The Book on Fire Podcast

By The Book on FireSociety & Culture

The Book on Fire Podcast episodes

February 08, 2023 Farewell to Humanity’s Childhood :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 1
We return! In our new season we are reading The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber & David Wengrow, a fascinating and controversial book of anthropology and social theory.
There's enough groundwork laid in Chapter 1 to make this episode a longer one than we're used to releasing. We hope you find it stimulating.
The Dawn of Everything at archive.org
NEW: We've started a Discord community in case folks are interested in more discussion around the books and ideas we engage with. Join us!
Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "That Glow in the Morning" by Sarah Louise.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at [email protected]
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
1 hr 53 min
April 30, 2020 The Witch’s Child :: Bonus Episode
"...those feelings of anguish and rage are the same itch the seed feels in the last days of Winter, before it bursts open and sends out its buds into the world... Remember this story, and there will be hope for Spring."
First published on Unsettling America.
Audio version originally published by Resonance.
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Music by Big Blood and I Love You.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at [email protected]
-*- our Discord community for further discussion -*-
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]
26 min
April 26, 2020 Witches in the New World :: Caliban and the Witch, Chapter 5
Witch hunting did not end in Europe. In fact it didn't even end. The final chapter of our book.
Mentioned:
Debt: The First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber
The anthropologist Michael Taussig
"Conviction: American Panic" podcast
Janet's essay about finding and connecting with nature anywhere
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Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at [email protected]
-*- our Discord community for further discussion -*-
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]
1 hr 17 min
April 12, 2020 The Great Witch Hunt, part 2 :: Caliban and the Witch, Chapter 4
Why were women especially targeted by the Witch Hunt? The continuation of Chapter 4.
Mentioned:
The Witch Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray
The Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Ehrenreich and English
Stephany Hoffelt's Domestic Medicine blog
Diane Purkiss
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Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at [email protected]
-*- our Discord community for further discussion -*-
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]
1 hr 9 min
April 03, 2020 The Great Witch Hunt, part 1 :: Caliban and the Witch, Chapter 4
Arguably the most important chapter of the book. "The Great Witch-Hunt in Europe"
Mentioned:
Malleus Maleficarum or The Hammer of the Witches
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Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at [email protected]
-*- our Discord community for further discussion -*-
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]
55 min
March 16, 2020 Taming the Rebel Body :: Caliban and the Witch, Chapter 3
Capitalism needed to invent a new kind of person, a new subject to fit into its scheme. Science and rationalist philosophy was happy to provide.
Mentioned on the podcast:
Harriet Washington Medical Apartheid
Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene
Jared Diamond Guns, Germs, and Steel
Excellent critique of Diamond's book from the Savage Minds blog
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Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at [email protected]
-*- our Discord community for further discussion -*-
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]
1 hr 11 min
February 28, 2020 Capitalism in a Nutshell, part 2 :: Caliban and the Witch, Chapter 2 continued
We return to finish chapter 2.
Mentioned on the show:
The podcast series "Seeing White" from Scene on Radio
Dr. Kim Tallbear on For the Wild podcast

Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at [email protected]
-*- our Discord community for further discussion -*-
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]
55 min
February 16, 2020 Capitalism in a Nutshell, Part 1 :: Caliban & The Witch, Chapter 2
We begin discussing the pivotal second chapter. There was too much to fit into one episode, so this conversation will be continued.
Mentioned:
Q, the novel, by Luther Blissett
The World Turned Upside Down, by Christopher Hill

Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You.
-*- our Discord community for further discussion -*-
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at [email protected]
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]
1 hr 20 min
January 30, 2020 The World Needs a Jolt :: Caliban & The Witch, Chapter 1
Life during feudalism, popular revolt, heretical resistance: "All the World Needs Jolt: Social Movements and Political Crisis in Medieval Europe".
Further reading:
Tragedy of the Commons on Wikipedia
"First as Tragedy, then as Fascism", article from The Baffler about the legacy of Garrett Hardin, who popularized the "tragedy" in a 1968 essay.
The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem (PDF)
Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You.
-*- our Discord community for further discussion -*-
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at [email protected]
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]
1 hr 17 min
January 17, 2020 Caliban and the Witch :: Introduction
Caliban and the Witch is much more than a book of history. Today we introduce our new book, get oriented to the subject matter, define some terms, and cover highlights from the preface and the introduction.
Order the book from AK Press here.
It can also be found free online as a scanned PDF here
And possibly as an EPUB ebook here.
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Also mentioned:
Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture by Arthur Evans
Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You.
-*- our Discord community for further discussion -*-
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at [email protected]
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]

1 hr 3 min