Ironweeds

Hope you can pay your rent with Joe Biden’s understanding, because that’s what you’re gonna get! And Pelosi didn’t make a mistake by passing a “stimulus” package with no checks, that was a decision. And how dare you ask! Meanwhile, India is seeing the biggest mass strike in history and Albany nurses had a one day strike for better PPE and wages. And finally, the only good politician, the Mayor of Flavortown, is redistributing funds from the rich to the poor better than our government. Nurses strike and targeted harassment: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Albany-Med-s-McKenna-says-nurses-union-billboard-15778566.php?IPID=Times-Union-HP-CP-Spotlight Take us to Flavortown baby! https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-03/guy-fieri-flavortown-mayor-raises-21-5-million-for-workers-bloomberg-50-2020 250 Million strike in India: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/12/general-strike-india-modi-bjp-cpm-bihar

This week we dig into the late Mark Fisher’s “Exiting the Vampire Castle” and the ways online attacks and witch hunts have grown since his writing seven years ago. Meanwhile, Troy DSA makes demands for changes to policing, and a massive coral reef spire is discovered off the coast of Australia. The Vampire Castle: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/exiting-vampire-castle/ Sign the petition! https://defundtroypd.org/ That’s a big reef ya got there: https://www.worldatlarge.news/coffee-break-reads/500-meter-high-reef-discovered-next-to-great-barrier-reef

Though we are apart, the gang soldiers on with remote podding as covid cases rise. This week we discuss the Biden cabinet and the myth that liberals ever had any interest in working with progressives, or that the Biden administration could be pushed left. Why should we cancel student debt? So many reasons! Just do it! How can we re-imagine the future of work and the balance of practicality and joyfulness? Child labor: good or bad? Our answer might surprise you! And we find a bit of good news from a foreign shore--Guatemala, where the fires are hot and the guillotines are shiny! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/ironweeds Parler users urged to protest the Georgia Runoff: https://www.newsweek.com/parler-pro-trump-call-georgia-runoff-boycott-threatens-mitch-mcconnells-plan-restrain-biden-1549282 Rahm Emanuel possible cabinet pick: https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/19/politics/rahm-emanuel-transportation-secretary/index.html Other possible Biden cabinet members: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/07/joe-biden-cabinet-picks-possible-choices-433431 Guatemala protesters make their voices heard: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/22/guatemala-protesters-set-congress-on-fire-during-budget-protests

You are the news now. Nothing can stop what's coming. This is the Calm before the Storm. You have more than you know. Future proves past. Where we go one, we go all. Travis View on PBS: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-cult-of-qanon-zvxtct/ Very long Imgur post from a believer, "The Coming Storm": https://imgur.com/a/DTeK7 Adrienne LaFrance’s Atlantic piece: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/ How to help loved ones trapped in Qanon conspiracy with Steve Hassan: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/08/26/how-to-talk-with-and-maybe-help-someone-who-believes-in-qanon-and-other-conspiracy-theories/#7c4352c6412d Credit for spooky, mysterious music to Maurice "YoungBlaze" Clopton: https://freesound.org/people/mrrap4food/sounds/501111/

We hope you’ll indulge our election post mortem and the stunning discourse around who actually won this absolute squeaker for Biden. We also discuss Israel’s demolition of a Palestinian hamlet in the West Bank on election day. A huge congrats to Cori Bush on her win in Missouri. And please enjoy, after a much-too-long break, the conclusion to Chapter 4 of Lenin’s State and Revolution. Atmospheric Disturbances: https://reallifemag.com/atmospheric-disturbances/ Israel buldozes palestinian hamlet: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/04/931379662/israel-uses-cover-of-us-election-to-destroy-palestinian-homes-critics-say Support Ironweeds on Patreon! patreon.com/ironweeds

This week we are blessed with two, count ‘em, TWO guests, Brett and Rob from the Dumb & Awful podcast! We discuss the uprisings in Poland in response to new abortion restrictions, a fabulous new sector of gig work in which you can help evict your fellow working-class citizens, and the strategic ways reactionaries frame democrats as left-wing radicals. Of course, you know we gotta throw a little election garbage in there, but hey, it’s almost over and then everything will go back to normal! Right? Right?? For our wildflower segment, we celebrate Chile’s overwhelming vote to create a new, less crappy constitution. Check out Dumb & Awful! https://twitter.com/dumbawfulshow Subscribe to their Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/DumbandAwful Patreon? Hey, we have one of those too: https://www.patreon.com/Ironweeds

