An interview with two anarchists from Vancouver about their efforts to intervene in the climate strike and extinction rebellion actions in that city. We talk about the context in Vancouver, their critique of Extinction Rebellion, black blocs, critical solidarity, and moving beyond hope and hopelessness. For the privacy of our guests, this interview was re-voiced by volunteers. Links: Anarchist Critique and Analysis of Recent Climate Mobilizations in Vancouver Imagining New Worlds - Anti-Capitalism and Climate Justice (Kitchener, Ontario) Extinguishing Rebellion (Montreal) Printable Outreach Materials for Climate Strike Actions (It's Going Down) -with music from the Subhumans and Bombs Away
A conversation with Jonathan Vallely and Eric Levitt of Gay 4 Pay Press, a zine distro largely focused on radical politics and gay/queer men based out of Toronto and Ottawa. We talk about cruising, a world without police, community conversations around consent and accountability, crystal meth, and, of course, zines. Music in this episode: FAGGOT - Mister Wallace Excerpt from Breaking the Ice/Letters to Meth video - composed by Don Vaillancourt
This week's episode features an interview with Kate Klein of the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network. We talk a bit about the group's work opposing the mining industry and supporting mining-affected communities outside of Canada in their struggles against Canadian mining corporations. Mostly, we discuss the group's use of drama and comedy in their campaigns, and discuss a recent workshop that Kate and another member gave on "humour as an activist tactic."
Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world measured from its oceanic base and one of the most sacred sites for spiritual Hawaiians. A consortium of government and university scientists from Canada, the United States, Japan, China and India have been trying to build the Thirty Metre Telescope on its summit for nearly a decade, coming up against fierce opposition from native Hawaiians every step of the way. Things heated up again this summer as TMT planned to start construction for the second time. In response, land protectors established a resistance camp on the mountain. After two and a half months and dozens of arrests, the camp is still standing and a mass movement has emerged to defend the mountain. We caught up with Pua’ena Ahn, who is part of the Hawaiian movement and currently active to protect Mauna Kea. With music from Anti-Flag and PUNAHELE695 In Canada, the National Research Council and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA) are important partners in the TMT Corporation. Some prominent Canadian astronomers have already spoken out against the project. Add to the pressure! Board Members of TMT (Canada) Donald Brooks – Professor, University of British Columbia Greg Fahlman – General Manager, NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Kim Venn – Professor, University of Victoria ACURA Institutional Members and Representatives Athabasca University – Martin Connors Bishops University, Sherbrooke - Lorne Nelson Brandon University - Tyler Foster McGill University, Montreal - Nick Cowan McMaster University, Hamilton - Christine Wilson Queen’s University, Kingston - Stephane Courteau Saint Mary’s University, Halifax - Robert Thacker Trent University, Peterborough - David Patton University of Alberta, Edmonton - Gregory R. Sivakoff University of British Columbia, Vancouver - Aaron Boley University of Calgary - Robert Thompson Laval University - Gilles Joncas University of Lethbridge - Erasmus Okine University of Manitoba, Winnipeg - Stefi Baum University of Montreal - René Doyon University of Toronto - Vivek Goel University of Victoria – Kim Venn University of Waterloo - Charmaine Dean University of Western Ontario, London - Stanimir Metchev York University, Toronto - Patrick Hall And finally, don't forget to check out the Toronto Anarchist Bookfair this weekend!
An interview with Byron, host of To Know The Land, a radio show on Guelph's CFRU 93.3. We talk about why radio is cool, and I pick Byron's brain about place, space and knowing the land we stand on. Links: https://toknowtheland.tumblr.com/showarchives Music by Ana Roxanne, Hotel Neon and Taylor Deupree The album Byron mentions at the end isn't out yet but you can hear some previews here: https://stationarytravels.wordpress.com/place-language/
An interview with Nathan Munn, a freelance journalist based in Montreal. Nathan has written several investigative pieces for VICE looking at the "Hub Model" of community policing, which has been quietly rolling out across the country, and especially in Saskatchewan and Ontario, over the past 5 years. The article by Kristian Williams referenced in the introduction is available in PDF form here.
