The Final Straw Radio

This week we spoke with AC and E, two members of the DFW Support Committee about the recently finished federal trial for 9 defendants in the terrorism case around the Prairieland Detention Center noise demo in July of 2025. To recap the case, in the midst of increased racist and nativist rhetoric, ICE and CBP snatch squad deployments ripping apart communities across the US in the first year of Trump 2.0, and the buildup of immigrant rendition and imprisonment in the southwest there was a July 4th noise demonstration called for to happen outside the infamous Prairieland Detention Center outside Alvarado, Texas. During the protest, meant to be loud enough for people held there to hear that they were not forgotten, participants used bullhorns, shouted, shot off fireworks and painted slogans. In response the staff called the Alvarado police and upon arrival the cop drew his weapon and aimed at dispersing protestors. At this point the state narrative and that of the defendants diverge: on the one hand the state argues that this whole event was a planned ambush for law enforcement by a north Texas Antifa terrorist cell in black bloc meant to draw police into a fight and then liberate the prison; on the other side the defendants claim the event was escalated to targeted gunfire by defendant Song meant to deter deadly violence by the cop and allow the crowd to disperse without bloodshed. For the hour, you'll hear folks from DFW Defense Committee talking about what evidence and arguments were presented in court, what evidence and arguments were suppressed, the strange decisions of the judge in jury selection, venue and other elements effecting the ability of those facing decades in prison to mount and defense and where we're at now with the case. This case cannot be disconnected from the Trump administration's call to name Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, to tie in projects and movements they consider to be enemies (ranging from Democrats to civil liberties groups, queer folk and immigrants rights advocates to anti-fascists, communists and anarchists and everyone in between) with the goal, some speculate, of more fully capturing the federal government under a white, christian nationalist and fascist regime. More on the case at PrairielandDefendants.Com A couple of useful links for the case: https://inthesetimes.com/article/prairieland-antifa-trial-protest-repression-fbi https://crimethinc.com/2026/03/25/handbills-for-no-kings-on-ice-anarchism-and-the-prairieland-case Past Prairieland episodes: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/category/prairieland-case/ Next week, keep an ear out for a chat we plan to release with Nina of Anarchist Black Cross Dresden about the impacts of naming German antifascists as terrorists by the Trump Regime on the ability of various leftist, anti-repression groups there to do their work, to hold bank accounts for sending money to prisoners or pay for lawyers and about the shift towards the right electorally and politically that is being experienced in that country. You may be surprised about the parallels with the situation in the US. Past Antifa Ost interviews: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/category/antifa-ost/ . ... . .. Featured Track: TFSR by The Willows Whisper

This week on The Final Straw Radio, we're featuring an interview with three participants in the feature length documentary Wood Street, about the community that formed in a parking lot at 1707 Wood Street in Oakland. The location was a destination for people evicted from encampments around the city, who either refused or were denied the low number of shelter beds available, or didn't fit into the city lots for camping or recreational vehicles aka RVs. Over the course of 10 years at a few spots on the street, as guest John Janosko explains, residents got to know each other and build bonds to the place and each other as neighbors. The north portion of what became known as the Wood Street Commons was evicted by the city to build transitional tiny homes managed by a services organization called BOSS and residents at the south side of the Commons ramped up organizing with outside supporters to stop the city's eviction plan in 2023 through lobbying politicians and proposing alternative plans. The film shows this work, snippets of the lives of residents and the eventual eviction of the Wood Street Commons in 2023, with over 300 people losing their homes in the end. Since the eviction, the tiny home camp funding ended and it was vacated, the mayor Sheng Thao was recalled and indicted for corruption and the site became a parking lot for a minor league baseball park next door, but people have taken their energy and experience to keep advocating for themselves and other Oaklanders around issues of houselessness. For the hour we speak with John Janosko, a featured face in the film, as well as our past guest Freeway and the film's director Caron Creighton. The Wood Street Movie is touring a number of film festivals and looking to feature elsewhere, in hopes that the film can act as a support and inspiration for other homeless organizing in communities across the country. Our 2024 interview with Freeway: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2024/10/13/homeless-organizing-in-oakland-and-rural-relief-after-helene/ Capital City Film Festival, April 12: https://capitalcityfilmfest.com/event/wood-street RiverRun Film Festival, April 18 & 20: https://riverrunfilm.com/events/woodstreet/ Instagram: @woodstmovie & @woodstreetcommons Film website: www.woodstreetmovie.com Wood Street Commons website: www.woodstreetcommons.org . … . .. Featured Track: TFSR by The Willows Whisper