Happy episode 69! A hearty congratulations to the people of Bolivia and the success of MAS! Mitch McConnel is rotting before our eyes and Zombie Giuliani is increasingly relevant. The NYPD is, as always, showing their asses, stealing PPE and shouting Trump 2020 at passers by. Kanye goes on Joe Rogan with a spectacular swing and miss. Never cross a union man, or you’ll end up haunted by a vengeful communist ghost. And for a spot of good news, the British government is repatriating thousands of ancient artifacts to the people of Iraq. Zombie Giuliani on Bandcamp: https://zombiegiuliani.bandcamp.com The ghosts of the Molly Maguires: https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/molly-maguires-haunted-jail-for-sale-pennsylvania-irish-miners-pinkertons-jim-thorpe-20180816.html Artifacts returned to Iraq: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/10/iraq-artifacts-kadhimi-british-government-return-looted.html

This week we go local with a black Troy PD officer alleging systemic racism in the department, and city council president Carmella Mantello standing up for the rights of persecuted Italians everywhere. Trump seems to grow more fascist everyday, and militias are out here trying to overthrow state governments. Six badass Brooklynites trash a housing court, and we see that Great Stuff gets the goods. Black Troy police officer alleges systemic racism on force: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Black-Troy-police-officer-alleges-systemic-racism-15653731.php The Federal Killing of a Protester Should Alarm Us All: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/10/the-federal-killing-of-a-protester-should-alarm-us-all Pinkerton Gig Worker Kills MAGA Dude: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/11/us/denver-colorado-protests.html Carmella Makes a stand against hate crimes: https://twitter.com/CMantello/status/1315680409359966208 Plot to kidnap the governor: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/08/feds-thwart-militia-plot-kidnap-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer/5922301002/ Praxis at a Brooklyn housing court: https://nypost.com/2020/10/16/vandals-scrawl-graffiti-on-brooklyn-housing-court-building/

In the second half of the 19th Century, The Pinkerton National Detective Agency filled a niche that state law enforcement didn't yet occupy. Tracking down bandits and protecting the interests of powerful industrialists, the Pinkertons made a name for themselves as the private army of capital. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reaction/id1534020284 Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL3JlYWN0aW9ucG9kL2ZlZWQueG1s And RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/reactionpod/feed.xml

President Donald J. Trump has contracted the novel Coronavirus. Fusion energy by next decade: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/climate/nuclear-fusion-reactor.html?referringSource=articleShare Grapes go brrrr: https://youtu.be/vGhJy3E9hfg

This week we discuss the acquittal of former DA Joel Abelove for the cover up of the murder of Edson Thevenin, as well as the acquittal of the cops who killed Breonna Taylor last march. We have a little rehash of tendencies talk in which Britney continues to advocate for the iron fist of the vanguard, Chris puts his faith in the power of the people, and David tries to talk sense into them both. In Philly, activists have reached a tentative agreement with the city to acquire 50 homes for a community land trust for unhoused people. And Lenin tells the anarchists what time it is. Abelove the rapscallion: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/13/opinion/abelove-district-attorney.html Gentrification and the killing of Breonna Taylor: https://theappeal.org/the-role-of-police-igentrification-breonna-taylor/ Race dot map: https://demographics.virginia.edu/DotMap/ Stop and Frisk Map: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/19/nyregion/stop-and-frisk-map.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=679D448EA47D2BB2D22358BDBB875821&gwt=pay&assetType=REGIWALL Check out our Teespring shop! Wow! https://teespring.com/stores/ironweeds Tune in for our coverage of the Trump/Biden debate Tuesday at 9!: https://twitch.tv/ironweeds

The gang plays some recent news catch-up and attempts to thread the needle between accurately assessing the moment we find ourselves in and having some fun and frivolity. We discuss the immensely tragic passing of Ayshawn Davis, an 11 year old Trojan who was killed in a recent drive-by shooting. We also talk about the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and its implications for our future. We discuss why Chuck Schumer may need to get primaried to avoid a 6-3 conservative-liberal Supreme Court, the forced sterilization happening in our immigrant concentration camps, Trumps’ patriotic education plan to teach the miracle of American History, the expropriation of the data harvesting from Tik Tok, and the possibility of Venutian life. And because we love you, Britney reads more of Lenin’s State and Revolution! Record Act Blue donations in the wake of RBG’s death: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/18/us/elections/democrats-shatter-actblues-donation-records-after-ginsburgs-death.html?referringSource=articleShare Primary Schumer To Guarantee Opposition To Trump's SCOTUS Pick: https://sirota.substack.com/p/primary-schumer-to-guarantee-opposition ICE Hysterectomy Doctor Wasn't Even a Board-Certified OB-GYN: https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-hysterectomy-doctor-wasnt-even-a-board-certified-ob-gyn Trump Wants $5 Billion From TikTok Deal for New History Project: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-20/trump-wants-5-billion-from-tiktok-deal-for-new-history-project On Venus, Cloudy With a Chance of Microbial Life: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/science/venus-planets-microbes-life.html

This week we are #blessed to be joined by Kate Wagner of McMansion Hell! We talk about how changes in industry, urbanism, and class have influenced home architecture in the United States. And we show critical support for a satanist libertarian anarchist winning the GOP nomination for sheriff in New Hampshire. Please check out our premium episode on QAnon at https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds !! Kate on minimalism, loft living, and farmhouse chic: https://hyperallergic.com/566183/how-normie-minimalism-and-farmhouse-chic-took-over-contemporary-design/ Troy City Council screws the pooch on Hudson River development: https://www.mediasanctuary.org/podcasts/opponents-of-1011-2nd-ave-project-urge-troy-city-council-to-align-meeting-rules-with-state-law/ Aria DiMezzo for sheriff: https://nypost.com/2020/09/13/trans-satanist-anarchist-wins-gop-nomination-for-sherrif/ Follow Kate on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcmansionhell

This week we’re #blessed to be joined by Ed Ongweso of This Machine Kills podcast. We talk big tech, venture capital, and what data collection would look like under a true government of the people. For our wildflower, Britney Spears appears to support her devoted fans of the #freebritney movement. Please sign the petition to save indigenous land in Troy NY!: https://www.change.org/p/troy-city-council-save-1011-indigenous-land-and-last-waterfront-forest-in-troy-ny?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_24250622_en-US%3A4&recruiter=12961241&recruited_by_id=93256e10-cb89-11e5-b0be-0960f30a1c9a&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial Edward Ongweso on how tech can become a tool of the people: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xg8k5d/what-if-technology-belonged-to-the-people Spears seems to support #freebritney: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54024740 Follow Ed on twitter! https://twitter.com/bigblackjacobin Check out This Machine Kills! https://soundcloud.com/thismachinekillspod

This week we are #blessed to be joined by Troy’s own Dara of 2nd Street Farm. We talk about recent protests in Troy against police brutality, continued organizing around Barker Park and the community that utilizes that space, the events in Kenosha this week following the police shooting of Jacob Blake and the MAGA teen who murdered two protesters. On the sunny side of life, we chat about Montreal’s enormous rooftop greenhouse and the promise of urban gardening. 2nd Street Farm on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2ndStreetFarm/ And Instagram!: https://www.instagram.com/2ndstreetfarm/ Shooting of Jacob Blake: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/us/jacob-blake-wisconsin-thursday/index.html Kyle Rittenhouse kills two and wounds one protestor: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/28/us/kyle-rittenhouse-kenosha-shooting/index.html Facebook Event Asking Attendees To Bring Weapons Was Reported 455 Times: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/kenosha-militia-facebook-reported-455-times-moderators World’s biggest rooftop greenhouse: https://phys.org/news/2020-08-world-biggest-rooftop-greenhouse-montreal.html

This week we dive into the case of College Suites giving HVCC students the boot in favor of an exclusive contract with RPI. In other local news, Troy PD beat up a person asking for a complaint form. Donald Trump is driving poor Sean Hannity to vape. In Canada, doctors are harnessing the power of psilocybin to combat existential dread. College Suites kicks out students: https://www.news10.com/news/local-news/college-suites-releases-statement-in-response-to-abrupt-decision-to-move-tenants-out/ Housing developer wields power of university reopening: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/07/housing-developer-reminded-universities-about-project-debt-they-mulled-fall-plans Hannity says Trump is a crazy person: https://www.businessinsider.com/sean-hannity-trump-crazy-vaping-stelter-fox-news-book-2020-8= Magic Mushrooms give life new meaning: https://www.thegrowthop.com/cannabis-news/the-first-canadian-to-legally-consume-psilocybin-for-medical-purposes-shares-his-experience

This week we begin by tuning in to some Brexit conversations across the pond. Then we take a somewhat painful deep dive into the Trump axios interview. For our wildflower, we discuss the centralized approach to HVAC that Singapore is pursuing, in an effort to be energy efficient for their AC needs. Modi / Xi Fight animation: https://youtu.be/BHJpJ4uCyuc?t=75 Singapore seeks high-efficiency cooling: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-06-08/singapore-finds-a-way-to-make-air-conditioners-greener

This week we take a deep dive into the world of Christian Zionists and America's "special relationship" with Israel. From the Puritans to the Continental Congress and modern-day Evangelists, Christian eschatology has looked to the Holy Land as a sign of the (end) times.

“Do I have tits?” and other questions elicited by the state’s enforcement of nipple repression. A cop from Cohoes gets a nice early retirement after getting black out drunk and shooting at some black kids. Trump comes for TikTok because, hey! That’s American data! Only we get to sell it! And Troy DSA gets its FOIL on to uncover records of police misconduct and other issues of transparency. Cohoes cop fires gun: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Off-duty-Cohoes-cop-fired-shots-in-disputed-15437876.php TikTok divests from USA operations: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tiktok-bytedance-exclusive-idUSKBN24X3SK Monitoring Russian military sites: https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/academic-project-used-marketing-data-to-monitor-russian-military-sites-11595073601 Troy DSA seeks transparency: https://www.troyrecord.com/news/national/judge-lifts-ban-on-nyclu-releasing-police-discipline-records/article_7a6a4b49-8056-5264-a8ef-c6d19d2f3235.html

David tells us about some tenant organizing in Troy, and the gang discusses the possibilities of collectively owned housing projects and the virtues of adverse possession, or squatting. The Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which owns many local news stations in the US, is planning on pushing a piece of conspiratorial disinformation propaganda blaming Dr. Anthony Fauci for creating COVID-19. We discuss the life and legacy of Civil Rights legend John Lewis, the modern voting rights struggle, and the politics of memorialization. For our wildflower this week, new rapid transit bus lines are coming soon to the capital region! Do Not Eat public housing episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqJbE1bvdgo Sinclair’s “plandemic” disinformation propaganda: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/24/media/sinclair-fauci-conspiracy-bolling/index.html https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/25/sinclair-to-delay-segment-on-plandemic-conspiracy-theories-381454 Intercept article on John Lewis and the modern struggle for voting rights: https://theintercept.com/2020/07/20/honor-john-lewis-voting-rights-act/ New Bus Lines for the Capital Region!: https://www.masstransitmag.com/bus/news/21147414/ny-stations-go-up-along-blue-line-route-in-troy

This week we dig into the disturbing activities of federal officers in Portland as uprisings continue across the country. Of course, all of this is happening in the midst of the covid crisis, and all-time lows in our trust in institutions is making it difficult to find a path toward meaningful political change. But in Barcelona, city officials have a grave warning for landlords: fill your units or expropiado! Federal Officers In Portland Face Rising Opposition: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/us/portland-protests.html CBP snatching people up: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/border-patrol-portland-arrest/ Fill the units or they’re public housing: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-16/to-fill-vacant-units-barcelona-seizes-apartments

The gang inspects our dystopic reality and asks some probing questions - Why does Elon Musk want backsies on his Ye endorsement? What if gig workers’ pay reflected their effort? What if your smart fridge ratted you out to your insurance company? What the hell is a democratic task force? This episode features a deep dive into David’s most recent essay for Real Life Magazine, which is now out in podcast form, narrated lovingly by Ironweeds’ own Britney Gil! And stick around for our first installment of Lenin’s State and Revolution. New Orleans gorilla is expecting! https://abc3340.com/news/offbeat/endangered-gorilla-in-new-orleans-expecting-1st-baby David’s Essay on robot bosses: https://reallifemag.com/automatic-for-the-bosses/ Real Life Magazine Podcast RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/reallifemag/feed.xml Target's Gig Workers Will Strike to Protest Switch to Algorithmic Pay Model: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v7gzd8/targets-gig-workers-will-strike-to-protest-switch-to-algorithmic-pay-model

Britney gets Chris to sign up to volunteer for #Vision2020. Meanwhile, insurrection and subsequent blowback continue to break out across the country as tensions between radicals and reactionaries increase. In this world the problems are getting bigger and scarier but there are wildflowers in a nearby star system that is lookin’ pretty interesting to astronomists. https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/close-and-tranquil-solar-system-has-astronomers-excited/

What a year it's been for the pod! This week we answer some listener questions about cops, desserts, boycotts, Stalin, and so much more! Thanks to everyone for your support. Here's to many more years.

