Delete Your Account Podcast

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On this episode, Kumars starts the episode talking to frequent friend-of-the-show Nora Barrows-Friedman (@norabf on twitter) about everything from new Jay-Z to New Jersey. Did Kumars sign up for Tidal to listen to the album? You'll have to listen to the episode to find out!

For the interview, Kumars and Mariame Kaba (@prisonculture on twitter) talk to Kay Whitlock, an activist, organizer and writer who has been involved in movements for social justice for over 50 years. She's co-written books including Queer (In)justice, which addresses the criminalization of LGBT people in the US, and Considering Hate, which argues for abandoning the hate crime framework as a means to address vigilante violence. Kay joins us from her home in Missoula, Montana.

Kay talks about growing up conservative in Southern Colorado before changing her views, becoming immersed in labor, anti-war, and black and brown power movements in the late 1960's and early 1970's. She gives her thoughts on the organizing successes and failures of that time, praising the imagination of activists while cautioning against romanticizing them. We also talk to Kay about her work on hate crime policy, including writing and organizing she did with the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker justice organization. Through multiple reports for the AFSC and her book, Considering Hate, Kay argues that hate crime legislation harms the same groups it purports to help by distracting from the structural roots of vigilante violence. Hate crime legislation places blame on individual vigilantes even though vigilantes just take supremacist structures to their logical conclusions. Kay also discusses the disappointing limitations of Occupy Wall Street and the great potential of the Movement for Black Lives. Finally, Kay gives us some advice on how to deal with the rise of the right wing, drawing on her vast personal experience.

You can follow Kay on twitter at @KayJWhitlock.

This is only part of our interview with Shaun Scott. If you want get the whole interview, support the show, and receive access to tons of other bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!   This week Kumars teams up with first-time guest host Eoin Higgins, a journalist and writer whose work appears regularly on Paste, FAIR, ATTN, and his personal website eoinhiggins.com. Kumars and Eoin sit down with filmmaker and author Shaun Scott, whose upcoming book Millennials and the Moments That Made Us - A Cultural History of the U.S. from 1982—Present (Zero Books, February 2018) tells the story of our descent into neoliberalism through the lens of pop culture and from the perspective of the so-called millennial generation. Touching on media influences from The Simpsons and ‘80s action movies to Drake and LeBron James, Shaun shows how dominant narratives about millennials and their place in American society are rooted in the broader social and economic upheavals brought on by Reaganism. Behind arguments about millennial laziness and entitlement is the need for a class of low-wage, insecure workers who can be exploited.    Eoin, despite not technically being a millennial, does his best to relate as we use excerpts from Shaun’s book to discuss the complicated and often ambivalent politics of comedy, rap, memes, and how they’ve shaped millennials’ ideologies. Finally, the conversation ends with a discussion of how those ideologies are translating into political engagement, and Shaun’s suggestions for a path forward that takes into account both our generation’s strengths and the existing context that will continue to shape us.    Follow Eoin on Twitter at @EoinHiggins_ and Shaun at @eyesonthestorm. Millennials and the Moments That Made Us will be released February 2018 - preorder it here!

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

On this episode, Kumars is joined once again by Emily Robinson to discuss Jeremy Corbyn's stunning victory in the recent UK parliamentary elections. Emily is a co-convener of Momentum Edinburgh and she does communications for Scottish Young Labour Socialists and the Democratic Socialists of America. Emily also brings along her friend, Rory Scothorne, the co-author of Roch Winds: A Treacherous Guide to the State of Scotland. He is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh studying the Scottish radical left since the 1960s, is on the committee of Momentum Edinburgh, and is a member of Scottish Labour Young Socialists.

Kumars, Emily and Rory talk about the UK election results, giving an overview of the British parliamentary system and the various parties involved. Emily and Rory talk about how Theresa May's decision to call a snap election in an attempt to consolidate power for her Tory party backfired massively. They discuss how Labour's Jeremy Corbyn was able to capitalize on May's hubris with a radical and positive platform which contrasted dramatically with Tory plans for continued austerity. Emily and Rory explain how Theresa May's plan to form a weak coalition government with the right-wing Protestant fundamentalist Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party could jeopardize the Good Friday Agreement which ended the Northern Ireland Conflict. The gang also discusses how leftists at home and abroad can support Corbyn's project and how we can hold him accountable in the face of a full-frontal assault by the capitalist class.

You can follow Emily on twitter at @See_Em_Play. You can follow Rory on twitter at @shirkerism. Check out Rory's blog here.

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

On this episode, Kumars is joined once again by Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist who writes about weather and science for a variety of outlets. He’s also the host of the podcast Warm Regards, where scientists, activists, and journalists join Eric to discuss climate change and what to do about it. Kumars and Eric follow up on their last conversation to see how climate policy is progressing under Trump. Eric discusses the mostly symbolic effect of Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords which obscures the more pernicious climate policies of his administration. Kumars and Eric stay hopeful, pointing to how Trump's climate agenda is galvanizing the opposition in ways previously thought unimaginable.

Next, Kumars is joined by friend-of-the-show Freddy Martinez, a computer security researcher and activist specializing in communications security and police accountability.  He is also the director of Lucy Parsons Labs. Kumars and Freddy talk about the recent FBI arrest of Reality Leigh Winner for the leaking of an NSA report on Russian hacking attempts to The Intercept. Freddy details mistakes made by both Winner and The Intercept that led to her arrest, and how this prosecution fits into the war on whistleblowers that began under Obama and now continues under Trump. Freddy gives us some tips on how to mitigate risk when leaking documents to the press.

You can follow Eric on twitter at @EricHolthaus. You can follow Freddy on twitter at @B_Meson.

Helpful links mentioned during the episode:

https://www.pacer.gov/

https://securedrop.org/directory

https://onionshare.org/

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/1971/

And make sure to send all of your leaks to:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/1971/

Please, for the love of god, don't email them to Josh Rogin.

 

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

On this episode, Kumars is joined once again by Mariame Kaba, organizer extraordinaire and @prisonculture on twitter, who returns as co-host. Kumars and Mariame start off the show celebrating 50 episodes and a complete first year of Delete Your Account, before moving on to more serious topics. Mariame talks about recent developments in the campaign to free Bresha Meadows, a young black girl who was imprisoned for killing her abusive father in self-defense. Mariame discusses the plea deal that Bresha and her family have accepted that will see her eventually freed from custody, although only after several additional months in jail and an involuntary treatment center. We discuss how this development is a huge win for her and her family, and for activists fighting to keep her from being tried for murder as an adult, but also talk about how this still isn't justice, as Bresha shouldn't have served a day behind bars.

For the interview, Kumars and Mariame talk to Nesreen Hasan, a Palestinian-American youth organizer with the Arab American Action Network, a grassroots organization working to provide necessary services to Arab immigrants and Arab Americans in and around Chicago. We learn about how Nesreen got involved with organizing work, and about the role that the Arab American Action Network plays in the local community. We discuss the current status of Trump's Muslim ban and AAAN's efforts to fight against it. We also talk about recent violent attacks targeting Muslims and how these attacks impact organizers like Nesreen and the communities they serve. Nesreen also talks about the campaign to free Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh. Rasmea is the Associate Director of AAAN who was arrested in 2013, ostensibly for lying on immigration documents, but in reality due to her political advocacy and organizing work. Rasmea came to the US after spending a decade in an Israeli prison for a crime she didn't commit, where she was tortured and raped. It was her failure to list this time spent in prison on her US immigration documents that saw her facing years in prison. Nesreen discusses the plea deal that Rasmea recently accepted that will keep her out of prison but see her deported.

You can follow AAAN on twitter at @aaanmarkaz. Support their work, as they face a serious budget crisis due to Illinois' GOP governor, by donating here.

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

On this episode, Kumars is joined by first-time guest host Deellan Kashani, our resident Kurdish expert who wrote her undergraduate thesis on radical political organization in the Kurdish-controlled autonomous region of Rojava in northern Syria. Our guest is Brace Belden (better known by his former Twitter handle, @PissPigGranddad), a florist who recently returned from fighting with the Kurdish YPG forces to defend Rojava against ISIS.

By way of introduction, Deellan gives a brief historical overview of Kurdish politics, the conflict in Syria, and the main actors in the region. Kumars and Deellan ask Brace about his motivations for going, his experience of life in Rojava, and how the Western left’s idea of a libertarian socialist revolution compares to the reality of “democratic confederalism.” Brace explains that he went to Syria in part to see what he could learn from the movement, and from his experience as a foreign fighter he shares his impressions of the rigors of life as a member of the governing Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the radical steps being taken to center women in political action. Since leaving his life in the US to joining a militia in Syria, Brace has garnered national media attention, courting criticism from a number of political angles. Brace addresses these criticisms at length.

Follow Brace on Twitter at his new handle @PissPigGrandma, and follow Deellan at @deellank.

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

On this episode, Kumars is joined by Sam Knight, journalist and co-founder of The District Sentinel, a news co-op based in Washington D.C. covering national politics from a left perspective. Sam is also the host of the daily District Sentinel Radio podcast. Sam stops by to talk about those damn Clowns in Congress and their disastrous Trumpcare legislation. We discuss what's in it, what comes next, and what the hell is wrong with the feckless Democrats. We also introduce a new game on the show which all the kids are sure to be playing at school tomorrow.

You can follow Sam on twitter at @samknight1. Also make sure to check out his writing over at The District Sentinel.

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

On this episode, Kumars is joined by Samantha Jacobs (@comradeSammy on twitter) for the intro segment to discuss May Day, tensions in North Korea, and the delightful Fyre Festival scam.

For the interview, Mariame Kaba, organizer extraordinaire and @prisonculture on twitter, returns as co-host. Kumars and Mariame talk to Jason Lydon, a queer anarchist Unitarian Universalist minister and founding director of Black and Pink, an open family of LGBTQ prisoners and unincarcerated allies working to support one another and abolish the prison industrial complex. Jason discusses how he got involved with prison abolition work, after having spent six months incarcerated himself where he was sexually assaulted by a prison guard. Jason talks about his approach to abolition, which strives to weaken the prison industrial complex toward its eventual elimination, disassembling it brick-by-brick if necessary. We dissect the difference between a reform that reinforces a system of power and one that truly weakens it. We learn more about Black and Pink and the major campaigns they are engaged in, including the fight to end solitary confinement. Jason stresses the importance of writing letters to prisoners, which keeps prison abolition work grounded in the needs of incarcerated people while also fighting the intense isolation experienced by those who are incarcerated. Jason also discusses the role of his faith in motivating and shaping his prison abolition work.

You can follow Jason on twitter at @Blackandpink99. Support Black and Pink by joining a local chapter if there is one near you, donating, or by signing up for a prisoner pen pal.

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

On this episode, Kumars is joined by returning guest-co-host Nora Barrows-Friedman, reporter and associate editor for The Electronic Intifada. After opening the show discussing the latest clash between Nazis and Antifa in Berkeley, Kumars and Nora talk to David Forbes, a  journalist based in Asheville, North Carolina and editor of The Asheville Blade. They are also the author of The Old Iron Dream, a secret history of the sci-fi far-right. We invited David on the show to discuss the passage of the anti-LGBT law HB2 and the passage of the so-called compromise repeal bill HB142, which still discriminates against the LGBT community. David has been following this saga, writing in the Asheville Blade, and they help us understand where we are now and what comes next in the fight for LGBT equality in North Carolina.

David discusses the initial passage of HB2 and the main components of the bill which went well beyond transgender bathroom access, the part of the bill which dominated news stories. David positions the strong backlash against the bill in the context of other organizing against right-wing governance happening in the state at that time, including the Moral Mondays movement championed by the North Carolina NAACP and allied groups. We talk about how the opposition to the bill was so effective in forcing legislators back to the negotiating table and ruining Republican Governor Pat McCrory's re-election chances last November. David goes over HB 142, the "compromise repeal" bill passed in North Carolina that David characterizes as neither a compromise nor a repeal. They point out that Democrats in the state had a golden opportunity to win everything by just doing nothing. Instead, always seeking compromise for compromise's sake, Democrats added their names to a deeply unpopular and counterproductive bill opposed by essentially every organization in the Democratic base. Typical of Democratic politicians nationwide, the North Carolina Democratic Party snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. We discuss the initial success of boycotts by the NBA and NCAA in pushing for the repeal of HB2, but also point out that the long-term effectiveness of capital boycotts like these are hampered by the profit motive of these billion-dollar entities, which quickly ended their boycotts once given any reason to do so. David tells us that many of our most important fights, including the fight for LGBT equality, are best fought at the local level, and encourages activists to take over city governments and use local government resources to fight state and national policies.

You can follow Nora on twitter at @norabf. Follow David on twitter at @DavidForbes. Also make sure to check out the Asheville Blade on twitter at @AvlBlade. Don't miss David's long essay on the HB2/HB142 saga, "Turncoats", which we discussed in-depth during the episode.

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

On this episode, Kumars is joined by returning guest-co-host Arnesa Buljusmic-Kustura, @Rrrrnessa on twitter. They begin the show talking about Trump's bombing of a Syrian airfield and the media's predictable sycophancy. Arnesa discusses her personal experiences as a Bosnian war refugee and how those experiences inform her opposition to US military intervention in Syria.

Kumars and Arnesa then interview Megan Clapp, a Ph.D. Candidate in clinical psychology whose clinical work has been primarily centered on trauma, anxiety, and depression, with special focus on LGBTQ issues. She’s currently working on her dissertation which focuses on the relationship between shame, power, and abuse - and is collaborating with other mental health folks in Chicago to develop more radical psychological practices. Kumars and Arnesa ask Megan about her background and how she became interested in left politics and activism. They also discuss a main focus of Megan's research and writing, the positive and negative roles of shame in left movement-building. Megan introduces us to reintegrative shaming, a concept within restorative justice that attempts to use shame to shift people toward less reactionary political positions, without burdening them with unresolved shame that can have dangerous consequences. Megan also explains the subtle difference between empathy and rationalization, including the importance of the former and danger of the latter when dealing with abusers. She also talks about the risks empathy can pose to many, particularly the victims of abuse, and the necessity for others to attempt to understand what motivates and molds a person who engages in an abusive behavior, so that we can more effectively prevent and subvert abusive tendencies within all of us. Finally, Megan talks about the role of trauma in the development of radical politics, and encourages left movements to deal with the reality of trauma among its ranks in an open, honest, and non-judgemental way.

You can find Megan on twitter at @prefigurologist. Also make sure to check out her awesome blog.