Year: 2018

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

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

On this week’s episode, Bree and Pearson sit down for coffee and a chat with the inimitable MC Sole to discuss his new mixtape of lyrical molotovs, Nuclear Winter 3. But first up, some news: Elon Musk, who once said, “I fucking hope he sues me,” gets fucking sued. Hurricane Florence made landfall in NC and SC. Duke Energy is culpable.   An equator full of hurricanes is a preview of the end times. Follow This is Mutual Aid, Wilmington online @MutualAid14 on Twitter. Support their GoFundMe. Trump denies the independently-reported death tolls in Puerto Rico. Incarcerated workers are battling raging fires in California for $1 an hour. Border Patrol Agent arrested for allegedly killing four women and abducting another. Rest in power, Botham Shem Jean. May we fight and struggle in your memory. Bree, Pearson, and Sole explore the themes in Sole’s new album, riff on liberals, try to define permaculture, and dissect dual-power. Buy Nuclear Winter 3. Support Sole on Patreon. Listen to Sole’s Podcast. Follow Sole on Twitter. Visit Sole’s Website.

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

In this week’s show, Bree and Pearson dive into one of their favorite topics: food. But, before that, some current events: A new update from IWOC has surfaced discussing the August 21-September 9 prison strike. The U.N. accuses U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition of war crimes in Yemen. 150,000 people are thought to have starved to death in Yemen last year, with one child dying of starvation or preventable diseases every ten minutes, and another falling into extreme malnutrition every two minutes. Nazis are marching openly in the streets of German. A 5-year-old girl in ICE detention almost died from a ruptured appendix The bulk of today’s episode offers a deep dive into food: how it’s produced and consumed, how economic class and corporate power limit our dietary options, and the gendered and patriarchal role of food advertisements. Bree and Pearson chat briefly about their dietary history growing up as well as the ingenious and sustainable visions of agriculture championed by indigenous peoples, then dive into a discussion of plant-based diets and the intersections our food has with global climate change. Finally, the show closes with some recipe advice from Bree and Pearson paints a vision of fully-automated, luxury, queer anarcho-communism. As always, enjoy the show. If you like what you hear, please be sure to rate and review Coffee with Comrades on your podcasting platform of choice and recommend the show to your friends online! Coffee with Comrades on Twitter and Libsyn. Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Outro: “Birth of the Economic Hitman” by Circa Survive

In this week’s episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson sit down for a conversation with Syd and Austin, two community-organizers from Tampa who participated in Occupy ICE TPA. But first, some headlines:   John McCain is dead, baby! Chapel Hill radicals tear down Silent Sam monument The August 21 Prison Strike has kicked off and the support has been widespread Virginia’s first anti-protest law arrests targeted oil pipeline demonstrators Rest in power, Donna Castleberry. Defend sex workers! Manafort & Cohen = Bread & Circus The chief executives of America’s top 350 companies earned 312 times more than their workers on average last year. Syd and Austin offer a bit of advice on how to start your own Occupy ICE encampment (just do it!) and walk us through the strategic and symbolic significance of the occupation. Then, the former occupiers explain their motivations for taking direct action against ICE and the DHS. We close with a discussion of the future: where our new battles begin to burn as we fight for a future of abolition. Follow Occupy ICE TPA on Twitter and Facebook and support the defendants in their struggles ahead! Take direct action and tell Chuck Prather to terminate his lease with the DHS. Call (727)896-1080. Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Outro: “FVCK I.C.E.” by Rebel Diaz  

Coffee with Comrades is coming to you a little early this week. We’re pleased to present our first podcast collaboration: an analysis of the film “V for Vendetta” with our pals in the Left Media Podcast. In this episode, we discuss the motion picture’s political themes, its lackluster portrayal of its female and LGBTQ+ characters, the problematic antics of its titular “hero,” the process of radicalization, and so much more. This episode’s a bit of a long one, so you’ll have to forgive us—Mike and Mitch are just too much fun to talk to! If you like this episode, we highly recommend you check out the Left Media Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts! So sit back, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and enjoy our discussion of “V for Vendetta.” Follow the Left Media Pod on Twitter. Check out the Left Media Pod’s website. Intro/Outro music: “Memphis Was A Revolutionary” by Mike Hewlett and the Racket  

On Episode 8 of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson sit down for a conversation with Mark Bray and Rob Haworth to discuss their upcoming book, Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader. But first, Pearson digs into some of his experiences at the Shut it Down DC demonstrations. While a broad coalition of anti-fascists successfully managed to deplatform the white supremacists who’d invaded the city for Unite the Right 2 and that victory ought to be widely celebrated, Pearson draws three major conclusions about the event: Liberalism is failing us and making space for white supremacists, online and in the streets. Militant anti-fascists must continue training to develop a more strategic approach to the black bloc. Militant anti-fascism works. We just need to be more organized. If it wasn’t for the police, the fascists would’ve never been safe to march in the streets. The state is complicit in white supremacy. For a solid report that accurately captures what it felt like on the ground August 12, check out Brendan O’Connor’s piece in The Nation. Then, Mark Bray and Rob Haworth join our hosts for an engrossing discussion on Francisco Ferrer, the history and legacy of the Modern School, anarchist pedagogy and education, atheism, and so much more. Follow Mark Bray on Twitter. Check out Rob Haworth’s PM Press page and his band, Second Letter. Buy the Book: “Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader” Music: Intro: “All You Fascists Bound to Lose” by Woody Guthrie Transition: “Nobody” by Stick to Your Guns Outro: “Painted Pictures” by Second Letter

TW: Be advised, this episode includes a sound-byte from Richard Nixon’s chief of staff, Lee Atwater, spewing racial slurs from 22:02–22:22. In this week’s episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson discuss the #August21 Prison Strike and dissect the prison-industrial complex, the abolition movement, and transformative justice. But, first, a look at this week in current events: A migrant child died shortly after being released from detention by ICE Detained migrant fathers and sons stage a strike in Texas Facebook censors antifascists organizing to demonstrate in DC DC Metro union refuses to transport fascists Bree and Pearson then provide a historical context for the prison-industrial complex before diving into the legacy and goals of the abolition movement. Ultimately, the hosts of Coffee with Comrades advocate for a system of transformative justice to truly address the root causes of “crime” and create a more humane and egalitarian society. Get Involved: Educate others about the August 21st Prison Strike, the prison-industrial complex, abolition, and transformative justice Follow and promote the strike on social media using the #August21 and #prisonstrike hash-tags on social media and amplify the voices of incarcerated workers Endorse the strike by emailing your organization’s statement to prisonstrikemedia@gmail.com Spread word of the strike both inside and outside–go to www.incarceratedworkers.org to print out stickers, flyers and posters Organize a phone tree in preparation for phone zaps Start an Anarchist Black Cross chapter Write to political prisoners Support the upcoming strike directly by promoting, attending, and/or creating a solidarity demonstration at a prison near you! Resources: Incarcerated Workers Organizing Community Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander 13th Documentary on Netflix The Empty Cages Collective Critical Resistance Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Outro: “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)” by Run the Jewels

On today’s episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson explore the symbiotic relationship of science and anarchy with Kaleb Morgan. But first, some current events: A FL auto shop owner snitched on a fifteen-year-old girl who escaped her ICE captors A six-year-old girl was sexually abused while in a DHS detention facility Comrades in Occupy ICE TPA were arrested before police trashed their tents. Donate to their legal defense fund. Anarchists in the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective are making their own medicine Anarcho-syndicalist video game developer Motion Twin studios gears up to release its new game, Dead Cells   In this week’s interview, Pearson and Kaleb discuss everything from Kropotkin to Marx, mutual aid to historical determinism, and evolution to social darwinism. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and check it out! Follow Kaleb on Twitter and Instagram. Get involved: Donate to the Occupy ICE TPA legal defense fund. Defend DC from Nazi scum. Support the August 21 Prison Strike. All out this August! Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie Outro: “Never Let Go of the Microscope” by Enter Shikari