UnSafe Thoughts
13 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 years ago -Focus on the U.S. elections, populism, cultures of intimidation and bullying, and higher education
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Episodes
UnSafe at Any Distance: Todd Haynes' Visual Culture of Health and Risk - "Safe"
May 01, 2020 18:07“In the world SAFE claims for Carol, itself, and viewers, there are no safe social spaces, no safe healthcare practices, no safe critical perspectives, and, lest we forget, no safe cinema.”
Fear and Loathing in the Democratic Primaries: #bullying, #gaslighting, and #wolfpackjournalism
March 09, 2020 04:40Sources: Darrell Nance / CC BY-SA Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America / CC BY-SA; AFGE CCBY What follows are some thoughts on the deteriorating political climate within and outside the Democratic Party. As with my previous article on Mike Bloomberg’s corporate raid on the Democratic Party, my worry is about the fate of the progressive and liberal wing of the party and its allied movements and organizations, especially at the hands of resolutely hostile mainstream media ...
Bernie Sanders Interview with Rachel Maddow, March 4, 2020: closing words
March 07, 2020 00:33Here are the concluding minutes of the interview. A dry, verbal excerpt from the full interview doesn't quite capture the flow of leading questions and Sander's responses and how Sanders's maintained a dignified posture throughout with a hostile host. (Compare with Maddow's warm, sympathetic interview with Elizabeth Warren the following day.)
Mike Bloomberg's Corporate Raid on the Democratic Party
February 24, 2020 02:06Should the Democratic establishment think nominating Bloomberg will not only defeat Trump but also help preserve its control over the party, Democratic leaders may be in for a nasty surprise. In their minds Bloomberg may be a stone that can kill two birds (Trump and Sanders) but Bloomberg’s actions are also those of a corporate raider engaged in a hostile take-over bid of a company faced with implacable competition (the GOP) and burdened with a sclerotic, inept management (the DNC) and ...
Creating Courageous and Robust Strategies, Part II: Confronting Acts of Political Intimidation and Domestic Terrorism
December 01, 2018 22:53Part Two of a two-part article on how the Democratic Party and its liberal and progressive allies should anticipate and counter rightwing political intimidation and violence. I argue that if ignored, such violence could threaten to undo the achievements of the Blue Wave and cause to founder the best efforts of Indivisible, Swing Left, and other new activist organizations to “pave the way to the post-Trump era” (Indivisible on Offense, p. 2). Part Two reviews the challenges of dealing w...
Creating Courageous and Robust Strategies, Part I: “Indivisible on Offense” and Galvanizing the Democratic Party in the Current Climate of Political Violence
November 21, 2018 01:40First part of two-part article: 'Indivisible on Offense' and Galvanizing the Democratic Party in the Current Climate of Political Violence" It is a response to the publication of Indivisible.org's new battle plan, "Indivisible on Offense: A Practical Guide to the New Democratic House." Part 2 (due out next Monday): "Countering Acts of Political Violence & Domestic Terrorism" "Today, in light of the electoral Blue Wave that caught most observers by surprise, and the release last week by...
We’ve Been Here Before: Political Violence’s Transformative Power
October 29, 2018 00:26Author’s Note: Just as I was finishing this essay, the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh occurred, one of the most violent anti-Semitic acts in modern American history. In Plain Sight As federal and local law enforcement agencies pursue their investigation of the multiple pipe-bombing attempts targeting Democratic politicians and Donald Trump’s critics, the horror of this act of domestic political terrorism shouldn’t make us forget that we have been here before...
Posted Nov., 30, 2017, Medium.com—Weinstein & Company: ‘Big Swinging Dicks’ as Business Folk Heroes
October 21, 2018 21:11Harvey Weinstein is at the top of not just one list but two: that of sexual harassers and aggressors but also another one of abusive, tyrannical CEOs. Both Harvey and his brother Bob belonged to various lists of America’s toughest bosses publicized by a largely admiring business press including Fortune and Business Week starting in 1980. Journalists and editors underscored their tyrannical and abusive management styles and praised their willingness to make "hard" decisions, such as dow...
July 30, 2018: "How Political Bullying and Intimidation Work — A Practical Guide"
October 09, 2018 00:02Author’s Note: this is the second installment in a four-part series on the current public climate of fear and intimidation that since the kick-off of the last presidential campaign in 2015 has dominated national life in the United States to a degree not seen in a long while. In Part One, “The Emotional Toll of Public Bullying and Political Intimidation,” the focus was on the experience of the sheer power and psychological effects of bullying in general and public bullying and political ...
First posted Sept. 3, 2018--"2018 Elections: Political Thuggery and Party Identities"
October 08, 2018 18:08In the wake of the tumultuous Kavanaugh hearings marked by wrenching accusations of sexual assault and extreme examples of political bullying, in Part Three I focus on the two major political parties to explore why over the years Republicans and their right-wing supporters have freely resorted to extremely aggressive political tactics and — just as important — why Democratic Party leaders and their liberal allies have often failed to take seriously such acts of political violence and s...
Tues., Oct. 16: Book Reading & Discussion, Berkeley Public Library, "Confronting Public Bullying with Roddey Reid"
October 08, 2018 18:06* Why does political bullying take such an emotional toll on citizens and residents? * How do political intimidation and public bullying work in a “post-truth” era? * How is the current harsh public climate a challenge to those involved in civic action or political activity? * How can we overcome it?
June 10, 2018: "The Emotional Toll of Public Bullying and Political Intimidation"
October 08, 2018 18:05Author’s Note: this is the first installment in a series on the current public climate of fear and intimidation that since the kick-off of the last presidential campaign in 2015 has dominated national life in the United States. In particular I look at how this toxic environment has poisoned our politics and even reached into our very relationships with friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family members. Next up is Part Two: “How the Public Climate of Fear and Intimidation Works.” Excer...
Podcast: "Affect & Activism in the Trump Era," Center for Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz (52 mins.)
October 01, 2018 23:06 - 52 minutes - 29.2 MBSUMMARY - intimidation as a political and theoretical problem - traumatic lessons - taking political violence seriously - political intimidation vs. everyday bullying - from political tool to an entire political program & form of governing - how it works - affective challenges to civic action and activism - resistance: a nimble politics of anticipation - creating our own affective facts on the ground THEORETICAL FRAME My thinking has been in conversation with the work of Étienne B...