If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts. We can't do this show without your support!!!

We are joined by journalist, performance artist, activist and general doer of amazing shit Eleanor Goldfield! Settle in for this great conversation about mutual aid, her new (and excellent) documentary Hard Road of Hope, and how we keep up our creativity and hope in these troubling times. After the interview, stay tuned for Emily and Sarah’s thoughts on imagining a better world, especially if you enjoy subtle metaphors that describe national politics as a hit-and-run car accident and counter-hegemonic resistance as “poking at holes” (Seriously, are we not doing phrasing anymore?) HARD ROAD OF HOPE https://hardroadofhope.com/ MUTUAL AID DISASTER RELIEF https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/ MUTUAL AID HUB https://www.mutualaidhub.org/ Featured music is “Sick, Tired & Wasted" by Rooftop Revolutionaries, courtesy of the artist. GUEST BIO Eleanor Goldfield is the founder and host of the show and podcast Act Out! and the co-host of the podcast Common Censored along with Lee Camp. Her current work focuses on more long-form and in-depth pieces, the first iteration of these being a film on West Virginia’s coal and fracking country. As a journalist, her articles and photographs cover people and topics which are censored or misrepresented. Artistically, Eleanor works in a variety of mediums and her performances blend music, spoken word and visual projections. Keep up with Eleanor’s projects here: https://www.artkillingapathy.com/ Follow Eleanor on Twitter and Instagram [@]activisteleanor

On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Jena who was been involved with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief for years, and is currently involved in CoronaAid 757. https://www.facebook.com/coronaaid757/ We talk about the details of this amazing project, how it got off the ground, and how all of that ties into a big-picture perspective. More info at www.mutualaidlockdown.com or mutualaidlockdown@gmail.com!

In this episode, we talk with Tyler from Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is an amazing network of people who have been doing trainings and on the ground responses to natural disasters for years. Hear Tyler's inspiring insights and apt analysis in this episode!

As the COVID 19 global pandemic continues, we discuss the importance of building and participating in mutual aid organizations with a comrade from Mutual Aid Disaster relief. Conversation topics include participating in hurricane relief efforts in Lumberton with Charleston DSA after Hurricane Florence hit in 2018, how climate disaster relief compares to (and has a lot in common with) the COVID 19 pandemic, how different populations are affected by natural and manmade disasters, and how it is critical for the left to get involved with mutual aid projects in order to achieve a broader goal of the complete transformation of our economy and society. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a grassroots disaster relief network based on the principles of solidarity, mutual aid, and autonomous direct action. Inspired by similar programs run by the Black Panthers during the 60s, the group encompasses a loosely-connected national network of activists from many different disciplines organizing around supporting survivors of natural disasters. For more information, or to make a donation, check out https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/donate/ Be safe, solidarity forever!

When Indigenous community organizer Valentina Harper co-founded the CareMongering mutual aid Facebook group in Toronto in mid-March to help people cope with the coronavirus pandemic, she was expecting a couple of dozen members.Four days later, 6,000 people had joined.Related: Faith in the time of a global coronavirus crisis The idea, conceived by co-founder Mita Hans, a Sikh community organizer in Toronto, was to connect people who needed things like groceries, money or medicine, with people who could donate them.“It was glaringly obvious that people were desperate to connect to each other and to help each other. ... People are desperate for help as well.”Valentina Harper, co-founder, CareMongering“It was glaringly obvious that people were desperate to connect to each other and to help each other,” said Harper. “People are desperate for help as well.”Four weeks after starting, the CareMongering group has more than 600,000 members in more than 30 places.CareMongering is one of many mutual aid organizations around the world that have either been created or expanded to help people struggling during the pandemic — either because of age, health status or financial vulnerability, among other things.Related: Amid lockdown, churches find creative ways to keep in touchCertain people are systemically vulnerable and under-cared for in the coronavirus pandemic, said Harper, such as people of color and people with fewer resources. That dynamic parallels another issue close to Harper's heart: climate change.“It's going to be our poorest, our most marginalized who will always pay the price,” said Harper.Already in the US, early data shows that 33% of those hospitalized for COVID-19 are black, even though black people only make up 13% of the population. Stark racial disparities are being seen in the United Kingdom as well. While the threats — infectious disease and climate change — are different, mutual aid is a solution that speaks to both, said Harper. "It's really about taking care of each other when the government fails to do so.”Valentina Harper, co-founder, CareMongering“Mutual aid has been happening since time immemorial. People have been taking care of each other for a very long time. It's how we've survived,” said Harper. “Especially marginalized communities, Indigenous communities and people of color. It's really about taking care of each other when the government fails to do so.”Related: Connecting with nature in the time of COVID-19Thousands of people have been helped by CareMongering groups around the world so far. From grocery drop-offs to free legal advice, to online yoga and therapy sessions.The idea of mutual aid is to help connect people who have resources with people who need them, by building community connections and support, said Harper. This is done in person, or, — due to social distancing — through online platforms, like Facebook or email listservs.  Mutual aid in Puerto RicoMany mutual aid groups around the world are working to respond to both the longer-term effects of climate change and the current urgency of the coronavirus.One mutual aid group in Puerto Rico, Centro para el Desarrollo Político, Educativo y Cultural (CDPEC), was created in 2017 after the devastation of Hurricane Maria, but is now finding itself perfectly positioned to help in response to the coronavirus. “Some of the centers are really active right now dealing with the same issues that we've always dealt with, like getting food and equipment for people. ... There's a lot of old people in Puerto Rico who do not have any anyone to support them or help them.”Giovanni Roberto, co-founder, CDPEC“Some of the centers are really active right now dealing with the same issues that we've always dealt with, like getting food and equipment for people,” said CDPEC co-founder Giovanni Roberto. “There's a lot of old people in Puerto Rico who do not have any anyone to support them or help them.”Roberto said that after Maria, their main focus was food, medical services and housing. Now, with the coronavirus, their focus is on food delivery.“Supermarkets are really full of people that don't have the money to buy food for a month,” said Roberto. “So, they have to go continuously to the store, increasing the potential for contagion. It's a tough situation.”Related: Research on COVID-19 vaccine shows unique global collaborationPuerto Rico currently has about 900 reported cases and 44 deaths, and those numbers are expected to rise in the coming weeks for the island of over 3 million people.Roberto's goal is to have mutual aid groups in every community on the island. In the last two years, CDPEC developed 10 centers, most of which are now in operation, delivering food and essential supplies. Roberto said all the centers are also preparing for hurricane season — which is only months away.Mutual aid doesn't just help people materially, said Roberto. It also helps with a deeper solution: building capacity and resilience among communities.“Mutual aid is community-based. It's local. It's a model that can adapt and build the skills of resilience,” said Roberto. “The best way of helping people is with the perspective of dignity and solidarity — not charity. Mutual aid builds power from the bottom-up.”'Sourcing from within'As unemployment numbers skyrockets and hundreds of thousands grow ill in the US, hundreds of mutual aid groups have formed to help communities cope with unprecedented hardship.One large group in the United States, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, is a national collective of activists that originally formed in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, followed by an inadequate relief response from the federal government, leaving thousands displaced.The group recently published a post, comparing the coronavirus pandemic to other disasters, and promoting mutual aid as a solution. The post said: “When every community is a different version of ground zero, sourcing from within, in as much as possible, becomes a critical component.”Related: Coronavirus lockdown: A tale of two South Africas Many mutual aid groups, including those organized by Roberto and Harper, are explicitly political. They focus on helping people materially, while simultaneously pushing for systemic social change, often weaving together social, racial, economic and climate justice issues.“This is a time of politicization. ... People are asking questions to the government, and they're not finding answers."Giovanni Roberto, co-founder, CDPEC“This is a time of politicization,” said Roberto in Puerto Rico. “People are asking questions to the government, and they're not finding answers. [Part of the mission is for] people to understand the ties between capitalism, colonialism, climate change and our future, and the things that we need to do to change our future.”Harper, of CareMongering in Toronto, said she hopes the newly formed mutual aid group stays engaged after the pandemic, giving people a long-term platform to fight for environmental justice and other issues that impact their communities.“We want to leverage this people power that we've gotten world-wide,” said Harper. “CareMongering is there because we've had three levels of government fail the people, and we've had no choice but to take care of each other.”“CareMonger means I care for everyone, especially those who need it most,” she said.Harper said building community through her mutual aid project has inspired her.“Personally, there's a glimmer of hope,” she said. “I have more hope for humanity now, deep into this crisis, than I did going into it.”

Here at the Ex-Worker, we continue to navigate the COVID–19 crisis by seeking guidance and insight from three anarchist nurses who are working on the frontlines of the pandemic. First, we hear from an anarchist ER nurse from the southwest US who offers reflections on individual and community health, mutual aid projects, and how to stay safe through the epidemic. You'll hear a brief discussion of the promise and peril of antibody testing and the concept of an immunity passport. After that, we share a long conversation with two anarchist nurses from New Orleans, Louisiana on a wide range of topics, including harm reduction, how to support healthcare workers, the legacy of AIDS activism, delineating between authority and expertise, and lots more. We close out the show with urgent appeals of support for families at Black Mesa as well as incarcerated radicals , Kijana Tashiri Askari, Leonard Peltier, David Campbell, and all prisoners trapped on the inside through the pandemic. {April 8th, 2020}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction {0:01} Survival is Resistance {4:44} Antibody Tests and Immunity Passports {17:28} Interview with Two Anarchist Nurses in New Orleans {20:08} Urgent Appeals for Solidarity {1:47:32} Prisoner Birthdays {1:54:04} Conclusion {1:54:58} Mutual aid projects as a general concept are mentioned in both interviews. To learn more about mutual projects in your area, check out this list put together by our friends at itsgoingdown.org and this guide to Radical Solidarity Through Covid–19 from Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Antibody tests may be a new tool to fight the spread of the virus, but proposals for an Immunity Passport could lead us farther down totalitarian and dystopian paths. Learn about the long term efforts to defend Black Mesa and the homes, ancestral lands, and future generations of the Dine'(Navajo) and Hopi peoples. And donate to the Navajo and Hopi Families COVID–19 Relief Fund here. Please support efforts to get Leonard Peltier released from federal prison into home confinement by writing to his captors using the info below. (We know, we know-home confinement, ugh! But JUST DO IT, seriously!!) In light of the provisions of the CARES Act meant to decrease the risk to prisoner heath, in response to the COVID–19 pandemic, the U.S. Attorney General has delegated to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons the authority to release certain vulnerable prisoners to home confinement. Currently, the process for identifying appropriate candidates for home confinement have not been solidified but we believe it may help to write to the BOP Director and Southeast Regional Director and ask that Leonard be immediately considered and transitioned to his home on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. Your letters should be addressed to: Michael Carvajal Director, Fed. Bureau of Prisons 320 First Street NW Washington, DC 20534 J.A. Keller Southeast Regional Director Federal Bureau of Prisons 3800 Camp Crk Prk SW, Building 2000 Atlanta, GA 30331 We have not drafted a form letter or correspondence. Your pleas should come from your heart as an individual who has supported Leonard for so many years. Say what you would like but we have put together some talking points that will assist you in your letter writing. Below are some helpful guidelines so your letter touches on the requirements of the Attorney General's criteria for releasing inmates like Leonard to home confinement. OPENING: Point out that Leonard is an elder and is at risk; for example, “Mr. Peltier is 75 years old and in very poor health; his only desire is to go home to the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation and live out the remainder of his years surrounded by his family.” MEDICAL: The AG and CDC guidelines for releasing inmates requires the health concerns cause greater risk of getting the virus. Leonard has the following conditions you can list in your letter: Diabetes, Spots on lung, Heart Condition (has had triple by-pass surgery), Kidney Disease. RISK TO COMMUNITY: To qualify for release to home confinement we must show that Leonard poses no risk to the community. COMMUNITY SUPPORT/RENTRY PLAN: To qualify for release to home confinement we must show that Leonard has a reentry plan. Leonard has support from the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Band and has family land on the reservation where he can live. RISK OF COVID–19: To qualify for the release to home confinement must show that Leonard is at reduced risk to exposure of COVID 19 by release than he is at Coleman 1. As of recently Rolette County, ND has no cases of COVID 19, Sumter County has at least 33 cases. Antifascist David Campbell is serving time in Riker's Island where a COVID–19 outbreak is raging, and supporters are trying to get him released during the pandemic! Write to advocate for his release! Contact politicians via the info at this link, and call Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance with the info here. Script and other info are here. Check out The Final Straw's stellar and important interview with New Afrikan Black Revolutionary prisoner Kijana Tashiri Askari, who is in urgent need of medical assistance due to a heart condition. UPDATE from supporters: After the first day of calls they changed his medicines to something more appropriate for his heart condition—not just Tylenol, which they had him on (only). That's the only thing so far. Please help keep up the pressure! Check out these other anarchist media projects that have produced episodes covering organizing efforts both by and for prisoners: The Final Straw, Rustbelt Radio, and This is America by It's Going Down. You can help bail out vulnerable detainees from immigration detention and jail by donating to the LGBTQ Freedom Fund; with pandemic-related bail reductions, they've expanded their focus past LGBTQ detainees to bail out as many people as they possibly can. Upcoming prisoner birthdays: Romaine ‘Chip' Fitzgerald #B–27527 California State Prison LAC Post Office Box 4490 B–4–150 Lancaster, California 93539 Address envelope to Romaine Fitzgerald, address card to Chip  

In this episode, we talk with long time friend and comrade scott crow about mutual aid in the era of COVID19. We discuss hope, community, disaster response by just regular people (not bureaucrats, professional non-profits or "Captain Asspants" in the White House) and scott's new music label aptly titled "eMERGENCY hEARTS." We also play some music from the label. scott crow is an anarchist, speaker, author, organizer, musician and story teller. He's author of Black Flags and Windmills:Hope, Anarchy and the Common Ground Collective (PM Press) and a number of other books. scott has co-founded a number of diverse projects, businesses and organizations rooted in cooperative power sharing models including the Common Ground Collective, the largest anarchist inspired organization in modern US history, that formed after Hurricane Katrina, Treasure City Thrift, an anarchist worker coop, Red Square, an art coop, Century Modern, an antique coop and UPROAR, a community based organization, Dirty South Earth First!, Radical Encuentro Camp, . More from our episode: Read more about scott at www.scottcrow.org/ You can check out the eMERGENCY hEARTS music label here. All proceeds for "Anthropocene Blues Revisited" on the music label are being donated to our comrades at Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (an amazing network made up of many anarchists, rabble-rousers, permaculturalists, community organizers, and others who are actively organizing around supporting disaster survivors in a spirit of mutual aid and solidarity. You can get a free e-copy of Black Flags and Windmills by signing up on PM Press's email list. Additional Reading and Resources: Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: When Every Community is Ground Zero: Pulling Each Other Through a Pandemic Surviving the Virus: An Anarchist Guide It's Going Down: COVID-19 Mutual Aid As always, you can follow us at: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreenRedPodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodcastGreenRed Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenredpodcast/ Also, please feel free to become a Green and Red patron at https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast

In this episode, we interview a couple of comrades (one locally and one from the Akron DSA chapter) who work in the healthcare industry to talk about what it's like being on the ground in the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic, and how this pandemic affects the lives of working people. We also broaden the discussion a bit to talk about how COVID-19 is exposing the contradictions of capitalism and the drastic measures needed to protect the working class at this time of crisis. Have questions about COVID 19? Visit the CDC website here for more info. Read the official DSA statement on COVID 19 here. Learn more about what you can do to help yourself and your neighbors by visiting the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief website.  Consider making a donation while you're at it to help folks affected by medical bills, job loss, etc...

This week we got the chance to sit down and catch up with Ben Turk, who is an anarchist and prison abolitionist living in Milwaukee WI, about some recent efforts that he has been involved in and some ways that listeners can plug in and do solidarity work from afar. We speak about the lockdowns that have been occuring in Columbia CI, continued efforts to raise awareness about solitary confinement and bringing mental healthcare services to people undergoing incarceration, efforts to change legislation regarding old law prisoners, efforts to free Chrystul Kizer, and how the face of anarchist abolitionist organizing is shifting.   If you're interested in getting networked with Ben and the work of Forum for Understanding Prisons, to help with compiling information from the WI DOC shift logs, to help support people being tortured via solitary confinement, to donate to efforts to free Chrystul Kizer, and many more you can email him at insurgent.ben@gmail.com or follow the websites prisonforum.org, freechrystul.wordpress.com, and fireinside.noblogs.org if you'd like to read more about prison abolition.   Link to the Washington Post article about the case of Chrystul Kizer   Detailed notes from our guest concerning the topics we covered in the show:   Resisting lockdowns at Columbia CI and elsewhere.   We leaped to action against the prolonged and excruciating lock-down at Columbia Correctional Institution, which started on November 8, and wasn't completely lifted until December 22. Midway through the lockdown Muhammad (Larry) Bracey was killed by guards through medical neglect. We posted 13 reports, letters or updates about the lockdown on our website. We also staged a New Year's Eeve noise demo outside Columbia and two rallies at the Wisconsin DOC building. We mirrored the demands of incarcerated people, including hunger strikers, who called for Warden Susan Novak to be fired. Our efforts got us a meeting with Secretary Carr and other top DOC officials, who haven't yet met our demands, but have fired some racist and sadistic guards, including multiple involved in Muhammad Bracey's death. Unfortunately, conditions remain unsafe at CCI following the lockdown, two more mendied preventable deaths on the week of January 13. We are still getting responses to our open records requests, and will put out more reports shining a continuous light on the horrors that creep in the corners of this institution. We will continue to fight for our demands until they are satisfied, including the firing of Susan Novak. How you can help this campaign: Show up. We plan to be wherever Secretary Carr is and to repeat our demands there. He will be appearing at a Supporters of Incarcerated People (SIP) meeting at Grace Episcopal Church on February 12. Join us there. Shine a light. Much of this work involves research, going through released records and correspondence with incarcerated people to generate reports and expose the hardships. Contact insurgent.ben@gmail.com if you would like to help with that work.  Remain vigilant. Shortly after the CCI lockdown, there was a 10 day lockdown at WaupunCorrectional. People held there say it was the worst they'dexperienced. We need to be ready to mobilize and maintain pressure to keep the DOC from dragging out more of these unlawful lockdowns and humanitarian violations.     Abolishing solitary confinement and advocating for mental health treatment.   Ending the torture of long term solitary confinement has been the driving goal of FFUP's work for more than 15 years. We are continuously dismayed to see this practice and attending tortures expanding in Wisconsin, despite inspiring reform efforts happening elsewhere.   In February, we will release a comprehensive report by FFUP founder Peg Swan, describing the history of solitary in Wisconsin and its many impacts, large and small. Joining testimonies from survivors, historical events and legal analysis, the report advocates for strong and decisive action toward restricting and eliminating Wisconsin's use solitary confinement and replacing it with mental health treatment.   Governor Evers and Secretary Carr have talked about reforming solitary confinement, but cautioned us that the changes will be gradual. David Crowley and other law-makers have introduced a bill calling for psychological reviews of people in solitary confinement. The trouble is, DOC doctors are already routinely altering mental health diagnoses to enable the use of restraint chairs and other forms of torture that aren't officially sanctioned for use on people diagnosed with serious mental illnesses. We expect that if the proposed law or similar restrictions come to pass, DOC staff will dodge their effect by continuing their practice of altering diagnoses to put whoever they want into solitary. Instead, Wisconsin needs the follow the success story in Colorado. When Rick Raemisch took over the DOC there, he made a dramatic commitment to replace solitary confinement with mindfulness practice and treatment. Within his first year, changes were happening, and now Colorado restricts solitary confinement to a maximum of 15 days.   How you can help this campaign: Reduce the harm of isolation. Peg Swan has begun an email newsletter and penpal program to provide people held in long term solitary confinement with what they need most: human connection. If you would like to receive the newsletter or can write to someone in solitary, you may help save lives. Contact Peg at pgswan3@aol.com. Contact Governor Evers. Tell him you support the abolition of long term solitary confinement. Half measures and gradual steps are not enough when lives hang in the balance. Call (608) 266-1212, email GovPress@wisconsin.gov, file public comment here.   Fighting for old law prisoners.   Volunteers with FFUP have been attending recent parole board meetings to track progress toward reforms and increased releases by the new administration. There are about 3000 people held in Wisconsin prisons under the old law, most of them would be released by the standard expectations of their sentencing judges by now if not for very regressive policies of the DOC and parole commission. Peg and other FFUP contacts maintain regular correspondence with many old law prisoners. Releasing these people will not only reunite them with their families, it will have a significant impact on the overcrowding that makes everyone's life harder in prison- both captives and staff.   Last spring Governor Evers appointed John Tate II to be the Chair of the Parole Commission, promising increased releases and long overdue justice for people sentenced before Dec 31, 1999. Unfortunately, from what we've observed in meetings transition to that agenda has been very difficult. On January 8, we witnessed an alarming level of obstruction, disrespect and apparent sabotage of reform efforts by parole commissioners. This behavior, combined with obstructive practices by DOC staff in classification, programming and community corrections are drastically curtailing the possibility for release of people incarcerated under the old law.   We have decided that a stronger public voice in support of reform and releases is necessary, so we're encouraging people to attend parole commission meetings and will follow the next meeting (Feb 5) with a rally. We also released Ben's notes from January publicly and sent them to hundreds of people incarcerated under the old law. Last summer we delivered a rules change petition to Governor Evers and Chairman Tate. At the monthly meetings we will be delivering the petitions again, showing increasing public support for the release of old law prisoners.   How you can help this campaign: Support Tate's confirmation. State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has delayed Tate's confirmation for seven months. Contact him to demand that he allow a confirmation vote for Chairman Tate. (608) 266-5660 or Sen.Fitzgerald@legis.wisconsin.gov  Voice support. Sign the petition calling for parole reform and expanded releases. Bear witness. Attend or invite people to the February 5 meeting at 9:30 and / or the rally at noon. Both at the DOC building 3099 E Washington.   Defending sex trafficking survivor Chrystul Kizer. On June 20, 2018 a 17 year old Black girl named Chrystul Kizer from Milwaukee defended herself against a 34 year old child pornographer and sex trafficker named Randal Volar, ending his life. Volar had been investigated by Kenosha police since at least February when he was arrested, but released despite possession of child pornography and other clear evidence. Kenosha DA Michael Graveley failed to charge Volar, but is now pursuing first degree murder charges against Chrystul.   FFUP volunteers are working closely with Chrystul and her family to raise awareness of her case and to demand that charges be dropped. We've helped pack the court for each of her preliminary hearings and taken control of the narrative around her case. We are also helping organize a rally at 5:30 pm on February 5 at UW Parkside, where Graveley teaches Criminal Law. On Thursday February 6, 8:45 am Chrystul has another hearing at Kenosha County Courthouse. She is requesting a bond reduction to one we can fundraise enough for, so she can come home while awaiting trial. How you can help this campaign: 1. Follow #FreeChrystul on social media and share the campaigns stories and updates. 2. Donate to Chrystul's family, sign the petition, write to Chrystul and ask organizations you're involved in to contact DA Graveley. -- Phone: (614) 704-4699 Forum For Understanding Prisons- prisonforum.org     Further interviews with Ben on The Final Straw:   August 19th Solidarity with Prisoners: Ben Turk of IWOC (originally aired 06/25/2017)   The Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons (or FTP) and Ben Turk on the recent prisoner strikes (originally aired 05/17/2016)   Ben Turk on the silencing of Sean Swain, anarchist prisoner in Ohio (originally aired 04/21/2013)   Ben Turk on Insurgent Theatre + Prison Abolition (October 27, 2013) (originally aired 11/04/2013)   Waupun CI prisoners on Hunger Strikes (originally aired 07/19/2016) Announcements Appalachian Climate Action Camp From a call to participate in an Appalachian Climate Action Camp: People all over the world are mobilizing to combat the climate crisis. It's time to build skills and take action! Join us for 10 days of learning, training, and taking direct action to disrupt the systems that are destroying our climate. We will come together to build on Appalachia's rich history of direct action against extractive industries, which has included tree sits, blockades, and walk-ons to resist mountaintop removal, fracking, and fossil fuel pipelines. After fighting the Mountain Valley Pipeline for over two years, we aim to grow the resistance to fossil fuel exploitation and take power out of the hands of corporations and politicians that are threatening our collective future. We are inviting community members, activists, students, and families to learn the skills needed to execute a variety of actions that disrupt the power structures wrecking the environment we depend upon and contributing to climate change.  We will be hosting people in the southwestern Virginia/ southern West Virginia along the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, providing food and trainings to participants for 10 days. We will have more information in the coming weeks. If you are interested in coming to camp and joining the resistance please email appclimateactioncamp@protonmail.com. Location and more event details to follow upon registration! Floods in Eastern Kentucky and South West Virginia There's a request for funds for relief from recent floods in Appalachia in coal-country. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, in partnership with local activists who helped support Black Jewel Miners Blockade are requesting funds and goods to Harlan County and surrounding areas. You can learn more on instagram at @weloveminersblockades, you can donate on venmo at mutualaidky, cashapp at $ekyswvafloods, paypal via floodreliefkyswva@gmail.com and you can email them there as well. Anti-ICE protestors harassed in Florida A group of activists known as the GEO9 who were arrested while protesting on December 3rd, 2019, outside the Boca Raton office of GEO Group, which contracts immigration prison services for ICE, have experienced ramped up harassment. They received misdemeanor charges for trespassing and the use of a megaphone and were released on their own recognizance after their initial arrests. But now apparently are facing felonies and one activist of the 9, Alexis Butler, was even rearrested under fishy circumstances at her house by Broward County Sheriff on February 7th. More info is available in the write-up at itsgoingdown.org linked in the show notes and a fundraiser for the activists legal defense via EverRibbon.com can be found in our notes as well. Chuck Africa is Free We are happy to announce that Chuck Sims Africa, the remaining member of the MOVE 9 left behind bars was released from prison after 42 years on February 7th, 2019. There is a fundraiser for his post-release situation up at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-chuck-africa-rebuild to help Chuck get rolling on the outside. Free Them All! Michael Kimble Legal Defense His support crew needs funds to challenge his initial conviction. Here's the text from that site: Michael Kimble is a passionate freedom fighter who has been held captive by the Alabama Department of Corrections for nearly 33 years. After defending himself during a homophobic attack by a known white supremacist in 1987, Michael was arrested, charged with murder, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison. His trial was typical of what could be expected from a racist criminal justice system in Jefferson County, Alabama. Since his conviction, Michael has been fervently involved in efforts to free himself and others, assisting in legal defense for fellow inmates, organizing reading groups and Black History events, speaking up for queer folks behind bars, and helping to organize and agitate alongside the Free Alabama Movement for the historic national prison strike of September 2016. The Alabama prison system has recently come under fire from the federal government for its abhorrent conditions, and Holman Prison, where Michael is incarcerated, is being decommissioned and largely shut down. In this context, many Alabama prisoners have been successfully challenging the length of their original sentences. A group of Michael's supporters on the outside have recently joined forces to hire a new legal team to help him push for a sentence reduction. Given the amount of time already served, we are hoping this could result in his release. All the money raised will go directly towards filing motions for sentence reduction, and anything left over will be used to support Michael's day to day life inside with things like stamps, books, and commissary funds. Fingers crossed, we'll also be raising money to support Michael once he joins on the outside. For more information, check out this awesome interview with Michael from a few years back, as well as his blog. Until Every Cage is Empty, –Michael Kimble Support Crew The fundraiser is up at gofundme.com/f/free-michael-kimble. To hear our past interviews with Michael Kimble, check out our website. Channel Zero Network news Mid week, we'll be releasing an episode of Coffee With Comrades, where Pearson talks to Amy & Liz from Rebel Steps and Mitch from Red Strings & Maroons, all fellow members of CZN. The conversation engages the participants podcasts, CZN and radical media. This conversation happened in the context of CZN's continued fundraiser, which we'll have linked in our show notes. Also, if you do the reddit thing, check out the brand new Channel Zero Network subreddit! . … . .. Intro music by: Mad Skillz – Tip of the Tongue (instrumental)      

This sedition of Subversion #1312 features an interview with Mutual Aid Disaster Relief member Jimmy Dunson.So-called Australia where this show is - as was predicted - feeling the brute force of climate change. When I conducted this interview fires were and had been destroying large parts of the country, now there's been huge destruction caused by floods.Brisbane where I live and Australia in general does not have an organisation like Mutual Aid Disaster Relief but we really need one. That's why I did this interview.

