Nowhere

In this episode Austin is back, and we discuss the recent criminalization of homelessness across the nation, starting with the Grant’s Pass Supreme Court decision and the billionaire founded Cicero Institute that offered an amicus brief in the case and has introduced model legislation across the country to criminalize homelessness. We start off explaining the supreme court case and then getting into the Cicero Institute founded by Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of military tech company Palantir (with Peter Theil). We explore some of the manifestations of this criminalization around the country including the attempt to build an “accountability center” in Utah that would force labor on homeless people. We talk about local criminalization. We talk about the laws and executive order that have made it easier to commit people to institutions involuntarily. Moreover, we discuss the larger picture of why the ruling class has such a vested interest in criminalizing homelessness, also looking into the past to see how almost identical laws were introduced in the early 1700’s in New York City when it was run like a feudal kingdom. We talk more about the past and the similarities between then and now, and how capitalism continues to create the same conditions over and over. With all that we get a little off topic and philosophical towards the end, but I think it was all valuable conversation.

I’ve been incredibly busy, but I plan to keep doing more of these! I have another media project I’m working on so stay tuned for news about that.

POLICE ATTACK RESIDENTS OF HOOVERVILLE

Austin is back again for another episode, this time to discuss narratives around homelessness online. We get into some areas I wasn’t expecting as much but I think was good discussion, we talk some about the background of the interviews I did with Donny, what ethical storytelling might look like, as well as the narratives pushed by short-form videos online. We talk about the wider lens of it all, the idea that cities are dangerous, and how dangerous these narratives are (the federal gov using some as excuses to occupy entire cities).

It’s a wide spectrum, and we go through a few videos to break down what is there (and what isn’t). From non-consensual videos of feeding people on the street, to the inherent issues of Soft White Underbelly, to a content creator that just solicits women on the streets, it’s all bad! With a little (no pun) Joe Rogan thrown in on top. I talk about some of my experience of being gawked at and videotaped while in Slab City.

(episode picture from a YT video w 17 million views about “dangerous cities”)

Austin was with me at the dirty kid memorial gathering in New Orleans, and he’s a friend from my days when I was still traveling. He’s a fellow ex-dirty kid, and he is currently working in the non-profit sector in Las Vegas, where he is from, and works on policy around homelessness.

Austin talked about his time in the occupy movement, grief for movements, the public grief of those slain by police, and his own personal grief for the recent loss of his father as well as friends who were fellow travelers. We talk about Grant, who Austin was also friends with, and how to remember him. We talk about the different ways we mourn people, how we come together to mourn others, especially those living on the street. We both talk about losing people close to you and not having the space or time or ability to mourn them, when survival of one form or another takes the main slot, and how addiction can play into that. We talk about processing death and needing to have humor, and the necessity of having hope for the future.

In this episode I interview Dr. TJ Payne, an independent investigator investigating the unsolved murder of 21-year-old trans man Poe Black that happened in Slab City. So far Payne has talked to family and friends and even traveled to the Slab City area to conduct interviews. Poe Black was a young artist who came to Slab City from Tennessee, seeking community and refuge, arriving at the Flamingo camp that is home to queer folk in Slab City. So far, it is unclear how much Poe’s murder was investigated by local police, but pretty clear that it has been lacking. This story stood out to me not only because I lived in Slab City myself, but because it highlights the harm that already marginalized people can face, and the lack of justice that is a system wide issue. Payne is doing the work to make sure that Poe isn’t forgotten and hopefully finds justice. We talk about the investigation, the wider issues it highlights, and what ethical true crime is.

You can read the writings of Dr. TJ Payne at their Substack Personally Curious where they have written about the investigation as well as writing about psychology and personality disorders, and more. You can DONATE to the investigation by following this link:

Investigation Into the Unsolved Murder of Poe Black | Fundraising by Fractured Atlas

Just a short update here, nothing too crazy. Going to be pausing for a minute (not too long) also talking about plans for the future, stuff I’m excited about. Moving away from the weekly episode drops towards my older format of publishing episodes as I made them. A lot of it is contingent on finding interviews and stories I think are worthwhile, and taking a minute to get inspired again and refill my creative gas tank. There are a couple interviews in the works now both of which I am really excited about. Good things to come, including a second person I hope to bring on a bit regularly WE SHALL SEE, MORE TO COME, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING TO THIS YOU’RE ALL AMAZING AND I LOVE YOU <3

f**k the government and may all your sunsets be beautiful

In this episode I go into some recent news around homelessness including the shift in the federal department for housing and urban development away from housing first which has been show to work, Trump’s executive order to make it easier to involuntarily commit people on the street, and the 1,300 bed forced labor “accountability center” they are building in Utah where people experiencing homelessness will be interned for arbitrary periods of time. All of this s**t brings up other questions about just what we’re doing anyways when it comes to homelessness, the cancer of capitalism spreading into the public sector, and also a dash of hope for the future.

articles:

Trump administration overhauls homelessness policy : NPR

Utah’s 1,300-bed homelessness “accountability center” tests Trump-era crackdown | NationofChange

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Audio in the episode from the memorial itself starts off rough for the first few minutes and then becomes more clear.

I traveled down to New Orleans to attend to the annual memorial gathering where people come together to mourn those they lost over the last year. By a stroke of luck I was able to get audio from the gathering from a device that I was carrying that happened to turn on a few minutes before the memorial started and then recorded for an hour after my main device didn’t work. The memorial took place on the banks of the Mississippi river where we took turns taking cardboard gravestones, we had written our friend’s names on and threw them in the fire, while talking about the people we lost. It was a bit chaotic, which is to be expected.

Here is a link to pictures of the permanent art memorial sculptures in the same area:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NVecc9oEr7m95yzfIPHsQv_MqWlRswOa?usp=sharing

Music by Robby Lascola (RIP)

This episode is a lot! I interview Tyler, who lived and grew up in Grand Junction CO and experienced homelessness there, about his experiences and knowledge of the Chicken Whackers. I have also included audio from an interrogation video I FOIAd from Grand Junction Police Department from an older case where a man convicted of a stabbing talks about him being set up and the existence of human sacrifices and ceremonial killers, saying that it is the Chicken Whackers. I include all the research I’ve done over time, and Tyler is actually able to inform me some about the origins of the Chicken Whackers. If this is all gibberish to you, this is in reference to an experience I had in Grand Junction while on the road, one that I was interviewed about on the paranormal podcast Otherworld.

I can’t explain everything that happened to me that night, but I believe it involved this group that some say is urban legend—but others personal experience would say otherwise. The rumors are always the same: psychological warfare, rape and sacrificial murder, elaborate stalking, mysterious disappearances. This episode has a lot, including even a story or two from when Tyler was hopping trains and also personal paranormal experiences he has had not directly connected to the Chicken Whackers. This episode is a long one, but I edited it down as much as possible. Happy Halloween.

We go over theories, actual events, and stories from other people.

Listener discretion advised

Here’s my substack, and you can also donate to the podcast here. Also email me at [email protected] if you have any other tips, or your own experiences.

https://www.northerncoloradohistory.com/noco-klan-timeline-1920s/

https://95rockfm.com/grand-junctions-melrose-hotel/

I interviewed Lolo, a former traveler who started the memorial gathering in New Orleans that is attended by people from the nomadic subculture I was part of, frequently referred to as “dirty kids.” A subculture full of train-hoppers, hitchhikers, rubber tramps, you name it. Many people in this community either aged out of foster care, were kicked out of their house for being queer as a teen, ran away from an abusive home, and survived many other adverse experiences to end up as a dirty kid. Usually something happens to make someone homeless, and then they run into dirty kids somewhere like their hometown and hit the road with them. Lolo talks about her own beginnings in this episode and the difficulties of trying to mourn the frequent losses of these makeshift family members that happen on the road. Overdoses are very common. Lolo explains how this inspired her to start the memorial gathering, which I will be driving down to New Orleans to attend and attempt to document with audio and video.

Donate to the show here or subscribe at my Substack

Grant is the one on the left of the photo attached to this episode—(substack post)

I’ve been working on this episode for a while. Originally, I was doing like a “memorial” episode, but instead I am just focusing on the only thing I can anyway, my experience with Grant. So, this is more of maybe an ode to him and the connection we shared than it is an attempt to memorialize his entire life. I was incredibly close with Grant for the 3 years that I spent most of traveling with him. Losing him was incredibly difficult. This episode has memories as well as writings and some poems I wrote shortly after I got off the road, when I was still processing the loss and in a lot of pain.

I tried to include just moments with him, snapshots of what it looked like for us on the road, as well as a couple stories. This episode does jump around, you can think of parts of this episode as a kind of collage more than any chronological recounting of our time on the road, though I do cover meeting him of course and losing him. One of the main reasons I’ve been reluctant to share about my own experience of homelessness and moving around is because I felt like I needed to make this episode first, because Grant was the context for my travels, when I met him after the first five months or so of my traveling. I attempt to explain my unique connection to him from life on the road, and it feels as if it all falls a little short, but I tried my best.

I end it on the story of us getting arrested and split up in Mexico. Thanks to all who listen.

If you want to support the podcast, you can donate to my kofi account, or just subscribe and leave a 5-star review and share with your friends!

MUSIC: Poison, by Stick and Poke (attempted cover done by me)

Luke Otwell

Guitar instrumental under poem: Rolling skies by Ollie_Elmes -- https://freesound.org/s/749660/