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What Is Hempcrete? And Democrats Resistance To Change (Black Tower Radio Interview)An activist waves a yellow and black Occupy Wall Street flag in New York City on March 23, 2012.
An activist waves a yellow and black Occupy Wall Streeet flag in New York City on March 23, 2012. (Flickr / B.C. Lorio, CC NC ND license)
July 13, 2017
Kit
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What Is Hempcrete? And Democrats Resistance To Change (Black Tower Radio Interview)

Posted in Act Out!, Audio, Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

On the first Wednesday of every month, I appear on Black Tower Radio to discuss my latest journalism.

Hempcrete is a simple and unique building material that creates sustainable, durable, and healthy homes. Leigh Humphries, a student at Cape Fear Community College in North Carolina used hempcrete to create a unique doghouse as her final project, but hempcrete is not just for dogs. It’s appearing in more and more buildings across the United States.

Plus, the Democrats are calling for a “summer of resistance” but the history of the party suggests they’re unable to embrace real progressive change. We look back at the history of the Wisconsin Uprising, and examine the problems in modern democracy.

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June 24, 2017
Kit
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Religious Liberty, Bathroom Bigotry (Traitor Radio Podcast)

Posted in Audio, Journalism, LGBTQIA, and Traitor Radio

Increased visibility has become a double-edged sword for transgender, intersex and non-binary Americans, who are increasingly targeted by religious conservatives and Republican lawmakers. You’ve probably heard of “bathroom bills” like HB 2 in North Carolina, which force people to use public restrooms according to the gender they were assigned at birth. But in addition to playing bathroom police, politicians are also championing “religious liberty” legislation — bills that are, in actuality, just about letting people discriminate against trans, intersex, non-binary and other queer folk if they claim Jesus told them to.

We’re at a pivotal political moment, and allies must support trans, intersex, non-binary and queer activists in their fight for freedom. On this episode of Traitor Radio, we talk about how.

Read moreReligious Liberty, Bathroom Bigotry (Traitor Radio Podcast)
Audio: Reportback from June 10 Anti-Muslim Rally Shutdown In Austin, Texas
Masked and helmeted antifascist activists face off with Texas State Troopers in riot armor at a June 10, 2017 counter-protest to the anti-Muslim "March Against Sharia" in Austin, Texas. (Flickr / Ann Harkness, CC license)
June 15, 2017
Kit
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Audio: Reportback from June 10 Anti-Muslim Rally Shutdown In Austin, Texas

Posted in Audio, Austin, and Journalism

In this audio reportback, It’s Going Down speaks with Kit O’Connell, of the OSWN Collective in Austin, Texas. In the interview, we discuss what happened on June 10th, and how a group of anarchists and antifascists were able to shut down a anti-Muslim rally attended by neo-Nazis and Alt-Right ‘Stickmen.’

Kit explains the context of what is happening in Austin, going back several months to talk about numerous armed demonstrations that the far-Right and Alt-Right have organized, and how people in Austin and Texas moreover have responded. We also talk about the recent debacle in Houston, where Alt-Right trolls created the threat of a fake antifascist rally to fleece far-Right supporters of thousands of dollars through crowdfunding. Popcorn time!

We end by talking about the nuts and bolts of the demonstration, how and why it was a success, and what went into making it so.

Read moreAudio: Reportback from June 10 Anti-Muslim Rally Shutdown In Austin, Texas
Donald Trump’s Budget, The Disappearance Of ‘Hemp For Victory’ (Black Tower Radio Interview)
A wild hemp plant growing at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. (Wikimedia Commons / US Fish & Wildlife Service, public domain)
June 7, 2017
Kit
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Donald Trump’s Budget, The Disappearance Of ‘Hemp For Victory’ (Black Tower Radio Interview)

Posted in Audio, Journalism, Lee Camp, and Ministry of Hemp

On the first Wednesday of every month, I appear on Black Tower Radio to discuss my latest journalism.

Donald Trump’s proposed budget would hurt the poor young people, the disabled, and children the most. How can people like this claim to be “pro-life” with a straight face?

Also discussed: How the USDA made “Hemp For Victory” to encourage patriotic hemp growing, and then made the same film disappear after World War II. Hemp growing is returning to the USA, but slowly — what’s keeping it from booming?

Read moreDonald Trump’s Budget, The Disappearance Of ‘Hemp For Victory’ (Black Tower Radio Interview)
Containers: Global Capitalism At Sea & Transforming The Planet
Shipping containers in a variety of colors are piled into a massive wall at the Port of Oakland. (Flickr / -tarat-, CC NC ND license)
May 10, 2017
Kit
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Containers: Global Capitalism At Sea & Transforming The Planet

Posted in Creative Commons, Occupy Wall Street, and Radical Media

The objects around you right now, from your phone to the clothes you wear to the coffee in your mug, most likely traveled to America in a shipping container on a massive cargo ship.

This simple fact, both obvious and mostly overlooked, has radically transformed virtually every aspect of global capitalism over the past several decades. That prosaic shipping container, and the process called “containerization,” are the subject of a recent 8-part audio podcast documentary called “Containers.”

The podcast is sponsored by a shipping company, which stirred some controversy, but the show usually reads as if it’s most sympathetic toward the rank and file workers of the docks, and the people who live nearby, than toward the industry as a whole.. While “Containers” is hardly anti-capitalist, the series and its creator Alexis Madrigal are openly critical of the consequences of unchecked growth.

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Resistance, Self-Care And Threat Modeling After Vault 7 With Katie Klabusich
The open door of a bank vault. (Flickr / ninniane, CC NC license)
April 2, 2017
Kit
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Resistance, Self-Care And Threat Modeling After Vault 7 With Katie Klabusich

Posted in Act Out!, Audio, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

Katie and I talked about the difficulty of building a resistance against odds that can seem insurmountable using “How to survive Hurricane Donald,” the February 10 issue of Gonzo Notes, as a jumping off point. I also mentioned activist Liam Shea, the community activist who inspired me to write both “Hurricane Donald” and the following issue of Gonzo Notes, “Stay and fight fascism where you are.” Shea died tragically and unexpectedly in early February.

Local organizing is a theme I’ve been returning to frequently recently, and will probably keep talking about, because it seems so vital. Until there is another Occupy-style moment of national “rupture” — which, so far, hasn’t materialized via the Trump regime — the best we can do is strengthen our local communities and share the skills we have with each other.

Inspired by my script on “Vault 7” for Act Out! we closed with a discussion of what WikiLeaks’ latest release means for activists, and I explained why threat modeling means we can still fight back even when the government has access to terrifying mass surveillance tools.

Read moreResistance, Self-Care And Threat Modeling After Vault 7 With Katie Klabusich