Everyday Anarchism

Eric Blair, known as George Orwell, had all of his successes after he met and married Eileen O'Shaughnessy. The graphic novel Mrs. Orwell, written by Andrea Chalupa, is the story of how George Orwell became a couple, and helps re-introduce Eileen to history as the dynamic, radical activist and editor who has been left out of the Orwell story.You can get a copy of the book here: https://flyleafbooks.com/book/9781250877857

Joan Slonczewski joins me to discuss their novel A Door Into Ocean, a science fiction novel about an all-female society of "sharers" on an ocean planet, Shora. Joan's sharers are one of the best speculative depictions of what an anarchist society would look like, so Joan and I discuss the inspirations for the world, including Gene Sharp, Ursula Le Guin, and Gandhi, and what we can draw on from those figures in our current struggles.You can find Joan at https://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/slonc.htmBuy the book: https://flyleafbooks.com/book/9780312876524

Amit Chaudhuri joins me to discuss his new collection of essays, Incompleteness. In these essays and his novels, Amit is constantly searching for new language that will acknowledge the instability and flux of the world around us. It is intellectual anarchy of the highest order, as well as artistically breathtaking.You can find all of Amit's books published by NYRB here: https://www.nyrb.com/collections/amit-chaudhuri

Kim Stanley Robinson comes back to discuss Aurora, his novel of a generational starship, in which generations of humans are born, live, and die onboard without ever seeing a planet. We discuss the generational starship as a science fiction genre, whether humans will ever be able to travel to the stars, and what it would mean for science fiction if we can't. We also take a detour into the question of "hard," scientific science fiction vs. "soft," humanist science fiction.Here's a link to Stan's article for Boing Boing, arguing that we won't ever reach the stars:https://boingboing.net/2015/11/16/our-generation-ships-will-sink.htmlThanks to Nick Gaskill for suggesting an episode on Aurora!

Dan Chiasson joins me to discuss his combined Bernie and Burlington biography, Bernie for Burlington, and the connections between Bernie's socialism and Mamdani's socialism.You can purchase Dan's book here: https://flyleafbooks.com/book/9780593317495Here's Dan's article about Mamdani: https://www.nybooks.com/online/2025/11/06/have-you-met-z-zohran-mamdani/And we discuss Corey Robin's piece on socialist excellence: https://coreyrobin.com/2025/11/15/excellence-over-mediocrity-from-mamdani-to-marx-to-food/

For almost 20 years, PM Press has been publishing brilliant anarchist books, including many covered on this podcast. Co-Founder Ramsey Kanaan joins me to discuss what PM Press does, how it works on anarchist lines, and why they need to own their own building to secure their future.If you'd like to contribute to that future, here's the fundraising link for the merch page, which also has the GoFundMe link: https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_list&c=255

Leonard Williams, who was my second guest on this podcast back in November of 2021, returns to talk about Trump's presidency over the past year, what it means, and what we can do to fight it.To hear more from Leonard, here's his 2024 podcast on what to expect from the Trump regime: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-hbbe4-17349e4And here's Leonard's Substack: https://crosspollination.substack.com/Note: Leonard and I recorded this episode before the US kidnapped Nicolás Maduro and ICE executed Renee Good

Ray Dorsey joins me to discuss The Parkinson's Plan, his new book about fighting and hopefully ending the disease. Ray and his co-author Michael S. Okun show that Parkinson's is primarily caused by human-made chemicals, chemicals we can stop using. As with climate change or ultraprocessed foods, we've made an environment that's sickening us. Now it's time to make a new, healthier world.You can learn more about the book at https://pdplan.org/

The modern anarchist movement began in 1999, when the World Trade Organization met in Seattle in order to create a set of rules which would require every country to accept the worst excesses of capitalism.Waiting for them in Seattle was a loose coalition of anarchists, farmers, organized labor, punks, Zapatistas, and giant puppets. Team Puppet won.D.W. Gibson's new book One Week to Change the World is an oral history of the Battle of Seattle. Gibson interviewed everyone from the black bloc to the riot police. The book is a history but also a guide for future protests. I highly recommend it!

