Long Covid Action Project (LCAP) activists Corsi Rosenthal (CR) and Clean Air (CA), along with journalist and LCAP founder Joshua Pribanic, discuss the recent direct action CR and CA participated in to disrupt the National Institute of Health's (NIH) first meeting for the RECOVER Initiative, ostensibly created to "understand, treat, and prevent Long COVID" in the United States.
Political analyst, writer, and Three Way Fight contributor Matthew N. Lyons joins me to discuss his analysis of the upcoming US presidential election, and how the choices presented to voters is "between a Democratic option more abysmal than four years ago and a Republican option even more catastrophic than last time." This interview was recorded just a few days before voting day on November 5th, and is based on Matthew's article, Three Way Fight Analysis of Trump and the 2024 Election.
Author and scholar Dr. Mohamed Abdou returns to the podcast, one year after October 7, 2023.
Our discussion flows across various subjects: Al-Aqsa Flood and the US-Israel genocide of Palestinians in Gaza; Islam and the crusading Euro-American imperial project; anti-colonial struggle as resistance, decolonization as "creating the world of many belows"; and Abdou's participation in the Palestine solidarity encampment at Columbia University, where he was targeted, threatened, and slandered by Zionists in the university administration, United States Congress, and by prominent media figures.
Meteorologist Jeff Masters joins me in this interview to discuss the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States, as he has written extensively about for the Yale Climate Connections blog, Eye on the Storm.
Epidemiologist and writer Abby Cartus joins me in this two-part interview to explore a fascinating set of questions: What does it mean for public health to fail? What does it mean for it to succeed? Also, I asked Abby to clarify the kinds of data that are collected—mainly from wastewater sites—and how that data is modeled and presented at this phase of the pandemic.
Abby Cartus writes about these subjects for her newsletter, Closed Form, and this interview is based on several of the essays she's produced for it. Due to time constraints, we ended up recording our entire discussion over the course of two days, and was released in two parts.
Award-winning journalist, author, and activist Barrett Brown returns to the podcast to discuss his much anticipated new book, My Glorious Defeats: Hacktivist, Narcissist, Anonymous: A Memoir.
Writer and agitator Vicky Osterweil returns to the podcast to discuss some of the themes raised in her essay, Feeling Good Doesn't Require the Democrats, published for her newsletter. The piece tackles the very vibes-based election cycle in the US, as Vice President Kamala Harris takes up the Democratic Party ticket to face up against Donald Trump this November. Vicky deftly navigates the affect-shift this change in the nominee, from current president Joe Biden to Harris, has had, both in its desired effect, and what is lost in riding this wave of "positive vibes only" while looking away from the realities that demand our fuller attention. In short, Vicky imparts this bit of wisdom that will remain relevant as we continue to move swiftly though our crises-laden times: don't give them the gift of our joy.
Ecologist and author Carl Safina returns to the podcast to discuss his newest book, Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe. Part memoir, part philosophical musing, Alfie and Me contains vignettes of ecological dreaming and profound critique.
Essayist and author Antonia Malchik joins me in this wandering, expansive discussion, touching on subjects at the heart of her writings and 2019 book, A Walking Life, and her upcoming book, No Trespassing. We discuss how the infrastructure of an automobile dependent society shapes our perception of nature and built environments, and in turn how we relate and move through it. I asked her about her more expansive view of walking and walkability, and how getting lost is good for our brains and souls. And near the later half of our time together, Antonia talks about her decision to ditch smartphones and social media, and how the creeping demands of our digital lives relate to her broader focus on enclosure, property, and reclaiming the commons.
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.
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.
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.
