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Mexie sits down with anti-capitalist and decolonial scholar and activist, Dr. Nick Estes, to talk about the US election and what the Empire looks like under various administrations, about the legitimacy of the Supreme Court with respect to Indigenous law and sovereignty, and about how decolonial and anti-capitalist struggles are intimately linked. It was an enlightening discussion! Please follow Nick’s work at The Red Nation (links below).

Source and Links

* The Red Nation: http://therednation.org/ * The Red Nation podcast: https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/vi… * The Red Nation Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therednation * The Red Nation on Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_Red_Nation * Nick Estes on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickwestes * Our History is The Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo…

Books mentioned on the show:

* Du Bois, Black Reconstruction * Mike Davis, Prisoners of the American Dream * J. Sakai, Settlers * Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism * Vander Wall and Churchill, Agents of Repression * Churchill, The COINTELPRO Papers

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Transcript

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In this episode, Mexie is joined by Nichole from Pynk Spots (formerly from Bitchy Shitshow and Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack!) to chat about the 2020 election results: our reactions to Biden winning, why the Supreme Court and the Electoral College need to go, what moves Trump is making to attempt a soft coup (possible but not likely), and how neoliberalism doesn’t beat fascism – in fact, it leads to it.

Sources and Links

* Pynk Spots on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFh3fDI2O4pYIurpRhnRzQA* Pynk Spots on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pynkspots/* Pynk Spots on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PynkSpots* Pynk Spots on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pynkspots* Pynk Spots on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pynkspots/posts

* Voting History: The Real Reason the Electoral College Exists: https://time.com/4558510/electoral-college-history-slavery/* Could Trump Military Shake-up Set Stage for Coup? https://www.spreaker.com/user/radiosputnik/by-any-means-886-seg222-sean_144* How the Electoral College Works in 6 Minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gF5O6AB6d8&ab_channel=ThoughtMonkey * American Democracy is Hanging on By a Thread: https://eand.co/american-democracy-is-hanging-on-by-a-thread-d13f482b3aa* Trump Readies Thousands of Attorneys for Election Night: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/27/trump-legal-network-election-day-fight-422035* The Empire Files, Abby Martin: Abolish the Supreme Court!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkcI7_0wMyQ * The Empire Files, Will Supreme Court Overturn Election for Trump?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6EK8zx7kKo

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Transcript

[MUSIC] Oh, those rich people.  Always flying off somewhere.

MEXIE:  Hey everyone, welcome to the Vegan Vanguard.  It’s Mexie and today we have an amazing friend, very good friend of the show, Nichole, on the show.  Welcome, Nichole.

NICHOLE:  Thank you so much for having me.  Always a pleasure to be here.

MEXIE:  At first I was like, how do I introduce you, because formally Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack, formally Bitchy Shitshow, and now Pynk Spots, so I just said fantastic friend of the show.

NICHOLE:  I love it.

MEXIE:  Yeah.  But do you want to, I guess, start off by shouting out your new work and where people can find you and what your new project’s all about?

NICHOLE:  Yes, I would love to.  Yeah, I’m starting a new podcast called Pynk Spots and Pynk is spelled with a Y, so it’s P-Y-N-K to make it more clear but also because the domain name was available, so that’s how we content creators do.  Yeah, and this new project, I’m very excited about.  It’s gonna be a solo project.  Some of you may know me from Bitchy Shitshow or Vegan Warrior Princesses Att...

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Happy Halloween (slash HBD, Mexie)! Mexie and Ash, from the podcast The Horror Vanguard, review the 1981 horror film, Wolfen. Comrade wolfen are eating rich imperialist real estate moguls, what fun!

Sources and Links

* Follow the Horror Vanguard on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-317910500 * Horror Vanguard on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HorrorVanguard* Horror Vanguard on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/horrorvanguard* Ash on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Night____Moves

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In this episode, Mexie talks with community organizer Noodle about information and operational security for political dissidents, protestors, and organizers. We talk about what protestors and organizers can do to keep themselves and their comrades secure, both in the streets as well as at home and on digital networks. Please check out the links below, and remember – we keep us safe.

Sources and Links

* Blocing Up (why black bloc?): https://zines.headingnorther.com/pdfs/bloc/doubledwebbloczine.pdf * Printable Blocing Up: https://zines.headingnorther.com/pdfs/bloc/imposedbloczine.pdf* Digital Security: https://zines.headingnorther.com/pdfs/digsec/webdigseczine.pdf* Printable Digital Security: https://zines.headingnorther.com/pdfs/digsec/digsecimposed.pdf* Secured phone tips for Android: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFArk8YAw6f/?igshid=1ipacxhgi85wv* Another quick and easy guide for phones at actions (also suggest following the instagram feeds below): https://www.instagram.com/p/CFEP2l0gLgG/* Guide to helmets if you want to invest in head protection: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEVrAcxBF6Y/?igshid=udkyogcxnd7g* Pandemic protesting and riot agent guide: https://www.instagram.com/p/CA5b2Dkg9VI/* Security culture guide in digestible format: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEk48LTgRjU/ * Simple pepper spray guide: https://www.prevention.com/health/a32734569/pepper-spray-treatment/* viewEXIF, Apple link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/viewexif/id945320815* Download the Signal App for secure messaging!* Privacy Tools: https://www.privacytools.io/ * Get your free secure email address here: https://protonmail.com/* Get your free VPN here: https://protonvpn.com/

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In this episode, Mexie sits down with former employees of No Evil Foods, Jon, Meagan, and Cortne, to talk about how the company effectively quashed the workers’ union drive. No Evil has, until now, marketed themselves as a revolutionary brand, using socialist iconography and even appropriating the Zapatista movement to sell their products. We discuss the strategies No Evil used to pressure workers not to vote yes and form the union, and the fallout that organizers dealt with after the vote. We end with some lessons learned that will hopefully be useful to people hoping to unionize their own workplaces.

Sources and Links

* Mo Evil Website: https://www.moevilfoods.com/* Mo Evil on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoEvilFoods* Birdie Gregson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BirdieGregson * Meagan Sullivan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeaganS45494317* Mo Evil on IG: https://www.instagram.com/moevilfoods2/* Marty Levitt, Confessions of a Union Buster: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1154842.Confessions_of_a_Union_Buster* Andrew Miller, The Double Speak of No Evil Foods: https://industrialworker.org/no-evil-foods/ * Alex Press, Workers at No Evil Foods Say the Vegan, Progressive Company Busted Their Union Drive: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/06/no-evil-foods-unionizing-workers-organizing

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In this episode, Mexie talks with John Perkins, former Chief Economist for MAIN, about his time as an economic hitman, furthering U.S. empire through economic imperialism. We talk about the links between the World Bank, IMF, private firms like Haliburton and Bechtel, and intelligence agencies like the CIA and NSA. John also discusses some insights from his new book about the shift in consciousness required to revolutionize our economy.

Sources and Links

* John Perkins Website: https://johnperkins.org/* New Confessions of an Economic Hitman: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576012/the-new-confessions-of-an-economic-hit-man-by-john-perkins/* David Harvey, 17 Contradictions and the End of Capitalism: http://davidharvey.org/2014/03/new-book-seventeen-contradictions-end-capitalism/* David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183033.A_Brief_History_of_Neoliberalism* Richard Wolff, Democracy at Work: https://www.democracyatwork.info/* Anwar Shaikh, Capitalism: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/capitalism-9780199390632?cc=ca&lang=en&

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In this episode, Mexie talks with plural justice activists Meneka Repka and Ehsan Otoufi about the challenges of political organizing within mainstream, ‘apolitical’ vegan spaces. We talk about why anti-speciesist activism needs to be anti-capitalist and pro-intersectional, take a look at some of the mainstream organizations that purport to be ‘apolitical’, and discuss Meneka and Ehsan’s experiences trying to fight for plural justice in a more neutral vegan space.

Sources and Links

* Nooch Design Co. on IG: https://www.instagram.com/noochdesignco/* Food Empowerment Project: https://foodispower.org/ * Aph and Syl Ko, Aphro-ism: https://aphro-ism.com/* Christopher Sebastian’s work: https://www.christophersebastian.info/ * Sunaura Taylor, Beats of Burden: https://thenewpress.com/books/beasts-of-burden* Dr. Breeze Harper, Sistah Vegan: http://sistahvegan.com/ * Carol J. Adams, The Sexual Politics of Meat: https://caroljadams.com/spom-the-book

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This episode begins with a short rundown of what’s going on with the BLM rebellions right now, and includes two PSAs from the Channel Zero Network about safety and security during street actions and how to provide jail support to your comrades. In the episode itself, Mexie and Marine talk about the problematic war rhetoric that leaders and media pundits are using to describe our response to the coronavirus. We talk about what this rhetoric primes us to accept, how this rhetoric obscures the crimes of capital, and the inconsistencies in the logic of a war response.

Sources and Links

Places to Donate:

* Bail Funds/Legal Help by City: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1X4-YS3vFn5CLL9QtJSU0xqmTh_h8XilXgOqGAjZISBI/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR2xRNTx7eQaZLkwkAJO_gV5Vr3gzGOtKDmGnpR-VFzygNF0lXU60k7QYv0* Reclaim the Block/Minnesota Freedom Fund list of orgs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yLWGTQIe3967hdc9RSxBq5s6KKZHe-3_mWp5oemd7OA/preview?fbclid=IwAR3yoIMfyiKdBnLnTcMe8O9tbjHFi4iLMeN87Z1OlBkil4nS-gobpjWnltw&pru=AAABcpnsAUg*cE6Ba7dNK2JGZFIm0v6seQ* We Keep Us Safe Fund: https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8nnnkYT19f?fbclid=IwAR0izVFrvAWjGq2l3LZ6A4gtNQQhjopFinIk7W34uoB-Os7XmBKyz54oHSo* The Bail Project: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/the-bail-project* Official George Floyd Memorial Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd* George Floyd (BigFloyd): https://www.gofundme.com/f/george-floyd-bigfloyd?fbclid=IwAR1NwsKmFWO_BKC15d1JzZrPRSzF3avS0LwGkppkHDD67_vb0TWaqI8SC08* Incarcerated Workers...

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In this bonus episode, Mexie appears on RevLeftRadio to discuss psychedelics, ego, consciousness, spirituality and leftism with Brett. This discussion dovetails well with our recent discussion on Mind and Nature, exploring themes of meditation and communing with nature in relation to leftist thought and activism. By popular request, we’ve gone in deeper on the psychedelic portion of our convo. Hope you enjoy! (Responsibly ;))

Sources and Links

* Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/529343/how-to-change-your-mind-by-michael-pollan/* RevLeftRadio: https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/* RevLeftRadio on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RevLeftRadio

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In this episode, Mexie talks with Green, a comrade from the Indigenous Anarchist Federation, Ash from the Horror Vanguard podcast, and her partner, Jacob, about all things FF7 and how relevant the game’s narrative is for our current historical moment. We discuss the way the game handles themes of anti-capitalism, colonialism, environmentalism, racism, patriarchy, and last but not least, trauma. Eco-activist resurgence when?!

Sources and Links

* Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ANeonGreenCity* Green on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a_cure_for_sleep/* Green on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/abrightgreencity/videos* Indigenous Anarchist Federation: https://iaf-fai.org/* Indigenous Anarchist Federation on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAF__FAI* Ash on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GothUncharted* Horror Vanguard podcast: https://soundcloud.com/user-317910500* Horror Vanguard on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HorrorVanguard

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