Ever since C. Thi Nguyen appeared on the podcast, I've been trying to use games to understand more about the relationship between rules and life. Jay Dragon, whose game Wanderhome is almost ruleless, joins me to discuss games, rules, and anarchy, and we especially talk about how we can analyze oppressive real-world systems as if they're games.Here are some links for more from Jay:https://possumcreek.medium.com/https://possumcreekgames.com/

Robin Schuldenfrei rejoins me to talk more Bauhaus! In this episode, we discuss her book Luxury and Modernism, covering the complexities of the Bauhaus, which had a leftwing ethos but produced luxury objects, and made them by hand to appear machine made. Robin talks us through how the contradiction between luxury and egalitarianism ran from Morris's arts and crafts movement to the Bauhaus, and modernism only became a truly "everyday" part of life during the colossal expansion of middle-class wealth in the midcentury, as celebrated by Life magazine and recreated in the show Mad Men

John McGowan joins me to discuss Liberty as Independence, Quentin Skinner's new book about the way that our ideals of liberty were formed in in 17th and 18th century debates. The book covers legendary figures, such as Hobbes, Milton, Locke, Swift, Paine, and Jefferson, as well as many lesser-known figures that they engaged with.For more from John McGowan, here's the link to his blog: https://jzmcgowan.com/public-intelligence-blog/ Finally, I'd like to apologize to Badger from The Wind in the Willows. In this episode, I repeatedly refer to him as "Mr. Badger." He is simply, as befits his status, Badger or The Badger. I regret the error.

Nathan Gelgud joins me to discuss Reel Politik, a comics collection about a group of Brechtian revolutionaries who take over the movie theatre they work in.Nathan and I discuss our shared love for movies, the radical nature of paying attention to a movie screen, and The Chelsea Theater, a local movie theatre in Chapel Hill that Nathan and I both love (I even worked there!). Many thanks to Bruce Stone, who ran The Chelsea for decades!You can find the book here: https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/reel-politik/

Pastor Micah joins me to share a radical reading of the Book of Genesis in which wealth isn't a blessing on God's people, but a curse!I recently appeared on Micah's podcast, The Word in Black and Red, to discuss the 10 Commandments with Micah. That link is here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s-2-20-exodus-19-20-arrival-at-mt-sanai-the-ten-commandments/id1682991552?i=1000730399185I also recently appeared on The Skeptical Leftist podcast! That link is here: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/skepticalleftist/episodes/The-Anti-Influencers-Case-For-Anarchism-with-Graham-Culbertson-e3a0a4jAnd the YouTube video of that conversation is here (I didn't watch): https://youtu.be/YXYH1ngF30A?si=4DMONaFxIUGRuCNc

Alfie Kohn returns to the show to discuss his new podcast, the role of teachers in social progress, and why someone's view on chatbots in the classroom tells you eveything you need to know about their view of education.You can listen to Kohn's Zone wherever you get your podcasts, or get it straight from his website: https://www.alfiekohn.org/podcasts/

It's not your imagination: everything is getting worse. And there's a reason why.

More than any other individual, Henry Fonda was a symbol for better, more leftist, more social democratic America, from The Grapes of Wrath to 12 Angry Men. He even played an English professor who faced cancellation for teaching anarchist literature!Then in the 1960s, he was the literal father figure that New Left Hollywood figures Jane and Peter Fonda were rebelling against. And Henry let himself be used as a villain in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, playing the embodiment of rapacious American capitalism.Alexander Horwath weaves together all these threads into his essay film Henry Fonda for President. As we live in a world haunted by 50 years of neoliberal decay, the America Fonda represented seems further away than ever, even as his films still crackle with righteous rage against injustice. Alex and I talk about all these issues and more - I hope you enjoy the conversation, and see the film when you have a chance!

