This week we look at the parallel of the collapse of Yugoslavia and the current fracturing of the United Kingdom. In the space of 4 years a long established Union of 6 Republics (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Macedonia) collapsed into civil war, ethnic cleansing and genocide.  Economic inequality and differing political cultures have driven the UK apart over the last 15 years with the Brexit and Scottish Independence Referendums  signalling the coming disintegration of the Union.  Could the United Kingdom go the same way as Yugoslavia?

Please find links attached to the articles and documentaries we used to research this podcast:

http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/johnsons-uk-and-milosevics-yugoslavia-spot-the-difference/

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2016/07/05/brexit-echoes-yugoslavia/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDADy9b2IBM&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=ArjenMolen

In this episode we discuss the origins, day-to-day life and continuing influence of the British Public schools of Eton, Harrow, Winchester etc. over British society. Despite several decades of reform a large majority (70+ percent) of politicians, journalists, actors, military officers, and bankers in the UK come from the only 7% of the population that go to public school. This grip on power of the aristocracy and business class amounts to a near caste system that locks the vast majority of the population out of power both in the House of Commons, BBC, mainstream newspapers, films, military and in the City of London. 

Please find below links to several articles and a documentary we used to research this subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF7OJhG7J84&feature=youtu.be

https://newrepublic.com/article/151232/britains-boarding-school-problem

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/22/posh-boys-english-public-schools-ruin-britain-robert-verkaik-review

In the last of our three part narrative of the Spanish Revolution and Civil War we reach the tragic and bloody end of the conflict in March 1939. After crushing the Anarchist Revolution in 1937 the Republican government of centrists and Stalinist backed Spanish Communists attempt to create a professional army to fight Franco but failed. Offensives in Aragon and Catalonia went nowhere and lead to the fall of Barcelona and a crushing series of defeats along the Ebro river in 1938. Finally, the Juan Negrín government fell to a military coup in March 1939 only for the remaining military leaders of the Republic to surrender to Franco on 31st March. For the hundreds of thousands of socialists that survived the final fall concentration camps, mass torture and mass graves awaited them in the one party personality cult that Spain was to remain for the next 40 years.

In this episode we ask some fundamental questions about the entire conflict: could the revolution have been saved and the war won? Did the Anarchist movement alienate those on the fence by it's actions in 1936-1937? Should the war have been fought as a guerrilla war rather than a standard military conflict? Most importantly for the modern Anarchist movement we ask what can be learned from the failure of 1939? And how has the Spain of the 21st century come to terms with the legacy of the War and the Francoist dictatorship?

Please find the following links for information on the period:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqlwMmbpwek&ab_channel=MilitaryMan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zy-A-SMsbk&ab_channel=MilitaryMan

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/mortal-remains-spain-and-legacy-franco/

https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-03-18/shadow-franco-s-legacy-spain-faces-its-fascist-history

In this the second part of our trilogy of episodes on the Spanish Revolution and Civil War we focus on the key year of 1937. The year began in hope as tens of thousands of International volunteers came to fight for the Republic and succeeded in defending Madrid from the Fascists- who were in turn supported by the military might of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The fate of the revolution was decided during the left sectarian struggle in Catalonia known as the May Days. And the atrocity of the aerial bombardment of the Basque town of Guernica shocked the world as the seeds of the Second World War were sown. 

Please find attached two key documentaries made in 1981 that cover the events of this podcast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9DxXd0Kl3o&ab_channel=MilitaryMan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozDbGAuUvgE&ab_channel=MilitaryMan

In the first of a three part series we will be focusing on the events that surrounded the beginning of the Spanish Revolution and convergent Civil War. During the episode we discuss the origins of the Falangist/ Catholic/ Military alliance and the CNT-FAI workers movement in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The long history of conservative military coups and the spread of the ideals of Libertarian Socialism would eventually lead to conflict on 17th July 1936. 

The Spanish Revolution is considered the most important event in the modern history of the Anarchist movement. Please find below a number of readings that go in depth on the events, personalities and practices of the Spanish Anarchist experiment:

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/daniel-guerin-anarchism-from-theory-to-practice#toc38

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/the-anarchist-faq-editorial-collective-an-anarchist-faq-10-17#toc61

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/sam-dolgoff-editor-the-anarchist-collectives

On this episode our bosom anarchist chums discuss the idea of work (aka. wage slavery) and whether there is an alternative to the 40 hour work week of "Bullshit Jobs" described by the late David Graeber in the form of Universal Basic Income or off-grid communes. Please find the articles we used to research this topic below:

https://harpers.org/archive/1932/10/in-praise-of-idleness/

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/01/why-we-should-all-have-a-basic-income/

https://www.strike.coop/bullshit-jobs/

This week our intrepid Anarchist chums discuss the CIA penned, Freedom Fighters Manual. A short guide to toppling the Nicaraguan Sandanistas airdropped into Nicaragua in the early 1980s. It was eventually published by the American press in 1984 and is today a subject of fun amongst various lefty nerds. During our discussion we touch on topics like American imperialism in South and Central America, the potency of American propaganda in toppling leftist governments and how James had a recent job interview. 

Here is a link to the Freedom Fighter's Manual for you to read along as we dissect it:  https://destructables.org/destructable/freedom-fighters-manual-cia-pamphlet-dropped-over-nicaragua-1983

Moving on from our previous episode where we discussed reasons to reject state-centred solutions to political problems, this week the gang are discussing positive reasons to adopt an anarchist approach. If people respond to your 100% legitimate complaints about contemporary politics with 'yeah? well what would you do?' - point them this way. 

We can't upload an image of Oisin's creeptastic moustache to accompany this episode - but trust us... it's suspicious...

This week we are joined by Oisin, James, Alex and Will. Enjoy!

Today the gang discuss why the capitalism is not your friend despite its seductive tendrils giving you a full brain massage on a daily basis.

This week we look at the culture surrounding the Soviet Union and how it is utilised today. Why are there so many young tankies? How do you get your uncle sent to the gulag? Was Mother Russia even ever communist at all? We answer all of these questions and more.  Listen or be denounced!