From Embers

An interview with Ben Morea, recorded after an art show and talk he gave in Kingston, Ontario entitled "Revolutionary Animism – The Unified Field: Art, Politics and Spirituality." Ben Morea is best known as a key figure in the Black Mask group, The Family (popularly known as Up Against The Wall Motherf**ker), and the Armed Love commune movement. In this interview Ben recounts stories from his life, reflects on some of the challenges facing anarchists and revolutionaries of yesterday and today, and shares some thoughts on animism, indigenous ways of life, conflict, art, and more.

The No State Solution: A Dialogue with Palestinian sociologist Mohammed Bamyeh and Israeli political scientist Uri Gordon How can anarchist perspectives contribute to Palestinian liberation? Professor Mohammed Bamyeh, Department of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh, is author of Anarchy as Order: The History and Future of Civic Humanity (2009) Dr. Uri Gordon, author of Anarchy Alive!: Anti-Authoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory (2007), is an Independent scholar now based in the UK. This event took place on the unceded Territories of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt in Victoria, BC Canada, and in the U.K. via Zoom on January 28, 2024. Sponsored by Camas Books & Infoshop, Anarchist Archive at UVic, Sunset Labs, Anarchist Network of Vancouver Island (ANVI)

An interview with Jordan House and Asaf Rashid, authors of the book Solidarity Beyond Bars: Unionizing Prison Labour.  We discuss the background of the book, some historical and legal precedents, the pros and cons of right-based approaches, the core strategic arguments for a prisoners union, and an exciting new initiative by prisoners in Laval, QC to form a union. If you're around Montreal, check out their upcoming book launch at Concordia University on Friday, November 24th. With music from David Parker & Stefan Christoff.

On this special edition of From Embers, we’re sharing a reading of Under New Management: Resistance to Prisons in Ontario & Quebec. Originally published in 2018 on It's Going Down under the title Our Neighbors to the North, this article discusses the establishment of the Canadian prison system and highlights some examples of prisoner resistance in Ontario and Quebec over the decades, with an emphasis on the widespread unrest throughout the 1970s. This AudioZine was first broadcast by CFRC Prison Radio in Kingston and has been edited and republished with permission.  With music from Young Spirit, Christian Collins, Beatrice Deer and Cee Reality.

Our fediverse correspondent Lenny returns to discuss the FBI seizure of the servers of Kolektiva.social, the largest anarchist instance on Mastodon. We also talk about the continuing discrediting of big tech companies such as Twitter, Meta and Reddit, and what that might mean for people working to build an open-source, decentralized alternative to corporate social media platforms. LINKS Kolektiva.social Security Alert (Statement on seizure) From Embers - Social Networks, Online Life and The Fediverse From Embers - New Communication Infrastructure For Anarchists F-91W Distro - Mastodon OPSEC guide F-91W Distro - An anarchist introduction to federated social media CrimethInc - Doxxing Prevention and Aftercare Guide Anti-Hate.ca Story on Poast Leak Reddit alternatives Lemmy & Kbin With music from Deep Sixed

Talking with Louve Rose from P!nk Bloc Montreal about Quebec’s transphobic far right, drag defence, and building a revolutionary anti-capitalist queer organization for both community self-defence and to intervene against gay assimilationism. Links P!nk Bloc MTL – Instagram, Facebook, Linktree August 12 Rad Pride (Facebook Event) Montreal Antifasciste MAF reportback from April 12 drag defence From Embers - Anti-Fascism in Quebec Revolutionary Trans Politics and the Three Way Fight Submedia: Pride and Prejudice Music The Muslims - Fuck the Cistem  

Interview with an anti-fascist observer about insights gained from the Public Order Emergency Commission hearings, a public inquiry into the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act to repress the so-called Freedom Convoy in February 2022. We discuss why governments invoke emergencies, OPP's Project Hendon, how the Convoy was funded, the relationship between convoy organizers and police, comparisons with #ShutDownCanada, liberal conspiracy theories, the scale of economic disruption during the Convoy, and more. Links Public Order Emergency Commission Our previous episodes on Yellow Vests Canada and the Freedom Convoy  Ill Winds From Ottawa - Crimethinc report on the Freedom Convoy Anarchist report from Ottawa during the Convoy Music: Lee Reed Note: Due to a technical glitch, this episode was removed, edited and re-published after it's initial release on January 11, 2023.

Interview with the author of the PET Guide, a zine discussing secure digital communication tools from an anarchist perspective. We discuss Signal and its critics, and some new tools being released that incorporate peer-to-peer communication, end-to-end encryption and the Tor network. Further reading: How the U.S. Military buys location data from ordinary apps The challenge of cracking Iran's internet blockade Catholic bishop / Grindr / App data scandal Signal Interview with new Signal president Meredith Whittaker Signal Warning? Why Moxie's Departure Is Not The End Of Signal Signal Fails PET apps Briar Project Cwtch

A conversation with two anarchists following a workshop they gave at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair entitled 10 years since the strike: the place of nationalism within militant struggle. We discuss the history of Quebec nationalism and its influence in anarchist and radical milieus, responsibilities of settlers in anti-colonial struggle and in relating to land, possibilities and uncertain futures opened up by anarchism as a guiding practice, and more.   Further reading: « Sauvage », « esclave » et « Nègres blancs d’Amérique » : hypothèses sur le complexe onto-politique québécois Keshena Robinson - Québec Redux: Settler Coloniality and Reactionary "Decolonialism" Robin Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson - Rehearsals for Living William C. Anderson - The Nation on No Map: Black Anarchism and Abolition Tuck and Yang - Decolonization is Not a Metaphor Sever - Land and Freedom   Music in this episode: Cris Derksen - Our Home on Native Land, Fires Kae Tempest - Tunnel Vision

Escaping Tomorrow's Cages is a six-part essay being published throughout the month of May that lays out the coming wave of provincial jail expansions in Ontario and propose a strategy for how they might be opposed. We spoke with 3 anarchists involved with the project.

In this episode I chat with two members of Divest McGill, a student-led organization at McGill University in so-called Montreal. They are fighting to force McGill to divest from the fossil fuel industry and transform the university into something liberatory and accountable to the people whose lives it affects. This spring, they led a more than two-week-long open, social occupation of a university building. All music in this episode is from the 2012 anti-folk opera "What The F*ck Am I Doing Here?" about anarchist participation in the 2012 Quebec student strike. Check it out on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/whatthefuckamidoinghere/sets/what-the-fuck-am-i-doing-here Learn more about Divest McGill here: https://www.divestmcgill.ca/

Conversation with the author of Addressing Russian Propaganda, available online at praleski.org. We discuss some of the political and historic context for Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine including Russian state mythology of anti-fascism, the importance of solidarity with people in Ukraine facing Russian imperial agression, and more.   Music in this episode is from a benefit compilation released by eastbloc sound titled We Stand With Ukraine. Also check out Albums Against the Invasion from Anarchist Black Cross Musical Solidarity Group   Links:   Operation Solidarity   Support Roma in Ukraine   The Solidarity Apothecary   Anarchist Black Cross Dresden   Autonomous Action – anarchists, libertarian communists, antifa   Commons (leftist journal from Ukraine)   Letters from Ukraine series published by Endnotes: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3   Everyday Anarchism – Bonus episode: A Report from Ukranian Anarchists

carla bergman is an artist, writer, unschooler and fellow podcaster.  We discuss carla’s backstory, being radicalized by parenting, unschooling, the Purple Thistle, pandemic school closures, learning to trust kids, and striving to bring more joy into our projects and lives. Find carla on twitter, instagram and linktree Music by TimeArtwork from Grounded Futures

A conversation with two members of Friends of the Attawapiskat River (Website/Facebook) about the Ring of Fire mining project and what's at stake. Mining Injustice Solidarity Network: (Website/Facebook) Song excerpt from Sounding Rock drum group, Webequie First Nation  

We spoke with a transportation worker about the so-called Freedom Convoy currently occupying capital cities and border crossings across Canada. Links: Naujawan Support Network Canadian Anti-Hate Network Punch Up Collective (Ottawa) Ottawa Trip Report Three Way Fight

This week's discussion features an anarchist who is really into Mastodon. We talk about what's wrong with corporate social media platforms, what we like and don't like about spending time catching up online, and how Mastodon/the Fediverse feels different from hanging out on Instagram. We also get some tips for getting started on this alternative social media platform. Links: https://kolektiva.social https://joinmastodon.org Forthcoming sub.media documentary about Facebook that our guest mentions in the interview: https://thesocialempire.net/  Music in this episode is by Deep Sixed: https://deepsixed.bandcamp.com/

This episode features an interview with Cid V. Brunet about their recent memoir "This Is My Real Name: A Stripper's Memoir. We talk about stripping, sex work, anarchist community, sex, gender and much more.  Buy the book at Arsenal Pulp Press.

In this interview, Ann Hansen, author of Direct Action: Memoirs of an Urban Guerilla and Taking the Rap: Women Doing Time For Society's Crimes, discusses her work with the Prison for Women Memorial Collective (P4WMC). The group is dedicated to having a permanent Memorial Garden and Gallery for all of the women who died in federal prisons, to be located inside the now-closed P4W Prison. It is their goal to exhibit art, writing and films about the women in prison, so they will be remembered as the fully fleshed-out human beings they were. Ann recounts recent challenges her group faced working with non-prisoner allies.  https://p4wmemorialcollectivedotcom.wordpress.com

The Fairy Creek blockades and other blockades on unceded Pacheedaht and Ditidaht territories continue under the invitation of Pacheedaht Elder, Bill Jones. Please consider supporting the Defence of Indigenous Land BIPOC gofundme: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-indigenous-land-defenders-fairy-creek) and the fundrazr for legal defense and front line support: https://fundrazr.com/last_stand_for_forests?ref=ab_4psL41hKcg54psL41hKcg5  

Jennifer Wickham, a member of Cas Yikh, the grizzly house, in the Gidimt'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en people and media manager for the Gidimt'en yintah access point who is living on the yintah and working on a feature-length documentary film about Wet’suwet’en sovereignty as a creative producer. In this interview, Jennifer discusses recent developments in the Wet'suwet'en resistance against the Coastal GasLink pipeline construction, the effect of COVID-19 on her community, the legacy of the Residential School system, and the solidarity between Indigenous nations. Learn more about how you can support the Gidimt'en on their website: https://www.yintahaccess.com/ Check out recent updates from the Gidimt'en resistance here: https://www.yintahaccess.com/news Follow the Gidimt'en Checkpoint instagram @yintah_access Listen to Sleydo' Molly Wickham's interview from the 2020 VABF last year here: https://victoriaanarchistbookfair.ca/gidimten-clan-spokesperson-molly-wickham-on-wetsuweten-anti-pipeline-resistance/