Coffee with Comrades

In this edition of Coffee with Comrades, we sit down with Kristian Williams, author of the new book Gang Politics: Revolution, Repression, and Crime. Kristian and I explore the long history of counterinsurgency, the emergence of gang-style political formations in the imperial core, the efficacy of community armed self-defense, and so much more.

• Pick up a copy of Kristian's latest book, Gang Politics: Revolution, Repression, and Crime. Visit Kristian's website.
• 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.

I recently sat down with Bruce E. Levine to talk about his new book A Profession without Reason: The Crisis of Contemporary Psychiatry Untangled and Solved by Spinoza, Freethinking, and Radical Enlightenment. In my conversation with Bruce, we touched on a whole host of things: freethinking, care work, peer-to-peer mutual aid groups of psychiatric survivors, horizontal versus hierarchical modes of care, and Spinoza. Lots of Spinoza.

• Pick up a copy of A Profession Without Reason and check out Bruce's website.
• 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, we sat down with Dr. Alisha Gaines to talk about racialized empathy, the failures of white liberalism, collaborative pedagogy, and authentic solidarity.

• 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 very excited to share a conversation with you that I had with Peter Gelderloos, author of the new book The Solutions Are Already Here, available now through Pluto Press. Peter and I talk about why "climate change" doesn't quite capture the urgency of ecological catastrophe, why a fixation on "fossil fuels" is a strategic error, the kinship relations that inform our intricate and intimate connections to all living critters and the planet itself, indigenous wisdom and situated knowledges, and a whole helluva lot more.

• Pick up a copy of The Solutions Are Already Here!
• Follow Peter Gelderloos on Twitter
• 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.

In this week's edition of Coffee with Comrades, I'm joined by writer, artist, and game designer Gareth Damian Martin, developer of the new indie RPG Citizen Sleeper. Gareth and I talk about Citizen Sleeper's systems, structures, and mechanics, its vast cast of NPCs, themes of precarity and symbiosis, and the importance of mushrooms. Like Gareth's game, neither of us came up with many answers for how to survive–and thrive–in the ruins of capitalism, but the conversation was immensely edifying and I hope you'll enjoy it, too.

You can download Citizen Sleeper right now with a GamePass subscription on Xbox consoles or pick up a copy for PC, Mac, or the Nintendo Switch.

• Follow Gareth on Twitter and check out their website.
• 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.

Chris, a psychotherapist with sixteen years in the field, joins me to critique the psych profession. We explore the history of psychology and psychiatric coercion, the violence and carceral logic implicit in locking away the "insane." We discuss the ways in which neurotypicality is constructed to serve the hegemony of the ruling class. Chris and I examine the ways that capital and the state regiment our minds, cajoling, commanding, and controling. We also touch on the emerging concept of "mad liberation." It's a pretty wide-ranging conversation. I hope you enjoy it.

• Follow Chris on Mastadon.
• 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.

On this week's edition of Coffee with Comrades, I am joined by carla bergman to discuss the pamphlet she co-authored with scott crow, Just anarchy. carla and I explore intergenerational struggle, burnout, the general utility of peer-to-peer mentorship, anarchist conceptions of authority, trusting kids, cultivating kinship, and a whole lot more.

• Follow carla on Twitter, visit her website, check out Silver Threads and Grounded Futures, and pick up a copy of Just anarchy.
• 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 Jay Dragon and Mercedes Acosta, two of the developers, designers, and writers behind the brand new TRPG Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast which, as of today, is officially available to support on Indiegogo! We had a really lovely conversation about sanctuary, refuge, transgender characterization, seeing elements of yourself reflected back at you in your writing, twitter beef, drama in leftist milieus, and the joy of finding community together. I'd strongly encourage you to visit the campaign website and support their game. I've had a peak behind-the-scenes and think Yazeba's is truly something special.

• Back Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast on Indiegogo today! You can also visit Possum Creek Games on the web.
• Follow Jay Dragon and Mercedes Acosta on Twitter. Check out Mercedes' art while you're at it!
• Support Clearwater Give Water, Mercedes' mutual aid efforts in Southern FL.
• 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 joined by my friend and comrade Charli Ash to talk about, well, a whole helluva lot. In this dialogue, Charli lays out trans* history, including how transgender folks have been pathologized, how trans* folks have accessed medical care for transition, the pathologization of transness, and a whole bunch more. Then, we transition to looking at the current moment and the anti-trans and homophobic legislation in places like Texas. We even touch on the struggles of folks in Ukraine and how Putin's crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community prefigured the reactionary playbook being used against people in the so-called U.S.

Links

• Follow Charli on Twitter.
• Operation.Solidarity Linktree to support anarchist and anti-authoritarian struggles in Ukraine.
• Support Trans Rights in Texas and score a slew of sweet TRPGs.
• 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.

Book Recommendations

• Shon Faye, The Transgender Issue
• Judith Butler, Gender Trouble
• Emi Koyama, The Transfeminist Manifesto
• Emma Goldman, The Tragedy of Women's Liberation
• The Culture series by Iain M. Banks
• The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin

Other Sources

• On the ICD-11 update
• On the DSM-V definition
• Madeleine Carlisle. "Pediatricians who serve trans youth face increasing harassment. Livesaving care could be on the line." TIME.
• Freedom for All Americans Legislation Tracker
• Russia's anti-LGBTQ bills prefigured legislation in the so-called US.

I recently caught up with Tim Holland Pacal Bayley, better known as Sole and DJ Pain 1, to chat about their forthcoming record, Post-American Studies, out this week on the record label Emergency Hearts. Tim, Pacal, and I had a humorous, wide-ranging chat about the record, its themes, and the artists' shared musical history.

• Pick up a copy of Post-American Studies by Sole & DJPain1.
• Follow Sole on Twitter, listen to Propaganda by the Seed, and peep his bandcamp.
• Follow DJPain1 on Twitter and check out his beats website.
• 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.