Mon, 7 November 2016
We know you’ve been on the edge of your seat, waiting for see which candidate will receive the Ex-Worker’s endorsement for president this year. In Episode 52, we offer an Ex-Voter’s guide to the 2016 election, including an analysis of the risks we anticipate in its aftermath titled After the Election, the Reaction. There’s lots of listener feedback to discuss, including advice for a young anarchist on less illegal or risky forms of anarchist action, updates about conflict between the Turkish state and the forces of Rojava, and a nuanced discussion of what “solidarity” really means, or should mean, in concrete terms. On the Chopping Block, we undertake a work of fiction for the first time, Nanni Balestrini’s Vogliamo Tutto, or We Want Everything. There’s also an announcement about some upcoming CrimethInc. developments, along with prisoner birthdays and more. We released this episode in tandem with an audio zine exploring anarchist critiques of voting, elections, and representative democracy, which you can download as Episode 51. {November 7, 2016}
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Direct download: 52_An-Ex-Voters-Guide-to-the-2016-Presidential-Election.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:38am PDT |
Mon, 7 November 2016
Do anarchists vote? If not, how do we express our voice and participate in changing society? What’s the problem with elections and representative democracy? In this special Election Day audio zine,we describe why electing representatives robs us of our power, refute common arguments made to convince us of the value of voting, explain direct action as an alternative approach for making change without politicians and parties, and lay out our vision for a free world beyond electoral politics. We begin by surveying anarchist responses to elections from the 19th century to the present day, and include excerpts from CrimethInc. interventions against the last few presidential elections, including “Don’t Just Vote, Get Active: A Community Non-Partisan Voters’ Guide” (2004), “Voting vs. Direct Action” (c. 2004), “False Hope vs. Real Change” (2008), “The Party’s Over” (c. 2009), and the “Democracy is Bankrupt” website (2012). This audio zine provides background for our discussion of the 2016 presidential campaign and its likely aftermath, which appears in Episode 52. Whoever they vote for, we are ungovernable! {November 7, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------
Direct download: 51_Anarchism-Voting-and-Direct-Action-An-Audio-Zine.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:38am PDT |
Wed, 7 September 2016
As we build momentum towards the September 9th national prison strike, we want to reflect on lessons learned from past generations of prison rebels, as well as how we can maintain energy on September 10th and beyond. In Episode 50 of the Ex-Worker, solidarity organizer Ben Turk fills us in on some history of prisoner organizing in recent decades, recaps some of the solidarity actions that have taken place leading up to this year’s historic strike, and offers perspective on continuing and deepening our resistance to prison society. We commemorate the death of Jordan MacTaggart, an American anarchist killed on the front lines in battle with the YPG against the Islamic State, and discuss international solidarity and the politics of martyrdom with Rojava Solidarity NYC. The death of John Timoney, former police chief and notorious foe of anarchists, prompts both glee and a somber reflection on the misery he inflicted on us. A member of Revolutionary Anarchist Action (DAF) in Istanbul discusses the background to the recent failed military coup as well as recent waves of anti-anarchist repression. A call for solidarity from la ZAD, news, events, and prisoner birthdays round out this packed episode. {September 7, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------
Direct download: 50_The-History-and-Future-of-Prison-Strikes-and-Solidarity.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:43am PDT |
Wed, 24 August 2016
The Ex-Worker is back! And just in time, because a potentially historic national prisoner strike is just around the corner. In our 49th episode, we discuss the upcoming September 9th strike to end prison slavery, with an interview with the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. You’ll also hear a review of Dan Berger’s book Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era; an interview with an anarchist from the UK about the Brexit vote; listener feedback on Spanish revolutionary militias, Comintern, and parallels with Rojava; updates on Kara Wild, a trans anarchist incarcerated in Paris; a letter from trans anarchist prisoner Jennifer Gann; plus news, prisoner birthdays, event announcements, and plenty more. {August 24, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------
Direct download: 49_September-9th-National-Prison-Strike.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:00am PDT |
Tue, 26 April 2016
Welcome back to the Ex-worker! We’re eschewing our typical format once again to bring you our second audio zine, a production of Crimethinc.’s new text From Democracy to Freedom. This release coincides with the announcement of an online platform for participating in decentralized reading groups and online discussions on this text as well as the others in the series exploring questions around democracy, and how we relate to it as anarchists. {April 26th, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------
Direct download: 48_From-Democracy-to-Freedom-Audio-Zine.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:17pm PDT |
Wed, 16 March 2016
Is Democracy what we’re fighting for, as anarchists? In episode 47 of the Ex-Worker Podcast, a contentious debate between Clara and Alanis on this topic sets the stage for an upcoming, in-depth engagement with the topic of Democracy. In addition, we clean out our backlog of listener feedback, clarifying our trash-talking of both the Bay Area and Adbusters in past episodes, as well as hearing from a listener in Australia about various online resources for finding out what’s happening with anarchist and anti-fascists in the land down under. NYC Anarchist Black Cross provides us with thorough political prisoner updates, and we share a review of the book Huye Hombre Huye, available from Little Black Cart. As always, the episode is bookended with global news updates, plus prisoner birthdays, a whole slew of upcoming anarchist bookfairs and other events and more. {March 16, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------
Direct download: 47_Introducing-the-Anarchist-Critique-of-Democracy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:57am PDT |
Thu, 11 February 2016
What do anarchists around the world think is in store for the new year? In Episode 45, we began our 2015 year in review, focusing on the US. In this episode, we share reflections on developments in 2015 and from anarchists in Chile, Finland, Brazil, Korea, Colombia, Czech Republic, and Rojava. There are also discussions about developments in fascism and anti-fascism, with reports from the UK and Australia, and an analysis by Gulf Coast anarchists of the environmental movement’s supposed "victory" over the Keystone XL pipeline in November. On the Chopping Block, we review the latest issue of Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, the journal of the Institute for Anarchist Studies, on the theme of "Justice." Long term black liberation political prisoner Herman Bell discusses his upcoming parole hearing, and we share plenty of news, including some reflection on a new round of revolts in Tunisia, plus prisoner birthdays, events, listener feedback, and more. {February 11, 2016} -------SHOW NOTES------
Direct download: 46_International-Anarchist-Reflections-on-the-New-Year.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:57am PDT |
Fri, 8 January 2016
In our first episode of the new year, the Ex-Worker looks back over 2015 and its highlights, lowlights, and everything in between. We summarize some of the year’s key news developments, including tech developments and struggles around gender, anarchist publishing and media, a hilarious look at mass media coverage of anarchism, and our reflections on the last year of the podcast itself and our new year’s resolutions. You’ll also hear some analysis of some of the important themes within anarchism and revolutionary struggles in 2015, including an extended discussion on identity and solidarity, a review of the AK Press anthology “Taking Sides”, and reflections on our relationship to mass movements. The anarchist news website “It’s Going Down” contributes their end of year thoughts, a new project called “The Spaces Between” sets out to document US anarchism outside of its major urban hotspots, and a supporter offers an important update on NATO 3 prisoner Jared “Jay” Chase. We also received a number of detailed and inspiring year in review reports from anarchists around the world … but we’ll save those for our next episode. |