Secret Shame This week William had the chance to speak with 3 members of the Asheville based goth/darkwave/post punk band Secret Shame about their politics, their music, what ails and what's good about Asheville in general, the tensions of living under capitalism, the recent attention this group has been getting, and many more topics. You can learn more about them by following @secretshameband on Instagram, and hear more of their music at secretshame.bandcamp.com Before the interview tho, here is an announcement on behalf of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: When catastrophe strikes, those most impacted and their neighbors are the real first responders. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a growing movement that amplifies the efforts of frontline communities and scrappy yet strategic grassroots projects. After last year's nation-wide training tour spanned over 50 communities in 25 states, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief will continue its Building the Movement for Mutual Aid series in the Northeast this October! Friends in New England, please check out events in Albany, NY, Portland, ME, Montpelier, VT, Worcester, MA, and New York City. The two-part training includes storytelling as well as a fun, fast-paced, and participatory workshop. Facilitators will describe lessons learned through diverse experiences of d.i.y. crisis response and the power of Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness. They'll guide conversations that give participants opportunities to share their knowledge and build camaraderie with others in the community. MADRelief trainings are free to all! Sliding-scale donations for t-shirts, zines, books, and posters help the team cover food and fuel and keep their powerful message on the move! For more details, visit MutualAidDisasterRelief.org/events or follow @madr_tour on Instagram. . … . .. Music for this show by: Araabmuzik – American Greed Secret Shame – Who Died in Our Backyard? Secret Shame – Calm Nomadic War Machine – The Fields Lay Fallow

Media literacy has perhaps never been more important than it is now. And as corporate media continues to dodge reality like bullets in the Matrix, some headline translations can help us to see the truth behind the lies. Next up, Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas but didn't end there. Jena from Mutual Aid Disaster Relief talks about the aid efforts happening in the southeast United States and the importance of solidarity, not charity.   https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org https://www.facebook.com/solidarity757/

This week, a very special edition of Heating Up! Derek and Corinne talk with Jimmy from Mutual Aid Disaster Relief about what mutual aid is, and why it may very well be the best hope for a better future in the age of climate catastrophes. LINKS Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Their recent essay about borderlands and mutual aid A list of ongoing mutual aid disaster relief efforts Other Efforts: Common Ground Relief Common Ground Health Clinic Occupy Sandy Recovery

Tyler Norman and the folks of the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief network are exploring and implementing a new way to deal with the rising number of disasters that have been demanding rapid response, including those caused by climate change, like floods, hurricanes, and fires. Using a horizontal and co-conspirator model of organizing, they've leveraged lots of solutions to bring people together in strength. Their motto is Solidarity Not Charity.

In this episode, Eden and William speak with Dezeray from Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, an organization that takes a "radical approach to disaster relief and to social movement organizing". We spoke about some of the obstacles that MAD Relief has to navigate in responding to natural disasters and climate catastrophes, how their organization functions with regards to the State, and how organizing at this level today will help in the coming years as climate change worsens and more and more people fall victim to cracks in the State's response to the increasingly severe climate events. This episode's Solo Praxis segment focuses on identifying personal skill sets useful to organizing so that we know just what we have to offer to a collective effort and movement as unique individuals. We also decided, beginning with this episode, to add in some light background music following some feedback from a comrade who sometimes struggles with auditory processing. They listened to a promo reel that we put together to send to potential interviewees, and they loved it despite the fact that they have struggled listening to podcasts in the past. They said that "the low level music in the background helped them so much in focusing on it and staying engaged, that as an autistic person they do not listen to many podcasts because they often cannot focus on just voices without additional noise". We realized that this is quite possibly an issue for many folks. Because we want to make Frontline Praxis accessible to as many people as possible, we decided to include some light and (hopefully) unobtrusive background ambience so as to help people like Eden's comrade without making it too distracting for folks who don't struggle with auditory processing. As always, we invite and appreciate any feedback that you may have about this or any episode of Frontline Praxis. Follow Mutual Aid Disaster Relief on Twitter @MutualAidRelief MAD Relief on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MutualAidDisasterRelief/ Follow Frontline Praxis on Twitter @FrontlinePraxis Email us at frontlinepraxis@gmail.com Visit us on the web at frontlinepraxis.com Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you listen to your podcasts. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FrontlinePraxis When (if) we meet the costs of hosting the show (web services, equipment repair or replacement, etc) any additional funds will be redistributed to the organizations featured on FP. Episode transcript available here.

In Pt. I of our 2-part Coffee with Comrades special on climate change and food autonomy, we spend the hour hanging out with Kevin and Jordyn Zak of Open Source Farms. But, first, some news: As climate change continues to cause devastating flooding in the midwest, Trump is pushing through authorization for new oil pipelines. Mexico Beach, FL residents are trying to fight off disaster capitalism. Donate to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief! FL is poised to implement an “anti-Human Trafficking” law. FL sex workers demand decriminalization. A leaked report labels antifascists as the “real aggressors.” The owner of Wendy’s gives big to Trump, but refuses to pay farm-workers an additional cent per tomato. Our wide-ranging conversation with Kevin and Jordyn digs into Open Source Farms, Turnip Greens Radio, food autonomy, building dual-power, anthropogenic climate change, and how agriculture can help us build our resiliency in the fight against fascism. Support Open Source Farms and buy some tea! Check out Turnip Greens Radio. Coffee with Comrades is a member of the Channel Zero Network. Coffee with Comrades is part of the Rev Left Radio Podcast Federation. Logo design by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art. Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon. Follow Coffee with Comrades on Twitter and visit our website. Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Interlude: “Leave Me” by Taska Black Outro: “All You Fascist Bound to Lose” by Clifton Hicks  

Support NoDAPL Prisoners This week, we're excited to share the voices of Jess and Olive, who both did legal support, and do prisoner solidarity with the folks facing Federal prison time from the struggle at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline. This episode was heavily edited for radio, so I suggest you find our audio at our website or in itunes or soundcloud or youtube or ideally our podcast stream and listen to the podcast version, cuz it is crammed full of great information and perspectives we don't have time to include in the radio version of the show this week. Jess did legal work supporting the struggle in Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and into 2018 and continues to support political prisoners in the case. Olive lived in camp, engaging in nonviolent direct action and working security during the winter (late november-february), survivor of water crises in West Virginia and as a Sundancer. Olive stayed through the raid on Oceti near the end of February 2017 and became a paralegal afterward and doing legal support for their loved one, Rattler. At the end of these notes I've included a few post-scripts from Olive about the folks who caught sentences, Akicita and prophecies of the "Black Snake". We speak about L'eau Est La Vie camp in so-called Louisiana is continuing the struggle against the southern endpoint of the Dakota Access Pipeline from Enbridge.  Visit the site to learn more and how you can get involved, they need help! Support sites for the Federal Prisoners from Standing Rock www.freerattlernodapl.com www.standwithredfawn.org www.freelittlefeather.com www.facebook.com/Justiceforangrybird www.facebook.com/justice4dion www.facebook.com/freelittlefeather www.facebook.com/freeredfawn www.facebook.com/freerattler www.waterprotectorlegal.org Announcements NYE Demo in AVL & Beyond! The day after this airs is New Years Eve and cities around the U.S. and abroad will be continuing the, I believe Greek anarchist, tradition of noise demonstrations outside of jails and prisons. Check out itsgoingdown.org for a list of places holding these where you can join in and be heard behind bars. In Asheville, folks'll be meeting up on College St in front of the court house and jail at 7pm and will bring noise makers, warm clothes, banners and signs. Upcoming BRABC events in Asheville Also this week, Blue Ridge ABC will be showing the latest Frontline/PBS documentary called “Documenting Hate: America's New Nazi's” about the Atomwaffen Division at 6:30pm on Friday, January 4th at Firestorm Books. Also, on Sunday January 6th at Firestorm, BRABC will host it's monthly letter writing event from 5pm to 7pm at Firestorm. No experience necessary. Autonomy, Resilience, Freedom: #J20 Call To Action Finally, The Final Straw Radio alongside It'sGoingDown, crimethInc and Mutual Aid Disaster Relief are calling for a week of action around the weekend of January 20, 2019. With the charges from January 20, 2017 dropped, we can focus on other forms of long-term solidarity and mutual aid, creating a fertile soil for future resistance and creativity. You can find the challenge and ways to plug in at cwc.im/survival Episode Notes from Olive   As an aside, I want to share a little more information from Olive about Akicita: “...Traditionally, Akicita would go to battle as a last resort and were always the last to leave, but they acted as protectors and to hold people accountable and dispense consequences when necessry, one example being on Buffalo hunts; people were not allowed to take more than they needed or to hunt by themselves because it hurt not only other tribal members but the Buffalo population. Akicita made sure the hunts happened with integrity. They also kept Nacas, elders, and the people informed. They were mediators of conflict. They were recognized for acts of bravery and selflessness. “ Also, Olive had these notes to share about the Federal Defendants who've been sentenced: “Little Feather's mother is part of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians in California, so I forgot to mention he is also Morongo in addition to also Lakota and Chumash. Rattler is a descendant of the war chief Red Cloud, who also signed the Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1868, one of the treaties we were defending with our occupation through camp. Rattler's Lakota name is Mato Tanka (Big Bear). Angry Bird's Lakota name is Sunka Wakan Sica (Bad Horse). Not everyone with federal charges are Akicita or Ikce Wicasa. Rattler, Little Feather, and Angry Bird are Akicita and Ikce Wicasa camp security. RedFawn and Dion had other responsibilities and ties to the camps. “ Olive also had this to add about their own participation at Standing Rock: “If it's relevant, I didn't mention another responsiblity I had while being in camp. I formed with two other femme people Two Spirit and Women's security branches so gender queer folks like myself and women/femme people could deal with our own safety/decolonizing issues within camp. This is how I began to work with Akicita security directly. The role of Akicita, the several councils that made up camp for collective decision making, and the ceremonies we participated in were all ways we were actively decolonizing our daily lives and DEFYING state intervention in disputes among our community (concepts of transformative justice try to exert the same concept of "don't call cops, be accountable" but don't necessarily have the structures to do it like traditional indigenous societies have) “ Another addition to the audio that I'd like to include is a short write-up that you can find in our show notes about the concept and Lakota and Standing Rock prophecies of the “Black Snake” which has been applied to the Dakota Access Pipeline “I didn't feel we had the time, but I wanted to at least tell you about some Lakota prophecies related to the "black snake" and historical context of where camp was located. All of this information I have is from Standing Rock elders and Lakota that know their lands well, including Tim Mentz, a Lakota archaeologist from Standing Rock, as well as my own experience from living in camp. Grandfathers, some in the early 1800s, had visions of a "black ribbon on top of the Earth to separate all people...the people wouldn't gather anymore...when the black ribbon goes underneath the Earth there will be no more Lakota." This "ribbon" is seen as pavement and fossil fuels. Prairie Nights Casino was built on top of a known site where ceremonial fasts were held. Cannonball River has buttes, all with names known to the Lakota one being Tipi Butte near the Backwater Bridge. Near Backwater Bridge (where cops kept up barricades after North Camp raid), there are remnants of old Sundance ceremony arbors. October 22nd arrests happened partly because we were protesting the 27 burials that were uprooted for DAPL's access roads that were across from HW 1806. Cannonball Ranch, which was eventually bought by DAPL, had Bear effigies, burials in the four cardinal directions, with at least 82 other sacred sites and ancestral sites of the Lakota. Southwest of where Oceti camp is Horshoe Bend, along the Standing Rock border is Treaty ground where men gathered to discuss the 1851 Treaty (North Camp was actually 1851 Treaty Camp). Spotted Tail (Sicangu band) and Big Head adopted one another around the year 1851 in the same location of Oceti camp. “ . ... . .. Playlist

In this segment with Dezeray Lyn — activist, street medic, and co-organizer of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (MADR) — I ask her to discuss the fundamental differences between grassroots disaster relief efforts (as demonstrated by MADR), and those done by large-scale federal government agencies and charity organizations, in providing supplies and services to disaster-stricken communities. We need to take heed of successful direct actions made by networks like MADR in providing communities with a model in which to adequately anticipate, prepare for, and recover from these widespread disasters, especially as government agencies repeatedly fail to address the reality of our current predicament in any meaningful and helpful way. The socioeconomic relationships imposed under global capitalism and State has failed to adequately provide the resources and organizational structures required to face our collective predicament. As our global climate system becomes increasingly disruptive, we must look to nonhierarchical organizational models based on mutual aid, like MADR, in demonstrating how to proceed into our uncertain future. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a national network made up of many eco-activists, social justice activists, global justice activists, permaculturalists, community organizers, and others who are actively organizing around supporting disaster survivors in a spirit of mutual aid and solidarity. MADR is a decentralized network, defined by the character and creativity of a multitude of communities and drawn together by the collective commitment to stand in solidarity with those impacted by disasters and turn the tide in favor of climate justice. Recent events have shown that the effects of climate change are not distant fears, but current realities. From historic flooding in Louisiana to Hurricanes Matthew, Harvey, Irma, and Maria we need each other more than we ever have before. Immediately after floods and other disasters, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief listens to affected community members and responds with supplies, work crews, and amplifying the grassroots community-led initiatives that blossom following disasters. Learn more about Mutual Aid Disaster Relief here: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org This is a segment of episode #161 of Last Born In The Wilderness “Solidarity Not Charity: Mutual Aid Disaster Relief; A Factor Of Evolution w/ Dezeray Lyn.” Listen to the full episode: http://bit.ly/LBWmadr DROP ME A LINE: (208) 918-2837 WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com PATREON: http://bit.ly/LBWPATREON DONATE: Paypal: http://bit.ly/LBWPAYPAL Ko-Fi: http://bit.ly/LBWKOFI FOLLOW & LISTEN: SoundCloud: http://bit.ly/LBWSOUNDCLOUD iTunes: http://bit.ly/LBWITUNES Google Play: http://bit.ly/LBWGOOGLE Stitcher: http://bit.ly/LBWSTITCHER RadioPublic: http://bit.ly/LBWRADIOPUB YouTube: http://bit.ly/LBWYOUTUBE SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook: http://bit.ly/LBWFACEBOOK Twitter: http://bit.ly/LBWTWITTER Instagram: http://bit.ly/LBWINSTA

In this episode I speak with Dezeray Lyn — activist, street medic, and co-organizer of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (MADR) — a "national network made up of many eco-activists, social justice activists, global justice activists, permaculturalists, community organizers, and others who are actively organizing around supporting disaster survivors in a spirit of mutual aid and solidarity.”☽ In this discussion with Dezeray, I ask her to discuss the fundamental differences between grassroots disaster relief efforts (as demonstrated by MADR), and those done by large-scale federal government agencies and charity organizations, in providing supplies and services to disaster-stricken communities (e.g. Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and most recently the communities impacted by the devastating wildfires in California). In particular, we examine how mutual aid is "a factor of evolution" (to use the adage of Peter Kropotkin), and by acknowledging this fundamental component of the human condition, we can understand grass-roots disaster relief networks as potent examples of what human beings are capable of in the this time of accelerating climate crisis and ecological collapse. We need to take heed of successful direct actions made by networks like MADR in providing communities with a model in which to adequately anticipate, prepare for, and recover from these widespread disasters, especially as government agencies repeatedly fail to address the reality of our current predicament in any meaningful or helpful way. The socioeconomic relationships imposed under global capitalism and the State has failed to adequately provide the resources and organizational structures required to face our collective predicament. As our global climate system becomes increasingly disruptive, we must look to nonhierarchical organizational models based on mutual aid, like MADR, in demonstrating how to proceed into our uncertain future. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a decentralized network, defined by the character and creativity of a multitude of communities and drawn together by the collective commitment to stand in solidarity with those impacted by disasters and turn the tide in favor of climate justice.☽ Recent events have shown that the effects of climate change are not distant fears, but current realities. From historic flooding in Louisiana to Hurricanes Matthew, Harvey, Irma, and Maria we need each other more than we ever have before. Immediately after floods and other disasters, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief listens to affected community members and responds with supplies, work crews, and amplifying the grassroots community-led initiatives that blossom following disasters.☀︎ ☽Source: http://bit.ly/MADRabout ☀︎Source: http://bit.ly/MADR1 Episode Notes: - Learn more about Mutual Aid Disaster Relief and how to support grass-roots mutual aid networks here: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org - Read more about how mutual aid networks responded to the unprecedented wildfires in California this year: http://bit.ly/2GjiY2W / http://bit.ly/2ExymXS - Follow MADR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MutualAidDisasterRelief - Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MutualAidRelief - The songs featured in this episode are “Cue 7,” “Cue 8,” and “Cue 10” by Madlib from the album The Beats (Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton Soundtrack). - DROP ME A LINE: (208) 918-2837 - WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com - PATREON: http://bit.ly/LBWPATREON - DONATE: Paypal: http://bit.ly/LBWPAYPAL Ko-Fi: http://bit.ly/LBWKOFI - FOLLOW & LISTEN: SoundCloud: http://bit.ly/LBWSOUNDCLOUD iTunes: http://bit.ly/LBWITUNES Google Play: http://bit.ly/LBWGOOGLE Stitcher: http://bit.ly/LBWSTITCHER RadioPublic: http://bit.ly/LBWRADIOPUB YouTube: http://bit.ly/LBWYOUTUBE - SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook: http://bit.ly/LBWFACEBOOK Twitter: http://bit.ly/LBWTWITTER Instagram: http://bit.ly/LBWINSTA

Here's a little Thanksgiving bonus for you all: Producer Chris talks to members of the Tallahassee DSA about their disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Michael. They discuss their idea of "disaster socialism": the opportunity to bring networks of solidarity created by organizations like DSA to direct aid of afflicted communities in the wake of these (increasingly frequent) climate disasters. We also discuss failures of state relief organizations, the presence of right-wing vigilante groups after the storm, and free pizza as praxis. Tallahassee DSA Disaster Relief Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/dsa-tlh-hurricane-relief-fund Support and donate to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/donate/ Cosby Hayes is an artist, activist and co-chair of the Tallahassee DSA and co-host of the podcast Tropical Depression with Ryan Ray and Daniel Moran. https://soundcloud.com/tropicaldepressionpodcast Pearson Bolte is the co-host of Coffee with Comrades: http://www.coffeewithcomrades.com/ Ryan Ray is an electoral organizer with Tallahassee DSA.

On the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, liberals and centrists are once more playing right into fascists' hands. Our feature this episode is a reading of the recent CrimethInc. op-ed “Take Your Pick: Law or Freedom; How ‘Nobody Is above the Law' Abets the Rise of Tyranny,” about the outrageously liberal demonstrations over Trump firing Jeff Sessions. We also interview an anarchist who was at the protest outside Tucker Carlson's home in Washington D.C. about what really happened there, Twitter's banning of anti-fascists, and why it's important to take the offensive in the struggle against fascism. Friday, November 9 was the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, and we bring you a round up of fascist, anti-fascist, and centrist actions from the weekend. Send us news, events, or ideas on how our show can better serve anarchist activity in your town by emailing us at podcast@crimethinc.com. {November 14, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Intro {0:00} Headlines {0:55} Kristallnacht anniversary and #OutliveThem actions roundup {5:55} Interview about Tucker Carlson protest and liberal blowback {10:05} Take Your Pick: Law or Freedom; How ‘Nobody Is above the Law' Abets the Rise of Tyranny {22:10} Repression roundup {32:45} Next Week's News {38:12} Download 29:30 minutes long version. Upcoming events/demos/etc: November 15: in London, England, there will be a queer dance party outside the Brazilian Embassy against Brazilian president elect Bolsonaro and to save the amazon. It will last from 5:30 PM until 8:30. November 16–18: School of the Americas Watch is hosting a border encuentro directly on the US/Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona and Sonora around the theme Dismantle Border Imperialism! November 16: in Portland, Oregon, there's a “We Won't Be Erased” demonstration against transphobia. Meet at 4:30 in the afternoon at City Hall, and follow @WontBeErasedPDX on twitter for more. November 17: In Philadelphia, the Pushback Campaign and anti-fascists are calling for those opposed to Nazis and Proud Boys to gather at 10 AM at the Independence Hall Visitor Center to oppose a planned white supremacist rally. November 17: Anti-fascists are also planning to oppose a misogynistic Patriot Prayer rally in Portland, Oregon. Rose City Antifa are calling for those opposed to rally at 1 PM on Saturday at Terry Schrunk Plaza. November 18: in Aachen, Germany at 3 PM, there is a demonstration planned against the political swing to the right and state repression. November 19: a demonstration against singularity and surveillance in Athens, Greece. Meet at Parko Eleutherias at 11:30 AM. November 25 - December 1: A call for a week of action against the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 25–27 will have popular education and workshops from different groups; the 28 and 29 will feature a People's Summit, with day one at the Faculty of Social Science of the University of Buenos Aires, and day two in Plaza de los dos Congresos. November 30 is when the big street demonstration will take place. November 26 in London, England: A meeting](https://freedomnews.org.uk/london-callout-for-solidarity-with-russian-anti-fascists/) to plan solidarity events for January 19 in support of anti-fascists facing persecution in Russia. The meeting will take place at Mayday Rooms, located at 88 Fleet St. December 10: There's an international call from anarchists on four continents for a day of action against borders on December 10. The idea is to kick off the 10th of each month being an anti-border day of action. December 17(ish): in Brownsville, Texas, people are planning to Meet the Migrants at the Border, in greeting them food and love! This date is currently tentative, as it is unclear when the migrant caravan will actually arrive. Organizers point out that there are five other points of entry on the Texas border the migrant caravan may try, and are encouraging people to organize more events. Here's a link to their Facebook page. Duluth, Minnesota: Anti-fascist and anti-white supremacy People's General Assemblies will be taking place weekly, Tuesdays at 6 PM in People's Power Plaza Court support for the Vaughn Trial is welcome! Court is ongoing every weekday from 10am–5pm in Courtroom 8B at 500 N King St, Wilmington, DE. For more information, visit itsgoingdown.org. Upcoming anarchist book fairs and gatherings: November 17–18: The Seattle Anarchist Book Fair is taking place at The Vera Project from 10–5 each day. The Vera Project is located at Seattle Center, on the corner of Warren Ave North and Republican St. Here's a map. November 17–18: The Boston Anarchist Book Fair is taking place at 775 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA from 10–8 each day. Here's a map. November 29 - December 2: Anarchists in Umea, Sweden are hosting their first ever bookfair! Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is on tour until late November! This week's dates: November 15: Kansas City, MO. 10:00 am @ Kansas City Public Library Lucile H Bluford Branch 3050 Prospect Ave Kansas City, MO 64128 November 17: Columbia, MO. 6:00 pm CST @ Middlebush Hall, Room 132 University of Missouri Columbia, MO 65211 November 18: Columbia, MO. 12:00 pm CST @ Middlebush Hall, Room 132 University of Missouri Columbia, MO 65211 November 19: Carbondale, IL. 7:00 pm CST @ Flyover Social Center 214 N. Washington St. Carbondale, IL 62901 November 20:Carbondale, IL. 10:00 am CST @ Flyover Social Center 214 N. Washington St. Carbondale, IL 62901 A complete list of tour dates and locations can be found here. Atlanta Anti-Fascists recently had their PayPal shut down, so they're temporarily in need of support to offset some of their costs. They're accepting donations through their fundraising page, or to donate using Bitcoin, their Bitcoin wallet is: 1LdSVFd6Wvj8LeEfux2Xf6Rr2KGKXemiBB (If you prefer to use a single-use address for Bitcoin, you can contact them.) Jace Buras, a prison rebel who helped organize a peaceful protest at Hyde Correctional in North Carolina during the national prison strike, has written Atlanta Anarchist Black Cross to let supporters know that he has been transferred to Bertie Correctional and placed in 180 days of isolation. To show him support, his address is as follows: Jace Buras #1522417 Bertie Correctional PO Box 129 Windsor, NC 27983 Phone zap for prison rebel Dayvon Person! Dayvon was just about to reach his minimum custody requirements in January, when he was charged with inciting a riot at the Craggy Correction Institution in North Carolina. He is asking that people please, please, please call and ask that his appeal against these false accusations is heard. To participate, you can call the Director of the prison, Kenneth Lassiter or call/write the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Kenneth Lassiter: (919) 838–4000 North Carolina Department of Public Safety: 512 North Salisbury Street Raleigh, NC 27604 (919) 733–2126 Ke Huelga Radio, an anarchist affiliated pirate radio station that has been squatting Mexico City's airwaves for over 19 years, is under threat by both media conglomerates and the federal government. Ke Huelga is refusing to give up 102.9 and is urging folks to listen on their site, kehuelga.net, and to continue to try and pick up their signal if you're in Mexico City. They also are calling for people to protest this interference by the IFT, including call them at 01800 2000 120 and emailing at atencion@ift.org.mx. Visit their website for other means of sending messages of protest! Check out some of our favorites from the Christie Books anarchist film archive: The almighty Class War Federation on reality TV! The incredible story of anarchist counterfeiter Lucio Utah Phillips on Ammon Hennacy The tragic, true story of the Rebellion in Patagonia There is a call out for solidarity actions with anarchists in Russia, who are currently experiencing brutal state repression. You can read more about the situation on [rupression.com.](https://rupression.com/ Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write a birthday message for Cameron Crowley, who is accused of being the anti-racist hacktivist Vigilance. You can write Cameron a letter, or send him a used book! (He especially likes sci-fi.) His address is: Cameron Crowley 855 West 7th Street Saint Paul, MN 55102 {Birthday: November 18} Sales are OPEN for the 2019 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar! The theme of next year's calendar is Health/Care, and it features art and writing from current and former political prisoners like David Gilbert, Mike and Chuck Africa, and Laura Whitehorn. If you buy 10 or more, be sure to use the discount code “BULK” to get 10 or more calendars for $10 each—you can then sell the calendars to fundraise for your own organizing. CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS In Hotwire #44 we named Kevin Garrido, prisoner of the Chilean state who was reportedly murdered by another prisoner, as an anarchist. Comrades in and out of Chile have gotten in touch with us to let us know that that is not true, and that Kevin purposefully did not identify as an anarchist, and has even identified with more eco-extremist currents. Sorry for the lazy reporting, but in our defense we even did additional research beyond where we first got the story and multiple other sources identified him as an anarchist or tagged his story under “anarchist prisoners” or something else of the sort. Kevin did extend solidarity to at least some anarchist prisoners for their struggles, anarchists were present in his funeral caravan that clashed with police, and regardless of his politics, we still uphold what we said about, “While the state may charge [another prisoner] with [his] murder, we know that the police and prisons are responsible for the conditions that led to Garrido's death, and the only kind of justice for his death will come from redirecting any aggression between the oppressed against their oppressors instead, until neither prisons not police can function.”    

We kick off the episode with a discussion about anarchism and voting. After a roundup of resistance to capitalism and the state, our feature this episode is about Trump's deployment of thousands of troops to “defend the border” and how it is in most people's interest to push back on this latest precedent of using the military against civilian populations. We remember recently deceased anarchists Zhlobitsky Mikhail Vasilyevich and Kevin Garrido. There are calls for mobilizations on the border in the coming weeks, updates from the Vaughn 17 trial, and announcements of anti-fascist actions for the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Send us news, events, or ideas on how our show can better serve anarchist activity in your town by emailing us at podcast@crimethinc.com. {November 7, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction: Anarchism vs. Voting {0:00} Headlines {5:10} Turning the Army against the People: Border Militarization and the Migrant Caravan {10:45} Remembering anarchists Zhlobitsky Mikhail Vasilyevich and Kevin Garrido {19:25} Repression roundup {24:30} Next Week's News {31:15} Download 29:30 minutes long version. Upcoming events/demos/etc: November 8–11: International Days of Action against Fascism and Anti-Semitism. November 10: A rally and march in NYC for International Days of Action against Fascism and Anti-Semitism. Gather at 1pm at 83rd and Lexington Ave. November 10: A meeting of the Jewish Antifascist Network of the Triangle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, at Peace and Justice Plaza to hold a service for those murdered in the Holocaust and in recent white supremacist and anti-Semitic attacks November 10: A call for counter demos against PEGIDA's anti-Muslim and anti-refugee demonstration in Toronto. Meet at 12pm in Mel Lastman Square. November 10: a demonstration in Little Rock, Arkansas against the white supremacist National Socialist Movement. Meet at the capitol steps at 500 Woodlane St at 12pm. November 11: this month's PDX Rad Movie Night, hosted by Portland Anarchist Black Cross and Oregon Jericho, presents The Gentleman Bank Robber, the story of queer revolutionary and former political prisoner Rita Bo Brown. The screening, followed by a discussion, will be taking place at 6PM at the Social Justice Action Center at 400 SE 12th Ave. - November 16–18: School of the Americas Watch is hosting a border encuentro directly on the US/Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona and Sonora. November 17: A Stand Against Proud Boys action in Philadelpha, to counter Proud Boys who are planning to attend a rally called We the People. Meet at Washington Square Park at 6th and Walnut Streets. November 26 in London, England: A meeting to plan solidarity events for January 19 in support of anti-fascists facing persecution in Russia. The meeting will take place at Mayday Rooms, located at 88 Fleet St. December 17(ish): in Brownsville, Texas, people are planning to Meet the Migrants at the Border, in greeting them food and love! This date is currently tentative, as it is unclear when the migrant caravan will actually arrive. Organizers point out that there are five other points of entry on the Texas border the migrant caravan may try, and are encouraging people to organize more events. Here's a link to their Facebook page. Duluth, Minnesota: Anti-fascist and anti-white supremacy People's General Assemblies will be taking place weekly, Tuesdays at 6 PM in People's Power Plaza Upcoming anarchist book fairs and gatherings: November 10: Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam November 17–18: The Seattle Anarchist Book Fair November 17–18: The Boston Anarchist Book Fair Lastly, anarchists in Umea, Sweden are hosting their first ever bookfair from November 29 to December 2. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is on tour until late November! This week's dates: November 9: Lincoln, NE. 6:30 pm @ F Street Community Center 1225 F St Lincoln, NE 68508 November 10: Lincoln, NE. 10:00 am @ F Street Community Center 1225 F St Lincoln, NE 68508 November 14: Kansas Cito, MO. 6:00 pm @ Kansas City Public Library Lucile H Bluford Branch 3050 Prospect Ave Kansas City, MO 64128 November 15: Kansas Cito, MO. 10:00 am @ Kansas City Public Library Lucile H Bluford Branch 3050 Prospect Ave Kansas City, MO 64128 A complete list of tour dates and locations can be found here. Other anarchist critiques of voting and democracy: “Voting vs. Direct Action” “The Party's Over: Beyond Politics, Beyond Democracy” “From Democracy To Freedom” “False Hope vs. Real Change” The Ex-Worker #51: “Anarchism, Voting, and Direct Action: An Audio Zine” The Ex-Worker #48: “From Democracy to Freedom Audio Zine” The Ex-Worker #47: “Introducing the Anarchist Critique of Democracy” Other Crimethinc material referenced in this episode: “Fuck Abuse, Kill Power” “The Thin Blue Line is a Burning Fuse” “Turning the Army against the People: Border Militarization and the Migrant Caravan” “ On the Attack against the FSB in Russia, Including a Statement from the Anarchist Who Carried It Out” The Centro de Cultura Libertária of Cacilhas-Almada, which was founded in 1974 and is the oldest anarchist cultural center in Portugal, is facing eviction due to rampant real estate speculation and gentrification. To help contribute to their crowdfunding efforts, you can donate via the “Contribute” button here on their website. C.C.L. bank account details for donations Holder: CENTRO DE CULTURA LIBERTÁRIA IBAN: PT50003501790000215493029 (Bank: Caixa Geral de Depósitos) To put pressure on the prison where Jason Walker is being held about the cruel treatment he and other prisoners are enduring, you can ring the warden's office at (936) 295–5756 or try emailing the warden at kelly.strong@tdcj.texas.gov. Court support for the Vaughn Trial is welcome! Court is ongoing every weekday from 10am–5pm in Courtroom 8B at 500 N King St, Wilmington, DE. Supporters of the seven strikers at the Toledo Correctional Institution are calling for a phone zap, especially because strikers have been met with rubber bullets in the past in retaliation. You can call ORDC director at 614–387–0588 or Toledo Correctional Institution at 419–726–7977. Sample script: “I am calling on behalf of David Easley, Richard Harris, Elijah Bowen, and James Ward, and all others on hunger strike. We know they have been severely punished with mace and rubber bullets, and I am asking of you to ensure they are not subjected to any further abuse for their actions. I stand behind their demands against adding more solitary confinement wings, and ask that their concerns are addressed promptly. Solitary confinement is extreme and inhumane, and not a solution to overcrowding… no one should be held in solitary because your facilities are inadequate to house them otherwise. There are also reports of harassment and abuse in the 4B overflow units, and I ask that you immediately take steps to guarantee that guards are not tampering with food or denying prisoners proper meals, and lift any restrictions that would prohibit prisoners from receiving books.” If you have some time, consider joining the campaign to free the Virgin Island 3 with the Philly Anarchist Black Cross. Because the governor will be focusing on the election until late November, save the calls, emails and faxes for after November 20th; in the meantime, you can download and print fliers to distribute and send letters. Suggested letter format. Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write a birthday message for alleged Earth Liberation Front prisoner Joseph Dibee, who celebrates his birthday this week: Joseph Dibee #812133 MCDC 1120 SW 3rd Avenue Portland, Oregon 97204 Note: Joseph is pre-trial, so please do not discuss anything about his case, or anything else illegal either! {Birthday: November 10} Sales are OPEN for the 2019 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar! The theme of next year's calendar is Health/Care, and it features art and writing from current and former political prisoners like David Gilbert, Mike and Chuck Africa, and Laura Whitehorn. If you buy 10 or more, be sure to use the discount code “BULK” to get 10 or more calendars for $10 each—you can then sell the calendars to fundraise for your own organizing. CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS In Hotwire #43, we said that there was an unpermitted crowd that forced Trump's motorcade to turn around outside the Tree of Life synagogue. There were massive protests, but despite this report we haven't been able to confirm that the protests, in fact, disrupted Trump's motorcade. Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross informed us that political prisoner Ed Poindexter only has one good eye, due to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services denying him much needed cataract eye surgery. If you write him a letter, as we requested last week, please write IN LARGE, BOLD PRINT.  

