From Embers
117 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 16 ratingsFrom Embers is a regular show about anarchist and anti-authoritarian politics in so-called Canada. We are part of the Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast Network.
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Episodes
Event Audio: The No State Solution
March 04, 2024 01:50 - 1 hour - 82.4 MBThe 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 i...
Unionizing Prison Labour
November 18, 2023 20:27 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBAn 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 mus...
AudioZine: Under New Management
October 05, 2023 01:15 - 50 minutes - 36.4 MBOn 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 ...
Dispatches from the Fediverse
August 13, 2023 12:00 - 39 minutes - 28.6 MBOur 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 ...
Drag Defence in Quebec
July 19, 2023 13:02 - 42 minutes - 71.3 MBTalking 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 F...
The Public Order Emergency Commission
January 13, 2023 03:22 - 1 hour - 86.8 MBInterview 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 ...
New Communication Infrastructure For Anarchists
November 03, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 150 MBInterview 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 ne...
Quebec Nationalism and Settler Futurity - Refusing Innocence
October 27, 2022 23:57 - 1 hour - 65.4 MBA 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 », ...
Escaping Tomorrow's Cages
May 19, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 131 MBEscaping 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.
Student Organizing with Divest McGill
April 27, 2022 22:04 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBIn 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 H...
Solidarity with the people of Ukraine - Against the Russian State
April 13, 2022 15:34 - 58 minutes - 53.6 MBConversation 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 Invasio...
Carla Bergman on School Resistance, Joyful Projects and Trusting Kids
March 24, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 58.7 MBcarla 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 Time Artwork from Grounded Futures
Northern Ontario's Ring of Fire
February 17, 2022 03:03 - 58 minutes - 54.6 MBA 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
Patriots and Big Trucks
February 08, 2022 03:11 - 58 minutes - 42.8 MBWe 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
Social Networks, Online Life and The Fediverse
February 03, 2022 01:00 - 58 minutes - 53.2 MBThis 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 gues...
A Stripper's Memoir
January 12, 2022 23:18 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBThis 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.
VABF Day 7: Ann Hansen on Prisoner Organizing and Working With Allies
October 29, 2021 10:00 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MBIn 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...
VABF Day 6: Five Reports From Ada'itx (Fairy Creek)
October 28, 2021 12:30 - 1 hour - 57.5 MBThe 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
VABF Day 6: Jennifer Wickham on Wet'suwet'en Anti-Pipeline Resistance during COVID-19
October 28, 2021 08:00 - 39 minutes - 27 MBJennifer 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 R...
VABF Day 5: Art and Activism With Musician and Community Activist Stefan Christoff
October 27, 2021 10:00 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MBAn interview on multiple intersections of art and activism with Stefan Christoff, a longtime community organizer and musician living in Montréal / Tiohtià:ke. This interview will highlight various forms of expression of the arts within social movements against systemic oppression, injustice and for collective liberation. Stefan will highlight active collaborations and efforts to build support within networks of artists and cultural workers for efforts to defend the rights of precarious...
VABF Day 5: Jineoloji: Learning from the Revolutionary Women's Movement in Rojava with Sarah Marcha
October 27, 2021 08:00 - 36 minutes - 23.3 MBSarah Marcha speaks to the revolutionary science of women's equality called Jineoloji that was developed in the autonomous region of Rojava. Jineoloji is an international movement spanning Europe and the Middle East. In this interview, Sarah discusses the leadership roles of women in the system of Democratic Confederalism, and provides examples of the transformative nature of womans' struggles against patriarchy in Rojava. Of particular importance in Sarah's discussion is her account of the ...
VABF Day 4: Kahala Johnson on Hawai'i, Anarchism, and the Politics of Indigeneity
October 26, 2021 13:44 - 1 hour - 57 MBHawaiian activist and land defender Kahala Johnson discusses anarchism through the lens of Indigeneity and shares insights regarding resistance struggles, including land reclamations and direct action blockades that halted the construction of a massive telescope on Mauna Kea, one of the most sacred volcanos in Hawaiian culture.
VABF Day 3: Gord Hill on 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance
October 25, 2021 08:00 - 48 minutes - 44.3 MBIn this interview, Gord Hill discusses the making of his new edition of The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book and tactics and strategies the history of Indigenous resistance teaches us. He provides an analysis of present day resistance against the right wing, as well as an account of the difference between the ideology of pacifism and civil disobedience tactics. For an archive of Indigenous resistance visit: https://warriorpublications.wordpress.com
VABF Day 2: Uri Gordon on Prefigurative Politics
October 24, 2021 10:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBWelcome to Day Two of the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair! In this episode, Uri Gordon discusses some issues surrounding the use of the terms ‘prefiguration’ and ‘prefigurative politics.’ He is the author of several books and articles on contemporary anarchism, including Anarchy Alive!: Anti-Authoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory, and Prefigurative Politics between Ethical Practice and Absent Promise. He is co-editor of Anarchists Against the Wall: Direct Action and Solidarity with the...
VABF Day 1: N.O. Bonzo on Anarchy, Art, and Mutual Aid
October 23, 2021 07:00 - 40 minutes - 36.8 MBWelcome to the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair! N.O. Bonzo is an anarchist street artist and illustrator whose work is much admired in the activist community. In this interview, Bonzo discusses their beautifully illustrated edition of Peter Kropotkin’s most famous book, Mutual Aid, and the politics of anarchy and art. Check out Bonzo's edition of Mutual Aid: https://www.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1185
Terrain Vague
October 21, 2021 00:00 - 47 minutes - 64.3 MBThe Terrain Vague, which loosely translates into English as the "wasteland," is a large de-industrialized and partially wooded area on the outskirts of Hochelega, a neighbourhood in Montreal’s east end, and close to the Port of Montreal. That space is under threat from several major development projects, and those who care about the Terrain Vague have been getting organized in the past years, connecting the developments to broader colonial-capitalist strategies at play by the Quebec gover...
Mike Gouldhawke on Truth, Reconciliation, The State and #LandBack
October 07, 2021 03:59 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBAn interview with Mike Gouldhawke about Truth and Reconciliation Day, the Canadian state, and #LandBack. Find more of Mike's work here: https://mgouldhawke.wordpress.com/ Also check out his new chapter "By All Means, Anti-Politics" in the new Little Black Cart anthology "Not On Any Map." Music in this episode by AwareNess.
The state, the virus, the far right: how can anti-authoritarians intervene?
September 30, 2021 03:10 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBWriter, researcher and teacher Dr. Alex Khasnabish talks about a recent workshop he gave at the Halifax Anarchist Bookfair called “You Can’t Police Yourself Out of a Pandemic: Anti-Authoritarian Strategies in an Age of Crisis.” We discuss both state and far right responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the tensions surrounding vaccination, anti-authoritarian strategies for collective care, and questions about where to go from here. In the later part of the episode, Alex briefly refer...
Settlers on the Red Road
August 31, 2021 22:57 - 56 minutes - 101 MBInterview with Tawinikay about her essay released in spring 2021 Settlers on the Red Road: On Indigeneity, Appropriation and Belonging which addresses the problem of race-shifting in anarchist and anarchist-adjacent spaces. Music from Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
Coming Together Amid The Pandemic
August 25, 2021 21:00 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MBThis episode features an interview with two members of the Halifax Anarchist Bookfair collective. We talked about how and why to organize an anarchist gathering during the pandemic, anarchy in Halifax, and why we need anarchist bookfairs in 2021. Music by Slow Man Tofu (Kingston) and Desperate Times (Halifax).
Climate Crisis, Activism, and the Future Of The Planet
August 19, 2021 01:09 - 1 hour - 50.5 MBFor this episode I sat down (in person!) with author, farmer and organizer Aric McBay. We talked about the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, what climate scientists are now saying about the future of the planet, whether it's still worth trying to stop climate change, and whether and how to maintain hope in the face of increasingly apocalyptic news. To learn about Aric's most recent book, Full Spectrum Resistance, check out the full episode we did with Aric two years ...
A Year At 1492 Land Back Lane
July 22, 2021 00:00 - 46 minutes - 107 MBThis episode features an interview with Skyler Williams of 1492 Land Back Lane, a land reclamation on the edge of the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve near Caledonia, Ontario. This week marks the one year anniversary of the camp which was reclaimed last July in response to plans to develop a subdivision on Six Nations Territory. Skyler speaks about a year spent at the camp, the recent announcement that the McKenzie Meadows subdivision has been cancelled by the developer because of Six ...
Fairy Creek
July 19, 2021 02:08 - 1 hour - 84.5 MBA discussion with an anarchist participant in the Fairy Creek blockades on so-called Vancouver Island. Further reading: Five Months of Direct Action... (No More City) The Return of the War in the Woods? (BC Blackout) Desert (The Anarchist Library)
Re-Launch Announcement
July 16, 2021 16:25 - 3 minutes - 6.09 MBAfter nearly a year on hiatus, we're excited to finally be re-launching From Embers. In this mini-episode we briefly explain our absence, reflect on why the show still feels important to us, and tease two upcoming episodes.
VABF Day 7: Ma’amtagila (Kwakwaka’wakw) Matriarch Tsastilqualus of House Umbas on Indigenous Sovereignty and Rematriation
September 20, 2020 14:05 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBTsastilqualus is an elder of the House Umbas from Ma’amtagila (Kwakwaka’wakw) territory. In this final episode of the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair's week of podcasts, Tsastilqualus speaks about her life and views on how Indigenous resistance can be combined with cultural renewal to realize ecological sustainability and Indigenous sovereignty. For years she has been involved in fighting fish farms and clear cuts in her traditional unceded territories to ensure the survivability of wild salmon....
VABF Day 7: Homeless in the Pandemic
September 20, 2020 14:00 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBAs in other places, unhoused people in Victoria face severe challenges in their daily lives ranging from a lack of food, sanitation and medical services to harassment by police and security. One particularly disturbing development are growing resentments and assaults by community members who are unwilling to share green spaces with those who need them for survival. In this episode we hear from a grass-roots front-line supporter and member of the Lived Experience of Homelessness Network (LEOH...
VABF Day 6: Kurdish Sociologist Ozlem Goner on the Current Struggle For Autonomy in Rojava
September 19, 2020 14:05 - 57 minutes - 52.3 MBOzlem Goner is a steering committee member of the Emergency Committee for Rojava, New York, and associate professor at the City University of New York. Her research interests focus on political sociology, ethnographies of the state and nationalism, comparative and historical sociology, race and ethnicity, social movements, qualitative methods, and classical, poststructural, postcolonial and feminist theory. For updates concerning the situation in Rojava and to donate to the struggle, visi...
VABF Day 6: UK Theorist Ruth Kinna (editor, Anarchist Studies) on Capitalism, Anarchism, and the Commons
September 19, 2020 14:00 - 37 minutes - 33.9 MBRuth Kinna is a world-renowned political theorist and historian of ideas who has authored numerous books on anarchism, nineteenth- and early twentieth-century socialist thought, utopianism and contemporary radicalism. She is a professor of political philosophy at Loughborough University and editor of the UK-based journal, Anarchist Studies.
VABF Day 5: Anarchist Ann Hansen and Trans Activist Naphtali Discuss Prison (In)justice
September 18, 2020 14:00 - 35 minutes - 32.5 MBAnn Hansen is former member of the anarchist organization Direct Action and served over 7 years in prison for her involvement with that collective. She is now living on a self-sufficient farm and works on prison-related issues as a member of the Prison for Women (P4W) Memorial Collective. Naphtali is a white non-binary trans Jew who is into prison abolition, anti-zionism, indigenous and black liberation, night-bouquets, and community care.
VABF Day 4: Nuu-chah-nulth & Coast Salish activist Queen Sacheen (Ancestral Pride) reflects on her life and Indigenous Sovereignty
September 17, 2020 14:00 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MBQueen Sacheen is co-founder of Ancestral Pride, with whom she has produced many zines. She has spent a great deal of time advising Settler-anarchists on how to be in solidarity with Indigenous resistance movements. She is a warrior who has taken part in many actions, including Standing Rock. Finally, Sacheen is a proud mother, Matriarch, doula and medicine woman. Find Queen Sacheen (Nuu-chah-nulth & Coast Salish) on Facebook by searching for Sacheen Kinish, or Ancestral Pride and/or Xhopak...
VABF Day 3: John Zerzan on His Life As An Anarchist and the State Of Affairs In the USA
September 16, 2020 14:00 - 49 minutes - 45.5 MBJohn Zerzan is author of numerous publications exploring the pre-modern dimensions of our being. His weekly radio program, AnarchyRadio can be found here: https://www.johnzerzan.net/radio/.
VABF Day 2: Kathy Ferguson on Emma Goldman's Women and Anarchism As ‘A Movement Of The Book’
September 15, 2020 14:00 - 42 minutes - 38.7 MBKathy Ferguson is an US-American author, political philosopher, feminist, historian, anarchist, and professor of political science and women's studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has authored one of the best critical biographies of renowned anarchist Emma Goldman: Emma Goldman: Political Thinking in the Streets. Visit http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kferguso/ to learn about the 1000 women who helped build the anarchist movement during Emma Goldman’s life time.
VABF Day 1: Gidimt'en Checkpoint Spokesperson Molly Wickham on Wet’suwet’en Resistance Before, During and After The Pandemic
September 14, 2020 14:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBMolly Wickham (Sleydo) is a member of the Gidimt'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation. She has been tirelessly active in the Wet’suwet’en’ Nation’s assertion of sovereignty over their unceded territories. This interview discusses the current state of affairs regarding the Coastal GasLink pipeline’s pending extension under a pristine river and the RCMP’s continued harassment of Indigenous and non-Indigenous land defenders. Visit yintahaccess.com to apply to join the fall work camp on Gidi...
The Victoria Anarchist Bookfair is here and we can all (virtually) go!
September 12, 2020 16:06 - 57 minutes - 53 MBFrom Embers will be collaborating with the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair over the next week to bring you some really great audio content that they're releasing in lieu of an in-person event. Their real-life bookfair is, like so many events, cancelled, but they've made the best of the situation and put together an impressive week of online events, many of which you'll find right here on the From Embers feed. To get us all ready and excited for the week, we put together this interview with three...
Radio Pandemic
June 11, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 59.6 MBRadio Pandemic was founded by From Embers and friends just as the COVID-19 crisis hit Kingston, as many people were scrambling to figure out how to navigate the new uncertain terrain of physical distancing, government lockdowns and online organizing. We wanted to facilitate a conversation about the rapidly changing context in our city and beyond, and established a call-in show that airs on CFRC 101.9FM twice a week. Someone from the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair was interested in the project...
Automation, Guaranteed Income and the Pandemic
May 28, 2020 01:22 - 1 hour - 60.7 MBA conversation with a member of the It's Going Down collective about their pre-pandemic text "Livewire: Against Automation, Against UBI, Against Capital." We revisit the text in the context of the pandemic, ever-increasing trends towards automation of various sectors in Canada and the USA, and the Canadian government's emergency relief benefit (CERB), which many have compared to universal basic income. Read the whole text as a zine here: https://itsgoingdown.org/new-zine-pdf-version-of-li...
History of Epidemics in Canadian Prisons
May 20, 2020 23:17 - 1 hour - 69.2 MBIn the context of ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in Canadian prisons and jails, I was curious about other times in history that prisoners have faced similar situations and especially times when prisoners have been released as a result. Today’s interview is with a local prison historian about epidemics and public health in Canadian prisons, mostly about the 19th and early 20th century. Also some stories about prisoners being released, what health care was like inside and outside of prison walls, ...
Gun Control
May 07, 2020 03:14 - 59 minutes - 59.7 MBFollowing the mass shootings in Nova Scotia last week, the federal government rushed to impose an extensive and immediate ban of semi-automatic firearms. We reached out to Ron in Edmonton, author of the article “The History of Gun Control in Canada” on the counter-info website North Saskatchewan Resistance. We spoke about the shifting regulatory context in Canada, the problem of mass killers from an anti-fascist perspective, arming the vulnerable and the oppressed, and the possibilities asso...
Talking About Harm Reduction With Fagdemic
April 23, 2020 03:17 - 58 minutes - 54.1 MBA conversation with the folks behind Fagdemic ("Fag harm reduction for coronaworld") Lots of practical harm reduction advice around sex, hookups, and substance use (or changes in your substance use) as well as talking about shame, negotiations around intimacy and care, reducing the harms of police, and individual and community autonomy in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Criminalizing COVID-19
April 09, 2020 01:46 - 1 hour - 60.7 MBWe speak with Alexander McClelland and Zoë Dodd about criminalization in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2016, they published “An Anarchist Response to Hep C & HIV.” We spoke about the Canadian healthcare system, the problem with government approaches to “Public Health,” Hep C & HIV criminalization and what it can tell us about what’s happening in the present crisis. Resources: Toronto Overdose Prevention Society “We can’t police our way out of a pandemic” by Alexander McC...