According to conventional history, the last 12,000 years has seen the steady march of progress from primitive savagery to enlightened civilization.In the age of Trump, Elon, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Putin, Xi, Orbán, Netanyahu, Erdoğan, and Khamenei, this story can't be true.Luke Kemp joins me to offer another story, one in which mutual aid is what makes humans special - and what historians call "civilization" is actually the history of domination and coercion.I cannot recommend the book more highly!https://flyleafbooks.com/book/9780593321355

Happy 4th Anniversary to Everyday Anarchism! For this year's anniversary episode, Ruth Kinna comes on to talk about a couple of Hollywood Westerns: Fort Apache (John Ford, 1948) and Rancho Notorious (Fritz Lang, 1952).Hollywood Westerns are about law and order, violence and vigilantism, community and individualism, savagery and civilization, and imperialism and resistance. They're perfect for illustrating political ideals - and that's just what Ruth and I do!Look forward to an episode all about the activism and idealism of Henry Fonda with the director of Henry Fonda for President at some future date.Thanks again to Ruth, but above all thanks to everyone for listening for the past four years!

In normal cinema, the goal of the director is to control the audience, to direct their gaze, to dictate their emotions.What does it mean when directors make movies where the audience is allowed to decide what the film means to them?Legendary filmmaker Paul Schrader (screenwriter of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull; director of Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and First Reformed) , joins me to discuss his book Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer and the democratic nature of slow cinema.

Alyssa Battistoni joins me to discuss her new book Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature. Capitalist theory generally describes nature as a "free gift." If gifts are already free, why does capitalism have to claim that nature is a "free gift"? And why does capitalism keep declaring that nature is "worth" some billions or trillions of dollars? Alyssa and I discuss the tragic, yet comic, misunderstanding of nature by capitalism, and other ways to think about nature besides the economic.

Alex comes back on the podcast and we try to separate liberalism and anarchism, with some success! (I think the problem is that what Alex and I agree on is democratic socialism - so liberal socialism and anarchist socialism end up pretty close).The business of basketball is our central example, so sorry if that part bores you to tears. Being bored by the business of basketball is more than reasonable.I also reference this episode with Iain McKay frequently: https://www.everydayanarchism.com/episode-42-kropotkins-theory-of-revolution-with-iain-mckay/Duke sucks.

Lyndal Roper joins me to discuss her book The Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants' War. 500 years ago, German peasants learned that Martin Luther had declared that they should be free. They agreed - and Europe was plunged into war.

Alexandre Lefebvre, author of Liberalism as a Way of Life, joins me to discuss the many ways that anarchism and liberalism are compatible. Later this month, you'll here Alexander back on the show, as we try to divorce the two traditions.

In celebration of his new album Winged Victory, Folksinger Willi Carlisle joins me to discuss the connections between folk music and leftism, especially anarchism.I love all of Willi's albums. Here's his website:https://www.willicarlisle.com/

Everyday Anarchism goes back to where it all began: the romantic anarchism of J.R.R. Tolkien. Meredith Veldman, author of Fantasy, The Bomb, and the Greening of Britain, joins me to talk about the romantic protest underlying The Lord of the Rings. We discuss the romantic quest for reintegration at the heart of the novels, the appeal that romanticism has for both anarchists and fascists, and why Palantir is such an ironically good name for Peter Thiel's big data company.

My colleague David Hill rejoins the show to discuss Twilight of the Idols, one of Nietzsche's last works, and one in which Nietzsche directly discusses anarchism.In addition to Nietzsche's putdowns of anarchists, David and I also discuss the ancient Greeks in Nietzsche's thoughts, the unsavory aspects of Nietzsche's philosphy, and Nietsche's attacks on liberalism.For background to this conversation, check out this episode on games and philosophy in ancient Greece: https://do-things-with-words.captivate.fm/episode/1-5-agon-and-ancient-greek-society-david-potter/

Robin Schuldenfrei joins me to discuss her new book Objects in Exile, which is about the many afterlives of the Bauhaus school and its practitioners. Robin and I particularly focus on the relationship between Bauhaus and city planning, especially focusing on Chicago and the work of Ludwig Hilberseimer. Key questions include:How can societies ensure that everyone has at least enough space to live? How can cities provide for both growth and planning, and blend different kinds of buildings and spaces into an organic whole? And how can we see the rigid grid of American cities as a tool for anarchy?Here's the information about Robin's book and an interview with her about the bookRobin Schuldenfrei, Objects in Exile: Modern Art and Design across Borders, 1930–1960https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691232669/objects-in-exileInterview, Robin Schuldenfrei on Objects in Exilehttps://press.princeton.edu/ideas/robin-schuldenfrei-on-objects-in-exile

"What is joy when everything has been monetized and optimized?" For Carson Lund, the answer is rec league baseball, and his new film Eephus is about how a meaningless, anachronistic activity like a local baseball league can actually be the most meaningful and important thing you can do. The film is an ode to baseball, a comedy, and "an argument for democracy at a more human level, people just figuring things out."You can find ways to stream Eephus or watch it in the theater here: https://www.eephusfilm.com/And here's the Hawthorne quote I got totally wrong in the episode:The novels of Anthony Trollope "just as real as if some giant had hewn a great lump out of the earth and put it under a glass case, with all its inhabitants going about their daily business, and not suspecting that they were being made a show of."

John McGowan joins the podcast again to discuss a recent republication of Hannah Arendt's essay "Civil Disobedience, which responds to Plato's Crito, Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government," and the leftwing mass movements of the 1960s. John and I discuss Arendt's importance as a theorist of revolution and totalitarianism, as well as the complex life of the idea of civil disobedience and its reception by Tolstoi, Gandhi, and King.

Jaz Brisack joins me to discuss their new book, Get on the Job and Organize. Jaz and I discuss why billionaires take union organizing personally, how organizing is different in the 21st century, and how you can organize your workplace.Jaz might be coming to a town near you soon - here's the link to their book tour sites: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Jaz-Brisack/225399070 And a link to buy the book:https://flyleafbooks.com/book/9781668080795

Brian Merchant, author of the newsletter Blood in the Machine, returns to the show to talk about the newsletter, ai, tech oligarchs, the neoliberal "abundance" agenda, jobs, and pretty much everything else you want to know about the terrible, horrible, no good collusion between Trump, Tech billionaires, and ai. Fight the tech billionaires. Support Blood in the Machine!https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/ You can also check out Brian's previous appearance on his book about the luddites - also called Blood in the Machine: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/a05a3ed4-471c-4224-9ac6-4af204b7ff1d/ Oh, and you can find some of my work on ai here:https://aideas.captivate.fm/ https://www.aiedu.org/aiedu-blog/guest-author-ethics-culbertson-1

In which I end my series on David Graeber's Debt, apologize for mistakes, and offer some hope for a new world in which we have more money and less monetarism.Thank you to all of the listeners to this series, and my wonderful lineup of guests: Dirk Ehnts, Eleanor Janega, Cory Doctorow, Bill Maurer, Henry Farrell, James K. Galbraith, Fuad Musallam, Clif Mark, Luke Kemp, John Weisweiler, Chris Isett, and Yanis Varoufakis.The whole series can be found here: https://www.everydayanarchism.com/david-graebers-debt/

When capitalists developed their neighborhood with a giant mall, eight artists developed an abandoned space in the mall into an apartment. It was art without permission, and now there's a documentary about what it was like to make a secret mall apartment as a form of art. Jeremy Workman, the director of Secret Mall Apartment, and Michael Townsend, the originator of the idea, join me to discuss the film and what it means to make art without permission.I highly recommend that you check out Michael's public art, which you can learn about here: https://www.tapeart.com/

Max Cafard (which is a pen name) and Vulpes (which is also a pen name) join me to discuss their fantastic new graphic novel Anarchy in the Big Easy, which is just what it sounds like. Max and Vulpes and I discuss the cosmic anarchy, political anarchism, and everyday anarchy that's flowed through what is now called New Orleans for centuries and millennia. Plus we get frequently confused by the pen names. And yes, as happens occasionally, Max has a squeaky chair.You can order the book from PM press here: https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1766

Yanis Varoufakis joins me to discuss his new book, Technofeudalism, how the world economy has changed since Graeber wrote Debt, and where things might be going next.Live long and prosper.

Constance Bantman joins me to discuss the history of anarchist political violence through the prism of Luigi Mangione - and vice versa. Some of the questions we cover include:Can the history of nineteenth-century anarchist terrorism help us understand the recent assassination of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson by Mangione, and its rapturous reception in some quarters of public opinion? What is the place of political violence in democracies? And what of Mangione’s forthcoming trial?For more historical context, I highly recommend the recent podcast episode of In Our Time about the Haymarket Affair, which features Ruth Kinna: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0023gm2

Luke Kemp returns to the show to discuss Two Cheers for Anarchism, James C. Scott's six essays or "fragments" applying an anarchist squint to the world. Luke and I discuss the joy of Scott's book, it's controversial place in anarchist theory, and why it's a good place for the anarcho-curious to start their journey into anarchism.Along the way I also highly recommend Agnes Varda's amazing film, Daguerréotypes https://www.criterionchannel.com/daguerreotypes Luke should appear on the podcast later this year to discuss his new book about societal collapse, Goliath's Curse! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/691357/goliaths-curse-by-luke-kemp/

Christopher Isett joins me to discuss the rise of capitalism and "The Great Divergence," in which Christendom transformed itself from an obscure corner of the world into the dominant global power. Just how did that happen, what part did capitalism play in it, and why did capitalism develop in Europe? And what does China have to do with all of it?Chris gives his answers to all of these questions, especially drawing on the work of Robert Brenner. Here's Brenner's page on the Verso website, if you want the full story: https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/authors/brenner-robert

Today Mitch Abidor joins me to discuss Victor Serge: acclaimed novelist, anarchist, Bolshevik, anticommunist, and all-around 20th century contradiction. Mitch and I discuss the legend of Serge, what's true about it, and the ways that Serge fails to live up to the legend.You can find Mitch's writing all over the place, but here's a good place to start: https://jewishcurrents.org/author/mitchell-abidor And here's the NYRB page for Serge's work: https://www.nyrb.com/collections/victor-serge

What is capitalism?It's not efficient markets, factories, and free labor.It's the financialization of empire and slavery, using greed, shame, indignation, and debt.And that means the first great capitalists weren't British factory owners, but colonizing conquistadors.

Kim Stanley Robinson returns to discuss his novel Green Earth, a technothriller about a near future world in which scientists work to solve the global climate crisis. Stan and I discuss how the book went from a trilogy to a single volume, its similarity to The Ministry for the Future, and its place in the genre of naturalism. Plus Emerson and Thoreau!And yes, I get the title of The Ministry for the Future wrong every time I say it in this episode. Oops.

Mark Bittman returns to Everyday Anarchism to discuss Community Kitchen, his new model for how we can do restaurant food better by running nonprofit restaurants rooted in their communities.But we also talk about RFK's crusade against seed oils, what's wrong with Pod Save America, why food is so cheap in the US, the recent US presidential election, and whatever else happened to come up.Find more from Mark at https://bittmanproject.com/

Shawn Vulliez from SRSLY Wrong joins me to discuss the new collection of David Graeber essays, The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World. Shawn and I talk about the tyranny of economics and how Graeber gave us permission to reveal that the emperor of economics has no clothes.Warning: Contains discussion of the recent election. Stay away if you just can't handle it anymore. I understand.

A spectre is haunting the Everyday Anarchism series on the English revolution: the spectre of Christopher Hill's 1972 book The World Turned Upside Down. It turns out most of the ideas I've shared in this series came from Hill's book!Ann Hughes joins me to discuss the book, and we talk through the following questions:Did Hill invent the idea of the English revolution?How did the radicalism of the 1960s affect Hill's approach?Was Winstanley an anarchist?Was the English Revolution the beginning of modernity?Thanks so much to Ann and all the other guests in this year-long series, now (probably) concluded!