Last Born In The Wilderness

This is episode #200 of Last Born In The Wilderness. This is something of a highlight reel, featuring numerous segments from previous interviews I’ve conducted and released, with commentary on the underlying themes and threads that tie all this work together. This is a beast of an episode (almost four hours in length), so please take your time! This episode features segments of discussions with Silvia Federici, Dr. Gerald Horne, Shane Burley, Liyah Babayan, Stephen Jenkinson, Dahr Jamail, William Rees, Dezeray Lyn, Peter Gelderloos, Cory Morningstar, Jasper Bernes, Rhyd Wildermuth, Dr. Karla Tait, Ramon Elani, John Halstead, Charles Eisenstein, Joe Brewer, and Bayo Akomolafe. // Episode notes + timeline: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/200 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with journalist John H. Richardson. Former Writer at Large for Esquire, John is the author of the captivating article, Children of Ted: The Unlikely New Generation of Unabomber Acolytes, published December 2018 in New York Magazine. In Children of Ted, John takes a deep dive into the world of Theodore Kaczynski (aka the Unabomber) acolytes and apostates, a journey that documents his interactions with various individuals and groups that have been inspired (or adjacently-inspired) by the anti-civilizational writings and philosophy of Kaczynski, and even his multiple deadly acts of terrorism leading up to his arrest by the FBI in 1996. While John’s article is centered around the story of John Jacobi, who become radicalized (in part) through his exposure to Kaczynski’s manifesto, Industrial Society and Its Future, and his subsequent correspondences with him, the article more broadly examines a phenomenon Richardson describes as Kaczynski Moments. “The Kaczynski moment dislocates. Suddenl

INTRO: 10:38 In this episode, I speak with Jasper Bernes, Managing Editor of Commune Magazine. We discuss his recent article ‘Between the Devil and the Green New Deal,’ featured in the second issue of Commune Magazine. In this interview, I ask Jasper to explain the details of the Green New Deal, as has been proposed by the more progressive wing of the United States political establishment, and most famously by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the Democratic Party. What is the Green New Deal, and what is materially required for it to be successfully implemented? As Jasper explains, its main objective would be to convert the US economy to (net) zero carbon emissions with renewable power by 2030 — an undertaking that would require a massive overhaul of the energy infrastructure towards solar, wind, and biofuels as the primary source of energy production. While that all sounds rather nice, what are the (not-so) hidden costs of developing these so-called sustainable technologies, especially on

In this episode, I speak with Rhyd Wildermuth—writer, political theorist, co-founder of Gods & Radicals, and the author of the soon-to-be-released, All That Is Sacred Is Profaned: A Pagan Guide To Marxism. In this discussion with Rhyd, we examine the various ways capitalism—as a social, political, and economic system—directly informs the ways we relate with the land in which we live upon (and the spirits that reside there), the bodies we inhabit, the labor we perform, the rituals we engage in, and the various ways these relationships and perceptions either highlight or obscure the exploitive qualities of the global capitalism system we are all embedded within. In Rhyd’s book, All That Is Sacred Is Profaned, this examination of capitalism is framed within a Marxist analysis of the material conditions that inform these relationships (defined as “historical materialism” by Marx), and is then overlaid with a pagan, or more precisely animist, examination of these relationships as well. Rhyd, in being able to wed

In this episode, I speak with Michael Sliwa and [RS]. [RS] is the host of [MF] on the Progressive Radio Network, and Michael is the former co-host of Nature Bats Last and the author of Chasing A Different Carrot: A Manifesto For The Predicament Of Privilege. In this lively discussion between the three of us, we examine the overwhelm many are feeling in trying to navigate through our times of overlapping social, economic, ecological, and political complexities. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/sliwa-rs // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with psychedelic scholar, editor, publisher, and researcher Robert Forte. For over three decades, Robert has collaborated with some of the most influential and well-known figures within the psychedelic movement, including R. Gordon Wasson, Timothy Leary, Stanislav Grof, and Alexander Shulgin, to name a few. I ask Robert to explore the early days of psychedelic interest in American society, initially generated in large part by the release of the 1956 Life Magazine photo essay by R. Gordon Wasson (J.P. Morgan Vice President of Public Relations)—a landmark piece that was the first to expose the American public to the use and effects of psilocybin mushrooms. As Robert explains, the C.I.A. funded this venture, and was largely behind, along with media mogul Henry Luce, the branding of the psychedelic experience for Western audiences. Why would this be the case? As we descend down this rabbit hole of inquiry, we discuss the absolutely perplexing history of the popularization (and demonizat

In this episode, I speak with Environmental Scientist and Ecologist Francisco Sánchez-Bayo. He is the lead-author of the scientific survey, Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers, co-authored with Kris Wyckhuys, which reviews dozens of contemporary research from around the world documenting the rapid decline of global insect populations, indicating that most species of insects are likely to become extinct by the end of the century. The paper also examines the primary drivers behind the loss of global insect biodiversity, which has pushed over 40% of insect species towards extinction within the next few decades, and the majority of insect species by the end of the century. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/francisco-sanchez-bayo // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

INTRO: 10:35 | OUTRO: 1:34:00 In this episode, I speak with Joe Brewer — change strategist, complexity researcher, cognitive scientist, and evangelist for the field of culture design. This discussion picks up from our first conversation last year (http://bit.ly/LBWbrewer), recorded right before Joe and his family moved to Costa Rica to engage more fully with cultural design work and planetary collapse management. We start off this discussion by catching up with what Joe has experienced in the six to eight months since we last spoke on this podcast, which mainly includes a big move with his family to Costa Rica from the United States. I ask him why he and his family chose Costa Rica do work in culture design, and why Costa Rica in particular is primed for regenerative practices and planetary collapse management. I ask Joe to detail his work in designing in-depth courses that lay the groundwork for individuals to build “regenerative hubs” across the planet’s numerous bioregions, and within this scaffolding of

INTRO: 11:10 | DROP ME A LINE: 01:18:01 In this episode, I speak with physicist, engineer, and popular science communicator Paul Beckwith. Paul is well known for his approachable and comprehensive analysis of the global climate crisis through his popular YouTube channel, where he provides a multidisciplinary examination into climate science data and research through his deep understanding of meteorology, oceanography and the Earth Sciences in general. At the beginning of this interview, I ask Paul to go over the latest scientific data of global climate change, which includes a thorough description of the alarming levels of warming we are witnessing in the Arctic region, and how this is producing a dramatic loss of sea ice cover and the albedo effect (reflection of the sun’s heat) in the region, potentially leading to what has been described as the “Blue Ocean Event” (an ice-free Arctic during the warm season). I ask Paul to explain what these rapid changes mean for global weather patterns, in particular how

In this episode, I speak with engineer and writer Dmitry Orlov. I ask Dmitry to provide an overview of the ongoing collapse of the United States empire on the geopolitical, economic, and political fronts, since our first interview recorded and released last year. As Dmitry explains in this interview, the United States is facing collapse. The U.S. is in massive debt, and wholly relies on its global military presence to maintain the dominance of the dollar—a situation in which we have to ask the question: how long before that, too, fails? Decades of United States global hegemony is being successfully countered by other global powers, namely Russia, although in a very different fashion from how the United States has traditionally exerted geopolitical influence up to the present moment. Why, and how, has this happened? Dmitry lays out the interrelating factors that are contributing to America’s faltering influence on the global stage, even as the U.S. Empire becomes increasingly belligerent towards other nation

In this episode, I speak with Birgitta Jónsdóttir—former Icelandic politician, anarchist, poet, and activist. Birgitta is the co-founder of the Pirate Party of Iceland (in which she served as a representative of from 2013 to 2017), and is well known for her collaboration with Wikileaks in the production and release of the “Collateral Murder” video, as a result of the courageous leak by whistleblower and former U.S. Army private Chelsea Manning. I ask Brigitta to describe the role she has played in some of the most historic and impactful political moments this past decade—including the founding of the Pirate Party and her time as a member of the Icelandic Parliament from 2013-2017; her collaboration with Wikileaks and its controversial co-founder and editor Julian Assange, leading to the release of the Collateral Murder video in 2010 (which depicts the murder of several citizens and journalists during the U.S. military occupation of Iraq in 2007); and her involvement in the high-profile legal case “Hedges vs

In this episode, I speak with Xabat—a representative of the Internationalist Commune of Rojava. We discuss the ecological dimension of the Rojavan Revolution in Northeast Syria, represented and explored in the book, Make Rojava Green Again, which examines the environmental perspective and ecological practices inherent in the egalitarian and anticapitalist revolution in the region. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/xabat // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

[Intro: 12:35] In this episode, I speak with meteorologist and geoscientist Nicholas Humphrey. I ask him to detail the record-breaking flood in the Midwest United States this season, in particular the impacts this is having on the agricultural center of the country, and how this event is directly tied to the dramatic global changes associated with abrupt climate disruption as a result of human industrial activity. As Nick and I discuss, there are numerous reasons why this year’s flooding in the Midwest has been as destructive as it has been — with estimated damage, in economic terms, of “$12.5 billion, based on an analysis of damages already inflicted and those expected by additional flooding, as well as the lingering health effects resulting from flooding and the disease caused by standing water.”* Nick’s interdisciplinary research into global climate change, especially in describing its direct impact on the hydrological (water) cycle and weather, helps us understand how this record-breaking event occurre

In this episode, I speak with lawyer, grief therapist, and community builder Holly Truhlar. We discuss her provocatively titled essay ‘Mainstream Psychology Can Go Fuck Itself,’ which addressed the ways mainstream psychology, as it is currently practiced today, largely lacks the framework, language, and tools required to adequately counsel those that are coming into the growing awareness that the systems we are embedded within are leading to societal collapse, ecological disintegration, and abrupt climate disruption on the global scale. Mainstream psychology “puts the onus on the individual and takes the focus off of the violent and divisive systems we’re in,”* which in turn disempowers the individual from preparing, in any meaningful sense, for what lies ahead as we begin to experience the impacts of a fraying socioeconomic and political system (mired in systemic oppression and corruption), the catastrophic loss of species (described as the Sixth Mass Extinction event), a radically changing climate system (

[Intro: 13:30] In this episode, I speak with heathen writer and poet Ramon Elani. In exploring his unique prospective on how to address the converging social, spiritual, and ecological crises on this planet, we examine three essays published for Gods & Radicals, which include ‘Land, Home, and the Gods,’ ‘World’s End,’ and ‘Our Rage Against The Modern World’ — the last of which was co-written with Gods & Radicals co-founder Rhyd Wildermuth. “Let the home and the idea of the home become a pillar of strength. Let the home become a site of defiance, a bold denial of industrial society. Let the home be made into a bulwark against the modern world.”* Often, when I try to get at the vast moral dilemma we are forced to address in the face of the global climate crisis, the extinction of human and non-human life, and the hollowing of community and connection to the land implicit in the “progress” narrative of industrial civilization — the notion of addressing these converging crises on a collective level seemed appar

In this collaborative interview with [RS], we speak with Yoav Litvin, doctor of psychology, photographer, and writer. Yoav's work focuses on the roots of the ideology of Zionism, in particular how trauma has informed its formation and practice, through the policies and actions of the State of Israel, and through such powerful organizations like AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee)—"a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States."   In this discussion, Yoav expounds on his views and research into the settler-colonialist and supremacist roots of Zionism, not only from a socio-historical perspective, but from a neurological and psychological perspective as well. How has a collectivized form of post-traumatic stress disorder shaped the genocidal policies of the State of Israel, especially toward the Palestinian people and land that the State of Israel has been literally built upon? As Yoav gets into his piece in Monthly Review Online: “In

In this episode, I speak with Truthout senior editor and lead columnist William Rivers Pitt. We discuss the federal investigation by former FBI Director Robert Mueller into Donald Trump’s potential collusion with Russian foreign agents during the 2016 presidential election, an investigation that lasted for most of Trump's time as President. Without buying into the media spectacle that has clouded lucid analysis into the implications of this investigation, William provides much needed perspective into what we can expect now that the investigation has officially concluded (the findings of which have not yet been publicly released, it must be noted). // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/william-rivers-pitt // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

[Intro: 22:35] In this episode, I speak with Kevin Tucker, author of ‘The Cull of Personality: Ayahuasca, Colonialism and the Death of a Healer’ — the subject of this interview. The book takes a deep dive into the reality of the ayahuasca eco-tourism industry, and places it within the centuries-long history of colonialism and resource extraction in the Amazon Region, in particular Peru, where much of narrative of this book is centered. The book begins with the description of the murder of 81-year-old Indigenous rights activist and healer Olivia Arevalo, a member of the Shipibo-Conibo people in Peru, by Sebastian Woodroffe, a Canadian man seeking to extract the methods of the Shipibo-Conibo practice of administering the psychedelic brew ayahuasca for healing purposes. On April 19th of last year, Arevalo was killed in her home in the Ucayali region in Peru. Records show Woodroffe purchased a gun from a local police officer, and was the individual that confronted Arevalo at her home, subsequently leading to h

[Intro: 17:30] In this episode, I speak with author, journalist, and political researcher Shane Burley. We discuss the recent mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which an Australian white supremacist targeted Muslim worshippers at two separate mosques, leading to the deaths of 50 people — the largest in the nation’s history. We place this event within Shane’s larger analysis of far right ideology and insurgency, which has been thoroughly examined in Shane’s journalism on the subject, as well as in previous interviews I have had with him.* In this discussion with Shane, we touch on an Op-Ed Alexander Reid Ross and Shane very recently co-wrote for The Independent, titled ‘How to defeat the cretinous ‘great replacement’ theory at the heart of the Christchurch mosque attack,’ in which they respond to the recent mass shooting in Christchurch by self-proclaimed white supremacist Brenton Tarrant. Aside from embodying the most vile and insurgent aspects of white supremacist ideological violence, Tarrant

I speak with sociologist Milton Bennett, director of the Intercultural Development Research Institute and the creator of the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (also known as the “Bennett Scale”). I was introduced to Milton and his work by journalist Dahr Jamail, after a private discussion Dahr and I had about the dynamics of cults and "culting" within certain political groups, in particular between President Donald Trump and his base of supporters, as explored in Dahr's interview with Milton in the Truthout article, Is There a Cult of Trump? // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/milton-bennett // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast