Total Liberation

Thank you all for the support along the way! Mexie will be back soon with a new project – stay tuned. Sources and Links Support If you’d like to continue supporting Mexie, please visit Patreon.com/Mexie.

Rundown Mexie speaks with returning guest, Dr. Kristen R. Ghodsee, about her new book, Everyday Utopia. Everyday Utopia explores two millennia of human experiments in living differently to inspire radical hope in building a post-capitalist, post-patriarchal world. Kristen is the critically acclaimed author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism, and Red Valkyries: Feminist […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie and Ash from the Horror Vanguard podcast analyze the vegan consumer boycott as a tactic towards total human and animal liberation. As two long-time vegans who have had a rocky journey, Mexie and Ash grapple with how to build a liberated world while honouring differences in ability and tradition. It’s […]

Rundown Mexie speaks with conservation writer, Jared Kukura, about the history and political economy of trophy hunting, the wildlife trade, and the concept of sustainable use. We discuss the colonial-capitalist history of ‘fortress’ and neoliberal conservation around the world, and how trophy hunting furthers neo-colonialism. We talk about the philanthrocapitalists involved in promoting these industries, […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie speaks with Susie Fishleder, who has a Masters in Women, Gender, and Social Justice with a focus on Motherhood Studies. Susie works with birthing people postpartum who are dealing with identity loss, anger and rage, and birth trauma. We discuss how capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy shape the institution of […]

Rundown This episode shares a stream that Mexie, Nic (of Pynk Spots) and Kathrin (of the Kathrin YouTube channel) did on A Little to the Left all about birth control. It’s basically everything we wish we knew before we each opted to take the pill at a very young age. We’ll talk about the necessity […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie speaks with Tory Stephens, founder of Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors. Imagine 2200 is a climate fiction initiative at Grist magazine which showcases stories from authors from around the globe that are all in the visionary fiction genre (Afrofuturism, Indigenous futurism, solarpunk, etc.), providing inspiration on how we […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie speaks with Dr. Kristen Ghodsee about the commodification of relationships under capitalism and how we can work towards a liberated future. Dr. Ghodsee is the author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism and Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons from Five Revolutionary Women. We dive into the history of the […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie shares her third discussion with Marxian economist and founder of Democracy at Work, Prof. Richard Wolff. We discuss the context around current inflation rates, the implications for worker resistance including how the labour movement can collaborate with the worker co-op movement, and the importance of anti-imperialism in workers’ struggle. Sources […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie speaks with Xiangyu and Carl Zha about the complex history of U.S. imperialism in Taiwan and Chinese politics on both sides of the Taiwan strait. We dig into how U.S. intervention has greatly shaped the geopolitical landscape in East Asia today, and analyze the Biden administration’s recent provocations towards China […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie speaks with the SRSLY Wrong Boys (Shawn and Aaron) about their Papa & Boy series, which is now streaming on MeansTV. We talk about the show itself, and then dive into a whole host of topics that the show critiques. We get into patriarchal trauma and its relationship to maintaining […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with Marxist, vegan academic and activist, Dr. Troy Vettese, about his new co-authored book (with Drew Pendergrass), Half-Earth Socialism: A Plan To Save the Future from Extinction, Climate Change, and Pandemics. We start by discussing the importance of utopian socialism and reinvigorating our radical creativity to be daring enough […]

Rundown This is part 2 of our discussion about the Depp v Heard trial, the misogyny and disinformation surrounding it, and its social and political implications. We talk about the ways in which defamation as a weapon is already being wielded by abusers and white nationalists, some of the key issues with the trial and […]

Rundown Mexie is joined by Esperanza Fonseca and Khara Jabola-Carolus of the transnational feminist and anti-imperialist organization, AF3IRM, to discuss the history and present of the global sex trade and the insufficiency of the liberal feminist discourses surrounding it. We’ll discuss the history of the industry, its relation to colonialism, imperialism and militarization (as well […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie speaks with Nic (host of the Pynk Spots podcast and YouTube channel) and Kathrin (host of the Kathrin YouTube channel) about the absolute trash fire that is the Johnny Depp defamation trial. We discuss the circus that’s been made of what should be a very somber trial, the rampant misogyny […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie speaks with Monica Engebretson of Cruelty Free International about two pieces of legislation the organization is putting forward in the U.S. to reduce cruel and unnecessary animal testing. We discuss what life is like for animals subject to various tests and the multitude of alternatives that are far more effective, […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with Jessey Njau, a community-centred urban farmer in Toronto who founded Zawadi Farm. Jessey talks about his journey from his soul-sucking job in tech to his life-giving urban farm project, the importance of community-driven food systems founded on reciprocity and mutual aid, and the possibilities for transforming cityscapes into […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with Abby Martin and Mike Prysner of the Empire Files about their upcoming documentary film, Earth’s Greatest Enemy, which will document and expose the imperialist U.S. war machine as the world’s biggest polluter. We discuss the links between capitalism, imperialism and climate change and talk about what Abby and […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with fellow Total Liberation activists Nic and Kathrin about the exciting inner life plants and what taking plant sentience seriously would mean for our politics and how we show up in the world. We focus much of the first part of the discussion on Peter Wolleben’s “The Hidden Life […]

Rundown This episode is the podcast version of a conversation Mexie had with YouTubers Nic (YT: Pynk Spots) and Kathrin (YT: Kathrin) on their joint sex stream channel called A Little to the Left. In this episode we dissect the male gaze in media, explain what it is, how it operates, and discuss its various […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with David of Robin Foods, an organization that works to address issues of food waste and food insecurity in Vienna. Robin Foods has joined activists and organizations from across Vienna in their occupation of construction sites of a disputed highway project. Their occupation has been successful in cancelling the […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie hears from Native Hawaiian comrade, streamer and indie game developer, SilverSpook, about the disaster at Red Hill, a Navy facility on Oahu that has been leaking jet fuel into the drinking water since 1949. The most recent leak, about 14,000 gallons this year, has jeopardized the lives of Navy families […]

Rundown In this episode, Mexie speaks with Connie Spence (aka Vegan Batgirl), founder of the Agriculture Fairness Alliance and Liberation 360, organizations that work to lobby policymakers to change the laws that govern industrial agriculture and educate the public around how Big Ag operates. As Connie aptly points out, laws aren’t changed in the grocery […]

Rundown We’ve changed our name! Mexie explains the reason for the shift and where the podcast is headed. Our new website is totalliberationpodcast.com, and our links on Patreon and Facebook have changed as well (see below). Sources and Links * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/totalliberationpodcast* Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/totalliberation Support the Show

Rundown Mexie is joined by her partner Jacob and Ash and Jon from the Horror Vanguard to discuss cult classic Pass Thru by the man, the legend: Neil Breen. Breen is *so close* to a revolutionary politic -so close, Neil!- but, alas, the plot takes some unseemly turns… Sources and Links * Horror Vanguard: https://soundcloud.com/user-317910500* Horror Vanguard on Twitter: twitter.com/HorrorVanguard* Horror Vanguard on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/horrorvanguard/ Support the Show

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with Native Hawaiian comrade, streamer, and indie game developer, Silver Spook, about a range of topics. We discuss Hawaiian civilization, past, present, and future, Land Back there and everywhere, Indigenous futurism, and Silver Spook’s cyberpunk adventure game, Neofeud, which contains a number of interesting anti-capitalist, anti-racist, and decolonial themes. Sources and Links * Get Neofeud on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/673850/Neofeud/ * Get Neofeud on Itch.io: https://silverspook.itch.io/neofeud * Silver Spook on YT: https://www.youtube.com/user/twiliteminotaur * Support Silver Spook on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/neofeud Support the Show

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with Laura Schleifer and Anas Arafat, founders of Plant the Land Team Gaza. Plant the Land Team Gaza is a vegan food justice and community projects volunteer team based in Gaza, and they recently teamed up with Million Dollar Vegan to provide 3500 vegan meals to people in occupied Palestine. We discuss how their project came together, cover the history of Total Liberationist movements in the region, and end by dispelling some mainstream propaganda about the Israeli occupation. We also talk about the marked shift happening in the vegan movement, as the vegan-washing of Isreal is much less tolerated and activists are connecting the Palestinian struggle with broader Total Liberation objectives. Sources and Links * Plant the Land Team Gaza: www.planttheland.org* Plant the Land Team Gaza on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlantTheLandTeamGaza* Laura Schleifer on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laura.schleifer * Anas Arafat on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008448283358* Beyond Vegan-Washing: A Brief History of Animal and Human Liberation Struggles in Israel and Palestine (by Laura Schleifer): https://issuu.com/vegfestuk/docs/forca_vegan_magazine_issue_2/18?fr=sM2YzZTM5MTc3MTM&fbclid=IwAR2iaWAy8JZcivVR36l7A76omD1hw5f0Xp9u9vroX82hOlQzEE0CE29IlTw* 7th Annual Eco-Ability Conference: https://www.criticalanimalstudies.org/2021/06/7th-annual-ecoability-conference-july-2nd-2021/?fbclid=IwAR0_eu-4vI_9X97nsU5n4ivrL4QIiKQF64eH1_CRbeSByTzu_EVGmGJuP9s* Anas speaking at the 7th Annual Eco-Ability Conference: https://youtu.be/0dcIrVd_1t8?t=2585* More links to come! Support the Show  

Rundown We’re all together! Apologies for the audio quality as we kept moving and the mic picked up everything, but Mexie, Marine, and Nix from Pynk Spots got together in Portland to record this episode! We discuss the importance of being clear about what we mean when we say we’re fighting speciesism, as this has implications for how we proceed as a political movement. We also discuss the importance of making sure our anti-speciesist movements are actually political. We say often that veganism is not a grocery list, but are we actually treating it as more than that? Sources and Links * Pynk Spots YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFh3fDI2O4pYIurpRhnRzQA* Pynk Spots Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/pynk-spots/id1540391376 Support the Show   Transcript F1:  [MUSIC] How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet? F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that. F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings. MEXIE:  Hey, everyone.  Welcome to the Vegan Vanguard.  It is Mexie. MARINE:  And Marine. NICHOLE:  And Nichole. MEXIE:  We’re all here together in Portland. MARINE:  Woo-hoo! NICHOLE:  Woo!  Land of Antifa. MEXIE:  Land of Antifa. MARINE:  And BLM. NICHOLE:  And BLM. MEXIE:  Apparently.  People were real upset about it, but it’s beautiful.  We’ve been hiking in the gorgeous — I guess hills of Portland and yeah, just having a great time.  We’re here to talk to you today about speciesism and basically how we define it, and a lot of the problems with both the mainstream vegan movement, also the political vegan movement.  So, we’re really excited to talk about it.  Before we get started, I’m just gonna shout out the new patrons for this month, so thank you so much to Jeff, Adelle Goodman, and Nate Stringer.  If you would like to support the show, you can become a monthly patron donor at patreon.com/veganvanguard and for just $2 per month, you can join our bi-monthly political chats which Nicole is often present at.  I co-host the Discord with Kathrin and Mad Blender.  You can also give us a one-time donation on our website which is veganvanguardpodcast.com.  So, let’s get into it. NICHOLE:  Let’s get into it. MEXIE:  Let’s get into it.  So, the inspiration for this podcast came about — it was actually a few months ago, but I got a comment on the Vegan Vanguard Facebook which was quite upsetting to me.  It was upsetting to various other people because a lot of other people commented as well in support of what I was saying.  I can’t remember what the original post was.  I think it was actually a photo of a manatee.  I don’t know if you remember that, that manatee that someone had etched ‘Trump’ into or something like that, and I had posted about the connections between speciesism and whi...

Rundown In this episode, Mexie catches up with Jon Reynolds and Meagan Sullivan, two former No Evil Foods employees who were pivotal in the union drive effort at the company. Jon and Meagan joined Mexie on an episode last summer to discuss No Evil Foods’ union-busting tactics (that episode is listed below). Mexie also speaks with Jeremy, another former No Evil Foods employee who was laid off last month when NEF declared they were outsourcing production and fired all workers without notice or severance. The three talk about this experience, what led up to it, and how they stepped up to support the workers. Sources and Links * Mo Evil Foods website: moevilfoods.com* Mo Evil Foods on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mo-Evil-Foods-109899510744712/* So Evil Foods on IG: https://www.instagram.com/soevilfoods/* Birdie Gregson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/birdiegregson?lang=en* Vegan Union Busters: No Evil Foods (Last Year’s Episode): https://veganvanguardpodcast.com/54-vegan-union-busters-no-evil-foods/ * Mexie, Why I’m No Longer VeganTM: https://youtu.be/oY_Dt1jey4M* A Privileged Vegan, Why Veganism Must be Anti-Capitalist (NOW!!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbT2y8VR7WE* Kathrin, Veganism, Capitalism, and Intersectionality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xnx1eEJcDo Support the Show   Transcript F1:  [MUSIC] How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet? F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that. F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings. MEXIE:  Hey everyone, welcome to the Vegan Vanguard.  It is Mexie, and following up on our last episode on the union-busting of vegan company Lush Cosmetics, we’re doing a little vegan union-busters mini-series here sadly, because it’s sad that there are so many vegan union-busters that we can make a whole series.  But we’re following up today with workers from No Evil Foods, the vegan food producers who used socialist iconography and messaging to market their products and then proceeded to bust the workers union drive and fire several of them, and recently have just fired their entire staff without notice or severance.  Yay; yay vegan capitalism oppressing and exploiting human animals while not mounting a significant challenge to growing global meat consumption.  Yay. I will just reiterate from the previous episode on Lush that until the vegan movement understands speciesism as a systemic oppression and understands that animal agriculture as we know it today grew out of white supremacy and capitalism, the mainstream vegan movement will continue to promote false solutions to this problem, namely that everyone should just change their grocery lists while not actually challenging the systems at the root of both non-human and human animal oppression.  It’ll make a lot of money for certain vegan capitalists and as we have seen,

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with former Lush Cosmetics employee, Hannah, about the company’s gross union-busting tactics and why she and others formed the Global Lush Union. As the mainstream vegan movement continues to focus itself on consumption under capitalism, it’s no wonder that vegan brands are replicating the same kind of colonizing and inequality-producing tendencies of capitalism itself. Sources and Links * Global Lush Union: https://globallushunion.com/* Global Lush Union Petition: https://globallushunion.com/our-petition-1* How Lush Cosmetics Tried to Crush a Union Drive: https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkd77m/how-lush-cosmetics-tried-to-crush-a-union-drive * Lush Cosmetics’ employees say the company leadership is trying to quash their attempt to unionize — despite supporting unions at other companies: https://www.businessinsider.com/lush-leadership-rejects-union-despite-supporting-them-for-other-brands-2020-12* Help No Evil Foods workers: https://www.moevilfoods.com/ Support the Show   Transcript F1:  [MUSIC] How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet? F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that. F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings. MEXIE:  Hey everyone, welcome to the Vegan Vanguard.  It is Mexie and today we have on Hannah who is a former Lush Cosmetics employee to talk about the company’s union-busting and why she and others formed the Global Lush Union.  We have talked previously on the podcast about vegan companies engaging in union-busting and other anti-labor practices.  If you will remember about a year ago, we had on workers from No Evil Foods which is a vegan company that branded itself using socialist iconography which not only busted up unionization efforts a year ago but recently fired all of their employees without severance.  Absolutely unbelievable, so please go follow @soevilfoods on Instagram to see how you can help support those workers. I believe they’re on Twitter as well, but as you probably know, I have deleted my Twitter.  But it’s really sad that the mainstream vegan movement has been so co-opted by capital.  It’s been so focused on consumerism and just trying to get everyone to buy vegan products that it hasn’t been terribly effective in actually transforming government policies.  I mean, certainly there have been great victories, right, but it hasn’t been terribly effective in transforming our global food systems for lasting animal liberation.  As we talk about a lot, we’re killing and people are eating more animals today than ever before. Yes, of course our population has grown, but meat consumption is also rising at a pace that is outstripping population growth, so it’s just really sad to see the mainstream vegan movement so co-opted, amenable, so fused with capitalism that it’s just becoming yet another capitalist industry that harms workers who are human ani...

Rundown Marine is back, baby! She and Mexie have a wonderful discussion about her journey into facilitation work with high school students. We discuss how facilitation differs as an educational tool from conventional lecturing or teaching, how she began her own anti-oppression facilitation program, and everything she’s learned along the way. We cover a lot of ground and end by shouting out her upcoming facilitation workshops, which are open to all! Send us an email if you are interested in participating (July 5-7 2021). They’ll be of interest to any activist or educator wanting to help facilitate dialogue to advance liberatory politics. Sources and Links * Race Dialogues: A Facilitator’s Guide to Tackling the Elephant in the Classroom: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43568628-race-dialogues* Learning For Justice: https://www.learningforjustice.org/ Support the Show  

Rundown Mexie sits down with the Wrong Boys and Brett from RevLeftRadio for the *most wholesome conversation ever had*. We centre the convo around how fantastic it feels to help others and the importance of looking for the helpers in our society. We branch out into discussing the science of empathy and mutual aid, and get into some deep thoughts about dismantling the ego and expanding our sense of self to reflect our interbeingness with all our relations (human and nonhuman alike!). Sources and Links * SRSLY Wrong: https://srslywrong.com/* RevLeftRadio: https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/ Support the Show   Transcript F1:  [MUSIC] How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet? F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that. F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings. MEXIE: Welcome everyone to the Vegan Vanguard.  I am Mexie and today we have probably the most wholesome conversation that you are ever gonna hear.  The brilliant and always sweetie-pie Wrong Boys of Srsly Wrong invited myself and the always-brilliant and always-principled — remarkably principled Breht from Rev Left Radio to have a discussion about helping others and looking for the helpers in our society.  We branch out into talking about the science of empathy and mutual aid, the importance of asking for help, and some pretty deep stuff about dismantling egos and expanding our senses of selves to adequately reflect our interbeingness with humans and non-humans alike.  I really hope you enjoy.  Before we get into it though, thank you endlessly to our new Patreon supporters TheBootsareOn and Joseph Baldoni Karlik. We rely on your generous donations to keep the show going, so if you’d like to become a sustaining member, please go to patreon.com/veganvanguard and join our community on Discord.  We have community chats there twice per month which are always a great time, really fun to connect.  You can also give us a one-time donation via PayPal on our website veganvanguardpodcast.com, and please rate us up on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us.  I love reading reviews and seeing the ratings come in, except one of them; except one of them that we got recently.  It was a one star.  You know, I’m very open to constructive criticism although I’d say maybe e-mail that in instead of messing up our ratings, but the comment didn’t make any sense.  If you left that comment, reach out. I would love to know because I just couldn’t actually figure out what episode that they were actually talking about.  I was left really puzzled about it.  Anyway, now we’re at a 4.9, but you, you — everyone out there could help us get back up to that five-star rating by rating us five stars.  That actually really does help our content get noticed by more people.  Yeah, I just like clean lines, the five.  The five looks better than the 4.9.  Anyway, I’m mostly kidding, but also it does help us if you do give us ratings and reviews.  With that, prepare yourselves for some absolute wholesomeness. [MUSIC] SHAWN: Hello everyone,

Rundown Mexie’s fiancé, Jacob, who is a Jewish anti-Zionist activist in Toronto, is taking over VV for this episode! He interviews Sheryl Nestel, an academic and activist who is on the executive committee of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, about the latest round of Israeli violence sparked by the incidents in Sheikh Jarrah. They discuss the brutality of the occupation, the harmful myths about Israel that are taught to Jews through various institutions, the cognitive dissonance associated with liberal Zionism, and much more. From Turtle Island to Palestine, occupation is a crime. Free Palestine! Sources and Links * Independent Jewish Voices Canada: http://ijvcanada.org/* #NoIHRA: http://noihra.ca/* Independent Jewish Voices: Solidarity in Uncertain Times: https://youtu.be/E5JO0mfKSEQ* Suzanne Weiss Holocaust survivor – Toronto Al Quds Rally 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdrG1mrna00* Vegan Vanguard, The Vegan-Washing of Israel Continues (Brand Israel, Palestine, and Occupation) w. Laura Schleifer: https://veganvanguardpodcast.com/11-the-vegan-washing-of-israel-continues-brand-israel-palestine-and-occupation/* Vegan Vanguard, The Great March of Return and Palestinian Resistance with Abby Martin: https://veganvanguardpodcast.com/29-the-great-march-of-return-and-palestinian-resistance-with-abby-martin/ Reading * Jewish Currents: https://jewishcurrents.org/* My Happiness Bears No Resemblance to Happiness (Adina Hoffman): https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300164275/my-happiness-bears-no-relation-happiness* Gate of the Sun (Elias Khoury): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/234442/gate-of-the-sun-by-elias-khoury/* The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 (Rashid Khalidi): https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781627798556* The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited (Benny Morris): https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/birth-of-the-palestinian-refugee-problem-revisited/8AE72A6813CEA7DDDE8F9386313F0D97#:~:text=Its%20startling%20revelations%20about%20how,part%20of%20a%20systematic%20plan.* Journal of Palestinian studies: https://online.ucpress.edu/jps* 10 Myths About Israel (Ilan Pappe): https://www.versobooks.com/books/2430-ten-myths-about-israel* Why Racism Still Matters (Alana Lentin): https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Why+Race+Still+Matters-p-9781509535712* Avi Shlaim books: https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/avi-shlaim/238890/* Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundation of a Movement (Angela Davis): https://www.

Rundown Mexie sits down with community activist and YouTuber, Sadlord777, for a captivating conversation about our spiritual journeys, the import of spirituality in political and community organizing, navigating tradition as a white settler on Turtle Island, and ancestral accountability. Sources and Links * Sadlord777’s Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/JohannDrivesMyBus* Sadlord777’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sadlord777* Sadlord777 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sadlord777* Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: https://milkweed.org/book/braiding-sweetgrass* Fair Folk Podcast, Children of the Sun Part 1: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2LqL2IpnpyK47tjOsTs44R?si=U79wPVIKTbmIgUs8i0chxw * Fair Folk Podcast, Children of the Sun Part 2: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6yl4Fw3vCQ8NiuhJtGN3dX?si=yRd5K4pKT8mFrJJM-MB8rQ* Fair Folk Podcast, Children of the Sun Part 3: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4i8C7le09zNhP7vFbs6E5E?si=6CKeBqMzSTGLKRQKZPOkSw Support the Show   Transcript F1:  [MUSIC] How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet? F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that. F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings. MEXIE: Hello, everyone.  Welcome to the Vegan Vanguard.  It is Mexie and today we have an amazing talk that I had with my friend and comrade here in Ontario.  They are a YouTuber, Sadlord777, and they make fantastic videos.  They also make fantastic zines, so definitely go check them out.  But, we had a really fantastic conversation about spirituality and leftism and the import of spirituality in political and community organizing and how it has been important for each of us and shaped our journeys.  We also talk a lot about grappling with tradition, especially in the context of whiteness and being a settler here on Turtle Island and not really being connected, necessarily, to our ancestral traditions, but also still having that ancestral accountability that we need to reckon with as settlers here, again, on Turtle Island. I just thought it was such a fantastic conversation.  Sadlord777 is so brilliant and interesting and amazing and we wanted to having this conversation because these are topics that we feel are not really broached much on the left.  There’s kind of a real hard line drawn between the material and the immaterial, the political and anything that’s spiritual, emotional, or anything else like that.  As we talk about in the discussion, we think it’s largely a false dichotomy and that these are really important topics to discuss, too.  So, before we get into it, I would like to thank the new patrons, so thank you so much to Jill Mikkelsen and Eric Daniels.  This is a donor-funded show, so if you would like to become a sustaining member, you can go to patreon.

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with author and professor, Tyler Shipley, about Canada’s dismaying place in the world. Tyler is the author of Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination, where he details how Canada’s genocidal relationship with Indigenous peoples has carried into imperialist aggression. Spoiler alert: we aren’t the good guys. Sources and Links * Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/canada-in-the-world * Twitter: https://twitter.com/canadainthewrld Support the Show   Transcript F1:  [MUSIC] How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet? F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that. F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings. MEXIE: Hello, everyone.  Welcome to the Vegan Vanguard.  It’s Mexie and today we have one of my super-cool, super-brilliant friends and comrades on the show, Tyler Shipley.  He wrote the book Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination which is just absolutely fantastic, packed, packed full of info.  I would recommend this to everyone.  Today we’re gonna be busting that myth that Canada is just a peacekeeping force in the world, that we are not the aggressors, we are not the imperialists, because as Tyler’s book very aptly shows, that is so far from being true.  There are actually times in regime change operations and just imperialist aggressive wars where Canada is even more the aggressor than the United States which I’m not sure that people know about, but people should know about it. So, I hope you all enjoy this conversation.  Before we dive into it, I want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts to our new patrons this month.  Thank you to Isaiah, TJ, Hamza, and Mica or Mica for your very generous donations.  If you like what we do here, if you get something from it and you want us to keep making more, please consider supporting us monthly on Patreon at patreon.com/veganvanguard.  You can also give us a one-time tip or donation via PayPal on our website which is veganvanguardpodcast.com and/or please share this episode to amplify the message, and please give us those ratings and reviews on iTunes.  I love reading them.  Thank you so much to everyone who has given us five stars and written a review.  So, without further ado, let’s get into the interview with Tyler Shipley. TYLER: [MUSIC] So yeah, my name is Tyler Shipley.  The book is called Canada in the World and it’s an attempt to I guess situate Canada within the story of colonial and imperial powers in the world.  So many people in Canada don’t understand or don’t want to understand that Canada is every bit a colonial and imperial power the way the United States is, albeit on a smaller scale and with some minor different details.  But I think that for a really long time this has been something that bothered me, and then as I sort of started doing the academic work to back it up, it was like I became more and more — I just felt more and more like I needed to articulate in detail the — this part of C...

Rundown Mexie talks with Marxian economist, Dr. Richard Wolff, about COVID-19, the current economic recession, and the prospects for a post-capitalist future. Prof. Wolff argues that democratizing our workplaces from the ground up is critical to building that future. Sources and Links * Democracy at Work: https://www.democracyatwork.info/ * Democracy at Work on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/democracyatwrk/ * Prof. Richard Wolff on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RichardDWolff Support the Show   Transcript F1:  [MUSIC] How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet? F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that. F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings. MEXIE:  Hello everyone, welcome to the Vegan Vanguard.  It is Mexie and as promised, I am releasing my series of talks with Dr. Richard Wolff, just kind of edited together.  We talked about covid-19, the end of capitalism, and the potential for building post-capitalist futures in part through democratizing our workplaces, so I think it was a fantastic series of talks.  I hope you enjoy it.  As I said on Patreon, we have some fantastic guests coming up that I am really excited about, so just another shameless plug for the Patreon.  This is a donor-funded show.  We rely on all of your generous donations to keep the show going.  For just two dollars a month, you can get access to the Total Liberation Discord server that I co-host with Kathrin and Mad Blender, and we host bi-monthly political chats on there, so that’s twice per month and they’re always so much fun and really engaging, so definitely head over there if you want to be part of that community. Otherwise to help the show, you can share the episodes with friends and family or give us those ratings and — no, you must; you must go and give us ratings and reviews on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, or whatever you listen to us on, only if you’re gonna give us five stars.  But that really does help and I love reading the reviews, so thank you so much to everyone who’s done that.  You could also just give us a one-time donation via PayPal on our website which is veganvanguardpodcast.com.  With all of that out of the way, let us get into this interview with Dr. Richard Wolff. [MUSIC] Richard D. Wolff is professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a visiting professor in the graduate program in International Affairs of The New School University NYC.  He’s the founder of Democracy at Work and host of their nationally syndicated show Economic Update.  His latest book is The System is the Sickness: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself.  It’s available with his other books Understanding Socialism and Understanding Marxism at www.democracyatwork.info.  So, I highly encourage everyone to check out the Democracy At Work YouTube channel and also Richard Wolff’s personal YouTube channel because he does a really, really great job making all of this incredibly important and incredibly complex economic information accessible to a really wide audience.  So,

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with journalist, activist, and documentary film-maker, Abby Martin, about U.S. empire under Biden. We discuss his scary cabinet picks, his administration’s positioning with respect to various countries that have long been in the imperial crosshairs, and the importance of building a powerful anti-war and anti-imperialist movement. Sources and Links * Empire Files: theempirefiles.tv* Empire Files on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG29FnXZm4F5U8xpqs1cs1Q * Empire Files Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/empirefiles* Media Roots Radio: https://soundcloud.com/media-roots * Gaza Fights for Freedom: https://gazafightsforfreedom.com/ Support the Show   Transcript F1:  [MUSIC] How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet? F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that. F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings. MEXIE: Hello everyone.  Welcome to the Vegan Vanguard.  This is Mexie and I — I’m having a time.  I am having a time.  It is the last month that I have too many jobs all at once.  It’s the last couple weeks of my lecturing term.  I have some fantastic guests lined up that I am so excited to bring to your ears.  But this month I’m going to be releasing two really amazing talks that I had with activists and academics on my YouTube channel.  I posted about this on Patreon and everyone said that they were very interested to have me release both of these on the Vegan Vanguard, so that is what I am doing. The first, what you will hear today, is my talk with Abby Martin about US empire under the Biden administration, looking at his very scary cabinet picks and the way that his administration is posturing, or the policies that they are either enacting or planning to enact in various countries of geostrategic interest of the US.  It was a really fantastic conversation and I was actually just speaking with Abby and Robbie Martin, her brother, on their podcast Media Roots, so I believe this will be coming out around the same time, so you can go and check out my talk with them on that platform as well.  I will link that in the description box as soon as it is available.  The next talk that I am planning to release probably next week or maybe just a few days after this one will be my talk with Dr. Richard Wolff. Well, my series of talks that I will kind of edit together where I spoke with Professor Wolff about covid-19, about the end of capitalism and about building a post-capitalist future in part through democratizing our workplaces.  So, I very much hope you enjoy and thank you so much to all the patrons who stick with us even through the hard months.  Next month I am going to resume with some amazing new guests and I’m really, like I said, just really excited about it.  Before we get started, I would like to say that this is a donor-funded show, so if you would like to become a sustaining member, you can go to patreon.com/veganvanguard or give us a one-time donation via PayPal o...

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with Dalit anti-caste and anti-speciesist activist, Prateek Kumar, about life as a Dalit in India. We discuss how the caste system operates, how casteism and speciesism are interlinked and how this affects both lower caste people and animals, and how things have changed and worsened under Modi’s Hindu nationalist regime. We end by discussing the potential for revolution here, and what comrades in the Global North can do to help amplify Dalit voices. Sources and Links * Prateek on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polycycloid_polysemous/* Prateek on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deadwallflower/ * Prateek Kumar, Casteism In India Puts Both Humans And Animals Through Horrific Torture: https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2019/01/interconnecting-casteism-and-speciesism/ * Suraj Yengde, Caste Matters: https://penguin.co.in/book/caste-matters/* B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2150-annihilation-of-caste* Yashica Dutt, Coming Out as Dalit: http://www.alephbookcompany.com/book/coming-out-as-dalit/* Bojja Thakaram, Mahad: The March That’s Launched Everyday: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43154698-mahad Support the Show   Transcript [MUSIC] F1:  How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet? F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that. F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings. MEXIE: Hey everyone, welcome to The Vegan Vanguard.  It is Mexie and today we are talking to Prateek Kumar who is a anti-casteist and anti-speciesist activist from the Dalit community in India.  We had a fantastic conversation — pretty heavy conversation about life as a Dalit in India, especially under Modi’s Hindu nationalist regime.  Just a content warning; we do talk about physical and sexual assault, including rape of Dalit women, so I wanted to give you a heads up on that before getting into the interview.  The last thing before diving into the interview is to thank the new patrons, the new sustaining members of the show.  Thank you so much to Rachel Zummo, Katie Mae, and Ayoola White. As you know, this is a donor-funded show and we rely on the generous donations of all of you to keep the show going, so if you have just two dollars per month, you can become a sustaining member at patreon.com/veganvanguard, and that two dollars will get you access to the Total Liberation Discord server where myself, Kathrin, and Mad Blender host bi-monthly political chats which we really love.  We also have stickers and pins available from the amazing Meneka Repka of Nooch Design Co. on Instagram.  One of them says Animals Are Our Comrades and the other says Animals Want Capitalism to End, and they are just adorable.  So, check those out if you would like to support us by becoming a sustai...

Rundown In this episode, Mexie sits down with Rachel Bromberg and Asante Haughton of the Reach Out Response Network in Toronto to talk about their work, which is revolutionizing crisis response in the city. Rachel and Asante are working to actualize a paradigm shift away from coercive, forceful, police-led intervention towards an anti-oppressive, trauma-informed model that will empower individuals in crisis and promote their dignity, autonomy, self-determination, and resilience. Sources and Links * Reach Out Response Network: https://reachouttoronto.ca/* Resources and Information: https://reachouttoronto.ca/resources* Reach Out Toronto on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reachout_to* Reach Out Toronto on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReachOutToronto* Reach Out email: [email protected] * Nooch Design Co. on IG: https://www.instagram.com/noochdesignco/* LaborKyle on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/laborkyle* LaborKyle on Twitter: https://twitter.com/laborkyle Support the Show   Transcript [MUSIC]  F1:  How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet? F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that. F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings. MEXIE:  What is up everyone?  New year, new channel art, and new music.  Thank you so much to the incredibly talented Meneka Repka of Nooch Design Co.  That’s @noochdesignco on Instagram for the new channel art.  We absolutely love it.  This is Rodney, the anti-fascist raccoon.  Just absolutely love that.  Thank you also to the incredibly talented LaborKyle for the new intro music featuring some of the revolutionary women that we look up to the most.  We just absolutely love that as well.  LaborKyle is @laborkyle on Twitter and on YouTube and he’s making just absolute masterpieces on YouTube, so definitely go check those out.  Labor spelled in the American way.  Yeah, we’re just excited about the fresh, new face of the podcast, the fresh, new sounds of the podcast and we’re starting the year off by talking to Rachel and Asante of the Reach Out Response Network in Toronto. This is a network dedicated to revolutionizing crisis response, basically moving away from having police be the responders to crises like mental health crises, moving away from police doing things like mental health checks or wellness checks because we know that those can go horribly awry.  You’re just escalating a situation that is already incredibly volatile.  Instead, the network and the project puts money into communities and funds community-led teams of mental health professionals and people who are of the community and know the community and are for the community to respond to things like this and to actually help people who are going through crises.  I cannot sing the praises of this project enough.  I think it’s fantastic.  I think you all will really enjoy the interview.

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with anti-oppressive, anti-speciesist activist and lecturer, Christopher Sebastian, about the intersections between race, class, and species. We discuss the links between speciesism and white supremacy, the ongoing bigotry and racism in vegan activism, and the connections between the Black Lives Matter uprisings and anti-speciesist activism. We end by touching on the importance of queering animal liberation, or moving away from a patriarchal and heteronormative approach to vegan activism. Sources and Links * Christopher Sebastian’s website: https://www.christophersebastian.info/* Christopher Sebastian on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChristopherSebastian* Christopher Sebastian’s lecture, Race, Class and Species: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_ebX07H4wM * Christopher Sebastian’s lecture, Queering Animal Liberation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkRke88QKPs* Marjorie Spiegel, The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1046666.The_Dreaded_Comparison* David Nibert, Animal Oppression and Capitalism: https://books.google.ca/books/about/Animal_Oppression_and_Capitalism_2_volum.html?id=F6UxDwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y* Patrice Jones, Queering Animal Liberation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36oPVbrU5uY Support the Show  

Rundown Mexie sits down with anti-capitalist and decolonial scholar and activist, Dr. Nick Estes, to talk about the US election and what the Empire looks like under various administrations, about the legitimacy of the Supreme Court with respect to Indigenous law and sovereignty, and about how decolonial and anti-capitalist struggles are intimately linked. It was an enlightening discussion! Please follow Nick’s work at The Red Nation (links below). Source and Links * The Red Nation: http://therednation.org/ * The Red Nation podcast: https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/vi… * The Red Nation Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therednation * The Red Nation on Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_Red_Nation * Nick Estes on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickwestes * Our History is The Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo… Books mentioned on the show: * Du Bois, Black Reconstruction * Mike Davis, Prisoners of the American Dream * J. Sakai, Settlers * Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism * Vander Wall and Churchill, Agents of Repression * Churchill, The COINTELPRO Papers Support the Show

Rundown In this episode, Mexie is joined by Nichole from Pynk Spots (formerly from Bitchy Shitshow and Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack!) to chat about the 2020 election results: our reactions to Biden winning, why the Supreme Court and the Electoral College need to go, what moves Trump is making to attempt a soft coup (possible but not likely), and how neoliberalism doesn’t beat fascism – in fact, it leads to it. Sources and Links * Pynk Spots on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFh3fDI2O4pYIurpRhnRzQA* Pynk Spots on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pynkspots/* Pynk Spots on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PynkSpots* Pynk Spots on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pynkspots* Pynk Spots on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pynkspots/posts * Voting History: The Real Reason the Electoral College Exists: https://time.com/4558510/electoral-college-history-slavery/* Could Trump Military Shake-up Set Stage for Coup? https://www.spreaker.com/user/radiosputnik/by-any-means-886-seg222-sean_144* How the Electoral College Works in 6 Minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gF5O6AB6d8&ab_channel=ThoughtMonkey * American Democracy is Hanging on By a Thread: https://eand.co/american-democracy-is-hanging-on-by-a-thread-d13f482b3aa* Trump Readies Thousands of Attorneys for Election Night: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/27/trump-legal-network-election-day-fight-422035* The Empire Files, Abby Martin: Abolish the Supreme Court!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkcI7_0wMyQ * The Empire Files, Will Supreme Court Overturn Election for Trump?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6EK8zx7kKo Support the Show   Transcript [MUSIC] Oh, those rich people.  Always flying off somewhere. MEXIE:  Hey everyone, welcome to the Vegan Vanguard.  It’s Mexie and today we have an amazing friend, very good friend of the show, Nichole, on the show.  Welcome, Nichole. NICHOLE:  Thank you so much for having me.  Always a pleasure to be here. MEXIE:  At first I was like, how do I introduce you, because formally Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack, formally Bitchy Shitshow, and now Pynk Spots, so I just said fantastic friend of the show. NICHOLE:  I love it. MEXIE:  Yeah.  But do you want to, I guess, start off by shouting out your new work and where people can find you and what your new project’s all about? NICHOLE:  Yes, I would love to.  Yeah, I’m starting a new podcast called Pynk Spots and Pynk is spelled with a Y, so it’s P-Y-N-K to make it more clear but also because the domain name was available, so that’s how we content creators do.  Yeah, and this new project, I’m very excited about.

Rundown Happy Halloween (slash HBD, Mexie)! Mexie and Ash, from the podcast The Horror Vanguard, review the 1981 horror film, Wolfen. Comrade wolfen are eating rich imperialist real estate moguls, what fun! Sources and Links * Follow the Horror Vanguard on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-317910500 * Horror Vanguard on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HorrorVanguard* Horror Vanguard on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/horrorvanguard* Ash on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Night____Moves Support the Show  

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with community organizer Noodle about information and operational security for political dissidents, protestors, and organizers. We talk about what protestors and organizers can do to keep themselves and their comrades secure, both in the streets as well as at home and on digital networks. Please check out the links below, and remember – we keep us safe. Sources and Links * Blocing Up (why black bloc?): https://zines.headingnorther.com/pdfs/bloc/doubledwebbloczine.pdf * Printable Blocing Up: https://zines.headingnorther.com/pdfs/bloc/imposedbloczine.pdf* Digital Security: https://zines.headingnorther.com/pdfs/digsec/webdigseczine.pdf* Printable Digital Security: https://zines.headingnorther.com/pdfs/digsec/digsecimposed.pdf* Secured phone tips for Android: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFArk8YAw6f/?igshid=1ipacxhgi85wv* Another quick and easy guide for phones at actions (also suggest following the instagram feeds below): https://www.instagram.com/p/CFEP2l0gLgG/* Guide to helmets if you want to invest in head protection: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEVrAcxBF6Y/?igshid=udkyogcxnd7g* Pandemic protesting and riot agent guide: https://www.instagram.com/p/CA5b2Dkg9VI/* Security culture guide in digestible format: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEk48LTgRjU/ * Simple pepper spray guide: https://www.prevention.com/health/a32734569/pepper-spray-treatment/* viewEXIF, Apple link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/viewexif/id945320815* Download the Signal App for secure messaging! Support the Show  

Rundown In this episode, Mexie sits down with former employees of No Evil Foods, Jon, Meagan, and Cortne, to talk about how the company effectively quashed the workers’ union drive. No Evil has, until now, marketed themselves as a revolutionary brand, using socialist iconography and even appropriating the Zapatista movement to sell their products. We discuss the strategies No Evil used to pressure workers not to vote yes and form the union, and the fallout that organizers dealt with after the vote. We end with some lessons learned that will hopefully be useful to people hoping to unionize their own workplaces. Sources and Links * Mo Evil Website: https://www.moevilfoods.com/* Mo Evil on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoEvilFoods* Birdie Gregson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BirdieGregson * Mo Evil on IG: https://www.instagram.com/moevilfoods2/* Mary Levitt, Confessions of a Union Buster: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1154842.Confessions_of_a_Union_Buster* Andrew Miller, The Double Speak of No Evil Foods: https://industrialworker.org/no-evil-foods/ * Alex Press, Workers at No Evil Foods Say the Vegan, Progressive Company Busted Their Union Drive: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/06/no-evil-foods-unionizing-workers-organizing Support the Show  

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with John Perkins, former Chief Economist for MAIN, about his time as an economic hitman, furthering U.S. empire through economic imperialism. We talk about the links between the World Bank, IMF, private firms like Haliburton and Bechtel, and intelligence agencies like the CIA and NSA. John also discusses some insights from his new book about the shift in consciousness required to revolutionize our economy. Sources and Links * John Perkins Website: https://johnperkins.org/* New Confessions of an Economic Hitman: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576012/the-new-confessions-of-an-economic-hit-man-by-john-perkins/* David Harvey, 17 Contradictions and the End of Capitalism: http://davidharvey.org/2014/03/new-book-seventeen-contradictions-end-capitalism/* David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/183033.A_Brief_History_of_Neoliberalism* Richard Wolff, Democracy at Work: https://www.democracyatwork.info/* Anwar Shaikh, Capitalism: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/capitalism-9780199390632?cc=ca&lang=en& Support the Show  

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with plural justice activists Meneka Repka and Ehsan Otoufi about the challenges of political organizing within mainstream, ‘apolitical’ vegan spaces. We talk about why anti-speciesist activism needs to be anti-capitalist and pro-intersectional, take a look at some of the mainstream organizations that purport to be ‘apolitical’, and discuss Meneka and Ehsan’s experiences trying to fight for plural justice in a more neutral vegan space. Sources and Links * Nooch Design Co. on IG: https://www.instagram.com/noochdesignco/* Food Empowerment Project: https://foodispower.org/ * Aph and Syl Ko, Aphro-ism: https://aphro-ism.com/* Christopher Sebastian’s work: https://www.christophersebastian.info/ * Sunaura Taylor, Beats of Burden: https://thenewpress.com/books/beasts-of-burden* Dr. Breeze Harper, Sistah Vegan: http://sistahvegan.com/ * Carol J. Adams, The Sexual Politics of Meat: https://caroljadams.com/spom-the-book Support the Show  

Rundown This episode begins with a short rundown of what’s going on with the BLM rebellions right now, and includes two PSAs from the Channel Zero Network about safety and security during street actions and how to provide jail support to your comrades. In the episode itself, Mexie and Marine talk about the problematic war rhetoric that leaders and media pundits are using to describe our response to the coronavirus. We talk about what this rhetoric primes us to accept, how this rhetoric obscures the crimes of capital, and the inconsistencies in the logic of a war response. Sources and Links Places to Donate: * Bail Funds/Legal Help by City: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1X4-YS3vFn5CLL9QtJSU0xqmTh_h8XilXgOqGAjZISBI/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR2xRNTx7eQaZLkwkAJO_gV5Vr3gzGOtKDmGnpR-VFzygNF0lXU60k7QYv0* Reclaim the Block/Minnesota Freedom Fund list of orgs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yLWGTQIe3967hdc9RSxBq5s6KKZHe-3_mWp5oemd7OA/preview?fbclid=IwAR3yoIMfyiKdBnLnTcMe8O9tbjHFi4iLMeN87Z1OlBkil4nS-gobpjWnltw&pru=AAABcpnsAUg*cE6Ba7dNK2JGZFIm0v6seQ* We Keep Us Safe Fund: https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8nnnkYT19f?fbclid=IwAR0izVFrvAWjGq2l3LZ6A4gtNQQhjopFinIk7W34uoB-Os7XmBKyz54oHSo* The Bail Project: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/the-bail-project* Official George Floyd Memorial Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd* George Floyd (BigFloyd): https://www.gofundme.com/f/george-floyd-bigfloyd?fbclid=IwAR1NwsKmFWO_BKC15d1JzZrPRSzF3avS0LwGkppkHDD67_vb0TWaqI8SC08* Incarcerated Workers...

Rundown In this bonus episode, Mexie appears on RevLeftRadio to discuss psychedelics, ego, consciousness, spirituality and leftism with Brett. This discussion dovetails well with our recent discussion on Mind and Nature, exploring themes of meditation and communing with nature in relation to leftist thought and activism. By popular request, we’ve gone in deeper on the psychedelic portion of our convo. Hope you enjoy! (Responsibly ;)) Sources and Links * Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/529343/how-to-change-your-mind-by-michael-pollan/* RevLeftRadio: https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/* RevLeftRadio on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RevLeftRadio Support the Show  

Rundown In this episode, Mexie talks with Green, a comrade from the Indigenous Anarchist Federation, Ash from the Horror Vanguard podcast, and her partner, Jacob, about all things FF7 and how relevant the game’s narrative is for our current historical moment. We discuss the way the game handles themes of anti-capitalism, colonialism, environmentalism, racism, patriarchy, and last but not least, trauma. Eco-activist resurgence when?! Sources and Links * Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ANeonGreenCity* Green on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a_cure_for_sleep/* Green on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/abrightgreencity/videos* Indigenous Anarchist Federation: https://iaf-fai.org/* Indigenous Anarchist Federation on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAF__FAI* Ash on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GothUncharted* Horror Vanguard podcast: https://soundcloud.com/user-317910500* Horror Vanguard on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HorrorVanguard Support the Show