We open this week’s episode with a report from the far-flung nation of the United States. Then the gang talks about the conspiracy theories around cops and those fireworks that are keeping you awake. Cuomo is trying to kill your grandparents, especially if you live in Troy. The dictatorship of the teen outsmarts the cheetoh-in-chief and for wildflowers we learn about a tortoise who has been a very busy boy. Unrest in former British colony: https://www.thaienquirer.com/13861/foreign-affairs-unrest-continues-for-a-seventh-day-in-former-british-colony/ Cuomo forces nursing homes to take in Covid patients: https://www.propublica.org/article/fire-through-dry-grass-andrew-cuomo-saw-covid-19-threat-to-nursing-homes-then-he-risked-adding-to-it?token=XgFT9qOh9SrXdoACbzMzWe_PuorElToO Nursing homes evicting residents to make room for more profitable Covid patients: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/business/nursing-homes-evictions-discharges-coronavirus.html Diego the tortoise, father to hundreds and saviour of his species, finally retires: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/16/diego-the-tortoise-father-to-hundreds-and-saviour-of-his-species-finally-retires

The revolution will apparently be live-streamed on all major platforms. The gang discusses the CHAZ in Seattle, the ever-change state of the BLM demonstrations throughout the country, the tragic lack of any concessions from Louisville in the struggle for justice for Breonna Taylor, the unhoused persons’ encampment named ‘Camp Maroon’ in Philadelphia, and the politics of autonomous zones generally. For our wildflower, San Francisco will be sending in social workers instead of armed police officers for non-criminal calls! CHAZ speaks for itself: https://caphillauto.zone/ USA Today on CHAZ: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/14/inside-seattle-autonomous-zone-black-protesters-seek-lasting-change/3179232001/ Camp Maroon: https://twitter.com/JPeters2100/status/1271846345163366401 No Justice Yet for Breonna Taylor: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/us/breonna-taylor-birthday-charges-arrests-case-trnd/index.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/12/louisville-breonna-taylor-law/ San Francisco stops sending cops for non-criminal calls: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-12/san-francisco-police-reforms-stop-response-noncriminal-calls

This week it’s all cops, all the time. We discuss the huge peaceful demonstration in Troy this weekend and the broader context of nationwide protests and calls for defunding and dismantling municipal police departments. Kudos to the Minneapolis City Council for moving to disband their own department! Kropotkin tells us that the 20th Century will see decentralized domestic manufacturing. Fake News! But we love him anyway. Stick around till the end to hear Wavy Cunningham’s fantastic track “All We Need is Love.” Austin PD stages fake thank you cards: (https://twitter.com/Austin_Police/status/1269326118366183424?s=20) Disband The Cops: (https://theappeal.org/minneapolis-city-council-members-announce-intent-to-disband-the-police-department-invest-in-proven-community-led-public-safety/) Wavy Cunningham - All We Need Is Love: https://soundcloud.com/phil_dreisin/all-we-need-is-love-wavy-cunningham

This week we discuss the uprisings across the nation, including here in the Capital District. The system feels so fragile right now, and we marvel at the ordinary citizens demanding justice as well as the violent backlash from militarized police. We also discuss our pouty baby boy Trump lashing out at Twitter, and how social media platforms are simply ill-equipped to deal with misinformation and toxic content from users. Our wildflower reports some promising development in Taiwan on a potential vaccine against Covid 19. T-shirt to balaclava: https://youtu.be/W7LjcFS3WX8?t=58 Justice for Edson Thevenin! Fundraiser link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/22jghg84 Taiwan scientists find antibody that fights coronavirus: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3941083 Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/ironweeds

We’re #blessed with a guest this episode, Mike Pearl, the author of a recent book titled “The Day It Finally Happens” which looks into a long series of interesting and plausible scenarios we may experience in the near future. We discuss anxiety, the future, and how to come to terms with reality. For our wildflower, we discuss how coal may finally be dying as an energy source! Enjoy Chapter 15 of The Conquest of Bread: The Division of Labor. Follow Mike on Twitter! https://twitter.com/mikeleepearl Buy the book! https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Day-It-Finally-Happens/Mike-Pearl/9781501194139 Bye By Coal! https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/17/coal-industry-will-never-recover-after-coronavirus-pandemic-say-experts

Youtube decides Chris is a crank and starts advertising to him accordingly. The City of Troy moves to eliminate its entire reading department due to a budget shortfall. We discuss the tragic murder of Ahmaud Arbery and the new evidence that local police may have facilitated his killing. We also talk about calls to reopen the states, how Elon Musk defied Alameda County’s Coronavirus restrictions, and how a California city declares itself a “Sanctuary City for Work.” For our wildflower, an adorable baby pygmy hippo. Enjoy Chapter 14 of The Conquest of Bread! Sign the petition to save Troy’s reading program! https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-the-troy-city-schools-reading-department People Will Die. People Do Die.' Wall Street Has Had Enough of the Lockdown: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/05/wall-street-has-had-enough-of-the-lockdown Police officer told homeowner he could contact Ahmaud Arbery shooting suspect for help with potential trespassers: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/16/us/ahmaud-arbery-text-message/index.html Central California town declares itself 'sanctuary city' for business: https://abc7news.com/6186358/ An endangered pygmy hippo was born at the San Diego Zoo: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/16/us/pygmy-hippo-san-diego-zoo-trnd/index.html

This week the gang catches up after taking a much needed break for work and play! We discuss how Kerala, India is absolutely dominating coronavirus with one simple trick: communism! Governor Amazon Cuomo is using the pandemic in classic shock-doctrine fashion to sell us all to Google and Microsoft. NY State legislature is working on a bill that would prohibit law enforcement from gathering information on civilians’ documentation status, and the Mayor of Flavortown is using his big flaming heart to help out hospitality workers. Enjoy Chapter 13 of The Conquest of Bread! “How India’s Red State Got on Top of Coronavirus”: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/04/physical-distance-social-unity-how-indias-red-state-got-on-top-of-coronavirus “Screen New Deal”: https://theintercept.com/2020/05/08/andrew-cuomo-eric-schmidt-coronavirus-tech-shock-doctrine/ Assembly Bill A9586: https://www.nysenate.gov//legislation/bills/2019/A9586 “Guy Fieri Raises More Than $20 Million for Restaurant Workers Affected by Coronavirus”: https://variety.com/2020/biz/news/guy-fieri-raises-more-than-20-million-for-restaurant-workers-affected-by-coronavirus-1234602930/ Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/ironweeds

We've unlocked our bonus episode on the Collar Laundry Union, in which we do a deep dive into the unionizing efforts of Troy, NY’s laundresses, and the role of Kate Mullany in leading the country’s first sustained women’s union. We detail the conditions of the laundries, the women’s first successes agitating for better pay and working conditions, their eventual dissolution, and the legacy they left for women workers. Kate Mullany in the National Women’s Hall of Fame: https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/kate-mullany/ The Times Union on Mullany’s induction into the Labor Hall of Fame: https://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-features/article/Troy-s-Kate-Mullany-Irish-immigrant-who-7468417.php Historian Suzanne Spellen’s essays on Kate Mullany: https://www.brownstoner.com/history/walkabout-kate-mullany-a-troy-story-part-1/ Also cited: Women and the American Labor Movement by Philip S. Foner

The gang discusses Trump’s literally toxic home remedy suggestions for COVID, debt and the reality of 10’s of millions of people suddenly unable to pay the bills, and the political and economic outlook for workers in the US post the Sanders presidential campaigns. For our wildflower this week, it seems like a de-facto and increasingly explicit and unapologetic rent strike is on! And enjoy the first part of Chapter 13 of The Conquest of Bread!

