Category: Interviews

Free Radical Radio interview with Paul Z. Simons on Rojava (November 2015)

 

Free Radical Radio:

Interview with Paul Z. Simons on Stories from Rojava on revolution, daily life & hope

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Audio interview download here

by: rydra / Free Radical Radio
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Paul Z. Simons, also known as El Errante, is interviewed by rydra on his recent trip to Rojava. Paul tells stories of his trip, relays discussions he had with people in Rojava in the YPG, YPJ, taxi drivers, translators and more. Paul describes the situation in Rojava as a “post-leftist revolution in a pre-leftist society.” Paul also tells us how he got into the country, how others can, and why he feels that what is going on there is important to anarchists all around the world.

 

Time Stamps:

0:00 Paul talks about being a post-left anarchist and interacting with actual humans instead of just theory

3:30 logistics of how he made contacts and got into Rojava

7:30 border crossing and “press passes”

9:30 discussion of western media and the accuracy of the news coming out of Rojava. More discussion of how geography and autonomous structures look. How do the cantons relate to each other?

13:50 rydra asks Paul to explain the role of the US, Turkey, Syria, and Russia in Rojava.

17:00 Rojava power structure broken down with a cake analogy. How do communes function there?

20:00 TEV-DEM: who are they and how are they working in the communes

23:00 discussion of daily life, what it looks like in the villages and the cities.

26:00 ideology? “they are aware that they are in the midst of a revolution.” “Would the US government accept a passport from an anti-government.” Personal stories.

29:30 Paul runs into the legislative minister for Kobani and discuses their role.

31:20 visiting with YPG, and what life looks like for the militia, and the differences between their militia and an army

34:00 discussion of gender and the YPG. YPJ, and a cultural shift?

37:00 impression of what is going on, tastes, smells, sights. What is going on socially? The idea of death to Gilgamesh, and Rojava as a different way for humans to live.

42:00 A bit of analysis on anarchism and the common comment that “it can never work.” Paul on hope.

43:20 rydra edits a super smooth transition into a revolutionary YPG song

45:20 returning to the idea of hope(hiccups) and what it means to be a human being in Rojava completely surrounded by giant power structures and multiple governments.

47:30 Paul discusses what a revolution is like, getting out of our heads, and the feeling that “revolution grabs you by the heart.”

51:00 Where do Ocalan and the PKK fit into all of this. Is there concern over this and how is power playing out?

55:30 Being a post-leftist, cussing, and “a post-leftist revolution in a
pre-leftist country.” Never heard talk of working class and being
anti-marxist.

58:40 lessons learned from his trip, coming back to America and the Bay Area.

1:00:25 “I’ve made my decision, I’m here to help others make theirs.”  The idea of an anarchist home.

1:04:00 things for people to do?

Free Radical Radio interview with Jason McQuinn

Free Radical Radio:

Jason McQuinn interviewed on Critical Self-Theory

by Bellamy

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Audio interview download here

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Bellamy interviews Jason McQuinn about his essay “Critical Self-Theory,” playing devil’s advocate by voicing some criticisms with which he is familiar but doesn’t share. Later, they discuss free will (42:45); the journal, Modern Slavery (45:05); and what a post-left anarchist praxis might be (54:47). “Critical Self-Theory” appears in Modern Slavery #3. The interview took place on February 26, 2015.

Free Radical Radio interview with Lawrence Jarach

Free Radical Radio:

Lawrence Jarach interviewed on Post-Left Anarchist movement critiques (Feb 2015)

by Bellamy

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Audio interview download here

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Bellamy interviews Lawrence Jarach, an editor of AJODAAnarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed, and author of such essays as “Leftism 101,” “Why I Am Not an Anti-Primitivist,” and “Essentialism and the Problem of Identity Politics.”  Bellamy and Lawrence discuss the rhetoric of civil disobedience in regard to the recent Ferguson protests, anarchists representation in the media and the value or lack thereof, big tent anarchism and the idea that everyone is an anarchist, the distinction between anarchy and anarchism, humanism as a relic, and more. The interview took place on February 09, 2015.

HPH interview with Harold Barclay & Lawrence Jarach

Horizontal Power Hour:

Episode 14: Harold Barclay and Lawrence Jarach

by Zak and Dan

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Audio interview download here

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Zak and Dan present interviews with Dr. Harold Barclay and Lawrence Jarach, in addition to anti-authoritarian action news updates from around the world and music from the Dead Kennedys, VC, Ska-P and Polkacide throughout. Harold Barclay lectured in anthropology at University of Alberta for nearly a quarter century and is well-known for several contributions to the anarchist discourse including People Without Government: An Anthropology of Anarchy and The State. He discusses his work and the relationship between anarchy and anthropology, and offers reflections on recent events in Egypt, where he did extensive fieldwork. Lawrence Jarach is an American anarchist essayist whose work has been central to the internal critique of anarchism known as post-left anarchism. He has published widely and co-edits Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed. He discusses post-left anarchism. Original air-date: 3-22-11