Coffee with Comrades

I recently sat down with my dear friend and comrade, Jimmy Dunson, who put together an anthology on mutual aid, disaster relief, and building dual-power called Building Power While the Lights Are Out. The anthology is gripping and brilliant and the two of us have a wide-ranging conversation on a number of the essays contained within the anthology. We talk about mutual aid as the process of making kin, the ways mutual aid is becoming less of a niche thing that just anarchists dressed all in black do, and the ways we can build dual-power both before and after a natural disaster.

• Pick up a copy of Building Power While the Lights are Out: Disasters, Mutual Aid, and Dual Power.
• You can donate to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief on PayPal by sending funds to [email protected].
• You can support MADR on Venmo at @mutualaiddisasterrelief.
• You can also support their work on MADR's Action Network.
• Enter our MADR Fundraiser to win a copy of Bloc by Bloc: Uprising!
  • Send a screenshot of your donation via DM to Coffee with Comrades' Twitter or Instagram by 10/7/22 @ 12pm EST.
  • Find out more about Bloc by Bloc by listening to Ep. 158 and Ep. 22.
• Visit Mutual Aid Disaster Relief's website and follow them on Twitter and Instagram.
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.

Today, we're sharing an interview with the all-around-badass Margaret Killjoy. Margaret is a writer of fiction, a musician in multiple bands, and she is also the host of two great podcasts: Live Like the World is Dying and Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff. And that's an inexhaustive list. Margaret joined me to talk about her new book, We Won't Be Here Tomorrow, which is a delightful anthology of short stories collected for the first time together in this brand new edition for AK Press.

• Pick up a copy of We Won't Be Here Tomorrow.
• Support Margaret on Patreon and follow her on Twitter and Instagram!
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram and Mastadon, and visit our website.
• Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.

In this special bonus edition of Coffee with Comrades, I sit down with Tallahassee, FL-based artist and community-organizer, Eric Champagne, to talk about the life and plight of Dan Baker.

Dan Baker is a YPG veteran, yoga instructor, and anarchist who was arrested for posts he made on social media in the wake of the January 6th insurrection.

Stay tuned to the end of the episode to hear Dan talk in his own words about his experiences on the inside.

Special thanks to Eric and Adrien, who helped acquire the audio from Dan for this episode. Additional thanks to Running Down the Walls, the Certain Days Calendar, the Anarchist Black Cross, Antifa International, and the Burning Books Collective.

Dan's birthday is on September 17th. If you'd like to send him a letter or a birthday card, you can do so at the following address:

Dan Baker - #25765-509

FCI Memphis

P.O. Box 34550

Memphis, TN 38184

You can also donate directly to Dan's commissary/reentry fund by sending donations to [email protected] on PayPal.

• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.

This week, I am sharing a dialogue I recently had with my new friend Nash Flynn. Nash is a comedian, historian, and host of the podcast Death and Friends. In our dialogue, we talk about death. A lot. Like, a whole helluva lot. So keep that in mind as you wade into this discussion. We chat about the death of non-human animals, climate change, the inevitable heat-death of the universe…but the majority of the dialogue focuses on Nash's area of expertise: the deathways of so-called New England in the fifteenth century. We talk a lot about settler colonialism, the way history is whitewashed and sanitized, and get into the details of death in all their nitty, gritty, gory glory.

• Follow Nash on Twitter and Instagram and listen to her podcast, Death and Friends. You can also support Death and Friends on Patreon!
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.

Shawn of Srsly Wrong joins me for a discussion inspired by two books: Escape from Childhood by John C. Holt, and Raising Free People by Akilah S. Richards. In our expansive dialogue, we talk about climate anxiety, raising kids, studenthood, the abolition of family, and the process of teaching yourself how to treat children with respect.

• Support Srsly Wrong on Patreon, follow them on Twitter and Instagram, and visit their website.
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram and Mastadon, and visit our website.
• Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.

Today, we're sharing an interview with an Ashville-based collective called Firestorm Books. For those not already acquainted with our Appalachian comrades' work, Firestorm Books is a queer, feminist, anarchist collective operating a co-op bookstore and social movement space. Esmé, Ash, and Libertie sat down with me this past week to talk about starting up their cooperative business, the tensions and dynamics of running a horizontal, collaborative workplace, how they thwart hierarchy interpersonally, and–perhaps most importantly–their ongoing fundraiser to purchase a new storefront just up the road from their current location.

• Support Firestorm Books' fundraising effort. Help this radical cooperative find a new home!
• Visit Firestorm's website to pick up a book, stickers, or other sweet merch. You can also follow them on Twitter and Instagram.
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitterand Instagram and Mastadon, and visit our website.
• Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.

In this week's special, collaborative episode of Coffee with Comrades, Parker from Overcritical joins me to discuss the "most watched" television phenomenon of all time: Squid Game (2021).

• Follow Overcritical on Twitter and Instagram. While you're at it, follow Parker, too!
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitterand Instagram and Mastadon, and visit our website.
• Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.

In this edition of Coffee with Comrades, we talk with Dr. Mixæl Laufer about Four Thieves Vinegar Collective's most recent DIY, autonomous medicine shenanigans. Mixæl walks us through abortion pills that've been transposed to business cards. We talk about 4TVC's revamp of the Microlab Suite, which now features an intuitive system for researching medicines and helping you diagnose your own symptoms. Together, we discuss abortion access and why DIY medicine shouldn't be necessary in the first place. The episode is jam-packed and I sincerely hope you'll enjoy our dialogue as much as we did.

• Follow Mixæl on Twitter and visit Four Thieves Vinegar Collective's newly revamped website!
• A VICE write-up on Mixæl's recent appearance at the HOPE Conference in NYC.
• Check out our previous episodes with Mixæl, too: Episode 14 and Episode 21.
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.

Today, we're sharing an interview with Tallahassee-based poet, essayist, and social ecology community organizer, Adrien. You might know Adrien better by their pen-name, Cybele. Recently, Adrien put out a new essay called (Re)Growing Communal Life: Preparing the Soil for Revolution. I'd recommend checking it out, if you got a sec. The essay is pretty short and a brisk, lovely read. I've appreciated Adrien's writing ever since we were roommates swapping poetry. I know you'll dig their work, too. I hope you enjoy this dialogue as much as we did!

• Read Adrien's essay, (Re)Growing Communal Life: Preparing the Soil for Revolution.
• Follow Live Oak Radical Ecology on Twitter and Instagram.
• Check out our previous episode with Adrien, too!
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.

Today, I'm joined by labor organizer Tom Wetzel, author of the new book Overcoming Capitalism: Strategy for the Working Class in the Twenty-First Century.

• Pick up a copy of Tom's book, Overcoming Capitalism.
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Pick up a Coffee with Comrades shirt or coffee mug at our official merch store.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Nathanael Whale.