Coffee with Comrades

On Episode 8 of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson sit down for a conversation with Mark Bray and Rob Haworth to discuss their upcoming book, Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader.

But first, Pearson digs into some of his experiences at the Shut it Down DC demonstrations. While a broad coalition of anti-fascists successfully managed to deplatform the white supremacists who’d invaded the city for Unite the Right 2 and that victory ought to be widely celebrated, Pearson draws three major conclusions about the event:

1. Liberalism is failing us and making space for white supremacists, online and in the streets.
2. Militant anti-fascists must continue training to develop a more strategic approach to the black bloc. Militant anti-fascism works. We just need to be more organized.
3. If it wasn’t for the police, the fascists would’ve never been safe to march in the streets. The state is complicit in white supremacy.

For a solid report that accurately captures what it felt like on the ground August 12, check out Brendan O’Connor’s piece in The Nation.

Then, Mark Bray and Rob Haworth join our hosts for an engrossing discussion on Francisco Ferrer, the history and legacy of the Modern School, anarchist pedagogy and education, atheism, and so much more.

Follow Mark Bray on Twitter.

Check out Rob Haworth’s PM Press page and his band, Second Letter.

Buy the Book: “Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader”

Music:

• Intro: “All You Fascists Bound to Lose” by Woody Guthrie
• Transition: “Nobody” by Stick to Your Guns
• Outro: “Painted Pictures” by Second Letter

TW: Be advised, this episode includes a sound-byte from Richard Nixon's chief of staff, Lee Atwater, spewing racial slurs from 22:02--22:22.

In this week's episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson discuss the #August21 Prison Strike and dissect the prison-industrial complex, the abolition movement, and transformative justice. But, first, a look at this week in current events:

• A migrant child died shortly after being released from detention by ICE
• Detained migrant fathers and sons stage a strike in Texas
• Facebook censors antifascists organizing to demonstrate in DC
• DC Metro union refuses to transport fascists

Bree and Pearson then provide a historical context for the prison-industrial complex before diving into the legacy and goals of the abolition movement. Ultimately, the hosts of Coffee with Comrades advocate for a system of transformative justice to truly address the root causes of "crime" and create a more humane and egalitarian society.

Get Involved:

• Educate others about the August 21st Prison Strike, the prison-industrial complex, abolition, and transformative justice
• Follow and promote the strike on social media using the #August21 and #prisonstrike hash-tags on social media and amplify the voices of incarcerated workers
• Endorse the strike by emailing your organization's statement to [email protected]
• Spread word of the strike both inside and outside--go to www.incarceratedworkers.org to print out stickers, flyers and posters
• Organize a phone tree in preparation for phone zaps
• Start an Anarchist Black Cross chapter
• Write to political prisoners
• Support the upcoming strike directly by promoting, attending, and/or creating a solidarity demonstration at a prison near you!

Resources:

• Incarcerated Workers Organizing Community
• Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis
• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
• 13th Documentary on Netflix
• The Empty Cages Collective
• Critical Resistance

Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie

Outro: "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" by Run the Jewels

TW: Be advised, this episode includes a sound-byte from Richard Nixon’s chief of staff, Lee Atwater, spewing racial slurs from 22:02--22:22.

In this week’s episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson discuss the #August21 Prison Strike and dissect the prison-industrial complex, the abolition movement, and transformative justice. But, first, a look at this week in current events:

• A migrant child died shortly after being released from detention by ICE
• Detained migrant fathers and sons stage a strike in Texas
• Facebook censors antifascists organizing to demonstrate in DC
• DC Metro union refuses to transport fascists

Bree and Pearson then provide a historical context for the prison-industrial complex before diving into the legacy and goals of the abolition movement. Ultimately, the hosts of Coffee with Comrades advocate for a system of transformative justice to truly address the root causes of “crime” and create a more humane and egalitarian society.

Get Involved:

• Educate others about the August 21st Prison Strike, the prison-industrial complex, abolition, and transformative justice
• Follow and promote the strike on social media using the #August21 and #prisonstrike hash-tags on social media and amplify the voices of incarcerated workers
• Endorse the strike by emailing your organization's statement to [email protected]
• Spread word of the strike both inside and outside--go to www.incarceratedworkers.org to print out stickers, flyers and posters
• Organize a phone tree in preparation for phone zaps
• Start an Anarchist Black Cross chapter
• Write to political prisoners
• Support the upcoming strike directly by promoting, attending, and/or creating a solidarity demonstration at a prison near you!

Resources:

• Incarcerated Workers Organizing Community
• Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis
• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
• 13th Documentary on Netflix
• The Empty Cages Collective
• Critical Resistance

Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie

Outro: "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" by Run the Jewels

On today's episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson explore the symbiotic relationship of science and anarchy with Kaleb Morgan.

But first, some current events:

• A FL auto shop owner snitched on a fifteen-year-old girl who escaped her ICE captors
• A six-year-old girl was sexually abused while in a DHS detention facility
• Comrades in Occupy ICE TPA were arrested before police trashed their tents. Donate to their legal defense fund.
• Anarchists in the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective are making their own medicine
• Anarcho-syndicalist video game developer Motion Twin studios gears up to release its new game, Dead Cells

In this week's interview, Pearson and Kaleb discuss everything from Kropotkin to Marx, mutual aid to historical determinism, and evolution to social darwinism. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and check it out!

Follow Kaleb on Twitter and Instagram.

Get involved:

• Donate to the Occupy ICE TPA legal defense fund.
• Defend DC from Nazi scum.
• Support the August 21 Prison Strike.
• All out this August!

Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie

Outro: "Never Let Go of the Microscope" by Enter Shikari

On today’s episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson explore the symbiotic relationship of science and anarchy with Kaleb Morgan.

But first, some current events:

• A FL auto shop owner snitched on a fifteen-year-old girl who escaped her ICE captors
• A six-year-old girl was sexually abused while in a DHS detention facility
• Comrades in Occupy ICE TPA were arrested before police trashed their tents. Donate to their legal defense fund.
• Anarchists in the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective are making their own medicine
• Anarcho-syndicalist video game developer Motion Twin studios gears up to release its new game, Dead Cells  

In this week’s interview, Pearson and Kaleb discuss everything from Kropotkin to Marx, mutual aid to historical determinism, and evolution to social darwinism. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and check it out!

Follow Kaleb on Twitter and Instagram.

Get involved:

• Donate to the Occupy ICE TPA legal defense fund.
• Defend DC from Nazi scum.
• Support the August 21 Prison Strike.
• All out this August!

Intro: “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World” by Woody Guthrie

Outro: “Never Let Go of the Microscope” by Enter Shikari

On the latest episode of Coffee with Comrades, we spend the hour discussing contemporary politics in the UK with Bree's partner, Ben Stone, a British citizen living in the United States.

But first, in lieu of a current events segment this week, Pearson drove south and sat down for an interview with two of the occupiers at a Tampa Bay ICE facility who are putting their bodies on the line to abolish ICE.

If you'd like to support the Occupy ICE Encampment in Tampa, you can do so here: https://fundrazr.com/d1NZQ4?ref=ab_3KyG3ZtvXev3KyG3ZtvXev

Here's the list of Occupy ICE TPA's demands.

Follow @OccupyICETPA, @TampaDSA, @SWOPTampa, and @SWSolidarity on Twitter.

Comrades on the ground are asking for vegan pizza. If you wanna give some comrades a tasty meal, call Gourmet Pizza at (813) 258-1999 or visit their website and request they take food to the occupation at 5524 W Cypress St. Tampa, FL 33607.

After that, we dive into politics in the United Kingdom. Bree, Ben, and Pearson tackle the distinctions between politicians in the UK and US, "civility," the rise of Corbyn and the Labour party, Prime Ministers, the "House of Lords," Brexit, and the National Front. Finally, we close by taking the tenor of the current political moment by exploring the enduring resonance of Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Masque of Anarchy."

Follow Ben on Twitter and Instagram.

On the latest episode of Coffee with Comrades, we spend the hour discussing contemporary politics in the UK with Bree’s partner, Ben Stone, a British citizen living in the United States.

But first, in lieu of a current events segment this week, Pearson drove south and sat down for an interview with two of the occupiers at a Tampa Bay ICE facility who are putting their bodies on the line to abolish ICE.

If you’d like to support the Occupy ICE Encampment in Tampa, you can do so here: https://fundrazr.com/d1NZQ4?ref=ab_3KyG3ZtvXev3KyG3ZtvXev

Here’s the list of Occupy ICE TPA’s demands.

Follow @OccupyICETPA, @TampaDSA, @SWOPTampa, and @SWSolidarity on Twitter.

Comrades on the ground are asking for vegan pizza. If you wanna give some comrades a tasty meal, call Gourmet Pizza at (813) 258-1999 or visit their website and request they take food to the occupation at 5524 W Cypress St. Tampa, FL 33607.

After that, we dive into politics in the United Kingdom. Bree, Ben, and Pearson tackle the distinctions between politicians in the UK and US, “civility,” the rise of Corbyn and the Labour party, Prime Ministers, the “House of Lords,” Brexit, and the National Front. Finally, we close by taking the tenor of the current political moment by exploring the enduring resonance of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Masque of Anarchy.”

Follow Ben on Twitter and Instagram.

On the latest episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson explore late-stage capitalism's neoliberal paradigms.

Today's News:

• Liberate Stonybrook
• Migrant Mothers in ICE detention facilities are staging hunger-strikes to demand calls with their separated children
• Standing Rock water protectors face jail time for civil disobedience
• J20 defendants fight back
• Anti-Antifascist Bill
• Alerta, alerta! Antifascista! Shut it down in DC
• Over a hundred thousand protesters in the UK mock Trump

So, what is neoliberalism? After providing a brief history of economics, Bree and Pearson unpack their definition:

neoliberalism (n): a twentieth century update of classic economics generally characterized by deregulation, open markets, privatization, globalization, financialization, and fiscal austerity.

Upcoming Actions:

• Love Has No Borders Benefit Show GoFundMe
• Shut it Down, DC: Fight back against the Alt-Right
• Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Workshop

If you like what you hear, please take 5 minutes to Rate & Review the show on your podcasting platform of choice. This is a DIY podcast run entirely by workers and community-organizers.

Poor yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy the episode!

Music:

• Intro: Woody Guthrie, "I Ain't Got No Home in this World"
• Outro: Killer Mike, "Reagan"

On the latest episode of Coffee with Comrades, Bree and Pearson explore late-stage capitalism’s neoliberal paradigms.

Today’s News:

• Liberate Stonybrook
• Migrant Mothers in ICE detention facilities are staging hunger-strikes to demand calls with their separated children
• Standing Rock water protectors face jail time for civil disobedience
• J20 defendants fight back
• Anti-Antifascist Bill
• Alerta, alerta! Antifascista! Shut it down in DC
• Over a hundred thousand protesters in the UK mock Trump

So, what is neoliberalism? After providing a brief history of economics, Bree and Pearson unpack their definition:

neoliberalism (n): a twentieth century update of classic economics generally characterized by deregulation, open markets, privatization, globalization, financialization, and fiscal austerity.

Upcoming Actions:

• Love Has No Borders Benefit Show GoFundMe
• Shut it Down, DC: Fight back against the Alt-Right
• Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Workshop

If you like what you hear, please take 5 minutes to Rate & Review the show on your podcasting platform of choice. This is a DIY podcast run entirely by workers and community-organizers.

Poor yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy the episode!

Music:

• Intro: Woody Guthrie, “I Ain’t Got No Home in this World”
• Outro: Killer Mike, “Reagan”

Episode 3: "Kylo Ren was a School Shooter" - A Leftist Analysis of Star Wars, Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi

On today's show, Bree and Pearson take you to a galaxy far, far away for a leftist analysis of the most controversial Star Wars film to date—Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi. But, before digging into the day's discussion, our hosts explore some current events:

- The Occupy ICE movement continues to grow

- The rest of the J20 Defendants had their charges dropped

- All prisoners are political prisoners

- A heat-wave has lead to global high temperatures

- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wins, the Right loses its collective shit

After discussing legitimate criticisms of the film, Bree and Pearson spend the majority of the episode exploring The Last Jedi by studying some of the movie's overarching themes: militarism, fascism, feminism, animal liberation, materialism vs. idealism, class, anti-statism, the "great man of history" myth, egoism, and why we fight the empire.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy!

May the Force be with you, comrades.