134: Astra Taylor on “You Are Not a Loan"

“Movements are messy,” says Astra Taylor. She knows this not only from studying activist history, but also from personal experience as a co-founder of the Debt Collective. Their work succeeded in canceling over $2 billion of student debt. Astra’s new short documentary You Are Not a Loan (free on The Intercept) brings together students and professors to discuss changing the cost of education. She’s also published a new book of essays Remake the World. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers talks to Astra about both new works. She reflects on the legacy of Occupy Wall Street and on her friend David Graeber, author of Debt: The First 5000 Years and Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, who died last year.Links to further references in this discussion:Episode 93: Astra Taylor on “What is Democracy?”Democracy May Not Exist, But We’ll Miss It When It’s GoneBerkeley in the SixtiesEncounter at Kwacha HouseThe Murder of Fred Hampton