Podcasts about Utah Phillips

One of the best songs written about West Virginia in the past half century was created by a man who was nicknamed for a state two time zones away.Bruce “U. Utah” Phillips wrote “The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia” in 1971 while reflecting on a visit to the Mountain State years earlier."We were driving in an old car that had a bad leak in the radiator,” Phillips recalled in a story on his website. “We stopped every now and then in these hollers to get water and to talk to the people.“In one place, there was a woman about 50 years old who let us use her pump. I commented to her that down in the town, it seemed that everybody I ran into wanted to get out, wanted to go north or go west and find some decent work…."But, back in the hollers,” Phillips added, “it seemed like the people were rooted to the land, didn't want to go anywhere, even though there wasn't any work.”She gave him many reasons, some of which he didn't fathom, “but she gave me one I could understand, because I have a great affection for the mountains in my state, and I miss them when I spend a lot of time in the east. “She said to me, 'It's these hills. They keep you. And when they've got you, they won't let you go.' "Her comment inspired the key line in the chorus of the song that Phillips would later compose: The green rolling hills of West Virginia Are the nearest thing to heaven that I know. Though the times are sad and drear And I cannot linger here, They'll keep me and never let me go.The Hazel and Alice ContributionIn 1973, when Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard recorded their first album together, they wanted to include Utah Phillips' lovely ode to their home. However, they felt the song needed a better ending, one that offered not only a bit of hope, but also a call to join the fight to preserve those green rolling hills. They added a new last verse: Someday I'll go back to West Virginia, To the green rolling hills I love so well. Yes, someday I'll go home And I know I'll right the wrong. These troubled times will follow me no more.EmmyLou Steps UpEmmylou Harris, who recorded the song on her classic 1978 album Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town, said she loved how the song was about homesickness and displacement.But she added that it took on new meaning when she learned about the menace of mountaintop removal, decapitating hundreds of peaks and poisoning thousands of miles of streams in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and in her home state of Tennessee.“It seems like artists today, particularly country artists, tend to play it safe,” Harris said, “and I count myself in there. I've never been that comfortable with overtly political songs. But mountaintop removal is based on pure greed and it's doing such incredible damage.”That's why, she said, Phillips' stark tune so resonated with her.Our Take on the TuneFifty years ago, The Flood's dear friends H. David Holbrook, Bill Hoke and Susan Lewis formed the core of the best local string band, The Kentucky Foothill Ramblers, and, gee, but they taught everyone a slew of wonderful tunes.The group used to sing “Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia” at nearly every show. The Ramblers are long-gone now, but home recordings preserve a lot of the band's repertoire as performed at those parties where The Flood was born back in the ‘70s.Nowadays "Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia" is always on the playlist whenever Floodster Emerita Michelle Hoge is in the room, as she was one night last month.More West Virginia Tunes?Finally, if you'd like more of The Flood's Mountain State melodies, check out the playlist the guys put together a few years ago to celebrate West Virginia Day. Click the link below: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 1937flood.substack.com

Stop Cop City: Imaginary Crimes Tour This week, we're sharing an interview with Selena who speaks about the "Stop Cop City: Imaginary Crimes Tour" and Jordan, a RICO defendant from the Stop Cop City 61 case. The two speak about anti-repression, about where the case is at right now and a wider view of resistance and support. The tour will be hitting over 60 cities (not all in the USA) From their tour announcement: 61 people are facing RICO trials in Atlanta for alleged involvement in resistance to the construction of Cop City. The State uses imaginary associations and crimes, framed as RICO, as a means to break solidarity and momentum when movements are strong. Anti-repression is a response that uses an alternate imagination to strengthen solidarity and resistance. In Spring 2025, a nationwide tour will visit over 60 cities to discuss the history of the Atlanta forest, the resistance to Cop City, history of RICO, ongoing legal updates and facilitate discussions on anti-repression and movement defense. Through this tour we aim to share the lessons we have learned across struggles, and adapt to the evolving repressive forces so that we can continue to move bravely together.⁩⁩ Stay updated here: www.instagram.com/sccimaginarycrimestour/ linktr.ee/sccimaginarycrimestour tinyurl.com/SCCImaginaryCrimesTourUpadates (announcements only signal chat)⁩⁩ If you want some more content on the struggle, check out this really interesting episode of Audio Interference, a podcast associated with the Interference Archive in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood featuring materials from and discussion of a September 2024 installation entitled "Archiving Stop Cop City: This Is Not A Local Struggle" To hear past episodes of ours on the Stop Cop City movement, check out this link. Announcements A Message from Peppy A brief statement from Brian "Peppy" DiPippa, an anarchist in Pittsburgh convicted of engaging a home made smoke bomb at cops protecting an anti-trans event at University of Pittsburgh in May of 2023 and sentenced to 60 months in Federal Prison. You can learn more about Peppy & his co-defendant Krystal (who just had a birthday!) at their support site May we find inspiration and creativity in these challenging times. Let us be guided by friendship and self determination. May we mind our pace, study our ancestors, listen to our storytellers and run towards expansive freedom and autonomy. Solidarity to all those held captive by the state and their loved ones on the outside, your work is felt even if it is not always the most visible. Now Airing on WEFR 1700 AM, Fairmont WV We are happy to announce that we're airing at 3pm on Saturdays on WEFR 1700AM in Fairmont, WV. To support this small station, check out their GoFundMe, and if you've got a community radio station, college radio station or public radio station in your area that you'd like to hear us on, check out our Radio Broadcasting tab and send us their way! . ... . .. Featured Tracks: Springs forth by The Willow's Whisper The Internationale by U. Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco from "Fellow Workers"

When my buddy Utah Phillips recorded my song, ‘It's Only A Wee-Wee, So What's The Big Deal?', he introduced it by saying,“Now here's my idea of a kids' song folks! Full bore, overhead cam, spoke wire-wheels, no holds barred damn kids' song! None of that ‘knicky-knacky-nu' stuff we were stuck with when we were kids. When's the last time you actually said ‘wee-wee' in public? ‘It's only a wee-wee, so what's the big deal? It's only a wee-wee so what's all the fuss? It's only a wee-wee and everyone's got one, there's better things to discuss!”It's a fun song I wrote in 1981 designed to open up safe discussions about how our binary gender-roles assign many attributes to boys and men that also described girls and women, … and visa-versa. Females can be strong and heroic. Males can be gentle and caring. Let's just act like ourselves!Illustration by Terri AsherThat was almost 50 years ago! Nowadays we're aware of a slew of other factors we need to consider as we discover ‘who' we are with regard to our sexual identity, orientation, biological, physical, emotional, hormonal, and genetic make-up! There are so many different factors now in the wide spectrum of information we have to consider, that it's no longer possible to make a simple binary choice of a label that fits us correctly.Our gender identities have been limited to being either male or female for thousands of years, and we carry those gender labels with us, throughout our lives, that were assigned to us solely on the physical appearance of our genitals at birth.Our predominant culture demands that we accept our gender assignment, and when it does not fit with our own experience of ourselves, it takes great courage to push back against the pressure to conform. Some of us have been lucky enough to have family, friends, and other allies who support us in our exploration of this part of our human journey as we grow up, but many have not had that support.If we do speak up, it's often alone, and we are attacked, abused, and discounted for simply not fitting into one of the two choices we're given. So here we are singing ‘It's Only A Wee-Wee' at a ‘Healing Power of Laughter And Play Conference' with 1400 hundred human service professionals!I hereby officially reframe my chorus to this song by saying:“Having discussions with other safe, caring people as we grow and explore and discover who we are as sexual human beings is a VERY BIG DEAL! We begin to free ourselves from the constraints of our binary assignments when we sing together about our genitals! Please join us!”IT'S ONLY A WEE-WEE, SO WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?As soon as you're born GGrown-ups check where you pee CAnd then they decide D-D7Just how you're supposed t'be G-(C-G)Girls pink and quiet, GBoys noisy and blue CSeems like a dumb way D-D7To choose what you'll do G-(C-G)Cho: It's only a wee-wee GSo what's the big deal? CIt's only a wee-wee D-D7So what's all the fuss? GIt's only a wee-wee GAnd everyone's got one CThere's better D-D7Things to discuss!! G-(C-G)Now girls must use make-upGirls' names and girls' clothesAnd boys must use sneakersBut not pantyhose!The grown-ups will teach youThe rules to their dance,And if you get confused,They'll say “Look in your pants!”ChorusIf I live to be nine,I won't understandWhy grown-ups are tot'lyObsessed with their glandsIf I touch myself, ...“Don't you do that!” I'm told,And they treat me likeI might explode!ChorusNow grown-ups watch closelyEach move that we makeBoys must not cry,And girls must make cakeIt's all very formal,And I think it smellsLet's all be abnormalAnd act like ourselves!Chorus(extra Adult verse)She walked to the marketPast brave cavaliersShe tried to avoid them,They whistled and jeeredShe gave them the finger,They gave her more noiseSo she stopped and she sangTo those bright ‘little boys'Cho: It's only a wee-wee,So what's the big deal?It's only a wee-wee,So why do you watch?It's only a wee-wee,And everyone's got oneThere's more to lifeThan your crotch!!Written by Peter Alsop, ©1981, Moose School Music (BMI)For more discussion check out Peter Alsop's SONGS TO CHEW audio podcast here on Substack or anywhere you get podcasts!Peter Alsop's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. www.peteralsop.com Get full access to Peter Alsop's Substack at peteralsop.substack.com/subscribe

Ani DiFranco began recording and self-releasing her music as a 20 year old in Buffalo, New York in 1990. 34 years later she is widely considered to be a feminist icon. But in many ways she emerged iconic, fully formed and fearless.  A facile lyricist with a biting honesty, she played guitar with a virtuosic, rhythmic style. And she was ahead of her time as an independent artist who owned all her own masters and controlled most of the major aspects of her career. She's sometimes called the mother of the DIY movement. DiFranco has released all of her albums (over twenty) on her Righteous Babe record label.  The label has also put out projects for other distinguished singer songwriters including Andrew Bird, Utah Phillips, Arto Lindsay, and Anaïs Mitchell whose own Hadestown project was first released as an album on Righteous Babe before being transformed into the Broadway hit that it is today. Ani Difranco's most recent studio album Revolutionary Love came out in 2021. In 2022 she published a picture book for children called The Knowing which she described as “an Ani DiFranco-style lullaby, inviting young readers to ponder the distinction between outer forms of identity and the inner light of consciousness.” And she will join the cast of Hadestown on Broadway in February, playing the role of Persephone, a part she sang on Anais Mitchell's original Righteous Babe recording in 2010. So it's both her broadway debut and a fill circle moment.  In recent years Righteous Babe has released anniversary editions of Ani's early recordings. In 2022 she revisited the 1998 album Little Plastic Castle, sharing anecdotes and memories of the making of it on social media, and playing some of the songs live. Her memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, was published in 2019. Here she talks about how she sees her work today (“my job is connecting with people”), her early career (“it was relentless”), avoiding being labeled or boxed in (“I feel like a survivor of labels”), her idea of success (“successful artists are not necessarily the best selling”), raising children in an era of performative identity, practicing revolutionary love and why it's easier to tell the truth than to hide yourself. www.third-story.com www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast www.wbgo.org/studios 0:00 Intro 12:00 Interview 

Having determined not to waste everyone's time with a comprehensive coverage of ALL of Waits's recordings... Sam and Martin return to the podcast to do exactly that. Sorry? In this first of several episodes, we consider some of the most prolific years of Waits's career, covering as many recordings as we can find between 1971 and 1977. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Getting Drunk On A Bottle / I Like To Sleep Late In The Morning, live recording, Snap Sessions - KPFK FM - Santa Monica OR Folk Arts Rare Records, w. Dave Blue (November, 1973) Friday's Blues, live recording, Snap Sessions - KPFK FM - Santa Monica OR Folk Arts Rare Records, w. Ray Bierl (November, 1973) Good Night Loving Trail, Dime Store Novels vol 1 - Ebbets Field, w. Utah Phillips (1974)  Spanish is the Loving Tongue, live recording, San Diego, w. Charles Badger Clark / Bill Simon (1974) Your Sweet and Shiny Eyes, Home Plate, Bonnie Raitt (1975) Apartment For Rent, live recording, Mainpoint - Bryn Mawr (June 1975) Tom Gets Hustled At 9 Ball, live recording, KWFM - Lee Furr's Studios - Tucson Arizona (1975) Saturday Night Fish Fry, live recording, Santa Barbara, w. Louis Jordan / Ellis Walsh (February 1975) Standing On The Corner, live recording, Agora Ballroom - Cleveland/ Ohio, w. Frank Loesser (August 1976) What Else Is New, unreleased recording - Small Change sessions, Tom Waits (July 1976) Stray Dog Help Yourself, unreleased recording - Small Change sessions, Tom Waits (July 1976) Cupid, live recording, Westchester, w. Sam Cooke (1976) Playin' Hooky, unreleased recording - Foreign Affairs sessions, Tom Waits (July/August 1977)Scarecrow, unreleased recording - Foreign Affairs sessions, Tom Waits (July/August 1977)A Nickle's Worth of Dreams, unreleased recording - Foreign Affairs sessions, Tom Waits (July/August 1977)Mr Henry, Bounced Checks/Asylum Years - Foreign Affairs sessions, Tom Waits (1977/1981) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

First broadcast on September 29, 1981. Studs Terkel discusses the upcoming new film "Of Mice and Men", based on the novel written by John Steinbeck with the starring actors, John Malkovich (Lennie) and Gary Sinise (George). The program begins with the opening excerpt from the play "Of Mice and Men" featuring Terkel (George) and Win Stracke (Lennie) from 1952, which then leads into Malkovich and Sinise's interpretation of the rest of the scene. Folk singer Utah Phillips song "On the Goodnight Loving Trail" is presented as a comparison to themes expressed in "Of Mice and Men". During this program they discuss the following: tackling the characters; the interpretation of the relationship between George and Lennie; universal themes; and the other characters.

Episode Summary On This Month in the Apocalypse, Brooke, Margaret, and Inmn talk about a lot of really bad things that happened in July, from the intensifying heat, to floods, to medicine shortages, to Antarctica's ice melting, to grain shortages, to terrifying new laws. But also, there are some hopeful things that happened, and as always the group finds ways to stay positive and for communities to prepare for what's to come. Host Info Brooke can be found on Twitter or Mastodon @ogemakweBrooke. Inmn can be found on Instagram @shadowtail.artificery. Margaret can be found on twitter @magpiekilljoy or instagram at @margaretkilljoy. Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Transcript This Month in the Apocalypse: July, 2023 Margaret 00:14 Hello and welcome to Live Like the World is Dying, your podcast for what feels like the end times. I'm Margaret. Now one of you says, "Hi." Brooke 00:22 Hi, Margaret. Margaret 00:26 No, you say "Hi," like you say who you are. Brooke 00:29 Oh, hi, who I am. Brooke. Inmn 00:32 And I'm Inmn. Brooke 00:34 Did I do good? Was that good? Alright, Margaret 00:37 Y'all did great. I'm joined by Brooke and Inmn today for another episode of This Month in the Apocalypse. And this is an extra special extra apocalypsey month that we're going to be talking about because we're talking about July, 2023, the hottest month in the history of humans being alive. Unless you're listening to this in August, in which case maybe you're like, "July that was some fucking amateur hour shit." But for now, hear us at the end of July, hottest month ever. And you know what else is hot is the Channel Zero Network, the network of anarchists podcasts. There's nothing wrong with this comparison. We are a proud member of the Channel Zero Network of anarchist podcast and here's a jingle from another show on the network. Da da da da duh daa [Humming a melody] Inmn 02:12 And we're back. And to start off today, we're going to talk a little bit about global temperatures and the heatwave that we are in the middle of experiencing right now. So this July was quite possibly the hottest--or I mean, definitely the hottest month on record in, you know, a recorded historical way--and possibly one of the hottest months on the planet in a very long time. So I live in Arizona, and in Phoenix, the ground temperature...There were daily record breaks in the in the heat where the hottest day on record was...it was 117 degrees. And then the next day it was 118 degrees. And then the next day, it was 119 degrees. Margaret 03:09 They won't even make it to that 20. Like come on. Just give us the round number. Brooke 03:15 No, no, don't. Stay less. Margaret 03:19 Oh, interesting. Okay. [dryly sarcastic] Inmn 03:21 There is I learned, a really horrifying thing that happens at 120 degrees. So I really hope that it doesn't get to 120 degrees. Do y'all know what happens when the ground temperature reaches 120 degrees in the sun? Margaret 03:35 Does Mothra break out of the cracked Earth and fight Godzilla? Inmn 03:41 Sort of. Propane tanks spontaneously combust. Margaret 03:49 That's bad. Brooke 03:51 Oh my gosh, Inmn 03:53 It's really bad. So in actuality, the temperature did reach 120 degrees because an enormous propane tank near the Sky Harbor International Airport exploded along with a bunch of like five gallon ones and it caused this huge fire. A bunch of cars were destroyed. And yeah, which you know, is by itself not like some huge world ending thing. But if you live anywhere where it might be 120 degrees on the ground, possibly in Arizona, take your propane tanks out of the sun because they might explode. Margaret 04:35 Normally, I would say don't put them inside because in general that's a really bad idea. But, it's probably better than like popcorn kernels in your yard. Inmn 04:46 Yeah, yeah. And I say this for people who like, you know, if you have a grill outside that just has the propane tank attached to it and it's not in the shade or anything. Um then, yeah, it could just explode and destroy your house. Brooke 05:06 But only if it's 120 degrees. If you're at 119, you're perfectly safe. Leave those propane tanks just right out there in the middle of the sun on the asphalt, right? [sarcastically] Inmn 05:16 No, don't do that. [laughing] Margaret 05:18 Place them near the following people who run the following companies. Brooke 05:29 Do you want to know about the the average overall temperatures in the month of July in Phoenix while we're talking about Phoenix? Margaret 05:36 I mean, no, but tell us anyway. Brooke 05:39 Okay, for the month of July, in Phoenix, the average high temperature, daily high temperature, was 114 degrees. And here's the really fun one, the average low temperature like the coldest it got was 90 degrees. Margaret 05:56 There was also a new low warm record. There was a night in Phoenix where it didn't get below 97 degrees. Inmn 06:04 Oh, golly. Margaret 06:06 Which is too hot. Inmn 06:08 It is too hot. Margaret 06:09 And, I didn't write this number down because I forgot. Massive..Like there was also a record for the most electricity the city of Phoenix has ever drawn because everyone was running their air conditioners, for good reasons. This is not a "Don't run your air conditioners," this is more of a, "There is a limit to what the grid can handle." Inmn 06:31 Yeah. And just to, since we're hyper focusing on Phoenix, in the last, I think--I don't think this was last month-- but in the last couple of months, the governor did halt a lot of new housing developments that were getting built due to concerns over the future of water in Phoenix. Margaret 06:57 And it seems like there's two ways to read that. There is the like...I am notably on the record of feeling like people who are...That Arizona is in trouble. I am on the record for that. And I don't want to get into specifics. But the more kind way to read the lack of expansion is that it was less like these places are out of water and more that, I believe in Arizona, or in the Phoenix metro area or something, you have to be able to prove that there will be water access for the next 100 years in order to build. And so it is a little bit less like these places are out of water and more like, "We cannot guarantee this water." I think that's the kinder way...No, not the kinder...That is one way to read that. The other is that Arizona is in fucking trouble. Inmn 07:55 Yeah, and you know, it stems from these like larger issues of the Colorado River having these like all time lows in water flow, and just due to Phoenix being this like huge, sprawling place that is like under constant development. Like I think it's where...Outside of Phoenix is where Bill Gates is trying to build some like new smart future city. Which is really confusing. Margaret 08:27 Has fucking Elon Musk gotten into him or something? Inmn 08:29 Yeah, like it's supposed to be this like huge self contained smart city that's outside of...it's in the larger Phoenix area, but like is separated from Phoenix. And my first thing that I thought was like, "Why? There's no...Where are you going to get water from?" Which I guess if you're really...If you're Bill Gates, you maybe have to worry less about where your water's coming from. But... Margaret 08:57 I mean, eventually. Other heat stuff from this month, let's see, we had...I was looking at a bunch of maps of where all of this heatwave stuff hit right, and overall, the hardest hit places were the coastal south, the southwest, of course--Phoenix gets a lot of the attention and for good reason--the coastal South got an awful lot, and then actually in terms of it being way hotter than usual, it also affected the lower and middle Midwest. The Pacific Northwest and central Appalachia--aka the two best places in the country based on the general disbursement of the three people on this call--were the least affected. And last weekend--sorry last week--thousands of people across the US went to the hospital for heat related illnesses. Only six states have laws protecting workers that say things like "You actually can't make people work when it's too hot out or they'll die." Only six states actually have laws that are like, "You have to provide like shade, and rest, and water for people working outside." I read a heartbreaking story about a young man who died laying cable trying to send money to his mother and work his way through school and all that shit. The federal government is working on a law about, "Maybe you shouldn't let people work where it kills them in the heat." That law has not..They've been working on it for years and nothing has happened. Yep. Got any more heat heat or move on to wildfire? Brooke 10:41 Capitalism is so ridiculous. The fact that we have to come along and legislate like, "Hey, maybe don't work people to death in the heat." Like that shouldn't have to be a law that anyone has to have because we are fucking human beings. And yeah, we should treat each other better. Yeah, yeah, sorry. It's upsetting. So, the United States is not the only place that's super hot. Europe's going through another massive heatwave like they did last summer. And last summer's heatwave, you may recall from the news, was breaking record temperatures and was quite severe. And one report I read said something like 60,000 Europeans died last year due to the heatwave. Their average temperatures are currently much higher than they were last summer even...or are getting to high temperatures earlier in the summer than they did last year. That's what I really mean to say. And it's affecting lots of things. For instance, Greece is experiencing wildfires on a massive scale, which I guess they're somewhat prone to wildfires already like the Pacific Northwest. But, the amount of acreage burning right now is two and a half times the average that they've experienced this time of year. Particularly the island of Rhodes, which is a Greece Island. Greek. Greek island. [The island] has had to evacuate tens of thousands of people off the island due to the wildfires. There's something like 90,000 acres of wildfires currently burning in Greece, which is a really significant size of wildfire. And it's weird how much perspective shifts on this, especially being from somewhere like the Pacific Northwest where we're kind of prone to wildfires. And if we get one that's like 10,000-20,000 acres, I'm like, "Meh [disapprovingly]." I mean, that's huge. But at the same time, in the last few years, we've had ones that are at 90,000-100,000 acres. So, you know, perspective shifts on what a severe wildfire is, but 90,000 acres is just massive. So yeah. Greece is...Greece is not having a good time with the fires right now. Margaret 13:03 And then, right before we hit record [on the episode], I was reading about how today, there's a third 300,000 person city in Sicily, whose name I forgot to write down, that is largely without water or electricity today because the 46 degree Celsius which I want to say is like 118 [Fahrenheit], or something like that, melted asphalt and fucked up all the infrastructure underneath. So no more electricity and water in a town of 300,000, that is also like experiencing a ton of wildfire. Apparently like the city is also surrounded by wildfire, but maybe that was a different city nearby. Brooke 13:45 You know when you say that, Margaret, it does...I distinctly remember us talking last summer about the heatwave and how a lot of European towns, countries, aren't built for the high heats and things were melting like that. Like the asphalt and stuff. Margaret 13:59 And then, yeah, I remember. And you had England, you had like the tarmac, which is the British word for asphalt, I think. I don't know. They don't do anything. Right. And then, speaking of places that Europe hasn't done right, Northern Africa is also completely fucked by the current heatwave. And in particular, wildfires. Algerian wildfires are fucking everything up. Like, as I'm...Like, as we're recording, unfortunately, they'll probably get worse by the time this comes out. Algerian wildfires, so far, have killed at least 38 people, including at least 10 soldiers who were doing wildland fire duty. More than 1,500 people have been evacuated from 97 fires around that country. Tunisia is also having some fucking times because, actually, it turns out that national borders are nonsense. And Algiers, the city of Algiers, had a fun 120 degree day. This I believe last week. And two years ago, Algerian wildfires killed 65 people in one week, including, a lot of those people are the people who are like, bravely fighting those wildfires. And I don't know, those people are fucking heroes and martyrs to climate change. Brooke 15:17 Is the heat causing other kinds of problems in the world, Margaret? Margaret 15:21 You mean the Antarctic ice that isn't there? Well hear me out. It's actually a solution because we're all going to move to Antarctica, which will be green. And there won't be any Lovecraftian temples with strange writing...in the mountains of madness. Someone's gonna yell at me about Lovecraft. Anyway. Antarctica is like having some real interesting times. I don't know if people have seen the news this week. Every now and then like climate change people like post the deviation from norms charts, where the like waves go up and down and stuff. And this year's, they're just not. Usually they're like, "Check it out. This wave is a little bit different. It's pushing the envelope. It's got some new records." There's no Antarctic ice. That's an exaggeration. That's hyperbole. Antarctic ice is lower than it's possible for people to easily conceptualize right now. It's winter in Antarctica right now. It's...When we talk about the hottest year on record, and we're like, "Oh, well, it's summer. Of course, it's hot, right?" Where I'm at, the hottest year in the fucking world, half of the world is in winter right now. Right? But, sea temperatures are rising, which actually are going to...Fuck I forgot to write this down..I was reading about right beforehand. There's a new study saying that the Gulf Stream, the thing that like cycles the fucking goddamn waters of the world, will likely stop somewhere between 2025 and 2100, with the average guess being about 2050 but as soon as two years from now. Which will have all kinds of changes. Ironically, one of them is that Europe might get colder. It's that movie, The Day After Tomorrow, is based on this concept of the Gulf streams disappearing. Brooke 17:10 Oh, that movie. Margaret 17:11 Yeah. That beautiful, wonderful movie. I barely remember it. We snuck into the theater. And I was like too paranoid the whole time. I was like afraid we'd get caught because we were like, really obviously dirty punks. And it was just like, so obvious. But, we didn't get caught. And I don't really remember much about that movie besides it's cold, and that people are willing to walk a very long way for their family, which is very sweet. So this event is, this is a historic low of ice following the previous all time lows of 2016, 2017, and 2022. But this is a five to six sigma event. Five to six--not like cool guys who'd go their own way--but five to six standard deviations away from a normal event, which is a meaningless thing. I had to spend like 20 minutes reading about what the fuck that means to try and explain it to people because you're just like, "Oh, it's a lot, right?" It's a lot, a lot. Statistically, a four sigma event, four standards of probability standard deviation thing, is now you're talking about something that is functionally 100%. Right? This is now so far...Basically, it's like imagine stuff is on a bell curve. The far edges of it are the sigma, are the standard deviations away from the norm, the norm is the center. When you get to the...When you get to like four, you're at functionally 100% of things don't don't fall into this, right? Or something that happens functionally 0% of the time, it's not actually 0% of the time. So it is...but it's often seen as statistically insignificant. For example, if you were to flip a coin 100 times, the odds of that coming up heads all 100 times is one in 3.5 million. That is a five sigma event. Right? The standard deviation, this the amount of Antarctic ice that isn't there this winter when it's supposed to be coming back, is more than that. It is about twice that. It is a one in 7.5 million year event, which isn't to say this happened 7.5 million years ago. It didn't. That's the odds of it happening randomly any given year. So it's really funny because scientists have to be very exact, which is part of what causes a lot of like climate change confusion, because if you ask a scientist like, "Is this man made?" a scientist has to be like, "We cannot to 100% certainty, certain that," right? Because they're like, because they're not certain, and science is based on an uncertainty. And so like a lot of the articles they're like, "Look, technically we're not sure. It's just really, really unlikely that it isn't." And I remember--one time I asked one of my science minded doctor friends--I was like, "What are the odds I am going to have the following health problem that is too personal for me to explain on-air?" He was like, "Look, that is possible. That is a possible risk vector. It's about as likely as you getting eaten by a shark, today, in Asheville, North Carolina." Which is to say, it was possible but not worth fucking worrying about. And this is the opposite of that. This is worth fucking worrying about. And ice decrease, of course, obviously, it makes the water get bigger, right, because it's not in ice form. But also, ice reflects back an awful lot of sunlight. There is a chance that the ice will be back next year. There is a chance that it won't. I was not able to find...I was able to find scientists being like, "We don't fucking know." I was not able to find scientists giving statistics. This is...I think..So I'm gonna go on a rant. I warned everyone--not you all the listeners--but I warned my co-host that I'm gonna go on a little bit of a rant today. Brooke 20:58 And that was it. Margaret 20:59 No, no, we're just getting started. Sorry. Brooke 21:05 Let me buckle in for this. We buckle in for this. Okay, yeah, ready to go. Margaret 21:07 Alright. So I think...I try really hard to not be like, the-sky-is-falling girl, right? I talk about preparedness and possible bad futures. Semi professional--actually, I don't get paid for this--but like, I do it a lot. It's like one of the main things. It's like, what I do with my time. And I try really hard to be like, "Look, we don't know. Don't put all your eggs into your savings for the when-you're-80 basket. But also don't put none of them in, right? Because the future is unknowable. And that is true. I think that this month marks a turning point where we can no longer in good conscience, talk about climate change as a possibility or even as like a certainty that's a little bit away. And we don't know how bad it's going to be. I think we have to talk about things from the point of view that this is happening. And this is really bad. And this is going to stay bad no matter what we do. That is not to say we can't do anything. And that's not to say we can't mitigate it. But I think that we need to just like...I know I will at least have to stop hedging some of what I say. And I think that this month is the most clear that we are in a really bad time--I don't wanna say "apocalypse," because it's a sort of a meaningless word--since we've been having the show, with the possible exception of March, 2020. And so I just like really quickly--and we'll get back to our regularly scheduled talking about some stuff--I want to talk about some of the stuff we can do really quickly and like what I think is really useful. And overall, what I believe is useful, is that we need to start working together in communities to build bottom-up solutions, not necessarily just to climate change--although that's true--but to preparing for and weathering the impacts of climate change. I don't believe that top-down solutions are coming. Prove me wrong government handler assigned to listen to this show. Prove me fucking wrong. I will turn in my anarchy card if you fucking stop global warming. Maybe. I might thank you and then still try to end you. But... Brooke 23:25 Weather. Weathering climate change. Margaret 23:31 I believe that working to create small, medium, and large scale communities that work from the bottom-up, that are horizontally organized, that work in federation with other groups to organize on as large of scale as is necessary, is our best bet going forward for how we can mitigate the worst effects of this, both in terms of our survivability, and in terms of having a culture that directly confronts fossil fuel infrastructure, that directly confronts, you know, the people who are doing this, right? There's that old, I think Utah Phillips quote, "The Earth isn't dying, it's being killed. And the people who are doing the killing have names and addresses." Brooke 24:22 I'm gonna put that on my wall. Margaret 24:24 I believe that we can build the kind of resilient communities that can allow more of us to live as long and healthy lives as is possible, considering what's happening. And I believe that the time to start thinking about that and doing that is now. I think that it is time for people to talk to their neighbors. It is time for people to work at like whatever your local community center is that is most aligned to your values. If you don't have one, fucking start one, and start having skill shares. Start prioritizing this. I think that people should make their decisions about where they want to live based on climate right now, and not just move away from the bad--obviously, that's going to happen--but also like where you want to live when/if the structures that currently provide for us are no longer able to do so. Like for myself, I didn't pick "I'm moving to where I think is going to be the least impacted by climate change." I moved to where my family is. Because that is a priority that I will make above my own personal safety every time, you know. But everyone's going to make those decisions differently. And then the other final thing is that I think that we have this problem where Al Gore government type people are like, "This is your fault because you didn't use fluorescent light bulbs, you used incandescent light bulbs," right? [Brooke laughs] To date myself to like 20 years ago when that was like a way that we were trying to get blamed as individuals, like, "If you don't recycle then like the world's gonna end." And it's like, "Oh, the world's ending. It's clearly because I didn't recycle enough." Like one, recycling is mostly fake. Although it shouldn't be. And I think it's still good practice for people to think about their waste, right? But, and so individual like so...[tails of and start over] So there's this problem where corporations are like, "Ah, individuals, that's the solution. We don't have to change anything," right. But we can accidentally fall on the other side of that. And we can say like, "Oh, well, since this isn't my fault. And my individual choices don't necessarily change things. I'm off the hook." And we the way we talk about the hook is wrong. There is a difference between fault and responsibility. It is not your fault, dear listener, that this is happening. Right? It is not your fault that you once got drunk and threw a car battery in the ocean. I have no idea why everyone uses throwing car batteries into the ocean as the example of horrible pollution that individuals can do. But it like comes up all the time. So, if you...[interrupted] Brooke 26:58 I have ever heard that example before. Margaret 27:00 Then you have different DMs than me. When you wanna talk about climate change, people are like, "I'm gonna throw my car battery into the ocean." I don't get it. If someone wants to explain it to me, you can send it to me by my DMs and I won't look. And but there is a difference between the fault and the responsibility. It is not your fault, right? But it is our--not your--our responsibility because no one else is going to fucking do it. Rather, the people whose fault it is, are not going to fucking do it. And we need to figure out how to do this because we're running out of time. And I think that...It's essentially liberalism in a bad sense. It is both liberalism to blame the individual, right? But it's also liberalism to be like, "Well, it's not my fault. So I don't have to do anything about it," because like, when you're being oppressed, right, like...For example, I, to use myself as an example as like a trans person, right? It is like not my fault that people hate trans people. But like, I don't want to be oppressed. So, I need to look at doing that. I need to look at solving my problems even though it isn't my fault. And it is a delicate balance to walk when we talk about this because we need to not blame victims. But we need, as collectively the billions of victims of climate change, to figure out our own power and work our way out of this. I think that's the end of my rant. Brooke 28:31 Actually, I really appreciate that, Margaret, especially the end part there, just because like I, in my own personal life, have been struggling with a little bit of that lately, especially with the heat this summer, and that feeling like, you know, there's nothing I can do, this isn't my fault, so fuck it, I want to turn down my AC some more or something like that. And I haven't, but that like the mentality that I'm struggling with sometimes right now. So I really appreciate you saying that. Margaret 28:59 Yeah, and like use your AC. Like, I mean when there's like...Sometimes you get these like warnings--there are individual structures that are currently top-down that I don't think are bad--like when they send out a text being like, "Look, if everyone could kind of lay off the power a little bit so we don't all have brownouts, that would be really good." Like you know, that's when we can all like pitch in. It sucks that we're all expected to pitch in while they still fucking clear cut, and drill, and burn everything in the goddamn world. Inmn 29:29 Yeah, it's like the...Like this came up in Texas. Was it last year or like the year before with like the huge power outages in Texas? They were due to...There was like a huge heat wave. And the thing, one of the things that the grid collapsing was blamed on was people cranking their ACs because it was like 115 degrees outside. And which, you know, probably probably the ACs are not actually what caused the grid to collapse. It's like, the normal strain of the grid is supporting so many unnecessary and ridiculous things. But like, people were asked to turn off their air conditioners, right, during a heatwave so that the grid wouldn't collapse because the grid is not managed well and it's owned by private companies and they don't manage it well. And so the grid collapsed. And then people were like...People were getting heat sick. People were dying. And it's like, we can rely on things like ACs to cool ourselves. But we actually can't because of the mismanagement of utilities and stuff like that could be what causes grids to collapse, not because it is the individual's like fault, but that there's all this other mismanagement and strain from Capitalism, etc. Margaret 30:57 Totally. And like, I think it's a good example too where, at the same time, it is not the people who want to turn up their AC's fault, right? But I want to be alive more than I want to not be at fault, right? So it's like, if I...[interrupted] Inmn 31:15 Just because it's not our fault, it still might cause it. Margaret 31:20 It's our problem. You know, someone else caused a problem. Like, the person who's hitting me with a stick, it is their fault that they are hitting me with a stick, but they're clearly not going to stop. And the AC example is like, if I get a text that's like, "Turn down your AC or everyone's power is going to go out. I'm going to turn down my AC because I don't want everyone's power to go out." And it's not because I'm like--I mean, it is a good like, we're all pitching in together to not die thing, right--but it's also like...It's hard, because it then becomes easy to blame people to be like, "Oh, you didn't turn down your AC. So it's your fault." It's like, "No, it's the people who fucking..." I mean, Texas is that brilliant example, where it's like cut off from the rest of America's grid because it's like, "We got to be Texas." And that's like, why it's so--and that and all the privatization--is why it's so precarious. And so we just build resiliency. It's like, I don't want to be pure fault. I want to be alive. And so like, I want to say like, "Okay, what will I do to keep cool if my AC goes out?" You know? Anyway. Brooke 32:29 Can I point out that it's weird how we talk about AC because we talk about turning down the AC, which makes me think like turning down power. But actually, what we mean is turning down temperature. Yeah. And then I say, when I say like, turn up the AC, that means make it, I'm making it hot--in my mind, in my mind--if I turn up the AC. Anyway. Yeah, it's difficult. Yeah. Floods! Margaret 32:54 All right. Margaret 32:56 That would be really bad if there's more than one disaster at once. Can't wildfires be enough? Or have there been floods? Inmn 33:02 There have also been floods. And I'm going to focus in on a couple of kind of specific floods that have happened this month in the United States. But there is this...It points to this larger problem and some of the things that I learned after digging into the floods in Vermont, kind of highlight some key issues that I think are worth exploring. So, the flood in Vermont that happened on like July 10th or 11th or something, where essentially two whole months of rain fell in two days. There was like nine inches of rain, which, I was curious how much water that is because, you know, we hear like, "Oh, one inch of rain, nine inches of rain." Like what does that mean? And nine inches of rain over like, over 20,000 square miles--which I don't actually know how big Vermont is, but this is the statistic that I looked up--is like two and a half not trillion but the next number, the next magnitude. Quadrillion? Margaret 34:24 I don't really know what's above a trillion off the top my head. Inmn 34:26 Yeah, it's like two and a half quadrillion gallons of water, you know. It's so...I hope I don't get at'd about this math, but... Margaret 34:35 No, it is quadrillion. That is the...Well, you at least got the word right. I looked at that. Inmn 34:41 Great, great, great. Yeah, it's like...It's that much water. So like when we think about like, "Oh, one inch of rain is falling." Like one inch of rain falling in one day as a lot. You know, like where I used to live flooded over an inch and a half of rain, you know? And so to put that in perspective, nine inches of rain fell in Vermont over a two day period. And in the first 24 hours, the river--and I am not going to pronounce this right--the Winooski River, it rose 19 feet in 24 hours. And then on the next day, in a couple hours, it rose to 40 feet. And they're measuring this on a 170 foot dam. And are there any guesses as to how high the water rose on that dam? Brooke 35:41 70 foot damn. Water had nine inches.... Margaret 35:47 I'm just gonna be wrong. Seven feet. Brooke 35:50 Oh, I was gonna guess like 50 feet. Margaret 35:51 Yeah, I just figured I'd be wrong. Inmn 35:54 It rose 169 feet. Margaret 35:58 Nice. I mean... Inmn 36:02 It came within one foot of the dam breaching, which it like, this dam sits over Montpelier, which is like one of the only cities in Vermont, and so the dam came within inches of breaching and... Margaret 36:16 Oh, jeez, it would have flooded the city. Inmn 36:19 Yes, it would have. Like, this already huge catastrophe would have turned into something several magnitudes higher if the dam had been breached. Brooke 36:31 As an indigenous woman. I'm like, "Fuck you, dams." But at the same time, like I don't want them to break like that and kill a bunch of people. Inmn 36:40 Yeah, and yeah. And so the dam did not breach. There was only one recorded death in the incident. Margaret 36:50 A lot better than Pennsylvania did this month for floods in terms of deaths. Brooke 36:55 But, wait, what happened Pennsylvania? Inmn 36:56 Wait, wait, sorry. I got more. I got more. So, one of the other big concerns, and I think this ties in well to kind of preparedness, is locally, there were a lot of people worried about a rather large houseless population that was turned out of COVID housing, like a COVID housing program that ended in June, and so in July, there were like, a lot more houseless people kicking around areas--and houseless people, as some may know, love to congregate around like rivers and stuff because those are usually pretty chill places to hang out and like access resources and stuff. And so like, one thing that's noted is that like a lot of people experiencing housing insecurity tend to congregate in the most flood prone areas because those are the areas available to people to congregate. And so one cool thing that did happen is there was this shelter network, that when they heard about the severe storms, they immediately went and started doing outreach to people living by the river. And actually, they were able to do in evacuation of people on a bus. The bus actually ended up getting caught in floodwaters and was destroyed. But the people on it were not harmed. And people were able to like evacuate by other means. But yeah, just as like a wonderful thing you can do if you think your area might experience a flood is doing outreach to like houseless communities who might not know about the danger and might not have the resources to escape it themselves. Yeah. One of the other big things was that in Vermont--this isn't quite as true as in a lot of other places, but it's something specific to areas like Vermont, or like West Virginia, or like other mountainous areas--like they have that phrase like, "Well, it's only three miles as the crow flies, but it's going to take an hour and a half to get there on the windy mountainous roads." Well, Vermont has a lot of windy mountainous roads, and almost all of those roads became completely undriveable because of roads washing out, mudslides, and these like huge floodwaters. And so the populations of Vermont were largely left trapped in their homes unable to escape if things had gotten worse. Like people described being completely cut off on these little, you know, mini islands in floodwaters. And yeah, just things to think about if you live in these, if you live in mountainous areas, is like having these kind of early warnings to leave places because as much as you might be able to fortify your house as like a bunker for preparedness, if you get trapped in it and it floods then it didn't save your life. Brooke 40:14 That goes back to what you [Margaret] were saying about community building earlier. Margaret 40:20 As someone who often lives in the mountains, and currently lives in the mountains, and this is like...Mountains flash flood really bad. And a lot of mountainous areas, like in the mountains, people often build in the hollers in the lower areas between, you know, in the valleys between different pieces of the mountain and stuff. But...And usually it's like the town actually floods sometimes more than some of the rural houses outside of town. Not necessarily, right. But it's like, because you put all...If you have a bunch of houses, you put them in the low lying area. But, if you've got like two houses, you can put them up on the ridge. And there's like unfortunately...If you're randomly being like, "Man, I want to move to the mountains," you should think about buying one of the houses and that's up on a hill instead of down in the valley for that reason. And then the other weird random thing that I was like reading about is that apparently in a lot of flood prone places--this isn't like...this isn't gonna save everyone--but people put an axe in their attic because one of the ways that a lot of people die in floods is that they go higher and higher in their house. And so then, as it gets up to their second floor, or whatever the fuck, they then go into their attic. But if you go into your attic, you can't get out in a flood. And so some people keep an axe in their attic. I don't know whether that's...I'm reading about it in a book, but in a fiction book, you know? Inmn 41:43 Yeah. Yeah, that is...that is weirdly relatable. Like me and Margaret used to live somewhere that was prone to flooding. And I remember the first time that we got a really bad flood, like this was when our eight foot wide stream turned into like a 70 foot wide moving current of water that was up to your chest... Margaret 42:10 And bringing all kinds of shit down from... Inmn 42:14 Yeah, and yeah, there's like trees floating by. And there's all these, you know, tiny houses and structures and stuff, and nobody there was all that concerned about it I think, except for me. Like, we were running around trying to save tools, and equipment, and like stuff like that, and make sure the cars were up on the highest ground possible. And I was like, "We have to leave because we might not be able to if we wait too long." And like, thankfully, I was wrong. But like it worried me how unworried people were about the flood in this like mountainous area that we could have easily become trapped in. Margaret 42:59 I was a little bit like, "My house was on the hill." So I went down to help. Why don't we put our houses on the hill, which is not very community minded of me. Inmn 43:12 No, that's fine. But sorry, just to speak to one other thing real quick. So another thing to think about with flooding is that--and I've never thought about this until I was reading about it to prepare for this--but if you grow food, either in a garden or on a farm water, like when there's these huge floods--especially when the wastewater management facility gets like flooded out like it did in Vermont--all of the water that is in this flood water is very dirty. It's filled with like...It's filled with raw sewage, like a stupid amount of raw sewage. It's filled with like oil, and like contaminants, and like chemicals, and like anything that was swept up in the floodwaters. And so, if you grow food and your garden gets flooded out, you can't eat any of that food, even if it's like root vegetables Like pretty much like all fruit and vegetables that get contaminated by floodwater are like completely inedible and like unsafe to eat. So, it's something that, you know, in a local area where a flood happens, it can cause a lot of problems for people and then like globally, it can also cause huge problems with food insecurity. Yeah. And, talking about another food insecurity thing that's connected to floods, so, in Ukraine this past month, a dam, like one of the largest water reservoirs in Europe, was blown up. And you know, a lot of people are like, "Oh, the Russians did it because they're in control of it." And the Russians are like, "We didn't do it, but the dam did mysteriously blow up". And it... Margaret 45:10 Derek Jensen was running...Someone in a raccoon sweater was seen running from the crime, screaming about how trans people are bad. Inmn 45:17 Yeah. And so like this...the water in Kherson rose 20 feet, and it destroyed all of these like irrigation systems. And it is expected to affect 600,000 hectares of farmland that produce over 4 million tons of grain and a huge amount of the world's vegetable oil. Margaret 45:48 Okay, I was reading about how there's a vegetable oil shortage is expected. But I didn't get to the why. That explains that. Inmn 45:55 Because a dam exploded in Ukraine. Margaret 45:59 Because of the war that is currently localized but will eventually spread. Inmn 46:04 Brooke, are there other things going on with food insecurity? Brooke 46:07 Never. But maybe. I don't think I have anything on food insecurity. Inmn 46:14 Oh, oh, sorry, I read the notes wrong. Margaret 46:16 I made these notes ahead of time for everyone. And I put them in the chat. But then they lost all their--just so everyone knows behind the scenes and all the cool insider information--I put in the chat an agenda of what we're going to talk about, but it lost all of the formatting when I pasted it in. So, it's basically incomprehensible. But, I will tell you about medication insecurity. Ehh? That will make everyone happy. Because that's not one of the...Okay, just to be clear, like medication is obviously one of the things that people will get the most concerned about when it comes to preparedness and stuff, right? Because of the way that medication is gate kept--sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for bad reasons--It is not necessarily available to people to do anything sort of like stockpiling and things like that, right? And we rely on a lot of medications for very good reasons in our society. Tornado Alley. You're like, "Oh, obviously it's related to tornadoes." Tornado Alley is the alley...It's the the part of the US where tornadoes are sort of expected and normal, as if they're not fucking terrifying. Jesus Christ. There's very few natural disasters I'm more like... Because I feel like a tornado could just be behind your back and you wouldn't know. It's like a horror movie. You're driving down the road, and then everything turns green, and then all of a sudden there's this death machine just like, "Baaaah!" [makes a 'scaring someone noise] and it's coming at you--and it makes exactly that noises and sticks his tongue out. And people are like, not excited about tornadoes. At least I'm not. Brooke 46:19 And they're green and have tongues. Margaret 47:35 Yeah, well, the sky does turn green sometimes before a tornado. Anyway, so Tornado Alley is expanding thanks to climate change is the point of this. And there's been more and more bad tornadoes further east than there used to be. A tornado in Rocky Mount North Carolina, which is outside of previous Tornado Alley, at least according to the article I read. I've been in North Carolina when there have been tornadoes, but they weren't like, "This is totally normal." It was like kind of a bad thing. Well, do you know that there was one 1.4 million square foot Pfizer a manufacturing plant that was responsible for 25% of all of Pfizer's medications that it sends out to hospitals? Brooke 48:24 Nope. Margaret 48:27 Did you know that one tornado destroyed the entire fucking thing this month? A tornado of 150 mile per hour wind speeds--I wrote down the like classification, but then I deleted it because I didn't feel like looking at all the classifications and trying to explain it...A tornado. It was a bad tornado. And it fucked this thing up. It destroyed 50,000 pallets of medication. And more specifically than that, it stopped the ability for this plant to produce the medication. It was an injectable sterile medication place, so, a lot of anesthetics, so things that make you unconscious, and I think also some antibiotics, and other stuff that goes into like IVs, and stuff was destroyed and the capacity for Pfizer to make more of it was destroyed. The one silver lining is that the article used to have it wrong and say, "25% of the US's injectable medication." That was only Pfizer's percent, which is probably a lot still. Pfizer's a really fucking big name in medication. So medication shortages were already, before this, the worst that they've been in 10 years. In 2014 there were medication shortages about as bad as now. At the end of June, again before the tornado, there were 309 specific like named drug shortages in the United States. A lot of them are related to like chemotherapy and all kinds of stuff. So that's bad. Brooke 49:52 I didn't realize the medication shortage was worse now than it was like during the height of the pandemic and the end of it because I feel like you don't hear about it. Margaret 50:02 Yeah, I mean, well the pandemics over. So no one has to worry about anything anymore. [said sarcastically] I feel like this is the kind of thing where it's like, it's so hard because it's like...Well, it's like, as we talked with...Like, This Month in the Apocalypse is just a fuck ton of bad shit, right? Like and we're talking about or like some posi like little silver lining, like I saw cute monkey, kind of style stories, you know. Like, he's on roller skates. And, and it's like, it's hard to spin fucking this shit. It's hard to spin. Too much of our...I don't even want to tell them they're making drugs wrong. I don't know how to fucking make insulin, you know. But, obviously, there's some problems with centralization when there's tornadoes around, which I guess was like my Mothra-Godzilla thing I was talking about earlier. And I don't know, I mean...but it's the kind of thing that I wish we stayed more aware of. And I think it's the kind of thing that people mostly don't want to think about because we like to imagine that even if we'd go into debt to do so, if bad things happen, the existing system will be there for us. And, I don't want to knock the people who work really goddamn hard to make the existing system work, and the nurses, and doctors, and all the rest of the staff who work endlessly to make this shit happen. And so Pfizer is trying to move that manufacturing to other plants. But they haven't been able to yet. And they're basically like, "Look, it's not actually easy. You would be talking about moving..." None of the employees were hurt is the one upside of all of it. There's 2000 employees at that plant. And that's all I got. Besides...Are we ready for headlines like do do do [makes type write noise] headline time? Inmn 51:49 I think Brooke has something about a murder wall. Brooke 51:52 I know, but I don't want to talk about it anymore. Because it's so depressing. I want to talk about happy headlines. Margaret 51:59 Should we just shout out that there's a fucking murder wall and it's bad. Brooke 52:04 The great state of Texas. Yeah, that wonderful place, and it's a dictator du jour, Greg Abbott, decided to roll out some new measures in order to try and stop immigration across the border. So they got a whole bunch of buoys. Buoys are things that float in the water that are like wrecking ball size, which I actually don't know how big a wrecking ball is, but I assume they're massive, Margaret 52:31 Bigger than a breadbox. Brooke 52:38 Like the size of a car maybe? I actually don't know. Somebody, somebody comment and tell us how big wrecking balls are. I don't know big. Anyway, they got a shit ton of them and floated them out into the Rio Grande River and anchored them to the riverbed to basically create a floating wall in the middle of the river that's currently about 1000 feet long and make it longer. And then they also went through...As part of that project, there's lots of little islands that are on the Rio, and they tend to have grasses, and shrub brushes, and stuff like that. And they had the the Texas military go in and basically bulldoze everything off the top of the islands. So, they're just like dirt mounds in the middle of the river, and also, Margaret 53:25 Some World War I shit is what's happening. Brooke 53:27 Yeah, yeah, they bulldozed down the riverbanks on the United States side so that they could put up barbed wire along sections of the river there to, which you know, the river is at its low part right now because we're in summer, so I'm sure that taking away all of the vegetation and root systems won't have any problems with the waters rise later in the year. [Sarcastically] Inmn 53:53 None at all. [Also sarcastically] Margaret 53:54 Well, you know, it's just worth the trade off to economically destroy....Even if even if I was a fucking capitalist, I would be against the border wall. Like what the fuck? Like? Brooke 54:04 Yeah, it's...There's several things that are wrong with it besides just the really obvious, you know, ethical wrongness of the whole fucking thing. Margaret 54:14 The murderness. Brooke 54:14 And, you know, as an indigenous person, I have really complicated feelings about that because borders and migration anyway, but like it was the state of Texas that did it. They didn't talk to the local cities and municipalities about the work that they were doing. So they just, you know, rolled up destroying this shit. And then it's also technically international waters because it's a border between two countries and they didn't talk to Mexico about it either or the federal government for that matter. So you know, Mexico is threatening to to take action against Texas, and the federal government has sued the state of Texas, and local governments are super pissed off. So fun on so many levels. Margaret 54:59 I'm glad people are pissed off about it. So that's the one...I'm glad that murder wall has been a step too far for even some governments. Inmn 55:09 Yeah, I mean, it's like, Arizona did a similar thing last year before the governor...Like when the governor realized that he was not going to get reelected, He started building this giant shipping container wall along the border. And he was actually ordered by the federal government to stop doing it. And he just didn't. And there were...But there were all these like interesting things that happened where there were local sheriffs and stuff who were enforcing that law against the governor, like the people building the wall. And then there were all these wild disputes about it, where it became very like a the US government versus the US government like situation. Margaret 55:57 I don't hate that. I've played enough Risk. I know that when my enemies are fighting, it's time to sit back. Inmn 56:04 Yeah, but a really cool thing that was able to happen was that a lot of people were, because it was not a legal thing, were able to stage some pretty large scale defense against the area by going and occupying the area to stop construction, but no one was going to arrest them because it wasn't legal for them to be building it. Brooke 56:25 Oh, this river section also hosts a large annual kayak race that now can't happen because the buoys are in the way, so like a Republican kayaker guy who's like, you know, super into anti-immigration, is like, "But now that, you know, we can't do our kayak race here, I'm super pissed off about it." So like, even more reasons that people are angry about this that are ridiculous, but hey, let's, you know, let's be angry. Margaret 56:55 Yeah. Inmn 56:56 Yeah, golly. Is it time for headlines? Margaret 57:00 It's time for headlines. Is that our wait, we got to come up with....[Brooke makes type write noise] Yeah, there we go. Alright. What I got. Okay, you know how there's this thing that like COVID and the flu and shit were all hitting and then there was also RSV, which like mostly comes up for kids, and adults...In adults who aren't old. I don't know how to phrase this. Without, okay, whatever. In some people, it just manifests as a cold and other people it is really bad, right? RSV I don't even know what it stands for. I didn't write down enough. This is my supposed to be my headlines. And now I'm contextualizing...They have an injectable antibody that the FDA just approved called Beyfortus. And it's the first time that there has been a good specific thing that is like a preventative for RSV that has become available. And so that's promising. I'm curious to see how that goes. Because I know RSV was like fucking over a lot of people I know. Apparently, cement is one of the biggest causes of climate change and damage. It is the 12th biggest cause of climate change. It beats out air travel, apparently. And it...And cement overall puts out more carbon than the entire country of India does. One company is working on a carbon negative cement that is just like manufactured very different from Portland cement. Portland cement is like the main way that people make cement, which both involves a lot of burning of carbon in order to create it because you need kilns. And also then it is slowly off gassing carbon for like, a very long time with the concrete. And so they're working on, and they've proven it to be like structurally sound, and who knows whether this will act...[interrupts self] I know that it won't see widespread adoption because there's no incentive for it because capitalism is the economic system that runs the world. But someone has invented a concrete that actually absorbs carbon. It just sort of passively brings it on instead of putting it out. Brooke 59:15 I don't know if this is the same project, but I worked for a nonprofit a couple of years ago, or right before the start of the pandemic, that was doing research into this very thing. And they were putting really tiny amounts of wood fiber, cellulose, into cement and they were...They weren't doing it. They were funding, because it was a charity organization, they were funding the testing of this. And I wonder if this is maybe the next stage of that or even the same company. Margaret 59:41 This company is called Brimstone, which is funny. They might be evil. They might not be. But, they're named Brimstone and we don't live in a boring world. And then my final little posi note is that some agricultural workers have been like...Well, some agricultural workers have been dying in the heat. And so another agricultural woman, agricultural worker woman, developed a cooling vest and has just been doing a lot of studies about like, just specific ways about like, how people who are working outside and are stuck working outside beat the heat with these hot new ideas. But it's like...It's one of those things where it's like, well, what if people just didn't have to do this fun work outside in the goddamn heat? But, it's still good for us to develop these systems. And I love that it is coming from people who do this work themselves. So, I think it's like kind of a swamp cooler style vest. It's like...And they just did a lot of studies about like, if a worker drinks water, versus a worker drinks electrolytes, the person who drinks electrolytes is going to have a substantially lower risk of hospitalization and heatstroke. And then even like, wearing a wet bandanna makes a huge difference. Obviously, like anything that relies on swamp cooling is going to be different based on your humidity levels. If you're in the southeast, it's going to be way harder to use passive cooling from water than if you live in the southwest. But that's what I got. Anyone else? De de deet deet, de de deet deet [making typewriter noises] Hot off the Wire. Inmn 1:01:22 I have a bunch of headlines. They're not good. One is interesting. Margaret 1:01:30 You're fired. I'm not actually capable of doing that. Okay. Inmn 1:01:36 In the great state of Florida this month, it was declared by Rick DeSantis that middle schoolers will be taught about the personal benefits that slavery had for individuals as part of DeSantis' "War on Wokeness." He also was quoted as saying that he was really upset about the ways that--and he meant this in how Democrats are doing it--are criminalizing political differences, which is interesting because he's like the forefront of criminalizing political differences. Margaret 1:02:16 So, it's almost like it's illegal to advocate the eradication of people based on their race. Inmn 1:02:21 Yeah. And he passed some wild laws in Florida this month. This one, this one is...Like by itself, you might hear it and you're like, "Lack of sympathy," but like contextualizing it with other stuff that Rick DeSantis is doing is important. So, he passed a law that allowed for the death penalty in child rape convictions despite the Supreme Court having ruled otherwise. Which, you know, when I hear that I'm like, this is another Roe v. Wade situation of states like trying to get laws passed in the hopes that when federal rulings are overturned that they have these laws on the books. Margaret 1:03:03 Yeah, I mean, this is so that he can kill gay people and trans people. Inmn 1:03:06 Yeah, so then interestingly, in Texas last month, a lesbian couple was arrested for kissing at a mini golf course. And they were charged with "sexual harassment of a minor." So like, if we contextualize these things together and DeSantis' like war on trans people, we can sort of see where this is going is that he does probably want to make it legal to enforce the death penalty against trans people. He also signed a bill to end unanimous jury requirements in death penalty sentences. Margaret 1:03:46 Sick. Inmn 1:03:48 Now you just need an 8-4 in favor, which is a huge, huge spread. You know? Yeah, this is gonna go great. He was also involved in a car accident this morning in Tennessee and he was...not hurt. Margaret 1:04:08 Dammit. That's fucked up. Inmn 1:04:10 Right. In some other fun headlines, Robert Kennedy claimed at a press conference that COVID may have been ethnically targeted to spare the Jews in a absolutely absurd brand of conspiracy theories against Jewish people. Student debt forgiveness: people will be expected to pay back their refunded payments according to the student debt forgiveness being repealed. Margaret 1:04:47 Have they met the blood and the stone? The ability to withdraw one from the other... Inmn 1:04:57 Supreme Court ruling was like kind of...Not like overturned but an old ruling was over...like, not used in a case right now around stalking, where it's going to be a lot easier for people who are stalking people, especially on the internet, to not get in trouble for it. And it kind of boils down to this idea there that the more deluded the stalker, the more protected the stalking will be. Margaret 1:05:31 It's like pleading insanity, kind of? Inmn 1:05:34 Yeah. Being like, "This person was unaware of the impacts that it could have had on this person." Margaret 1:05:40 Classic thing that should inform the law. Inmn 1:05:48 It's weirdly situated like that to protect people like at protests, who might scream like, like, "I'm gonna fucking kill so-and-so," you know, in like a heightened state, and then that being weighed against that that person probably didn't mean that. But, it being used like that to protect people threatening to kill people on the internet while stalking them is, you know, clearly, clearly these things aren't the same thing. Brooke 1:06:25 Laws are bad. Inmn 1:06:26 Puberty blockers in England were disallowed on a large scale outside of exceptional cases. So like, trans kids in Europe will no longer be allowed to access puberty blockers. Margaret 1:06:43 You mean, the UK. Technically no longer Europe, thanks to their right wing move to separate themselves. Yes, does not make it any better for the UK kids. I'm sorry. I'm being a pedant. I apologize. Brooke 1:06:54 Yay, terf Island. Inmn 1:06:59 Putin signed new legislation on like this past Monday, I think, which marked the final step in outlawing gender affirming procedures. So basically, you can't get any gender affirming, like surgical procedures in Russia any more. And the bill was unanimously approved by the Russian Parliament, which bans any medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person as well as changing any one's gender marker on their documents. The only exception will be for medical intervention to treat congenital anomalies, which I think probably refers to like, assigning intersex people genders. It also annuls marriages in which one person has changed their gender and bars, transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents. And yeah, so Russia is even more terrifying. Margaret 1:08:03 Starting to not like Russia. Brooke 1:08:07 Starting to? Margaret 1:08:08 I don't know. Putin starting to seem like kind of a...I'm starting to develop a negative impression. [sarcastically] Inmn 1:08:17 Yeah. And, you know, just to give people in the United States an idea of where we're headed, this was all in the name of "Upholding traditional family values." That was the main cause for this legislation. Brooke 1:08:31 TFV. TFV. Inmn 1:08:34 And my last little headlines, which I wanted to connect to talking about heat wave stuff earlier, a nine year old migrant died after having seizures due to heat related illness in Arizona. This past month, there were at least 10 recorded migrant deaths in southern Arizona due to heat related complications. But, Border Patrol claims to have rescued 45 people from the scorching heat of the desert. But interestingly, in Ajo, Arizona, which is like western Arizona, there was a...It was like 114 degrees outside and border patrol had 50 migrants in custody who they were keeping in an outdoor chain-link pen with like, no shade or anything. So, they have the people that they rescued then put in life threatening conditions, Margaret 1:09:40 Starting to not like the United States Government either. Yeah, starting to feel on par with Russian governments. I know you're supposed to pick one or the other party. Yeah, it's bad. Everything's bad. Inmn 1:09:56 Really bad. And I want to get more into the southwest and border patrol and this issue another time. But...Stuff's really bad right now. So yeah, that's my headlines. Brooke 1:10:11 Margaret, you're the optimistic one today. What do we do? What do we do in this terrible world, Margaret 1:10:17 We build resilient communities, network them together, teach each other things, try to limit the amount of gatekeeping we do within those communities. We value conflict resolution as high as we can. We value survival skills and more traditional forms of preparedness, and we support a diversity of actions against all of the negative things that are happening in the world, whether or not we believe those actions are strategic. We support any action that falls within our bounds of ethics, including people who are like annoying church liberals, or people who are like taking things too far with the gasoline and the timers made out of kitchen timers. We support the wide range of it and we try to live our lives as best we can. We recognize that winning is not a condition. It's not like a win state, right? There's not a state in which we win. But instead, there's a reason we say, "Winning at life." We don't say, "Won at life." We say that we are in the process of winning. And when we fight, and when we build, and when we love one another we win. We live the best lives that we can despite everything that's happening and we work really hard to help other people live the best lives that they can. Was that a rhetorical question? I'm not sure. Brooke 1:11:34 No, I do feel a little bit...No, honestly, I feel a little bit better now. I really do. Love wins. We win with love. Love and care. And the thing that goes on if me being me as a nurturing, loving person. Inmn 1:11:50 In living like we're preparing for the world to die, should we also live like the Empire could be dying? Margaret 1:12:02 Yeah. Yeah, I mean, like, capitalism has proved a sturdy beast, but it can certainly be slain. And if anything can slay it, it is the nightmare that is coming that we will all figure out how to come together to handle. Yay. Good. That a good end note? Anyone got more headlines? Brooke 1:12:34 No? Well, no. I'm too sad. Margaret 1:12:42 Well, if you enjoyed this podcast, you can tell your friends about it. And you can more than that, get together with your friends and talk about what the fuck we're gonna do, right? Because it is a good idea for us to get together and talk about what we're going to do because you're talking heads on the radio podcast land can't tell you what to do. You. You and your friends decide what risks are appropriate based on what's happening, and what you all want to do with the time that is available to you. But, one of the things you can do with the time that's available too, is support this podcast by supporting us on Patreon at patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. We put out new features every month. And we have multiple podcasts, including one called Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness and one called Anarcho Geek Power Hour, and one called Live Like the World is Dying, which you probably know is the one that you're listening to right now if you made it this far. And if you become one of ou

While they never went on strike, nor bargained for a contract, American Federation of Teachers Local 192 in Philadelphia fought for civil rights inside and outside of the classroom. Music: No More Reds in the Union by Utah Phillips, arranged and performed by Young Sam James.Support the showhttps://linktr.ee/laborjawn

For our third installment of the LOCAL FOCAL series, we present the following audio-rich piece - described as "sound painting" - brought to you by Muddy Boots Radio, a podcast that I only recently came into contact with by way of its creator, Tenali Hrenak. This particular episode honored a legend of radio from Grass Valley, CA - Mikail Graham. A composer, performer, producer, music promoter, advocate, consultant and beta tester for numerous pro-audio and MIDI companies. He was with the community radio station KVMR since its inception in the 1970s. For decades, he produced a radio show called The Other Side, and for many years he put on a yearly event called Night of Giving, which helped raise money for the Hospitality House, a shelter for the un-housed. He also produced the album Loafer's Glory for folk legend Utah Phillips. To say that he was influential to that region of California is an understatement.  As Tenali put it: "With Mikail's passing on July 12th, 2022, several of us regular contributors to The Other Side were tasked with producing a series of final shows, a send-off episode, to our dear friend. Mikail and I both loved the 1960s anthology series The Twilight Zone. So with that in mind, I whipped up an episode - aptly titled See U On The Other Side - that cut-up some dialogue from the episode Kick the Can, which I felt captured Mikail's carpe diem and playful spirit. And, of course, I decorated the playlist with an assortment of Tweeners and songs that I'm sure he'd love and that hopefully honor the legacy he leaves behind."  Enjoy this experience of sound, titled “See U On The Other Side (Side A)” from the Muddy Boots Radio podcast. Muddy Boots Website Gathering Sounds - Tenali's New Book Mikail Graham - The Other Side Support this independent program: Join the Patreon Send a one-time donation through Venmo or PayPal Follow American Songcatcher on Instagram & TikTok  Credits: Nicholas Edward Williams - Editing, Recording and Distribution Tenali Hrenak - Production --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/americansongcatcher/support

Chris Chandler is a maker of new things out of two things, out of three things, out of four — one of the world's consummate collaborators, sharing tracks with luminaries, fusing the verse he inhabits with the chords and choruses of artists such as Dan Bern, Jim Infantino, Peter Yarrow, Anne Feeney and Paul Benoit. I've known Chris a bit over the years, and years ago shared stages with him here and there, and I've always been moved and awed by what he manages to do with a pair of vocal cords and the truth. But I've never heard his full story or gotten under the hood with the head that makes it all work. Until this episode.Clips in this episode:Jupiter Falling (James O'Brien, Live at City Winery [unreleased, Dan Bern intro] — 2023)Stone Mountain/Georgia (Chris Chandler and Paul Benoit, ‘So Where Ya Headed?' — 2009)Hannibal / Would You Die for a Necktie? (Chris Chandler and Dan Bern, ‘Collaborations' — 1999)Carnaval (Chris Chandler and Anne Feeney, Live at Kerville — 2003)Travels with Charlie (Chris Chandler, ‘As Seen on No Television — 1992)Lionel Say / Breakfast Serial Killers, (Chris Chandler and Jim Infantino, ‘Collaborations' — 1999)Loafer's Glory / Nothin ‘ to Do But Go (U. Utah Phillips and Mark Ross, ‘Loafer's Glory' — 1997)Sourmouth Sprout (Chris Chandler and Anne Feeney, ‘Hold Me Up to the Light' [Peter Wilde] — 2003)Last Thoughts on Elvis Presley (Chris Chandler, ‘Convenience Store Troubadours' — 1996)Eli Whitney was an A-Hole / Maggie's Farm (Chris Chandler and Paul Benoit, ‘Pocket Call From My Dreams' — 2017)Meek Rising - Don't Go Back to Sleep (Chris Chandler and Paul Benoit, ‘Don't Go Back to Sleep' — 2022)Lightning Bugs and Barflies (Chris Chandler and Paul Benoit, ‘Matadors' — 2011)

Episode 232: Willi Carlisle is a folk singer in the populist tradition of Utah Phillips and Woody Guthrie, a boisterous, tender, funny performer who is impossible to forget. After years pursuing various outlets in old-time, poetry and theater, he emerged in 2022 as one of the finest songwriters in traditional folk music. The vehicle was his album Peculiar, Missouri, a varied collection of ruminations and character studies from Free Dirt Records. Willi is a remarkable raconteur and rhetorician, so hang on tight for one of the most dense and fascinating Strings ever. 

Felton Pruitt speaks with Bodie Wagner, a local musician who's had a storied career, rubbing elbows with Utah Phillips, John Prine, and Kate Wolf. 

Julia Ggem reports on December 15th's Economic Impact Report webinar about the proposed reopening of the Idaho Maryland Mine before Felton Pruitt speaks with Bodie Wagner, a local musician who's had a storied career, rubbing elbows with Utah Phillips, John Prine, and Kate Wolf. The California Report looks at groups who criticized Cal Fire for antiquated wildfire hazard maps.

George Mann (US) is a songwriter's singer who would just as soon share stories and songs from the long history of folk music as sing his own songs. His concerts are singalong sessions as well as history lessons. He will be playing at the Katoomba Family Hotel on 20th October 2022 and we thank the Family for their generous sponsorship of this event. Profits go to Blue Mountains Unions & Community to help with our activities, like Politics in the Pub, our radio show, Rights, Rorts and Rants, and these podcasts. Tickets to his Katoomba concert can be booked via l.ead.me/GeorgeMann. He has produced albums featuring such folk music legends as Utah Phillips, Pete Seeger and Tom Paxton, and produced national tours of the US and Australia in honour of the Almanac Singers (2013) and Joe Hill (2015). George brings his experience as a union organiser and educator to his concerts - stories and songs about real events and the struggle for a better life. He has played the Illawarra Folk Festival several times and performed for most of the folk clubs in Australia, and will be at the Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival and touring Australia in October 2022. His latest CD “A World Like This” is featured at this link: https://georgemann.org/a-world-like-this/ Some songs from the CD are included in this podcast - Let the Healing Begin, We Only Turn Right Here, I Don't Miss What-His-Name At All, and They All Sang Bread and Roses. If you'd like to add to the discussion, you can leave an audio comment about our show, which may be added to one of our podcasts. This episode was broadcast on Radio Blue Mountains 89.1FM on 7th October, 2022. Apply to be a guest on our show. Join a union - 1300 486 466 or join online. Join BMUC. Rights, Rorts and Rants is broadcast from 4pm to 6pm on 89.1FM or can be live streamed from rbm.org.au. The BMUC pays its respect to, and acknowledges, the Darug and Gundungurra First Peoples of the Blue Mountains area and acknowledges this is Aboriginal Land that was never ceded. Disclaimer: We seek a range of perspectives but that means that views expressed in these podcasts are not necessarily endorsed by the Blue Mountains Unions Council Inc. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rightsrortsandrants/message

This is all Christian music intended to restore my faith that this oft benighted faith might yet attain a useful social role.

The second of this series is all Paul Robeson, from his 1924"Sweet Bye-And-Bye to the legendary Peace Arch Concert.

With strikes in a wide variety of private sectors popping up all across the country — Kelloggs, Kaiser Permanente, coal miners in Alabama, John Deere, The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Taxi Drivers on hunger strike in NY, and more — the United States might be on the verge of a strike wave, and we've brought on the perfect guest to explain exactly what's going on. Alex Press is a staff writer at Jacobin Magazine, host of the Primer podcast, and author most recently of the Jacobin articles, “US Workers Are in a Militant Mood” and “Halyna Hutchins's Death on the Set of Rust Was “Not a Freak Accident.” The Conversation will bring you up to date on all of the labor activity currently underway, but will also zoom out to explore the state of the labor movement more broadly, taking a deep dive on how the pandemic has transformed the movement, unpacking what's really behind the so-called “labor shortage,” and getting to the root of why workers are starting to stand up to bosses in a way that we haven't seen for quite some time. Thank you to Utah Phillips for the intermission music in this episode. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert. Support for this episode was provided by the Guerrilla Foundation and by listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support Also, if your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming episodes, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on social media: Facebook.com/upstreampodcast twitter.com/UpstreamPodcast Instagram.com/upstreampodcast You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcast and Spotify: Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/upst…am/id1082594532 Spotify: spoti.fi/2AryXHs

Eric Richard Stone has been creating Americana music since well before it was labeled as such. Raised in a musical family of professional classical musicians in Philadelphia and Rockport, Maine, he tried Cello, then was lured away by the ways of folk after hearing James Taylor, Jim Croce, Joni Mitchell, and Tom Rush. Eric wrote his first song in 1975 and never stopped. In 1983 he recorded his first album, then recorded his next album 30 years later. What happened during those 30 years could best be described as "Life". Eric is now a regular on the folk singer-songwriter circuit. His performance credits include Rocky Mountain Folks Fest, Pagosa Folk N' Bluegrass, Four Corners Folk Festival, Red Lodge Songwriter Festival and many more. He has shared the stage or opened for Utah Phillips, John Denver, Tom Rush, Chuck Pyle, Kate Wolf and David Mallett.Eric writes songs that give a vocalist space for interpretation. Whether sung straight or with embellishment, his songs have phrases that sound clear and natural; he wants the audience to catch every word and every meaning. Dave sat down with Eric to talk about writing songs that give vocalists room to embellish, strategies for beating writer's block, and why magpies are the bikers of the avian community. Plus, we each debut brand new songs! It's another raw and riveting discussion about song craft!For more music, check out http://ericrichardstone.com/

Dark, mysterious, odd songs, or sometimes funny tales about animals from "Old Sheep" to the "Great Silky" to "Chickens for Peace"

    I wrote today's 'Song To Chew' ATTA WAY T'GO BOY! back in the early 80's for an anthology album called "Bullets And Guitars".  It was produced by Gary Cristall, who ran the Vancouver Folk Festival for years and includes songs by Si Kahn, Utah Phillips, Holly Near, Leon Rosselson and other talented progressive folksingers and activists.  My song's a satirical 'pat on the back' to our President back then, to provide some balance to this left-leaning musical anthology!  All profits from the album went to committed artists and cultural organizations in Central America to fight the exploitation and intervention of outsiders, particularly the US, who continue to prevent the workers and peasants of Central America from exercising their right to self-determination.  Does art and music and poetry actually have any 'real world' impact on dictators?  You betcha!!  We work to undermine the fear-based support systems of authoritarian dictators with our courage, organizing, art, humor, song, poetry, education, solidarity and just better, healthier ideas.  I hope this song helps you continue to think about these things you and your friends can do to take some action to help us move us a bit closer to a more fair,and just world for all of us. ~ Subscribe to my Songs To Chew podcast = https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peter-alsops-songs-to-chew/id1446179156  ~ CAMPING WITH DADS = https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dads-Peter-Alsop/dp/B08CS871QW/ref=sr_1_1  ~ www.FaceBook.com/WeLikePeterAlsop  ~ Youtube.com/peteralsop = videos ~ Patreon.com/peteralsop = support my music & other artistic endeavors ~ www.peteralsop.com/music = CDs & downloads

In this special episode, Jules speaks with Professor Nate Holdren about his book Injury Impoverished: Workplace Accidents, Capitalism, and Law in the Progressive Era. Professor Holdren's book recently received an honorable mention for the Merle Curti Intellectual History Award, and Nate Holdren is a Marxist Historian and US Legal Historian at Drake University. *This conversation was recorded during a thunderstorm, so we've edited a few storm clouds into our conversation to depict when our conversation was cut off due to losing power. Thank you again to Professor Holdren for rolling with tech issues during the course of this episode. Additional Links Below… Nate Holdren's Twitter, Faculty Page Injury Impoverished: Workplace Accidents, Capitalism, and Law in the Progressive Era Maximillian Alvarez for In These Times Magazine, "The Painful History of Injury in the Workplace" Maximillian Alvarez for The Real News Network, "What Do Workers Really Lose When They're Injured on the Job?" Outro Music 1: Utah Phillips, "Yuba City" Outro Music 2: Steve Earle, "It's About Blood" (live radio performance) Permanent Links Below… --- Follow us on Social Media: Twitter Facebook Medium Patreon --- Join the discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/noeasyanswerspodcast --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/noeasyanswers/message --- Visit our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/noeasyanswers --- Hang out with us on Discord: https://discord.gg/4RHEEhdxy5 --- One-off Contribution: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/julestaylormusic --- Comments, concerns, criticisms, and vitriol: noeasyanswerspodcast@gmail.com --- Music provided by: Self-Taut --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/noeasyanswers/support

by Kim Ruehl (@kimruehl), Folk Alley Ani DiFranco has released almost two dozen studio albums since her 1990 self-titled debut. That doesn’t count her many live and official bootleg recordings, her collaborations with Utah Phillips, and a couple of “greatest hits”-style recordings. Indeed, she has proven to be one of her generation’s most prolific and influential songwriters. So, when it came time to launch a podcast for Folk Alley called Why We Write — where we’ll talk to great songwriters about songwriting — Ani DiFranco seemed like the perfect person with whom to start. When we spoke, she was on the precipice of releasing her latest project, Revolutionary Love, where she goes deeper and further with the concept of “love” than most songwriters are willing to go. But going deeper and unpacking further—always via her life-and-emotion-nailing poetic lyricism—is one of the things DiFranco does best. Exactly why she feels called to write this way, is where we started our conversation. Of course, you’re never in for light small talk with Ani DiFranco. So press play and settle in, and enjoy Why We Write. ### (Explicit language)

by Kim Ruehl (@kimruehl), Folk Alley Ani DiFranco has released almost two dozen studio albums since her 1990 self-titled debut. That doesn't count her many live and official bootleg recordings, her collaborations with Utah Phillips, and a couple of “greatest hits”-style recordings. Indeed, she has proven to be one of her generation's most prolific and influential songwriters. So, when it came time to launch a podcast for Folk Alley called Why We Write — where we'll talk to great songwriters about songwriting — Ani DiFranco seemed like the perfect person with whom to start. When we spoke, she was on the precipice of releasing her latest project, Revolutionary Love, where she goes deeper and further with the concept of “love” than most songwriters are willing to go. But going deeper and unpacking further—always via her life-and-emotion-nailing poetic lyricism—is one of the things DiFranco does best. Exactly why she feels called to write this way, is where we started our conversation. Of course, you're never in for light small talk with Ani DiFranco. So press play and settle in, and enjoy Why We Write. ### (Explicit language)

by Kim Ruehl (@kimruehl), Folk Alley Ani DiFranco has released almost two dozen studio albums since her 1990 self-titled debut. That doesn't count her many live and official bootleg recordings, her collaborations with Utah Phillips, and a couple of “greatest hits”-style recordings. Indeed, she has proven to be one of her generation's most prolific and influential songwriters. So, when it came time to launch a podcast for Folk Alley called Why We Write — where we'll talk to great songwriters about songwriting — Ani DiFranco seemed like the perfect person with whom to start. When we spoke, she was on the precipice of releasing her latest project, Revolutionary Love, where she goes deeper and further with the concept of “love” than most songwriters are willing to go. But going deeper and unpacking further—always via her life-and-emotion-nailing poetic lyricism—is one of the things DiFranco does best. Exactly why she feels called to write this way, is where we started our conversation. Of course, you're never in for light small talk with Ani DiFranco. So press play and settle in, and enjoy Why We Write. ### (Explicit language)

Life on the open road with the true and trembling tramp.

What the Hartz Mountain canaries and "The Rose of No Man's Land" have in common...

Making an honest living on the streets.

Songs and stories about the non-Hollywood West.

Episodes were originally recorded live in Nevada City, CA. in the studios of KVMR. 

Chuck Williams has been appearing throughout New England and in recent years has gone coast to coast with his music. Raised in Toledo, Ohio, Chuck has lived most of his adult life in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, moving to the Buzzards Bay shoreline in 2002. He has been traveling to coffeehouses, performing arts centers and festivals sowing seeds of his songs along the way.Chuck's approach is typically relaxed, at times sentimental and always confident. He is not a folk artist with heavy political leanings in his songwriting such as Joan Baez, Phil Ochs or U. Utah Phillips. However, what Chuck has mastered is how to pull at Americana heartstrings and tell rootsy stories through his simple and effective novella type lyrics. Nothing is overproduced or played with flash. Chuck has a personable singing style and it's not done to impress but express.His music has some of the same energies of songwriters such as David Crosby, John Prine, and definitely Neil Young, while not sounding like any of them. There is something here that a lot of people are going to latch on to, especially in these trying times. Chuck's music does exactly what it is suppose to do.....it reaches emotions in the listener. It gives words to feelings we all share and provokes thought long after the music is over. His style is unique yet it feels familiar.Rhode Islands Motif Music Awards has nominated Chuck as Singer/Songwriter of the Year ('07, '08, '09, ‘11), for Album Of the Year ('07, '08 and ‘10) and Best Folk Act ('07, ‘12). Chuck has had the pleasure of opening for national touring artists such as Cheryl Wheeler, Jimmy LeFave, Rod McDonald, Steve Forbert, Pegi Young & the Survivors, Kelly Joe Phelps, Beau Coup Blue, Claude Bourbon and Michael Troy.Chuck was the President of the Rhode Island Songwriters Association (RISA) for nine years. He is also a member of Folk Alliance, NERFA, ASCAP and the ACMA.Williams employs a voice that resembles Neil Young's with the edges rounded-off. There seems to be a proud and strong tradition of folk music speaking truth to power within his tunes. Don DiMuccio, Motif Magazine

The I.W.W. was a tough, militant, radical union, and its very existence terrified business owners, factory bosses, and the entire U.S. government. Since its founding, the law had been out to get the Wobblies. In 1919, as a record number of Americans went on strike for better wages and working conditions, would the union be able to help them? Would the union even survive? The Wobblies were so famous for singing that they repeatedly published their lyrics in "The Little Red Songbook," which contained Wobbly sayings and organizing advice as well as songs. "Big Bill" Haywood was tough and physically imposing, but he had a big heart and a gift for communicating with workers. Samuel Gompers was leader of the IWW-rival the American Federation of Labor. He cultivated a reputation for the organization as reasonable and cooperative--and achieved many results for his members. Pinkerton agent James McParland took over the investigation of the murder of former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg, and his handling of the main suspect was, shall we say, questionable. McParland was one of the country's most famous Pinkerton agents, known for his infiltration of the Molly Maguires--so famous, in fact, that Arthur Conan Doyle modeled a character in his novel The Valley of Fear on McParland and imagined a conversation between Sherlock Holmes and the real detective. The trial of multiple Wobbly leaders for the murder of Frank Steunenberg garnered nationwide--even international--press attention. The most successful IWW-led strike was the "Bread and Roses" strike in 1912 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Many of the strikers were women, seen here on the picket line. IWW organizers urged the strikers to remain peaceful no matter how much the police and state militia threatened them. The strikers generally remained non-violent, although in one confrontation between the two groups a young woman was shot and killed. It remains uncertain who was responsible, but IWW organizer Joseph Ettor was placed on trial. No evidence connected him to the murder, and he was aquitted. Joe Hill was an uneducated, unskilled Swedish immigrant with a remarkable gift for songwriting--in an adopted language, no less. He was convicted of murder and executed by firing squad in 1915. His death can be seen as matter of perverse stubbornness in the face of officialdom--he refused to explain how he had received a gunshot wound on the night a former policeman was killed. Or it was a blatant miscarriage of justice in which a man with no connection to the the murder victim became a convenient scapegoat. Or perhaps it was both. In any case, Hill became a martyr to the Wobbly cause. This remarkable image shows striking miners and those considered their allies being loaded up into cattle cars on the morning of July 12, 1917 by the sheriff of Bisbee, Arizona and the self-appointed Citizens' Protective League. The men were told if they attempted to return to town, they would be killed. The cattle cars were abandoned across the New Mexico border, leaving the men without food or water. Sheriff Harry Wheeler was unconcerned that his actions might have been illegal. "It became a question of 'Are you American, or are you not?'" he said. In September 1918, 48 IWW offices across the country were raided. This image shows one office after the raid. More than one hundred IWW members and leaders were tried under the Espionage Act. Most were convicted and received sentences of up to twenty years. The union spent most of 1918 and 1919 raising money for defense and appeals. This was a Wobbly fundraising picnic. The banner reads, at the top, "We're in For You" and asks for money for the "Class War Prisoners." When the unions of Seattle called a general strike in January 1919, the mayor was so terrified he requested U.S. Army troops, including machine gun companies, be sent to his town. Actors walked out of Broadway shows in August 1919 in the first Actors Equity union strike. Here actors walk the picket line. When the Boston Police went on strike in September 1919, the public was terrified they would be helpless at the hands of criminals. The recently elected governor Calvin Coolidge sent the state militia to town and earned nationwide praise for ensuring law and order. Coolidge is seen here inspecting militia members. The steelworkers strike was pushed from the bottom up and never had the full support of the unions who were supposed to organize and lead it. The factory owners convinced workers that the cause was hopeless and they should go back to work. Notice that this advertisement, which ran in a Pittsburgh newspaper, is in mutiple languages to reach immigrant workers. When the town of Centralia, Washington planned a parade for the first anniversary of Armistice Day, rumors swirled that the IWW hall would be attacked. The rumors were so prevalent that the Wobblies issued a statement requesting that the townspeople avoid violence and turn to law enforcement if they believe the IWW is guilty of any crimes. This photo shows the parade stepping off, before violence erupted at the IWW hall. Warren Grimes had served with the U.S. Army in Vladivostok and had a well-earned fear of Bolshevism. He was a local hero, and when he warned about the IWW, people listened. Grimes was one of the first shot in the conflict between the IWW and the American Legion. Exactly what happened that day remains under dispute. It is not disputed that a mob of Centralia townsfolk dragged Wobbly member Wesley Everest out of jail and hanged him on a nearby railway bridge. Labor Songs "Solidarity Forever" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCnEAH5wCzo) by John H. Chaplin, recorded by Pete Seeger on the album "If I Had a Hammer: Songs of Hope and Struggle," Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 1998. "The Popular Wobbly" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wleLxETd_kM) by T-Bone Slim, recorded by Eric Glatz on the album "IWW Rebel Voices: Songs of the Industrial Workers of the World," Universal Music Group, 1984. "Bread and Roses" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDdvbqbmM4o&t=29s) from a poem by James Oppenheim, sung by Bronwen Lewis, from the movie "Pride," 2014. "There Is Power in a Union" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEHZRrbDDzA) by Joe Hill, recorded by Joe Glazer on the album "Songs of the Wobblies, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 1977. "The Preacher and the Slave" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8qoB1XwtHM) by Joe Hill, recorded by Utah Phillips on the album "Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2006. "Joe Hill's Last Will" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkoMdhxk03k) by Joe Hill, recorded by John McCutcheon, 2015. "Union Burying Ground" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuzbX6pfY-c) written and performed by Woody Guthrie, recorded in the 1940s and released on the album "Struggle," Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 1976. "Bread and Roses" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiiKgST_G2Q) from a poem by James Oppenheim, sung and recorded by Bronwen Lewis, 2014. Please note that the links below to Amazon are affiliate links. That means that, at no extra cost to you, I can earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. (Here's what, legally, I'm supposed to tell you: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.) However, I only recommend books that I have used and genuinely highly recommend.

Larry Penn was a prolific folk musician/song-writer in the footsteps of folks like Woody Guthrie and Utah Phillips, until his death in October, 2014. Using themes like trains, workers, and powerful, common folks, Larry was inspirational to so very many others, and some of those folks share their stories and Larry's songs in celebration of Larry. In part 2 of 2, we talk with Bill Camplin, Mark Dvorak and Brett Kemnitz.

Larry Penn was a prolific folk musician/song-writer in the footsteps of folks like Woody Guthrie and Utah Phillips, until his death in October, 2014. Using themes like trains, workers, and powerful, common folks, Larry was inspirational to so very many others, and some of those folks share their stories and Larry's songs in celebration of Larry. In part one of two, we'll visit with Craig Siemsen, Lil' Rev, and Mud River Lee.

Words of the day: intuitive. doodle. travel. process. environment. Splitting her studio time between Santa Fe, NM and Delray Beach, FL, Brenda Hope Zappitell finds her work heavily influenced and inspired by travel and life experiences. Family and scheduling studio time are also part of the gig. Movement, gesture and energy all come to mind as Zappitell translates these factors into her expressions in paint. Listen in as she shares the details of her studio practices and inspirations. The artist's website: http://www.zappitellstudio.com/ (Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen. Outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

Words of the day: simultaneous. absurd. journey. celebration. intervention. Brooklyn, NY artist, Jennifer Shepard joins ahtcast and shares a bit on her art and practice. Early on, Shepard was active in both art and music, and thought it was tough to decide which to focus on. As an artist in adult life, things appear to be a little clearer in the way that location, art community, and an organic studio practice all help contribute to success as an artist. Listen in for more. The artist's website: http://www.jennifer-w-shepard.com/ (Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen. Outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

Words of the day: immediate. energy. inform. nature. color. This interview is with Philadelphia based painter, Adam Lovitz. We dig in and talk a bit about education and how Lovitz was encouraged to create daily while growing up. Balancing work and painting can be a challenge, listen in as he shares how he has dealt with that issue. Nature also comes up and we talk the importance of it's image in painting. Lovitz also shares his thoughts and practices in color, space and dealing with paintings as objects. Listen in for more! The artist's website: http://www.adamlovitz.com/ (Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen. Outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

Words of the day: shape. space. arrangement. up-side-down. London based artist, Fiona Stanbury, shares her thoughts on painting and process in this interview. Inspiring to Stanbury, early on, was her time living in Africa, she details that the "Colors, deep shadows and..." were part of what she took away from her time there. Also inspirational was her studies under painter, Stass Paraskos, who was teaching at Cyprus College of Art Lemba. Stanbury has some nice words about Paraskos, who recently passed away. His inspiration lives on, as mentioned throughout the interview, for Stanbury who studied his teachings on being a brave painter, and also to draw with color, among other disciplines. Listen in for more! The artist's website: http://www.fionastanbury.com/ (Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen. Outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

Words of the day: grid. imagination. fundamental. intentional, and pair. Stephen Wright, based in Kentucky, is a painter deeply moved by color, not just any color, but greys. Wright talks at length about his relationship with the perceived meaning of his work by others and would prefer... As one who works on a number of series at once, Wright is interested in how each approach has it's independence as well as.... Listen in for more(some strong language). The artist's tumblr blog: http://stephenwrightblog.tumblr.com/ (Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen. Outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

"There's no place for being careful when making art." This episode is with Rapid City, South Dakota artist, Matt Schaefer. Schaefer's beginnings with art worked in tandem with playing music. Painting shortly took over his focus and his unique ways of studying art history was born. He let's you in on his thoughts over an important artist that has let him down. He also share's his feelings on planning as it relates to process. Listen for more! (Some strong language) (Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen. Outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

This interview is with Prince Edward Island artist, Stephen B. MacInnis. Parts of the process MacInnis enjoys most is the "history of the accidents that occur" along with the "ghost images" that sometimes appear will working on multiple layered paintings. Catch some of the thinking that went into titling his ongoing "Long Series" and how studying art can bring a creative freedom. The artist's website: http://sbmacinnis.wordpress.com/category/abstract-painting-2/long-series-12x12-inch-paintings/ (Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen. Outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

Ahtcast talks with Ashley Garrett for this interview. You will discover great descriptions of experiences that are both universal and specific in their private nature. To Garrett, art making is the tapping into the "energy and/or space that hovers around us all the time." It brings us together, both artist and non-artist. According to Garrett, there may be no such thing as 'non-artist.' Her work needs no sketch, because it would "take away the mystery and drain the energy of the discovery." Learn the inner workings of her process and how listening to creative impulses can keep one on the right track to being present and "aware." Listen in for more! (some strong language). The artist's website: www.ashleygarrett.com/ (Original intro song by David T Miller and Phillip J. Mellen. Outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

Ahtcast revisits the work of artist, Lorri Ott, in this episode. Lorri Ott and I originally spoke in February of 2012 and I thought it would be interesting to see what she has been up to in her studio as of late. We also talk about past work and how it has changed as well as how the work has, in a sense, come full circle. Thanks for listening. The artist's website: http://lorriott.net/home.html (podcast intro/outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

T J Donovan, a South Dakota native finishing his studies in Chicago, discusses his work and philosophies on art making. Donovan likes to preserve a space for abstract making and direct address in his work. He believes that working through a creative block is important, and feels that action will automatically "yield to something different." Listen in as he also describes his experience on playing with the work in different contexts, and how that it may or may not change how the work is received, both for him and the viewer. (some strong language) The artist's website: http://www.tjdonovanart.com/index.html (podcast intro/outro by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips. Also featuring music by Heroic Doses)

Santa Monica, California artist, Julia Schwartz, joins ahtcast for this interview. Schwartz describes how she paints regardless of creative block and feels that social media has become a great artist community. Schwartz goes on to detail how she is open to the world and how it unfolds, and takes her experiences into the studio. "The more I've been painting, the more wordless I become." Listen in! The Artist's website: http://www.juliaschwartzart.com/ (podcast intro/outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

The 1980's saw Mike Felten in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan living on a farm and playing with country rock cover bands until guys like Pete Seeger and Utah Phillips discovered Mike's folkier/political side. He played the 75th Anniversary of the I.W.W. and places like the Hiawatha Folk Festival, Rhinelander Festival and Pike Lake. Returning to Chicago in the 1990's , Mike found work playing heavy metal bass in a band called Lobotomy.

Join ahtcast for this interview with Winchester, Hampshire UK artist, Alastair Eales. A real virtuoso regarding process and developing simplified palette possibilities. Eales talks about how it can be tricky to maintain the spontaneity of smaller works and sketches when translated into larger work. The subject of how these sketches can bring a greater focus to larger works also comes up. His ambiguous technique may stem from his childhood memories of drawing in which Eales created imaginary worlds and varying possibilities. Listen in as we are also taken on a vivid tour through a very experimental performance piece by the artist. Welcome and enjoy. The artist's website: http://ali-eales-artist.blogspot.com/ (podcast intro/outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

London based artist, EC joins ahtcast for this interview. We discuss the value of preliminary work and all of it's different forms. EC also talks about the beginnings of a painting and how "automatic writing" plays a big part of the initial marks on the canvas. Responding intuitively and improvisation are important to EC's process as well. Some great quotes shared in this one! Please listen for more. The artist's website: http://untitledpainting.wordpress.com/ (podcast intro/outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

This interview is with Philadelphia based artist, Tim McFarlane. In the interview, McFarlane mentions how he discovered art in High-School and the effect it had on him. He also describes his process, in detail, and how the computer is sometimes a part of his practice. Dealing with creative block is also part of the discussion and how he has come to accept that taking a day away from the studio can bring a "fresh perspective" when returning to work. McFarlane also shares his personal 'mantra' for when studio life needs a recharge. Have a listen for more! The artist's website: www.timmcfarlane.com/ (podcast intro/outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

Suzanne Kammin, a Newark, New Jersey based artist, takes us into her process and thoughts on being a painter who likes to play with the reversal of figure ground only to flip it back again. Suzanne talks about the processes she uses to "eliminate the anxiety of destroying a work." She also speaks of her highly experimental past and what enjoying both representational and abstract painting can do to one's process. Listen in for more. The artist's website: suzannekamminbaron.com/ (podcast intro/outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)

This interview is a special one. It made it's way into more of casual conversation, and one where Susan Carr and I interviewed each other. Carr, a Cape Cod based artist, decided to visit my home and studio. During the visit, we sat and talked about the aspects of our work and process. I found that we shared some of the same views based on the interview questions. We viewed each others work and it helped the interview along. I really enjoyed our chat and what she had to say. Thanks for listening. (due to irregular sound levels, this episode is not recommended for use with headphones) The Artist's blog:www.susan-carrs.com/ (podcast intro/outro music by Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips)