Soleone.org

In this episode of The Solecast I chat with Scott Olsen and Graham Clumpner of About Face (Formerly known as Iraq Veterans Against The War).  Scott and Graham were both involved in Occupy Oakland, Scott is most famously known for almost getting killed when OPD hit him in the head with a bean bag round that was followed by the first general strike in recent US history.  Much of Graham’s work today is based around environmental/climate change struggles. We talk about their experiences in the military and what its going to take to build an anti-war movement in the US.  We discuss the roles veterans can play in radical movements and some ways that active duty military can resist.  We go into some of the history of anti war resistance and discuss what anti-imperialism means in the face of climate change.     You can follow Scott at @olsenvet and Graham at @turncoatveteran

In this episode I chat with journalist Robert Evans who is the host of the podcasts "It Could Happen Here" and "Behind The Bastards Podcast." In this interview we talk about how the project came about, the research that went into it and how people responded to it. Robert discusses how his trips to Iraq & Syria made him realize that a civil war like that is not too far off from the political moment we find ourselves in in the US and how that might look in the US. He talks about practical skills and practices we can employ in our daily lives to make us more resilient, the importance of mutual aid, armed self defense and DIY skills. We also discuss climate change & economic collapse as additional factors that would play into all of this. Robert also talks about his upcoming podcast series about Rojava and unveils what Season 2 of It Could Happen Here will be about...

In this super-long episode of the solecast I'm doing a deep dive into the impacts that streaming and corporate consolidation has had on the music industry.  This is a very long episode, clocking in at almost 3 hours.  Instead of splitting it up into a multi-part episode I wanted everything in once place, so people could  treat this as a mini audio documentary, listen while you have time, pause it and return to it, there is a lot of information here that is important, if you care about music.  Hopefully this Megasode format allows you to gain a nuanced and in depth understanding of where the music industry is at, how its gotten to where it is, and how we as artists and listeners can navigate this. First I’m joined by Joe from Don Giovanni Records to talk about how the changes we have seen over the last 20 years have made it increasingly difficult for most independent labels to compete.  Joe gives a history of how this consolidation has impacted independent infrastructure from blogs, to record stores to radio a

Dusty Hinz is co-founder of the Experimental Farm Network. The Experimental Farm Network is an open sourced social platform that allows for people to develop & breed crops, anything from perennial grains to improved varieties and hybrids of popular plants. They also distribute rare/unique seeds from experimental growers across North America in their store. In this conversation I talk to Dusty about the formation of the network, and his personal thoughts on civilization and global warming. Dusty speaks of this decade as “the collapsing 20s,” and much of what they are breeding / distributing is based around resiliency in the face of climate change. We discuss how we can think about making “back to the land” practices more accessible, creating an “urban to rural pipeline,” and cooperative land trusts. Dusty also talks about the importance of nut trees / agro forestry and what small scale / localized / bioregional post-civilization food systems could look like. Music Televangel “800 Star Constellation”

In this episode of the solecast we’re talking with Sara Falconer and Daniel McGowan of the “Certain Days Collective.”  Certain Days puts out a calendar every year that donates its funds to RAPP (Release Aging People in Prison), Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association and more.  It’s a collaboration between political prisoners currently locked up and their supporters on the outside(including former political prisoners).  In this interview we talk about the origins of this project, its aims and how it functions.   The calendar itself is beautifully designed and reminds us of important and forgotten moments in history, the life and deaths of revolutionaries, their time in prison, moments of resistance both recent and further in the past, and so much more.  Its a great way to turn each week into a history lesson and frame our time.   Pick them up here. https://www.certaindays.org/order/

For the season 2 premiere of the solecast i sit down with Cindy Milstein to talk about some recent themes they’ve been putting out through various talks and writings over the past year.  Cindy talks about the resurgence of Jewish anarchist organizing in the states and its relation to the upswing of anti-Semitism we have seen in the past few years.  We explore the themes of a panel Cindy did with Aaron Lakof and Charmagne Kahn at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair in 2019 entitled “From Another World Is Possible to the Possible End of the World.”  We talk about the despair of these times and how to think about building a foundation in which cultures of resistance can thrive.  Cindy addresses the machismo within radical circles, under representation of marginalized voices within the anarchist podcast world, and the importance of care/mutual aid.  We also address the concept of revolution and scale and why various forms of infrastructure are key to sustaining revolutionary movements.   Be on the look-out for Cindy

Here's a different kind of podcast about how to build DIY electronics with my good friend Otem Rellik. Otem Rellik is a rapper, producer and self taught builder of incredible electronics based out of Denver. In this podcast we'll talk about the basic concepts of building DIY electronics using Arduino, Rasberry PI, and Pure Data. Check him out on instagram, youtube and bandcamp Pure Data: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL12DC9A161D8DC5DC MobMuPlat: http://danieliglesia.com/mobmuplat/ Arduino: https://bildr.org/ https://little-scale.blogspot.com/

This is a good conversation to have at the end of a strange year. For this episode I am joined by Alfredo of Occupied Southwest Distro to have a wide ranging conversation picking up on the themes in the book Desert. Desert is an anonymously written book which offers a sober assessment of our current material conditions and urges us to toss out-dated thinking aside. In light of the challenges and time tables put on us by climate change what are the revolutionary prospects? What does it mean to be an anarchist or revolutionary in the anthropocene? The book offers a number of ways to analyze the situation and our practices, we talk about how its informed our thinking as long term organizers and informed our current efforts. You can read/download Desert for free here.

A re-air of Sole’s June interview w/ Rev Left Radio about Sole & DJ Pain 1's new album No God Nor Country. Check it out here and our new submedia produced single "F.T.L." (Fuck The Law).

Today on the Solecast I'm interview Televangel formerly of Blue Sky Black Death. Televangel is a beatmaker/composer from Oakland currently residing in Portland, Oregon. Unlike most artists I bring on the Solecast to talk about their work and their politics, Televangel does it with his instrumental music, not vocals. In this interview we discuss the origins of his project and the general concept behind it. We also talk about the themes he explores in his work; drone warfare, the anthrocene, crisis & mutual aid. We also talk about his path to radical politics and how the internet can be a critical tool for political education. Televangel's new album Emergency Hearts is available on bandcamp and spotify.

In this episode of the solecast i sit down with my homey James Rotten of Denver Communists. In this conversation we are mostly discussing “Confront La Migra” and the organizing that lead to a 200+ Abolish Ice house demo at the warden of Aurora Ice Concentration Camp. We talk about some strategic and controversial/experimental decisions that were made, that lead to this escalation in tactics and a successful action. We also discuss the media backlash, navigating liberalism and turning right wing attempts to spread misinformation into fodder for movement building.

This is a re-air of a recent podcast with SRSLY WRONG examining the absurdity of work in the 21st century. Check out other episodes from SRSLY WRONG Artwork by Nicole Marie Burton

Today on The Solecast I speak with activist, author and asst professor at Naropa University, Stephen Polk. In this conversation we'll discuss his contribution to the book Globalism and Localization: Emergent Solutions to Ecological and Social Crises. Stephen talks about global warming and the the need for permaculturists to inform the large scale changes that will need to be made in cities to mitigate its effects. Stephen wants people to think hard about what "power" means, "how do we get it, how do we exercise it, what do we do with it? He also writes about the need for all permaculture designs to consider the political domain to their work, to always ensure front-line communities maintain access to food and the city, to design in ways that don't aid gentrification. He also talks about anti-gentrification approaches, and the possibilities of using Neighborhood Associations to influence outcomes. We cover a lot of ground in this interview and cover a number of other topics connected to these issues. This is a

In this Solecast I sit down with Eamon from the Radical People Podcast. The Radical People Podcast does in depth interviews about direct action campaigns and the individuals behind them. He gets deep into the life stories of people and what brings them to radical politics, and radical action. His interviews range from fighters in Rojava, water & land defense, international abortion providers at sea and much more. We talk about his work, his personal story and political evolution and his current life as an anarcho-podcaster, living that farm life. You can subscribe to his podcast here, support him on patreon and follow him on twitter.

A talk between myself and DJ Pain 1 about our new album that we are crowdsourcing for called No God Nor Country. In this conversation we talk about our creative process, some of the things we’ve learned from our travels; the best of times and the worst of times. We talk about food, advice for people trying to be self sufficient and what’s been on in our lives ately. Much of the talk is about the motivations, inspirations and approaches we took to creating this new album. In this episode we preview 2 new songs, one is an unreleased track that didn’t make the cut called “Everything Must Go” and the other is “Extremist.” To help us get it out, pre-order it now via kickstarter.

In todays episode i will be doing an in-depth “how to” episode with my homey Evan Doukas from Colorado. Evan is a preacher, a permaculturist, a father, a musician and also publishes homesteading/permaculture videos through his youtube channel, The Colorado Garden. In this episode Evan breaks down how to build a “Climate Battery Greenhouse” step-by-step. A climate battery greenhouse uses the heat from the earth to grow fruits and veggies from tropical & mediterranean regions in temperate climates. For more information check out Evan’s youtube page documenting his work with his. For more background info on these check out this prior Solecast with Stephanie Syson from Colorado Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute.

Pre-order here via kickstarter No God Nor Country is Sole and DJ Pain 1’s third album. Its a record about carving out a meaningful life of joy and resistance in uncertain and oppressive times. Since their last album, sole had a kid, bought a farmhouse in Maine, and Pain 1 also bought a house, as his career as an educator, producer and music mentor continues to accelerate. Over the last few years, the pair has recorded dozens of songs, thrown away all the songs that weren’t poignant or musically solid enough and kept the best songs, the songs that speak to most to the current state of affairs. This record is a major step forward for their song writing, production and overall aesthetic, and while the record has strong anti-authoritarian themes it also explores existential questions: what it means to be a parent, the emptiness of fame and careers, what resistance means amid everyday life. Although the album title is an expression of atheism and anarchism, the album is more of a testament to fighting for liberat

This episode of the Solecast is a re-air from Podcast panel at the 2019 Montreal Anarchist Bookfair.  This panel was hosted by Mugs and its participants were From Embers, Rebel Beat / Changing On The Fly, Intersection’elle, and myself.  We discussed anarchist podcasts in general, their role in the movement, Channel Zero, and the sort of feedback we have gotten from our projects.  The conversation took some interesting philosophical turns as we talked about privacy, identity and alienation, among other subjects.  We also got some great questions from people in the audience about prison abolition, starting a new podcast and how to handle the feedback and permission of interviewees.   Much love to the Montreal for hosting this awesome discussion and for its amazing work keeping this vital infrastructure going for 20 years!  Check out and subscribe to all these podcasts: From Embers Intersection’elle Rebel Beat / Changing On The Fly

This episode of the Solecast I sit down with Stephen Barstow, aka The Extreme Salad Man to talk about his work documenting and popularizing rare edible plants. We are also joined by Aaron Parker from Edgewood Nursery who introduced me to Stephen's work and also grows and sells a lot of these plants. In this conversation we talk about his book "Around the World In 80 Plants," his website Edimentals.com and his lifelong quest to research, catalogue, grow and experiment with thousands of rare edible plants from around the world. We get into his origin story as a vegetarian in meat-centric Norway uncovering the growing potentials in his region through foraging. He talks about his travels around the world learning about how these plants are grown, used and then bringing those plants home to cultivate. For anyone who is bored with growing the same old shit, or interested in permaculture/forest farming his work is inspiring, informative and coverers a much wider range of vegetables then are commonly discussed in per

In this episode of the Solecast I speak with Lee Reed. We talk about his new album “Before & Aftermath” out now on Strange Famous record and his previous album “Steal City” EP which was a benefit for the Hamilton Tenants Union. Lee is one of the longest working rappers in Canada and has a unique and often aggressive rapping style consisting of anti-capitalist prose, well researched topical concept songs shining light on the excesses of capital and people fighting back over updated boom bap style beats. This is a fun conversation between two rapper homies, we talk about everything from economic collapse to why some Canadian rappers have the strangest names. He is about to embark on his first European tour w/ Kay The Aquanot, if you’re on that side of the pond check them out.