Talking to Lee Reed, anarchist organizer and MC from Hamilton, ON and self-described mouthy jerk. We talk about how his political music and focus have changed over time, artists and anarchists finding themselves in conflict over gentrification and figuring out what to do about it, Locke St repression and supporting Pride defenders, his recent Polaris nomination for the Steal City EP, and more. Plus I crammed this episode full of great tracks, old and new. Enjoy! Music in this episode: Lee Reed - The Bank Mat Heddle feat. Lee Reed - Gtfh Warsawpack - Doomsday Device Lee Reed - Fuck No
Every year on August 10th, both inside and outside of jails and prisons across Canada, prisoners and their supporters mark Prisoners Justice Day. We spoke with Veronica, an anarchist in Montreal who is part of organizing the annual NYE noise demos in Laval. We discuss the history of Prisoners Justice Day, what has changed since the 70s, how PJD will marked and articulated this year, recuperation by Liberal governments, anarchist approaches to prisoner solidarity, and how to get started. Some PJD Events Across Canada: Halifax - Kingston (1, 2) - Hamilton (1, 2) - Ottawa - Toronto - Sudbury - Vancouver - Barrie - London Prisoners mentioned include Pete Collins, Cleve Geddes, Justin St Amour, and Jean Veillette. Texts discussed include Under New Management, Prisons In Canada, Barred From Prison, and the Penal Press Archive. We also referenced the podcast "What Happened to Prisoners Justice Day?" Other topics raised include Structured Intervention Units, Prison Farms, and the P4W Memorial Collective.
An interview with a recently-released Hamilton anarchist on the events surrounding Hamilton Pride, anarchist prisoner support, jail, queer community, being a hashtag and feeling popular.
Conversation with two organizers from Anti-Police Power Surrey (APPS), a grassroots organization committed to building collective resistance to police and the systems of power and domination they uphold: capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy. They are active on the unceded, stolen territories of the Kwantlen, Musqueam, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen, Qayqayt, and Kwikwetlem nations, occupied by Surrey, British Columbia. Website: Anti-Police Power Surrey Facebook & Instagram Music in this episode: Tribe Called Quest - We The People
A conversation with an anarchist who was around during the height of the 2010 anti-Olympics resistance in Vancouver. We talk about the impact the Olympics has had on the social climate, the surveillance experienced by anarchists and other organizers, and the infamous Heart Attack demo that tore up the city's downtown core.
An interview with a now Bogota-based member of Projet Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie, a Quebec-based collective that works to build direct solidarity with Colombian communities, organizations and social movements. Topics include: - the meaning of internationalism and why and how we frame our struggles in an international context. - what North-South solidarity looks like. - political violence and how it relates to social struggles. - struggling alongside people who are not anarchists. Links: PASC CLAC-Montreal https://peoplesdispatch.org/ https://www.thetricontinental.org/
An interview with author, farmer and organizer Aric McBay about his new book Full Spectrum Resistance. We talk about building effective movements, his departure from Deep Green Resistance, dynamics between radicals and liberals, what is a victory, movement case studies, and the importance of moving from abstract ideas to tangible struggle. Music by Janelle Monae and Bakunin's Bum (with words from Shawn Brant back when he was organizing with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty).
A conversation with a Kingston organizer of an anti-police and anti-military protest contingent in Kingston Pride Parade, and an interview with two folks from Hamilton about people at Hamilton Pride defending themselves homophobic street preachers and violent far-right white supremacists without relying on the police. Note that we re-recorded this second interview to protect their anonymity. Check out The Tower on Facebook (facebook.com/thetowerhamilton) as well as North Shore Counter Info (north-shore.info) for more up to date information on arrests, solidarity actions, and ways you can support those arrested and possibly facing charges in Hamilton. Related reading: The Unquiet Dead: Anarchism, Fascism, and Mythology. Zine-length chapters and audio recordings available at https://unquietdead.tumblr.com/
Audio from a panel at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair. Hosts from The Solecast, Intersection'elle, Changing On The Fly, and From Embers discuss questions about podcasting, Internet culture, radio, privacy, and "being a personality." Music in this episode is Sole, off his album Destituent. Also it's the one year anniversary of From Embers!
This year on May Day in Toronto, anarchists and radicals brought a replica guillotine to a rally at Queen’s Park, leading to outrage in the mainstream media and government calls for a police investigation. In light of this, and in a context where guillotine memes and other gestures towards political violence are becoming more popular, we spoke with an author of the article Against the Logic of the Guillotine published on the CrimethInc website. We discuss the ideas in the article, and tease out some of the philosophical tensions that underpin it. Music: L’Interrogatorio di Sante Caserio and Sante Caserio by From the Depths
In 1919, what started as a dispute over how workers in a particular trade should negotiate with their employers became a generalized workers' revolt that we now know as the Winnipeg General Strike. Don't click skip just yet! It can be hard to see the relevance in things that happened so long ago, but how to build things that (a) generalize, and (b) actually threaten business as usual is a pressing question for a lot of us today, and while 2019 and 1919 are radically different contexts, they aren't separate planets. In this episode, I spoke with Sean Carleton, a professor of history and member of the Graphic History Collective about the strike and what lessons we can learn from its history, whether we are labour activists or not. The Graphic History Collective's book about the strike - 1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike - is out on Between The Lines press and can be purchased wherever you buy books. They're also on a book tour right now - check social media (warning - facebook link!) or your local event listings for details.
Today we bring you an episode of a brand-new podcast miniseries entitled "What Happened to Prisoner Justice Day?" about the history of prisons in canada focusing on differences in the prison system in the 1960s-1980s versus today. The podcast features interviews with former and current prisoners, as well as supporters on the outside. "In [this] episode, we talk to Gene, who started doing time in canadian prisons in 1972. Gene talks to us about the early days of PJD on the inside and the role that inmates committees and outside support played in prisoner resistance in the 70s and 80s. He talks a bit about protective custody or PC, and how changes to protective custody policies in federal prisons undermined solidarity. At the end of the show, we mention the website penalpress.com. The site features a catalogue of newspapers produced in prisons in canada. Check it out for an inside perspective on the canadian prison system from the late 1940s onwards." More about the podcast: This is a mini series about the history of prisons in canada focusing on differences in the prison system in the 1960s-1980s versus today. The podcast features interviews with former and current prisoners, as well as supporters on the outside. For those new to prison history, Prisoner Justice Day, also called PJD, started in 1975 on the one year anniversary of the death of Edward Nalon, an inside organizer who bled to death in a segregation cell in Millhaven Maximum Penitentiary on August 10th, 1974. Prisoners refused to eat and refused to work to commemorate Eddie's death. In May 1976, Robert Landers, who had been actively organizing in Archambault Pen before being involuntarily transferred to Millhaven, died in a segregation cell in Millhaven after repeated calls for medical help met no response. In June 1976, prisoners in Millhaven launched a call for support for their one day hunger strike in remembrance of all prisoners who had died inside - to take place on August 10th. Word spread across the country and, in the end, thousands of prisoners participated in the one day hunger strike and supporters on the outside organized events on the outside. A lot has changed since the 70s, not just in prison, but outside of prison. While respecting PJD remains important to many on the inside and outside, the numbers of those participating are nowhere near the numbers involved in the 70s and 80s. This podcast mini-series sets out to explore why that change has occurred. We found the PJD image for the podcast and its backstory here: http://journal.radicalcriminology.org/index.php/rc/article/view/68/html Search for What Happened to Prisoner Justice Day wherever you get your podcasts, or check it out online at prisonhistoryca.libsyn.com
The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair is the largest anarchist gathering in North America and 2019 is it's 20th year. In this episode, I interviewed two members of this year's bookfair collective. Topics include: - what, if anything, does the bookfair have to do with books? -is the bookfair for "us," for "recruitment," or both? -how much should event planners try to shape a space like this? what kinds of policies are appropriate and how, if at all, should they be enforced? -what should we expect at this year's bookfair? The bookfair is coming up on May 25th and 26th! Links: Website Facebook Page Twitter
Recording of a talk by Alexis Shotwell on veganism, relational ethics, and mutual aid. From the event description: “Will eating plant-based foods save us from climate catastrophes? Should everyone eat vegan? How should people who care about the world understand “clean eating”? Is Jordan Peterson pursuing a beef-only diet because he’s an asshole, or because he’s managing a severe disability, or both? Is criticizing factory farmed meat the same as criticizing Indigenous hunting practices? What does any of this have to do with mutual aid? In this conversation, I’ll share some approaches to answering these questions. I’ll explain what I think is a useful distinction between ethical decisions based on substances (what something is) and ethical decisions based on placing ourselves in relationships. I’ll talk about the difference between clean eating and vegan eating, and share why anarchist understandings of political care in the form of mutual aid help us be in good relationships with our devastated, hurting, good world.” AKA Autonomous Social Centre (Kingston) Punch Up Collective (Ottawa)
Interview with Kevin Tucker about his latest book The Cull of Personality, which tells the story and surrounding context of the murder of Shipibo-Conibo healer and indigenous rights activist Olivia Arevalo at the hands of Canadian ayahuasca tourist Sebastian Woodroffe in the Peruvian Amazon. Woodroffe was subsequently lynched by members of Arevalo’s community, which became a big story in the Canadian press. We discuss the story, ayahuasca, colonialism, and new age spirituality in a civilized world. Music by Slugdge
Tonight on From Embers we’re talking about the unfolding crisis in Venezuela, and specifically the role of the Canadian state and the Lima Group. We open with a bit of a rant about how tricky anti-imperialist politics can be for anarchists to navigate - somewhat coincidentally, the topic of the week on Anarchist News this week. Then we feature an interview with Lydia of the Women's Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallmapu, a grassroots organization based in Toronto with ties to the Mapuche struggle in Chile. I asked her about Canada’s role in the intervention and recent actions she’s taken to disrupt mainstream narratives about so-called democracy in Venezuela. A few background English-language anarchist articles about Venezuela and the Bolivarian Revolution: Anarkismo Visit Report (2004) Socialism to the Highest Bidder (2006) True and False in Venezeula (2014) Roland Denis Interview (2016) Uruguayan Anarchists on Popular Power in Venezuela (2017) Black Rose statement (2019)
This week's episode features two interviews with people involved in the struggle to stop a new migrant prison from being built in Laval, Quebec. Topics discussed include: -the project and how the government is trying to frame it as a "nice" cage. -senses of strategy and what might work to actually stop a project like this. -actions that have taken place against the prison, how they've gone, and what actions might be on the horizon. Stop The Prison Ni Frontières, Ni Prisons (facebook link!) Solidarity Across Borders
This week's episode features two perspectives on the right-wing "Yellow Vests Canada" movement and how anti-fascists are taking them on. Topics include: What, if anything, do these people have to do with the yellow vest movement in France? Are they workerists, xenophobes, populists, fascists or all of the above? How are neo-nazis and other fascists recruiting from inside the movement? Should we as anti-fascists treat the yellow vests like fash or like something else? What's up with the United We Roll truck convoy? Is this really a grassroots movement *for* pipelines? Links: https://twitter.com/VestsCanada https://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/ https://ottawagdc.org/
Today's episode features a conversation with some members of Feminist Action Hamilton, an anyone-except-cis-men collective organizing around anarchist principles. We talk about some of the actions and workshops Feminist Action Hamilton has been organizing over the past year; feelings and motivations around creating an organizing space without cis men; intentions and desires to support each other, learn together, and take action, and some of the messiness and difficulties of organizing when you're not pretending to have all the answers. Feminist Action Hamilton: Facebook
An interview with Craig Fortier, who is an organizer and academic based in Toronto. Among other things, Craig is involved with No One Is Illegal and helps coordinate the Field of Dreamers Cooperative Softball Association, which was featured on a recent episode of Talking Radical Radio. Craig is the author of the short book Unsettling The Commons: Social Movements Within, Against and Beyond Settler Colonialism which was published in 2017 by Arbeiter Ring. In it, Craig draws on more than 50 interviews with organizers within what he calls the “anti-authoritarian current” across Canada and the United States, and discusses what it means to “struggle for the commons” in the context of settler colonialism. Craig’s book recommendations include Undoing Border Imperialism, Red Skin White Masks & Mohawk Interruptus. Music is by LAL and Test Their Logik.
SubMedia is an anarchist video collective based in Montreal. Founded in 1994, they have been putting out high-quality video for more than two decades, featuring satirical takes on the news, “riot porn”, explanations of anarchist concepts, calls to action, and more, always with a strong dose of humour. Their latest project is called Trouble, and features in-depth interviews about a new theme each month. Check with your local anarchist community space to see if they are screening monthly screenings – if not, start your own! I sat down with JR, a member of the SubMedia collective, to speak about the trajectory of the project, some philosophical questions about anarchist media, the spectacle of resistance and repression, their recent coverage of the crisis at Unist’ot’en, and more.
Today's episode features two interviews about solidarity actions with the Wet'suwet'en people currently defending their sovereignty, their lands and their waters by resisting pipeline construction through their territories. In our first interview we speak with an urban Indigenous organizer about several different solidarity actions on unceded Coast Salish territories in Vancouver and some of the broader context, strategy and motivations behind those actions. Our second interview is with two Mi'kmaq land and water protectors in Unama'ki (so-called Cape Breton) about a solidarity action that shut down the Canso Causeway, related struggles against resource extraction throughout Mi'kma'ki, and some of the broader context and motivations behind those struggles as well. Many different solidarity actions have taken place across this territory and around the world - too many to count! Actions and demonstrations have continued to flare up throughout so-called Canada - we encourage you to participate in solidarity actions happening in your area, and if it doesn't seem like anything is happening where you are, grab some friends and organize your own action! This is not over. Solidarity actions and further updates and info: We support the Unist'ot'en and Wet'suwet'en Grassroots Movement (facebook) January 8th - International Day of Action (facebook) Wet'suwet'en Access Point on Gidumt'en Territory (facebook) Unist'ot'en Camp (blog) Unist'ot'en Camp (facebook) sub.media category: Unist'ot'en This Is Not Over: Major Disruptions Continue in Support of Unist'ot'en Camp (itsgoingdown.org) Another End of the World Is Possible: Indigenous Solidarity and Blocking Extractive Infrastructure in Canada (mtlcounterinfo.org) North Shore Counter-Info: Posts tagged Unist'ot'en North Shore Counter-Info: Posts tagged Wet'suwet'en Alliance Against Displacement (facebook) Warrior Publications: Posts tagged Unist'ot'en #shutdowncanada #wetsuwetenstrong #thetimeisnow #notresspass Music in this episode: A Tribe Called Red - Unist'ot'en Camp - Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear) Spoken word clips from Unist'ot'en spokesperson Freda Huson
