Last Born In The Wilderness

In this episode I speak with Stephen Jenkinson - founder and lead instructor of the Orphan Wisdom School and the author of numerous books, including ‘Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul’ and most recently ‘Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble.’ In this discussion, we discuss how the dominant culture of North America, as Stephen frames it, is awash in aged people, but bereft of elders, in the truest sense of the word. Stephen “argues that elderhood is a function rather than an identity – it is not a position earned simply by the number of years on the planet or the title ‘parent’ or ‘grandparent.’”☨ Why is it that the dominant culture of North America has been unable to produce the conditions necessary for elderhood to flourish, especially in this time of trouble we find ourselves in? Stephen discusses what the historical and cultural conditions have been that has lead to this unexplored and unexamined crisis, and points to what elderhood in our time of great crisis (ecological, spi

For this episode, Cynthia Jones and I speak with Liyah Babayan, local entrepreneur, business owner, activist, and Armenian refugee. In this conversation, Liyah goes over her life story, framing it within the cultural/historical/political framework of her home country of Azerbaijan, where she had spent much of her early childhood, before fleeing with her family from severe persecution and mass genocide. In the late '80s and into the early '90s, a pogrom was enacted against ethnic Armenians in the city of Baku (the nation’s capital and Liyah’s place of birth), as well as in surrounding areas, resulting in the expulsion, and mass murder, of thousands of Armenians. These events have been described as the Baku Pogrom: “From January 12, 1990, a seven-day pogrom broke out against the Armenians civilian population in Baku during which Armenians were beaten, tortured, murdered, and expelled from the city. There were also many raids on apartments, robberies and arsons. According to the Human Rights Watch reporter Rob

This episode contains two interviews. The first is with Shane Burley - filmmaker, journalist, and author of ‘Fascism Today: What It Is and How To End It.’ The second is with [RS] - journalist and radio host on the Progressive Radio Network. Each of these interviews focus on the dynamics and recent developments within Abolish ICE movement, and specifically the OccupyICE encampments that have sprung up in recent weeks around ICE offices throughout the U.S., the largest and most prominent being in Portland, Oregon. The formation of these encampments are in response to the increasingly Gestapo-like policies and tactics currently being employed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, in particular regarding the agency’s active role in the detainment of immigrants crossing the southern U.S. border seeking asylum. Much of the anger, and subsequent action, in recent weeks has been in response to the Trump Administration’s policy of separating immigrant families and i

In this episode, I speak with Anglo-Scandinavian philosopher of mind Peter Sjöstedt-H on psychedelics, panpsychism, and philosophy. Peter and I discuss the resurgence of interest in psychedelics in popular culture regarding the profound, and absolutely vital, therapeutic value these substances can provide for individuals suffering from trauma and addiction. The therapeutic value of these substances is only the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to the value these substances hold for humanity’s philosophical exploration into the nature of the mind and the mind's relationship with reality. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/peter-sjostedt-h // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

I speak with Joel Wainwright, professor at Ohio State University and co-author of Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future. In this book, Joel and co-author Geoff Mann examine a question often overlooked within the broader discussion about global climate change and our planetary future: how will our political and economic institutions respond to global climate change? // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/joel-wainwright // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

I speak with Tom Aiello, founder and lead instructor at the Snake River BASE Academy. Tom has travelled all around the world pursuing his passion of BASE jumping, and in this episode he shares his rich depth of experience and knowledge, as well as some truly fascinating and engrossing stories well worth listening to. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/tom-aiello-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

I speak with William Rees, human ecologist, ecological economist, Professor Emeritus and former Director of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning in Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Rees is the originator and co-developer of the “ecological footprint analysis,” and the co-author (with Mathis Wackernagel) of Our Ecological Footprint, an exploration of this concept. The Ecological Footprint concept has become the world’s best-known metaphor for the human ‘load’ (the resources required of ecosystems to maintain our current mode of living) on the planet. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/william-rees // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Zak Witus, freelance journalist and activist. Zak discusses the unfolding events in the Gaza Strip, in which thousands of Palestinians, over the past several months, have demonstrated against the horrific conditions imposed on the Palestinian people by the state of Israel. Over 100 Palestinian demonstrators have been killed by Israeli forces, with over 1,200 injured, during what has been called "The Great March of Return," a large-scale protest that demands “that Palestinian refugees and their descendants be allowed to return to what is now Israel.” Zak also goes over the recent decision made by the Trump Administration to move the U.S. Embassy to the city of Jerusalem, and how this decision fits into the demonstrations in the Gaza Strip. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/zak-witus // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Franklin Lopez, also known as the Stimulator, host of the SubMedia program Here's The Fuckin' News, and former host of It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). In this conversation, Franklin discusses the aims of the SubMedia media collective, as well as Franklin's iconic role as the shit-talking riot-loving anti-authoritarian character the Stimulator. Franklin also gets into the humble role filmmakers and content generators have in collective organizing and coordinating direct action, as well as the catch-22 of using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like to promote independent media and news, while simultaneously trying to build decentralized forms of online organizing and social media outside centralized corporate media platforms. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/franklin-lopez // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpo

I speak with agroecologist, entomologist, farmer, and beekeeper Jonathan Lundgren, CEO of Blue Dasher Farm and Director of the ECDYSIS Foundation. At the very beginning of this conversation, Jonathan discusses his time as a top scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, during which time he conducted important research into the wide-scale use of pesticides in U.S. agriculture. After conducting research that indicated that the use of certain chemicals (neonicotinoids) on fields was causing significant and alarming declines in insect pollinator populations (e.g. bees and butterflies), Jonathan began to experience various forms of suppression and censorship from within the USDA, as an attempt to hinder his work and inhibit his ability to publish his findings on the subject. After spending 11 years at the USDA, Jonathan moved on to his next project, Blue Dasher Farm, "where research, education, and demonstration converge to support the regeneration of agriculture." While Bl

In this episode, prolific author and historian Dr. Gerald Horne discusses some of the themes and details presented in his most recently published book, The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, and Capitalism in 17th Century North America and the Caribbean. In the 17th century, major European powers were undergoing a massive colonization project on the North and South American continents, which inevitably resulted in the mass genocide and enslavement of countless indigenous peoples. During this same period, millions of Africans were kidnapped from their respective homelands, transported across the vast Atlantic Ocean, and then sold for staggeringly high profits, resulting in one of the most economically profitable periods (for the major European powers involved) in human history. In this conversation, we explore how these monumentally disruptive events in the 17th century informed the initial formation and development of capitalism as the dominant socio-economic system o

In this episode, I speak with John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies. This interview covers two major geopolitical trends currently developing in the world today: the reconciliation process currently unfolding between North and South Korea, and the inflamed tensions between the United States and Israel (and other regional players) with the government of Iran. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/john-feffer // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

I speak with Israel Bravo, an innovator in the world of beekeeping and bee colony storage. Israel has years of experience in beekeeping, and through experimentation and passionate dedication to the preservation of bee colonies, has managed to work through, and ultimately overcome, one of the major reoccurring problems experienced by many beekeepers around the world: the decline of bee populations during the storage of bee colonies during the winter months. Beekeepers lose significant portions of their bee colony populations over those months of storage (in many cases, up to 40% of the bee colony populations). It's common practice, at least in this part of the United States, to store bees through the winter months in vacant potato cellars, and for reasons discussed in this episode, provide less than ideal conditions for bee colony storage. Israel goes over the very practical methods and tools that can be adopted and used by beekeepers to prevent such significant losses of bee populations over the winter months

In this episode, I speak with Alley Valkyrie about the recent events in western France regarding the communal, long-term occupation at the ZAD (French: zone à défendre; English: zone to defend). Alley provides a much needed explanation of the events currently unfolding there; she contextualizes and expounds on the overlapping and interplaying cultural, political, and historical trends that have led to the present situation on the ground there. Here's a very brief (and simplistic) description of what is unfolding at the ZAD, published in The Guardian, on April 9th 2018: "French police have used teargas in an attempt to clear anti-capitalist squatters from the site of an abandoned airport project. About 2,500 riot police made a pre-dawn raid in Notre-Dame-des-Landes to evict about 250 activists. The squatters have occupied the site for 10 years to prevent the airport from being built, but refused to leave after the plans were dropped earlier this year, saying they sought to construct an alternative way of li

In this episode, I speak with psychiatrist, lecturer, and author Iain McGilchrist. We discuss some of the themes and ideas presented in his book The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/iain-mcgilchrist // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Max Dashu, founder of the Suppressed Histories Archive and author of Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700–1100. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/max-dashu // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Dmitry Orlov. This interview was recorded Sunday, April 15, less than two days after the events discussed in this episode. Dmitry and I discuss the recent missile strikes by the US military in Syria, the Trump Administration, as well as the broader US military establishment's true intentions and objectives behind the strike, as well as what other major world powers (Russia in particular) are doing in response to this attack. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/dmitry-orlov // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with Shane Burley, author of "Fascism Today: What It Is and How To End It." In the beginning of this interview, Shane provides a precise description of what fascism is, the historical context in which it first emerged, as well what fascist organizing in modern American society looks like. We discuss and break down the pseudo-scientific claims espoused by many of these groups regarding the concepts of race, as well as the reasons as to why and how these widely dismissed pseudo-scientific claims still exist and continue to spread among the far-right. Shane also responds to a recent statement by Richard Spencer, the poster boy of the Alt-Right, in which he states that speaking at events to promote his views is no longer "fun" due to the fact that “Antifa [anti-fascist resistance] is winning."* Shane also describes the varied tactics used by anti-fascists that successfully undermine the ability of fascists groups to promote their ideology to the broader public, as well as their ability t

In this episode, Rhyd Wildermuth and I discuss some of the ideas presented Rhyd's recent essay, A New Luddite Rebellion. Rhyd expounds on the role social media has played on our ability to discuss complex and nuanced ideas, as well as the role identity politics has played in the Left's (in)ability to effectively organize against capitalism and produce tangible alternatives to the dominant organizing ideology of our time. We also discuss traveling, the culture shock that comes when you travel back to the United States, as well as an upcoming online course, led by Rhyd, on "a pagan introduction to Marxism." // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/rhyd-wildermuth-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

This is a segment of my incompletely recorded conversation with Daniel Christian Wahl. Unfortunately, due to some technical issues with the recording of this episode, a significant chunk of our conversation was lost and unsalvageable. Daniel asked that I release what was recorded, and here is the finished result. I thank Daniel for sharing his insights with me, and I appreciate his kindness. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/daniel-wahl // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast