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It's no secret our world is in upheaval right now—climate disasters, political unrest, economic uncertainty. But in the midst of it all, there are also stories of resilience, adaptation, and new ways forward.That's a theme Anthony James, host of The Regen Narration Podcast, has explored deeply. From an extended road trip across the U.S., interviewing community leaders navigating climate adaptation, to studying how people respond to upheaval, Anthony has seen firsthand how crisis can be a catalyst for transformation.In this episode, we dive into: Why witnessing and pitching in during disaster—rather than looking away—is essential to change. Lessons from his travels across the U.S., meeting communities in the midst of transformation. A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit, and how joy and transcendence can emerge from catastrophe. Real-world examples of people coming together across political and cultural divides to build something new. What modern society can learn from Indigenous worldviews that see nature as kin and resilience as a collective effort. Do we focus on building centralized movements, or do we nurture local seeds of change and trust in their transformative power? And much more…More about Anthony and The Regen Narration Podcast:The RegenNarration podcast features the stories of a generation that is changing the story, enabling the regeneration of life on this planet. It's independent media, ad-free, freely available and entirely listener-supported.Created and hosted by Anthony James, a fifth generation Australian man living on ancient lands among the oldest continuous cultures on earth. He is a Prime Ministerial award-winner for service to the international community, sought after MC, widely published writer, facilitator and educator, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, and Warm Data Lab Host Certified by the International Bateson Institute.Agrarian Futures is produced by Alexandre Miller, who also wrote our theme song. This episode was edited by Drew O'Doherty.
Hello friends and comrades, We hope, where you are, the lights and fridge are back on, the debris has been cleared, the water has receded, the damp has dried, the mould has been vinegared, the silt and mud shovelled and mopped away, and that you've had a bit of a chance to rest as well as recover after Cyclone Alfred. We are continuing our series - begun last week on our broadcast show on 4ZZZ and then sent out in our podcast feed - on Disaster, Crisis, and Collective Futures. What is it about disasters that enables us to plan and act together with neighbours and strangers, more collaboratively, more collectively, more generously? How do public and private institutions leverage crises to retain and expand their control, reasserting racial, colonial, capitalist, cisheteropatriarchal and ableist imaginaries and practices?In the wake of Cyclone Alfred, we've seen expressions of the former, of practices consistent with ‘disaster communism' (as we discuss with Nick Southall in this podcast episode!) - neighbours, friends, strangers, coming together to organise and share resources and energy to prepare, survive, and recover from the cyclone and its aftermath. People looked out for each other. We've also, unfortunately, seen expressions of the latter, of practices consistent with ‘disaster capitalism' - in this instance, Lord Mayor Schrinner using the cover of the disaster to evict rough sleepers from parks, from public spaces, across the city. (Notably, people are not having it, and in the week since Schrinner's announcement there have been multiple events held and yet more organised that stand in solidarity with unhoused people across this city). To help us think through all this, we had a chat with Dr Nick Southall, long term community organiser, academic at University of Wollongong, author of the blog ‘revolts now' and the new book, ‘Disaster Communism and Anarchy in the Streets'.In this chat we talk about disaster communism as the agonistic opposite to disaster capitalism. We discuss what disaster communism is, and the everyday actions by everyday people that constitute it. We talk about how it is that certain kinds of community relations and modes of organising somehow seem more possible in times of environmental disasters, the importance of fighting to reconfigure our relations to time so we all have more capacity to do the kinds of loving, caring work that can liberate us from racial colonial capitalism, and reflect a little on what our orientation to the State should be.In future shows we'll talk more about this last point, and consider the ways that the settler colonial state seeks to coopt, defuse, neutralise, and disband the practices and expressions of disaster communism as they appear, and the implications of that for our organising and resistance. We'll also talk more about how the solidarities that can form during moments of disaster may be deliberately fractured along the well-worn lines of colonialism, racism, ableism, classism, cisheteropatriarchy, etc., and how we can guard against that.But in this podcast we want to focus particularly on disaster communism, and the possibilities it attunes us to. We want to attend to what's just happened, and acknowledge and learn from this and other examples of emergent organising, and how existing networks and relationships can blossom and expand to meet the scale of the unfolding (poly)crisis.As always, there's lots happening across Magan-djin that you can get directly involved with:Tomorrow, Friday 21st March at 6pm in King George Square is a rally and march calling to end the blockade on Palestine. This rally demands an end to the bombing and restoration of electricity and aid to Gaza, and an end to the political persecution of Palestinian activists. For those who are fasting, snacks will be available to break fast, along with arrangements to pray.Saturday, 22nd March at 10am in Queens Gardens is a picnic and march to defend Victoria Park/ Barrambin - a culturally and environmentally significant greenspace - against the development of an Olympic stadium. Friday, 28th March at 12:30pm at 1 William Street, Brisbane is the Kindness First: support for Brisbane residents experiencing homelessness protest, demonstrating the community outrage at the persistent failure of multiple governments and agencies to provide safe, adequate, affordable, stable housing for people in our community, who are now facing further attacks on their use of public space. See you out there!Yours in solidarity, The Radio Reversal CollectiveReferences for this podcast episode:Klein, Naomi (2007) The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Penguin BooksLoewenstein, Antony (2015) Disaster Capitalism: Making a Killing out of Catastrophe. Verso BooksSolnit, Rebecca (2009) A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster. Viking PressSouthall, Nick (2024) Disaster Communism and Anarchy in the Streets. Kembla Books This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit radioreversal.substack.com
The Supreme Court has upheld a ban on TikTok. On this week's On the Media, hear how the ruling could affect other media companies, and where TikTokers are going next. Plus, California's latest wildfires are devastating, but they're not unprecedented.[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger sits down with David Cole, professor of law and public policy at Georgetown University, and former National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, to discuss what the Supreme Court TikTok ban could mean for all kinds of media companies.[16:39] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Ryan Broderick, tech journalist, host of the podcast Panic World, and author of the newsletter “Garbage Day,” on the great TikTok migration to RedNote, and what the platform's potential ban means for the future of the Internet.[35:08] Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Rebecca Solnit, author of A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster, on what she, a California native, has found shocking but not surprising about the Los Angeles fires. Further reading:“Free Speech for TikTok?,” by David Cole“America's youth longs for Chinese e-commerce,” by Ryan Broderick“TikTok doesn't need America,” by Ryan Broderick“The chronicle of a fire foretold,” by Rebecca SolnitA Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
"In an era whose sense of the human psyche is dominated by entertainment and consumerism and by therapy culture—the personal and private are most often emphasized to the exclusion of almost everything else. Conventional therapy, necessary and valuable at times to resolve personal crises and suffering, presents a very incomplete sense of self. As a guide to the range of human possibility it is grimly reductive. It will help you deal with your private shames and pains, but it won't generally have much to say about your society and your purpose on earth. It won't even suggest, most of the time, that you provide yourself with relief from and perspective on the purely personal by living in the larger world. Nor will it ordinarily diagnose people as suffering from social alienation, meaninglessness, or other anomies that arise from something other than familial and erotic life. It more often leads to personal adjustment than social change. Such a confinement of desire and possibility to the private serves the status quo as well: it describes no role for citizenship and no need for social change or engagement." - Rebecca Solnit Buy the Book: http://rebeccasolnit.net/book/a-paradise-built-in-hell/Borrow the Book: https://www.overdrive.com/media/258355/a-paradise-built-in-hellThe Internet archives copy of the book: https://archive.org/details/a-paradise-built-in-hell/page/10/mode/2upThe wiki about the book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Paradise_Built_in_HellA reader's take on the book: https://tornes.medium.com/a-paradise-built-in-hell-the-extraordinary-communities-that-arise-in-disaster-by-rebecca-solnit-96ff3a349acaMake a donation to help the kids: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Get bonus content on PatreonSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
"If paradise now arises in hell, it's because in the suspension of the usual order and the failure of most systems, we are free to live and act another way" - Rebecca SolnitBuy the Book: http://rebeccasolnit.net/book/a-paradise-built-in-hell/The archived book: https://archive.org/details/a-paradise-built-in-hell/page/10/mode/2upThe wiki about the book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Paradise_Built_in_HellA reader's take on the book: https://tornes.medium.com/a-paradise-built-in-hell-the-extraordinary-communities-that-arise-in-disaster-by-rebecca-solnit-96ff3a349acaMake a donation to help the kids: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Get bonus content on PatreonSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Contrary to widespread belief, there is not an increase in crime after disasters. In fact, the opposite is true. After every disaster, there is an increase in prosocial behavior. These myths perpetuate harmful stereotypes and we need to combat them so we can focus on what really matters: solidarity, mutual assistance, and community. "Prioritizing the humanitarian needs of hurricane survivors not only addresses threats to residents' health and livelihoods, it also helps mitigate the survival appropriation behavior that may account for some criminal activity in the absence of assistance." - Natural Hazards CenterNaomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_DoctrineAn Article on the Myth: https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/the-myth-of-disaster-lootingResearch: https://hazards.colorado.edu/news/research-counts/looting-or-community-solidarity-reconciling-distorted-posthurricane-media-coverageRebecca Solnit's "A Paradise Built in Hell": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Paradise_Built_in_HellMyth of Lawlessness Article: https://www.gastongazette.com/story/opinion/2017/09/08/matthew-t-mangino-myth-of-lawlessness-in-wake-of-disaster/18856137007/LA Wildfire Relief Request Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1itHRf_K30jebqz1vYMjhjMsu7OV549gV-_G58hXPOYs/edit?gid=0#gid=0Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Get bonus content on PatreonSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In Appalachia, Hurricane Helene was a thousand-year-flood. It flattened towns and forests, washed roads away, and killed hundreds.But this story is not about the flood. It's about what happened after.A month after Hurricane Helene, our producer Justine Paradis visited Marshall, a tiny town in the Black Mountains of western North Carolina, a region renowned for its biodiversity, music, and art.She went to see what it really looks like on the ground in the wake of a disaster, and how people create systems to help each other. But what she found there wasn't just a model of mutual aid: it was a glimpse of another way to live with one another.Featuring Josh Copus, Becca Nicholson, Rachel Bennett, Steve Matlack, Keith Majeroni, and Ian Montgomery.Appearances by Meredith Silver, Anna Thompson, Kenneth Satterfield, Reid Creswell, Jim Purkerson, Jazz Maltz, Melanie Risch, and Alexandra Barao.Songs performed by Sheila Kay Adams, Analo Phillips, Leah Song and Chloe Smith of Rising Appalachia, and William Ritter. SUPPORTOutside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member.Subscribe to our (free) newsletter.Follow Outside/In on Instagram or Twitter, or join our private discussion group on Facebook. LINKSAn excerpt of “A Paradise Built in Hell” by Rebecca Solnit (quoted in this episode) is available on Lithub.“You know our systems are broke when 5 gay DJs can bring 10k of supplies back before the national guard does.” (Them)The folks behind the Instagram account @photosfromhelene find, clean, and share lost hurricane photos, aiming to reunite the hurricane survivors with their photo memories. A great essay on mutual aid by Jia Tolentino (The New Yorker) CREDITSOutside/In host: Nate HegyiReported, written, produced, and mixed by Justine Paradis Edited by Taylor QuimbyOur team also includes Felix Poon, Marina Henke, and Kate Dario.NHPR's Director of Podcasts is Rebecca LavoieSpecial thanks to Poder Emma and Collaborativa La Milpa in Asheville. Thanks also to Rural Organizing and Resilience (ROAR).Music by Doctor Turtle, Guustavv, Blue Dot Sessions, Cody High, and Silver Maple.Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.
Adam McKay is the Academy Award–winning screenwriter, director, and producer behind such movies as Don't Look Up, The Big Short, Vice, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and more. He is also the founder of Yellow Dot Studios, a nonprofit production studio that raises awareness and mobilizes action on the climate emergency. Adam joins us to discuss his career and the existential anxiety that led him to write and direct the star-studded Don't Look Up, one of the most successful Netflix movies of all time. We also hear about the books, films, and music that inspired him, and why humor is a useful tool for tackling serious subjects. Plus: Adam's relationship with driving, the power of visual storytelling, and why he thinks the age of the car is already over… even if most people don't know it yet. Thank you to Sheyd Bags and Cleverhood for their support. For the latest discount codes, listen to the episode. *** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, special bonus content, stickers, merch discounts, and more *** SHOW NOTES: Check out Car Commercial 419 and all the excellent work from Yellow Dot Studios. (Donate here!) Books, movies, and music mentioned in this episode: Generation Dread by Britt Wray; Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neal Postman; A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit; and The Vortex by Scott Carney & Jason Miklian The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957); Dr. Strangelove (1964); and Dogtooth (2009) Public Enemy; LL Cool J; Kurtis Blow; Run-DMC; and Eric B. & Rakim ***** Pick up official podcast merch in our store. Purchase books from podcast guests at our Bookshop.org page. This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Kaden Pryor at Third Wheel Podcast Studio in Los Angeles. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Sound effects from the BBC Sound Effects Archives © 2024 BBC. TheWarOnCars.org
What is hope and why is it so powerful? For writer Rebecca Solnit, hope is a commitment to possibility in the face of uncertainty. While many of us react to the unknown with anxiety or worry, Rebecca sees the opposite: that inherent to unpredictable circumstances is the possibility people can take action and to come together to create change. In this conversation, Rebecca Solnit and the Surgeon General discuss why hope is necessary. They look back at communities formed in response to disasters, like 9/11 and hurricanes, and how hope and connection are inextricably linked. A historian, Solnit points to milestones like the fall of the Berlin Wall in which people's actions, sometimes incremental, led to unforeseen outcomes. In facing the massive uncertainty of climate change, Solnit offers why she is hopeful. Rather than fall to despair, she points that humans, throughout history, have seen the possibility to intervene and take action. And THAT is what Solnit calls hope. (04:34) Why can disasters be so powerful for uniting communities? (11:16) Why do some types of disasters bring people more together than others? (16:55) How do you advise young people who feel despair about climate change? (27:21) How can the way we remember history's great social changes contribute to hope or hopelessness? (31:28) How does social media contribute to loneliness and isolation? (37:45) Has tech convinced us that living efficiently is more important than living in person? (47:33) How does Rebecca Solnit make herself feel better when she gets down? (48:35) What does the Surgeon General do to feel better when he is down? We'd love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls. Rebecca Solnit, Writer X: @rebeccasolnit X: @nottoolate_hope About Rebecca Solnit Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of twenty-five books on feminism, environmental and urban history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and catastrophe. She co-edited the 2023 anthology “Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility”. Her other books include “Orwell's Roses”; “Recollections of My Nonexistence”; “Hope in the Dark”; “Men Explain Things to Me”; “A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster”; and “A Field Guide to Getting Lost”. A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she writes regularly for the Guardian, serves on the board of the climate group Oil Change International, and in 2022 launched the climate project Not Too Late (nottoolateclimate.com).
Rebecca Solnit, the author of books including “A Paradise Built in Hell” (2009) and “Orwell's Roses” (2021) and the co-editor of the new collection of essays “Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility,” discusses the long view as a “mind-blowing” way of looking at the world, why the majority of people tend to be altruistic and resourceful in a disaster, and why the climate crisis requires eschewing a scarcity mindset for one of abundance.
I had a fascinating discussion with Nathan Goldstein, Founder and CEO of Duo Health, a new kind of medical group serving patients with chronic kidney disease about all things healthcare and brand. As a highly successful executive and entrepreneur, Nathan shares his views about how to build organizations that can make a practical difference in healthcare.Learn more about Nathan:LinkedInDuoHealth.com Other Resources:Book mentioned in the podcast: A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca SolnitTopics:Duo Health, a new kind of medical group that promises to be by your sideIf you don't have a brand, you can't scale Think behaviors NOT cultureDevelop mavericks not renegades through organizational identityDon't make promises you can't keep – ie. transforming healthcareServe EVERYONE, don't leave money but most of all meaning on the tableHealth equity doesn't happen on its ownBrand is relationships and relationships grow at the speed of trustStrategy is defining the obstacles that are in your wayWays I can help you:Subscribe to Healthy Brand Mondays: Leverage brand thinking to accelerate your growthDownload free guides and tools: Learn from my years of experience as a brand strategistWork with me: Be a podcast guest or hire my services for your brandHow I can Help You Boost your personal brand & charisma: Subscribe to Legend Letters Download free brand strategy guides 1:1 Personal brand coaching
For a lot of people, riding a bike through a crowded city—or even on suburban avenues—might feel daunting. Should you get an electric or acoustic bicycle? What gear do you need while you ride? How do you avoid getting hit by the great big gas guzzlers that take up most of the road? These are valid questions, and we've got answers. May is national bike month here in the US, and Gadget Lab is ready to get you rolling. This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior associate reviews editor Adrienne So joins us as we cycle through all things bikes: How to start riding more, what to look for in an ebike, and what's the best frame color for your grocery-getter. Show Notes: Read more about Adrienne's guide to the best ebikes. Here's our roundup of our favorite bike accessories. Recommendations: Adrienne recommends the book A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit. Mike recommends the Lil Guy hip bag from Road Runner Bags. Lauren recommends Adrienne So's WIRED story “A Letter to My Fellow Asian Mothers From the Multiverse.” Adrienne So can be found on Twitter @adriennemso. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. This show originally aired May 19, 2022. Here's a full transcript. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Mist exposes the horrors of a society without control. It pitches the inevitable descent into madness and corruption. Author of the short story Stephen King and director Frank Darabont spin a tale that proves the real monsters are your neighbors, not the otherworld demons outside the windows. But what if this assumption about our society, one terrible event away from chaos, is not only wrong but harmful? Ghouls explore Rebecca Solnit's A Paradise Built in Hell and the ways society has instead given us Disaster Utopias. Sources in this Episode: BetterStrangerBooks | TikTok A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit Rebecca Solnit Considers Disaster Utopias | Alta Online The Mist (2007) Movie Review - A transcendent allegory for mankind's concealed evil | the Review Geek The Mist Is Still One of the Ballsiest Movies of the 21st Century | the Collider Why The Mist's Ending Is So Dark Explained By Director Frank Darabont | Screenrant Losing Faith: Reevaluating the Shocking Ending of the Mist 15 Years Later | Bloody Disgusting --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-ghouls-next-door/support
Send us a Text Message.For Episode 9 of The Heart Gallery Podcast, Rebeka Ryvola de Kremer talks to climate story consultant Alisa Petrosova.This episode explores how the film and TV industry is doing on climate messaging. According to research from Good Energy and The Media Impact Project that analyzed 37, 453 scripted television episodes and films released from 2016 through 2020, less than 3% acknowledge climate change.Alisa works at Good Energy, which supports TV and film creators in telling stories that honestly reflect the world we live in now—a world that's in a climate crisis. They have worked on the recent climate-focused Extrapolations, on Apple TV, and are focused on intersectional elements of climate stories, committed to showing how historically marginalized people are harmed “first and worst”. Alisa talks about how stories help us connect, process, and learn and how we need our stories to reflect the realities of the world and the future we want to move towards. See accompanying blog post here for annotated climate trailers, Alisa's HW, and the podcast transcript.Mentioned: - Climate poet & artist Cecilia Vicuña - Writer Rebecca Solnit.- Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark- Rebecca Solnit's, A Paradise Built in Hell- David Wallace-Wells', Uninhabitable EarthConnect:- Alisa: @minipetro, LinkedIn- The Heart Gallery Instagram- The Heart Gallery website- Rebeka Ryvola de Kremer InstagramCredits:Samuel Cunningham for podcast editing, Cosmo Sheldrake for use of his song Pelicans We, podcast art by me, Rebeka Ryvola de Kremer, w/ the drive-in photo sourced from Boston Globe archives.
Today on the show — a special presentation of a live conversation between Saket Soni and Rebecca Solnit on Saket Soni's new book, The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America. The Great Escape is the harrowing story of how 500 disaster relief workers from India were trafficked to the United States under false pretenses and exposed to inhumane conditions while rebuilding New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Rebecca Solnit has described the book as being “paced like a thriller, written like a poem, and full of vivid characters who'd enliven any novel, but it's the true story of one of the largest modern-day trafficking incidents in recent history and how Saket Soni and his crew went after the powerful perpetrators. A story as important as it is riveting to read.” Saket Soni is the co-founder and executive director of Resilience Force, the national voice of the resilience workforce — whose labor helps us prepare for, and repair after, climate disaster. He will be in conversation with renowned author Rebecca Solnit, who wrote, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster — a book that inspired the creation of this show and which we've talked about many times in past episodes. This conversation is a recording of a live event co-organized with The Green Arcade in San Francisco on March 3rd. The Green Arcade is a bookshop featuring socially conscious nonfiction, plus select literature & kids' titles, located on Market St. Episode credits: Live recording and editing by Robert Raymond Executive production and hosting by Tom Llewellyn Theme Music: “Meet you on the other side” by Cultivate Beats Make sure to follow The Response on Twitter and Instagram for updates, memes, and more. Our entire catalog of documentaries and interviews can be found at theresponsepodcast.org or wherever you get your podcasts. Please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The Response is a podcast series from Shareable.net.
Thank you to Marina LeGree of Ascend Leadership Through Athletics for joining The Dark Zone for a discussion of her group's work in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Along the way we draw the connection between her organization's work and what similarities it has to the attitude and ethics of AR. You can learn more about Ascend and support their work at the following link: https://www.ascendathletics.org/Also, we reference Rebecca Solnit's powerful book: A Paradise Built in Hell during the podcast and that link may be found here:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301070/a-paradise-built-in-hell-by-rebecca-solnit/
Social science paints a bleak picture of unprivileged life. Poverty is certainly treated as a social problem - as a harsh condition to live in. But it is also painted as a condition which blunts humanity's capacity for altruism and virtue. Jacqueline Mattis is a psychologist who has studied altruism and prosociality in deeply deprived areas, such as majority African-American inner-city housing projects. Her work demonstrates that altruism does not vanish amongst those who struggle for survival. No, living in racialised poverty is not fun. But yes, people are still doing beautiful things daily. And they might even do so more often than in more privileged areas. Dr Mattis and Ilari discuss topics, such as: Is altruism unattainable for those without food and safety? Everyday altruism in poor areas Altruism amongst the homeless The psychological impact of catastrophes Is poverty linked to anti-social behaviour? The difficult dilemma of improving policing for African-Americans Religion and spirituality: dangerous, trivial, or important? The concept of grace Names mentioned Abraham Maslow (humanistic psychologist, famous for his "hierarchy of needs") Vitkrol Frankl (holocaust survivor, author of Man's Search For Meaning) Ta-Nehisi Coates (author of Between the World and Me) Rebecca Solnit (author of A Paradise Built in Hell) Rutger Bregman (author of Humankind) Stanley Milgram & Philip Zimbardo (founding figures in social psychology) Batja Mesquita (author of Between Us: How Culture Shapes Emotion) Christine McWayne Get in touch Email: makela.ilari@outlook.com
Julian Aguon in conversation with Rebecca Solnit, celebrating the publication of "No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: A Lyric Essay" by Julian Aguon, published by Astra Publishing. This live event took place in Kerouac Alley, between City Lights and Vesuvio Cafe, and was hosted by Peter Maravelis. You can purchase copies of "No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: A Lyric Essay" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/no-country-for-8-spot-butterflies/ Julian Aguon is a Chamorro human rights lawyer and defender from Guam. He is the founder of Blue Ocean Law, a progressive firm that works at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice; and serves on the council of Progressive International—a global collective with the mission of mobilizing progressive forces around the world behind a shared vision of social justice. He lives in the village of Yona. Visit julianaguon.com Rebecca Solnit is a writer, historian, and activist. She is the author of more than twenty books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and disaster, including "Whose Story Is This?, Call Them By Their True Names" (Winner of the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction), "Cinderella Liberator," "Men Explain Things to Me," "The Mother of All Questions," and "Hope in the Dark," and co-creator of the "City of Women" map, all published by Haymarket Books; a trilogy of atlases of American cities, "The Faraway Nearby," "A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster," "A Field Guide to Getting Lost," "Wanderlust: A History of Walking," and "River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West" (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). Her memoir, "Recollections of My Nonexistence," was released in March, 2020. A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist at the Guardian and a regular contributor to Literary Hub. This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
L'équipe parle aujourd'hui de post-apo, de la backstory des personnages de Joel et d'Ellie dans The Last of Us, ainsi que comment générer un lien d'empathie entre des personnages fictifs et les joueurs. Notre Point Chimere du jour: "Si les 'infestés' de TLOU n'étaient pas crées par le cordyceps, inventez une nouvelle origine aux infestés'". Liens: Rejoignez notre Discord: https://discord.gg/aMShNdTBgF Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuCheckpoint Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aucoinducheckpoint Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/jacnosaysrelax Mentionné dans l'Épisode: Le film actuellement à l'affiche "Everything Everywhere All At Once" Le programme d'IA artistique "Mid Journey" Le livre sur le Narcissisme de Dr Ramani "Don't you know who I am?" La Fondation SCP Le livre "A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster" de Rebecca Solnit La série Post-apo "Dark Angel" Le film "Souviens toi l'été dernier" Merci énormement pour votre écoute et votre soutien! Si vous avez aimé l'épisode, laissez-nous 5 étoiles sur Apple Podcast, et faites tourner :) Plus on est de fous, moins y a de riz, et c'est la plus belle façon de nous soutenir et de nous envoyer de la force pour la suite! Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.
Grey Mirror: MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative on Technology, Society, and Ethics
In this episode, social ecosystem designer, culture hacker, and facilitator Jean M. Russell joins us to talk about how a participatory and cooperative approach instead of a brutal approach enables us to envision and co-create a world of wellbeing and health. As the founder of the thrivability movement and expert on collective thriving, Jean speaks about THRIVABILITY. She believes this word is a gift. It inspires you to wonder what it looks like in your context and make it show up. What comes alive in you? We dive deep into hedonic habituation and how to avoid falling into it, how to emerge to more positive futures, about co-creation and how to break down the “who” the “how” and the “what”, what a positive environment should look like and how to design it, and how to get set on a more participatory path. “Something about thriving speaks to our inner sense of harmony, abundance, greatness, generativity, aliveness, vitality, well being, and right-placement. What would our lives and the sum of our society be like if we said they were thriving?” If you are interested in open-source software or a better social ecosystem design, this chapter is for you! Stay tuned! SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is Jean M. Russell? Jean M Russell is a social ecosystem designer, culture hacker, and facilitator. She is the founder of the Thrivability movement and an expert in collective thriving speaking to and with change agents, innovators, builders, and edge-riders around the world. Her work on thrivability, innovation, philanthropy, and cultural shifts has been highlighted in the Economist, Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Worldchanging. Topics: Welcome Jean M. Russell to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) What is thrivability?: (00:01:41) How do you give a positive valance term for what animals should experience: (00:04:09) Happiness like short term dopamine versus delight and purpose: (00:05:53) Thrivability as an emergent thing we chat about with others and move towards emergent positive futures: (00:08:03) How should Roote as an org be more participatory about building the wisdom age instead of making it “everybody be wiser”: (00:11:19) Co-creation: an example to breakdown the who and the how: (00:14:26) How Jean views cooperation playing a role vs. competition playing a role: (00:16:07) Lord of the rings has a memetic view of reality. Is there another memetic version to show another view of reality?: (00:19:25) About anarchism & Peter Kropotkin: (00:22:37) Other ways to make a more cooperative lense of society: (00:23:44) Instead of pointing at the bad competition, double down on the good?: (00:26:05) What does a positive environment look like for animals?: (00:31:56) What does a positive environment look like for humans?: (00:34:44) Designing an environment for memes: instead of a brutal one a positive one?: (00:37:54) Breakdown “hands, head and heart” model & how the heart relates: (00:42:41) How to take a more participatory path & wrap-up: (00:47:57) Mentioned resources: “Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity” book by Brian Hare & Vanessa Woods: https://www.amzn.com/0399590668 “A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster” book by Rebecca Solnit Peter Kropotkin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution” book by Peter Kropotkin: https://www.amzn.com/0875580246 “Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures” book by Merlin Sheldrake: https://www.amzn.com/0525510311 Connect with Jean M. Russell: Twitter: https://twitter.com/nurturegirl Twitter Thrivable Society: https://twitter.com/Thrivable Web: https://www.jeanmrussell.com/ Thrivable Society Project: https://www.thrivablesociety.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeanMRussell
Original Air Date: 4-26-22 Today, I am talking with Amanda, Deon and Erin. We discuss: - Libertarians proving themselves wrong - All we ever do is tell stories - The benefits of forgetting some stories - The stories society tells hide the form of community that we prefer References: Seder DEBATES Ayn Rand Institute Libertarian Yaron Brook - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-8-21 Very Intelligent Libertarian Caller Tries To Justify Slavery - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-10-21 Excerpt from interview, MARK FERRARI interview (Behind The Scenes) - The Making of Monkey Island Forgetting, not memory, moves us forward - Future Tense - Air Date 3-27-22 A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit Leave a message at 202-999-3991 Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts!
For a lot of people, riding a bike through a crowded city—or even on suburban avenues—might feel daunting. Should you get an electric or acoustic bicycle? What gear do you need while you ride? How do you avoid getting hit by the great big gas guzzlers that take up most of the road? These are valid questions, and we've got answers. May is national bike month here in the US, and Gadget Lab is ready to get you rolling. This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior associate reviews editor Adrienne So joins us as we cycle through all things bikes: How to start riding more, what to look for in an ebike, and what's the best frame color for your grocery-getter. Show Notes: Read more about Adrienne's guide to the best ebikes. Here's our roundup of our favorite bike accessories. Recommendations: Adrienne recommends the book A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit. Mike recommends the Lil Guy hip bag from Road Runner Bags. Lauren recommends Adrienne So's WIRED story “A Letter to My Fellow Asian Mothers From the Multiverse.” Adrienne So can be found on Twitter @adriennemso. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this Best Of episode, Loam Editor Kailea Frederick shares about cultivating compassion in crisis. You'll also hear about: How spiritual ecology can bring you support in changing times How plant spirits inspire personal growth Crone medicine as a source to navigate challenging times ♥♥♥ Join The Earth Speak Collective Membership! Join like-hearted folks in a sacred container and community where you'll: Connect deeply to yourself, others, nature & spirit Learn to trust your intuition Activate your Earth magic Expand your healing & divination skills Put your intuition into practice in everyday life Stop feeling lonely on your spiritual path Embody & express your creative power & truths Experience safe space without agenda or judgment When you join the Collective, you get access to all of our past workshops, any live workshops happening while you're a member, live weekly energetic reset calls, monthly community rituals, all the secret episodes, member-run meetups to explore magical topics, and a lively members-only forum (that's not on FB!). ▶▶▶ Learn more and sign up for the Collective membership here: https://www.earthspeak.love/collective ***** In this episode, we meet Kailea Frederick, spiritual ecologist and co-author of Compassion in Crisis: Learning to Live in the Age of Disaster. This timely conversation initiates a grounding space to process emotional stress from the global pandemic, Coronavirus. Kailea drops several gems on how to cope with grief and uplift your community amid a traumatic experience. Kailea Frederick is a mother and First Nations woman dedicated to supporting individuals of all cultures in remembering their ties to the earth. Growing up off the grid in Maui, Hawaii, forever imprinted in her the importance of reciprocity through the indigenous worldview. Living her truth, Kailea works as the Co-Executive Director with Black Mountain Circle, the Editor for Loam, and as a Climate Commissioner for the City of Petaluma. In this episode, we talk about: Cultivating your inner voice as a compass Being in daily conversation with ethics and morals as a calibration point Crone medicine as a source to navigate challenging times (like the Coronavirus pandemic and climate change) How plant spirits inspire personal growth Shedding and growing into new skin as a mother Kailea's creation process for Compassion in Crisis (in collaboration with Kate Weiner) The intense fire season in California that brought Kate and Kailea together Ideas around what home is The way language is used in disaster - and how to pre-language Reframing what it means to feel vulnerable The importance of community rising up after a traumatic experience The difference between social distancing vs. physical distancing How Language Frames Disaster excerpt by Lauren Peak Adapting from personal to collective thinking What is being said between the lines and hidden political agendas The effects of Coronavirus vs. the effects of climate change Cultivating resiliency in a moment of unprecedented unpredictability How spiritual ecology can bring you support in changing times How to be present with yourself and family What does this challenging moment teach you? What openings are created? How quickly misinformation spreads and goes “viral” How to do due diligence before sharing information And more! Bonus Secret Episode! Kailea brings forward the power of vulnerability to heal and shares how her dark shadowed past has created who she is today! Earth Speak Links: Join the Earth Speak Collective Membership at https://www.earthspeak.love/collective Become an Earth Speak Sponsor and reach more of the people you're meant to serve www.earthspeak.love/sponsor Support the Earth Speak Podcast and purchase our t-shirt Support Earth Speak and make a donation Get the secret episodes at https://www.earthspeak.love/secret Guest Links: Learn more about Kailea's offerings at www.earthisohana.com Connect with Kailea on Instagram @kaileafrederick // https://www.instagram.com/kaileafrederick/ Connect with Loam on Instagram @loamlove // https://www.instagram.com/loamlove/ Check the book Kailea coauthored Compassion in Crisis: Learning to Live in the Age of Disaster References: Kate Weiner https://loamlove.com/about Loam Love https://loamlove.com/ A Paradise Built in Hell || Book https://amz.run/5Xy2 Coronavirus Capitalism || Naomi Klein https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/19/naomi_klein_coronavirus_capitalism ► Leave us a written review on iTunes, and get shouted out on the show! Theme music is “It's Easier” by Scarlet Crow http://www.scarletcrow.org/ and “Meeting Again” by Emily Sprague https://mlesprg.info/ ► Join the Earth Speak Collective Membership at https://www.earthspeak.love/collective Follow Earth Speak on Instagram and tag us when you share @earthspeak https://www.instagram.com/earthspeak
As I make videos about kindness, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, and all the other soft skills, I sometimes get comments from people questioning my logic. For most, the issue seems to revolve around the notion that the world is a hard and viciously competitive place, and practicing these skills will make you soft and leave you vulnerable to being trampled. There is much evidence to the contrary! In her wonderful book A Paradise Built in Hell, Rebecca Solnit tells story after story of people coming together in mutual aid in defiance of the government representatives who warn of looting and violence. I've told you the story, in a previous video, of the Real-Life Lord of the Flies. You can read about it in this article. And there are my own anecdotal experiences that have shown me more happiness and fulfillment the deeper I develop these soft skills. But today I want to tell you about a study, done way back in 1988, that tested the impact of soft skills on the unlikeliest group of leaders. In his study, Nice Guys Finish First: A SYMLOG Analysis of U.S. Naval Commands, leadership expert Wallace Bachman shows that the most effective Navy brass embody more of the soft skills people fear. In today's episode, I read the whole list. I think you'll find it very interesting: If you'd like to check out one of my Wednesday evening meditations, click here: https://www.meetup.com/learning-to-surf-talks-on-buddhism-meditation-mindfulness/ You can also find me on Instagram and TikTok And if you'd like to experience 1:1 coaching, you can claim your free sample session here: https://calendly.com/artburns/45-min-coaching-session If you'd like to support my work, please consider becoming a patron: https://www.patreon.com/artburns
Subscribe to Quotomania on Simplecast or search for Quotomania on your favorite podcast app!Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of more than twenty books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and disaster, including Whose Story Is This?, Call Them By Their True Names (Winner of the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction), Cinderella Liberator, Men Explain Things to Me, The Mother of All Questions, and Hope in the Dark, and co-creator of the City of Women map, all published by Haymarket Books; a trilogy of atlases of American cities, The Faraway Nearby, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Wanderlust: A History of Walking, and River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). Her forthcoming memoir, Recollections of My Nonexistence, is scheduled to release in March, 2020. A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist at the Guardian and a regular contributor to Literary Hub.From http://rebeccasolnit.net/biography/. For more information about Rebecca Solnit:Previously on The Quarantine Tapes:Rebecca Solnit on The Quarantine Tapes: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-191-rebecca-solnitMerve Emre about Solnit, at 14:20: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-170-merve-emreBill McKibben about Solnit, at 13:00: https://quarantine-tapes.simplecast.com/episodes/the-quarantine-tapes-036-bill-mckibbenHope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities: http://rebeccasolnit.net/book/hope-in-the-dark-untold-histories-wild-possibilities/“An Interview with Rebecca Solnit”: https://believermag.com/an-interview-with-rebecca-solnit/“Rebecca Solnit - Falling Together”: https://onbeing.org/programs/rebecca-solnit-falling-together/
Some of the topics I cover in this episode include, but aren't limited to: My Friday, March 11, 2011 story relating to Japan's Great Tohoku earthquake where I talk about tedious Japanese public junior high school graduations and how the way I handled that tedium led me to an amazing experience that gives me a foundation for questioning scientific materialism's position on consciousness; the implications of Whitley Strieber's book “A New World” and what it means about the elasticity of consciousness among species; Dean Radin's research on pre-cognition and the collective conscious as it relates to 9/11; more 3/11/2011 earthquake aftermath memories and how my wife and I were able to make it a fun experience for my son; why responding to care for each other during crisis is a human thing, not only a Japanese thing; asking why we can't both express compassion for those suffering from the tragic outcomes of current events and discussing them from a more meta perspective to determine how we got here so we don't repeat it again; feeling livid about how our more positive emotions are being used to control us; diving into Integral Theory and whether critiques that it's too elitist are correct, and how I see a mature understanding of and using Integral Theory as being one that humbles a person and gives them great respect for everyone; why PostModern/Green/Level 6 in Integral Theory has its own form of authoritarianism; and why true Integralists can't be authoritarians. Media Links My most recent blog post, "I Don't Know What's Going to Happen and that Scares the Shit Out of Me" "The Pursuit of Happyness," the Will Smith movie "A Paradise Built in Hell," a book by Rebecca Solnit The Daily Evolver podcast
Our guest this week is the wonderful Rebecca Solnit discussing Orwell's Roses, her fresh take on George Orwell as an avid gardener, whose political writing was grounded in his passion for the natural world.Buy Orwell's Roses here: https://shakespeareandcompany.com/I/9781783788620/orwells-rosesBrowse our online store here: https://shakespeareandcompany.com/15/online-store/16/bookstore*SUBSCRIBE NOW FOR BONUS FEATURESIf you want to spend even more time at Shakespeare and Company, you can now subscribe for regular bonus episodes including: An initiation into the world of rare book collecting; The chance to expand your reading horizons as our passionate booksellers recommend their favourite titles; Handpicked classic interviews from our archive; And an insight into what makes your favourite writers tick as they answer searching questions from our Café's Proust questionnaire.Subscribe on Spotify here: https://anchor.fm/sandcoSubscribe on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/sandcoSubscribe on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/shakespeare-and-company-writers-books-and-paris/id1040121937?l=enAll money raised goes to supporting “Friends of Shakespeare and Company” the bookshop's non-profit, created to fund our noncommercial activities—from the upstairs reading library, to the writers-in-residence program, to our charitable collaborations, and our free events.*From 1936 to 1940, the newly-wed George Orwell lived in a small cottage inHertfordshire, writing, and tending his garden. When Rebecca Solnit visited the cottage, she discovered the descendants of the roses that he had planted many decades previously. These survivors, as well as the diaries he kept of his planting and growing, provide a springboard for a fresh look at Orwell's motivations and drives -and the optimism that countered his dystopian vision - and open up a profound mediation on our relationship to plants, trees and the natural world.Tracking Orwell's impact on political thought over the last century, Solnit journeys toEngland and Russia, Mexico and Colombia, exploring the political and historical events that shaped Orwell's life and her own. From a history of roses to discussions of climate change and insights into structural inequalities in contemporary society, Orwell's Roses is a fresh reading of a towering figure of 20th century literary and political life, which finds optimism, solace and solutions to our 21st century world.*Rebecca Solnit is author of, among other books, Call Them By Their True Names, The Mother of All Questions, Men Explain Things to Me, Wanderlust, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, the NBCC award-winning River of Shadows and A Paradise Built in Hell. A contributing editor to Harper's, she writes regularly for the London Review of Books and the Los Angeles Times. She lives in San Francisco.Adam Biles is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company. Buy a signed copy of his novel FEEDING TIME here: https://shakespeareandcompany.com/S/9781910296684/feeding-timeListen to Alex Freiman's Play It Gentle here: https://open.spotify.com/album/4gfkDcG32HYlXnBqI0xgQX?si=mf0Vw-kuRS-ai15aL9kLNA&dl_branch=1 Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Rebecca Solnit is a writer, historian, and activist. She is the author of more than twenty books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and disaster, including Whose Story Is This?, Call Them By Their True Names, Cinderella Liberator, Men Explain Things to Me, The Mother of All Questions, and Hope in the Dark, and co-creator of the City of Women map, all published by Haymarket Books; a trilogy of atlases of American cities, The Faraway Nearby, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Wanderlust: A History of Walking, and River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West. Her new book is Orwell's Roses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Interview with Ada Hoffman, author of 3 books and one short story collection. In this episode, we discuss being an autistic writer, the value of planning and pantsing, worldbuilding, and of course, her latest book, The Fallen. During the interview, we also talked about character development for a disaster setting, and Ada mentioned the book A Paradise Built in Hell. To learn more about Ada's writing, check out her website HERE. You can also follow them on TWITTER.Like the podcast episode? You can "Buy me a Coffee" as a thank you! I'll even give you a free short story to show my gratitude. Thank you!* Links in these show notes may be affiliate links. I may make a small percentage from your purchase. I would always want you to buy from a local, independent store, but if you are looking to use Amazon, I would appreciate you considering my links. Thank you!
Today's show is full of insight and inspiration. We are taking a fresh, updated look at female friendships, gossip, bullying, and how we can have a part in making this world a better place. Join us to learn more! Jen Dalton is an author, facilitator, coach, healer, and polymath. Her work in the world flows from her passions: facilitating healthier local food systems, fundraising for an orphanage in Haiti, and talking about her recently published book, Of Butterflies and Bullies. The book is a Judy Blume-inspired story about her experience being bullied in fifth grade. Jen is also launching The Better Friends Club soon, which will be a virtual space for women to transform friendship with self and others and to heal from childhood bullying and other friendship challenges. Our conversation gets candid about female friendship and the places in which people often get stuck, along with how to get unstuck. We discuss Jen's work in Haiti and how it lights her up, along with how to move from being a formerly bullied person to a strong and resilient adult. Our beautiful conversation covers female friendships that are limited in their capacity to hold all of our different storylines and why lifting each other up and letting go of judgment can help us in life, performance, and the ability to live in our purpose. Show Highlights: How Jen built her work around food in diverse and impactful ways How Jen discovered her love of writing in second grade How Jen's book allowed her to unveil the truth, and allow people to get in touch with real feelings about bullying Why we need to elevate the conversation about female friendship and focus on how we can support each other The hard fact about female friendship: Gossiping has to stop How a bully is created from a sense of inferiority, and friendship springs from a loving presence that has the best intentions at heart The need to share our story from a place of strength rather than as a victim of our past Jen's work in Haiti and how the orphanage has been affected by the devastation from the recent earthquake How people can come together in times of disaster to make good things happen from the bad How Jen's connection with the Haitian girls at the orphanage helps her engage with her life purpose in pure love and joy The story of Jen's book and what she went through to put it out there for people Hear Jen's answers to rapid-fire questions about the best advice she's received, go-to habits for grounding herself, favorite hot beverage, ideal last meal, morning routine, her fascination with reality, what brings her joy, and the #1 most inspiring person in her life! Resources: Find Jen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jendaltonauthor/ (@JenDaltonAuthor) Visit Jen's website and learn more about the Better Friends Club: www.butterfliesbullies.com Find out about Jen's work with food systems: www.kitchentableconsulting.com Find out about Jen's work in Haiti: www.hearthstone-village.org https://www.amazon.com/Butterflies-Bullies-Jenny-Dalton/dp/1798843773 (Of Butterflies and Bullies )by Jen Dalton https://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Built-Hell-Extraordinary-Communities/dp/0143118072/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= (A Paradise Built in Hell) by Rebecca Solnit “Make Yourself Obsolete: Shifting Power from Non-Profit Leadership to Community Leadership”. It's always available, for a small fee, on our website: https://www.kitchentableconsulting.com/courses (https://www.kitchentableconsulting.com/courses)
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
On episode 191 of The Quarantine Tapes, Paul Holdengräber is joined by Rebecca Solnit. Rebecca and Paul think back to a year ago, nearly to the day, when Rebecca was sharing fairy tales online in the early days of the pandemic. She tells Paul about her upcoming book on George Orwell, Orwell’s Roses, and reflects on what kinds of connections she has seen arise out of the isolation of this past year. Rebecca offers Paul beautiful observations from her walks in nature. As a climate activist, she talks about the interesting implications of this moment of great change for the climate movement and discusses how the work of both activists and artists is to invite people to imagine. Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of more than twenty books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and disaster, including Whose Story Is This?, Call Them By Their True Names (Winner of the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction), Cinderella Liberator, Men Explain Things to Me, The Mother of All Questions, and Hope in the Dark, and co-creator of the City of Women map, all published by Haymarket Books; a trilogy of atlases of American cities, The Faraway Nearby, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Wanderlust: A History of Walking, and River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). Her forthcoming memoir, Recollections of My Nonexistence, is scheduled to release in March, 2020. A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist at the Guardian and a regular contributor to Literary Hub.
Join acclaimed writers and activists Astra Taylor and Rebecca Solnit as they tackle some of the most pressing social problems of our day. Over the last decade, author and activist Astra Taylor has helped shift the national conversation on topics including technology, inequality, indebtedness, and democracy. Addressing some of the most pressing social problems of our day, Taylor invites us to imagine how things could be different while never losing sight of the strategic question of how change actually happens. Curious and searching, these historically informed and hopeful essays are as engaging as they are challenging and as urgent as they are timeless. Taylor 's unique philosophical style has a political edge that speaks directly to the growing conviction that a radical transformation of our economy and society is required. ---------------------------------------------------- Astra Taylor is a documentary filmmaker, writer, political organizer and author of Remake the World. She is the director, most recently, of "What Is Democracy?" and the author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone and the American Book Award winning The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age. She is co-founder of the Debt Collective, a union for debtors, and contributed the foreword to the group's new book, Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition. Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of more than twenty books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and disaster, including Call Them By Their True Names (Winner of the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction), Cinderella Liberator, Men Explain Things to Me, The Mother of All Questions, and Hope in the Dark, and co-creator of the City of Women map, all published by Haymarket Books; a trilogy of atlases of American cities, The Faraway Nearby, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Wanderlust: A History of Walking, and River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). Her recent memoir, Recollections of My Nonexistence, released in March, 2020. A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist at the Guardian and a regular contributor to Literary Hub. Order a copy of Remake the World: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1635-remake-the-world Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/j1L2RrpPh3w and https://youtu.be/tlKjmR7iQiw Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks
In the second episode of the three part series on the astrology of 2020, we dive into the intense dynamics of the historical times we are living through. We're building on our understanding of Pluto, and looking into how other outer planets are impacting the collective ethos. This episode will go into more detail and nuance, explaining the astrology of the dynamics of fear, crisis, and polarization we are living through today. To understand our current cultural climate, we can look back and see how Pluto & Uranus squared off in the 2010's and brought protests against the establishment. In reaction to these events, there has been a crisis, symbolized by the conjunction of Saturn & Pluto. Saturn & Pluto tend to usher in fear, suppression of democratic rights, and existential threats to our security. This episode highlights historical examples throughout the 20th century of the Saturn/Pluto dynamic like World War One, the rise of Nazism, the Cold War, and September 11th. The Saturn & Pluto dynamic is anxiety producing, and we talk about how to navigate the insecurity of these trying times by choosing love and expansion over fear and contraction. We end with a discussion of the future (represented by Jupiter & Saturn) and what to expect as we move forward into the Age of Aquarius. :: Resources & References :: Official Pronunciation of Drew's Instagram is Anth-Rah-Suh-Fist, @anthrosophist (referenced in the topic of 'Universal Astrology' vs 'Mundane Astrology'): https://www.instagram.com/anthrosophist/ A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit (referenced in discussion about human nature, in response to the Saturn/Pluto dynamic) : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XQEVLM/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Cosmos & Psyche by Richard Tarnas (referenced as a resource to understand planetary cycles that resemble the collective ethos): https://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Psyche-Intimations-World-View-ebook/dp/B000OVLIPQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=cosmos+and+psyche&qid=1589226141&sr=8-1 Astrology University (referenced at the end of the episode as a wonderful resource to nerd out on the astrology of 2020 and other topics): https://www.astrologyuniversity.com/summit-2020-epic-astrology-cycles/ :: Let's Stay Connected :: Follow @girlandthegalaxy on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlandthegalaxy Subscribe to the Monthly Newsletter & Special Offers: https://www.girlandthegalaxy.com/subscribe Free Astrology Resources by yours truly: https://www.girlandthegalaxy.com/understanding-astrology Book Your Reading Online with yours truly: https://www.girlandthegalaxy.com/book-online
Today we ponder the importance of staying human when it seems we are becoming ever more disconnected from Nature and how some of us seem to like it that way. This episode was inspired by a talk on a recent favorite podcast, the Astrology Hub Podcast, and this particular episode but before you get to the main rap, I borrow from another episode from that excellent podcast to offer some very interesting etymology of the word "disaster" and how it ties into our disconnection from Nature as well as a reference to the book, "A Paradise Built in Hell." The big news of the week is you can now support this podcast and my work over on my page at Patreon. And last, two more chapters from my novel, "The Teacher and the Tree Man." We are onto book 4, only 20 chapters to go. If you haven't been listening you can go back to episode 1 and catch up!
In this episode Doug and Chris explore lessons that individuals, societies, and governments can learn from the global pandemic. Our cohosts discuss past pandemics and disasters and what good government and good leadership need to be all about. Trump's dismal performance in response to COVID-19 also somehow makes its way into the conversation. 2.00 Will we learn any lasting lessons from this pandemic? 4.40 A Paradise Built in Hell 9.40 Cooperation and the blame game 10.30 Is returning to "normal" a good way to think? 11.45 Being prepared for the next disaster 12.45 The World Kitchen 16.15 The American response 18.15 Life lessons we can learn 20.45 Who are the essential workers? 22.30 Can America emerge as a better place? Links A Paradise Built in Hell The World Kitchen
In this fifth episode of The Future Is A Mixtape, Matt & Jesse discuss Peter Frase's diaphanous, compact and idea-drenched work of “Social Science Fiction,” which revs up & rides out to the sweet page-count of 150 pages, and contains far more ideas than most books three-times its size (ahem, The Circle). Frase's nonfiction book, Four Futures: Life After Capitalism, argues that there are actually four possible futures for humanity. The book accomplishes this task, ingeniously so, by threading together science fiction novels as well as marxist and futurist theories to see what aspects will appear in these futures, and how they might overlap or build off one another. The author doesn't simply re-shuffle the easy card-deck of the Star Trek versus The Matrix techno-binary--that Yanis Varoufakis and other activist-thinkers often cite as the only two techno-futures available. Instead, Peter Frase offers up four possible futures: Communism, Rentism, Socialism and Exterminism. And by coordinating these “ideal types” upon the axis points of equity vs hierarchy and abundance vs scarcity, the author illuminates what these four futures are likely to give us. Mentioned on this episode: How Captain Picard Likes His Nightcap: “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” And When Captain Picard Gets Communist-Crazy: The Earl Tea Techno Remix Peter Frase's Four Futures: Life After Capitalism Matthew Snyder's Apologia Pro Vita: Verso Book Series (Correction - ABCs of Socialism Is NOT Part of the Series) Peter Frase's Original Jacobin Essay that Became the Basis for His Debut Non-fiction Work, Four Futures: “One Thing Is Certain Of Is That Capitalism Will End” Verso Book Talk with Peter Frase and Alyssa Battistoni Filmed in Brooklyn, NY Four Futures: Four Original Novellas of Science Fiction - As Suggested by Isaac Asimov Who Prods SF Authors to Detail Four Possible Futures to Overpopulation Jedediah Purdy's “The Art of the Possible: Peter Frase's Four Futures” in the Los Angeles Review of Books Essays and Books on Doom/Paradise Future of Automation: “The Robot Invasion” by Farhad Manjoo Race Against the Machine by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee "Welcome, Robot Overlords. Please Don't Fire Us?" by Kevin Drum Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford EXTERMINISM: Hierarchy & Scarcity: Neill Blomkamp's 2013 SF film, Elysium Bong Joon-Ho's 2014 Sci-Fi Traintopia: Snowpiercer Paolo Bacigalupi's Dystopian Science Fiction Novel: The Windup Girl RENTISM: Hierarchy & Abundance: Charles Stross' Science Fiction Novel: Accelerando Philip K. Dick's Legendary SF Novel: Ubik Open Source Ecology: “Open Source Philosophy” - Video Presentation Open Source Ecology - Machines: Global Village Construction Set SOCIALISM: Equality & Scarcity: Pacific Edge: Three Californias (Wild Shore Triptych) by Kim Stanley Robinson Mars Trilogy Book Series by Kim Stanley Robinson Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy Wanuri Kahiu's Brilliant SF Short, Pumzi COMMUNISM: Equality & Abundance Bad Trope-Texts About the End-of-Work: Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano; Pixar's Wall-E and E.M Forster's The Machine Stops (the latter work is a novella that's not only influenced Wall-E, but it's become the prophetic basis for most dystopian views on non-work and technology) Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom Cory Doctorow's Essay in Locus Magazine: “Wealth Inequality Is Even Worse in Reputation Economies” Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek: The Original Series Picard's Spaceship That Makes His Secret Hot Tea: Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode Outro: Captain Picard in Star Trek: “Money Doesn't Exist in the Future”
This week, Matt & Jesse discuss the second point on “The Poison Pyramid” -- namely the horror-show of Capitalism, and why it's an awful idea that we should refuse to carry with us into our much-deserved future. Mentioned In This Episode: David Graeber's Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit David Graeber's On Bureaucratic Technologies & the Future as Dream-Time A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster - a Nonfiction Book by Rebecca Solnit Rebecca Solnit's Essay: When Media Is the Disaster: Covering HaitiBen Ehrenreich's Essay: Why Did U.S. Aid Focus on Securing Haiti Rather Than Helping Haitians? One Nation Under God - A Nonfiction Book by Kevin M. Kruse How 'One Nation' Didn't Become 'Under God' Until The '50s Religious Revival - an Interview with Kevin M. Kruse for NPR's Fresh Air The Corporation Barbara Ehrenreich's Comments About Why Marx Would Be Shocked Over Capitalism's Ability to Create Scarcity Rather Than Its Promised Post-Scarcity OXFAM: An economy for the 99 percent The world's eight wealthiest people Mark Zuckerberg is Giving Away His Money, but With a Twist by Fortune Magazine's Mathew Ingram YouTube Playlist: Capitalism David Suzuki's YouTube Video on Capitalism's Savage Externalities Anohni's Song - “4 Degrees” From Her Gorgeous & Ferocious Album Hopelessness James Lovelock, the Prophet - Eminent scientist says global warming is irreversible - and over 6 billion people will perish at the end of the century Parecon: Life After Capitalism by Michael Albert
Rebecca Solnit is an author, activist, and geographer, among other things. Her books include A Paradise Built in Hell, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, and Men Explain Things to Me. She's also a regular contributor to Harpers, The Nation, and The Guardian.