The Arts of Travel

For insights on Seattle's CHAZ autonomous zone we spoke with Author and Seattle local - Shon Meckfessel. Shon, a professor at Highline College, is the author of the 2016 book: Nonviolence Ain't What It Used To Be: Unarmed Insurrection and the Rhetoric of Resistance 

We discuss the timeline of CHAZ,  how the zone both rejects and dialogues with local Seattle politics, his thoughts on the methods and mutual aid present in the zone, and how the Zone fits into the constellation of uprisings after the police murder of George Floyd. 

For more conversations like this, check out the Arts of Travel Podcast or asiaarttours.com 

Music by LitKidBeats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRBRA3ZZ1cM

I spoke w. organizer Harsh Mander on his efforts to help India's poor and Muslim communities, who have endured unspeakable violence from Narendra Modi's government. We discuss Covid-19 impact on India's migrant workforce, the violence India's Muslims have faced, and how despite this hatred and the state targeting him with prosecution for his organizing, Harsh maintains a philosophy of 'radical love' . 

Other topics include:  Anarchism vs. Social Democracy, leaders, and how the Black Lives Matter protests are being viewed within India. 

For more with Harsh, simply search the internet, he's all over!

Music by Kiyoto:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSJJ5Vy7jE4

Recorded before the brutal police murder of George Floyd, this is a conversation I had with Writer Cassie Da Costa about what celebrity means in a United States where Race, Gender and Capitalism are deeply intertwined.  We discuss figures like Gal Gadot, Jay-Z, The Kardashians, Lebron James, Beyonce, Cardi B, Ru Paul,  Jameela Jamil, and others. 

Should we admire celebrities for succeeding despite racial oppression, or do they distract us from dismantling the oppressive systems  of whiteness, sexism and capitalism?  What does Beauty mean in a world where bodies have always been commodified as products?  Can celebrities be 'role models' in a deeply unequal world, where ones role is to be the exploiter (capitalist) or exploitee (laborer)? 

 We discuss all this and more in a radically honest conversation. For more Cassie's work can be seen in the Daily Beast,  The New Yorker, The New Yorker (Videos), the film journal Another Gaze, and elsewhere. Her Website Can be found here: http://cassiedacosta.com/

Editor's note: I misname a murder victim of police violence as Michael Walker. The victim of police violence was Tamir Rice: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tamir-rice-s-mother-sad-lebron-james-hasn-t-spoken-n492196

Music by Urban Nerd Beats: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4R-E42EucEameNwahTShtg

Prior to the brutal Police murder of George Floyd,  I spoke w. writer Vicky Osterweil ( Read her essay: In Defense of Looting ) to discuss why the US Left Media (at least those with money or fame) are so bad at centering the voices of those in struggle both overseas (in places like Hong Kong, India, West Papua or Xinjiang) and domestically (the complete erasure of the Black Lives Matter Movement). 

Vicky discusses some of the structural failures in a US Left Media populated with figures from the Ivy Leagues or The Rich. Why they gravitate towards a leftism based on 'leaders', voting, and trying to make sure they remain the loudest voices in the room, rather than letting the people in struggle speak.  And how they can do better, how we all need to do better. How 'normal' was the problem to begin with. 

At least for me, this was the conversation that let me 'wake up' and leave US Left Media behind. As Vicky discusses,  when real revolutions appear, these same voices who could write hundreds of columns on Sanders, Unions or AOC, have nothing to say and offer the people out in the streets of Hong Kong, Lebanon, Bangkok, Chile, Algeria, West Papua, Syria and now the Twin Cities, Louisville, Chicago, and across the USA, fighting for a better,  more just future. 

We already released half of the conversation, here  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crisis-collapse-chat-w-vicky-osterweil-on-death-neoliberal/id1406775458?i=1000468974708 For more from Vicky you can find her on Twitter: @Vicky_ACAB

Her writing in Real Life: https://reallifemag.com/contributors/vicky-osterweil

And the essay that spawned our interview can be found here, it's one of my favorite 'takes' on the brutal violence of neoliberalism: https://thenewinquiry.com/liberalism-is-dead/

Vicky's Book 'In Defense of Looting' based on her New Inquiry essay will be out soon in 2020.  Solidarity to George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, ACAB.  

1st Beats by Nxnja: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guS-evJwgg8

2nd Beats by Syndrome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpnv_pi97yY

I was fortunate to speak with writer Yi-Ling Liu on her outstanding piece in New York Times Magazine on Blued: How a Dating App Helped a Generation of Chinese Come Out of the Closet

Our conversation touches on several issues

For those looking to understand a bit more about LGBTQ culture in China, Yi-Ling was kind enough to recommend the following: 

Lan Yu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lan_Yu_(film)

Addicted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addicted_(web_series)

And (Her words now) I'd add the Shanghai Pride Parade as well, which I think is a pretty important event for LGBT communities and NGOs in China, the recent phenomena of LGBT cruises, organized by PFLAG, China, and a TMall advertisement this year, depicting a same-sex couple returning home durin the Chinese New Year, which stirred up a lot of hubbub on Weibo.

For more of Yi-Ling's Writing you can head to her webiste here: https://www.yi-lingliu.com/

Music by Zeeky Beats

Episode Art from Yi-Ling's NYTIMES Magazine Piece. 

We were thrilled to speak with Writer and Researcher Aria Danaparamita or Mita (Twitter: @mitatweets) , for a two part conversation on Indonesia, Covid-19 and Political Economy.

In part 2 of our conversation, we discuss the ways Anarchists, Socialists and ordinary people are coming together to help one another, after being abandoned by capitalists and the state. Mutual Aid, Direct Action and other progressive tactics are being used in powerful ways in Indonesia, its my hope we can learn from their struggles, and build links of solidarity.

In this spirit of solidarity, here are a list of organizations who are doing great work in Mutual Aid in Indonesia (these were all graciously provided by Mita):

Just to share some of the mutual aid initiatives, there are these threads that summarize some of the local initiatives (there are so many!):

I'd also like to highlight these 2 in particular:

As I mentioned, most of these are donation drives, rather than a more structured/sustained project. Some of the more organised ones that are focused on food/goods production and distribution are:

These last ones are more organized and politically explicit (ie. engaged in restructuring production and distribution) and they have also been at it with similar mutual aid projects prior to covid and will (hopefully!) continue.

Music by Prod Riddiman- Alien: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93OIOt7N-J0