Coffee with Comrades

Latest Episodes:

Episode 35: "Les Gilets Jaunes/The Yellow Vests" Mar 12, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Coffee with Comrades, we're goin' international. In the first edition of this two-part series, we speak with our American comrades at Inhabit and our new friends from France about Les Gilets Jaunes/The Yellow Vest Movement!

We discuss the origins of Les Gilets Jaunes/The Yellow Vest movement, decentralization, Paris vs. the French countryside, blockading roundabouts, popular assemblies, leaderless rebellion, "non-lethal" weapons, galvanizing common people who take to the streets for the very first time, the potency of symbols, and the efficacy of revolutionary violence.

Resources:

Horizon: https://medium.com/@inhabitglobal/horizon-7bf3cf7b3ae3
"The Counter-Insurrection is Failing" https://communemag.com/the-counter-insurrection-is-failing/
A Vest That Fits All: https://communemag.com/a-vest-that-fits-all/
Yellow Vest Diaries: https://communemag.com/yellow-vest-diaries/
Macron and French Centrists don't have answers as Yellow Vest protests head into 10th week: https://theintercept.com/2019/01/15/yellow-vest-gilet-jaune-protests-france/
Ten Lessons from the Yellow Vests: https://itsgoingdown.org/ten-lessons-from-the-yellow-vests/
The Faces & Voices of the Yellow Vests in France: https://theintercept.com/2018/12/14/voices-of-the-yellow-vests-we-are-just-here-calmly-getting-tear-gassed/
Yellow Vests: Taking the Disorder Further: https://itsgoingdown.org/yellow-vests-take-the-revolt-further/

Coffee with Comrades is a member of the Channel Zero Network, an anarchist audio federation.

Coffee with Comrades is part of the Rev Left Radio Podcast Federation.

Logo design by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon.

Follow Coffee with Comrades on Twitter and visit our website.

Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie

Interlude: "Gilet Jaune" by Dinor Rdt

Outro: "Tensions Sociales (Freestyle Gilet Jaune)" by D.ACE

Episode 34: "Destroy the Death Star" ft. Defectors Mar 05, 2019

Show notes

On this week's episode, we speak with Jon and Grayson from Defectors, a podcast about Star Wars and radical political resistance happening right now in this galaxy. But, first, Mel and Pearson talk current events:

The Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) Movement continues to rage across France.
Over 4,500 migrant children have reported sexual abuse since 2014.
Pearson is headed to Nebraska!

Jon and Grayson join us for a detailed look at revolutionary violence, anti-imperialism, narrative, control, war, and so much more.

Check out Defectors' website and follow them on Twitter.

Coffee with Comrades is a member of the Channel Zero Network, an anarchist audio federation.

Coffee with Comrades is part of the Rev Left Radio Podcast Federation.

Logo design by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon.

Follow Coffee with Comrades on Twitter and visit our website.

Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie

Interlude: "Star Wars: Clone Wars Theme" by Kevin Kiner

Outro: "Right Minded" by No Bragging Rights

Episode 33: "Revolutionary Vulnerability" Feb 26, 2019

Show notes

In this week's episode of Coffee with Comrades, we are pleased to welcome for the very first time the one and only Mel, our new co-conspirator and co-host for the show. We've got a jam-packed episode for y'all, but before we get there, we're excited to announce we're bringing back the current events section at the top of the episode.

Diane Feinstein is an asshole.
A Coast Guard Lieutenant and self-proclaimed white nationalist planned a terrorist attack against the DSA and others.
4 more No More Deaths activists had their criminal charges dropped.

Mel and Pearson share a critical reflection on the Midwest Left Assembly, a regional conference that brought together organizers, educators, and revolutionaries from across the midwest for a weekend camping conference. We talk about base-building, regional networking, and how to build authentic solidarity with our comrades. Above all, we wrestle with how to overcome the loneliness and isolation endemic to late-stage capitalism by reclaiming intimacy through revolutionary vulnerability.

Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network, an anarchist audio federation.

Coffee with Comrades is part of the Rev Left Radio Podcast Federation.

Logo design by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon.

Follow Coffee with Comrades on Twitter and visit our website.

Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie

Interlude: "ID" by Boombox Cartel, Flosstrodamus

Outro: "PREY FOR ME/3" by Fever 333

Episode 32: "Tabletop Therapy" ft. Advantage Feb 19, 2019

Show notes

In this episode of Coffee with Comrades, Pearson sits down for a chat with the crew from Advantage, a homebrew, actual-play, 5e D&D audio drama focusing on storytelling and character development, part of the Darkmore Podcast Network. Joe, Sarah, Yessy, Zach, and Stephen chat with Pearson about a whole host of topics: tabletop RPGs, education, polyamory, oral tradition, marching band, teachers' unions and strikes, pedagogy, confronting our demons through art, catharsis, teaching and practicing empathy, the importance of play, being a good listener, the agency of collaborative storytelling, getting out of your comfort zone, and so much more.

Follow Advantage on Twitter, visit their website, and support them financially on Patreon.

Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network, an anarchist audio federation.

Logo design by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon.

Follow Coffee with Comrades on Twitter and visit our website.

Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie

Interlude: "Advantage Overture" by Blake Bost

Outro: "Rolling Dice" by Just A Gent, Ella Vos, Joey Chavez

Episode 31: "We Keep Us Safe" ft. the SRA Feb 12, 2019

Show notes

In this week's edition of Coffee with Comrades, Pearson sits down with Faye and Alex of the Socialist Rifle Association. The discussion covers a wide range of topics: the rise and fall of armed leftists, unions and armed struggle, anti-fascist and anti-racist victories, far-right reactionaries, mutual aid efforts, and so much more.

Join the SRA, follow the SRA on Twitter, and visit their website.

Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network, an anarchist audio federation.

Logo design by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon.

Follow Coffee with Comrades on Twitter and visit our website.

BONUS: Patreon Announcement! Feb 08, 2019

Show notes

In this special, bonus edition of Coffee with Comrades, Pearson details the podcast's new logo, chats changes in personnel, and unveils the brand new Patreon page for the show.

Check back next week, 2/12, for an interview with the Socialist Rifle Association.

Coffee with Comrades is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network.

Logo design by Sydney Landis. Support her work, buy some art.

Support Coffee with Comrades on Patreon.

Follow Coffee with Comrades on Twitter and visit our website.

Interlude: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie

Outro: "Comrades" by Bambu

Episode 30: "A Life Cult" ft. Demand Utopia Jan 28, 2019

Show notes

**This week's episode is dedicated to the memory of the martyrs who've fought and died to defend Rojava**

In this week's edition of Coffee with Comrades, we sit down with Reed from Demand Utopia to discuss social ecology, international solidarity, and militant creativity. But, first, here's some info on the F.L.O.W.E.R. Anti-Racist Mobilization in Stone Mountain Park, GA on February 2nd, 2019.

F.L.O.W.E.R. Website
F.L.O.W.E.R. Twitter
Atlanta Solidarity Network Bail Fund

In this episode, Reed and Pearson discuss the founding of Demand Utopia, a libertarian socialist organization focused on social ecology and revolutionary action. We explore radical imagination, the evolution of revolutionary culture, and chat about Demand Utopia's inspirations. The discussion also covers social ecology, the feminist revolution in Northern Syria more popularly known as Rojava, and how we can cultivate militant creativity. We close with a meditation on the foolish necessity of hope.

Visit Demand Utopia's website.
Check out Demand Utopia on Twitter.
Follow Reed on Twitter.
Pick up a copy of Make Rojava Green Again.

Coffee with Comrades is a proud affiliate of the Channel Zero Network, an anarchist confederation of podcasts and radio shows.

This is an entirely D.I.Y. show run by workers, for workers. If you like what you hear, you can follow us on Twitter. Check out our website and be sure to subscribe to the show on your podcasting platform of choice--iTunes, Spotify, the Google Play store, or wherever you go to listen to your leftist propaganda. While you're there smashing that subscribe button, it'd also really help us out if you Rate & Review the show to help increase our reach. If you have feedback, criticism, or you'd just like to get in-touch with us, you can give us a shout-out on Twitter or email us at coffeewithcomrades@gmail.com.

- Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World" by Woody Guthrie

- Interlude: "Rap Battle Against Oblivion" by Sole

- Clips: "When the Walls Fall" by Anti-Flag // "Rojava" by David Rovics

- Outro: "We Still Believe" by Stick to Your Guns

Episode 29: "Seize the Means of (Re)Production" Jan 22, 2019

Show notes

CW: Brief, general discussions of abuse.

In this week's edition of Coffee with Comrades, Pearson sits down with Meg, a community organizer and activist in Orlando, to talk about Marxist feminism and reproductive justice. Pearson and Meg cover a host of topics: the limits of women's studies at neoliberal universities, Planned Parenthood, liberal feminism, Christian Evangelicals, bodily autonomy, Roe v. Wade, studying to struggle, and how we can make our organizing spaces safer for comrades of all genders. So pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy Episode 29: "Seize the Means of (Re)Production."

Check out Orlando Workers League on Twitter and Facebook.

Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore" by Woody Guthrie

Interlude: "Pro Life?" by War on Women

Outro: "Clever Girl" by Sharptooth

PS. Stick around 'till the very end for some bloopers!

Episode 28: "The Promise of Parables" Jan 15, 2019

Show notes

In the second episode of our two-part special on Christianity and anarchism, Gaven Morgan joins us once again to explore the topics of anarchism, Christian mysticism, and the Eastern Orthodox church. In this section of the discussion, we chat about duality, dialectics, religion as an opiate, anti-fascist monks, liberation theology, the Beatitudes, the utility of storytelling, why Jesus spoke in parables, service and self-sacrifice, building proletarian power, and why the left needs to get off the internet and out of the ivory tower and start meeting working-class people in their communities.

Oh, also, Pearson defends the Harry Potter saga.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out Pt. I of our conversation with Gaven in Episode 27: "The Theology of the Unknown."

We hope you enjoy the second half of our conversation.

Follow Gaven on Twitter and Instagram.

All out against the KKK in Stone Mountain Park, GA!

Recommendations:

The Orthodox Way and The Orthodox Church by Kallistos Ware
Anything by Thomas Merton
American Fascists by Chris Hedges
On Wealth and Poverty by St John Chrysostom

Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore" by Woody Guthrie

Interlude: "Some People" by the Homeless Gospel Choir

Outro: "Death's Great Black Wing Scrapes the Air" by Being As An Ocean

Episode 27: "The Theology of the Unknown" Jan 08, 2019

Show notes

In the first episode of a two-part Coffee with Comrades special, Gaven Morgan drops in to talk about anarchism, Christian mysticism, and the Eastern Orthodox church with Pearson. In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss Gaven's background in the church, Gaven's propensity for "criminal anarchy," the process of radicalization, how the Eastern Orthodox church is organized, spiritual ritual, early Church history, saintly stories, the nature of authority, and power vs. domination. We also nerd out over Dungeons and Dragons way too much.

Episode 27 is more of an introduction to the topics at hand so folks who are unfamiliar with the ideas of Christian mysticism or Orthodoxy can follow along. Episode 28 builds upon these conversations and explores the nuances of political, economic, and social relations within the Eastern Orthodox church. No matter what your politics or religious views, we hope you get a lot out of this dialogue.

Tune in next week for Pt. II of our conversation with Gaven. Until then, pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy.

**Note**

It was actually Sinclair Lewis whose quote Pearson borrows about American fascism, not Upton Sinclair.

Follow Gaven on Twitter and Instagram.

All out against the KKK in Stone Mountain Park, GA!

Intro: "I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore" by Woody Guthrie

Interlude: "Means to Believe" by Oh, Sleeper

Outro: "Jesus, Jesus" by Noah Gundersen