The Ex-Worker
This episode offers an audio version of “”, published on December 12th. It traces the activities of the movement to Stop Cop City and defend the Weelaunee Forest from June through December 2023, including accounts of the campaign for an Atlanta voter’s referendum on Cop City, the Sixth Week of Action, the relationship between clandestine direct action and public organizing, local Black organizing against the project, the Block Cop City march in November, and potential strategic pathways forward. Tune in for an in-depth evaluation of the latest phase in one of the most critical social...
info_outline #104: Living in an Earthquake—The Fight against Cop City Confronts Unprecedented RepressionThe Ex-Worker
At first, it appeared to be an ordinary forest defense campaign aimed at discouraging Atlanta city government from pouring money into an unpopular police training facility. But over the past two years, the fight against Cop City has escalated into one of the fiercest struggles of the Biden era, pitting a wide range of courageous people against a united front of politicians, prosecutors, and police. In their desperate efforts to deflect popular resistance and force through the project, police and prosecutors have pressed trumped-up domestic terrorism charges against almost every defendant...
info_outline #103: The Return of the Ultraliberal Right in ArgentinaThe Ex-Worker
A so-called “” has just been elected president in Argentina. What does this mean for anarchists and the prospects for revolutionary change in South America? Spoiler alert: it’s not looking good. In this episode, we share an account from analyzing the recent rise to power of Javier Milei, an extreme neoliberal economist, in the context of the global turn towards fascist and reactionary populist leaders like Trump and Bolsonaro. You’ll get an in-depth look at the history of center-left rule, military dictatorship, and neoliberal austerity that resulting in the powerful popular uprising...
info_outline #102: How They Stopped Work at RaytheonThe Ex-Worker
On November 13, 2023, demonstrators in southern California blockaded a facility of Raytheon, a defense contractor, in solidarity with the Palestinians on the receiving end of the bombs that it produces. They managed to block the facility for more than seven hours, supported by waves of hundreds of activists joining the action, and succeeded in shutting down operations for the day. This episode offers an audio version of , published on November 15th. Participants summarize how the action was organized and unfolded, police responses, the background of direct actions against the war machine and...
info_outline #101: Shutting Down the Port of TacomaThe Ex-Worker
On November 6, 2023, several hundred people showed up at the Port of Tacoma in Washington State to block access to a shipping vessel that was scheduled to deliver equipment to the Israeli military. This episode shares an account and analysis of the action published on November 10th as “.” Participants review the history of port blockades in the Puget Sound, share their experience at the protest, and seek to offer inspiration for continued transoceanic solidarity. {November 23, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ Table of Contents: Introduction {0:36} Escalating Resistance {1:41} Drawing...
info_outline #100: In Memory of Dmitry PetrovThe Ex-Worker
On April 19, 2023, a Russian anarchist named Dmitry Petrov was killed in battle near Bakhmut, Ukraine. In this episode, we offer as an uncompromising anarchist fighter who participated in an unbelievable amount of radical activity around the region. His extraordinary life spanned anarchist organizing as a teenager in Moscow; environmental defense, radical unionism, and refugee solidarity activism; years of underground direct action against police, military, and profiteers from gentrification; participating in the Maidan protests in Ukraine, uprising against dictatorship in Belarus, and the...
info_outline #99: Strategizing for Palestinian SolidarityThe Ex-Worker
As the Israeli bombardment of Gaza intensifies, with over 10,000 deaths recorded to date, it is more urgent than ever for people everywhere to take decisive action to stop the war machine. In this episode, we share the strategic reflections of based in the US on Palestinian solidarity. The authors propose a shift from making demands to taking direct action, relying not on appealing to the consciences of politicians but on concretely interrupting the functioning of the businesses and agencies that are enabling the slaughter. After offering historical context to Israeli settler colonialism and...
info_outline #98: From the Galilee to Gaza—A Voice From PalestineThe Ex-Worker
As the Israeli military escalates its slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and societies around the world fracture and clash over the conflict, we want to amplify anti-authoritarian voices from within the territory to share their experiences and analysis. In this short but moving account, we present the perspective of a Palestinian living in the north of Palestine, who speaks about different aspects of life under colonization and about the struggle for liberation through grassroots organizing and solidarity. {November 1, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ Table of Contents: Introduction...
info_outline #97: Understanding the RICO Charges in AtlantaThe Ex-Worker
Prosecutors in Georgia have charged activists protesting against a planned police militarization facility known as "Cop City" with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has indicted 61 people on RICO charges. In this episode, we explore the ramifications of this more or less unprecedented stage of repression. {Oct 6, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode is an audio version of the September 5th article “.” For more information, check out this video recording of an online seminar organized by the National...
info_outline #96: The Forest In The City: Two Years Of Forest Defense In Atlanta, GeorgiaThe Ex-Worker
This episode continues the Ex-Worker Podcast’s coverage of the movement to Stop Cop City and defend the Weelaunee Forest in Atlanta, Georgia. In this episode, we present an audio version of , originally published February 22, 2023, which continues the chronology of the movement whose origins we reported in episodes and . In this eloquent and nuanced narrative, you’ll hear a detailed account of the movement’s second year, from the frenzy of activity in spring 2022 through the third and fourth weeks of action, waves of backlash and repression, and the , up to the eve of the March 2023...
info_outlineEven as Russian forces continue their brutal assault on Ukraine, a growing domestic uprising is challenging the empire from within. This episode of the Ex-Worker focuses on the anti-war movement in Russia, analyzing it from an anarchist perspective and assessing the regime's power and vulnerability. The episode opens with a call to action from the March 6th day of protest across Russia and a summary of militant direct actions against the war machine. An anarchist in the provinces shares a first-person reflection on the evolution of the anti-authoritarian movement and its prospects in today's crisis, while an analysis from Autonomous Action considers Putin's miscalculations, the information war, international dynamics, and possibilities for resistance. An independent journalist discusses the nature of the protests, police responses, migration and diaspora, censorship, the role of NATO, and lessons to learn from the invasion and the protest movement. We close out with a Syrian refugee collective's reflections on how their experiences in the Syrian revolution and civil war can inform how international observers relate to the conflict. And just for fun, we throw in some hair-raising Russian songs related to protest and war. We'll continue our coverage of the crises in Ukraine and Russia—and much more—in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. {March 11, 2022}
-------SHOW NOTES------
- Table of Contents:
- Introduction {0:01}
- [Protester’s Song From a Russian Police Van] {5:29}
- Spring is Coming: March 6th Call to Action {6:38}
- Anarchist Fighter on Radical Anti-War Actions {12:57}
- My Days in Russia {20:31}
- The Kremlin’s Fatal Miscalculation {32:36}
- Interview with Dmitrii {47:05}
- War in Ukraine: Ten Lessons From Syria {1:18:09}
- Conclusion {1:42:23}
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This episode includes Spring is Coming: March 6th Call to Action, and the piece “My Days in Russia,” originally published as part of the article “The View From Ukraine, The View From Russia”.
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The piece “The Kremlin’s Fatal Miscalculation” is a translation of the transcript of the March 6 episode of Trends in Order and Chaos, the podcast from the anarchist media platform Autonomous Action.
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The roundup of radical actions by Anarchist Fighter included references to an auto attack on a police cordon in Pushkinskaya Square, a molotov cocktail attack on a military registration/enlistment office in Voronezh, an anti-war attack on the Kremlin wall, and the teenage anarchist Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who died in a 2018 attack on the FSB headquarters in Arkhangelsk.
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During our interview, Dmitrii recommended a few English-language news sources on Russian politics, including Open Democracy, Meduza, and The Russian Reader.
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By the way: if you have any trouble with the accent or wording in the live interview, you can always read along with the transcription in our full transcript, which is lightly edited for easier understanding.
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The episode concludes with the piece War in Ukraine: Ten Lessons From Syria, written by participants in La Cantine Syrienne, a transnational collective of Syrian refugees based in the suburbs outside of Paris, France. For further background on the Syrian Revolution, civil war, the refugee crisis it spawned, and “anti-imperialism,” see our coverage on The Syrian Underground Railroad and Understanding the Kurdish Resistance, and other pieces such as “Safe,” by the Edge of Syria, “The Anti-Imperialism of Idiots” by Leila Al Shami, etc.
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The music we included in this episode includes the spine-tingling singing of a group of young Russian protestors detained in a police van on their way to jail and an old Soviet song sung during the USSR’s doomed Afghan war, “Just don’t tell mom I’m in Afghanistan” – also see a follow-up to the same song from the next Russian regime’s bloody imperial folly, “Just don’t tell mom I’m in Chechnya”.
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The Ex-Worker is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network, an English-language anarchist radio and podcast network run by radical media makers. Several other CZN participants, including The Final Straw Radio, Elephant in the Room, and This is America by It’s Going Down, have done their own coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so definitely check out those projects through the links above if you want to hear more.