Moving on... back to our main podcast site

Hey folks! This proof-of-concept of self-hosting has played its course and we’ll be shuttering the castopod instance. It’s a great app, but one more thing for us to think about but it’s good to know how easy the platform has become (so many bugs worked out and new features available) and that we can utilize in the future. Meanwhile, check out our rss feed linked at tfsr.wtf for shows going back to 2017 or visit the blog for audio and posts going back to 2010. xoxo

Military Decruitment, Trump 2.0 and Resisting New Empire

This week, we’re featuring an interview with Fig, an anarchist and member of the anti-Imperialist US veterans organization About Face to talk about decruitment, the work of About Face and an assessment of shifts in military priority under the lead of Hegseth towards the southern US border and the Trump administration 2.0’s multi-polar spin. There’s a lot here and we’ll have a transcript in the near future. • About Face • GI Rights Hotline • Military Law Task Force of the NLG • a recent Politico article considering some military focus shifts discussed in this chat

5 Months After Hurricane Helene in Barnardsville, NC

This week we’re sharing recent chat with Jazz and Badger, two residents of Barnardsville, a small village just outside of Asheville, NC. We spoke about the community, the impact of Hurricane Helene, some lessons learned from coordinating among the neighbors and how people are faring now, nearly 5 months out from the storm. You can find their website at MutualAidBarnardsville.com

To hear similar stories from after the storm you can find links to past interviews here. Also mentioned were interviews recorded by Blue Ridge Public Radio: Voices of Helene.

Articles on recovery referenced:

• Slow Recover & FEMA article
• Housing since Helene
• State / Federal Funding for Recovery

Recent Storm Support for EKY, ETN, SWVA + WV

Recent floods in middle Appalachia in the middle of an intense winter cold snap have left many without potable water or other basic needs. ATV donation / loan / operation request to help check on people in hollers, help clear roads, drive supplies: reach out to theferalraccoon (a t) proton (d ot) me OR MutualAidDisasterRelief ( at) gmail (do t) com.

EKY

One place you can look for where to send resources is Eastern KY Mutual Aid, found on Instagram or Facebook under the name Hillbillies Helping Hillbillies. And you can find out more by visiting the website or checking social media for Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Some of the useful links are here for those unable to use the platforms:

• EKY Mutual Aid Patreon
• Volunteer form if in the region
• EKY Mutual Aid Cashapp: $SoupBeansFriedTaters
• EKY Mutual Aid Paypal: @EKYMutualAid

In Pikeville, KY, there’s a request for food grade 5 gallon for water filtration where municipal water isn’t running or wells are contaminated there’s a request for restaurants to save buckets for water filtration. People interested can contact Cara at 859_533_0349

DROP OFF LOCATION: Pike Central HS 100 Winners Circle Drive Pikeville, KY 41501

Other EKY sites:

• Appalachian Crisis Aid Fund
• The Y’all Squad

SWVA

• SAMS Lonesome Pine Mutual Aid Paypal: @SAMSVA
• The Care Collective of SW VA Venmo: @carecollectiveofswva

Cumberland Mountain Mutual Aid

• Paypal: cumberlandmountainmutualaid (a t) gmail (d o t) com
• Venmo: @CMMAID
• CashApp: $CMMUTUALAID

WV

• WVUMC Disaster Response Ministries
• Bluejay Rising BluejayRising.org/donate

Spark of Love Foundation

• CashApp: $sparkoflove4thekids
• PayPal: The Spark of Love Foundation

ETN

• Disaster Relief at Work

Surveillance Self Defense, Encrypted Chat Apps and Securing Devices with Thorin Klosowski

This week, a conversation with Thorin Klosowski of the Electronic Frontier Foundation about some basic tools and ideas for keeping our information a little safer online and the Surveillance Self-Defense site, ssd.eff.org . We discuss device encryption, tor-browser, vpns, encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram as well as password vaults. I’m hoping this’ll be the first of a few interviews to try to make digital security concepts a little more accessible.

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Links to check out:

• Consumer Reports Digital Security and Privacy site (including personal planning app): https://www.consumerreports.org/digital-security-privacy/
• 404Media
• TheVerge
• TechCrunch

CIMA on Community Defense Against ICE + Kristian Williams on the Comics of Alan Moore

This week on the show, we’re sharing two interviews.

First up, Dulce, a member of Companeros Inmigrantes en las Montanas en Accion, or CIMA, a local organizing and advocacy group by and for immigrants in western NC about her experience working for dignity and solidarity in light of the current and past administrations. More on CIMA can be found at CIMAWNC.Org

Then, Ian speaks with Kristian Williams, author of Gang Politics, Resist Everything Except Temptation, and Our Enemies in Blue, among others, about his recent book, The Illuminist: Philosophical Explanations in the work of Alan Moore. The chat touches upon Moore’s work and its anarchist underpinnings, his legacy in and out of comics, the necessity of imagination, and the possibilities that arise from death and disaster. The book is available from emergencyhearts.com, emergencyhearts.bandcamp.com, and kristianwilliams.com. You can find past interviews we’ve done with Kristian here.

"From Hash Rebels to Urban Guerrillas" with Gabriel Kuhn

Today we’re sharing an interview recorded this week with Gabriel Kuhn speaking about the West German urban guerrilla group the 2nd of June Movement, the book he co-edited on this subject entitled From Hash Rebels to Urban Guerrillas: A Documentary History of the 2nd of June Movement (from PM Press and Kersplebedb), the milieu from which it arose, how it compared to other groups at the time like the Red Army Faction, and some of the legacy of their critiques and interventions on radical politics in the autonomen movement and beyond. For the hour we speak about the context from which the 2nd of June Movement grew (alongside the Red Army Faction, Revolutionary Cells and others) in the 1970’s, their goals and actions, the timing of the book and the legacy that these groups left to German society and the autonomous movements that continued.

• Our prior interview with Gabriel on Liberating Sapmi
• Gabriel’s Blog
• A blog collecting documents of this period . … . ..

Featured Track:

• 5:45 by Gang of Four from The Peel Sessions

The Ampelokipoi Case, Repression and Anti-Repression in Greece

This week, we are sharing an interview with a member of the Solidarity Fund for Imprisoned and Persecuted Revolutionaries, or Tameio. We talk about the case of the explosion in an apartment in the Athens district of Ampelokipi from late October of 2024 which left comrade Kyriakos Xymitiris dead and left Marianna badly injured, after which there have been arrests of four other comrades (so far), including Nikos Romanos. Some supporters of those arrested believes the case is the New Democracy government distracting from their economic collapse by increasing repression and the spectre of terrorism.

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We also speak about the anti-repression landscape that Tameio participates in, the end of asylum protections against police on university campuses and difficulties faced by the anti-authoritarian and anarchist movements in Greece today.

• https://tameio.net
• https://athens.indymedia.org/
• Nikos Romanos’ letter on the case from December 5th, 2024: https://actforfree.noblogs.org/2024/12/08/letter-from-anarchist-comrade-nikos-romanos-from-korydallos-prison-greece/

Forced Labor, Living Conditions, Opacity and Impunity in Texas Prisons (with Michelle Pitcher)

We’re sharing a recent interview with Michelle Pitcher of the Texas Observer about living conditions and forced labor in the TDCJ, the Texas prison system. You can reach Michelle at pitcher@texasobserver.org or follow her at @michellepitcher.bsky.social .

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• https://www.texasobserver.org/prison-heat-lawsuit-tdcj/

• https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-prison-plantations

• https://www.texasobserver.org/solidarity-prison-labor-union/

Our prior interview with Jason Walker (more of his writings at his blog) can be found here (with a transcript available). And our prior chat with Comrade Z can be found here.

We MUST Keep Us Safe: Long-Term, Anonymous Anarchist Comrade on Repression, Trauma, Security Culture, & Revolutionary Solidarity

This week, we’re featuring an anonymized chat with a longtime anarchist on lessons learned trying to stay sane  while facing state repression. We talk about experiencing trauma, the need for strong relationships and movements offering shelter and strong alternatives to the alienated society of state and capital, while also speaking on the challenges of mental health and inviting in new participants in anarchist movement.

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Chapters:

1. Introduction and Disclaimer [00:00:23]
2. Post-911/Patriot Act State of Heightened Repression and build up to today [00:02:29]
3. Navigating security amidst a post-social media and post-smart phone era [00:23:33]
4. Creating safer and more secure revolutionary communities that can better withstand the heat [00:31:02]
5. Recognizing and overcoming repression-based trauma on an individual and community level [00:40:02]
6. Supporting comrades overcoming mental health episodes (spiralling) amidst repression and burnout [01:09:13]
7. On infiltrators and the depths the state will go to inflict trauma, fish, and divide [01:15:57]
8. Recognizing the ‘severity’ of our position, and taking ourselves seriously [01:26:22]
9. Some tips on facing trauma or intimidation, or supporting others experiencing repression-related trauma [01:34:18]

Descending References and Resources List According to Interview:

Green Scare Background

• Green Scare Intro and Article References https://cldc.org/green-scare/
• Mainstream Media Story (MSM Story): The Green Scare: How a Movement That Never Killed Anyone Became the FBI’s No. 1 Domestic Terrorism Threat https://theintercept.com/2019/03/23/ecoterrorism-fbi-animal-rights/
• TFSR Interview: Green Is The New Red with Will Potter: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2011/05/29/green-is-the-new-red-an-interview-with-will-potter-may-29-2011/
• TFSR Interview: Eric McDavid after his release: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2015/04/13/a-chat-with-eric-mcdavid-on-prison-post-incarceration-hope-ice-cream-more/

Grand Juries

• CLDC: Grand Juries https://cldc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CLDC-GJ-PPT-2012.ppt_-2.pdf
• Surviving a Grand Jury: Three Narratives from Grand Jury Resisters https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/crimethinc-surviving-a-grand-jury
• People’s Law Office: The Improper Use of the Federal Grand Jury: An Instrument for the Internment of Political Activists https://peopleslawoffice.com/improper-use-of-federal-grand-jury-michael-deutsch-political-repression/
• Surviving a Grand Jury What it means to resist a grand jury; stories from those who have; how to support North Carolina grand jury resistance (PodCast) https://crimethinc.com/podcasts/the-ex-worker/episodes/59

Border Detention

• Crossing the United States Border A Security Guide for Citizens and Non-Citizens https://crimethinc.com/2020/01/28/crossing-the-united-states-border-a-security-guide-for-citizens-and-non-citizens

Police Visitation

• Center for Constitutional Rights: If An Agent Knocks Resource https://ccrjustice.org/if-agent-knocks-resource
• When the Police Knock on Your Door Your Rights and Options: A Legal Guide and Poster https://www.sproutdistro.com/2017/08/29/when-the-police-knock/
• If the FBI Approaches You to Become an Informant An FAQ: What You Need to Know https://crimethinc.com/2017/05/17/if-the-fbi-approaches-you-to-become-an-informant-an-faq-what-you-need-to-know
• National Lawyers Guild: If An Agent Knocks https://nlgsf.org/if-an-agent-knocks/
• On Phone and Digital Security Culture Taking Ourselves Seriously: Digital Harm Reduction (PDF Format) https://www.notrace.how/resources//download/pairnontas-tis-eautous-mas-sobara-meiose-psephiakon-kindunon/taking-ourselves-seriously-digital-harm-reduction-booklet-A4.pdf
• Electronic Frontier Foundation: Mainstream Resource and Non-Profit Advocate for Digital Privacy https://www.eff.org/

Infiltration Cases:

• MSM Story on Mark Kennedy: How a Married Undercover Cop Having Sex With Activists Killed a Climate Movement https://anarchistnews.org/content/how-married-undercover-cop-having-sex-activists-killed-climate-movement
• TFSR interview on Spy Cops: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2020/11/29/uncovering-spy-cops-in-the-uk/
• MSM Story on Eric McDavid case: Manufacturing Terror: An FBI Informant Seduced Eric McDavid Into a Bomb Plot. Then the Government Lied About It. https://theintercept.com/2015/11/19/an-fbi-informant-seduced-eric-mcdavid-into-a-bomb-plot-then-the-government-lied-about-it/
• Earth First!: Informants List https://earthfirstjournal.news/informants/

Anti-Repression Resources:

• NYC Anarchist Black Cross https://nycabc.wordpress.com/
• Support Defendants & Prisoners From the George Floyd Uprisings https://uprisingsupport.org/further-resources/
• Anti-Repression, Supporting Uprising and Anarchist Prisoners https://thefinalstrawradio.libsyn.com/anti-repression-supporting-uprising-and-anarchist-prisoners
• A Tilted Guide to Being a Defendant (PDF Zine) https://files.libcom.org/files/atiltedguide-web-1.pdf

J20 Case

• Lessons from #DefendJ20 on Building Movement Defense Against Repression https://itsgoingdown.org/lessons-from-defendj20-on-building-movement-defense-against-repression/

Sobriety Discussion

• Sobriety and Anarchist Struggle (PDF Version) https://files.sproutdistro.com/towards_a_less_fucked_up_world-SCREEN.pdf

Mental Health/Trauma/Burn Out

Survivors Manual: Surviving In Solitary (PDF) https://afsc.org/sites/default/files/documents/Survivors%20Manual_0.pdf

• Sub.Media: Redefining Sanity Through Struggle https://sub.media/trouble-17-mad-worlds/
• Conflictual Wisdom: On Burning Out and Anarchist Self-Preservation https://itsgoingdown.org/announcing-publication-conflictual-wisdom/
• Against the Struggle of the Coward: A Note of Strength for the Underdogs https://itsgoingdown.org/against-the-struggle-of-the-coward-a-note-of-strength-for-the-underdogs/
• Repression, Resiliency, & Movement Support: An Interview https://itsgoingdown.org/bloc-party-interview-repression-resiliency/
• Solidarity Apothecary (Podcast) https://solidarityapothecary.org/
• Broader Wellness Resources by Mutual Aid Disaster Relief https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/health-wellness/
• Trauma & Recovery Brochure (PDF) https://www.sproutdistro.com/catalog/zines/direct-action/actvist-trauma-recovery/
• Solidarity Is Greater Than Fear: Lessons from G20 to Stop Cop City (Youtube Link) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMObMCCgWjI
• A Life Worth Living: Care, Survival, Suicide, and Grief (Zine Resource on the Subjects) https://lizzieanderson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/a-life-worth-living-print-final.pdf . … . ..

Featured Track:

• Hold Onto Each Other by Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band from Horses In The Sky

All Will Be Equalized with Andrew Zonneveld and Modibo Kadalie (ACAB 2024)

This week, we’re sharing a recording of Andrew Zonneveld from the 2024 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair talking about his book All Will Be Equalized!: Georgia’s Freedom Seekers of the Swamps, Backwoods, and Sea Islands 1526-1890 alongside his friend Modibo Kadalie. To see a video with the slides from the presentation, check out our youtube page.

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We Will Need Time: two libertarian communist perspectives on events and possibility in Syria

In this episode, you’ll hear Cedric and Khuzama, two libertarian communists with connections to Syria and editor contributors to the blog interstices-fajawat.org , speaking about their observations of what’s been going on leading up to and through the ouster of Bashar Al-Assad, as well as complications among various factions on the ground and the view from the Syrian diaspora. The situation on the ground is changing fast, so check the show notes for this episode on our website for links to news sources that can be helpful in keeping up.

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• https://aljumhuriya.net/ar/article_types/english/

• https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/ousted-assad-regime-leaves-behind-devastated-economy/3419159

• https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/9/what-is-captagon-the-addictive-drug-mass-produced-in-syria

If you’re listening to the radio edition, you can find an additional 30 minutes of content in the podcast version at our website or the various streaming services linked at TFSR.WTF . And if you care to hear a perspective from an anarchist combatant affiliated with Tekosina Anarsist, which works with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria affiliated with the SDF and Rojava Revolution, you can find our episode from December 22nd and the transcribed zine already online at our website.

An Anarchist View From Rojava on Recent Events in Syria: A conversation with a combatant of Tekoşîna Anarşist

This week, we’re sharing a conversation with Errico, a combatant member of Tekoşîna Anarşist, an internationalist anarchist formation in critical solidarity with the Rojava Revolution. For this episode, Errico answers some questions we had about what’s been happening in Syria and concerns from within the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. You can find ideas and updates from the TA formation on their blog. Past interviews with TA can be found here.

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Errico’s voice has been re-recorded by a comrade for anonymity. The transcript is already up in the show notes and at our website for easier reading, translation and sharing and you can find past interviews we’ve done with TA linked in the show notes. And there is an announce-only signal group that anyone can join with updates and analysis by anarchists below. Just a headsup, the usernames of members of this group will be visible to the all other users there and it might be a good opportunity to set up your signal username and make your phone number unfindable for better anonymity prior to joining the signal group

We simultaneously recorded an interview with Cedric and Khuzama, two libertarian communists and editors of and contributors to the blog Interstices-Fajawat.org about their insights into Syria. This interview will be coming out soon, so keep an eye on our feed.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Rojava Punks by Emperor X from The Lakes of Zones B and C

Art As A Vehicle For Anarchist Ideas (ACAB 2024)

This week, we’re sharing another presentation from the 2024 ACABookfair in so-called Asheville. On youtube you’ll find the audio sync’d up with the slideshow presentation from the bookfair by visiting youtube.com/@thefinalstrawradio.

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The following is a recording from the 2024 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair in so-called Asheville, NC. You can find more info and recordings from this and other years at ACABookfair.NoBlogs.Org. This is a presentation entitled Art as a Vehicle for Anarchist Ideas with N.O. Bonzo, Des Revol, and Sugarbombing World. From the description:

“Three longtime anarchist artists—N.O. Bonzo, Des Revol, and Sugarbombing World—will explore the role that art plays in resistance and movements, along with remembrance of the past and visions of the future. They’ll look at ways that art brings people together, and can serve as a great tool, whether in organizing and agitating, and/or inviting people into anarchism.”

Red Onion Prison Updates + Antifa-OST Case in Germany

This week, we’re featuring two segments.

First up, Phil Wilayto of the Virginia Defenders talks about conditions at Red Onion State Prison in western Virginia where a number of prisoners have been self-immolating in order to escape longterm isolation and racist guard violence. You can find Phil’s article on the SF Bay View which includes a clip of Noelle Hanrahan on Al-Jazeera talking about this subject, and past interviews with and about Kevin “Rashid” Johnson at this link here. [00:01:02 - 00:41:15]

Then, you’ll hear Jo, an anarchist from Germany, speaking about the recent building of conspiracy cases against antifascists known as Antifa-Ost, or Antifa East. You can find our prior interview about NSU Watch and Day X here. [ 00:44:45 - 01:11:42 ]

More info on Antifa-Ost and the Budapest Structure:

• 129A.Info
• Political-Prisoners.Net
• Soli-Antifa-Ost.Org
• BASC.News

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• The Adjuster by Adjuster

Peter Gelderloos on Memory, Community, Organization and Struggle

This week, we’re airing an interview with anarchist author, Peter Gelderloos about two of his recent books They Will Beat the Memory Out of Us: Forcing Nonviolence on Forgetful Movements (Pluto Books, 2024) as well as Organization, Community, Continuity (Detritus, 2024). For this episode, we speak on movement memory, community, care work, organization and struggle.

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Past interviews with Peter can be found here and his collaboration with Sub.Media is here.

Abortion Beyond The State (with Jex Blackmore, ACAB24)

This week, we’re sharing a presentation entitled “Abortion Beyond The State” by Jex Blackmore and Hydra Mutual Aid Fund, recorded at the 2024 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair in so-called Asheville, NC. You can find more audios, past schedules and more at ACABookfair.NoBlogs.Org. Jex’s slide presentation over the audio can be found on YouTube.

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From the description:

“Government control of reproductive capacity has long persisted as a tool to subordinate birthing people, women, people of color, people living on lower incomes, and other marginalized groups. The Supreme Court’s harmful ruling in Dobbs made clear that both the State, its actors, and the non-profit industrial complex have failed the people, giving rise to the urgent necessity for the movement to defend itself through direct provisions to community. This workshop will provide context to the current crisis surrounding bodily autonomy and reproduction and share a roadmap for subverting state control by building networks of support to provide safe and effective abortion regardless of legality.

The Hydra Fund is an independent mutual aid fund supporting access to reproductive care in Michigan. Their mission is to eliminate financial barriers to abortion access in Michigan by providing direct financial aid for purchasing abortion pills and obtaining in-clinic abortion procedures. Additionally, Hydra Fund is engaged in a community outreach education program to support access to evidence-based abortion information.“

For other abortion chats you can listen to from TFSR, check out this link

Other resources mentioned include:

• Turnaway Study (tons of resources here)
• Carolina Abortion Fund
• Mountain Area Abortion Doula Collective
• PlanCPills.Org

Announcement

Phone Zap for Malik Muhammad

Malik Muhammad, a prisoner from the George Floyd Uprising has been on hunger strike against extended use of solitary confinement with no property and after a beating and tasering by staff. You can learn how to participate in a phone zap at MalikSpeaks.NoBlogs.Org

NC Womens Prisons + Overcrowding Post-Helene in NCDAP

This week, we’re featuring two interviews concerning prison conditions in North Carolina.

First up, you’ll hear from Elizabeth Simpson of Emancipate NC, one of the signatories to a public letter to this state’s department of corrections calling for the release of hundreds of prisoners in North Carolina. This comes in response to over-crowding and understaffing of prisons following the emergency transfer of 2,000 prisoners from prisons in the western part of the state effected by Hurricane Helene. [00:01:15 - 00:18:50]

Then, Mona Evans of Benevolence Farm, a post-release residence and re-entry program in North Carolina for people coming out of the women’s prisons talks about their programs, re-entry and some of the realities faced inside womens prisons in this state.  [00:20:04 - 01:04:40]

In this conversation I mentioned Victoria Law’s latest book, Corridors of Contagion: How the Pandemic Exposed the Cruelties of Incarceration (Haymarket Books). You can find our 2013 interview with her about her 2nd edition of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women at this link.

Other projects Mona mentioned include:

• Arise Collective re-entry program
• DownhomeNC engages in a number of progressive causes in this state, including the bail fund that Benevolence Farms is currently running. You can find our 2020 interview with them here.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Women on the Inside by Sistas In The Pit from The We That Sets Us Free: Building A World Without Prisons

Resisting Immigration Prison in Tacoma and Fascists in Pittsburgh

This week, we’re featuring three segments in our episode.

First up, you’ll hear Maru Mora-Villalpando talking about the immigration prison known as the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA and the organizing that her organization La Resistencia does to shut down this private prison run by Geo Group. [ 00:00:54 - 00:44:00 ]

Then, a member of Pittsburgh Fash Watch, an antifascist group, talks about their mobilization and unmasking of white supremacists in their area, such as WLM and Goyim Defense League (GDL) chud Brandon Cahall. [ 00:45:07 - 00:54:42]

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• Transcrikt Auf Deutsch
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• Zine (Imposed PDF) Finally, Sean Swain addresses post-election ennui. [ 00:54:45-end ]

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Bella Ciao by Leslie Fish

Out-Organizing Antisemitism with Ben Lorber and Shane Burley

A conversation we had with the Ben Lorber and Shane Burley, co-authors of the recently published book, Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism. For the hour we discuss the roots of antisemitism in the West, pushing back on Zionism in the midst of the genocidal war on Palestinians, a rebirth of Bundism and addressing antisemitism in left spaces. I definitely recommend this book to folks and hope you enjoy the chat! And as always, thanks for supporting this project. Check out their blog!

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Past interviews with Shane:

• Fascism Today
• Why We Fight

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Daloit Politsey by Isabel Frey
• In Ale Gasn = In Every Street / Hey, Hey, Daloy Politsey! = Hey, Hey Down With The Police! featuring Zalmen Mlotek, Adrienne Cooper, Dan Rous with The New Yiddish Chorale and The Workmen’s Circle Chorus from In Love and In Struggle: The Musical Legacy of the Jewish Labor Bund

Prisons and Prisoner Solidarity with Eric King, Jake Conroy and Josh Davidson

This week we’re sharing a discussion recorded some months back in the pacific northwest featuring former political prisoners Eric King, who went in for actions in solidarity with the Ferguson Uprising in 2014, and Jake Conroy, who was convicted for coordinating successful anti-vivisection divestment campaigns against Huntington Life Sciences as one of the SHAC7. They are joined by Eric’s co-author of Rattling The Cages, Josh Davidson. We hope you appreciate the wisdom and passion of the discussion.

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You can find Jake’s youtube channel The Cranky Vegan for a long-running and ongoing commentary on animal liberation topics. And you can follow Eric’s panels with other former prisoners and supporters on the instagram for Rattling The Cages and past media and articles by and about Eric (including past interviews we’ve done with or about him) at SupportEricKing.org and find more from Josh at linktr.ee/JoshDavidson..

Prior interviews:

• With/about Eric
• With Josh
• Jake Conroy at ACAB2024:  audio
• Jake’s former co-defendant, Josh Harper on the movie about their case, “ Animal People“

There are two upcoming Firestorm Books political prisoner panel talks in November, both of which you won’t want to miss.

• Saturday, Nov. 9th, 7:00pm – 8:30pm ET, Eric King will be talking with Jason and Jeremy Hammond. Register now!
• Saturday, Nov. 23, 7:00pm – 8:30pm ET, Eric will be talking with Linda Evans, Laura Whitehorn, and Nicole Kissane. Register now!

A few other things (per Josh):

• BPP/BLA comrade and former NY Panther 21 defendant Dhoruba bin Wahad needs our support. Help if you can!
• The 2025 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar is now available, and it’s beautiful. Get one or 100 today!
• If you missed the last panel talk with Eric, Jake Conroy, and Claude Marks – or any of the previous 6 Firestorm Books panel talks – watch them here.
• Don’t stop talking about Gaza, genocide, and US imperialism. Long live all those dying every day for Palestine.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

Walking Is Still Honest by Against Me! from Crimes As Forgiven By…

Jail and Housing Conditions, Recovery in Post-Helene Asheville

This week on The Final Straw Radio, you’ll hear three interviews interviews relating to community needs and recovering concerning Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina.

• Housing Transcript
• Jail Conditions Transcript
• Yousef on Helene Response Transcript 
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First up, you’ll hear Jen Hampton of the WNC Tenants Network about the re-opening of eviction courts in Buncombe County and conditions of housing in an already difficulty place to live.

Then, Bruce and G talk from the Asheville Community Bail Fund speak about conditions in the local jail during and after this unnatural disaster.

Finally, Yousef of the Palestinian and Arab-led Sumud Collective speaks about his experience of the storm and recovery work in the region in an interview recorded a couple of weeks ago.

Other links from Jen:

• Short term rental rules for Asheville: https://www.ashevillenc.gov/news/asheville-homestay-and-short-term-rental-update-regulation-changes-and-active-enforcement/
• Just Economics https://www.justeconomicswnc.org/
• FEMA: https://DisasterAssistance.Gov 1-800-631-3362
• Eblin Charities: https://www.eblencharities.org/
• Pisgah Legal Services: https://www.pisgahlegal.org/
• NC Legal Aid: https://legalaidnc.org/
• WNC Tenants Network: https://bit.ly/WNCTenantsNetwork
• NC Tenants Union: https://nctenantsunion.org/

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Featured Track:

• Reflections by The Supremes from Gold

Homeless Organizing in Oakland and Rural Relief After Helene

This week on the show we’re featuring two inteviews. First up, you’ll hear from Freeway, a houseless activist in Oakland, CA, about the recent series of sweeps of homeless being promoted by Governor Gavin Newsom. Freeway has been a member of Wood Street Commons and is now a member of Oakland Homeless Union (IG or donate).

• OHU Transcript
• OHU PDF (Unimposed)
• OHU Zine (Imposed PDF) Then, Janet of Rural Organizing and Resilience (IG or donate) in Madison County, speaks about post-Hurricane Helene organizing and disaster preparedness in the mountains of Western North Carolina. More and links to be added soon.
• ROAR Transcript
• ROAR PDF (Unimposed)
• ROAR Zine (Imposed PDF)

If you’re a non-Pacifica station airing our show and need access to the episode, you can find a radio-friendly version here until Archive.Org is restored following a DDOS attack

Other groups mentioned by Janet of ROAR include:

• Holler Harm Reduction
• PODER Emma
• Appalachian Medical Solidarity
• Asheville Tool Library
• Asheville Repair Clinic
• Another Gulf is Possible
• Bulboncha Liberation Radio

Announcement

Phone Zap for Buncombe County Jail

Members of the Asheville Community Bail Fund have announced a phone zap concerning conditions in the Buncombe County Detention Facility where reports are coming out of a lack of clean water, irregular bathroom breaks and other lack of access are leading to calls for those in the jail to be released or transferred to a facility with more humane conditions.

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Featured Track:

• I Wanna Know If It’s Good To You by Funkadellic from Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow

Mutual Aid and Disaster Relief in Southern Appalachia

Over the first weekend of October, 2024, there was a deluge from two storms (including level 4 Hurricane Helene) descended on southern Appalachia, mostly on the eastern side which includes Asheville and other parts of western NC, eastern TN, south eastern Ohio, and northern Georgia. At the point of this recording there are over 200 known dead and hundreds missing, portions of the region continue to be without electricity or cellular service, and where the toxic mud and water linger and separate people from medical and community care. This episode, we’re speaking with two people who’ve lived in the region and have been helping other residents distribute storm relief.

• Chris (English) / (Deutsch)
• Margaret (English) / (Deutsch)
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

Groups worth following doing work on the ground include:

• Mutual Aid Disaster Relief
• Appalachian Medical Solidarity
• Hood Huggers
• Rural Organizing And Resilience

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Featured Tracks:

• 500 Year Flood by Adam Pope
• Day 3 on Pigeon River by Sarah Howell

Mutt on the (Incomplete) Black Autonomy Reader

This week, you’ll hear my conversation with Mutt, editor of a new and incomplete Black Autonomy Reader, contributor to Muntjac Magazine, Organise! Magazine and Seditionist Distro. We speak about Black Anarchism, intellectual property, community self-defense in response to the racist riots that spread around the UK in August of 2024 as well as other topics.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

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Featured Track:

• No Agreement by Fela Kuti and Africa 70 from No Agreement

ISM in the West Bank and the Assassination of Ayşenur Eygi

This week on the final straw we’re featuring a conversation with Tom and Miriam of the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led network of activists standing in solidarity with Palestinians on the ground in the occupied territories. For the hour we talk about the organization, its history, what got these folks involved, the recent and tragic murder of Ayşenur Eygi in Beita in the West Bank which Miriam witnessed, and how conditions have changed as the war by the Israeli settler state has expanded. To hear our prior chat with Tom about the uprising in Bristol, check out this link.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

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Featured Track:

• Long Live Palestine pt1 by Lowekey from Long Live Palestine Parts 1 & 2 (single)

Revolution in 35MM with Samm Deighan

This week, we’re sharing Ian’s talk with Samm Deighan, co-editor of Revolution in 35 MM: Political Violence and Resistance in Cinema from the Arthouse to Grindhouse, 1960-1990, out 9/24/24 from PM Press. Among other things, they discuss the origins of the book, the benefits and limitations of genre storytelling, the forces that shape movie funding, and where to watch some of the films discussed. You can check out Twitch of the Dead Nerve podcast here.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
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. … . ..

Featured Tracks:

• Guns of Navaronne by The Skatelites from Studio One Story
• 5-45 by Gang of Four from Entertainment!

Border Repression + Resisting Growing Nationalism in Poland

This week, we’re featuring two conversations relating to the so-called Green Border in Podlaskie region of eastern Poland, on the Belarus border concerning topics of migration, repression, militarization, nationalism and solidarity among residents and people on the move into Fortress Europe.

• H5Poland Transcript
• Podlaskie Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

First up, you’ll hear Alex, a member of the feminist anti-repression group, Szpila Collective, about the H5Poland case of 5 activists facing charges for aiding people in need in what could be a landmark case in Poland and Europe. More at Szpila.BlackBlogs.Org or on Mastodon: @Szpila@kolektiva.social [ 00:01:34 - 00:15:08]

Then, you’ll find a chat with an anarchist who grew up in this border region and returned in adulthood and whose affinity group does solidarity with people on the move through the Białowieża forest. [00:19:58 - 01:32:18]

To hear past interviews about this border, check out our chat with two folks from Grupa Granica, or other chats where we’ve covered / carried chat about the border at Calais, the Mediterranean, the Balkan Route, Australia or the US / Mexico border.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Help4Dunkerqe by Ratajkovsky

“Solidarity, Spirituality and Liberatory Promise on a Turtle’s Back” with Ashanti Omowali Alston

“Solidarity, Spirituality and Liberatory Promise on a Turtle’s Back” with Ashanti Omowali Alston This week, we’re sharing words from anarchist, author, organizer and former participant in the Black Panther and Black Liberation Army, Ashanti Omowali Alston, in the key note address at the 2024 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair in so-called Asheville. The presentation was entitled “Solidarity, Spirituality and Liberatory Promise on a Turtle’s Back”. You can support Ashanti’s GoFundMe here.

• Transcript
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From the ACAB website: Trusting in solidarity, the mysterium of spirituality, and a promise from god knows where—a “where” that at this historical moment, might just be Palestine. What does it mean TO BE in the midst of all this right now? RIGHT NOW! M. Ashanti Alston is a revolutionary Black nationalist, anarchist, abolitionist, speaker, writer, elder motivator. A long-time member of The Jericho Movement, he is presently an advisory board member of the National Jericho Movement and co-founding board member of the Center for Grassroots Organizing (Vermont land project). He continues giving talks and writing inspirational analyses concerning the dismantling of the myriad oppressive regimes in which we find ourselves enmeshed. Ashanti is one of the few former members of the Black Panther Party who identifies as an anarchist in the tradition of ancestor Kwesi Balagoon (BPP & BLA). He developed abolitionist politics in the early years of Critical Resistance. He has helped save the life of a baby pig with animal liberationists, learned depth-queer politics from being challenged, and wants to see non-ego eldership partaking through sincerely loving the younger generations who truly want to ‘CARRY IT ON.” You can find other recordings from the 2024 ACABookfair at acabookfair.noblogs.org.

Announcement

Conditions at Granville CI in North Carolina

Prisoners have been filing grievances at Granville CI, a prison in Butner, North Carolina, to no avail complaining about a lack of the legally mandated showers and access to the exercise yard, and are asking for phone calls and emails to demand a resumption of serving these basic needs despite any claims of understaffing: By Joseph ‘‘Shine White’’ Stewart How many prisoners must die and how long must we languish in solitary confinement subjected to these harsh and unconstitutional living conditions before there is a public outcry? The deficiencies in the day-to-day operations of this prison have been longstanding/persistent and well documented. In the past I’ve reported on the culture of abuse, negligence and unprofessionalism here at Granville Correctional. Over the past couple of months the conditions have only worsened. Those of us who are assigned to Restrictive Housing for Control Purposes (RHCP) are being deprived of showers, recreation, subjected to inadequate health care and other unconstitutional treatment. Pursuant to Chapter C subsection .1205(A) of the NCDAC policy and procedure manual, prisoners assigned to RHCP will have the opportunity to shower a least three times a week. Lately prison staff have been using the excuse that there is not enough staff to give us showers or even saying that they are too tired to do showers. As always I must maintain my integrity and be honest when reporting on these conditions. The laziness and neglect I am mentioning here doesn’t apply to all the staff. Sergeant Jones, the second shift sergeant here in C-1 building, makes sure that we are afforded the opportunity to shower. However when it’s not her shift or if she’s not scheduled to work we’re likely not to receive showers if there is a shortage of staff. Despite being demoted to a less restrictive solitary confinement setting I’ve yet to be offered to exercise outside. Pursuant to Chapter C section .1206 of NCDAC policy and process manual, prisoners assigned to RHCP shall he allowed one hour per day, five days per week to exercise outside of the cell, moreover the outdoor exercise cages should be used as the primary exercise area. During the exercise periods we are to be allowed to exercise unrestrained. As when it is time for us to take showers the same excuse is used to deprive us of any recreational time. They don’t have enough staff. As mentioned I haven’t been afforded outside exercise for almost three years now despite being demoted to a lower security level. Recreation here in C-1 building consists of us being placed in full restraints and allowed to pace up and down the tier for one hour. Lastly, custody staff are having any medical appointments cancelled claiming there isn’t enough staff to escort is to the nurse’s station. This includes mental health appointments as well. Of course the foregoing isn’t all that needs to be addressed, however these are the issues that my peers and I find to be the most important, thus we entreat that the reader call and demand redress for the aforementioned issues. Warden James Williams and unit manager Eldridge Walker are responsible for promulgating the aforementioned policies and procedures and for the allowance of the aforementioned practices/customs, therefore they are the individuals who should be held accountable. Please contact these officials repeatedly:

• Granville Correctional Institution warden, James Williams - 919-575-3070 (call main line and ask for warden’s office)
• Granville CI C-1 Unit Manager Eldridge Walker- 919-575-3070 (call main line and ask to be connected to Unit Manager Eldridge Walker)
• NCDAC Dep. Director of Rehabilitation/Correctional Services Maggie Brewer - maggie.brewer@dac.nc.gov - 919-733-2126 (call main line and ask to be connected to Brewer’s office)
• NADAC Internal Affairs Director Anthony Smith - 919-715-2632 anthony.smith1@dac.nc.gov

Script for calling and emailing: “ I am (calling/emailing) to demand that prisoners being held in solitary confinement in the C-1 building be afforded the opportunity to shower and exercise outside according to NCDAC’s policies and procedures and pursuant to their U.S. Constitutional rights. I am demanding that an internal investigation be conducted at the Granville Correctional concerning the grievances being made by prisoners there and I demand warden James Williams and C-1 unit manager he held accountable for the deliberate indifference they have demonstrated.“

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Featured Track:

• Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow (instrumental) by Funkadellic from Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow

No More Deaths / No Más Muertes on the Mexico / US Frontier

This week, I spoke with two members of No More Deaths, a 20 year old humanitarian organization operating in the borderlands between Mexico and the USA. We talked about the organization, the work it does, how the border has changed, the political legacy of the Republicans and Democrats in the current situation for immigrants, deaths at the border and ways to get involved in supporting people on the move.

• Transcript

• PDF (Unimposed)

• Zine (Imposed PDF)

• Humane Borders

• Tucson Samaritans

• Borderlands Relief Collective

• Border Kindness

• Al Otro Lado

• Hope Border Institute

• South Texas Human Rights

• Haitian Bridge Alliance

• Casa Carmelita Instagram

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• La Frontera by Lhasa from The Living Road

Reflections on Medical Conditions in Gaza by a Recently Returned Nurse

Our chat with Louis, an anarchist emergency room nurse who has just returned from a second tour doing healthcare work in Gaza and is about to leave again. During this difficult conversation, we talk about medical conditions that he encountered in Gaza, what aid is getting in and how it’s being distributed, health infrastructure and how this relates to his prior mutual aid and anti-border work in the so-called USA. You can find a prior interview with Louis from Living and Fighting blog.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed) - pending
• Zine (Imposed PDF) - pending

Migrant Solidarity in the Mediterranean Sea by Quoyle (ACAB 2023)

This week, we’re sharing a presentation from the 2023 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair in so-called Asheville, NC. From the presentation:

“The Mediterranean Sea is Europe’s deadliest border. For years, non-state actors like Sea-Watch and other NGO’s have played a part in humanitarian search-and-rescue operations. In spite of legal repression and the technical challenges of maintaining a “civil fleet”, anarchists, anti-fascists, and other activists try to stop needless death at sea.

Hear a report back from a wayward American yacht-punk who spent the summer doing rotations on two different SAR (Search And Rescue) ships. We’ll discuss the general political situation, the reality of everyday operations and how you could get involved.“

For more audios from ACABookfair 2023, check out the site. To hear a 2023 interview we conducted with an activist with Maldusa on a similar topic, you can find it at our website.

We also have this 2016 interview by A-Radio Berlin that we aired in 2016 about conditions  a No Border Camp in Greece. And here’s one we conducted with an immigrant from Africa and a supporter in Germany in 2016. Also, check out this podcast called The Civil Fleet with voices of others involved in solidarity in the Mediterranean route.

The No-State Solution (with Mohammed Bamyeh, ACAB2024)

This week we’re sharing audio from Dr. Mohammed Bamyeh’s presentation entitled “The No-State Solution” as recorded at the 2024 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair in so-called Asheville, NC. Dr. Bamyeh is a Palestinian sociologist and professor at Pitt and the author of multiple books. There is a youtube video of this chat available on the Firestorm Books channel.  Shuli Branson’s current podcast is The Breakup Theory and she also authored a zine by the same title as this presentation.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

A prior presentation of this title appeared at The Victoria Anarchist Bookfair, a discussion between Dr. Bamyeh and Dr. Uri Gordon. You can find a video or a zine of the dialogue.

Announcements

SCI Fayette hunger strike

According to incarcerated activists in SCI-Fayette in Luzerne Township, Pennsylvania, there are plans to initiate a peaceful hunger strike starting with breakfast on August 5th, 2024, to protest lack of out-of-cell time, locked down for laundry, commissary and evening recreation time during which they can contact family and friends. More on the details in our show notes to support their hunger strike demands.

The brothers at SCI-FAYETTE are planning a peaceful resistance 2 strike all the meals beginning the morning of 8/5/2024 because administration is continuing 2 limit our time out of the cell on the unit, as if we’re in a pandemic. This is the only facility n PADOC that are doing pandemic procedures. Continues to take from us. Creating problems & hostile environment. The men are tired of being locked down for commissary, laundry & now they’re restricting are evening recreation. For most inmates that’s the only time we can contact are family & friends. We want full day room recreation (no cohorts) on every housing unit 7:45-10-30am, 1:15-3:35pm & 5:00pm-8:30pm & more seats on the housing unit 2 accommodate the seating arrangements. We need their help on the outside to call #724-364-2200 & speak up 4 us. Administration likes to keep matters like this in-house & hope we don’t have any outside support. Please support us?

To hear about more ongoing and recent prisoner struggles and anti-repression news, check out the monthly column on ItsGoingDown.org entitled In Contempt.

Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners

August 23-30th is the Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners. To learn who is being supported, find propaganda and art and how to send your own updates, visit the website solidarity.international

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Featured Track: Viva Tirado (part 1) by El Chicano from Viva Tirado

Grupa Granica Activsists Speak About Perils on the Belarus / Poland Border

This week, we’re featuring an interview with Dominika Ożyńska (Egala Association) and Aleksandra Chrzanowska (Association for Legal Intervention [polish: Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej SIP]), two human rights activists in eastern Poland near the Belarus border who speak about the situation with the migrant route through the Białowieża forest in the midst of increased militarization on both sides of the border through this ancient forest and through the region. Both are active in the umbrella Grupa Granica, or border group, movement supporting people on the move.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

In coming weeks we hope to feature more conversations with activists on the ground in this region and elsewhere speaking on similar topics, including locals who’ve seen social and environmental changes as tensions build between the neighboring nation-states and international alliances and how it impacts people seeking asylum and engaging their freedom of movement.

Grupa Granica (Border Group) & Related Links:

• GG Facebook
• GG on X
• GG on Instagram
• No Borders Team on Instagram
• No Borders Team Facebook
• shop without borders / https://www.sklepbezgranic.pl/

Direct action abortion services in Latin America (ACAB2023)

This week, we’re sharing audio from the presentation “Direct action abortion services in Latin America” 2023 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair in so-called Asheville, NC.

Thanks to the volunteers who re-recorded the presenter and audience questions where permission to share their voices was not granted and a transcription. Keep an eye out in August for our youtube video to include the slides from the actual presentation this recording was made from. Audios from the 2024 ACABookfair will be online in the near future on the bookfairs website.

• Transcript
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• Zine (Imposed PDF)

July 25th International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners (2024)

Here’s an interview with Walter of the Antifa International social media project. In 2016, this took over the running of the annual July 25th Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners that was formerly a day to show affinity with Jock Palfreeman, an Australian antifascist who was incarcerated in Bulgaria for defending some Romani people from a right wing attack in which an attacker died.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
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For the hour we talk about the day of solidarity, the associated Antifascist Defense fund, international lines of solidarity around antifascism, recent cases of repression and continuing to support cultures of resistance while comrades are behind bars.

• IADF linktree with social media accounts
• The International Anti-Defence Fund blog
• Int’l. Antifa Defence Fund donation page: (shortlink: bit.ly/DefendAntifa; alternatively, fnd.us/defendantifa)
• July 25th: Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners blog
• Donation page for #j25antifa: (shortlink: tinyurl.com/supportantifaprisoners)

Some other antifa resources we put up: 

• DeathToFascism.com
• J25Antifa clothing fundraiser
• Call to plan an event

Past interviews on July25

• 2016 with NYC Antifa
• 2021 with former Antifascist prisoner David Campbell

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Featured Track:

• Rude Boys Outa Jail by Neville Staple from 2 Tone - Tribute Collection  Vol. 1 (A Checkered Past)

Cyprus Hartford Resists Federal Grand Jury + MACC Film Festival

This week we’re featuring three segments. First up, you’ll hear a conversation I had with Asphalt, a supporter of a recent federal grand jury resister in Charleston, South Carolina. [00:04:53 - 00:36:28]

After that Cyprus Hartford, the grand jury resister, speaks for herself and reads her statement of resistance. [00:36:28 - 00:40:39]

• FGJ Transcript
• FGJ PDF (Unimposed)
• FGJ Zine (Imposed PDF)

Finally, you can find an interview that Ian did with Marisa Holmes and Molly of the Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Committee about their recent anarchist film festival. [00:42:32 - 01:01:29]

Then you’ll hear Sean Swain’s review of the presidential debate [01:02:06 - 01:09:16]

Past GJ Eps

• Steve Martinez resists NoDAPL GJ in 2021
• Jeremy Hammond resists Wikileaks-related GJ in 2019 & 2020
• Chelsea Manning resists Wikileaks-related GJ in 2019
• Katie Yow resists NC GJ in 2017
• Standing Rock GJ resistance in 2016
• Jerry Koch resists NYC GJ in 2013
• Resistance to GJ in Pacific Northwest in 2013 ( 1 & 2) San Francisco GJ with Ian Coldwater in 2012

Federal Grand Juries

By way of introduction to this first segment, I’d like to remind people that none of the people speaking about grand juries here are lawyers, but we are sharing information we’ve gotten from lawyers and legal experts to the best of our abilities. I’m going to read a bit from the website NCResistsTheGrandJury.Wordpress.Com: “

What is a Grand Jury?

In the federal legal system, the grand jury is used to decide whether someone should be charged (“indicted”) for a serious crime. The grand jury hears evidence presented by the prosecutor: the U.S. Attorney. The grand jury uses subpoenas to gather this evidence. It can subpoena documents, physical evidence, and witnesses to testify. The “special” federal grand jury, created in 1970, can be used to investigate “possible” organized criminal activity rather than a specific crime. The California legal system also has grand juries, but it is optional whether criminal prosecutions are initiated by grand jury indictment, or by a complaint by the District Attorney and preliminary hearing before a judge.

How is a Grand Jury Different Than a Trial Jury?

Unlike the “petit” jury, which is used to determine guilt in a trial, a grand jury consists of 16 to 23 jurors who are not screened for bias. The purpose of the grand jury is not to determine guilt or innocence, but to decide whether there is probable cause to prosecute someone for a felony crime. The grand jury operates in secrecy and the normal rules of evidence do not apply. The prosecutor runs the proceedings and no judge is present. Defense lawyers are not allowed to be present in the grand jury room and cannot present evidence, but may be available outside the room to consult with witnesses. The prosecutor and the grand jury members may not reveal what occurred in the grand jury room and witnesses cannot obtain a transcript of their testimony.

How Has the Grand Jury Been Used by the State?

Because of their broad subpoena powers and secretive nature, grand juries have been used by the government to gather information on political movements and to disrupt those movements by causing fear and mistrust. The grand jury lends itself to being used for improper political investigation due in part to the prosecutor’s ability to question witnesses without regard for rules that prohibit irrelevant, unreliable or unlawfully obtained evidence. Those called before the grand jury may be compelled to answer any question, even those relating to lawful personal and political activities. That information has been used by the government as a basis to conduct further surveillance and disruption of political dissent. When used against political movements, the grand jury causes fear and mistrust because persons who refuse to answer questions about their First Amendment political activities, friends and associates may be jailed for the life of the grand jury: up to 18 months. If a witness asserts their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, they may be forced to accept immunity or go to jail for contempt. Even a witness who attempts to cooperate can be jailed if minor inconsistencies are found in their testimony. Such a perjury charge may stand even when the grand jury fails to hand down any indictment for what it was ostensibly investigating.“

The grand jury is a complicated and opaque process, by design.  Our movements have decades of experience resisting grand juries, and there are resources available to learn more and support those who resist. If you have been contacted by federal law enforcement, the National Lawyers Guild has a national federal defense hotline at 212-679-2811.

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Featured Track:

• Setting Sun (instrumental) by The Chemical Brothers from Setting Sun

Three Way Fight: Revolutionary Politics and Antifascism (with Xtn Alexander and Matthew Lyons)

This week, we’re sharing a conversation I had with Matthew Lyons and Xtn Alexander, editors and contributors to the book Three Way Fight: Revolutionary Politics and Antifascism, out this year from Kersplebedeb Books and PM Press. We talked about the development of the political tendency which troubles the read of both liberal capitalism and the autonomous far right from a revolutionary left libertarian perspective, some of it’s progenitors and a bit about the state of the far right today.

• Three Way Fight Blog
• Chat with Matthew about Christian Nationalism and another about Lyndon LaRouche
• DZ Shaw’s zine (co-author J. Clark) Three Way Fight, Seven Theses on the Three Way Fight and Genealogies of Antifascism: Militancy, Critique and the Three Way Fight are among his works on the subject
• Antifascism Against Machismo shows up in the book, and there’s an expanded edition available from Kersplebedeb (via Burning Books in the USA)
• Fascism and Antifascism: A Decolonial Perspective also shows up in the book

Shut 'Em Down 2024 + Monsour Owolabi

An interview with Courtney of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee & Millions For Prisoners New Mexico and Roc, communications bridge for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and residential manager at the JLS housing center to speak about the JLS call for Shut ’Em Down strikes inside and outside of prisons in December of 2024. We talk about abolitionism, the organizing that JLS is doing including that transitional housing project and other topics. You can find a past interview with Courtney here.

• JLS Transcript
• Monsour Owolabi Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

Then, you’ll hear Monsour Owolabi, incarcerated New African political prisoner in the Ferguson Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system sharing some perspectives on inside-outside collaboration, the role of isolation in prisons as counter-insurgency and the importance of transitional housing projects. Monsour has been involved in Prison Lives Matter, the website https://www.texasletters.org/ has published his writings, and supporters have an instagram @FreeMonsourOwolabi

By putting these segments together, we are not proposing any organizational overlap between Mr Owolabi and JLS.

Shout out to Marylin’s Children for inspirational praxis.

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Featured Track:

• Remember Rockefeller at Attica by Charles Mingus from Changes One

Views from the "Rogue Gold" Tree Sit (with Cricket and D)

This week you’ll hear an interview we conducted with Cricket, a tree sitter in a tree called Goldie in southern so-called Oregon as well as D of Siskiyou Rising Tide. The two talk about the experience and efficacy of tree sits, about the land threatened by the Bureau of Land Managements plan to have Boise Cascade and other timber companies log this area they’re calling Rogue Gold, recent success of a tree sit at Poor Windy, revelations of police surveillance and some of the history of forest defense in this region.

• Transcript
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You can find more at TreeSittersUnion.org , donate via venmo to @Cascadia-Defenders or see lovely pictures on the instagram accounts @TreeSittersUnion or @Siskiyou_RisingTide

• Police spying on Siskiyou Rising Tide
• Recent article on both tree sits
• Announcement of lawsuit by conservation groups

Anarchist Perspectives on Nationalism (with Rey Katula)

This week, we’re sharing our interview on the Balkan anarchist journal, Antipolitika which released it’s Nationalism issue last July. It’s now available via PM Press (USA) and Kersplebedeb (Canada) on Turtle Island, alongside the back issues. Our guest is Rey Katula (an editor of the journal and a co-host of the awesome antifascist podcast The Empire Never Ended) talks about the journal, about fascism, nations from an anarchist perspective and, surprising to some, nationalism as a project of socialist Yugoslavia..

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF) To hear a past interview we aired (recorded by comrades at FrequenzA) an interview about issue #1 of Antipolitika with Rey from 2017, audio comes in at around [00:46:30] . … . ..

Support

If you want to support the show, for $3 or more a month at patreon.com/tfsr you can get early access to episodes like this one, or the recently released chat with outside supporters of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak’s 2024 Shut Em Down protests. Soon we’ll be releasing our chat with the editors of the recent Three Way Fight book on antifascism from PM Press & Kersplebedeb and another with members of Antifa International about the July 25th Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners.

We’d love to see an infusion of cash to be able to do some much-needed promotion of the show, like replenishing our stickers for distribution by radical publishers with their book orders, or even to be able to pay an artist for a new shirt design. If you don’t want to do the patreon but have some money to share we also have links for merch and donation points at tfsr.wtf/support

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Featured Track:

• Song To The Siren by The Chemical Brothers from Exist Planet Dust

Memory, Movement and June 11th 2024

This week on The Final Straw, we’re sharing an interview we conducted in recognition of the upcoming celebration of June 11th International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and other long term anarchist prisoners. This week you’ll hear Julie Herrada, a long time anarchist activist, comrade of Marius Mason and worker at the Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan. Julie is joined by Matthew Hart, another longtime anarchist involved in labor organizing, historical research with the Dockstadter Mutual Aid Society and the Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross chapter of the Federation. We speak about history, memory, prisoner support and continuing the struggle.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed PDF)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

If you’d like to hear more about the history of June 11th and voices of anarchist prisoners and those who support them outside, we’ve taken the opportunity each year to have at least one show focusing on specific cases or concepts related to ongoing struggle and anti-repression work. But first up, you’ll hear a comrade reading the 2024 call entitled No Separate Worlds and you’re hearing a conversation between anarchist historians and prisoner supporters about memory and the upcoming June 11th international day of soldiairty with marius mason and longterm anarchist prisoners.

Announcement

Fundraiser for Oso Blanco’s Family

There’s a fundraiser for the family of Cherokee anarchist prisoner, Oso Blanco, as they recently suffered a housefire that destroyed their home. You can learn more and find where to donate at GoFundMe . … . ..

Featured Track:

• Blindblindblind by Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band from 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons

Addameer on Palestinian Prisoners + new TTRPG "Oceania 2084"

This week, we’re sharing two segments.

Addameer on Palestinian Prisoners

First up, we spoke with Tala Nasser of the Palestinian prisoner human rights group, Al-Addameer which has offices in Jerusalem or Al-Quds, as well as in Ramallah. We speak about the report they released on Palestinian Prisoners day, April 17th, on the conditions of Palestinian prisoners, particularly since October 7th, 2023 including in Gaza since the invasion. More info on the group and their findings can be found at addameer.org

• Addameer Transcript
• Addameer PDF (Unimposed)
• Addameer Zine (Imposed PDF)

A-Radio Berlin on new TTRPG “Oceania 2084”

Then, we’ll hear a segment by our comrades at A-Radio Berlin speaking with Johan Eriksson, an anarchist game designer has recently published such an RPG called “Oceania 2084”, based on George Orwell’s novel “1984”. You can find more of about the game including a free austere pdf of the gameplay at jocher-symbolic-systems.itch.io , and you can hear more audios from A-Radio Berlin at aradio-berlin.org .

Sean Swain’s 2024 Presidential Run

For the sake of anyone in the office of Attorney General of Ohio if they’re listening: this segment is political satire. We feel it’s necessary to make this disclaimer as they referenced a spoof press conference for Sean as governor in exile of Ohio on the January 18th, 2015 radio segment in court filings to prove how dangerous Sean is, while actually just showing how stupid hierarchs are.

Midweek Release: Yaffa As

In case you missed mid-week release of our interview with Yaffa As, a queer and trans Palestinian poet, author, publisher and activist living in the diaspora about two recent collections they published as well as mutual aid and fundraising to get queer Palestinians out of range of Israeli genocide.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Ya Taali’een ’ala el-Jabal (Oh you, climbing up the mountain) by Rim Banna from The Dream

"I Don't Think You Could Have A Resistance Movement Without Poetry": A Chat with Yaffa As

We spoke with Yaffa, a Palestinian poet, author and activist living in the diaspora about two recent collections published by the Trans and Queer Muslim publishing house she founded called Meraj. One of the two books is entitled Inara: Light to Queer And Trans Palestinian Utopia and the second is a collection of her own poems written during the last lunar eclipse visible on Turtle Island, Blood Orange. We spoke about the importance of poetry and world building, the importance of community care and mutual aid, as well as supporting queer and trans Palestinians escaping genocide at the hands of the Israeli military. You can find more from Meraj publishing as well as how to obtain these titles at https://merajpublishing.com/

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Asheville's Southside Community Farm

This week, we’re sharing a recent interview with Chloe Moore, a steward, farmer and educator at the Southside Community Farm, in the historically Black neighborhood of Southside in Asheville, NC. The farm has been serving the neighborhood and the region with free and inexpensive, fresh produce for a decade, providing educational opportunities, grocery deliveries, an herb garden and a BIPOC farmers market. The farm sits on land owned by the public Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA) and there is currently a threat that HACA will destroy the farm. For the hour we talk about the work of the farm, the legacy of a community farm in the wake of government policies that destroy Black communities, and ways that community members can support the SCF and help it thrive.

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Featured Track:

• Rise Above by Ibeyi from Spell 31

"Clean For Who? Safe For Who?": Asheville Business Improvement District

We sat down with three local activists to talk about the proposed Asheville Business Improvement District, a model of service provision using public funding to increase policing in downtown by an unelected and unaccountable body of largely business and property owners. For the hour, Grace, Madison and Elliot talk about attempts to ram the BID through public process, some of the businesses and individuals behind it, how bids have panned out in other cities around the country and what space there is left to oppose this further privatization of public space in Asheville. We didn’t mention it here, but there have also been rumblings of the BID model, a version of which was fought and never funded in 2012, being applied to other parts of Asheville, for example West Asheville. You can find more information and ways to get involved with folks organizing against the Business Improvement District at AshevilleBID.com and on Instagram at @NoAVLBid. This is our show for the week of May 12th.

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• PDF (Unimposed) - pending
• Zine (Imposed PDF) - pending As a quick note, there are a few acronyms frequently used in this conversation. One is RFP, which stands for Request for Proposals and is a process of contracting out an element of a project. Another acronym is ADA, in this case Asheville Downtown Association which is an independent pressure group made up of individuals, business and property owners. Not to be confused with the Asheville Downtown Commission, which was created by the City Council and contains appointed representatives from the ADA, city council, Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and few other community members including business owners.

. … . ..

Featured Tracks:

• Asheville BID song (unknown artist)
• Moving Through The Streets (instrumental)

Don Bosco Park Defense in Bologna + Bernard Jemison on Conditions & Resistance in AL Prisons

This week, two segments plus Sean Swain

Don Bosco Park Defense in Bologna

First up, an interview submitted by audio comrades in Italy about the struggle against the cementization of the city of Bologna and the defense of Don Bosco park from the expansion of a university, highways… the whole urban landscape without the input of the residents so the city can move a school rather than renovate it. This struggle, including the occupation and defense of the park, represents an innovation in urban struggles in Italy which consciously takes inspiration from the struggle to Stop Cop City in so-called Atlanta and the activities of the park defenders has forced the left-leaning municipal government and mayor to temporarily suspend the cutting of trees. [00:02:04 - 00:27:10]

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Bernard Jemison on Conditions and Resistance in AL Prisons

Then, you’ll hear Bernard Jemison, an incarcerated activist held in Holman prison in Alabama talking about conditions inside the ADOC recent calls for prisoner strikes in the state by the Free Alabama Movement and their outside supporters, as well as his views on the demands being made. [00:27:57 - 01:05:10]

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##The demands that we mention are the following:

• BILL TO REPEAL THE HABITUAL OFFENDER ACT ON THE TABLE
• CIVIL CLASS ACTION LITIGATION FOR PAROLE ALREADY FILED. EVERYONE NEEDS TO SIGN UP.
• PAROLE BILL ON THE TABLE
• WE NEED TO ABOLISH LWOP AND CREATE AN AVENUE FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS.
• NO MORE NITROGEN GAS EXECUTIONS..
• STOP SELLING OUR ORGANS.

A few articles on the subjects worth reading include:

• https://www.yahoo.com/news/death-rate-alabama-prisons-five-091450767.html
• https://www.alabamasmartjustice.org/reports/hfoa
• https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2024/03/alabama-legislature-seeks-to-solve-missing-organ-issue.html
• https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/crime/2024/03/15/death-rate-in-alabama-prisons-is-five-times-the-us-average/72936145007/
• Statement of support by CCR for a strike called for by Free Alabama Movement: https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/center-constitutional-rights-stands-solidarity-mass-prison-strike

Social media accounts Bernard thinks are doing a good job covering these issues:

• @Hopedealersprisonreform is Bernard on TikTok
• @truthbehindbars is a private facebook Bernard contributes to
• @prison_toks on TikTok

. … . ..

Featured Track: On Point (instrumental) by House of Pain

Crime, Corruption, and Community Based Liberation in the U.S./Mexico Neoliberal Military Political Economy

This week, you’ll hear our chat with Simón Sedillo, author of Weapons, Drugs & Money: Crime, Corruption, and Community Based Liberation in the U.S./Mexico Neoliberal Military Political Economy. Simón talks a little about his early days in media near the start of the Indymedia world, his documentary that became the news website El Enemigo Común (which translates to “the common enemy”) which covered grassroots, indigenous led movements in southern so-called Mexico, and about his book with a focus on intervention and integration from capitalist and military powers in the US, multinational banking and big pharma and the violence against and resilience of indigenous communities under that nation-state.

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Check out the website https://www.weaponsdrugsandmoney.org/ for more info on how to order a copy, and the chapters are being posted and translated into castellano at https://elenemigocomun.net/ , where you can find two decades + of really interesting content. Simón suggests people follow Avispa Mídia https://avispa.org/ as a project following in the legacy of El Enemigo Común.

A big thanks to Mitchell Verter for the suggestion. . … . ..

Featured Track:

• Get It Together (Buck Wild Instrumental) by Beastie Boys from Get It Together

Feather River Action! on Forest Fires and Clearcuts

Josh Hart of Feather River Action! in Plumas county joined me to speak about US Forest Service plans for an emergency thinning of forests in this north east part of so-called California and which is threatened to be reproduced in other Federal and private lands in the name of fire prevention around the country. We talk about the claims, motivations and alternative proposals of activists, scientists and community members and the upcoming Lost Sierra Forest-Climate Action Camp happening in the area at the end of May 23-29th.

Here’s another group working on the issue:

• http://johnmuirproject.org/

Jeremy White on the "San Diego Antifa" Case

A recent chat with Jeremy White, film-maker, activist, and street medic who’s facing prison time in what has been dubbed the “San Diego Antifa” case. You’ll hear Jeremy talk about what happened on January 9th, 2021 at the Stop The Steal rally, how the police interacted with members of American Guard and Proud Boys as they assaulted passers by, the conspiracy-theory driven DA Sommers Stephan and where the case was before it resumed on March 18th, after we recorded this chat. Jeremy also worked on a horror-comedy film called “Bitch Ass”.

• Transcription
• PDF (Unimposed) - pending
• Zine (Imposed PDF) - pending

Fundraising on the case:

• Give Butter to benefit two defendants in the case
• Instagram: @SuperPowerToThePeople

Fundraising for Tallcan, former defendant:

• Benefit concert Saturday, May 18th 2024 @Birdcage Comics 165 W Hospitality Lane, Suite 17 San Bernadino, CA 92408 Doors @ 6pm / ALLAGES $8 Suggested donation / (no one will be turned away for lack of funds) The proceeds from this show will go to legal funds and family support. FEATURING LIVE PERFORMANCES BY: SEXETTE / GLORBO / THE HAIL MARIAS / DOVE / LOW SWEEP
• Venmo: @PUSHINGDOWNTHEWALLS
• Cashapp: $PUSHINGDOWNTHEWALLS Please put “TC” in the notes.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Comrades by Bambu from Party Worker

Bulldoze SCI Rockview: Abolition, Prisoner Support, and Resistance to Genocide in PA-DOC

SCI Rockview is a prison in central Pennsylvania where incarcerated comrades have been facing repression for demanding justice in the face of impunity by racist COs and following a year of prisoner deaths due to institutional toxicity and guard violence. We speak to an outside supporter about the situation at Rockview, the reactions of administration, inside / outside relationships and solidarity that have flared up. We hope that this conversation contributes to increased and thickened ties between folks on both sides of the walls. You can read some recent posts about this situation at AbolitionistStudy.com and PHLAntiCap.NoBlogs.org and you can find audio from the wives of prisoners at SCI Rockview on In The Mix Prisoner Podcast.

This conversation was conducted via encrypted messages and recorded by a comrade Golem and Ash from the MolotovNow! Podcast, so a big thanks is due to them.

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Announcement

Jorge “Yorch” Esquivel

Jorge has now been held in prison for over a year without a trial, and urgently needs funds to cover legal fees and prison costs (food, water, phone calls, visits, administration fees, service costs, etc).

Jorge “Yorch” Esquivel is a beloved compañero of the punk community, and a long-time participant of the Okupa Che. He was arrested on December 8, 2022 by plainclothes police as he was leaving the campus of the Ciudad Universitaria (of the UNAM university) in Mexico City as part of a campaign of criminalization against the Okupa  or squat.

BACKGROUND On February 24, 2016, an operative was carried out in which plainclothes policemen detained him, “planting” drugs on him in order to fabricate crimes, and accusing him of drug trafficking, as part of a campaign of repression on the squatted auditorium Okupa Che in UNAM (still existing). The whole case was plagued with irregularities. He was transferred to Oaxaca and then to a maximum-security prison in Hermosillo as a strategy to hinder his legal defense by taking him far away from his support networks. Thanks to the solidarity and legal work, he was reclassified from the crime of drug dealing to simple possession of narcotics, and was released on bail in March 2016.

Even though he was no longer in prison, he was not out of danger. Constant threats and journalistic reports did not cease; the press even reported his death and accused him of participating in organized crime. Meanwhile, steps were being taken to frame him once again and re-arrest him for the same fabricated crime.

On December 8, 2022 he was arrested in exactly the same place - a few steps outside Ciudad Universitaria, where the Okupa is located, once again by plainclothes police - with the grounds for this illegal detention being that the Attorney General’s Office appealed the decision to reclassify the crime.

The compañero’s health is fragile due to an extended hospitalization a couple years back and the toll the prison conditions have taken on him.

CURRENT SITUATION Jorge is currently incarcerated in the Reclusorio Oriente prison in Mexico City. The legal process is still in the evidence stage. Several hearings have been postponed and Jorge’s process is being delayed and prolonged to keep him in what is called “preventative imprisonment” with no sentence, which is common for cases of political prisoners in Mexico.

Despite the fact that there is no evidence to keep him in prison, the strategy of the State is clearly to drag it out as long as possible, which is a tortuous level of uncertainty for all of us close to Jorge.

Thanks to the solidarity of individuals, collectives and networks, it has been possible to cover Jorge’s expenses inside the prison, which have been very high due to the corruption that reigns in Mexican prisons. We are raising funds to support his legal costs and basic needs to be able to survive in this unjust incarceration, and to re-join the community on the outside as soon as possible. We call upon the solidarity of our friends and compañerxs around the world to help us in supporting our compañero Yorch.

For updates and news:

• Instagram: @yorchlibre
• Fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/f/call-for-solidarity-with-jorge-yorch
• Blog: https://yorch-libre.espivblogs.net/ (blog with letters from Jorge)

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Ba Teaches Yoga by Four Tet from Beautiful Rewind

Mac Marquis on "Books Through Bars: Stories from the Prison Books Movement"

This week, you’ll hear our chat with David “Mac” Marquis, one of the editors and contributors to the recently published new book Books Through Bars: Stories From The Prison Books Movement out from University of Georgia Press. We talk about prison books projects, what they say about conditions inside, some of the value of this inside-outside organizing and what you can expect to find in the book.

James "Jay" Ward On Incarceration And His Struggle To Be Free

This week you’ll hear from James “Jay” Ward, a long-time abolitionist who has been incarcerated in Ohio for over half his life, since he was 15. Over the years, he has participated in the national prison strike of 2018, various hunger strikes, and other movements against the abuse and mistreatment of incarcerated people.

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One of his major political goals is to educate the public about the struggles he and other prisoners face to create systemic change. Without a sentence reduction, Jay will likely spend the next 25 years in prison as well. Jay is currently raising funds to pursue post-conviction relief so that he can reunite with friends and family and begin a new life on the outside. Despite Jay’s best efforts, he was not able to visit his mother before she died of an illness in 2022. He would like the chance to spend time with his father, who is also in poor health, before he passes.

Jay’s links:

• GoFundMe link is here: https://gofund.me/60f1291b
• His ID # is A517461 for those who want to connect via GettingOut.
• Twitter / X: @DecarcerateUS

His mailing address is:

James Ward A571461 P.O. Box 788 Mansfield, OH 44901

Xinachtli Speaks From A Texas Dungeon

This week, we’re sharing an interview with Xinachtli, an anarcho-communist Chicano political prisoner held in the McConnell Unit of the Texas prison system. Xinachtli, whose name is Nahuatl for “seed” is also known by his state name of Alvaro Luna Hernandez. Xinachtli spoke to us recently about his views on the white supremacist, colonial system of the so-called USA, the legacy of genocide of indigenous peoples in the southwest of Turtle Island, his jailhouse lawyering and his upcoming parole bid. You can hear a recording of Xinachtli at our website or at his support site FreeAlvaro.Net where you can also find his writings and updates on his case.

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From our prior interview intro:

“Xinachtli is serving a 50 year sentence since 1996 in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for aggravated assault on a Sheriff in Alpine, Texas. The Sheriff was serving a warrant for Xinachtli’s re-arreast at Xinachtli’s home. When questioned on the nature of the warrant, the Sheriff pulled a gun and Xinachtli was able to disarm him and make an escape without harming the Sheriff significantly. After a few days of man-hunt, his mothers house was surrounded by numerous local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and the house was beseiged. It was only a 9-1-1 call from Xinacthli made stating that he was not being allowed to surrender that caused the troops to stand down and he allowed himself to be taken into state custody.

The grounds for the arrest warrant have since been overturned, but based on the post-facto word of the Sheriff that Xinachtli had pointed the gun at him, Xinachtli was sentenced to 50 years. He’s been determined to be a political prisoner based on his participation in multiple cases against abuse by prison officials and police, his jailhouse lawyering, advocacy for Latinx and other marginalized people in Texas and his political stance that the US and state governments occupying the Southwest of Turtle Island is a racist and illegitimate regime.“

Xinachtli links:

• Website: FreeAlvaro.Net
• Xinachtli speaking about his life and case up to roughly 2010

A few notes from Xinacthli’s Support Team:

Xinachtli’s support team is undergoing a transition and expansion, atm, which is why the ways to donate aren’t more formal. Per Xinachtli’s request, donations would go to: fundraising materials, commissary, potential podcast (if the institution approves), movement building, some core team needs, jailhouse lawyer work, and for post-release support if he gets out. If you want to donate a larger amount or have any questions prior to donating, please contact:-2024xinachtlifreedomcampaign ( at) gmail.com (preferred) or via +1  (773) 688-4329 When donating PLEASE write as a message: “X”, “Xinachtli” or an emoji that has some type of “X” in it.

• Venmo: https://www.venmo.com/u/martiresmcneil
• Paypal: preciado.christopher@gmail.com (paypal.me/merziado)
• CashApp: https://cash.app/$varlam
• Zelle: x363823@gmail.com ; 210.780.9996

A conversation with Hani Almadhoun

As a mid-week special, we’re releasing a conversation we had last weekend with Hani Almadhoun, a Palestinian-American journalist from Gaza and living in Virginia. Mr Almadhoun is also Director of Philanthropy at UNRWA USA, an independent charity to support the UN organization by the same name. In the chat, he speaks about conditions generally and for his family specifically in Gaza as well as the soup kitchen that his brother founded in north Gaza (https://www.gofundme.com/f/Hot-meals-in-gaza-daily , on Instagram at @GazaSoupKitchen ).

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Hani Almadoun on:

• Instagram: @myhanitizer
• Facebook: @alkabeer.alhani

Corvallis Bookfair, Tyumen Case, and Counter-Surveillance

This week, we’re featuring four segments.

First up, you’ll hear a chat with organizers of the 2024 Heart of the Valley Anticapitalist Bookfair which ran its first iteration in Corvallis, Oregon from January 19-21st.  A zine of their experiences will appear on that blog soon. [ -> 00:24:18 ]

Then, you’ll hear a brief segment updating listeners on the conspiracy case against six anarchists and antifascists in Russia known as the Tyumen case (for where it initiated). The six anarchists, some of whom barely knew each other, were tortured into confessions of conspiracy to further anarchist ideology and damage the Russian war machine. [ 00:24:34 - 00:32:53 ]

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Following this, we spoke with Aster, a European anarchist involved in the counter-surveillance and anti-repression project known as the No Trace Project which works to share information about known methods and cases of state surveillance. The project does this in order to improve and expand our collective knowledge, tools and abilities at evading state crackdowns as we organize and act. This interview was conducted via encrypted messages and Aster’s portion is being read by an unrelated volunteer. [ 00:35:47 - 01:05:18 ]

• Transcript in English

• Transcription en Français

• Κείμενο στα ελληνικά

• Transcripción en Castellano / Español

• PDF in English(Unimposed)

• PDF στα ελληνικά

• PDF en Castellano / Español

• Zine in English (Imposed)

• Zine στα ελληνικά

• Zine en Castellano / Español

If you plan to visit their site, we suggest at least running a VPN (riseup.net has a free one) and using an anonymized browser. One method is to download the tor browser (find your device/operating system at ssd.eff.org for some tips) and visit the NoTrace Project tor address. Their website can also be found at https://NoTrace.How

Finally, you’ll hear Sean Swain’s reading of names of people killed by cops in the USA during October of 2023. [ 01:09:50 ]

Tyumen Links

• Tyumen Case Support Crew’s Russian-language Telegram
• Articles on the case and individuals on Avtonom
• Music by some of the imprisoned men appear in a compilation to raise funds for their legal funds

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Featured Tracks:

• День дизертира ( Deserter’s Day) by Rasputin
• Меланхолия (Melancholy) by Rocker Balboa

Imprisoned Anarchist Toby Shone + Updates from Argentinian Antifascist

Imprisoned Anarchist Toby Shone

This week, we’re sharing audio from anarchist prisoner in the UK, Toby Shone. Toby was arrested in November of 2020 after a car chase and during 5 simultaneous raids on residences in the Forest of Dean outside of Bristol.

• Toby Shone Transcript
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• Toby Shone Zine (Imposed PDF)

Toby was accused of being responsible for the insurrectionary counter-info anarchist site 325.NoState.Net as well as participation in the Informal Anarchist Federation – International Revolutionary Front, authoring communiques on behalf of IAF-IRF & the Earth Liberation Front, funding terrorism and being involved in the sabotage of a cellphone tower and having information on explosives. This raid and the case were brought in conjunction with the attempted linking of a diverse array of UK anarchist projects with terrorist charges via Operation Adream, which Toby understands to be conducted in conjunction with intelligence services from the Netherlands and German. The court failed to convict Toby Shone on these charges and only succeeded in convicting him of having and distributing hallucinogens and got 3 years, 9 months. Toby was then re-arressted while out on probation for having a cellphone and attending a prisoner support event.

You’ll hear two audios from Toby, first him explaining his conviction and situation during his first incarceration, and then you’ll hear Toby recently answer a few of our questions and updating listeners about his recent re-imprisonment in HMP Garth, far away from his supporters in the Bristol area. Much thanks to Brighton Anarchist Black Cross for supporting Toby and this conversation. More information at https://brightonabc.org.uk/. Brighton ABC and Tobys supporters have noted that he’s been receiving pretty spotty treatment for his cancer and not getting a healthy vegan diet and so has lost some weight of recent. Tobys mail, including letters and books haven’t been making their way to him at HMP Garth. It’s requested that supporters consider writing Toby a postcard, letter or email to help him through these next 8 months or so before his scheduled release and to inform his crew at forestcase (at) riseup.net of the mailing so they have a record in case it doesn’t get to Toby.

Notably at that website you’ll see information about an upcoming International Anti-Repression Gathering happening in Brighton from March 30-31st. There’s information about signing up for the event at Brighton ABC’s website.

Argentinian Antifascist on Resisting Milei and Red Gym, La Cultura Del Barrio

Then, we were able to get an interview with Nicholas of Buenos Aires, Argentina to catch up on what’s been happening since the presidential election of libertarian capitalist Javier Milei. Milei’s presidentialcampaign was highlighted by his claims to subvert the status quo of Peronism - a socially liberal form of democracy with decades of complicated contexts in the 20th century. He’s claimed to be an “anarcho-capitalist,” although his policies since election have been nothing short of classic neoliberalism: cuts to social welfare, hamstringing of labor union’s rights to strike and picket, and doing away with common regulations of capital.

• Argentina Transcript
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• Argentina Zine (Imposed PDF)

While folks in the USA have sought to understand Milei by comparing him to former U.S. President Trump, Nicholas outlines how this comparison falls short. We also talk about the role of organized anti-fascists in expecting continued clashes with the police, the social space & boxing gym La Cultura Del Barrio, and how the call for a general strike by mainstream labor unions in Argentina largely fell flat.

• NACLA article on Millei:
• LCDB on: instagram
• LCDB on: facebook
• LCDB Rolling Stone article (in spanish)

A couple of brief announcements…

Andrew Bushnell Memorial in Asheville

For folks who hear this in time, you’re invited to mourn the death of Aaron Bushnell, anarchist and US soldier who self-immolated on February 25th in front of the Israeli Embassy in DC in protest of the US complicity in and arming of the Israeli genocidal war on Palestinians. This gathering will happen at 6:30pm on Sunday, February 3rd by the Craven Street Bridge over the French Broad River in Asheville.

Kevin “Rashid” Johnson in dire health situation

Rashid, minister of Defense of the Intercommunal Black Panther Party has surpassed the 70th day of his hunger strike demanding transfer to a lower security medical facility near where he can receive comprehensive treatment for his prostate cancer and is suffering dire medical consequences as his organs begin to shut down. You can hear an interview we did with Shupavu wa Kirima of the IRBPP on the earlier stages of this hunger strike in our January 21st, 2024 episode at our website, which is also transcribed there. There is a sample script and some numbers to call in our show notes for folks who can call the Virginia government to advocate for Rashid’s life.

They are asking folks to keep calling, urgently. Here’s a sample script and numbers to use and to share/post etc:

“I am calling with grave concern about the status of Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson who is participating in the Red Onion State Prison hunger strike. He must be allowed to remain close to the medical facility where he accesses treatment for his prostate cancer and congestive heart failure. Please move him back to Sussex I or Buckingham. Additionally, the use of solitary confinement in the state of Virginia is cruel and illegal. I am demanding an end to the use of this practice inside your prisons. We are watching the strike and we will not stop calling until the striker’s demands are met. Thank you.”

The contact info is as follows:

• VADOC Director, Chadwick S Dotson NEW NUMBERPhone: (804) 674-3000 (then hit “0” for staff) Email: Chadwick.Dotson@vadoc.virginia.gov
• VADOC Interstate Compact Liaison, Kyle Rosch Phone: (804) 887-8404 Email: kyle.rosch@vadoc.virginia.gov
• VADOC, Chief of Corrections Operations, David Robinson Phone: (804) 887-8078 Email: david.robinson@vadoc.virginia.gov
• Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin Phone: (804) 786-2211 Email: glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov

Mumia Abu-Jamal deteriorating health

Mumia underwent a double bypass heart surgery on April 19, 2021. His doctor prescribed a cardiac diet and regular exercise for recovery. To date, almost 3 years later, the prison has failed to provide Mumia the required cardiac diet and opportunities for exercise. More on this, including places you can donate to his legal and medical defense fund and who to express your concern for Mumia’s life and safety can be found at PrisonRadio.Org

Please call and write these prison officials.

1. Superintendent, Bernadette Mason: 570-773-2158 Email: bmason@pa.gov SCI Mahanoy PA Department of Corrections, 301 Grey Line Drive, Frackville, PA  17931

2. Secretary of PA Dept of Corrections, Laurel Harry: 717-728-4109 Email: ra-crpadocsecretary@pa.gov Message this form: py-forms-prod.powerappsportals.us/DOCContactUs/ 1920 Technology Parkway | Mechanicsburg, PA 17050.

3. Acting Deputy Secretary Eastern Region, Morris Houser 717- 728-4122 ext. 4123 Email: mhouser@pa.gov

Sample Script (can also use for letters and emails):  “I am calling because Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM 8335 and other incarcerated elders diagnosed with heart disease are being prevented by the prison from getting what they medically require for their health.

Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM 8335 had double bypass heart surgery. He needs:

1. A CARDIAC DIET three times a day that includes fresh vegetables and fruit, whole grains, legumes, and limited sugar, salt, and highly processed foods;

2. He must have access to do sufficient cardiac rehab every day.   Thank You.

Cc: your letter to info@prisonradio.org“ https://bit.ly/mumia-fund        https://www.bit.ly/mumia-action

Leonard Peltier Must Be Freed!

Elder political prisoner of Lakota, Dakota and Anishinaabe descent, Leonard Peltier, has been in prison for roughly 47 years and at nearly 80 years old after this long behind bars, his physical health is ailing. His supporters are asking people of conscience to contact US senators and representatives to appeal for medical care for his eyesight and other medical needs, including access to a wheelchair. There are lots of backgrounds on his case, but you also can hear a February 17th, 2019 interview we conducted with Paulette D’Auteuil on his case.

SAMPLE SCRIPT

“Hello, I’m calling about immediate medical care needed for Leonard Peltier, a 79 year-old federal prisoner. His prisoner number is 89637- 132, and he’s in USP Coleman 1.

We need Sen/Rep _____’s assistance.

1. First, Leonard must see an eye specialist without further delay, as his loss of vision poses serious risk of him falling, and he depends on other prisoners to perform basic life activities.

2. Second, Leonard is in constant pain and has multiple severe health conditions requiring immediate and ongoing medical care.

I am asking (Sen/Rep) to request an immediate transfer for Leonard Peltier to the Federal Medical Prison Facility in Rochester

Minnesota (FCI Rochester) where he can get treatment for all of his medical conditions.

I also urge the Sen/Rep to advocate for elder Leonard Peltier’s release so he can receive healthcare outside of prison and be with loved ones and community. Aside from Leonard Peltier being innocent of any crime, immediate release is proper and humane given his advanced age and medical conditions. Thank You.“

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Shut ’Em Down (instrumental) by LL Cool J

Extremism, Fascist Voids and Antifascist Hope with Joan Braune

An interview with Joan Braune, author of Understanding and Countering Fascist Movements: From Void to Hope out this year from Routledge. In this chat we talk about understanding fascism and fascists, motivations and deterrents, the framework of “deradicalization”, the role of former fascists in education around fascism and the importance of fostering antifascist movements.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

Links:

• The oft-mentioned interview on the anti-fascist radio show out of so-called Melbourne, Yeah Nah Pasaran
• Bundyville podcast season 1 & season 2

Harm Reduction and Eco-defense in Appalachia

First up, Ian chats with Tasha of Project Mayday, a harm reduction project operating in so-called West Virginia. They discuss harm reduction strategies and the political framework of their approach to mutual aid. The conversation also touches upon co-existing in the public health and non-profit space without compromising their radical values and some of the many ways that drug policy and pharmaceutical marketing affect people who use drugs. Listeners can contact Project Mayday at the links below and should watch those spaces for news about the benefit show coming up on April 28th.

• Transcript
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Then, I spoke with Toby from Appalachians Against Pipelines and Madeline Ffitch, an activist recently arrested for locking down to a drill threatening to move the Mountain Valley Pipeline through Peters Mountain at Jefferson National Forest. We talked about the recent days of solidarity, direct actions against the MVP, repression of activists and related topics.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed) - pending
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Project Mayday Links:

• Email: maydayx ( at )proton.me
• Website: https://maydayx.net
• Instagram: @projectmaydayx
• Twitter/X: @projectmaydayx
• Facebook: @projectmaydayx
• Threadless Web store
• Bonfire web store
• Paypal: @freiheit13
• Cashapp: $xpmaydayx
• Venmo: @maydayx

Appalachians Against Pipelines links

• Website
• Legal Defense Fund
• AAP twitter:: @stopthemvp
• AAP instagram and facebok: @AppalachiansAgainstPipelines

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• We Roll (instrumental) by Pete Rock from We Roll

Andrew Lee on Defying Displacement

We’re sharing a recent chat with Andrew Lee (instagram / tiktok), author of the book Defying Displacement: Urban Recomposition and Social War, released by AK Press on February 6th 2024. Andrew and I talk about gentrification, speculation and financialization of houses, the destruction of communities by racial capitalism and the state, and some methods used to fight back and stay put. Andrew shouts out Decolonize Philly as a project to pay attention to.

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Housecleaning

Weekly, we work to bring you and our wider audience, including over the radio waves, conversations that you won’t hear many other places. And we operate at a minimal cost, paying for transcription, printing, mailing, web hosting to make sure that information is easier translatable and accessible, including to our comrades behind bars. The most regular way that we fund that is from the patreon.

Our patreon is currently below supporting our monthly operating costs of around $500, so we’re asking folks on the fence of supporting this project who have a patreon account to kick in and help at $3 or more a month. If you don’t have a patreon, we do have a liberapay you can psuedonymously kick us money from or set up a recurring payment from paypal and we also can take money via venmo or stripe.

If you haven’t supported us before or haven’t for a while now and can afford to, we’d really appreciate the help. And if you’re already supporting us or have in the past in various ways, thank you.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Doin It (instrumental) by LL Cool J

Free Alex Stokes + Russian Anti-War Saboteur Ruslan Siddiqui

This week on the show, we’re starting out with an interview with Lo and Meghan, two supporters of Jewish independent journalist, artist and antifascist leftist from Albany, NY, Alex Stokes Contompasis. Alex is serving a 20 year sentence for defending himself and 3 other community members attacked by Proud Boys and Oath Keepers at the New York state capital on January 6th, 2021. For the hour, we speak with Lo and Meghan, two friends and supporters of Alex who talk about Alex’s media work, the politically-charged court case and his ongoing appeal. More on his case can be found at FreeAlexStokes.Com, you can order his artwork to support his case there as well. They mentioned getting support & attention from the International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund.

• Transcript
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Then, you’ll hear an interview from our comrades at Frequenz-A in so-called Germany with a recent interview of Anya of the grassroots group called Solidarity Zone that offers legal, media and other support to people facing charges for anti-war direct actions inside of Russia to speak about their work and the case of Ruslan Siddiqui, an anarchist who does not deny railway sabotage against the Russian war efforts in Ukraine. This first aired on episode 75 of B(A)D News: Angry Voices From Around The World from the A-Radio Network.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
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Solidarity Zone Links

• Facebook
• Telegram
• Patreon
• LinkTree
• Email: solidarity_zone(at )riseup.net

Finally, you’ll hear Sean Swain reading from an incomplete list of people killed by law enforcement in the USA during the month of April 2023.

Announcements

Red Onion Hunger Strike Phone Zap

The saga at Red Onion continues, with more than 30 participants. Participants are asking supporters to call the Governor and the Virginia Department of Corrections to demand that the Red Onion follows state restrictions on solitary confinement. Kevin “Rashid” Johnson is additionally requesting his treatment for congestive heart failure and prostate cancer that he be moved from Red Onion to a facility like Sussex I or Buckingham that are near to large medical facilities.

You can hear a recent interview we had with a comrade of Rashid and see a roundtable of comrades of Rashid on Black Power Media recently talking about his situation. Here’s a social media post with all of the pertinent information.

• VADOC Central Administration USPS P.O. Box 26963; Richmond, VA 23261 David Robinson Phone: 804-887-8078 Email: david.robinson@vadoc.virginia.gov
• VADOC Director, Chadwick S Dotson Phone: 804-674-3081 Email: Chadwick. Dotson@vadoc.virginia.gov
• VADOC Central Administration Rose L. Durbin Phone: 804-887-7921 Email: Rose. Durbin@vadoc.virgina.gov
• Beth Cabell, Division of Institutions Phone: 804-834-9967 Email: beth.cabell@vadoc.virginia.gov
• Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin Phone: 804-786-2211 Email: glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov

Sample script: I am calling in support of the hunger strikers at Red Onion State Prison. I am concerned about the serious health effects of long-term solitary confinement and other illegal and brutal methods of confinement including sensory deprivation. Please end the use of these practices. I am also seriously concerned for the health of Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson, as he is being prevented from accessing care for his health conditions. Please move him back to Sussex I or to Buckinghm, near a major medical facility, so that he can resume cancer and cardiac treatment. Thank you.

Support Guarani M’Bya in Brazil

from FireFund.Net:

This campaign aims to support two native land in São Paulo south and also, others in state interior and coastal zones. Our goals is to restore and expand the prayer house (Opy’i) and communal kitchen, plant native trees and subsistence foodsuch as corn, rice, potato and others, distribute water and generate clean energy collected from surrounding rivers, support the cerimonies, and other constructions such as houses and other demands that the comunitie brings to us. Also carry out the construction of ecological bathrooms and support the school located in the land. These are some of the missions and commitments we have to native people here in São Paulo.

. … . ..

Featured Tracks:

• Get It Together (Buck Wild Instrumental) by The Beastie Boys
• High Water Everywhere, Part 2 by Charlie Patton from Complete Recordings 1929-1934

Mohammad Hureini of Youth of Sumud

This week, we’re featuring a conversation with Mohammad Hureini (twitter / instagram), a young activist from Masafer Yatta, an area in the hills south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank in Palestine. Mohammad is a member of a non-violent group called Youth of Sumud that struggles to hold on to the sites and lives of Palestinian villages despite displacement by the Israeli military occupation as well as the illegal zionist settlements (like the neighboring Havat Ma’on) and their routine violence and impunity. For the hour, Mohammad speaks about the work of Youth of Sumud, their recent report co-published with The Good Shepherd on increased settler violence entitled Indigenous Erasure: How the zionist movement is using state sanctioned violence to eliminate the Palestinian communities of the West Bank, the South African genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice and other topics.

• Transcript
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The Al-Addameer paper on prisons and repression of Palestinians since October 7th, 2023: here

Organizations Mohammad names doing on the ground support:

• Defund Racism: follows NGO connections to settler projects, recently published a report on Regavim, a pro-settler organization that pulls funding from the US, Canada and elsewhere to displace Palestinians
• Operation Dove / Operazione Colomba from Italy
• International Solidarity Movement
• Community Peacemaker Teams

Recent interviews about the conflict in Palestine

• Yuval Dag, Israeli anarchist military refuser
• Elia J. Ayoub on the War in Gaza
• Jewish anti-zionist Anarchist in Israel

Announcements

B(A)D News #75 is out!

Check out the January 2024 episode featuring updates on support for antifascists facing charges in Budapest from February 11, 2023; reflections from an Autonomist on the ’80s-’90s journal “Radikal”; a portion of our interview with Israeli refuser Yuval Dag; and an interview from Solidarity Zones on the case of accused Russian war sabateur, Ruslan Siddiqui

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Building Steam with a Grain of Salt by DJ Shadow from Entroducing….

Hunger Strike at Red Onion + Military Refuser in Israel

This week on the show, we’re featuring three segments.

First up, you’ll hear an interview with Shupavu wa Kirima, General Secretary of the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party, comes on to talk to us about the ongoing hunger strike among prisoners at Red Onion State Prison in Virginia protesting the abuse of solitary confinement and the medical status of hunger striker Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. More at https://rashidmod.com/ [00:01:18 - 00:25:47]

• Red Onion Transcript
• Red Onion PDF (Unimposed)
• Red Onion Zine (Imposed PDF)

Then, Yuval Dag, an Israeli anarchist member of Mesarvot recently imprisoned for publicly refusing conscription, talks about draft refusal, opposing the war on Palestinians and the occupation and undoing zionist ideology. More at https://linktr.ee/meaarvot [00:27:31 - 01:06:13]

• Yuval Dag Transcript
• Yuval Dag PDF (Unimposed)
• Yuval Dag Zine (Imposed PDF)

Finally, you’ll hear Sean Swain reading the names of people killed by US law enforcement during February 2023 [01:06:15 - 01:12:02]

Call-in / Emails For Red Onion Hunger Strikers

Who To Contact:

• VADOC~ Central Administration; USPS— P.O. Box 26963 Richmond, VA 23261 David Robinson Phone~ 804-887-8078, Email: david.robinson@vadoc.virginia.gov

• Virginia DOC ~ Director, Chadwick S Dotson, Phone~ (804) 674-3081 Email: Chadwick.Dotson@vadoc.virginia.gov

• VADOC ~Central Administration Rose L. Durbin, Phone~804-887-7921 Email: Rose.Durbin@vadoc.virgina.gov

• Beth Cabell, Division of Institutions beth.cabell@vadoc.virginia.gov (804)834-9967

• Gov. Glenn Youngkin (804)786-2211 glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov

Red Onion Hunger Strike Participants last we heard:

• Kevin “Rashid” Johnson – #1007485
• Jason Barrett – #1092874
• Rodney Lester – #1429887
• Charles Cousino – #2213403
• Eric Thompson – #1208012
• Joe Thomas – 1193196
• Nguyen Tuan – #1098070
• Demetrius Walllace – #1705834
• Gregory Binns – #1157265
• P. Williams – #2103207
• DeQuan Saunders – #1458253
• J. Hilliard – #1988319
• Ray Galloway – #1407902
• Gregory Azeez – #1421616

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• One Man Army (instrumental)  by Rage Against The Machine

Sean Swain's 10 Year Radio Anniversary

Sean Swain is an anarchist prisoner who’s serving an indeterminate sentence in Ohio for a self-defense killing. Sean has authored 3 books (one co-authored with Travis Washington) and released an album of his music (with collaboration of a number of artists) while behind bars. Sean is also a dear friend and collaborator on The Final Straw for 10 years, now. We’re sharing here a conversation Bursts had with Sean Swain to mark the 10th anniversary of Sean’s (mostly) regular segments on the show, You Are The Resistance.

• Transcript
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The show notes will be chock full of links to segments and articles worth checking out, but you can find a full rundown of Sean’s audios on the first link labeled “You Are The Resistance”, our first interview with him about the Army of the 12 Monkeys linked in the first paragraph and a whole bunch more writings and audio at SeanSwain.Org and at our website. You can find contact info there to reach out to Sean if you want to strike up a conversation.

Links to materials as they come up in the conversation:

• You Are The Resistance Archive
• Sean’s first segment
• an interview with Ben Turk
• Sean’s writeup about the attempted cell extraction during A12M situation
• A12M interview, Sean’s first appearance on TFSR
• A12M writeup on Sean’s blog (some broken links)
• Sean Swain Run for Governor 2014
• A statement on 2014 segment by Sean about his Presidential run for 2016
• Sean’s OSP hungerstrike, one segment
• The FBI Can Go Fuck Itself
• Ohio: The Truth Behind Bob’s Lanes online ) book – LBC isn’t online right now, but apparently a fuller version is in the published edition
• Ihsan reading a statement by Sean when Sean was incommunicado
• Some background on the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (per A12M as Animal Enterprise) and the Green Scare, our interview with Will Potter
• Sean Swain’s folk punk album, Burning Down
• Sean Swain’s finger getting cut off
• UNHCR testimony information
• Swain 2020 election discussion on AnarchistNews.Org
• Sean’s post on losing his father
• Kevin Rashid Johnson’s website
• Our interview with Rashid in 2018
• A more recent interview with a comrade of Rashid about his medical neglect
• Sean’s Opposing Torture book

Other Interviews with Sean Swain

• Political Prisoners channel on YouTube
• Sean’s Guerrilla Litigation and Re-Imagining Outside Support
• PrisonsKill interview with Sean on 12 Monkeys

Celebrities reading Sean Swain’s segments:

• John Zerzan
• The Stimulator

Kazi Toure of Boston Jericho on Prisoner Support

This week on the show, you’ll hear Kazi Toure. Kazi is a former political prisoner from the Ohio 7 case and founding member of the Boston chapter of The National Jericho Movement. For the hour, Kazi and I talk about the history of Jericho Movement, supporting political prisoners and support for post-release and aging prisoners. You can find recent updates from the group at @OfficialJerichoBoston on Instagram.

• Transcript
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• Zine (Imposed PDF)

Kazi’s appearances here before:

• 2015 Former Political Prisoner Panel (pt 1 & pt 2)
• 2016 Former Political Prisoner Panel (https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2016/12/01/naabc-former-political-prisoners-panel-2016-pt-2/ & pt 2)
• Presentation at Burning Books in Buffalo New York

Other Interviews Referenced:

• Dhoruba bin Wahad speaking about Police Unions on BPM / ImixWhatILike
• Part of this episode was inspired by the call by Shaka Shakur in this episode of Millennials Are Killing Capitalism
• Two interviews Kazi’s former co-defendant, Ray Luc Levasseur (pt 1 / pt 2)

Then, Sean Swain’s segment begins the annual tradition of reading the names of people killed by the police in the USA during the prior year. Stay tuned mid-week for a release of a 10 year anniversary chat with Sean about his life since he began participating in TFSR [00:55:58]

Announcements

Post-Release Fundraiser for Mwalimu Shakur

Formerly incarcerated New Afrikan revolutionary activist Mwalimu Shakur has been released from prison after 20 years, Mwalimu was featured on this show twice talking about his organizing work. If you’d like to contribute to his post-release fund, consider donating to our paypal or venmo linked at our website or via this cashapp with Mwalimu support in the memo. You can find his former appearances on the show here.

Hunger Strikes Grow More Dire at Red Onion Prison

Several Virginia prisoners began a hunger strike on Tuesday, December 26 at Red Onion State Prison, protesting the continued use of long-term solitary confinement at the institution.

Despite critical concern, outcry from the public and prisoner populations in the state, incarcerated people are still subjected to this brutal practice which has been renamed “restorative housing” since July 1, 2023 when measures were passed to limit its use in the state.

Leading these prisoners in this effort is longtime prison activist, revolutionary writer and artist, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. Rashid has stated that no one will take any food at all until demands are met. Some of the strike participants have underlying health concerns that make the undertaking of such a demonstration particularly risky.

Rashid, himself, is recovering from multiple rounds of radiation to treat prostate cancer as well as suffering from untreated heart disease/congestive heart failure. This is why the public’s support is especially needed.

We are asking that calls, emails, and letters be sent to the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) officials as well as Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin’s office voicing support for the strikers and condemnation for the inhumane use of long-term solitary confinement/restorative housing.

PLEASE EVERY DAY THIS WEEK: call and email the following people demanding that the hunger strikers demands be met (end long term solitary confinement) and Rashid receive the medical care he has been denied for months, and that he be transferred immediately. If the latter is not an option, then demand an interstate compact transfer take place immediately.

• chadwick.dotson@vadoc.virginia.gov 804-674-3081
• glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov 804-786-2211

** Demand that the Governor intervene on Rashid’s behalf and that an internal investigation be conducted immediately that would reveal why there were documents removed from his medical jacket and why his referrals to outside medical care were canceled.

Joka Jeupe Mkali, AKA Komrade Shine White, who put out this call to action, said “Death is inevitable, but it mustn’t be at the hands of some racist dogs. Rashid walks in shoes that cannot be filled, thus we must keep him walking in them as long as possible.” Thank you for all you do to help prison rebels keep walking!

Red Onion Hunger Strike Participants:

• Kevin “Rashid” Johnson – #1007485
• Jason Barrett – #1092874
• Rodney Lester – #1429887
• Charles Cousino – #2213403
• Eric Thompson – #1208012
• Joe Thomas – 1193196
• Nguyen Tuan – #1098070
• Demetrius Walllace – #1705834
• Gregory Binns – #1157265
• P. Williams – #2103207
• DeQuan Saunders – #1458253
• J. Hilliard – #1988319
• Ray Galloway – #1407902 Gregory Azeez – #1421616

Phone Zap for Aaron Isby-Israel at Plainfield CF in Indiana

Aaron Isby has been facing increased harassment Plainfield the last few weeks. Details and the support script are available at IDOCWatch. Here’s who to contact: Please call Plainfield CF and IDOC HQ, and email the Ombusdan and the Governor and demand that the harassment against Mr. Isby cease immediately and that he be provided full access to the law library in accordance with law and policy!

• Call IDOC HQ: (317) 232-5711 ext. 0 ext. 1
• Call Plainfield CF: (317) 839-2513 ext. 7 ext. 9
• Email the Ombudsman Bureau: idoa@ombud.in.gov
• Call & Email the Governor: https://www.in.gov/gov/ask-eric/

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Water Got No Enemy by Fela Kuti from Expensive Shit

Elia J. Ayoub on the War in Palestine

We’re joined again by podcaster, writer and activist Elia J. Ayoub, who is a Lebanese Palestinian living in Europe, co-hosts a podcast called The Fire These Times which is soon to be a part of the From The Periphery podcast network. For the hour we speak about the Israeli war on Palestinians, US policies in the SWANA region and the possibilities of war expanding to neighboring states, conspiracy thinking in the early days of these massacres, European state approaches to massacres in the Occupied Territories and other subjects.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

Other Links:

• Writings by Elia J. Ayoub at joeyayoub.com
• Podcast via TheFireTheseTimes.com
• Support the project via patreon.com/firethesetimes
• Keep an eye out for their new podcasting network coming out as From The Periphery (soon at FromThePeriphery.Com). Our past interviews on our show with Joey

Announcements

Fundraiser for Daryle Lamont Jenkins

Supporters of antifascist and anarchist activist Daryle Lamont Jenkins are raising funds for DLJ after a recent visit to the hospital. You can learn more and kick in some funds at GoFund.Me/e40da8b8 or check the link in our show notes.

Hunger Strike At Red Onion Expands

The hunger strike that began on December 26th at the infamous Red Onion State Prison in Virginia has doubled in size as of a few days ago with participation of 7 more imprisoned resisters protesting abuse by isolation despite Virginia policy and international human rights law. There is a rundown of the hunger strike and conditions at Red Onion available at RashidMod.Com and supporters are requesting that people call or email VDOC officials to end this cruel and unlawful use of segregation.

Newly joined the strike:

• Nguyen Tuan - #1098070
• Demetrius Walllace - #1705834
• Gregory Binns - #1157265
• P. Williams - #2103207
• DeQuan Saunders - #1458253
• J. Hilliard - #1988319
• Ray Galloway - #1407902
• Gregory Azeez - #1421616

Who To Contact:

VADOC~ Central Administration; USPS— P.O. Box 26963 Richmond, VA 23261

David Robinson Phone~ 804-887-8078, Email: david.robinson@vadoc.virginia.gov

Virginia DOC ~ Director, Chadwick S Dotson Phone~ (804) 674-3081 Email: Chadwick.Dotson@vadoc.virginia.gov

VADOC ~Central Administration Rose L. Durbin, Phone~804-887-7921 Email: Rose.Durbin@vadoc.virgina.gov

Beth Cabell, Division of Institutions beth.cabell@vadoc.virginia.gov (804)834-9967

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (804)786-2211 glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Splash Waterfalls (remix) (instrumental) by Ludacris feat. Raphael Saadiq

Eric King & Josh Davidson

This week on the show, you’ll hear part of our conversation with Eric King and Josh Davidson. Josh has been on a few times to talk about collaborative inside-outside projects he works on such as the Certain Days calendar, the greeting cards he helped make of Indigenous political prisoner Oso Blanco’s artwork to benefit Zapatista schools in Chiapas, and the Rattling The Cages book that he co-edited with Eric King.

• Transcript
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Eric was just released in December 2023 into a halfway house in Colorado after nearly 10 years in Federal prisons across the country. Eric is an anarchist who was incarcerated for an attempt to molotov the office of a Democratic Party official in Kansas City in solidarity with the then-going Ferguson Uprising following the murder of Michael Brown by police there. An antifascist and antiracist, Eric was moved around a lot during the 10 years he was inside and pitted against nazi prisoners in fight scenarios in a few instances, and near the end of his bid he was accused of assaulting an officer and successfully defending himself from a possible 20 year addition to his time inside but suffered intense isolation, insecurity, mail / phone and visitation blocks, moves across the country and physical restraint, ending up at the federal prison system’s most intense prison, the supermax ADX in Florence, CO.

For the hour, the guests speak about prisoner support, putting the book together, the implications and effects of long term isolation related topics. You can find more of Erics thoughts and updates at SupportEricKing.Org and similarly named social media accounts.

• Our past chats with Josh
• Our past interviews with Eric

Announcement

Hunger Strike at Red Onion State Prison (VA)

Prisoners at the Red Onion State Prison in Virginia have been on hunger strike since December 26th against the illegal and cruel use of solitary confinement at the facility in spite of procedures put into place last summer by the Virginia government. Here’re some words from the support site for Minister of Defense of the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. From rashidmod.com :

“On Tuesday, December 26, 2023, several prisoners confined at Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison began a hunger strike to protest the continued use of long-term solitary confinement within the institution.Despite critical concern, outcry from the public and prisoner populations in the state, incarcerated people are still subjected to this brutal practice which has been renamed “restorative housing” since July 1, 2023 when measures were passed to limit its use in the state.

Leading these prisoners in this effort is longtime prison activist, revolutionary writer and artist, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. Rashid has stated that no one will take any food at all until demands are met. Some of the strike participants have underlying health concerns that make the undertaking of such a demonstration particularly risky. Rashid, himself, is recovering from multiple rounds of radiation to treat prostate cancer as well as suffering from untreated heart disease/congestive heart failure. This is why the public’s support is especially needed. We are asking that calls, emails, and letters be sent to the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) officials as well as Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin’s office voicing support for the strikers and condemnation for the inhumane use of long-term solitary confinement/restorative housing.“Red Onion Hunger Strike Participants:

• Kevin “Rashid” Johnson – 1007485
• Jason Barrett – 1092874
• Rodney Lester – 1429887
• Charles Cousino – 2213403
• Eric Thompson – 1208012
• Joe Thomas – 1193196

Who To Contact:

VADOC~ Central Administration; USPS— P.O. Box 26963 Richmond, VA 23261

David Robinson Phone~ 804-887-8078, Email: david.robinson@vadoc.virginia.gov

Virginia DOC ~ Director, Chadwick S Dotson, Phone~ (804) 674-3081

Email: Chadwick.Dotson@vadoc.virginia.gov

VADOC ~Central Administration

Rose L. Durbin, Phone~804-887-7921 Email: Rose.Durbin@vadoc.virgina.gov

Beth Cabell, Division of Institutions beth.cabell@vadoc.virginia.gov (804)834-9967

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (804)786-2211 glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov

. … . ..

Featured Tracks:

• Army Of Me (ABA All Stars Instrumental)  by Bjork
• Bright Star (traditional) from H-Block, The Legacy of 1981 Hunger Strike CD
• Helicopter Song by The Dublin Ramblers from Irish Republican Jail Songs

Cypher Human Rights Comics with Adam Shapiro

On this episode, Ian spoke with Adam Shapiro, Co-editor of We Are Many, a comics anthology released as part of the Cypher Zine project (@cypher_comics on Instagram) and published by Radix Media. The book pairs artists and activists to create narratives around the defense of women and sex workers around the globe. Among other topics, the conversation touches on the process of matching local artists with the activists on the ground, notions of human rights defense (as defined by UN guidelines) as it relates to autonomous, self-directed struggle. They also speak about the strengths and limitations of NGO-led initiatives, and the effects of emergent disasters on long-term organizing initiatives.

• Transcript
• PDF (Unimposed)
• Zine (Imposed PDF)

But first, a Sean Swain shares his book reviews of 2023.

. … . ..

Featured Track:

• Glaciers of Ice by El Michels Affair

Stop Cop City RICO Updates 01

This week, we dig into the pretrial hearings and jury selection for Ayla King, Stop Cop City movement’s first and only co-defendant so far to be granted a speedy trial. We’re joined by Silver, an on-the-ground correspondent among many in Atlanta focused on supporting the collective defense against the State of Georgia’s RICO indictment. Stay tuned for future coverage of the trials as they unfold.

• Jewel on Speedy Trials Transcript
• ACPC Matt on Jury Selection Transcript
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We will be focusing on the pretrial proceedings of defendant Ayla King, who has bravely flexed their right to a speedy trial and whose case we will be following more in-depth when opening arguments begin on January 10th. To help us unpack some of the media and legal intricacies in this case we will hear from Jewel, a North Carolina based lawyer (member of NLG Mass Defense) followed by an interview with Matt from Atlanta Community Press Collective. Jewel will help us understand some of the strategy of exercising a right to speedy trial while Matt will speak as one of the only members of local media to actively cover jury selection.

First, some background to this case for listeners less familiar:

• On August 29th the State of Georgia filed an indictment against 61 people in the movement to Stop Cop City and defend Weelaunee people’s park. The state alleges that music festival attendees and protestors engaged in racketeering, domestic terrorism, arson and money laundering– all as part of a so called mob conspiracy to halt construction of the massively unpopular expansion of police training grounds in Southeast Atlanta– also known as Cop City.
• This indictment follows a years-long, powerful and popular struggle against the city of Atlanta and their Police Foundation’s attempts to build the 90 million dollar training grounds. The expansion of this site not only follows the widespread anti-police movements of 2020 but further bolsters US backed military training such the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (aka GILEE) - a direct exchange program between Atlanta police and the Israeli Occupational Forces, who are currently waging genocide in the occupied Gaza strip of Palestine.
• We have experienced the unrelenting and escalating criminal charges (such as domestic terrorism charges for so called trespassing on public land, racketeering charges for mutual aid), raids of collective organizing and healing spaces, and even the assassination of a beloved comrade, Tortuguita. Not only have these atrocities failed to stop the movement against Cop City, but they have inspired renewed resistance and solidarity from across the country and across the world. Announcements Noise Demo on NYE at Buncombe Jail

If you’re around Asheville on Sunday, December 31st, you’re invited by a coalition of abolitionist crews to attend the New Years Noise Demo, gathering at 7pm at the amphitheater at 630 Pack Square and to bring things for making some noise. The Asheville Community Bail Fund will be selling Certain Days Calendars and folks will also be bailing out and welcoming folks to start their new year outside the walls of the Buncombe County Detention Center. It’s a great event to meet folks and learn about local projects dreaming of and working towards a future without prisons! More at Blue Ridge ABC’s website.

If you’re in another area of Turtle Island, you can scan your social media for noise demos to participate in or make one up yourself. Often there’s a list of things to get involved in available at ItsGoingDown.Org

Anticapitalist Bookfair in Small Town Oregon

If you’re in the Corvallis, Oregon area in early January, the folks organizing the Heart of the Valley Anti-Capitalist Bookfair have announced their programming and entertainment schedule for events January 19th to 21st. A few of our past guests on The Final Straw are listed there if you want to brush up on the topics. More info at Hotvbookfair.noblogs.org

Eric King in Halfway House

Anarchist and antifascist prisoner, Eric King, has been released to a halfway house as he finishes the last portion of his nearly-decade-long incarceration. You can donate to his post-release fundraiser via his GoFundMe, read updates and words from Eric at SupportEricKing.org or on Instagram

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Featured Tracks:

• Take It To Trial by Young Thug, Yak Gotti & Gunna (instrumental sample)
• Freedoom by Upchuck from Bite The Hand That Feeds

Anti-Militarist and Feminist Resistance in Azerbaijan

This week on the show, you’ll hear an interview with Lala an anarchafeminist in the Azerbaijani group Feminist Peace Collective about the recent war against and expulsion of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, about the Aliyev regime and patriotic elements in Azerbaijan’s reaction against anti-militarist voices, conspiracy theories and real critiques of non-profit NGO’s versus grassroots lgbtq+ and feminist organizing, and other topics. You can learn more about Lala’s group at FeministPeaceCollective.Com.

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On December 19th at 8pm Caucasus time / UTC+4 (or 11am Eastern Standard or 8am Pacific Standard time) Feminist Peace Collective is hosting an online discussion with Dr. Chiara Bottici via zoom called “Anarchafeminism in Troubled Times” and with a focus on antifeminist and anti-queer backlash and war in the South Caucasus, central Asia, Turkey and Russia. There’s a registration link here.

Sean Swain

Sean’s segment starts at [ 01:06:24 ]

Announcements

Fundraiser for Emergency Committee for Rojava

There’s a GoFundMe fundraiser for the guests of our October 15th interview, the Emergency Committee for Rojava including some thank-you gifts.

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Featured Track:

• Down 4 Life (instrumental) by DJ Muggs

Ongoing Resistance to the Mountain Valley Pipeline

This week, we checked back in with folks involved in the struggle to block the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 303 mile so-called natural gas pipeline proposed to bring fracked gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations across parts of West Virginia and Virginia with an extension into North Carolina. Since a chat with activists we had in July, there have been nearly weekly actions to block the expansion of the pipeline across waterways and carsed terraine, endangering water tables and ecosystems around central Appalachia. For the hour we talk about this proposed project, the damage that’s been done and continues to be spread, the increasing belligerence of the men employed in the destruction and the ramping up legal repression facing activists and community members.

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You can learn more by checking out StopMVP.org or follow the social media accounts AppalachiansAgainstPipelines or POWHR. Support of the movement can also be offered up at Appalachian Legal Support Fund, and you can find companies involved in the MVP to say ‘hi’ to here.

Check out our past interviews about the MVP here.

You can hear Sean Swain’s discussion of his potential run for US President in 2024 at 50 minutes in.

Announcements

Vehicle for Chico Mendes Reforestation Project

From their GoFundMe:

_Proyecto de Reforestación Chico Mendes (Chico Mendes Reforestation Project) is a community-run nonprofit based in the Guatemalan highland village of Pachaj. What began as three friends planting trees on the weekends in 1998 has grown into a family of over 3600 local students and more than 1000 international volunteers who have worked with the project since. With each tree planted, soil bag filled, and weed cleared, we are proving that small steps of change today are what shape the future…

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However, Chico Mendes is facing major challenges once again. The recent 30+ days of disruptions stemming from state push-back in recognizing newly-elected President Arévalo has led to the cancellation of two major international, collaborative projects with universities, resulting in 24,000 unplanted trees. With groups unable to come to us, we need to replant all by ourselves. But with less hands available and a mountainous terrain prone to landslides that poses a significant challenge to the replanting process, we are struggling to meet our goals. This is why we are seeking to fundraise for a four-wheel-drive truck to assist the Chico Mendes team in carrying more trees through mountainous terrain to get on track with our replanting mission.

This is a labor of love. People are taking lower salaries so that everyone has some to go around and sometimes, work is done out of the goodness of one’s heart rather than payment, but we need your help. This vehicle would directly help our community sow the seeds of environmental and Indigenous justice._

Check out the GFM link above and if you can throw them some dollars, they’d appreciate it much.

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Featured Tracks:

• Halcyon by Filastine from Drapetomania
• Ghost of a Chance by Danny Dolinger from Rome Wasn’t Burnt In

"Direct Democracy Throughout Human History" + 2024 Certain Days Calendar

This week on the show, Ian talks to Sara and Josh, organizers from the Certain Days Collective on the publication of this year’s certain days calendar. The two discuss the creative and administrative processes involved in producing one of the most consistent projects in the abolition space. They also discuss the past, present, and future of the project and the constant need to balance short term emergent issues against the long term abolition project. [ 00:02:37 - 00:33:14]

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You can learn more at CertainDays.org, find them on a bunch of social media platforms, and order calendars for deliver in Canada via LeftWingBooks.Net or in the USA via BurningBooks.Com and you can find our past conversations with Josh by searching Josh Davidson on our website, including a recent interview about Rattling The Cages.

Direct Democracy Throughout Human History

Then, you’ll hear we’ll be sharing a presentation by Dr. Modibo Kadalie recorded at the 2023 Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair in so-called Asheville. Modibo is joined by his friend Andrew Zonneveld of On Our Own Authority Books and they share a new bookstore and community space in Stone Mountain, Georgia, known as Community Books. [ 00:34:32- 01:32:30 ]

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From the presentation description: “A scholar-activist with over 60 years of experience in the Civil Rights, Black Power, Pan-African, and Social Ecology movements will discuss the role of critical historiography in the study and documentation of directly democratic communities across human history. Modibo Kadalie’s presentation will touch on ideas discussed in his two most recent books, Pan-African Social Ecology and Intimate Direct Democracy. Dr. Kadalie will also discuss his upcoming book, tentatively titled State Creep: A Critical Historiography.”

Sean Swain

Sean’s segment on destabilizing the economy with flash mobs can be heard from [ 01:32:32 - 01:40:28 ]

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Featured Track:

• For Marmish by Floating Points from Elaenia

A Jewish Anti-Zionist in Palestine + Antifascists Repressed in Budapest

A Jewish Anti-Zionist in Palestine + Antifascists Repressed in Budapest

This week’s show features four segments: an announcement from IGD Podcast; an anti-Zionist Jewish voice from Palestine; an interview of two anti-repression activists on the harassment of two antifascist activists in Budapest, Hungary; Sean Swain’s segment.

Reflections of an Jewish Anti-Zionist from Palestine

This week on the show, we’re featuring the voice of a Jewish anti-Zionist anarchist living in lands occupied by the Israeli state. For the hour we speak about some of his experiences of trying to resist the ongoing war against Palestinians, collaboration with Palestinian comrades against the occupation, the silencing of dissent during the escalation by the Israeli state and other topics. [ 00:07:28 - 00:50:13 ]

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For a very thoughtful series of podcasts about the situation in Palestine, check out the two recent episodes of the Its Going Down podcast (1st and 2nd).

Palestinian Social Media Suggestions:

• Basel Adra: https://instagram.com/basilaladraa?igshid=aTVsbjhlZXFpbjhr
• Ali Awad: https://instagram.com/ali_awad98
• Sami H Huraini: https://instagram.com/samihuraini
• Youth of Sumud: https://instagram.com/youthofsumud
• Awdah Hathaleen: https://instagram.com/awdah.hathaleen

Antifascists Repressed in Budapest

Following this, you’ll hear a segment by A-Radio Berlin (a co-member of the Channel Zero Network as well as the A-Radio Network with The Final Straw) about repression of antifascists recently under the far right Hungarian administration of Victor Orban. This also appeared in the November 2023 episode of Bad News, the monthly English-language podcast of the A-Radio Network. [ 00:52:10 - 01:05:53 ]

Further links

• https://budapest-solidarity.net/
• https://www.basc.news/

Sean Swain

Sean Swain’s segment this week airs at [ 01:05:57 ]

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Featured Tracks:

• We Roll (Instrumental) by Pete Rock from We Roll
• Until Palestine Is Free by Angelic Upstarts from Bullingdon Bastards

Thomas Meyer-Falk is Free!

We’re sharing here a recent conversation that I had with Thomas Meyer-Falk, an anarchist who just finished a 27 year prison stint in Germany to speak about his life, his incarceration and his hopes now that he’s out. Thomas was involved in a bank robbery in 1996 as a young RASH anarchist skinhead who hoped to fund above ground and underground leftist organizing and continued to be incarcerated for the threats he made upon his capture. While inside he toned it down a bit, became a jailhouse lawyer of sorts and built connections with publishing projects, support groups and a radio station on the outside.

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He’s now out and working at that radio station in Freiberg, RDL, and hopes to be come involved in helping immigrants navigate the legal system in Germany. You can find his blog, mostly in German, at https://freedomforthomas.wordpress.com. You can also find some of his writings in Fire Ant Journal.

Announcement

Fundraiser for Zolo Azania

A quick reminder, there’s a fundraising effort ongoing to help former Black Liberation Fighter and political prisoner, Zolo Agona Azania (who we’ve featured a couple of times on this show) could use some support. Since he’s been out of prison after 35 years inside, he’s been an active community organizer on projects including re-entry for formerly incarcerated folks and offering pro bono legal help to folks still behind bars. He’s in need of some support with car repair payments to help him keep his wage job and keep doing his support work. You can donate to him on cashapp via the handle $ZoloAzania5, on zelle using azaniazolo5 at gmail dot com or on venmo using @zolo-azania

To find more anti-repression fundraisers needing support and boosting, check out the column on ItsGoingDown.Org called In Contempt, where you can also find info on prisoners who’ve just been moved, have upcoming birthdays or who are in need of other help.

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Featured Track:

• Hetzjagd (Auf Nazis!) by Alec Empire ( of Atari Teenage Riot) from Riot Beats comp

Mr. Block's Past and Legacy (with Sean Carleton and Iain McIntyre)

This week, Ian talks to Sean Carleton of Graphic History Collective and Labor historian and activist Iain McIntyre about the recent release of Mr. Block: The Subversive Comics and Writings of Ernest Riebe by PM Press. After some background on their respective projects, they talk about the legacy of the IWW cartoonist, the origins and process of putting the book together, and what aspects of his work are still relevant today. Here’s a hint: just about all of them are.

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Featured Track:

• Mr. Block performed by Utah Philips from Rebel Voices: Songs of the Industrial Workers of the World
• Beware The Friendly Stranger by Boards Of Canada from Alpha and Omega

Against Genocide: A Palestinian Solidarity Panel

This week on The Final Straw, we’re happy to share a panel discussion recorded at Firestorm Books entitled Against Genocide: A Palestinian Solidarity Panel, recorded on Sunday, October 22nd 2023.

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From the event description:

_“With the “iron-clad” support of the United States and other Western powers, Israel has made explicit its plan for the systematic destruction of Gaza and the Palestinian people. At this event, participants—including Palestinian and Jewish activists—will discuss the history of the occupation and the present campaign of dehumanization that’s paving the way to genocide. We’ll also explore the radical solidarities that are necessary to stop the assault on Gaza and secure a just peace.

This event is a fundraiser for The Hebron International Resource Network (HIRN), an organization based in the West Bank that is working to house Gazan workers deported to the West Bank by Israeli forces. Please consider bringing a cash donation! Firestorm will additionally be donating the net proceeds from all sales in-store and online.

Art by Heba Zagout, Palestinian artist killed with her two young children in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza on Friday, October 13.“_

Sean’s Segment

We’re linking here to Sean Swain’s most recent segment on the history of violence before the most recent escalation of war on the people of Gaza coming from the state of Israel.

Zines suggested by Milstein

- Inexorable Links by Zara from Interviews With Radical Palestinian Women

• Tkhines For A Free Palestine
• Kaddish For The Soul of Judaism: Genocide In Palestine
• Three Perspectives on Zionism, Jewishness, Class, and Liberation
• Jewish Currents Israel-Palestine Explainer

Announcement

Support Former Political Prisoner Zolo Azania

Former Black political prisoner and friend to many of us, Zolo Azania, needs our financial assistance to pay for important repairs on his car. He uses his car to drive to work. Details below. Please be generous. Zolo recently had a new transmission installed in his car along with other necessary repairs. The total bill came out to $4,659.51. He had put aside $1,200 for car repairs, therefore he needs another $3,459.51 in order to reclaim his car. After spending nearly 37 years in Indiana prisons, Zolo has been free for nearly 7 years now. After facing many challenges on the outside, we’re very happy to say Zolo now owns a house! Of course he needs to pay a mortgage and pay for repairs and upkeep on the house. After working 5 years at low paying jobs, Zolo was recently able to obtain a better paying job with benefits. This job requires a commute which is difficult on public transportation. Zolo would like to avoid excessive charges for the dealership to store his car. If Zolo cannot pay this repair bill he risks losing his car altogether. Zolo appreciates any donation but please be as generous as you can. You can send donations to him via Zelle, Venmo or Cash App ($ZoloAzania5). His accounts are under “Zolo Azania”

Bad News #72 Online Now!

You can find the October 2023 episode of the English-language BAD News: Angry Voices From Around The World podcast produced by the A-Radio Network online now, featuring a short version of our interview about the December 8th case in France, updates from Greece by way of the comrades in Thessaloniki at 1431AM Free Social Radio, and Frequenz-A about the about the Karl Helga Wagenplatz in Leipzig, which is under the threat of ever-present forces of gentrification.

Armenian Anarcha-feminist on Genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh

This week on the show, we’re featuring an interview I did recently with Sona, an anarcha-feminist from Yerevan, Armenia, about her experience of anarchism and some of the solidarity efforts related to supporting Armenians expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave within the borders of the neighboring country of Azerbaijan.

Recent crimethInc articles:

• Anarchist Voices from Armenia and Azerbaijan: On the Violence in Nagorno-Karabakh
• Solidarity among the Displaced: How Russian Anarchists in Exile Supported Armenian Refugee Squatters

From crimethInc “Anarchist Voices…” Article:

a list of NGOs to support refugees in Armenia:

• The space Letters and Numbers and the Armenian Food Bank have opened a humanitarian aid collection point. Please bring non-perishable food items and clothing to St. Tumanyan, 35G, Yerevan.
• Volunteer fund for helping victims of the war “Ethos” St. Khorenatsi 30, Yerevan.
• Sasha Manakina’s collection can be found at this link. Sasha is one of the heroines of the new zine Alarm!
• The Viva Charitable Foundation has been providing medicine, rehabilitating the wounded, and helping Artsakh since 2016.

Announcement

Support for Jorge Yorch Esquivel

From his support site:

We call for solidarity with our comrade Jorge Esquivel, Yorch, to demand his immediate release and the dismissal of charges against him.

• Attending the rally during their next hearing on Monday, October 23. The appointment is at 9 a.m. in front of the Orient Prison
• Organized to make noise and agitation
• Spread news about the case
• Go, call or write to nearby Mexican embassies and consulates to demand their freedom
• Or any way they like to stand in solidarity so that we can rip our comrade from the clutches of the state and its prisons.

Yorch is imprisoned for crimes fabricated against him as part of a montage that seeks to criminalize the Che Squat / Okupache and its members. He has been held hostage by the Mexican state in Mexico City’s East Reclusion for more than 10 months.

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Featured Track:

• Wishing (instrumental) by Pete Rock from My Own Worst Enemy (Instrumentals)

Updates on Rojava Revolution (with ECR)

This week on the show, we’re featuring an interview with 3 activists involved in the Emergency Committee for Rojava about recent developments in Rojava, escalation of violence from the Turkish state and the KDP party-led Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq, experiences of recent visits to the region, updates on the US relationship to aggressive regimes in the region and other topics. If you are listening to the radio edition of this show, check out the podcast for another half hour of discussion on developments in the economic, ecological and gender parity elements of the Rojava revolution.

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Links

• XTwitterX
• FedBook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Take action against the US complicity in Turkey’s war on NES
• On the latest attacks
• A recent article about the Rojava revolution

Announcements Midweek Release on the December 8th Affair in France

If you didn’t hear, we released a podcast in the middle of last week with anarchists involved in anti-repression in France concerning the conspiracy case known as the December 8th Affair, where the French state surveilled and arrested a YPG veteran who goes by the name Libre Flot, as well as comrades and acquaintances on the accusation of building a terror network following the Movement for Black Lives uprisings of 2020. Support for Palestinians

If you’re looking for a way to support folks in or from Palestine during the unprecedented and genocidal violence of the Israeli settler state one non-profit we’ve heard is good for distributing funds to people in need is Hebron International Network, which can be found at https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/donate_hirn . Surely there are more out there, but be careful to vet where you send money due to precedent set by the US government of pursuing charges against nonprofits funding people in Palestine by claiming they’re supporting terrorists, even when they aren’t, as in the case of the Holy Land Five.

Michael Kimble

Anarchist prisoner Michael Kimble is fundraising right now to help cover legal costs as he attempts to gain freedom from prison after decades behind bars. You can find more info at his support site, anarchylive.noblogs.org and make donations via the link

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Featured Track:

• Sekvano by Awazê Ciya