From Embers
117 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months 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
Grounding Ourselves Amid The Chaos
March 31, 2020 17:24 - 1 hour - 56.2 MBAn interview with Montreal-based counselling and somatic therapist Parneet Chohan on the Covid-19 pandemic, anxiety, communication, reading the news, and caring for ourselves and each other through troubled times.
The Syrian Uprising and Solidarity
March 19, 2020 22:56 - 59 minutes - 56.6 MBAn interview with Salam, a member of the Syria Solidarity Collective based in Toronto. We talk about the Syrian uprising, anti-imperalism and the left, the ongoing need for international solidarity with the people of Syria, and more.
Reflections from Kanonhstaton
March 12, 2020 00:00 - 1 hour - 63.7 MBTalking with a non-native anarchist who spent time at Kanonhstaton in 2006, a land reclamation led by members of Six Nations blocking the development of a private subdivision on their territory. We discuss his experience at Six, dynamics on the ground before and after the police raid, and the possibilities and complexities of anarchist-indigenous solidarity with the current wave of Wet'suwet'en solidarity in mind. With music from Tru Rez Crew and Lee Reed.
#ShutDownCanada: From Oka to Today
March 01, 2020 02:27 - 58 minutes - 53.6 MBThis week's episode features an interview with Gord Hill, a member of the Kwakwaka'wakw nation whose territory is located on northern Vancouver Island and adjacent mainland in the province of "British Columbia." He has been involved in Indigenous people's and anti-globalization movements since 1990 and is the author of The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book and The Antifa Comic Book. Music by Tribe Called Red, Iroqua WhiteWolf, Macka B and Snotty Nose Rez Kids. Interactive Map of Wet's...
Wet'suwet'en Land Defense and #ShutDownCanada
February 12, 2020 22:57 - 1 hour - 137 MBAn interview with Dtsa'hyl, a hereditary chief of the Wet'suwet'en Nation. The Wet'suwet'en people have defended their land against pipelines for more than a decade. After an RCMP raid on their territory on February 6th, a national movement was sparked to shut down Canada and protest against the infringement of Indigenous sovereignty. Music in this episode by Lee Reed and Snotty Nose Rez Kids
Foire D'Hiver/Winter Fair
February 06, 2020 05:35 - 54 minutes - 53.2 MBConversation with an organizer of this year's Winter Fair in Montreal: a book/zine fair as well as discussions annd workshops around trauma, dealing with conflict, and building resilient and strong communities of struggle. This year's event is focused on the many ways to mitigate the harms that often accompany conflict - both from the state and from within our interpersonal relationships. Check it out if you're in the area: Saturday February 8, 1611 avenue d'Orléans, 11h - 20h. Free dinner (...
30 Years of OCAP
January 30, 2020 01:00 - 1 hour - 64.3 MBAn interview with John Clarke, a founder and long-time organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty in Toronto. OCAP has played a key role in the anti-poverty movement in Ontario over the past three decades, deploying a creative variety of militant and confrontational tactics in the interests of meeting the immediate needs of poor and working class people. Last year John retired as a paid organizer of OCAP, although he remains an active member. We spoke about the history and philos...
Conspiracy and Anti-Repression Organizing
January 24, 2020 06:33 - 1 hour - 57.1 MBConversation with an anarchist and anti-repression organizer about how conspiracy charges have been used against anarchists in Canada and the United States, some challenges and lessons learned from supporting J20 defendants and others, the Tilted Scales Collective's upcoming book project, Representing Radicals: A Guide for Lawyers, and more. Check out the links below for more in-depth discussion of some of the cases discussed in the episode as well as related texts about repression, securi...
"Thinking Outside the Boss" with Matt Hern
January 16, 2020 01:00 - 1 hour - 58.9 MBMatt Hern is a long-time writer and community organizer in Vancouver. We discuss the projects and ideas he’s engaged with over the past several decades, including his upbringing and politicization, having kids and establishing alternative schools, a critical perspective on social ecology, community organizing and gentrification, and shifting focus to Surrey where he works with racialized youth to establish workers co-operatives. Links: matthern.ca / solidstate.coop Music by Warsawpack
Nothing's Ever Perfect/How We Live Together
January 09, 2020 02:44 - 57 minutes - 52.8 MBA conversation with Stu, a founding member of Dragonfly Farm. Dragonfly is a rural communal land project near Bancroft, Ontario that was founded in 1978. We talk about how he and his friends got the land, how they've endured and navigated conflict over the years, and advice he has for folks wanting to live rurally and/or communally today. Music by Perth County Conspiracy Links for further reading: Dragonfly Is 25 (2003) Jim Campbell, Remembered (with links) Someone's master's thes...
Climate Mobilizations in Vancouver
November 15, 2019 22:28 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBAn interview with two anarchists from Vancouver about their efforts to intervene in the climate strike and extinction rebellion actions in that city. We talk about the context in Vancouver, their critique of Extinction Rebellion, black blocs, critical solidarity, and moving beyond hope and hopelessness. For the privacy of our guests, this interview was re-voiced by volunteers. Links: Anarchist Critique and Analysis of Recent Climate Mobilizations in Vancouver Imagining New Worlds - Ant...
Gay 4 A World Without Police
October 25, 2019 07:22 - 1 hour - 42.7 MBA conversation with Jonathan Vallely and Eric Levitt of Gay 4 Pay Press, a zine distro largely focused on radical politics and gay/queer men based out of Toronto and Ottawa. We talk about cruising, a world without police, community conversations around consent and accountability, crystal meth, and, of course, zines. Music in this episode: FAGGOT - Mister Wallace Excerpt from Breaking the Ice/Letters to Meth video - composed by Don Vaillancourt
Playful Rebellion: When and how is humour a useful tactic?
October 18, 2019 01:03 - 58 minutes - 39.9 MBThis week's episode features an interview with Kate Klein of the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network. We talk a bit about the group's work opposing the mining industry and supporting mining-affected communities outside of Canada in their struggles against Canadian mining corporations. Mostly, we discuss the group's use of drama and comedy in their campaigns, and discuss a recent workshop that Kate and another member gave on "humour as an activist tactic."
Mauna Kea and the Hawaiian Movement
September 26, 2019 01:16 - 59 minutes - 54 MBMauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world measured from its oceanic base and one of the most sacred sites for spiritual Hawaiians. A consortium of government and university scientists from Canada, the United States, Japan, China and India have been trying to build the Thirty Metre Telescope on its summit for nearly a decade, coming up against fierce opposition from native Hawaiians every step of the way. Things heated up again this summer as TMT planned to start construction for the s...
Is FM Radio Still Relevant? Radio, Community Spaces and Knowing The Land
September 11, 2019 02:22 - 59 minutes - 40.8 MBAn interview with Byron, host of To Know The Land, a radio show on Guelph's CFRU 93.3. We talk about why radio is cool, and I pick Byron's brain about place, space and knowing the land we stand on. Links: https://toknowtheland.tumblr.com/showarchives Music by Ana Roxanne, Hotel Neon and Taylor Deupree The album Byron mentions at the end isn't out yet but you can hear some previews here: https://stationarytravels.wordpress.com/place-language/
The Future of Policing in Canada
September 05, 2019 00:00 - 57 minutes - 55.2 MBAn interview with Nathan Munn, a freelance journalist based in Montreal. Nathan has written several investigative pieces for VICE looking at the "Hub Model" of community policing, which has been quietly rolling out across the country, and especially in Saskatchewan and Ontario, over the past 5 years. The article by Kristian Williams referenced in the introduction is available in PDF form here.
Art and Anarchy - A Conversation with Lee Reed
August 22, 2019 06:13 - 1 hour - 43.6 MBTalking to Lee Reed, anarchist organizer and MC from Hamilton, ON and self-described mouthy jerk. We talk about how his political music and focus have changed over time, artists and anarchists finding themselves in conflict over gentrification and figuring out what to do about it, Locke St repression and supporting Pride defenders, his recent Polaris nomination for the Steal City EP, and more. Plus I crammed this episode full of great tracks, old and new. Enjoy! Music in this episode: Le...
Prisoners Justice Day
August 10, 2019 05:07 - 1 hour - 55.2 MBEvery year on August 10th, both inside and outside of jails and prisons across Canada, prisoners and their supporters mark Prisoners Justice Day. We spoke with Veronica, an anarchist in Montreal who is part of organizing the annual NYE noise demos in Laval. We discuss the history of Prisoners Justice Day, what has changed since the 70s, how PJD will marked and articulated this year, recuperation by Liberal governments, anarchist approaches to prisoner solidarity, and how to get started. ...
Cedar on #FreeCedar
August 01, 2019 01:26 - 57 minutes - 39.3 MBAn interview with a recently-released Hamilton anarchist on the events surrounding Hamilton Pride, anarchist prisoner support, jail, queer community, being a hashtag and feeling popular.
Building Anti-Police Power in Surrey
July 25, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 47.4 MBConversation with two organizers from Anti-Police Power Surrey (APPS), a grassroots organization committed to building collective resistance to police and the systems of power and domination they uphold: capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy. They are active on the unceded, stolen territories of the Kwantlen, Musqueam, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen, Qayqayt, and Kwikwetlem nations, occupied by Surrey, British Columbia. Website: Anti-Police Power Surrey Facebook & Instagram M...
Reflections on Anti-Olympics Resistance in Vancouver
July 18, 2019 03:26 - 58 minutes - 40.2 MBA conversation with an anarchist who was around during the height of the 2010 anti-Olympics resistance in Vancouver. We talk about the impact the Olympics has had on the social climate, the surveillance experienced by anarchists and other organizers, and the infamous Heart Attack demo that tore up the city's downtown core.
It Matters Where We Fight
July 04, 2019 02:26 - 1 hour - 45.5 MBAn interview with a now Bogota-based member of Projet Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie, a Quebec-based collective that works to build direct solidarity with Colombian communities, organizations and social movements. Topics include: - the meaning of internationalism and why and how we frame our struggles in an international context. - what North-South solidarity looks like. - political violence and how it relates to social struggles. - struggling alongside people who are not anarc...
Full Spectrum Resistance
June 26, 2019 23:17 - 1 hour - 53.9 MBAn interview with author, farmer and organizer Aric McBay about his new book Full Spectrum Resistance. We talk about building effective movements, his departure from Deep Green Resistance, dynamics between radicals and liberals, what is a victory, movement case studies, and the importance of moving from abstract ideas to tangible struggle. Music by Janelle Monae and Bakunin's Bum (with words from Shawn Brant back when he was organizing with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty).
Queers Fight Back
June 22, 2019 20:25 - 1 hour - 42.1 MBA conversation with a Kingston organizer of an anti-police and anti-military protest contingent in Kingston Pride Parade, and an interview with two folks from Hamilton about people at Hamilton Pride defending themselves homophobic street preachers and violent far-right white supremacists without relying on the police. Note that we re-recorded this second interview to protect their anonymity. Check out The Tower on Facebook (facebook.com/thetowerhamilton) as well as North Shore Counter Info...
Are Anarchist Podcasts Good For Anarchist Struggle?
June 07, 2019 02:52 - 1 hour - 44.3 MBAudio from a panel at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair. Hosts from The Solecast, Intersection'elle, Changing On The Fly, and From Embers discuss questions about podcasting, Internet culture, radio, privacy, and "being a personality." Music in this episode is Sole, off his album Destituent. Also it's the one year anniversary of From Embers! <(A)3
Guillotines, Vengeance and Revolutionary Optimism
May 30, 2019 00:00 - 1 hour - 43.7 MBThis year on May Day in Toronto, anarchists and radicals brought a replica guillotine to a rally at Queen’s Park, leading to outrage in the mainstream media and government calls for a police investigation. In light of this, and in a context where guillotine memes and other gestures towards political violence are becoming more popular, we spoke with an author of the article Against the Logic of the Guillotine published on the CrimethInc website. We discuss the ideas in the article, and t...
1919-2019: What Can We Learn From the Winnipeg General Strike?
May 22, 2019 16:33 - 1 hour - 69.7 MBIn 1919, what started as a dispute over how workers in a particular trade should negotiate with their employers became a generalized workers' revolt that we now know as the Winnipeg General Strike. Don't click skip just yet! It can be hard to see the relevance in things that happened so long ago, but how to build things that (a) generalize, and (b) actually threaten business as usual is a pressing question for a lot of us today, and while 2019 and 1919 are radically different contexts, they ...
Ep 3: Prisoner Justice Day, Inmates Committees, and Resistance on the Inside
May 16, 2019 02:23 - 44 minutes - 31.5 MBToday we bring you an episode of a brand-new podcast miniseries entitled "What Happened to Prisoner Justice Day?" about the history of prisons in canada focusing on differences in the prison system in the 1960s-1980s versus today. The podcast features interviews with former and current prisoners, as well as supporters on the outside. "In [this] episode, we talk to Gene, who started doing time in canadian prisons in 1972. Gene talks to us about the early days of PJD on the inside and the ro...
Anarchist Bookfair XX
April 25, 2019 23:24 - 58 minutes - 40.4 MBThe Montreal Anarchist Bookfair is the largest anarchist gathering in North America and 2019 is it's 20th year. In this episode, I interviewed two members of this year's bookfair collective. Topics include: - what, if anything, does the bookfair have to do with books? -is the bookfair for "us," for "recruitment," or both? -how much should event planners try to shape a space like this? what kinds of policies are appropriate and how, if at all, should they be enforced? -what should w...
Veganism and Mutual Aid
April 18, 2019 02:39 - 57 minutes - 39.5 MBRecording of a talk by Alexis Shotwell on veganism, relational ethics, and mutual aid. From the event description: “Will eating plant-based foods save us from climate catastrophes? Should everyone eat vegan? How should people who care about the world understand “clean eating”? Is Jordan Peterson pursuing a beef-only diet because he’s an asshole, or because he’s managing a severe disability, or both? Is criticizing factory farmed meat the same as criticizing Indigenous hunting practices? What...
Ayahuasca, Colonialism and the Death of a Healer
April 11, 2019 02:39 - 58 minutes - 40.1 MBInterview with Kevin Tucker about his latest book The Cull of Personality, which tells the story and surrounding context of the 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 subsequently lynched by members of Arevalo’s community, which became a big story in the Canadian press. We discuss the story, ayahuasca, colonialism, and new age spirituality in a civiliz...
Canada and the Crisis in Venezuela
March 28, 2019 00:02 - 56 minutes - 38.6 MBTonight on From Embers we’re talking about the unfolding crisis in Venezuela, and specifically the role of the Canadian state and the Lima Group. We open with a bit of a rant about how tricky anti-imperialist politics can be for anarchists to navigate - somewhat coincidentally, the topic of the week on Anarchist News this week. Then we feature an interview with Lydia of the Women's Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallmapu, a grassroots organization based in Toronto with ties to the Mapuche...
Stop The Prison, Open The Border
March 14, 2019 02:22 - 1 hour - 43.5 MBThis week's episode features two interviews with people involved in the struggle to stop a new migrant prison from being built in Laval, Quebec. Topics discussed include: -the project and how the government is trying to frame it as a "nice" cage. -senses of strategy and what might work to actually stop a project like this. -actions that have taken place against the prison, how they've gone, and what actions might be on the horizon. Stop The Prison Ni Frontières, Ni Prisons (faceboo...
What's the deal with Yellow Vests Canada?
February 28, 2019 00:48 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MBThis week's episode features two perspectives on the right-wing "Yellow Vests Canada" movement and how anti-fascists are taking them on. Topics include: What, if anything, do these people have to do with the yellow vest movement in France? Are they workerists, xenophobes, populists, fascists or all of the above? How are neo-nazis and other fascists recruiting from inside the movement? Should we as anti-fascists treat the yellow vests like fash or like something else? What's up wit...
Not Having to Choose Between Feminism and Anarchy
February 21, 2019 02:25 - 58 minutes - 40.1 MBToday's episode features a conversation with some members of Feminist Action Hamilton, an anyone-except-cis-men collective organizing around anarchist principles. We talk about some of the actions and workshops Feminist Action Hamilton has been organizing over the past year; feelings and motivations around creating an organizing space without cis men; intentions and desires to support each other, learn together, and take action, and some of the messiness and difficulties of organizing when y...
Unsettling the Commons
February 14, 2019 01:00 - 1 hour - 45 MBAn interview with Craig Fortier, who is an organizer and academic based in Toronto. Among other things, Craig is involved with No One Is Illegal and helps coordinate the Field of Dreamers Cooperative Softball Association, which was featured on a recent episode of Talking Radical Radio. Craig is the author of the short book Unsettling The Commons: Social Movements Within, Against and Beyond Settler Colonialism which was published in 2017 by Arbeiter Ring. In it, Craig draws on more than 50 i...
Talking SubMedia with JR
January 30, 2019 23:30 - 51 minutes - 35.8 MBSubMedia is an anarchist video collective based in Montreal. Founded in 1994, they have been putting out high-quality video for more than two decades, featuring satirical takes on the news, “riot porn”, explanations of anarchist concepts, calls to action, and more, always with a strong dose of humour. Their latest project is called Trouble, and features in-depth interviews about a new theme each month. Check with your local anarchist community space to see if they are screening monthly scree...
Shut Down Canada - Solidarity with Unist'ot'en and Gidumt'en
January 17, 2019 02:00 - 1 hour - 44 MBToday's episode features two interviews about solidarity actions with the Wet'suwet'en people currently defending their sovereignty, their lands and their waters by resisting pipeline construction through their territories. In our first interview we speak with an urban Indigenous organizer about several different solidarity actions on unceded Coast Salish territories in Vancouver and some of the broader context, strategy and motivations behind those actions. Our second interview is with tw...
Out With A Bang - Making Noise For Prisoners on the Last Night of the Year
December 30, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 41.5 MBThis episode features two interviews with organizers of New Years Eve noise demonstrations in Hamilton and in Montreal. We talk about the rage and sadness we feel about the existence of prisons, noise demonstrations, building traditions and rituals, and our favourite New Years Eve stories. Links: Seven Years Against Prison (2015) Montreal Against Prisons International Call For New Year's Even Noise Demonstrations (English, 2018)
Policing Indigenous Movements
December 26, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 43.2 MBAn interview with Andrew Crosby and Jeffrey Monaghan, co-authors of Policing Indigenous Movements: Dissent and the Security State, available from Fernwood Publishing. The book is based on a series of government records obtained through Access to Information requests. The authors use these records to reveal how policing and other security agencies in Canada have been monitoring, cataloguing and working to silence indigenous land defenders and other opponents to extractive capitalism. We d...
No Mail In, No Mail Out - Solidarity with Canada Post Workers
December 20, 2018 06:11 - 58 minutes - 40.5 MBIWW organizers in Hamilton and Kingston discuss organizing solidarity pickets at mail processing facilities in Ontario and share different perspectives on supporting postal workers on strike who were recently legislated back to work. Music in this episode: Spanner - Work Lee Reed - Get Mad
The Locke Street Affair (Part 2)
December 06, 2018 01:01 - 1 hour - 52 MBFrom Embers presents a two-part feature on the Locke Street Affair in Hamilton, Ontario. We sat down and interviewed a defendant in the case who will be in jail when this episode is released. In March 2018, on the weekend of the Steel City Anarchist Bookfair, about 30 people marched through the Kirkendale neighbourhood of Hamilton. Some in the group lit fireworks, attacked luxury cars and smashed out the windows of gentrifying businesses on Locke Street, doing an estimated $100,000 in dama...
The Locke Street Affair (Part 1)
December 06, 2018 01:00 - 59 minutes - 42.7 MBFrom Embers presents a two-part feature on the Locke Street Affair in Hamilton, Ontario. We sat down and interviewed a defendant in the case who will be in jail when this episode is released. In March 2018, on the weekend of the Steel City Anarchist Bookfair, about 30 people marched through the Kirkendale neighbourhood of Hamilton. Some in the group lit fireworks, attacked luxury cars and smashed out the windows of gentrifying businesses on Locke Street, doing an estimated $100,000 in dama...
Certain Days: 18 years of the freedom for political prisoners calendar
November 29, 2018 01:59 - 59 minutes - 41.2 MBAn interview with a member of the collective of prisoners and non-prisoners that produces the Certain Days: Freedom For Political Prisoners calendar. We talk about sharing projects with our imprisoned comrades, the importance of long-term projects and how our movements are doing when it comes to political prisoner support. https://www.certaindays.org/
Against Reconciliation - Decolonize Means No State
November 21, 2018 21:54 - 59 minutes - 41.6 MBThis episode features a talk entitled Autonomously and With Conviction: A Métis Refusal of State-Led Reconciliation given on October 12, 2018 at the 13th annual Decolonizing Thanksgiving Dinner in Guelph, Ontario on traditional Neutral/Chonnonton, Anishinabec, and Haudenosaunee territory. It also includes a short interview with the presenter, where we discuss questions about Canada’s project of reconciliation, the state, nations and nationalism, and anarchist possibilities for the future. ...
Getting It Together
November 15, 2018 02:48 - 1 hour - 41.8 MBAn interview with the Punch Up Collective, a small collective of anarchist organizers based in Ottawa, Ontario. We talk about living in the capital of Canada, forming collectives, formality and process, and strategies for sustaining movements in the long term. We also discuss their recent workshop about organizing collectives. Links: Full curriculum for the collectives workshop(the link will download a pdf) A Briarpatch article about the collective Radical events in Ottawa
Schoolhouse Squat and DisconTent City
October 19, 2018 11:12 - 1 hour - 54.4 MBOrganizers with Alliance Against Displacement share stories about the Schoolhouse Squat as well as DisconTent City and a few other tent cities on unceded Coast Salish territories. We talk about the context of the housing crisis, how homeless indigenous and working class people are organizing to meet their immediate needs for shelter, safety, and community, building a revolutionary political force in the streets, legal and political strategies, resisting isolation and exclusion at the hands o...
Contesting "Canada's Game"
October 02, 2018 01:51 - 1 hour - 42.5 MBA conversation with podcaster and anarchist organizer Aaron Lakoff about his new podcast Changing On The Fly. We talk about sports and anarchy, the intersections between hockey and radical politics, and what to do about Canadian nationalism.
Treaty Camp on the Shubenacadie River
September 27, 2018 00:00 - 1 hour - 42.5 MBA few weeks ago the From Embers crew took a road trip out east for the Halifax Anarchist Bookfair and to visit friends and family. We had the opportunity to visit the Treaty Camp established by Mi'kmaq people to protect the Shubenacadie River from an Alton Gas Natural Gas Project. I sat down with Dale Poulette who is one of the people holding down the camp on a daily basis. He cut his teeth at the anti-fracking reclamation camp in Elsipogtog (Rexton). Dale describes daily life at the ca...
Conversation with a former political prisoner
September 20, 2018 02:54 - 56 minutes - 39.4 MBConversation with a former political prisoner in canada about her experiences in the federal system and her recently published prison memoir. We discuss changing prison conditions in the now-closed Prison for Women (P4W) in Kingston and Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener, the importance of relationships with other women in prison, legal and political strategy following her arrest, the difficulties of telling stories about one's life and other people in it, and more. Her memoir is availa...