No news is good news. 60% of wildlife has been wiped off the planet since 1970. Mexican police kill a man in the migrant caravan on the border with Guatemala. Ever since Trump openly declared himself a nationalist last week, there has been an escalation of far-right violence. We interview an anarchist who works at the Tree of Life synagogue where an anti-Semite massacred 11 people on Saturday, as well as two people in the Outlive Them network about the upcoming International Days of Action against Fascism and Anti-Semitism. We also draw connections between the election of Bolsonaro in Brazil and anarchist resistance to Trump and democracy itself in the United States. Send us news, events, or ideas on how our show can better serve anarchist activity in your town by emailing us at podcast@crimethinc.com. {October 31, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction {0:00} Headlines {1:12} Tree of Life massacre {5:10} Bolsonaro, democracy, elections {24:00} Resistance roundup {33:50} Repression roundup {37:50} Next Week's News {43:15} Download 29:30 minutes long version. The latest episode of Sub.Media's webseries Trouble deals with the J20 protests and ensuing legal battle. If anyone out there can help translate the subtitles to Brazilian Portuguese, we know that comrades there would appreciate it! E-mail us at podcast[at]crimethinc[dot]com. Upcoming events/demos/etc: November 2: A call for counter protests against Steve Bannon and David Frum in Toronto. Meet at 5pm outside Ray Thomson Hall located at 60 Simcoe St. November 6: an anti-ICE march in Portland, Oregon at 6pm. Meet at City Hall and check out @OccupyICEPDX on twitter for more information. November 8–11: International Days of Action against Fascism and Anti-Semitism, including this action in New York City on November 10. November 10: A call for counter demos against PEGIDA's anti-Muslim and anti-refugee demonstration, also in Toronto. Meet at 12pm in Mel Lastman Square. November 16–18: School of the Americas Watch is hosting a border encuentro directly on the US/Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona and Sonora. November 17: A Stand Against Proud Boys action in Philadelpha, to counter Proud Boys who are planning to attend a rally called We the People. Meet at Washington Square Park at 6th and Walnut Streets. Upcoming anarchist book fairs and gatherings: November 1–2, Anarchist Book Fair in Santiago, Chile November 10: Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam November 17–18: The Seattle Anarchist Book Fair November 17–18: The Boston Anarchist Book Fair More about the unpermitted crowd that forced Trump's motorcade to turn around in Pittsburgh. The Claws of Empire, the Rise of Fascism: Brazilian Anarchist Statement on Bolsonaro Another anarchist perspective on the upcoming midterm elections. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief are still looking for accomplices in their autonomous relief work in North Carolina, as well as supplies. They need: people with any background relevant to repairing homes. food, water, cleaning & building supplies, baby supplies, etc. funds, to go toward these projects, keeping the lights on, keeping it all moving Gift cards and supplies can be mailed to: 102 N Cedar St. Lumberton, NC 28358 If you can come help, please get in touch by emailing WeKeepUsSafeVC@protonmail.com or mutualaiddisasterrelief@gmail.com Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is on tour until late November! This week's dates: October 31: Olympia, WA. 3:00 pm PDT @ Evergreen State College, 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW, Olympia, WA 98505 November 1: Seattle, WA. 7:00 pm PDT @ Pipsqueak Gallery, 173 16th Ave Seattle, WA 98122 November 6: Fort Collins, CO. 7:00 pm MST @ Poudre Valley Public Library, 201 Peterson St, Fort Collins, CO 80524 November 7: Fort Collins, CO. 4:00 pm MST @ Cafe Foco, 201 Peterson St, Fort Collins, CO 80524 A complete list of tour dates and locations can be found here. Duluth, Minnesota: Anti-fascist and anti-white supremacy People's General Assemblies will be taking place weekly, Tuesdays at 6 PM in People's Power Plaza Political Prisoner Malik Washington has announced a hunger strike, not only against his conditions, but also against police brutality on streets and inside prison walls, against prison slavery, and against patriarchy and imperialism. If you'd like to send him written messages of support, you can write him at: Keith H. Washington #1487958 McConnell Unit 3100 South Emily Drive Beeville, TX 78103 Write a letter to anarchist prisoner Eric King at: Eric King # 27090045 USP LEAVENWORTH U.S. PENITENTIARY P.O. BOX 1000 LEAVENWORTH, KS 66048 Rashid Johnson, a revolutionary prisoner who is a founding member, and Minister of Defense, of the Prison Chapter of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party, is asking for your help! As de facto retribution for his relentless activism and exposure of the prison system, Rashid is being held in awful repressive conditions. Especially importantly, he takes medication for his blood pressure and the prison is withholding his medicine. Supporters can call Warden Beth Cabell, any day other than Friday, at  (804) 834–2678. The focus should be on his medical emergency, as Rashid needs to have his blood pressure checked in order for any adjustments to be made to his medications. A trans woman of color and water protector was arrested on bogus charges in Louisiana on last week. She has since been released, but you can still donate to the ongoing fight at Gofundme.com/NoBBP. In the Philippines, Food Not Bombs volunteer Marco is still in prison awaiting trial on drug charges. His supporters vehemently maintain that he had drugs planted on him and that he is being framed. You can donate to his legal fund here. Friends of Tim Brown Jr are raising legal funds on his behalf for charges he incurred while in jail after being arrested in Charlottesville. The new charges are for allegedly beating up James Fields, the neo-Nazi who murdered Heather Heyer. If you have a few bucks, here's the link to his gofundme. Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write a birthday message for Ed Poindexter, who celebrates a birthday next week: Ed Poindexter #27767 Nebraska State Penitentiary Post Office Box 2500 Lincoln, Nebraska 68542 {Birthday: November 1} Sales are OPEN for the 2019 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar! The theme of next year's calendar is Health/Care, and it features art and writing from current and former political prisoners like David Gilbert, Mike and Chuck Africa, and Laura Whitehorn. If you buy 10 or more, be sure to use the discount code “BULK” to get 10 or more calendars for $10 each—you can then sell the calendars to fundraise for your own organizing.    

Mutual Aid in the Wake of Hurricane Michael This week on The Final Straw Radio, we feature a conversation with Pearson, an anarchist resident of Tallahassee, Florida, and is involved in storm relief mutual aid work in the wake of Hurricane Michael. Pearson is also the co-host of the leftist podcast “Coffee With Comrades”. For the hour we talk about Hurricane Michael, which just passed through the Florida Panhandle and up through the Carolinas, affecting Georgia and Alabama as well. Within a 36 hour period, the Hurricane ramped up from a Tropical Storm to a category 4 or 5 (depending on who you talk to) Hurricane. Michael was the strongest hurricane to hit that part of Florida ever on record, making landfall on Wednesday, October 10th in the morning and may be the third largest to hit the U.S. mainland with winds surges of up to 175 miles per hour and sustaining at 150. Because of the quick increase, localities in the storms path found themselves underprepared for such a devastating catastrophe. The state of Florida Department of Corrections refused to evacuate about 12 prisons that were in the Mandatory Evacuation areas in the path of Hurricane Michael despite a call-in campaign by Fight Toxic Prisons. For the hour, we talk about the immediate response efforts in Tallahassee, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, anthropogenic or human-caused Climate Change and it's various impacts on the residents and environs of Florida, and a bunch of other related topics. Later, Pearson shares about his podcast, “Coffee with Comrades”, available at http://coffeewithcomrades.com/ Here are a few links for info if you're in Florida as well as ways to donate from a distance: Florida People's Advocacy Center in Tally is a safe space for people to come for disaster relief (trans inclusive and very supportive of undocumented individuals) Tallahassee DSA Fund: http://gofundme.com/dsa-tlh-hurricane-relief-fund Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/donate/ Amazon Wishlist for the Panhandle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3QUS9SLT7QD3/ref=cm_wl_huc_view Announcements Anti-Racists in Greenville, SC On Saturday, October 13th in Greenville, SC, there was a racist “Build The Wall” anti-immigration rally organized in support of Trumps xenophobic policies. Naturally, there was a counter-demonstration. Two anti-racists were arrested for picketing ordinances and another for disorderly conduct. If you'd like to help them, there's a paypal where donations are being collected for legal and any medical fees attached to this at paypal.me/upstatesc Connor Stevens post-release fund First, Connor Stevens, one of the convicted Cleveland 4, is up for potential parole as soon as November, 2018! From the fundraizr for Connor: “Connor Stevens is one of the Cleveland4. He is being released soon so we're raising funds to help get him basic necessities when he is released! It's possible he'll even be released by November! Click here if you are out of the US and would like to donate via Paypal The Cleveland 4 were four Occupy Cleveland activistswho were were arrested on April 30th, 2012, accused of plotting to blow up a bridge. But it was the FBI, working with an informant, that crafted the plot, produced the “explosives,” and coerced these four into participating. Connor took non-cooperating plea deals and pled guilty to all charges. The judge applied a “terrorism enhancement” to their sentences, elongating their sentences as well as subjecting them to harsher prison conditions. Connor served 8 years 1 month—all to be followed by lifetime supervised release.” You can find his post-release fundraiser at: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/d1PY2c or by searching “Welcome Home Connor Stevens” at fundrazr.com. To hear our past coverage of the Cleveland 4 case, including an interview with Connors mother, you can check out (our website and search Cleveland 4) Zak Kostopoulos Zak Kostopoulos, an 33 year old lgbtq+ drag performer and activist who worked against prejudice faced by folks who are HIV positive was beaten to death in a homophobic attack near Omonia Square in Athens, Greece on September 21st. Zak lept into a jewelry store in order to avoid a nearby brawl when the emergency shutters descended, trapping him inside. He was then set upon by the owner of the shop and others who were heard uttering homophobic and hate statements against those with HIV. After escaping the store, by smashing through the window with a fire extinguisher, he was followed out by the owner and another thug. Zak was beaten to the ground while surrounded by mostly male onlookers. When police showed up, they handcuffed Zak. The murder was captured on camera. The shop owner was only arrested after the video went viral and he was only charged with manslaughter, not murder, as he claims to have been protecting his property, which is absurd. Following news of the murder, an emergency anarchist assembly was called and a march of 500 took the streets of Athens with smaller marches happening in nearby cities. Marches followed that week. Apologies for the wait in announcing this sad news which a listener sent us after the murder took place. We are thankful for being informed. Mumia Abu-Jamal There is a call for supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal to fill the court room and the streets on October 29th from 8am til 11am in Philadelphia at the Criminal Justice Center, 13th and Filbert. Mumia is a former Black Panther, is a journalist and Political Prisoner who was put on death row for decades for the killing of a cop he says he did not commit. Mumia's trial has been recognized internationally, including by Amnesty International, as a political show trial. More info up at http://mobilization4mumia.com   Certain Days Calendar benefit show On October 19th at the Pine Box Rock Shop, 12 Gratton Street in Brooklyn, NY, there'll be a benefit for post-release funds by the organizers of the Certain Days: Freedom For Political Prisoners Calendar. From Certain Days: In the last year, we have been fortunate enough to welcome home a handful of political prisoners from US prisons. Our movements have not exactly been prepared for this good fortune, and so support committees, families and friends of these folks have been forced to scramble for funds for basic living expenses. In addition to that, many of these people have been targeted in the media and beyond by various law enforcement unions and organizations, making open fundraising online a difficult proposition. We need to step up our game and aid not only the handful of political prisoners that have been released this year but also, the people who may be leaving prison soon. The show will feature performances by Despairwolf, MAAFA_Hardcore, High Cost, and Trophy hunt and for a VERY reasonable price for a show in New York City as I understand. . ... . .. Playlist here.

