This week we’re joined by Yasha Levine, author of Surveillance Valley and the investigative series Immigrants as a Weapon. We discuss how government and corporate development of digital technologies work to further American empire, how middle-class notions of privacy and our myopic focus on surveillance stunt other projects and political imaginations, and the history of Soviet Jews and their utility to the American neoliberal project. We close with a discussion of the importance of the USPS and ...
Apr 21, 2020•2 hr 33 min
This week we talk with writer and editor at Current Affairs Lyta Gold on Tara Reade’s accusations against Joe Biden, the failure of national news outlets to fairly cover the story, and the importance of supporting independent journalism. We also discuss the coronation of Andrew Cuomo as President of the Coronavirus, while in reality he is a fake progressive who steals gay valor and fetishizes his scumbag dad. Our wildflower covers promising preliminary research on using magnetic fields to treat ...
Apr 14, 2020•1 hr 50 min
Coronavirus reveals the inability of global capitalist systems to prioritize human dignity and well being, even for a short time. While this pandemic is warping horseshoe politics into an indistinguishable shape, the DNC establishment has chosen to nominate a dementia-ridden racist rapist in order to stop a nice Jewish man from doing anything to help the poor and working classes. Liz Warren once again betrays her supposed principles, praising Biden’s “leadership” and “decency.” Even our most pro...
Apr 06, 2020•1 hr 27 min
This week we are #blessed to talk with presidential candidate and current front-runner in the race for the Libertarian Party Primary Vermin Supreme! We discuss his history of satirical runs for the president, his pivot to a more serious run for the LP nomination, and how his beliefs as a left-leaning anarchist jive with the Libertarian Party. Vermin makes the case for anarchy as a practice that we engage in every day and tells us about his experiences with temporary autonomous collective efforts...
Mar 31, 2020•1 hr 30 min
We practice safe socializing and ask the tough questions like where is Joe Biden? Is he in cool-down after boofing nootropics for the town hall debate? We discuss the Democrats and the politics of defeat, and their current unwillingness to corner the political market of meaningful social assistance, instead pushing for means-tested garbage that’s gonna piss everyone off and slow things down. We discuss the possibilities of cybernetic socialism and scalability of mutual aid networks. Also, the DO...
Mar 24, 2020•1 hr 53 min
We’re blessed with a special guest this week, Karma, a masters student at Albany Med and microbiologist who is writing her thesis on pneumonic plague epidemics. We get into what we know so far about COVID19, our response to it, and what we might expect going forward. We also discuss the upsides and downsides of the digishitification of education through free online distribution of video lectures and course materials. For our wildflower, we bring you two signs of good fortune: Canada’s working on...
Mar 18, 2020•1 hr 46 min
Big Structural Self Discreditation may not be good sloganeering, but it seems an accurate depiction of the new turn in Liz’ political career. We set a time to discuss the electoral horse race for a maximum of 15 minutes, and then move on to discuss PILOT programs and how they are a factor in gentrification, with a case study of our beloved city of Troy. Then, we discuss how the Department of Defense has contracted illegally with local incineration facilities including the Norlite facility in Coh...
Mar 09, 2020•1 hr 32 min
We are #blessed to talk with Jeremy Antley (@jsantley on twitter) to discuss gossip and rumor among imperial-era Russian peasants, and how rumor functions as power and as play. We also celebrate some monkey business down under. Books referenced by Jeremy: Society Must Be Defended by Michel Foucault, The Play of the World by James S. Hans, and Gossip by Patricia Meyer Spacks. ( nypost.com/2020/02/25/baboon-on-way-to-vasectomy-escapes-with-two-female-companions-in-sydney/ )...
Mar 03, 2020•1 hr 39 min
3 for 3 Baby! Our boy won Nevada in a landslide! We want to know why Liz only just started yelling at billionaires. Bloomberg's Twitter bots got banned for being inauthentic and Drumpf's ICE director showed up in our backyard, so Trojans let him know how much we hate him. For our wildflower, there's an engineered bacterium that can help fight bee colony collapse! Brit brings to life pt II of Chapter 5: Food from Peter Kropotkin's Conquest of Bread. Bloombergs Inauthentic Twits: ( https://www.lat...
Feb 25, 2020•1 hr 39 min
What a week! The election is a mess but Bernie is still going strong! The Trump administration wants all federal buildings to look like a Roman temple. Apparently there are lots of nurses who are not cool with circumcision, and workers at the Tartine bakery in the Bay Area are joining a union! Bakers, make like some yeasted dough and rise up! Neoclassical Nonsense: ( https://www.artforum.com/news/proposed-executive-order-to-mandate-neoclassical-style-for-federal-buildings-82096 ) Nurses against ...
Feb 19, 2020•2 hr 1 min
We are joined in the podcasting compound by Dr. Richard Mariita to talk about government research and engineering of diseases, bio ethics, US imperialism and citizen science. We also get to hear a bit about Richard’s life in Kenya. Our wildflowers come all the way from Australia where Wombats are the chill dude that lets you crash when the earth is on fire. Wombats are chill AF: ( https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-15/australian-bushfires-wombat-heroes-have-gone-viral/11868808 ) Support us o...
Feb 11, 2020•1 hr 27 min
It's wet February, and we finally talk about the peach mint, take a look at morning news explaining wealth inequality with pie, and discuss the dystopian ramifications from our totally democratic and effectual institution, The Supreme Court, ruling in favor of Trump’s Wealth Test for immigrants. For our wildflower, we bring some wonderful news though - the Capital District Transit Authority is using eminent domain to force the sale of a parking garage from a slumlord to be made into a bus statio...
Feb 05, 2020•1 hr 50 min
The gang complains about The Discourse and its consequences. Cops get a literal battle mech and it has a giant metal penis attachment, Our wildflower is about some anarchists named wildflower. And enjoy Chapter 3 of Conquest of Bread: Anarchist Communism. Cop Battle Mech: (https://youtu.be/SiR-T6eKGRg) Christian Anarchists Say "Burn It Down!": (https://sojo.net/magazine/february-2020/burn-it-down-Christian-anarchists) Support us on Patreon!: (https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds/)...
Jan 28, 2020•1 hr 33 min
CNN did Zaydee Bernie dirty and we won't stand for it. In this week's sedition, David sits down for an interview with Shuja Haider (@shujaxhaider) on new Twitter functionality that protects the powerful and the curation of the Obama Brand. Then we turn our attention to the Virginia gun control protests and the wild world of DIY guns. Then we end up where we started talking about Sanders endorsements, especially Albany's own @Thebarbarasmith! *BONUS CONTENT INSIDE!!!* Our very own Britney Gil rea...
Jan 21, 2020•1 hr 39 min
This week we are #cursed with an absence - as David is on a diplomatic mission to China. Nevertheless, we persisted. Brit and Chris discuss how Troy PD just T-Boned a friend and then blamed it on bail reform, Republican gerrymandering exposed by a GOP operative's anarchist daughter, who is giving cash to the 2020 candidates, an officer-involved shit sandwich, a general strike in India, and how science is spicing up everyone favorite vegetable-fruit. *BONUS CONTENT INSIDE!!!* - At the end of this...
Jan 15, 2020•1 hr 21 min
This week we talk about little things like the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and saber rattling with Iran, mass incarceration in WESTERN New York, and how gaming can disrupt the military industrial complex Links: ( https://www.vera.org/in-our-backyards-stories/we-are-not-going-to-rest ) ( https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/01/world/canada/pokemon-go-canada-military.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share )...
Jan 07, 2020•1 hr 7 min
A couple of friends do their own research. Relax and enjoy while we pull back the firmament and ring in a new one. Real eyes realize real lies. Support us on Patreon! ( https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds )
Jan 01, 2020•2 hr 37 min
Happy Holidays Y'all! The gang is back and in festive cheer! We discuss the recent debates, impeachment, spurious notions of terrorism, the state of the bill of rights and militarization of police, all while David gets cat-fished live. We talk about how Pete Buttigieg has a Wikipedia super fan that definitely isn't him, and for our wildflower, the gang escalates The War On Christmas with a discussion some mythological roots of Santa that stem from psychedelic arctic shaman, the fungi Amanita Mus...
Dec 23, 2019•1 hr 10 min
Another leftist drinking party, another hungover leftist podcast recording day! This week we discuss a few important reasons about why Mayor Pete is a P.O.S.! Then Britney and David have Sean Collins (author and contributor at Strike Wave www.thestrikewave.com @strikewave ) over in their home studio to get into a deep dive of the past UK election. For our wildflower, we discuss how the MLB is now going to allow players to get stoned! Support us on Patreon! ( https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds/ )...
Dec 18, 2019•1 hr 39 min
Apologies for the absence last week, we were evading the black helicopters that keep following us after we called for the abolition of the CIA. But now the gang's back with more hot takes and cool stories, bro. We get into the recent local scandal of Troy City Councilor and scumbag TJ Kennedy, who allegedly dosed a woman's drink! Then we get real mad about ICE setting up a fake college to fuck over, jail, and deport immigrant students. We discuss the MSM Bernie Blackout, how all mass media is pr...
Dec 11, 2019•1 hr 29 min
Our wonderful opening was written by Sean Kelleher (Follow him on Twitter! @seandotexe ) and performed by the one and only Brit. Then we celebrate the creation of our Patreon account by talking about what a more class conscious platform would look like. Then we try to understand the mind of a Buttigieg supporter (and are driven mad in the process). The debates were boring but Brit's crepe thief isn't! The team discusses Prince Andrew and conclude: If he can't sweat he wasn't wet! From plutocrats...
Nov 26, 2019•1 hr 34 min
It's Scorpio season, and the gang is back, albeit perhaps a bit hungover from a late night celebrating the birthdays of David and Chris. We get into the Bolivian crisis - a brutal military coup - the lithium mine interests, the manufacturing of a liberal legitimacy consensus through mainstream media and twitter bots, and the need to abolish the CIA for any hope of international socialist solidarity. We then talk about how the US Navy Seals are being warned not to report war crimes, the class div...
Nov 19, 2019•1 hr 9 min
This week we roll our eyes as Warren freaks out at Amy Goodman, stan Bernie's calls to abolish ICE, check in on the (avowed, self-described) fascists in the military and discuss the finer points of right wing vs left wing prepper strategies. For wildflowers this week we earnestly love the story of the first successful penis and scrotum transplant Vice article on race war recruitment in the Marines: ( https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d3aq8a/exclusive-a-us-marine-used-the-neo-nazi-site-iron-marc...
Nov 14, 2019•1 hr 5 min
The gang is back, and we're talking that talk. We begin by commemorating Beto's bowing out from the presidential race with a reading of a piece by David wherein Beto takes mushrooms with his friend and exposes on the pleasure of becoming a bag of spiders. Then we laugh about how much of a goofy racist piece of shit Richard Spencer is, discuss how fusion voting and opportunity to ballot are making our local elections horrible, and whether ranked choice voting has a chance of helping the situation...
Nov 07, 2019•1 hr 2 min
We are #blessed with a #guest this week, Chris' lovely fiance Emily, as we tune in to some ghost hunters very compelling evidence of the paranormal. Your friends form Troy trade local spooky experiences and historical hauntings. Then we lament a mistreated goat at the hands of a slumlord, and talk about the importance of tenants' unions. We close out with ghost hunting and the creation of authenticity in David's new essay. The book we read: ( http://www.stackpolebooks.com/book/9780811736213 ) Da...
Oct 30, 2019•1 hr 31 min
On this episode Brit regales us with the thrilling conclusion of the Anti-Rent War. But not before we try to guess what Buttigieg and Zuck must have been talking about in that selfie. We also remind everyone about DSA's tenants's town hall and get ready for a new anti-rent war! For wildflowers we talk about the golden asteroid that would make us all as rich as Bezos if that's how value worked, and the Blink 182 guy is researching UFO metals with the military Troy DSA's Tenants Town Hall: ( https...
Oct 25, 2019•1 hr 6 min
On this episode we start off with Chris reporting back from an XR event in New York City. We talk about the challenges of choosing the right tactics for effective political change in the face of tough odds. Brit begins the first of a two-part series on Upstate New York's Anti-Rent Wars against the Van Rensselaer family. Come for the history, stay for the inventive ways our forbears screwed with the sheriff. We refer a lot to this book: ( https://www.worldcat.org/title/anti-rent-era-in-new-york-l...
Oct 18, 2019•1 hr 55 min
This week the gang is #blessed with a guest: Justin Roczniak of Do Not Eat YouTube fame and acclaim. We discuss Tesla under-delivering their electric Ford Pintos, cars being just the absolute worst, some light history on urban transit is sprinkled throughout, and we ask: nuclear energy - hot or not? Wildflowers for the week are about how strikes are dope, and what soothing media opiates we consume to get through stressful work sessions. Justin's YouTube: ( https://www.youtube.com/user/donoteat01...
Oct 10, 2019•1 hr 12 min
This week Chris and David report back from Bird-dogging the Mayor about the coverup of the police murder of Edson Thevenin. Also Chris is sober. Bernie Sanders needs to fix Taco Bell for the people. Liz Warren's plans aren't enough, because you gotta build movements. For our wildflowers: Spiders ride the lightning and use electricity to fly! // Organizing around police brutality in Troy: ( https://www.facebook.com/justicefordahmeek/ ) // let Democrats running know how you feel about murder cover...
Oct 07, 2019•1 hr 21 min
This week we discuss the lurid details of #plategate, how trains transitioned from erotic death machines of capitalism to friendly socialist transport, yeeting billionaires, Pelosi finally doing her job but for all the wrong reasons, and how being nice just might save your life. David's article on trains: https://reallifemag.com/union-station/ Bonus content for those who leave us a review or throw us a hammy! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ironweeds...
Sep 25, 2019•1 hr 19 min
