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Nignorance from across the diaspora. We discuss politics and pop culture from a left perspective. Enjoy and tell a friend.
Episodes
Sunday Aug 09, 2020
Sunday Aug 09, 2020
About a month ago I had the professor Cedric Johnson on the show. We were having a great time talking on and off air. In our conversation, he had remembered me talking about working in North Dakota and recommended I read an article from a journalist named Susan Shepard. He sent me the link, and I read it right away.
It was a great piece that put you in North Dakota. You could almost taste the dust. Susan Shepard tells her story of an exotic dancer in a boomtown where fossil fuel extraction through fracking is the main industry. That industry creates, what many think is a thriving service economy. Susan vividly tells her story not just from the eyewitness perspective, but she ads a Marxist view of the boomtown economy to show what oil extraction does to an entire community. Not just one aspect of it. We had a good talk until...
So, as listeners of this show know, I record the episodes at our studio in the Lower Bottoms of West Oakland at Soundwave Studios. We've had a bit of a rat resurgence in the area, and I don't really want to get into the factors why, but needless to say, there are rats EVERYWHERE! One got in the room and ran out while I was conducting the interview. I'm not gonna lie, I fucking screamed and ran out the room. Luckily, you couldn't hear my yell too well, and Susan was able to wrap up her final thought. Maybe the rat wanted to weigh in on our conversation? I don't know, I do know that shit freaked me the hell out. I hate rats. I hate the way the jump out at you, did I mention I hate rats?
Read the "Wildcatting" piece here:
Susan's Website
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Wednesday Aug 05, 2020
Wednesday Aug 05, 2020
I found these dudes on Twitter and I had to hit them up and to see if they'd be down to be on the show. To my surprise, they responded and were down to come on tell their story of how they got radicalized, and an in depth critique of the U.S. empire.
Left Flank Vets (Twitter):
https://twitter.com/LeftFlankVets
Left Flank Vets (Instagram):
https://www.instagram.com/leftflankvets/
Thank you again for taking the time to check out the show. If you are enjoying what you're hearing PLEASE become a patron. You'll get all the bonus content, extra shows, and free merch!
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Sunday Aug 02, 2020
Sunday Aug 02, 2020
Aviva Chomsky brilliantly explains the history of illegality in the United States in her book, "Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal" published in 2014. She explains the racial and political context of the concept of illegal immigration as well as explaining how large agricultural companies use immigration laws to maintain a highly profitable slave wage work force that has no rights when exploited.
A little about Aviva Chomsky:
"Much of my scholarly work can be traced back to the year I spent working for the United Farm Workers union back in 1976-77. I credit that experience with sparking my interest in the Spanish language, in migrant workers and immigration, in labor history, in social movements and labor organizing, in multinationals and their workers, in how global economic forces affect individuals, and how people collectively organize for social change."
To purchase Aviva Chomsky's books, click the link below:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/205871/they-take-our-jobs-by-aviva-chomsky/
A great review of Undocumented:
https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2015/01/review-undocumented-how-immigration-became-illegal
Thank you for taking the time to check out the show. We truly appreciate you. If you enjoy what you're hearing and you'd like to support independent media like this, then BECOME A PATRON! You'll get the episodes early, you get all the bonus content as well as special merchandise! Become a patron now
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Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
-Gerald Horne
In this time of massive uprisings not just all over the country, but all over the world, we're seeing people demand for a defunding of law enforcement, and a push for real systemic change at the way we actually viewing policing. I was lucky enough to land a big influence of mine, professor and author Gerald Horne on to discuss where the left is in it's current state. Professor Horne documented the deep rooted systemic causes of the of those riots in 1965 and their political ripple effect. We discussed the opptimism of the current movement, but also the slight pessimism that exists in these moments as well.
A little about Professor Horne:
Horne has also produced broad canvas chronicles of infrequently examined periods and aspects of the history of white supremacy and imperialism such as the post-civil war involvement of the US ruling class—newly dispossessed of human chattels—with slavery in Brazil, which was not legally abolished until 1888, or the attempts by Japanese imperialists in the mid-20th century to appear as the leaders of a global war against white supremacy, thus allies and instruments of "liberation" for people of color oppressed by imperialism.
Manning Marable has said: "Gerald Horne is one of the most gifted and insightful historians on racial matters of his generation."( From NYU Press)
Find Professor Horne's most recent book here:
Follow and Like Professor Horne on Facebook Here:
https://www.facebook.com/Gerald-Horne-101434631429017/
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Sunday Jul 26, 2020
Sunday Jul 26, 2020
I was real excited for this one. I've been a fan of his debunking videos, and his book, "Give Them An Argument: Logic for the Left". Ben Burgis has just finished a new book, that he says should be out next year titled, "Cancelling Comedians While the World Burns: A Critique of the Contemporary Left". We talked about the upcoming book, the scuttlebutt around "cancel culture", Dave Chappelle, and of course, his appearance on Jessie Lee Peterson's show. We had some damn good laughs. I for one, can't wait to do it again!
Find about everything Ben Burgis Here:
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Wednesday Jul 22, 2020
Wednesday Jul 22, 2020
If you haven't heard his two part deep dive into the history of QAnon, then you really ain't doing this internet thing right! Robbie has been a voice on the left for sometime now, and to have actually agree to come down to the studio and do this socially distanced masked interview was pretty damn fun. Fun fact, we're both bay natives.
Listen to Robbie's Podcast w/ his sister Abby Martin
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/media-roots-radio/id718967852
Robbie's Podcast on Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/media-roots
Thank you so much for checking this out. If you like shows like this that educate and spotlight issues that don't get the mainstream media attention they deserve, please support independent media like this! Become a patron. You'll get special shows and bonus content, as well as band/show merch!
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Sunday Jul 19, 2020
Sunday Jul 19, 2020
Buckle up! I got to sit down with professor Cedric Johnson and we discussed a variety of topics that ranged from the last days of Trump, BLM, is COVID-19 a "black problem"? We of course went into the recent uprisings over police killings and even his early activist days in Louisiana! A good dude, fascinating insight, enjoy the conversation with Professor, Leftist, Socialist, Father, Author, Intellectual, Cedric Johnson.
Cedric Johnson is associate professor of African American studies and political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and editor of The Neoliberal Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, Late Capitalism and the Remaking of New Orleans (University of Minnesota Press, 2011).
Some of Cedric's Writings:
Don't Let Black Washing Save the Investor Class
The Triumph of Black Lives Matter and Neoliberal Redemption
Please pick up Cedric's books
Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to the show. Please share, like and subscribe. If you want to support independent media like this, then become a patron. You'll get the episodes first, bonus content and our upcoming video series "Revolutionary Histories".
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Wednesday Jul 15, 2020
Wednesday Jul 15, 2020
It's has become our new reality. COVID-19, SARS II, Coronavirus, whatever you want to call it, it's here and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon. I was worried about this reality because federal leadership during this pandemic has been beyond dreadful, it's been literally deadly. The Washington Post has a Trump Death Clock for all the deaths the current administration is responsible for due to non action at the beginning of this pandemic. The Economic shut down, coupled with no real financial reforms for the mass of Americans is leading to a record number of newly homeless and unemployed. I decided to give a shout to show economist, and good friend Arash Kolahi. He breaks down systemic causes for our COVID-shelter-in place anxiety.
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Sunday Jul 12, 2020
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
In this episode we were SO LUCK TO HAVE Erica R. Meiners, co-author of "The Feminist and the Sex Offender: Confronting Sexual Harm, Ending State Violence". Dealing with the unhoused population I deal with both ends of sexual harm, and domestic violence, and this book for me was a great looking into how we currently handle sexual violence with the carceral state, and what an abolitionist view might look like when it comes to sexual violence.
From Verso Books:
With analytical clarity and narrative force, The Feminist and the Sex Offender contends with two problems that are typically siloed in the era of #MeToo and mass incarceration: sexual and gender violence, on the one hand, and the state’s unjust, ineffective, and soul-destroying response to it on the other. Is it possible to confront the culture of abuse? Is it possible to hold harm-doers accountable without recourse to a criminal justice system that redoubles injuries, fails survivors, and retrenches the conditions that made such abuse possible?
Drawing on interviews, extensive research, reportage, and history, The Feminist and the Sex Offender develops an intersectional feminist approach to ending sexual violence. It maps with considerable detail the unjust sex offender regime while highlighting the alternatives we urgently need.
Donate
Buy the book
https://www.versobooks.com/books/3176-the-feminist-and-the-sex-offender
Thank you so much for checking this out. If you like shows like this that educate and spotlight issues that don't get the mainstream media attention they deserve, please support independent media like this! Become a patron. You'll get special shows and bonus content, as well as band/show merch!
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Sunday Jul 05, 2020
Sunday Jul 05, 2020
A continuation of our discussion with psychotherapist and homeless rights advocate Kelvin Martinez. We discuss what #DefundthePolice actually could look like, the failings of the government COVID-19 response, BLM and the uprisings in LA and the future of movements on the left, and MORE!
Thank you so much for listening and being a part of the show. If you can, become a patron and support independent media. You get bonus content and shows, Bitter Lake merch, and SO MUCH MORE!
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