Last Born In The Wilderness

Social critic Alley Valkyrie returns to the podcast to provide analysis of the recent election in France. She discusses the French far-right's long-term efforts to remake their image and gather widespread support, in ways that are both surprising but contextually understandable, making tremendous gains in the first round of the parliamentary snap election called by President Emmanuel Macron. This interview was recorded on July 4th, before the second round of voting on Sunday, July 7th, which resulted in a left-wing coalition with Macron's centrist party far outpacing the National Rally in the election. While this interview was recorded before the final results came in, the analysis Alley brings to this discussion is deeply relevant to understanding the nuances of French and European political trends, especially for those who mainly consume information from Anglophone media. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/alley-valkyrie-4 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/last

Social critic Alley Valkyrie returns to the podcast to provide analysis of the recent election in France. She discusses the French far-right's long-term efforts to remake their image and gather widespread support, in ways that are both surprising but contextually understandable, making tremendous gains in the first round of the parliamentary snap election called by President Emmanuel Macron. Support the work and listen to the full interview: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

Ben Lorber and Shane Burley, co-authors of Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism, join me to discuss the absolutely timely moment and context this book is being published in. They raise the need for, and the strong historical legacies of, Jewish anti-Zionist solidarity with pro-Palestine movements, while articulating and bringing forward critical analysis of the shape, character, and histories of antisemitism in primarily Western Christian societies. With antisemitism and Islamophobia on the rise, Shane and Ben articulate a vision and present a radical guide to fight antisemitism and build safety through solidarity for Jewish and non-Jewish peoples and communities alike. Ben Lorber is a researcher, journalist and movement strategist. He works at Political Research Associates, a social movement think tank, as a Senior Research Analyst focusing on antisemitism and white nationalism. Lorber’s work has appeared in The Nation, Salon, Jewish Daily Forward, Religion Dispatches and more

Ben Lorber and Shane Burley, co-authors of Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism, join me to discuss the absolutely timely moment and context this book is being published in. They raise the need for, and the strong historical legacies of, Jewish anti-Zionist solidarity with pro-Palestine movements, while articulating and bringing forward critical analysis of the shape, character, and histories of antisemitism in primarily Western Christian societies. With antisemitism and Islamophobia on the rise, Shane and Ben articulate a vision and radical guide to fight antisemitism and build safety through solidarity for Jewish and non-Jewish peoples and communities alike. Support the work and listen to the full interview: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

Author and journalist John Washington returns to the podcast to discuss The Case for Open Borders, the name and subject of his new book from Haymarket Press. John Washington places the current political rhetoric and policy fixated on the "border crisis" many Western nations are seemingly facing, particularly the United States, within the historical and material context of what the modern nation-state actually is. Borders are as much about building the infrastructure to prohibit and deter migrants and refugees from entering a territory, as it is a rhetorical weapon deployed by cynical politicians and nativist settlers to reify artificial differences among the human species. Stripping down the hyperbolic and nativist language exemplified across political parties, John makes clear what borders really are, and the violent realities this ever expanding infrastructure imposes on human and non-human life. John Washington is a staff writer at Arizona Luminaria, a community-focused media outlet where he writes about

Author and journalist John Washington returns to the podcast to discuss the case for open borders. He places the current political rhetoric and policy fixated on the "border crisis" many Western nations are facing, particularly the United States, within the historical and material context of what the modern nation-state actually is. Stripping down the hyperbolic and nativist language exemplified across political parties, John makes clear what borders really are, and the violent realities this ever expanding infrastructure imposes on human and non-human life. John is the author of The Case for Open Borders, published this year through Haymarket books. Support the work and listen to the full interview: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

Writer and organizer Andrew Lee joins me to discuss their new book Defying Displacement: Urban Recomposition and Social War, published through AK Press and the Institute for Anarchist Studies. Defying Displacement grounds itself in one of the main sites of contemporary class struggle: communities facing the multi-headed hydra of gentrification. Andrew Lee directs our attention to the on-the-ground realities of urban displacement, and in turn, provides a new theory of the state and capitalism in the 21st century. “And all of a sudden, to maintain what we have—not improve, not get benefits. This isn’t the ‘60s. We aren’t talking about, give us ethnic studies and a health clinic. It’s much worse than that. It’s: don’t displace me. Let me keep paying rent to my landlord; let me keep paying property taxes on the family home; let me keep working a bad job; just don’t make my rent so high that my community is obliterated. “And the people that brings us into conflict with aren’t just a local regional rich dude.