This week, we're sharing our interview with Elia Ayoub, an anti-authoritarian historian and essayist originally from Lebanon, co-founder of From The Periphery media collective, co-host of The Fire These Times podcast and many more things. We spoke about the US and Israeli war on Iran, it's escalations into the wider region of west Asia, the Axis of Resistance, nuclear weapons, motivations of the various actors involved and thoughts on where that leaves anti-authoritarians in the imperial core countries like the US. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Elia links You can contact Elia by email at ayoub@thefirethesetimes.com or on Signal at @ ayoub.02 Elia's blog ( https://www.hauntologies.net/ ) and Ko-Fi account ( https://ko-fi.com/eliaayoub ) Elia's Lebanon class: https://thefirethesetimes.com/lebanonclass/ Where you'll soon find Elias latest +972 article: https://www.972mag.com/writer/elia-ayoub/ From The Periphery Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fromtheperiphery FTP website: https://fromtheperiphery.com/ The Fire These Times Podcast: https://firenexttime.net/why-neutral-anti-imperialism-keeps-losing/ Related Episodes: Our recent interview about Iran before the war: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2026/02/15/death-to-the-dictator-uprising-and-repression-in-iran-with-anarchism-perspective/ Past interviews we've done with Elia: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/category/elia-j-ayoub/ Mutual Aid in Lebanon Instagrams featuring info on some mutual aid efforts in Lebanon: https://www.instagram.com/p/DVovwUojIYq/ https://www.instagram.com/beirutbydyke/p/DVbTtyciK7m/ Lebanon Emergency Relief: https://www.chuffed.org/project/171933-lebanon-emergency-relief A Queer Lebanese mutual aid project involving Elia's co-creator, Ayman Makruem: https://www.patreon.com/qmalebanon . ... . .. Featured Track: TFSR by The Willows Whisper

This week, we're sharing an interview with Julie and Jeremy, two anarchists and participants in the Asheville Community Bail Fund. We speak about the US system of pre-trial incarceration aka bail and bond, the work of the bail fund locally, the overcrowding of the Buncombe County Jail here in Asheville, the ICE holds happening in the local jail, and how local policy choices regarding criminalization are being compounded by recent and new North Carolina legislation. Even if you aren't in Asheville or North Carolina, it's likely that much of this conversation will be pertinent to goings-ons in your neck of the woods (though hopefully not). Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) If you're a regular listener to The Final Straw Radio, have a passion for enriching the anarchist media environment, feel like your values align with what you've heard on the show and want a chance to help out and hone your skills, we're always looking for help. If you've thought of getting a podcast or other media project going but aren't sure how to start, we can be a good jumping off point. Feel free to reach out via our emails Links https://avlcommunitybail.carrd.co/ https://www.patreon.com/Ashevillecommunitybailfund National Bail Fund Network: https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org Immigration Resources info: https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/es/directorio-para-inmigracion Emancipate NC: https://emancipatenc.org/ Lecture on Crime Data: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/338-counting-crime-a-lecture-on-the-politics-of-crime-data-and-its-uses NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty: https://nccadp.org/ North Carolina Laws discussed NC SB-153 – Border Protection Act (pending): https://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/legislation/sb-153-border-protection-act-anti-immigrant/ NC HB-10: https://www.ncjustice.org/nc-justice-center-statement-on-house-bill-10-veto-override/ NC HB-318: https://www.carolinajournal.com/nc-senate-passes-criminal-alien-enforcement-act/ Iryna's Law (HB-307) https://southerncoalition.org/justice-system-reform/reframing-public-safety/public-safety-solutions-we-deserve-better-than-this/ https://lincnc.org/when-tragedy-becomes-a-banner-reflections-on-irynas-law-and-the-politics-of-grief/ Related Past interviews The Prairieland Case: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/category/prairieland-case/ NSPM-7 conversation: https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2025/09/28/the-implications-of-trumps-war-on-antifa-with-moira-meltzer-cohen/ Asheville politics and police repression https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2024/05/09/clean-for-who-safe-for-who-asheville-business-improvement-district/ https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2023/03/19/felony-littering-trials-under-way-in-asheville/ https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2021/08/01/ashevilles-policing-crisis-with-ursula-wren-of-asheville-free-press/ Public surveillance by ALPR systems like Flock https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2025/04/13/pushing-back-on-flock-cameras-with-kate-bertash/ https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2025/11/02/southerners-against-surveillance-systems-infrastructure-with-ed/ . ... . .. Featured Track: TFSR by The Willows Whisper

This week, you'll hear from Juan and Fatima, who people who've been organizing and thinking about the southern US border for a long time to speak about the escalations in border force violence and kidnappings by ICE and CBP around the US (including Minneapolis where Fatima resides), an explosion in proposed immigration detention (including near El Paso where Juan resides), the expansion of low intensity conflict and counter-insurgency in the southwest since the mixing in of language of the War on Crime, War on Drugs and the Global War on Terror and how autonomous mutual aid provides opportunities for scaling up community defense and prefiguring the world we want to see. Links https://www.immigrantsurvivors.org/statement-sw-key-sexual-abuse-case-dismissal https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/31/writing-from-manus-prison-a-scathing-critique-of-domination-and-oppression Fatima's essay: The Insurgent Southwest Grey Is The Color of Hope Book No Friends But The Mountain Book El Paso Groups Casa Carmelita Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Estrella del Paso Related Past Interviews Our recent interview with Donna Mae about resistance in Minneapolis Interview on Life During Wartime book Past interviews concerning immigration, including with people held on Manus Island Articles Of Note https://www.immigrantsurvivors.org/statement-sw-key-sexual-abuse-case-dismissal https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/20/shutdown-stalemate-deepens-as-white-house-dems-dig-in-on-dhs-funding-00789614 https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/courts-have-ruled-4400-times-that-ice-jailed-people-illegally-it-hasnt-stopped-2026-02-14/ https://theintercept.com/2026/02/17/warehouses-immigration-detention-camp-prisons-immigrants/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/02/13/ice-detention-center-expansion/ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/31/writing-from-manus-prison-a-scathing-critique-of-domination-and-oppression Announcements Peppy Moved to Halfway House We are happy to announce that Peppy has entered a halfway house where he will finish out his remaining incarceration. You can learn more about writing to him and what he likes to talk about at his support website. His crew is still fundraising for a post-release fund there as well found at FreePeppyAndKrystal.NoBlogs.Org Casey Goonan Moved Palestine solidarist Casey Goonan has been transferred from Mendota in California to what is likely to be their home for the foreseeable future, FCI Allenwood – Medium. You can learn more about getting into contact, updates on their case and how to support their commissary at FreeCaseyNow.NoBlogs.Org Hrdindu Roychowdhrury Moved Alleged Janes Revenge prisoner and Grand Jury Resister Hrdindu Roychowdhrury has been moved to FCI Thomson in Illinois. He just had a birthday and could use some sweet words. More on the move and how to write him at ABCF.Net Prairieland Case Updates The Prairieland Case was declared a mistrial and has been restructured in an audacious move by the Trump appointed judge Pitman. Restrictions applied to the case will could greatly limit the ability of the 9 defendants to make their cases where decades of their lives behind bars are at stake. You can learn more, including detailed notes from each day of trial, by visiting PrairielandDefendants.Com, find the defendants new updated Tarrant County mailing addresses and followcalls for support by finding their social media. . … . .. Featured Track: TFSR by The Willows Whisper

This week, we're sharing two segments. First up, a chat with Cooper Quintin, a senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and developer of the Rayhunter. Rayhunter is open-source firmware to turn specific hotspots into IMSI-catcher, effectively scanning for and logging any signs of fake cell towers (often known under the brand-name of Stingrays) in the area. Law enforcement has at times deployed these as a way of collecting information about phones in the area and could use it to intercept some communications like sms or phone calls. Cooper talks about what's known of law enforcement use of IMSI-catchers, what has been observed of the data collected by deployed Rayhunters, phone security at demonstrations and related topics. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Then you'll hear Radio Ausbruch from Frieberg from this month's B(A)D News podcast from the A-Radio Network talking about the repression and deBanking of anti-repression projects like ABC Dresden and Rote Hilfe in Germany based on pressure from the US government related to the so-called Antifa Ost case. This carries heavy implications for prisoner support, anti-racist and other social struggles. Links Cooper at DefCon talking about Rayhunter: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=meC2JqNAbCA EFF on what Rayhunter has found so far: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/09/rayhunter-what-we-have-found-so-far Github for Rayhunter: https://github.com/EFForg/rayhunter EFF Mattermost chat platform: https://opensource.eff.org/ A project for detecting Meta Rayban sunglasses: https://github.com/NullPxl/banrays Ouispy bluetooth scanning and notification tool: https://github.com/colonelpanichacks/oui-spy . ... . .. Featured Track: TFSR by The Willows Whisper

This week, an interview with Aryanum, a member of the Persian-language anarchist group Anarchism Perspective, based in Iran and Afghanistan. Anarchism Perspective is a synthesist anarchist group based mostly in the region that organizes solidarity and resistance as well as publishing writings at Anarshism.com . For this episode, we speak about the recent uprising in Iran that was met with bloody repression by the regime, with internet blackouts and low-ball estimates of 30,000 dead at government hands from January 8th and 9th 2026 alone. Aryanum speaks about the posturing by monarchists supporting the return and enthroning of Reza Pahlavi II, the son of the last Shah, and the weaponization of Islam by the Mullahs of the regime and other topics. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Anarchism Perspective links Website: https://anarshism.com email: contact@anarshism.com Anarchism Perspective Telegram: https://t.me/+RRUTo6xyoT468fgO & https://t.me/anarchism_perspective Insurrection Library: https://t.me/Insurrection_Library Other Links Critique of Mass Mobilization by Anarchism Perspective: https://www.anarshism.com/critique-mass-mobilization-strategy/ Aryanum's past writing on religion as a type of power: https://www.anarshism.com/funeral-theocracy-religious-capital-en/ Article on labor struggles in the run up to the uprising: https://classautonomy.info/workers-councils-reportedly-forming-in-iran/ It Could Happen Here interview: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-it-could-happen-here-30717896/episode/whats-happening-in-iran-317260060/ CNN report on mass deaths: https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/10/middleeast/tehran-iran-protests-deaths-arrests-intl Basij volunteer milita of IRGC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basij Hrana (Kurdish human rights group): https://www.en-hrana.org/category/news/ https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/decolonize-anarchism-in-praise-of-burning-down-clerical-fascism-in-iran https://www.hauntologies.net/p/iranian-protesters-dont-owe-us-an Thread on mastodon about the usefulness of Delta Chat via locally run servers when the internet (and therefore connection to Signal) was cut off: https://archive.ph/GBR6A 70% of Iraniun population suffers from malnutrition: https://ghalamrorefah.ir/id/1959/ Another Farsi Group, Anarchist Front: https://t.me/AnarchistFront1 https://links.anarchist-front.org/ https://link.kompektiva.org/@anarchistfront https://anarchistfront.noblogs.org https://t.me/anegofromworldgap https://t.me/AnarchistFront . … . .. Featured Track: TFSR by The Willows Whisper

Updates from an internationalist anarchist in Rojava about military pressures, prison insecurity, and the humanitarian strain on displaced communities. A solidarity activist describes threats to women's organizations, minority safety, and local self-governance. Discussion covers tribal dynamics, ceasefire uncertainty, and practical ways people abroad can support the embattled administration.

This week, we spoke with Donna Mae, a longtime resident of Minneapolis and registered nurse working mostly with people who are unsheltered and use injection drugs. Donna lives in a neighborhood of the city that has had very heavy ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) activity and speaks for the hour about the last two months of invasion, organizing with neighbors, the legacy of the George Floyd Uprising and the aftermath of the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, the recent General Strike and lessons for preparing in the next incursion, wherever that may be. Transcript PDF (Unimposed PDF) Zine (Imposed PDF) Some links for support Fundraiser for folks in the Phillips neighborhood: https://gofund.me/0ba86917d Southside Harm Reduction Services: https://shrs.org/get-involved/donate/ Minneapolis Indian Women's Resource Center: https://miwrc.salsalabs.org/miwrcgeneraloperations/index.html Additional Links A great recent interview with two folks doing rapid response in Minneapolis by The Beautiful Idea: https://thebeautifulidea.show/ice-vs-ice-on-the-ground-in-minneapolis/ Facial Recognition Tech Used in Minneapolis to Target Protestors: in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/27/ice-facial-recognition-minnesota in Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/29/ice-tracking-tools-protesters-00755703 Rojava Updates Podcast Release Recently, armed conflict has flared between the Syrian Democratic Forces and both the Turkish-backed, so-called Syrian National Army militia and the forces aligned with the Syrian transitional government. In coming days we'll be sharing a timely podcast featuring an interview with a member of Tekoşîna Anarşîst and another with a western activist on the ground in Qamişlo to share their perspectives on the situation and updates on the changing terrain. We talk about the danger of a resurgence of ISIS, the humanitarian crisis growing due to the seige in Kobane and the fears of a renewed patriarchal governance, but also about organizing and international solidarity. This is a good time to get together with community in your area to figure out how you can support the revolution in Rojava. If you don't have a Rojava solidarity group in your area (start one), keep an ear out for calls to action via the Emergency Committee for Rojava: https://www.defendrojava.org/ In the meantime, check out this first podcast by the Youth Media project, Ronahi: https://www.ronahi.eu/2026/ronahi-podcast-episode-1/ . ... . .. Featured Track: TFSR by The Willows Whisper

This week, we're sharing an interview with Will Gillis, author of the recently published book Did The Science Wars Take Place: The Political and Ethical Stakes of Radical Realism, published via C4SS where Gillis holds the position as The Voltairine de Cleyre Chair in Centrifugal Studies and technical coordinator. Transcript PDF (Unimposed PDF) Zine (Imposed PDF) For the hour we talk about the so-called Science Wars of the 1990's, debates involving scientific approaches and shared understandings of a a measurable physical reality, post-modernism, the roles leftists and anarchists played in the debates and how cults and authoritarians employ anti-realist explanations of the world to limit their subjects' moves toward liberation. You can read more of William's writings at https://humaniterations.net and https://c4ss.org A few links to further scientific education: Quanta Magazine: https://www.quantamagazine.org/ Theoretical Minimum Lectures by Leonard Susskind: https://theoreticalminimum.com/ Milo Rossi youtube on archeology; https://www.youtube.com/@miniminuteman773 Stefan Milo youtube on archeology: www.youtube.com/@StefanMilo Angela Collier youtube on physics: https://www.youtube.com/@acollierastro self-training in physics video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw97Tj5zxvA&pp=ygUcYW5nZWxhIGNvbGxpZXIgc2VsZi10cmFpbmluZw%3D%3D Sean Carrol's Mindscape podcast covers a lot of topics, linked from his website: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/ . ... . .. Featured track: beatbuster by The Willows Whisper