The Final Straw Radio

This episode will include two segments, firstly Bursts speaks with a longtime supporter of vegan anarchist prisoner Eric King, who was accused in 2014 of attempting to firebomb a government officials office in Kansas City. They speak about his case, veganism in prison, and steps moving forward with his support. Also about the fast approaching June 11th day of solidarity with anarchist prisoners, as well as for the first international day of solidarity with Eric on June 28th 2017 and the ideas and visions surrounding that . You can keep up with Eric's situation by going to supportericking.org. Secondly William speaks with two members of the Liverpool based anarchist black metal project Dawn Ray'd, who have just kicked off a tour of the US with one date in Asheville on June 1st at the Odditorium. We talk about anarchism and black metal, what the two have to offer each other, and about the political situation in Liverpool as it relates to music culture, and many other topics. Their tour dates are: Fri May 26th in Cincinnati, Sat May 27th in Pittsburgh, Sun May28th in NYC, Mon May 29th Philadelphia, Tues May 30th in DC, Wed May 31st in Richmond, Thurs June 1st in Asheville, Fri June 2nd in Atlanta, Sat June 3rd in New Orleans, Sun June 4th in Houston, Mon June 5th in Dallas, Tues June 6th in Tulsa, Wed June 7th in Columbia, Thur June 8 in the Quad Cities, Fri June 9th in Milwaukee, and finally Sat June 10th in Detroit You can hear all their music on bandcamp for free. Playlist pending.

For this special mini episode we are featuring an interview with two members of the Liverpool based anarchist black metal project Dawn Ray'd, who are playing in Asheville on June 1st at the Odditorium. In this interview we talk about the intersections of anarchism and black metal how those two things inform each other, and about their fast upcoming tour booked by the Milwaukee based label Halo of Flies! For more tour dates, check out Dawn Ray'd's fedbook.

#A In the first half of this week's show we spoke with Rodney about the upcoming Heartwood Forest Council, one of two yearly meet and greet events by Heartwood. Heartwood "is a regional network that protects forests and supports community activism in the eastern United States through education, advocacy, and citizen empowerment. We are people helping people protect the places they love. Heartwood was founded in 1991, when concerned citizens from several midwestern states each defending their national forest from logging, mining, roads and ruin, met and began to work together to protect the heartland hardwood forest." They'll be holding their "Strong Roots", the 27th Forest Council from May 26-29 at Camp Spring Creek, 774 Spring Creek Rd, Bakersville, North Carolina, the heart of the Katuah Bioregion. Info on the event, how to register yourself to attend, what'll be offered and how to get involved in Heartwood can be found at https://heartwood.org #2 The second half is an interview conducted by Pinda and aired on episode 192 of Dissident Island Radio, an anarchist podcast out every 2 weeks from London and available at https://dissidentisland.org. In the chat, Pinda spoke with Crossbill, a bird of the Riseup! collective about the recent FBI gag order ordeal and what this means for users of riseup mail and other services. Coming Soon Stay tuned to our website, social media & podcast feed for a special podcast release of an interview with the Liverpool based anarchist black metal project Dawn Ray'd. In this interview we speak about the inception of the band, the political situation in Liverpool, and the many ways in which anarchism and black metal can inform and augment each other. This band is just about to embark on a tour of the U.S., organized by the Milwaukee based label Halo of Flies, with dates in Cincinnati, Detroit, Texas, and in Asheville on June 1st at the Odditorium! You can check out their music for free on bandcamp, and keep in touch with tour dates and new releases by visiting their fedbook page. Announcement From the Durham Solidarity Center: "Dozens of southern anti-racist activists organized a counter protest today, May 20, 2017, at a so-called "Confederate Memorial Day" rally organized by the white supremacist organization, ACTBAC (Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County). Three were arrested and given serious charges and high bail - the highest was $15,000. The Alamance County Sheriff is a notorious racist. According to witnesses, Alamance police were seen shaking hands with known Klan members. We need your support to support these anti-racist fighters." Playlist

This week we're just back from a few weeks in Europe, most recently attending the 3rd International Anarchist Radio Conference at Radio98FM, an anarchist pirate radio station of 14 years in the squatted studios at the Polytechnic University in Zografu neighborhood in Athens, Greece. In coming episodes we'll be releasing some of the interviews that we had with folks who we met between that event and the Paris Anarchist Bookfaire the week before. Here is the live radio show we helped conduct on April 30th with the participation of all of the attending projects on topics ranging from misogyny in the anarchist scene to discussions of technology, from eco-struggles around the world to prisoner resistance. Soon, we'll have an Intl Anarchist Radio website, following will come a streaming radio station and a monthly 1.5-2 hour news blast from all of the projects called B(A)D N(E)WS. More info soon on that. This week features 2 conversations Bursts conducted at the radio conference. First, we spoke with 2 buddies from Crna Luknja, an anarchist radio show in Slovenian and English broadcast on Radio Student in Lubljana, Slovenia. The friends talk about their organizing with the Balkan-based Federatin of Anarchist Organizations, affiliated with the synthesist International of Anarchist Federations, sometimes called IFA. An Anarchist Bookfaire is being organized by the friends next weekend in Cerkno, Slovenia as well. Since Asheville just hosted it's first bookfaire we thought this'd be a timely audio to play. The second segment was with Elisa. Elisa is an Anarcha-Feminist organizer in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. She talks about her radio project, Rosas Negras found at the online feminist radio station, La Radio de Todas. She speaks about Feminist organizing in El Salvador, the state of anarchist organizing there, the Anarchist Federation of Central American and Caribbean (FACC), organizing to change abortion laws in El Salvador, and a lot more. Because the conversations are in English with people who are not native English speakers, the conversations may be hard to understand. But, their English is better than my Slovenian or Spanish, so it's in English! If you misunderstand the chat, consider listening to the archive or podcast later with headphones. There's no Sean Swain segment for this week, but stay tuned for future outbursts by the main Swainiac himself.

This week Bursts spoke with Rhyd Wildermuth. Rhyd is a co-editor and founder or the website Gods & Radicals, which also publishes periodical journal entitled "A Beautiful Resistance". For the hour, we speak about paganism, anti-capitalism, race and whiteness in the context of ethical approaches towards earth-based religions as white people in a Settler Colonial society, May Day and more. You can find his projects at https://godsandradicals.org We also repeat our announcement of the upcoming anarchist bookfaire in Asheville: If you're in the South East (or wherever), you are cordially invited to attend the 1st Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfaire, also known as ACAB2017 from May 5-May 7th in Asheville, North Carolina. The weekend of events kicks off with an a welcome table at firestorm books at 610 Haywood Rd from 3pm until 6pm with a schedule of events and ways to plug in. There are multiple musical events Friday and Saturday night. Featured speakers include Shon Meckfessel, Jude Ortiz of Tilted Scales Collective, members of the crimethInc collective as well as from the Water Protectors Anti-Repression Crew and a special appearance by author and activist Ward Churchill. Vendors over the weekend will include PM Press, AK Press, Little Black Cart, Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness, Combustion Books and many more. Consider the daytime events to be all ages. Check out http://acab2017.noblogs.org for updates and info. More up-to-date announcements and episodes will pick up along with audio from our participation in the International Anarchist Gathering in Athens, Greece, starting up mid-May, 2017. Check out our social media feeds to see and hear elements of it, including the live broadcast on April 30th from Athens.

This week, we spoke with Whitney about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline, two pipelines flowing through mid-Appalachian and the mid-Atlantic region on Turtle Island and both connect Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania County, VA. The pipelines are 48 inches in diameter and are made for transporting dangerous compressed and pressurized natural gas through many watersheds, towns and farmlands. In addition to fears of contamination of waterways and soil, through possible leaks and explosions, many people are concerned the pipeline will be carry gas for export , not even for domestic consumption. Whitney is also involved in an upcoming podcast series to inform folks in Virginia about the history and aspects of the pipelines to be released in the run-up to the decisions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on whether or not these projects can move forward. As of now, there is no website address for our guest's podcast, but their podcast's mission statement is as follows: "'End of the Line' is a pre-recorded podcast created by local Richmonders, following the developing story of two proposed pipelines in Virginia - the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Over the past year, the subject of fossil fuel "pipelines" has reached a high point of saturation in the national consciousness. While the nation watched major milestones unfold around the rejection of Keystone XL by President Obama and Standing Rock's struggle to protect water against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, resistance to pipelines in Virginia has been building as well. Residents and landowners in mostly rural parts of the state have taken on an uphill battle to try and stop two high pressure natural gas pipelines from going through their land as well as some of Virginia's most treasured places. Featuring the voices of those directly affected by the proposed infrastructure, this ongoing series will examine every aspect of the local pipeline struggle, episode by episode, starting at the very beginning and working our way to the present. Through voices of those on the frontlines, we will touch on issues such as eminent domain, energy policy, industry influence on local politics, environmental impacts, and the mental health aspect of how residents are coping with this tremendous burden. Our goals are to provide listeners with the stories of Virginians who have been and are currently resisting both proposed natural gas pipelines and build a wider audience of people throughout our region who may not be familiar with all that has occurred since the summer of 2014 when the pipelines were first introduced. The built-in question we will be posing to listeners is the same many landowners are facing, "Are these pipelines a 'done deal'?" To that end, as our episodes begin to meet up in real time with the decision-making process at state and federal levels, "End of the Line" will continue to report on developments as the pipeline saga unfolds". We will announce a website for this project as soon as we know! ----------------------- Other, regional upcoming events related to the ACP & MVP pipelines may consider attending include the following: Beyond Extreme Energy will be putting on a convergence in Washington DC from April 26-28th. BXE was a co-sponsor of the walk across NC areas that may be affected by the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline. More info on the conference and other stuff by BXE can be found at http://beyondextremeenergy.org Delaware River Keepers have compiled "People's Dossiers" on shortcomings of studies in the economic and environmental harms of the ACP & MVP by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC. http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/ongoing-issues/peoples-dossier-ferc-abuses-economic-harms Another site of interest worth check out is http://www.apppl.org for the Alliance of People to Protect the Places we Live. If you're in the South East (or wherever), you are cordially invited to attend the 1st Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfaire, also known as ACAB2017 from May 5-May 7th in Asheville, North Carolina. The weekend of events kicks off with an a welcome table at firestorm books at 610 Haywood Rd from 3pm until 6pm with a schedule of events and ways to plug in. There are multiple musical events Friday and Saturday night. Featured speakers include Shon Meckfessel, Jude Ortiz of Tilted Scales Collective, members of the crimethInc collective as well as from the Water Protectors Anti-Repression Crew and a special appearance by author and activist Ward Churchill. Vendors over the weekend will include PM Press, AK Press, Little Black Cart, Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness, Combustion Books and many more. Consider the daytime events to be all ages. Check out https://acab2017.noblogs.org/ for updates and info.

This week William spoke with a member of Eastern Kentucky Antifa about the upcoming resistance to the Traditionalist Workers Party's event in Pikeville KY. This group, along with The Nationalist Socialist Movement, The American Freedom Party, League of the South, The Iron March Forums, and other groups which it is accurate to call neo-Nazi are converging to form The Nationalist Front. They will gather on Friday, April 28th on private land for camping, a series of speakers, and trainings. The following day, they are planning to rally in front of the courthouse in Pikeville, KY at 2:00pm EST. They plan to retreat to the location where their camping and the conference is being hosted to hold an after party as well as a "secret event." In this short interview, we talk about what to expect from this event, some of the history of fascist and proto fascist activity in rurual KY, and things that resisters should keep in mind. One thing that we did not mention is that phone reception is very spotty in this area, so if you are going you should come having printed off paper maps beforehand. You can see an excellent article on this by going to It's Going Down After this interview we will hear some new antifascist, antiracist metal from The Dark Skies Above Us Collective out of Greece. ANNOUNCEMENT If you're listening in Asheville come out to a queer country show and corn dog pop up to benefit the Tranzmission Prison Project, a decade long running project which sends free books and resources to LGBTQ incarcerated folks. This event will be on Wednesday April 19th at the Double Crown at 375 Haywood Rd Asheville NC, food starts at 6 music at 8 come out! You can get in touch with Tranzmission by writing them at tranzmissionprisonproject@gmail.com or by writing PO Box 1874, Asheville NC 28806. -------- Playlist here.

Black Women's Defense League This week I spoke with Niecee X of the Dallas Texas based group Black Women's Defense League, which has been in existence for a bit over 2 years. In this interview we speak about BWDL and the circumstances around its formation, the work it engages in, and the political climate it exists within. We also speak about feminism and misogyny within this context, as well about the status of and tools for addressing anti blackness and sexism in anarchist scenes. The interview you are about to listen to has been edited down for broadcast, and we will release the longer version for on the podcast feed. On top of that, this is the second of two interviews that we recorded, and in the coming months I am planning to synthesize the two conversations into one long podcast version, which we'll announce once it is ready for listening. If you would like to get in touch with Black Women's Defense league, you can go to http://blackwomensdefenseleague.com, hit them up on Instagram or Facebook by searching their name, or email them Announcements For folks in the Pacific Northwest: The Tilted Scales Collective will be holding workshops called "Fighting Charges, Strengthening Movements." On Monday, April 10th in Olympia there'll be 2 workshops, the first at 3:30pm at Evergreen College in Lecture Hall 6 and the second at 6pm at Last Words Books. In Seattle on Wednesday April 12th at 7pm in the Bannon Science Building at Seattle University, check it out in rm 102. On the 15th Tilted Scales will be in Eugene, on the 16th in Portland and ending up at the Humboldt Anarchist Bookfaire on Saturday, April 29th in Arcata, CA. For folks in the South and South East of Turtle Island: Tomorrow, Monday the 10th in Durham, NC, there will be a "No War With Syria Rally" at CCB Plaza, 201 N. Corcoran St at 6pm. Word is that this event is being planned by the World Workers Party, a Stalinist and Russian-apologetic organization that has a knee-jerk reaction to support anyone the U.S. is in tension with as anti-imperialist. So, make up some nice anti-Assad, Anti-US, Anti-Russian, Anti-Nation-state slogans for your signs and engage the organizers. Anti-war should mean ALL warmongering governments and groups, not the populations that suffer the bombs and torture. Friday, April 14th at 9pm in Asheville, the HEX 1 dance party benefit for OurVoice will be taking place at The Mothlight at 701 Haywood Rd in West Asheville. The event will be DJ'd by DJ Lil Meow Meow, DJ Malinalli & DJ Abu Disarray. The beneficiary, OurVoice, is a non-profit rape crisis center in Asheville that offers counseling services, offers many educational workshops around consent and other topics, does outreach to bars around decreasing drug-assisted sexual assaults and does a lot more. More info on the project can be found at. Keep an eye out for future HEX Asheville benefits. In Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, April 14th at 10pm there'll be a benefit for Louisville Anti Racist Action. The show will be held at The Cure, 1481 Shelby St, in Louisville. The bands include Blind Scryer, Boneclaw (Evansville), Satellite Twin & Black Kaspar. Louisville ARA self-describes as "here to help build, defend, educate and create an effective cultural resistance against fascism." Saturday, April 15th in Asheville from 1-7pm, local rads will be hosting the Anarchist Field Day community event in the West Asheville Park at 198 Vermont Ave. It's an all-ages, potluck event that brags kick-ball, face painting, grilling with vegan and gluten-free grill space and food, friend-making and May Day banner-making. You can find them near the baseball diamond in the park and if rain chases folks away, there's a reschedule date for a week later on April 22nd at the same place and during the same hours. https://www.facebook.com/events/1860190510916621/ Playlist

This is a continuation of our episode talking about violence, non-violence, nonviolence, property destruction, Liberalism's public secret, antifa violence, insult and way more. In this podcast bonus is content we couldn't fit in the hour of our show for this week. Hopefully most of it will end up in an episode in the near future. Shon recently authored the book, "Nonviolence Ain't What It Used To Be," which is also the focus of this related podcast episode. We hope you enjoy this. Let us know by dropping us an email at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net, check out our archives at https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org or write us at: The Final Straw Radio c/o AshevilleFM 864 Haywood Rd Asheville, NC 28806 At one point we talk about anarchist approaches to the Syrian Revolution & Rojava and I reference an interview with a co-author of Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War, Robin Yassin-Kassab which can be found here

Interview This week, we air our conversation with Shon Meckfessel. Shon is a longtime anarchist and activist from Sacramento, CA. He has penned numerous articles and the book "Suffled How It Gush: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans." In this interview we talk about his most recent book, "Nonviolence Ain't What It Used To Be: Unarmed Insurrection and the Rhetoric of Resistance." We spend the hour chatting about concepts of Nonviolence in the U.S. and how they've developed, the threat and use of violence in and by anti-capitalist and anti-racist social movements. The chat moves through Lockean Liberalism, Insurrectionalism, Ghandian-Kingian non-violence, Anarchism, Nihilism and more. It was a fun chat and we talked in some real depth that we couldn't fit into this one hour. So, we made a podcast episode that's just over an hour PLUS another hour-long podcast of the secondary materials. They'll be linked up on this blog for download once we finish producing them. Thanks a lot to Julie and Scott for help in prepping for this episode :B Asheville Announces On April 7th there will be a MARATHON BENEFIT DAY for two things, the first being a show at the Odditorium on Friday April 7th to benefit the fast approaching Asheville Anarchist Bookfaire, keep in touch with the event and request housing at acab2017.noblogs.org. The second will be a dance party across town at the Lazy Diamond to benefit IGNITE! NC's efforts for May Day organizing. All door proceeds will go toward direct action training led by one of the co-organizers of the Charlotte uprising. DJd by Lamar B. and DJ Malinalli. On April 15th, shake/run/play it out with folks at Anarchist Field Day in Asheville NC! Festivities will begin at 1pm and go til 7pm at the West Asheville Park at 198 Vermont Ave. Athletes and non athletes of all levels welcome, as well as kids! Other Announces: On April 15th in Berkley CA, there will be a bloc party and cookout to oppose an alt right gathering in MLK Civic Center Park from 10am to 2pm. There will be speakers and events, bring food and games to share if you can! It's also suggested that folks bring discreet face coverings to help keep your and others identities safe from fascist and alt right creeps, who love to doxx and harrass people over the internet. It may come as a surprise to some that we are at the VERY BEGINNING of a week of resistance to the Trump administration and everything it stands for and has empowered. From April 1st thru 7th, actions, informational events, film screenings, and benefits will all take place across so-called North America and beyond. The purpose of the week of action is simple: to come together and push back against a wave of repression that has been growing in the United States and accelerated by the coming to power of the Trump administration. You can check this article for more on this subject, and either plug into existing events in your area or start planning one of your own! Free Jennifer BabyGirl Gann! Jennifer Gann is a trans woman and anarchist prison rebel who has been held captive since 1990. While serving a seven year sentence for robbery, she became politicized during the 1991 Folsom Prison Food Strike and survived more than a decade of torture in solitary confinement at Pelican Bay SHU. She was convicted of the non-violent prison offenses and given multiple 25 year-to-life sentences under the "Three Strikes" law, but now qualifies for a sentence reduction under California's Proposition 36 and early release under the newly enacted Prop. 57, which Governor Grown supported. She is currently asking for help in raising just under 3 grand for a case evaluation, which will help her lawyer put together a game plan for fighting her conviction and sentence. Currently, she only has $300 saved and needs at least $1,000 for the down payment on the NLPA legal consulting fee. Donations of any amount are appreciated and can be sent to her online legal fundraiser, by cashier's check, or money order(marked "for Jennifer Gann") sent to: National Legal Professional Associates Margaret A. Robinson Advocacy Center 11802 Corney Rd., Ste. 150 Cincinnati, OH 45249 You can donate to this lovely and powerful person here Playlist