Writer and organizer Andrew Lee joins me to discuss their new book Defying Displacement: Urban Recomposition and Social War, published through AK Press and the Institute for Anarchist Studies. Defying Displacement grounds itself in one of the main sites of contemporary class struggle: communities facing the multi-headed hydra of gentrification. Andrew Lee directs our attention to the on-the-ground realities of urban displacement, and in turn, provides a new theory of the state and capitalism in the 21st century. Support the work and listen to the full interview: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

Investigative journalist Arun Gupta returns to the podcast to report on the pro-Palestine student encampments that have bloomed on university and college campuses across the United States and around the world over the past several weeks. He has been documenting the protests on campuses across New York City, including Columbia University and City College of New York (CCNY), which has seen some of the most high-profile repression from police and counter-demonstration agitators. “This movement is really about hope, and we should not lose sight of this fact. That is the most important story that should be coming out, that students acted because they had great hope. Hope is not woowoo; it is hardcore Marxist, materialistic, and dialectical. Hope comes from our collective strategizing and imagination, which is rooted in the material conditions. It is dialectical in the sense that you cannot achieve political change without having great hope and the imagination that we can do this: we will win—not that we can, but

Lydia Pelot-Hobbs and Jack Norton, co-editors of the collection The Jail is Everywhere, join me in this interview to discuss the “quiet jail boom” in numerous counties across the United States. They examine how the county jail has become the preeminent site of the adaptive, expansive, and shapeshifting carceral state, as well as the local and nationwide struggles to end it. The Jail is Everywhere: Fighting the New Geography of Mass Incarceration is edited by Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Jack Norton, and Judah Schept, with contributions by, and interviews with, numerous anti-jail organizers across the United States. It was published through Verso Books. Lydia Pelot-Hobbs is an Assistant Professor of Geography and African American & Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky, and author of Prison Capital: Mass Incarceration and Struggles for Abolition Democracy in Louisiana. Jack Norton is Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Governors State University, and was a senior research associate at the Vera Institu

Lydia Pelot-Hobbs and Jack Norton, co-editors of the collection The Jail is Everywhere, join me in this interview to discuss the “quiet jail boom” in numerous counties across the United States. They examine how the county jail has become the preeminent site of the adaptive, expansive, and shapeshifting carceral state, as well as the local and nationwide struggles to end it. Support the work and listen to the full interview: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

Chris Christou joins me in this winding discussion to explore the subjects and themes raised in his phenomenal podcast, The End of Tourism, described as “a project about the deep causes and consequences of tourism, wanderlust, spectacle, exile,” and “an invitation into the local resistance and resilience movements in the face of each of these things.” In my discussion with him, Chris reflects on the historical moment he chose to begin this project: during the earliest waves of the global pandemic, at a time when global tourism effectively collapsed. Chris Christou is a writer, educational curator, and activist. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, he moved to Oaxaca, Mexico in 2015 after a decade of delirious wanderlust. In 2016, Chris began concurrently working in and writing about the tourism industry, founding Oaxaca Profundo, a deep learning organization focused on food culture and radical hospitality. In 2021, alongside friends and strangers, he organized and launched the End of Tourism Podcast. He is th

Chris Christou joins me in this winding discussion to explore the subjects and themes raised in his phenomenal podcast, The End of Tourism, described as “a project about the deep causes and consequences of tourism, wanderlust, spectacle, exile,” as well as “an invitation into the local resistance and resilience movements in the face of each of these things.” In my discussion with him, Chris reflects on the historical moment he chose to begin this project: during the earliest waves of the global pandemic, at a time when global tourism effectively collapsed. Support the work and listen to the full interview: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

Journalist and filmmaker Eleanor Goldfield joins me to discuss her documentary To the Trees, which documents humankind’s relationship to the sacred Redwoods and the tactics tree defenders use to protect old-growth forests from the clear-cutting practices of the lumber industry. In our discussion, Eleanor disputes the claims made by the industry of practicing sustainable harvesting practices in the Pacific Northwest, and how it is part and parcel of a larger global effort by extractive industries to greenwash ecologically destructive practices in the name of sustainability and the "green energy" transition. Eleanor Goldfield is a creative radical, journalist and filmmaker. Mutual aid and community organizing are cornerstones of Eleanor’s work and personal life, informing both her journalistic and artistic projects. Her written and photojournalism has appeared in independent publications across the U.S. and internationally. She is one of the 2020 recipients of the “Women and Media Award” presented by The Women

Journalist and filmmaker Eleanor Goldfield joins me to discuss her documentary To the Trees, which documents the sacred Redwoods and the tactics tree defenders use to protect old-growth forests from the clear-cutting practices of the lumber industry. In our discussion, Eleanor disputes the claims made by the industry of practicing sustainable harvesting practices in the Pacific Northwest, and how it is part and parcel of a larger global effort by extractive industries to greenwash ecologically destructive practices in the name of sustainability and the "green energy" transition. Listen to the full interview: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

Social critic and writer Nate Bear joins me to discuss his work over the years communicating his insights into the intersections between the ongoing pandemic, human-caused climate disruption, and biospheric collapse. Nate communicates how the abandonment of the population to repeated infection, mass illness, and death, is layered in the compounding crises affecting the living systems of the planet today. Listen to the full interview: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

Independent journalist and documentarian Abby Martin joins me to discuss Earth's Greatest Enemy, a feature length documentary that examines one of the largest polluters and contributors to global climate change in the world: the United States military. I ask Abby what the seeds of this massive project were, and why the military-industrial complex is the "elephant in the room" in the political discourse on human-caused climate change. Also, we connect this subject to the horrific mass violence in Gaza being enacted by the State of Israel—with full US complicity—to the ecocide implicit in the maintenance of US hegemonic interests globally. Abby Martin is an independent journalist and host of The Empire Files, an ongoing interview and documentary series. She is the director of the 2019 documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom, “a documentary about the historic Great March Of Return protests, which occurred every week from March 2018 until December 2019, but covers so much more.” Episode Notes: - Learn more about

Long Covid Action Project [LCAP] activists Stephanie and Linda, along with journalist and LCAP founder Joshua Pribanic, join me in this impromptu interview to discuss the recent direct action Linda and Stephanie participated in at the Senate HELP Committee Hearing on January 18, ostensibly held to address the ongoing and growing Long Covid crisis in the United States. This is the first in an ongoing series of interviews done in collaboration with journalist and LCAP founder and activist Joshua Pribanic to address the realities of what Long Covid is, and the action needed to address this issue comprehensively. “There is not a single face of Long Covid. Long Covid can be people in their prime, of working age. It can be people a little bit older. It could be people without any preexisting health conditions. It doesn’t discriminate in terms of who it strikes, and I think Congress needs to know that. It’s not the sick and the weak. It’s not middle-aged women only. It’s everybody. Until they pay attention to that

Anarchist writer, musician, and podcaster Margaret Killjoy returns to the podcast to discuss the political act of writing fiction and imagining the “ambiguous utopia.” I ask Margaret to define what hope is or can be, and how her work communicating the stories of radical individuals and movements during pivotal moments throughout history on her podcast, Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff, can help us (re-)frame contemporary struggles for liberation, justice, and peace in the world today. Margaret Killjoy is a transfeminine author born and raised in Maryland who was spent her adult life traveling with no fixed home. A 2015 graduate of Clarion West, Margaret’s short fiction has been published by Tor.com, Strange Horizons, Vice’s Terraform, and Fireside Fiction, amongst others. She is the author of We Won't Be Here Tomorrow, The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion, and The Barrow Will Send What it May. She is also the host of the podcast Live Like the World is Dying and Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff on iHeartRadio. Episo

Independent journalist and documentarian Abby Martin joins me to discuss Earth's Greatest Enemy, a feature length documentary that examines one of the largest polluters and contributors to global climate change in the world: the United States military. Listen to the full interview: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness