Cinder Bloc.

show notes: 

Jason E. Smith (Los Angeles) is, among other things, a communist theorist who writes primarily about contemporary politics, art, and philosophy.

Smart Machines and Service Work: Automation in an Age of Stagnation 

The Upstarts and the Mandarins: Reflections on the Illusions of a Class (Jason w/ Tony Smith) 

Nowhere to Go: Automation, Then and Now pt I 

Nowhere to Go: Automation, Then and Now pt 2 

Annie McClanahan (Irvine) is, among other things, a communist theorist who researches at the intersection of culture, economics,  and art.

Dead Pledges: Debt, Crisis, and Twenty-First Century Culture 

Secular Stagnation and the Discourse of Reproductive Limit 

Life Expectancies: Mortality, Exhaustion, and Economic Stagnation 

The Spirit of Capital in an Age of Deindustrialization 

TV and Tipworkification 

Late, Autumnal, Immiserating, Terminal 

Special thanks to Stephen Steen for his help producing this episode

Many thanks to Occult A/V for our new title intro song, "Cosmic Background Radiation" 

Cinder Bloc. is a project developed out of Red May in Seattle, Washington. Episode 2 is the second half of our two-part discussion with Phillip Neel, Jarrod Shanahan, and Zhandarka Kurti. Recorded in the first week of December 2020, we wanted to reflect on the apparently increasing stakes of 2020, from the pandemic to the George Floyd Rebellions and, most presciently, looking to the *then* recent 2020 US presidential election. In Part 2 we focus on the movement to defund the police, how it relates to the broader non-profit sector, and of course, alleyway communism. This episode also includes a follow up with our guests after J6, where we ask if this was the petering out of the right under Trump, or the early rumblings of a more organized and politically daring right.

show notes :

Jarrod Shanahan (Chicago) and Zhandarka Kurti (Knoxville) are, among other things, organizers, scholars, and members of the editorial board for Hard Crackers.

The Big Takeover 

Prelude to a Hot Summer 

The Shifting Ground: a Conversation on the George Floyd Rebellions 

Thankful for President Trump: Thanksgiving with Stop the Steal 

The Show Must Go On 

Phillip Neel (Seattle) is, among other things, a communist geographer and the author of Hinterland.

Crowned Plague 

The Spiral 

Why Riot?

Counting Riots

New Ghettos Burning

Episode 2 music : The intro is The Charlie Daniels Band’s “In America” from The Live Record (2001).  The interlude and outro is from Khidja’s and Lamina Salta's DJ set for Hör Berlin

Episode 2 thumbnail taken by Saul Loeb via Getty Images on January 6th, 2021 in Washington DC

Special thanks to Stephen Steen for his help producing this episode

Cinder Bloc. is a project developed out of Red May in Seattle, Washington. Episode 1 is the first of a two-part discussion we shared with Phillip Neel, Jarrod Shanahan, and Zhandarka Kurti. Recorded in the first week of December 2020, we wanted to reflect on the apparently increasing stakes of 2020, from the pandemic to the George Floyd Rebellions and, most presciently,  looking to the *then* recent 2020 US presidential election. Whether Trump or Biden took the chair, the coming November election had every source from Fox and MSNBC to your favorite Signal thread buzzing with anticipation of political crisis and civil unrest. Would the election push the summer heatwave into the winter or would it bring a cold front? 

We of Cinder Bloc. thought we had an answer at the beginning of December. But Zhana, Jarrod, and Phil suggested otherwise, albeit from different positions : to varying degrees, they told us, wait and see. 

Almost a month later to the day, the Capitol riots shocked the US as neo-nazis, white-supremacists, and the fascist right-wave protests swept the Capitol and pockets around North America. Now on the cusp of J20 and warnings of armed right taking to the streets, what unrest is on the horizon? What are the real divides polarizing the U.S. today? And can the Left do about it?

show notes :

Jarrod Shanahan (Chicago) and Zhandarka Kurti (Knoxville) are, among other things, organizers, scholars, and members of the editorial board for Hard Crackers. 

Prelude to a Hot Summer 

The Shifting Ground: a Conversation on the George Floyd Rebellions 

Thankful for President Trump: Thanksgiving with Stop the Steal 

The Show Must Go On 

Phillip Neel (Seattle) is, among other things, a communist geographer and the author of Hinterland.  

Crowned Plague 

The Spiral 

Why Riot? 

Counting Riots 

New Ghettos Burning