This week we had the opportunity to connect with Vanessa Bolin, who is an indigenous artist, community organizer, and activist who has been helping with flood rescue and rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Florence in Lumberton, NC, which is in Robeson County. In this interview we talk about what still needs to be done in this area, how to help out, some important parallels between post hurricane relief and anti pipeline organizing, and the importance of foregrounding marginalized voices in mutual aid efforts. . … . .. Our guest mentioned the Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice (IACJ), which has a fundraiser right now that is benefiting the indigenous communities of Robeson County. Here is the donation link via Facebook, or you can go to their website to donate that way. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is also coordinating a bunch of efforts, you can learn more about this group at mutualaiddisasterrelief.org or look them up on any social media platform. If you have 4-14 days spare and want to get down to Robeson County to help out, especially if you have proficiency in Spanish and skills in logistical coordination, you can send them an email to get networked in at WeKeepUsSafeVC@protonmail.com. There is also a GoFundMe for mutual aid efforts in Asheville, benefitting affected areas in Robeson County. Links to some things our guest mentioned: To learn more about the Indigenous Wisdom Permaculture Model and convergence, just follow the link for information and future convergence dates. To see the Water Protector Arts Facebook page, you can just go to Facebook and search the name of the page. You can follow this link to reach directly out to the Lumbee Tribe if you are intending to do direct support work. To connect with EcoRobeson, the group which is doing anti pipeline work in Robeson County that is mainly affecting already disenfranchised people, you can follow this link. Somethings we'd like to mention: When Vanessa talks about the struggles of the Dine people (who are sometimes known as Navajo) where she mentions uranium mining, this is a huge issue that spans many generations. You can visit Black Mesa Rezistance, which is an organized effort in Black Mountain and Big Mesa (also known as Arizona) on the part of the Dine and Hopi people to defend themselves and their existences. You can learn more about this effort at https://blackmesa.rezist.org/ and follow the links for further material to learn about the history and present day projects and struggles. And finally, for a look into some of the truly amazing legacy of the Lumbee Tribe in so called NC, we at The Final Straw recommend the book To Die Game by William McKee Evans. This book details a resistance movement at a time when Lumbee youth were being targeted for conscription into the Confederate army, and how they along with a diverse coalition of other resistors, eluded capture in the swamps of eastern NC for over 5 years. You can also read about this in the book Dixie Be Damned, along with many other lesser reported moments of resistance in the American Southeast. Announcements for Prisoner Support Jalil Muntaqim Jalil Muntaqim, former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army is facing the parole board in November as his August visit was postponed due to clerical issues. He's going to be getting a lot of pushback from the Policeman's Benevolent Association, Fraternal Order of Police, Corrections Guards associations and the rest of the gallery of reactionary so-called unions for cops. Those groups are on alert, as we've seen with the tug of war around the release of Herman Bell, any time an aging political prisoner, especially one accused of involvement in the killing of a cop, comes up for parole. The parole boards are often made up of former judges, D.A.'s, Prosecutors and law enforcement, forming an added blue wall for prisoners facing parole boards. So, Jalil needs us to write letters of support for his release. Although some of the links are dead from the earlier parole push, you can check this IGD link (see our shownotes at thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org for the link) for a list of achievements Jalil has since his incarceration. Also, Jalil's birthday is October 18th, so feel free to send him a separate birthday greeting! Also, also, check out our website to hear past episodes featuring interviews with Jalil conducted by buddies at Prison Radio on CKUT in Montreal. To support Jalil, follow these instructions passed on from National Jericho NY: Write a letter in you own words in support of parole for Jalil, address to: Senior Offender Rehabilitation Coordinator Sullivan Correctional Facility 325 Riverside Drive Fallsburg, New York 12733 BUT SEND TO: Nora Carroll The Parole Preparation Project 168 Canal Street, 6th Floor New York, NY 10013 The subject line should be “Anthony Bottom 77-A-4283” We are making an effort to include letters of support for Jalil that are personalized and from people who are familiar with him and his work. If you want further instructions for how to write a strong, personalized letter of support, please email carroll.nora@gmail.com. Also, please send a copy of your letter to Jalil for his files: Anthony Bottom #77A4283, Sullivan Correctional Facility, P.O. Box 116, Fallsburg, NY 12733-0116 More on Jalil can be found at http://freejalil.com . … . .. Casey Brezik Casey is an anarchist political prisoner who also has a parole hearing coming up, his one and only for his 12 year stint for the stabbing of the president of a university in Missouri. Casey recently got married to a woman being held in another Missouri prison. He's studying calculus so he can go to school to be an aerospace engineer once he's released. He goes before the parole board November 2018. He's unsure of exactly when he gets out, but knows he isn't eligible until November 2020. He's currently saving his money (and asking for help) to afford a cheap vehicle when he gets out in order to transport himself to work and school. His intentions are to parole out to the St. Louis area and attending a community college until he gets his basic credits and can transfer to a university. His eyes are set on the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Casey suffers from depression and has a history of schizophrenia. he describes himself as socially awkward and says he often feels misunderstood. He has a kind heart and he looks forward to getting out relatively soon and getting to see all of those who have shown him support over the years. He thanks you all. Casey was recently transferred to the Farmington Correctional Center in Farmington, Missouri. In November, he will go before the parole board for the first and ONLY TIME and he needs your help! Thoughtful and professional letters to the parole board by people who care about Casey and are willing to offer support to him during his transition back to life outside of prison can make it more likely that Casey will be released. *Even though the letter should be addressed to the parole board, all letters should be sent directly to Casey and he will deliver them to the parole board: Casey Brezik #1154765 Farmington Correctional Center 1012 West Columbia Street Farmington, MO 63640 More on Casey at https://supportcasey.org/ . … . .. Sean Swain Anarchist prisoner Sean Swain is still being silenced by the state of Ohio and could use your letters. He's potentially in the process of being transferred in an inter-state deal which will make his life way harder. Sean has communicated that he was at one point on hunger strike and is extremely isolated. You can write to Sean at : Sean Swain #243-205 Warren CI P.O. Box 120 Lebanon, Ohio 45036 It's suggested that concerned listeners call ODRC Director Stuart Hudson (614) 387-0588 Governor's Counsel Kevin O'Donell Stanek (614) 466-3555 Callers should voice concern over Sean's health, access to communication and the blocking of counsel from his recent RIB hearing that threatens to transfer him out of Ohio. More info on his case can be found at seanswain.noblogs.org . … . .. NC Prisoners repressed from #PrisonStrike On IGD you can read the list of demands specific to NC prisoners that Joseph Stewart wrote back in July. He was transferred after the outside published his statement in support of the strike and has intermittently been left off of prisoner support call-ups so he can surely use some supporting letters at Polk CI where he is currently housed. You can write Joseph at : Joseph D. Stewart #0802041 Polk CI Box 2500 Butner, NC 27509 Three other prisoners in NC, are held within the Hyde Correctional Institution, a facility in Fairfield, NC, are being threatened with retaliation for their active support and organizing in solidarity with the national #PrisonStrike. They're facing threats of administrative repression, as are any other fellow prisoners connected to the national strike. More info in our show notes Please write letters of support to: Randy Watterson #427985 Hyde Correctional Institution P.O. Box 278 Swan Quarter, NC 27885 Todd Martin #1071227 Hyde Correctional Institution P.O. Box 278 Swan Quarter, NC 27885 Jace Buras #1522417 Hyde Correctional Institution P.O. Box 278 Swan Quarter, NC 27885 . … . .. The Vaughn17 From a statement by the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement (RAM) and Vaughn17 Support in Philly: On Feb. 1, 2017, after a series of peaceful protests yielded no results, incarcerated comrades took over a building at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Delaware to demand slight improvements in their treatment. After a 20-hour stand-off, the prison's response was to literally bulldoze their barricades and figuratively bulldoze their demands, retaliating with constant beatings, destruction of prisoner property, and denial of food and medical care. Furthermore, the state has accused 17 of the incarcerated with egregious offenses even though these charges have no basis in reality. The state's response shows once again that any prisoners standing up for themselves, to regain dignity and achieve decent treatment, is a threat. And the state will collectively punish everyone and anyone to hide its barbarism. The only role of prison guards, wardens and the Department of Corrections (DOC) is the perpetuation of slavery and subjugation. There is a call for court support for the 17, who will be attending trail in small groups, at New Castle County Courthouse, 500 N. King St., Wilmington, DE 19801. The first trial starts on Monday, October 8th and the last is slated for February 11th, 2019. People in the area interested in helping volunteer for court support can learn more by reading this IGD article. A pdf of a poster with addresses, pictures and info on the 17 prisoners pulled into this case can be found here . … . .. Show playlist here.

Breht O'Shea and Dr. Bones interview Faye and Alex from the Socialist Rifle Association (SRA). Learn more about, support, *and JOIN*, the Socialist Rifle Association here: https://www.socialistra.org/ Learn about and support Mutual Aid Disaster Relief here: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/ Intro Music by Captain Planet. Listen to, and support, his music here: https://djcaptainplanet.bandcamp.com/ Outro Music by Ramshackle Glory, find and support their music here: https://ramshackleglory.bandcamp.com/ Get access to the video version of every episode as well as our new monthly bonus episode by supporting us and donating to our Patreon: Patreon.com/TheGuillotine Check out The Workers World here: https://theworkersworld.wordpress.com/ The Nashville tattoo artist who created our logo can be found here: https://www.brimsytattoos.com Channel Zero Network can be found here: https://channelzeronetwork.com

Breht O'Shea and Dr. Bones (Breht's co-host on The Guillotine) interview Faye and Alex from the Socialist Rifle Association (SRA). Learn more about, support, *and JOIN*, the Socialist Rifle Association here: https://www.socialistra.org/ Learn about and support Mutual Aid Disaster Relief here: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/ Intro Music by Captain Planet. Listen to, and support, his music here: https://djcaptainplanet.bandcamp.com/ Outro Music by Ramshackle Glory, find and support their music here: https://ramshackleglory.bandcamp.com/ Get access to the video version of every episode as well as our new monthly bonus episode by supporting us and donating to our Patreon: Patreon.com/TheGuillotine Support the show (at whatever tier you prefer) at: Patreon.com/RevLeftRadio Make a one time donation to our PayPal at: PayPal.me/RevLeft  

In this early edition of Coffee with Comrades, Pearson sits down for a conversation with Jimmy Dunson of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. But first, in the absence of our beloved Bree, Pearson invites friend-of-the-show and all-around-solid comrade, Sam, on for a discussion of current events: Brett Kavanaugh is not only a goblin-nosed ghoul, he’s also a fucking liar. The Senate Judiciary Committee was an utter farce of partisan shit-slinging Lindsay Graham--that obnoxious, keebler-elf-looking motherfucker--was a particularly self-righteous and pompous ass Seriously, Kavanaugh lied. A lot. Let’s organize to destroy the Supreme Court and smash the state while we’re at it. Fuck Abuse, Kill Power. Meanwhile, under the fog of Kavanaugh, the House passes $3.8 trillion in tax cuts. The Trump Administration is targeting immigrants, yet again, through food-stamps and medicaid. The International Revolutionary People’s Guerilla Forces (IRPGF) of Rojava submitted their final communique this week. A leaked video from Amazon shows their anti-union antics. Hurricane Florence released literal tons of coal ash into the Carolinas river systems. Now, the coal industry wants to be deregulated. Jimmy and Pearson talk about Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, autonomous response in the wake of Hurricane Florence, how communities can organize and prepare for disasters both social and ecological, and how folks can build infrastructure and dual-power. Follow Mutual Aid Disaster Relief on Facebook and Twitter. Visit Mutual Aid Disaster Relief’s website. Donate to support the vital work of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Follow Sam on Twitter. Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Interlude: “Idioteque” by Radiohead Outro: “Human Carrying Capacity” by Harm’s Way

Our feature this episode is an interview with an anarchist involved in one of the more spectacular autonomous relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Florence—Operation Airdrop. We follow it up with some discussion about the role of anarchist politics in doing autonomous, mutual aid relief work. We also interview someone involved in the new occupation outside campus security on Portland State University's campus after a grand jury did not indict two killer cops for the murder of Jason Washington. The International Revolutionary People's Guerrilla Forces is dissolving their organization, but we share their final communiqué in which they encourage us to keep up the struggle against hierarchy in all its forms. Plus, reports on the recent #MeToo McDonald's workers strike, anti-fascist action in Tennessee, and announcements for anarchist book fairs and ways to support prisoners. Send us news, events, or ideas on how our show can better serve anarchist activity in your town by emailing us at podcast@crimethinc.com. {September 26, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction {0:00} Headlines {0:50} Occupation against the police at PSU {8:20} Autonomous relief after Hurricane Florence and Operation Airdrop interview {12:35} Repression roundup {22:40} Next Week's News {29:10} Download 29:30 minutes long version. Autonomous Mutual Aid in the wake of Hurricane Florence Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Blue Ridge Autonomous Defense Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice Mutual Aid Carrboro NC Solidarity Network Tidewater Solidarity Collective Appalachian Medical Solidarity River City Medic Collective Community Advocacy and Healing Project Operation Airdrop Upcoming anti-fascist action: September 29 at Risman Plaza on Kent State University in Ohio from 1–5 PM—demonstrate against the participation of white supremacists from the American Guard in an open-carry on campus rally October 6 at the Rhode Island State House in Providence at 10 AM to oppose a “Resist Marxism” rally October 13 in London, England: Unity Demonstration against a far-right football hooligan event. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief presentations in Tucson, Arizona: Friday, September 28, at 7 PM: Protectors v. Profiteers: Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism at Global Justice Center 225 E 26th St Tucson, AZ 85705 Saturday, September 29, at 10 AM: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness Global Justice Center 225 E 26th St Tucson, AZ 85705 Visit miantirepression.org for information on FBI harassment in Michigan. Demand an end to the year-long lockdown at Lieber Correctional by contributing to the phone zap: Henry McMaster, SC Governor Phone: 803.734.2100 Fax: 803.734.5167 Lieber Correctional Institution General Number 843–875–3332 Ask for transfer to Captain Haney Warden Randall Williams 843–875–3332 Check out this interview with recently deported anarchist Mapache. Upcoming anarchist book fairs and gatherings: September 28–30: The 12th annual Balkan Anarchist Bookfair in Novi Sad, Serbia October 13–14: The anarchist book and propaganda gathering in Santiago, Chile October 12–14: Anarchist tattoo and piercing festival in Pelotas, Brazil October 20–21: Anarchist Festival in London, England November 17–18: The Seattle Anarchist Book Fair Other relevant anarchist media: This is Parkdale, a documentary on tenant organizing in Toronto. Hotwire #35 discusses the struggle over the Artesian Commons in Olympia, Washington. The Ex-Worker #17 has an interview with an anarchist supporter of Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation prisoner Jorge P Cornell. Sales are now OPEN for the 2019 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar! The theme of next year's calendar is Health/Care, and it features art and writing from current and former political prisoners like David Gilbert, Mike and Chuck Africa, and Laura Whitehorn. If you buy 10 or more, be sure to use the discount code “BULK” to get 10 or more calendars for $10 each—you can then sell the calendars to fundraise for your own organizing. Orders start shipping September 10! Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write Jorge Cornell of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation and Skelly of the Cleveland Four: Jorge P. Cornell #28152–057 FCI Petersburg Low 1100 RIVER ROAD HOPEWELL, VA 23860 (Birthday: September 29) Skelly (but address envelope to…) Joshua Stafford #57976–060 USP McCreary Post Office Box 3000 Pine Knot, Kentucky 42635 (Birthday: October 3) For general information on supporting anarchist prisoner Casey Brezik, pop over to supportcasey.org. To help with writing parole board letters for Casey, here's a sample letter: Missouri Board of Probation and Parole 1511 Christy Drive Jefferson City, MO 65101 Regarding: Parole Board Hearing for Casey Brezik #1154765 Dear Honorable Members of the Parole Board, As a concerned citizen who is interested in helping Casey successfully transition into life outside of prison, I am writing to request that you please grant Casey's parole. Casey has been working hard during his incarceration to address his problems with addiction and mental illness and I believe that he has made substantial progress in these efforts. Despite the mistakes he has made, I believe Casey is ready to meet the challenges of daily life and would be a positive contribution to any community. Casey's efforts toward meeting educational and personal goals during his incarceration have been inspiring. Casey is passionate about learning and with the help of his support network he has been studying math and science related topics in preparation for pursuing a college degree upon his release while working to support himself and his wife in the meantime. Casey is well supported by a network of people across the country as well as by his family. I am willing to provide financial, emotional and spiritual support to Casey during his transition back to life outside of prison. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Sincerely, [Your Name] We have a Twitter! Follow @HotwireWeekly and send us news that we should include in the show.  

