This month we travel the world in our favorite podcasts from the Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast Network! From the growing anarchist movement in Indonesia, to antifa organizing in Australia, the ongoing impacts of colonialism in the guise of ayahuasca tourism in the Amazon, and then back home to discuss antifa and Occupy here in the U.S. We also love being able to share news about the latest written works of anarchist writers, with both Mark Bray and Kevin Tucker being interviewed in these podcasts, and hope you are inspired to dig deeper into the topics they discuss…
From Below
Mark Bray, Part 1, Antifa and Occupy (May 21)
Check out the latest From Below Podcast in which our comrades at Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation interview author, political organizer and historian Mark Bray about his two books Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook and Translating Anarchy. Roughly half of the podcast covers Bray’s reflections—from how Antifa has been received by the public and mainstream media to how Translating Anarchy addresses some of the competing historical interpretations of the politics of Occupy Wall Street. Bray also discusses the utility of “demands” to social movements in general, while underscoring their limitations for the OWS movement.
The other half of the podcast includes an analysis of Bray’s interview and a discussion on revolutionary politics by the hosts Markie and Pedro. The hosts discuss the limitations of pressure built by OWS and other movements to achieve meaningful social change and how the material conditions of people engaged in social movements can alter the outcome of those struggles. The hosts also discuss the normalization of anarchism as explained through Bray’s privileged access to mainstream media and its increased contemporary acceptance.
It’s Going Down
Inside the Growing Indonesian Anarchist Movement (May 7)
The folks at It’s Going Down recently recorded an excellent interview with a couple of anarchists in Indonesia. If you want to know more about how to support Indonesian anarchists facing repression from May Day actions, this is the podcast to listen to. It also includes some fascinating discussion around the history of anarchism in Indonesia, and the connections of the current anarchist movement to the punk music scene, zine culture, food not bombs and the student movement.
Anarchism in Indonesia has seen a sudden and rapid rise in popularity as young people discover its appeal as a way to take power back from a corrupt and imperialist government. This interview also discusses the work to support the struggle for independence in West Papua and other areas where Indigenous peoples are fighting for freedom from the Indonesian government.
The Final Straw
Antifa + Anarchy Down Under: Andy Fleming of SlackBastard (May 5)
This excellent episode of The Final Straw features an interview with longtime anti-fascist and anarchist organizer Andy Fleming from Melbourne, Australia. Andy has been organizing for over 15 years and sharing his research and insights through his Slackbastard blog.
Andy discusses the colonial roots of racism and the general cultural context for far right organizing in Australia, as well as who the key players are. He also discusses government repression and corporate spying on the radical left, ecological and Indigenous movements. Andy is a veritable one-person clearinghouse of information about the far right in Australia, which makes this an incredibly informative interview to listen to.
From Embers
Ayahuasca, Colonialism and the Death of a Healer (April 11)
In their latest episode, From Embers talks to Kevin Tucker, primal anarchist and author of the new book “Cull of Personality: Ayahuasca, Colonialism and the Death of a Healer.” The interview includes an introduction to the concept of primal anarchy, and details of some of the different projects Tuckers is working on.
In “Cull of Personality” Tucker has written about the historical context of the 2018 murder of Shipibo-Conibo healer and indigenous rights activist Olivia Arevalo at the hands of Canadian ayahuasca tourist Sebastian Woodroffe in the Peruvian Amazon. Woodroffe was then killed by members of Arevalo’s community. The book, and the interview, places this series of events within the larger context of colonial history in the Amazon region, and how ayahuasca tourism is an ongoing representation of that colonialism. It’s ultimately a stark reminder of colonialism as an ongoing and ever present threat to Indigenous communities, and how complicit we become when we engage in imperialist frontier economics.
