Coffee with Comrades

This week, author and activist Eric Laursen joins me to discuss his new book, The Operating System: An Anarchist Critique of the Modern State available May 4th, 2021 through AK Press. Eric and I discuss the origins of the modern state, its relative brevity in world history, the ways the State insinuates itself into our lives and perpetuates itself through replicative cycles of colonization, command, and control, and the folly of revolutionaries who believe they can strike down capital without also felling the State.

• Pick up a copy of Eric's book, The Operating System!
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is proud to be part of the Rev Left Radio Federation.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

This week, we're bringing your Coffee with Comrades fix a little early. Apparently, some bourgeoisie Hollywood socialites are throwing themselves a party this evening so, in light of the festivities, we're sharing our recent collaboration with Kino Lefter on the Oscar-bait flick Trial of the Chicago 7 and the Cannes award-winning film, Another Round.

• Follow Kino Lefter on Twitter and support them on Patreon.
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is proud to be part of the Rev Left Radio Federation.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Episode 128 of Coffee with Comrades features a conversation with independent journalist Abby Lee Hood. We discuss the storied history of the term "redneck," critiquing liberal elitism and self-righteousness, exploring the labor history of rednecks, and analyzing how these consequential struggles for working class people were coopted by the ruling class and sold back to us in the form of pop country stars and reactionary nationalism.

As is often the case in conversations like these, our dialogue bounced around a lot. One of the things we touched on briefly was the Derek Chauvin trial. We recorded this interview before the police killing of Daunte Wright. Obviously, the terrain has shifted a bit since Abby Lee and I's conversation as folks in Minneapolis have been engaged in the struggle for justice against Brooklyn Center PD. All power and solidarity to the folks bravely standing up to the cops in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, Chicago, and all across this country as we continue to fight for abolition and justice.

• Follow Abby Lee Hood on Twitter, visit their website, and check out the fundraiser for the Southern & Appalachian Co-Op Press!
• Art for this week's episode is taken from Abby Lee's article in the NYT, designed by Eleni Kalorkoti.
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is proud to be part of the Rev Left Radio Federation.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

This week, Michael Pons joins me for a discussion of the hit indie video game, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut. Pons and I explore the game's politics of insincerity, the philosophical existentialism of the game and its universe, the masculinist power fantasies in RPGs, and why endings are so critical to get right in video games. As you might imagine, this discussion is filled with spoilers for the game, so tread lightly.

• Follow Pons on Twitter.
• Disco Elysium was too afraid of sincerity to be revolutionary
• The mysterious, magical end of Disco Elysium
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is proud to be part of the Rev Left Radio Federation.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

This week, I hung out with my pal Frank from the Left Page podcast and talked about Ursula K. Le Guin's novel, The Left Hand of Darkness. In the ensuing dialogue, Frank and I discussed the book's ambisexuality, queer critiques of the text and Le Guin's response, the nature of being and the impermanence of knowledge, how different knowledge bases are gendered and how we dismantle and reinterrogate the chauvinistic approach to science and reclaim a more emancipatory framework for the scientific method. We also talk about spirituality? I dunno, it was a lot and we bounced around quite a bit, but I had a blast and I hope you'll enjoy this episode, too.

• The Left Hand of Darkness is available online!
• Follow Frank on Twitter. Check out the Left Page podcast on Twitter, visit their website, and support them on Patreon.
• Check out our episodes of The Dispossessed with the Left Page podcast, Ep. 47 and Ep. 48!
• Macabre Media podcast has a new episode! Check it out wherever you get your podcasts.
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is proud to be part of the Rev Left Radio Federation.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Today, I'm sharing an interview I did with my homie, Steven, who's running for city council in Minneapolis. Steven and I chat about the George Floyd uprising, the abolitionist struggle in the city, Steven's platform and politics, and I also ask him some tough questions from the left about political struggle and the limitations of the ballot box.

• Follow Steven on Twitter, visit his website, and volunteer to support his campaign!
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is proud to be part of the Rev Left Radio Federation.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Music:

• Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie
• Interlude: "Erase the Rat" by Backtrack
• Outro: "Call My Name" by Harms Way

This week marks the one year anniversary of the so-called U.S. being placed under lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. One year ago, I was in New York city visiting childhood friends and the comrades in Dumb & Awful. I was literally in the middle of making plans to chill with Amy and Liz from Rebel Steps when the coronavirus was officially declared a national emergency.

In the time that's passed, our society has become more isolated and alienated than ever before. Worldwide, millions have died. To this day, the U.S. has continued to absolutely bungle this debacle. To mark this historic year, I wanted to do a retrospective, reflective episode on how COVID-19 has impacted human society and how human beings have become atomized, but also how we've banded together, rose up against white supremacy in this country, and instituted sweeping projects of tenant-organizing and mutual aid when the state left us out to dry.

Joining me today is Jules Taylor, a musician, producer, and podcaster living in upstate, NY. Jules and I spend the episode chatting about the emergence of new conspiracies, the way capitalism exacerbated this crisis (fueling and profiting off our ongoing immiseration,) and—most importantly—the ways we've fought back. But it's also a heavy episode, where we leave some space to mourn and grieve and contemplate mortality.

Things mentioned by Jules during our conversation:

• The Slow Cancelling of the Future – Mark Fisher
• Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher
• Cover of the New Yorker Magazine 12.7.20
• Women With Cancer Awarded Billions in Baby Powder Suit
• The fiasco of the 1976 'swine flu affair'
• The Spanish Flu actually came from Kansas

Notes:

• Check out Jules' podcast, No Easy Answers, and his website: JulesTaylorMusic.com.
• You can find all his various projects here: https://bit.ly/julestaylorbio
• You can follow him on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
• And you can stream his music here: https://bit.ly/julestaylormusicsongwhip
• Also, you can challenge Jules to a game of chess here: LiChess | com
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is proud to be part of the Rev Left Radio Federation.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Music:

• Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie
• Interlude: "Anthem for No State, Pt. 1" by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
• Outro: "Paralyzed" by LANDMVRKS

I recently sat down with Harsha Walia, author of the new book Border & Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism, to discuss the displacement crisis, the struggle for migrant justice, the resurgence of far-right ethnonationalism across the planet, and the internationalist framework necessary to confront the specific sort of violence conjured by borders.

• Follow Harsha on Twitter and pick up a copy of her book, Border & Rule!
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is proud to be part of the Rev Left Radio Federation.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Music:

• Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie
• Interlude: "An Ordinary Extinction" by Architects
• Outro: "System/Meltdown" by Enter Shikari

I sat down with the comrades in the South New England Socialist Rifle Association to discuss their efforts to create the first explicitly leftist gun range. Stick around 'til the very end for possibly the goofiest blooper reel in Coffee with Comrades history.

• Support the SNE SRA's fund-raising efforts!
• Follow the SNE SRA on Twitter and Instagram.
• Check out It's Going Down's coverage of the SNE SRA, as well.
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is proud to be part of the Rev Left Radio Federation.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Music:

• Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie
• Interlude: "If I Had a Hammer" by Pete Seeger
• Outro: "Faces" by Whitechapel

In this episode of Coffee with Comrades, I am joined by Nic, host of our Channel Zero Network sister-show, Pynk Spots, to chat about managing shyness and introversion in media work, teaching, and community-organizing. This wide-ranging conversation covers it all: prepping for public speaking, decentering yourself at rallies and demonstrations, figuring out how to cope with introversion, mitigating awkward situations, commiserating over embarrassing moments, etc. The fist half of our dialogue covers tips and tricks. The second chunk deals with how to apply these lessons to organizing in your own community, whether you're doing community gardening or engaging in militant direct action.

• Follow Pynk Spots on Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel! They're almost to 1000 subscribers. Also make sure to support Pynk Spots on Patreon.
• Speaking of which, you can watch this entire conversation on video!
• Pearson is now a co-host of Macabre Media podcast! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and Patreon.
• Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and visit our website.
• Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.
• Coffee with Comrades is proud to be part of the Rev Left Radio Federation.
• Coffee with Comrades is an affiliate of the Firestorm Books & Café. Check out our reading recommendations!
• Our logo was designed by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Music:

• Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie
• Interlude: "Two Queens in a King-Sized Bed" by girl in red
• Outro: "HYD" by Hayley Williams