Get access to the video version of every episode as well as our new monthly bonus episode by supporting us and donating to our Patreon: Patreon.com/TheGuillotine Check out The Workers World here: https://theworkersworld.wordpress.com/ The Nashville tattoo artist who created our logo can be found here: https://www.brimsytattoos.com Channel Zero Network can be found here: https://channelzeronetwork.com 

**This episode of Coffee with Comrades is dedicated to Sydney Eastman. Rest in Power. May we fight to build a better world in your memory.** On this week’s edition of Coffee with Comrades, Pearson sits down for a conversation with Michael Laufer, one of the founding members of the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective, to talk about anarchy, big pharma, DIY medicine, personal autonomy, and information liberation. But first, Bree and Pearson discuss the news: Anarchists are literally flying supplies into Wilmington, NC You can donate to support Mutual Aid Disaster Relief and other solidarity efforts in the Carolinas Botham Jean update: Amber Guyger fired & charged with manslaughter. This is not enough. A CBP whistleblower shared some harrowing stories from his time in the agency with Intercept If you’re visiting anyone in a Virginia prison, you can’t wear tampons Yemenis are starving in UN refugee camps Looks like we might’ve spoke too soon here on Coffee with Comrades: it appears that Brett Kavanaugh may be a bigger creep than we initially anticipated. Four Thieves Vinegar Collective is an anarchic, decentralized cadre of hackers, scientists, and engineers dedicated to putting healthcare back in the hands of human beings. 4TVC seeks to empower individual autonomy by equipping anyone and everyone with the tools needed to brew their own medicine. From epipencils to apothecary labs, 4TVC has it all! Healthcare is a human right, but 4TVC recognizes we can’t wait on neoliberal politicians to pass medicare-for-all. Instead, 4TVC liberates information and gives that knowledge directly to people, championing personal autonomy in an age of isolation and alienation. Follow Michael Laufer on Twitter. Check out Four Thieves Vinegar Collective’s website and get involved! Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Interlude: “Toast to the Dead” by Immortal Technique Outro: “Outbreak” by Stray From the Path

The world is a dangerous place in 2018-Botham Jean is murdered in his own home by a Dallas cop and police are actively raiding the rebel encampment in the Hambach Forest. There's inspiring strike resistance in Central and South America where striking dockworkers in Chile caused thousands of dollars in damage and a general strike in taking place in Costa Rica. Hurricane Florence took Wilmington by storm and we interview anarchists on the ground doing disaster relief. There are quite a few prisoners who need support and we read excerpts from a heartfelt statement issued by prisoners at the Burnside Prison in Halifax who are ending their strike. Anarchists in London are trying something new! And there's lots of events coming up! Send us news, events, or ideas on how our show can better serve anarchist activity in your town by emailing us at podcast@crimethinc.com. {September 19, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction {0:00} Headlines {1:15} Evictions in Hambach Forest {5:42} Strikes! in Costa Rica and Chile {11:10} Interview w Anarchists in Wilmington after Hurricane Florence {13:22} Explosions in Hanover {22:31} Repression roundup {25:45} Next Week's News {34:52} Download 29:30 minutes long version Autonomous Mutual Aid in the wake of Hurricane Florence Donate to Grassroots Hurricane Relief, in Durham, NC, or Mutual Aid Supplies Relief NC You can contact Tidewater IWW in the Norfolk, VA area, Mutual Aid Carrboro, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief or Blue Ridge Autonomous Defense Crew in North Carolina Donate to relief efforts around Andover and Lawrence, Massachusetts after an explosions and fires rocked their communities: Bread And Roses Lawrence, Lazarus House shelter, Elevated Thought , or Greater Lawrence Community Action Council. Upcoming anarchist book fairs and events: September 28–30: The 12th annual Balkan Anarchist Bookfair in Novi Sad, Serbia Anarchist book and propaganda gathering in Santiago, Chile October 13 and 14, encuentroanarquista.org. 20 and 21 in London, England, instead of an anarchist bookfair comrades there are organizing a decentralized anarchist festival! Help defend long term anarchist spaces: On September 29, there is a demo at 6 PM in defense of Liebig34, a self-organized, anarcha-queer-feminist collective house and social center in Berlin! And fund new ones: The Aftonomi Space in Yogyakarta, Indonesia is raising funds to equip their infoshop! Upcoming anti-fascist action: September 29: Oppose the League of the South's rally in Elizabethton, TN. Stay tuned to @HollerNetwork and @knoxradical for updates. Help fund defense for antifa arrested in Newnan, Georgia! In the next episode of Trouble, subMedia explores hiphop as a potent site of revolutionary politics. It drops on September 25th at 8pm on sub.media Other relevant CrimethInc. material: Learn more about the legacy of the September 11, 1973 coup in Chile through the insurrectionary documentary The Chicago Conspiracy Hotwire #3, Hotwire #6, and Hotwire #9 have interviews about mutual aid based, autonomous relief efforts in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. Evictions HAVE BEGUN in the Hambach Forest! If you're in Europe, make your way to the Hambach Forest in Germany to help defend it, and the radical Ewok village of forest defenders who live there. Also, check out our audio documentary about the forest and the defense campaign to stop the cutting. Sales are OPEN for the 2019 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar! The theme of next year's calendar is Health/Care, and it features art and writing from current and former political prisoners like David Gilbert, Mike and Chuck Africa, and Laura Whitehorn. If you buy 10 or more, be sure to use the discount code “BULK” to get 10 or more calendars for $10 each—you can then sell the calendars to fundraise for your own organizing. Orders start shipping September 10! Call in to support Imam Hasan, Silenced on Death Row in Ohio! Sample script can be found here. Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write Greg Curry, who was unjustly targeted after the Lucasville uprising: Greg Curry #213–159 OSP 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd Youngstown, OH 44505 USA September 26th is his birthday and he's asking people to make T-shirts that say “Free Greg Curry” on them, with “GregCurry.org” on the back and send photos of yourself wearing it to his Facebook page! We have a Twitter! Follow @HotwireWeekly and send us news that we should include in the show. Corrections and Clarifications The looting discussed in our interview took place at a Family Dollar, not at a Dollar General.    

It's 17 years and a day after 9/11 and Iraq is still in shambles, so we rip apart liberals for thinking George W. Bush is somehow “cute”. 2001 pops up again when we compare the current economic crisis in Argentina to the wave of worker-led factory takeovers and anarchist media that resisted the last economic meltdown there. We call for anarchists to incorporate a critique of nationalism itself into our anti-fascist strategy and analysis, we include preliminary information for autonomous relief efforts based in mutual aid for #HurricaneFlorence, and we wrap up the National #PrisonStrike with an action report and a bunch of phone-zaps! Send us news, events, or ideas on how our show can better serve anarchist activity in your town by emailing us at podcast@crimethinc.com. {September 12, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction {0:00} George W. Bush is not cute {0:50} The other 9/11 {2:45} Economic collapse in Argentina… again {4:00} Bringing back the anarchist critique of nationalism {5:25} Here come the hurricanes—time for mutual aid {11:00} #PrisonStrike ends {14:55} Repression roundup {20:35} Next Week's News {27:40} Download 29:30 minutes long version. Autonomous Mutual Aid in the wake of Hurricane Florence You can contact Tidewater IWW in the Norfolk, VA area or Blue Ridge Autonomous Defense Crew in North Carolina Fundraiser for grassroots hurricane relief after Florence Hurricane Florence prisoner solidarity phone zap Message regarding Hurricane Florence from our comrades in Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief will give a brief presentation on September 15th at 10:30am at the Uplift Climate Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Anarchist book fairs this weekend: September 15: The Eastern Connecticut Workers Bookfair in Parade Plaza, New London, Connecticut September 15: The 23rd annual Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair in Oakland, California September 28–30: The 12th annual Balkan Anarchist Bookfair in Novi Sad, Serbia Upcoming anti-fascist action: September 15: Stop the League of the South from disrupting TriPride in Johnson City, TN September 29: Oppose the League of the South's rally in Elizabethton, TN. Stay tuned to @HollerNetwork and @knoxradical for updates. Argentina: The documentary The Take looks at factory takeovers and a little of the abstentionist anti-voting movement in Argentina as a response to the economic crisis of 2001 Keep up with resistance news in Argentina through Indymedia Argentina and the excellent anti-authoritarian TV channel Antena Negra Other relevant CrimethInc. output: Our take on September 11 Learn more about the legacy of the September 11, 1973 coup in Chile through the insurrectionary documentary The Chicago Conspiracy Hotwire #3, Hotwire #6, and Hotwire #9 have interviews about mutual aid based, autonomous relief efforts in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. Some anarchist critiques of nationalism: Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty by Emma Goldman Peace is Patriotic, and That's the Problem Against Nationalism by Anarchist Federation Donate to the legal defense fund for anti-racists and anti-fascists arrested in relation to the Silent Sam confederate monument in Chapel Hill, North Carolina Check out this guide on experiences and reflections dealing with undercover police infiltration in Toronto Evictions HAVE BEGUN in the Hambach Forest! If you're in Europe, make your way to the Hambach Forest in Germany to help defend it, and the radical Ewok village of forest defenders who live there. Also, check out our audio documentary about the forest and the defense campaign to stop the cutting. Pre-sales are OPEN for the 2019 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar! The theme of next year's calendar is Health/Care, and it features art and writing from current and former political prisoners like David Gilbert, Mike and Chuck Africa, and Laura Whitehorn. If you buy 10 or more, be sure to use the discount code “BULK” to get 10 or more calendars for $10 each—you can then sell the calendars to fundraise for your own organizing. Orders start shipping September 10! Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write imprisoned American Indian Movement warrior Leonard Peltier. Leonard Peltier #89637–132 USP Coleman I Post Office Box 1033 Coleman, Florida 33521 Phone zap for Jason Walker You can contact the TDCJ Ombudsman at ombudsman@tdcj.texas.gov, as well as the Telford Unit's management at 903–628–3171 and garth.parker@tdcj.texas.gov. You can speak to the Regional Director's office at (903) 928–2623, billy.howard@tdcj.texas.gov and carl.mckellar@tdcj.texas.gov. Contact details for TDCJ head office are (936) 295–6371, Bryan.Collier@tdcj.texas.gov and exec.director@tdcj.texas.gov Script for phone calls: “Hello, I am contacting you as I have been made aware of a pattern of bogus disciplinary cases being issued by CO Renitia T. Davis. In particular, I wish to request that you bring in an appropriate outside investigator to fully investigate the recent cases issued to inmates Jason Renard Walker #1532092 and Logan Newsome #2163761 with an eye to getting these fraudulent cases overturned and expunged immediately, as well as conducting a full investigation into Officer Davis' history. Beyond this, I demand that you cease all forms of harassment and retaliation against Jason Walker, including but not limited to the issuing of bogus cases, the censorship of his correspondence, and the denial of access to heat respite. Please investigate and overturn all recent cases and disciplinary measures issued to Mr. Walker by Telford Unit staff, and investigate the conduct of Lieutenant Estrada, Sergeant Gilstrap, Sergeant Sartin, and Lieutenant Ricks, who have all played a role in the campaign of harassment. Thank you” Phone zap for Kevin Rashid Johnson Monday morning, starting at 9 AM, please phone and email the official in charge of interstate compact: Chief of Corrections Operations David Robinson. You can call the main office number at 804–674–3000 and ask to be transferred to his phone line. Robinson's email address is david.robinson@vadoc.virginia.gov When leaving a message or talking to Mr Robinson, refer to Rashid by his legal name Kevin Johnson. Explain that he is better off in Virginia, that he has been subjected to serious human rights abuses during previous transfers. We have a Twitter! Follow @HotwireWeekly and send us news that we should include in the show.  

On this week’s show, Bree and Pearson are temporarily ditching the theory section to deliver you an episode entirely centered around current events. Tread carefully, this edition of Coffee with Comrades is a whirlwind tour of the past week’s highs and lows. Let’s dig in: Hurricane Florence is barreling towards the Carolinas. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief offers a vision of resilient, community-centered response. September 9 marked the ostensible end of the Prison Strike but the fight for abolition continues. The Florida DOC is taking away inmates MP3 players...because profit. The UN’s efforts to broker peace talks in Yemen between the Houthis rebels and the U.S.-backed Saudi/UAE coalition have collapsed. In response, the coalition began bombing the port of Hodeida, which is responsible for 70% of the imports to Yemen (including international humanitarian aid.) Elon Musk is smoking weed while millions of black folks are locked in prisons for the same offense. Nike cynically exploits Kaepernick to sell sneakers. A cowardly Trump official hid behind anonymity in the New York Times opinion page. The Intercept’s Mendhi Hasan took the op-ed writer to task. Obama disses Trump, accidentally self-owns. Amazon has patented a system that would put workers in a cage, on top of a robot. Seriously. An Ohio police officer used a taser on an eleven-year-old girl suspected of shop-lifting. Brett Kavanaugh, a milquetoast Republican, is likely to be the new supreme court justice. Teen VogueT is officially left of Jacobin. Check out Kim Kelly’s kick-ass intro to anarchism. Follow Coffee with Comrades on Twitter or at our website. Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Outro: “The End’s Beginning” & “Pissed Off” by Fit For A King  

It's been a week of battle at La ZAD, and we share a day-to-day play-by-play of the resistance to the government's eviction operation. Elsewhere in France, the Tarnac Nine's legal victory shows that with a little luck and courage, we can beat the state. Direct action gets the goods for a university occupation against a racist student body president at Texas State University in San Marcos, we finally have an address where you can write Cedar, who is in jail on charges of conspiracy over the anti-gentrification prole stroll in Hamilton, Ontario, and we close the episode by sharing calls for May Day actions in Los Angeles, Eugene, Portland, Olympia, and Seattle. {April 18, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction {0:00} Down with the state and its taxes! {0:33} A week of battle over La Zad {3:25} Headlines {11:00} Legal victory for the Tarnac Nine! {20:25} Next Week's News {26:56} Download 29:30 minutes long version Check out these full reports of resistance to the eviction of la ZAD. Enough is Enough continue to have live updates in English from la ZAD. E-mail taalahooghan@protonmail.com for ways to support those facing multiple charges for allegedly defacing a police station in Arizona the same weekend as an anti-fascist, anti-colonial gathering. To hear more about Turning Point USA's alt-lite politics and campaigns of harassing leftist and anarchist presences at universities, check out the Black Rose Anarchist Federation's interview with Kristina Khan, or the IGDcast interview with Tariq Khan, an anarchist PhD candidate at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. CALLS FOR MAY DAY ACTION: Los Angeles: a disruptive march Eugene, Oregon: a really free market Portland, Oregon: coordinated, decentralized actions Seattle: coordinated, decentralized actions Olympia: coordinated, decentralized actions Other shows mentioned on this Hotwire: Hotwire #26 has our interview with a participant in the Syrian Revolution, who states, “freedom and justice… can only be achieved through a struggle against all authoritarian murderous parties, whether Assad or Islamist jihadists on the one hand or Russia and the U.S. on the other hand.” Episode 50 of The Ex-Worker has an interview with about the Lucasville prison uprising and how it informs contemporary prison rebellion and organizing Get inspired to do something AWESOME for May Day by listening to the very first episode of The Ex-Worker, which is all about Haymarket. Anarchist texts mentioned in this Hotwire: We Don't Need Gun Control, We Need To Take Control June 11: The History of a Day of Anarchist Prisoner Solidarity The May Days: Snapshots from the History of May Day Start gearing up for a summer of anarchy in Quebec! The anarchist film festival (May 17–20 in Montreal) The Montreal International Anarchist Theatre Festival (May 22–23 in Montreal) The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair (May 26–27 in Montreal) The North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference (June 1–3 in Montreal) Anti-G7 mobilization (June 7–9 in Quebec City) The Southeast Trans and/or Women Action Camp, taking place April 26–29 in Western North Carolina, has had their donation page shut down twice, so if you have some bucks to spare you can donate at PayPal.me/setwac2018. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief tourdates this week: April 18 at 6 PM at University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee 2200 E Kenwood Blvd Milwaukee, WI 53211: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness April 19 at 5 PM at University of Wisconsin – Rock County 2909 Kellogg Ave Janesville, WI 53546: Protectors v. Profiteers: Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism April 20 at 12 PM at Angelic Organics Learning Center 1545 Rockton Rd Caledonia, IL 61011: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness April 25 at 5:00 PM at Youth Initiative High School 500 East Jefferson St Viroqua, WI 54665: Protectors v. Profiteers: Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write birthday greetings to political prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal and Janine Phillips Africa. Mumia Abu-Jamal AM8335 SCI Mahanoy 301 Morea Road Frackville, Pennsylvania 17932 {Birthday: April 24} Janine Phillips Africa #006309 SCI Cambridge Springs 451 Fullerton Avenue Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403 {Birthday: April 25} Also, please write a letter to Cedar, the comrade in Ontario who was arrested last week over conspiracy charges stemming from the March 5 anti-gentrification march in Hamilton, Ontario. They are currently being held in segregation, so these letters are especially crucial for helping break the isolation they might experience in prison. Please address the envelope to Peter Hopperton, but address the letters to Cedar: Peter Hopperton Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre 165 Barton St East Hamilton ON L8L 2W6 J20 support resources: POSTER: The J20 Prosecution—Trumped up Charges J20 Legal Defense Fund Twitter Fed book An Open Letter to Former J20 Defendants, with useful “do”s and “don't”s  Teen Vogue: The J20 Arrests and Trials, Explained Tell the prosecutor's boss to drop the charges by calling (202) 252–7566    

As we go to press, hundreds of squatters and eco-rebels are battling against cops at La ZAD in France. We interview someone there, as well as a participant in The Syrian Revolution about the no-state-solution to the Syrian government's ongoing attacks on rebel areas. The treesits in West Virginia against the Mountain Valley Pipeline are expanding. Anarchist prisoner Sean Swain needs support. {April 11, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction {0:00} Headlines {1:30} Rebellion across France {5:07} Interview about Douma, Syria and the Syria Revolution {17:54} Repression Roundup {25:40} Next Week's News {33:53} Download 29:30 minutes long version J20 support resources: POSTER: The J20 Prosecution—Trumped up Charges J20 Legal Defense Fund Twitter Fed book An Open Letter to Former J20 Defendants, with useful “do”s and “don't”s  Teen Vogue: The J20 Arrests and Trials, Explained Tell the prosecutor's boss to drop the charges by calling (202) 252–7566 Enough is Enough has live updates in English from the resistance to the eviction of la ZAD. Check out the Anarchy in Action page about the Syrian Revolution for more anarchist perspectives on it. Please donate to help The Tower anarchist social center in Hamilton, Ontario recover from a fascist attack on their space. Other shows mentioned on this Hotwire: End of the Line, an ongoing podcast about the pipeline struggles in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic. The Fucking News from Sub.Media The Final Straw: Charlotte Uprising: Repression and Resistance Go On Episode 50 of The Ex-Worker has an interview with about the Lucasville prison uprising and how it informs contemporary prison rebellion and organizing Get inspired to do something AWESOME for May Day by listening to the very first episode of The Ex-Worker, which is all about Haymarket. Anarchist texts mentioned in this Hotwire: We Don't Need Gun Control, We Need To Take Control June 11: The History of a Day of Anarchist Prisoner Solidarity The May Days: Snapshots from the History of May Day La ZAD: Another End of the World Is Possible The Southeast Trans and/or Women Action Camp, taking place April 26–29 in Western North Carolina, has had their donation page shut down twice, so if you have some bucks to spare you can donate at PayPal.me/setwac2018. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief tour April 11 at 6:30 PM at First Presbyterian Church 510 W Ottawa St Lansing, MI 48933: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness April 13 at 6 PM at The Boiling Point 143 Burr Oak Street Kalamazoo, MI 49001: Protectors v. Profiteers: Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism April 14 at 12 PM at The Boiling Point 143 Burr Oak Street Kalamazoo, MI 49001: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness April 15 at 6 PM at Girls, Inc 1108 W 8th St Bloomington, IN 47404: Protectors v. Profiteers: Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism April 16 at 3 PM at Girls, Inc 1108 W 8th St Bloomington, IN 47404: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness April 17 at 6 PM at University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee 2200 E Kenwood Blvd Milwaukee, WI 53211: Protectors v. Profiteers: Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism April 18 at 6 PM at University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee 2200 E Kenwood Blvd Milwaukee, WI 53211: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness   Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write birthday greetings to political prisoners Janet Holloway Africa and Walter Bond. Janet Holloway Africa #006308 SCI Cambridge Springs 451 Fullerton Avenue Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403 {Birthday: April 13} Walter Bond #37096–013 FCI Terre Haute - CMU Post Office Box 33 Terre Haute, Indiana 47808 {Birthday: April 16} Herman Bell still needs help to secure his release from prison: 1) CALL New York State Governor Cuomo's Office NOW: 518–474–8390 2) EMAIL New York State Governor Cuomo's Office 3) TWEET at Governor Cuomo: use the following sample tweet: “@NYGovCuomo: stand by the Parole Board's lawful & just decision to release Herman Bell. At 70 years old and after more than 40 years of incarceration, his release is overdue. #BringHermanHome.”  Use this script for phone calls and emails:  “Governor Cuomo, my name is __________and I am a resident of [New York State/other state/other country]. I support the Parole Board's decision to release Herman Bell and urge you and the Board to stand by the decision. I also support the recent appointment of new Parole Board Commissioners, and the direction of the new parole regulations, which base release decisions more on who a person is today than on the nature of their crime committed years ago. Returning Herman to his friends and family will help heal the many harms caused by crime and decades of incarceration. The Board's decision was just, merciful and lawful, and it will benefit our communities and New York State as a whole.”  Start gearing up for a summer of anarchy in Quebec! The anarchist film festival (May 17–20 in Montreal) The Montreal International Anarchist Theatre Festival (May 22–23 in Montreal) The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair (May 26–27 in Montreal) The North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference (June 1–3 in Montreal) Anti-G7 mobilization (June 7–9 in Quebec City)  

As we go to press, anti-police protests are ongoing over the police killing of Stephon Clark, students at Howard University in DC are still occupying the recently re-named Kwame Ture Student Center, and teachers in Kentucky and Oklahoma are on strike. This week we interview Uri Gordon, an anarchist from Israel, about the deadly repression in Gaza. We also reflect on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plus announcements for upcoming bookfairs, gatherings, and protest mobilizations. {April 4, 2018}   -------SHOW NOTES------   Table of Contents: Introduction {0:00} Headlines {1:45} Remembering Paul Z. Simons {5:07} Interview about deadly repression in Gaza {6:34} Teachers strike in Kentucky and Oklahoma {11:05} 50th anniversary of the assassination of MLK {13:25} Repression Roundup {26:15} Next Week's News {32:00} Download 29:30 minutes long version   There's a day of solidarity with J20 defendants called for April 10. The next trial is coming up April 17! Use this poster to spread awareness about the case, or call those responsible for the repression themselves and tell them to drop ALL the charges. J20 support resources: J20 Legal Defense Fund Twitter Fed book An Open Letter to Former J20 Defendants, with useful “do”s and “don't”s  Teen Vogue: The J20 Arrests and Trials, Explained Resources for the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Reflection On Doctor King by Black anarchist and former Black Panther Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin This nonviolent stuff'll get you killed - Charles Cobb Dixie Be Damned: 300 years of insurrection in the American South - Neal Shirley and Saralee Stafford “It's a Police State Mentality” — J20 and the Racist Origins of Criminalizing Protest – Sam Adler-Bell Dr. King's Long Assassination – Paul Street The Ex-Worker #53: “Anti-Globalization” Walking Tour of Washington, D.C. features some history on the uprising in DC after Dr. King's assassination, including an interview with one of the more militant participants. Events this weekend: April 6–8: Anti-Colonial & Anti-Fascist Community Defense Gathering in Flagstaff, Arizona. Registration IS required, which you can fill out here. April 6–8: The Opening Space for the Radical Imagination at Oregon State University in Corvallis. More than a few anarchist-sympathetic speakers, like Walidah Imarisha and Hillary Lazar are speaking. April 6–8: The fourteenth Zagreb Anarchist Bookfair in Croatia. For more info in Croatian and English, go to ask-zagreb.org. April 7: The Liverpool Anarchist Bookfair in England. Anarchist texts mentioned in this Hotwire: We Don't Need Gun Control, We Need To Take Control Remembering Paul Z. Simons An Unyielding Anarchist, Author, and Rebel Anarchists Against the Wall: Direct Action and Solidarity with the Palestinian Popular Struggle Dixie Be Damned: 300 years of insurrection in the American South Rojava: Democracy and Commune From Democracy to Freedom Start gearing up for a summer of anarchy in Quebec! The anarchist film festival (May 17–20 in Montreal) The Montreal International Anarchist Theatre Festival (May 22–23 in Montreal) The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair (May 26–27 in Montreal) The North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference (June 1–3 in Montreal) Anti-G7 mobilization (June 7–9 in Quebec City) The Southeast Trans and/or Women Action Camp, taking place April 26–29 in Western North Carolina, has had their donation page shut down twice, so if you have some bucks to spare you can donate at PayPal.me/setwac2018. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief tour April 4 @ 7 PM at Glitter Box Theater 460 Melwood Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness April 6 @ 6 PM at Guide to Kulchur 5222 Lorain Ave, Cleveland, OH 44102: Protectors v. Profiteers: Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism April 7 @ 12 noon at Guide to Kulchur 5222 Lorain Ave, Cleveland, OH 44102: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness April 8 at 2 PM at Off Center 64 N. Huron Street, Ypsilanti, MI 48197: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness April 9 at 6:30 PM at Capital Area District Library – Downtown 401 S Capitol Ave, Lansing, MI 48933: Protectors v. Profiteers: Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism April 11 at 6:30 PM at First Presbyterian Church 510 W Ottawa St Lansing, MI 48933: Giving Our Best, Ready For The Worst: Community Organizing as Disaster Preparedness   Use this straightforward guide to writing prisoners from New York City Anarchist Black Cross to write birthday greetings to political prisoner Romaine ‘Chip' Fitzgerald. Romaine ‘Chip' Fitzgerald #B–27527 California State Prison - LAC Post Office Box 4490 B–4–150 Lancaster, California 93539 Address envelope to Romaine Fitzgerald, address card to Chip {Birthday: April 11} Herman Bell still needs help to secure his release from prison: 1) CALL New York State Governor Cuomo's Office NOW: 518–474–8390 2) EMAIL New York State Governor Cuomo's Office          3) TWEET at Governor Cuomo: use the following sample tweet: “@NYGovCuomo: stand by the Parole Board's lawful & just decision to release Herman Bell. At 70 years old and after more than 40 years of incarceration, his release is overdue. #BringHermanHome.” Use this script for phone calls and emails:  “Governor Cuomo, my name is __________and I am a resident of [New York State/other state/other country]. I support the Parole Board's decision to release Herman Bell and urge you and the Board to stand by the decision. I also support the recent appointment of new Parole Board Commissioners, and the direction of the new parole regulations, which base release decisions more on who a person is today than on the nature of their crime committed years ago. Returning Herman to his friends and family will help heal the many harms caused by crime and decades of incarceration. The Board's decision was just, merciful and lawful, and it will benefit our communities and New York State as a whole.”  Robert Seth Hayes, one of the longest-held political prisoners in the U.S., who was active in the Black Panther Party and, later on, formed the Black Liberation Army, is in the infirmary and is need of support. The Jericho Movement calls on people to call the superintendent at Sullivan Correctional Facility and demand that Robert Seth Hayes be taken immediately to the Albany Medical Center. Superintendent Keyser's number is 845–434–2080.