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 Chapter 12 of The Conquest of Bread, Objections. Subscribe to Yasha’s Substack: https://yasha.substack.com Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet: https://surveillancevalley.com Public outcry over threats to the USPS: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lamvo/save-us-postal-service-coronavirus-twitter

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 depression. Lyta’s piece on Governor Cuomo: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/03/stop-trying-to-make-andrew-cuomo-happen NY construction workers forced to continue work: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/03/new-york-city-coronavirus-construction-workers Subscribe to Current Affairs! https://www.currentaffairs.org/subscribe https://www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs Stanford researchers devise treatment that relieved depression in 90% of participants in small study https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/04/stanford-researchers-devise-treatment-that-relieved-depression-i.html

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 progressive leaders are failing to call for radical resistance and a general strike - do better! Emily joins us to describe Regeneron’s efforts to provide New York State with some much needed COVID19 testing kits, and for our wildflower, we bring good news from Wuhan, China, where the crisis is finally abating and life is beginning to return to normal. After the ep, Britney brings us more Kropotkin this week with Chapter 10: Agreeable Work, from The Conquest of Bread. Liz Warren sucks up to Biden: (https://www.siriusxm.com/clips/clip/0599fdfc-88f5-6fdc-bb03-580b27af0c14/fafe6b82-23c9-48b8-a59d-d2b2714cd35a) Jimmy Dore spitting fire on the failures of progressive leadership: (https://twitter.com/Tav_assoli/status/1245496901354639360?s=20) Wuhan reopens after two-month Lockdown: (https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1888260/wuhan-reopens-after-two-month-lockdown)

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, and how wearing a boot on his head has allowed him to disrupt the political duopoly in creative ways. He also describes alternatives to a state-run healthcare system and other state-based interventions. Learn more about Vermin’s campaign at (https://verminsupreme2020.com) Follow him on Twitter at @VerminSupreme

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 DOJ wants to suspend civil rights during a national emergency. We tease our bonus for the week - Kate Mullany and women's labor organizing in Troy in the 1860’s before our wildflower for the week - when we chill out, nature heals. And to finish this episode, please enjoy Brit's rendition of Kropotkin’s Conquest of Bread: Chapter 9: On the need for Luxury! Well, actually… Swan’s never left Venice: (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/03/coronavirus-pandemic-fake-animal-viral-social-media-posts) David’s Educational Twitch Stream: (https://twitch.tv/dabanks) More Trees Arborist Cooperative in Troy, NY: (http://www.moretrees.coop/) DOJ Coronavirus Emergency Powers: (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/21/doj-coronavirus-emergency-powers-140023) Coronavirus: Air pollution and CO2 fall rapidly as virus spreads: (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51944780) (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/22/climate/coronavirus-usa-traffic.html)

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 a vaccine, and an emergency hospital just closed in Wuhan. Price Gouging Hand Sanitizer: (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html) Canadian Covid-19 Vaccine Candidate: (https://globalnews.ca/news/6671901/coronavirus-canadian-company-covid-19-vaccine-candidate/) Wuhan Medical Workers Celebrate Closing Emergency Hospital: (https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-medical-workers-remove-masks-after-last-temporary-hospital-closes-2020-3)

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 Cohoes, NY to burn some seriously heinous chemicals. We talk COVID19 with the new declaration of a State of Emergency in New York, and for our wildflower we stan the Wuhan Gang of quarantined middle school kids who 1-star reviewed their homework app into oblivion. We leave you with a few early tracks from Chris’ band Zombie Giuliani’s first album, and Brit’s narration of Kropotkin’s Conquest of Bread, Chapter 7, Ways and Means. Wuhan Gang Aint Nothin To Fuck With: (https://mashable.com/article/wuhan-kids-app-coronavirus.amp) Zombie Giuliani First Show Poster: (https://66.media.tumblr.com/b0ae21f10bd587bdca13564243f9eadf/tumblr_inline_q5xjduAlGG1qc4i57_500.png) Details: Mar 19, 9:30 PM, Desperate Annies, 12 Caroline St. Saratoga, NY Zombie Giuliani Album: (https://zombiegiuliani.bandcamp.com/releases)

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/)

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.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2020-02-21/twitter-suspends-bloomberg-accounts) Bee GMOs for Good: (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/engineered-bacteria-protect-honey-bee-health) ICE gets Boo'd: (https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/ICE-director-visits-Troy-SHELL-15070408.php) Support us on Patreon: (https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds)

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 circumcision: (https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/nurses-intactivist-circumcision) Bakers Rise Up! (https://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/22290/bay-area-tartine-bakery-workers-union-ilwu-dsa-labor)

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 on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds/)

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 station. Then, because we love you and all of humanity, we bring you Chapter 4 of Peter Kropotkin's Conquest of Bread: Expropriation. Bus Links: (https://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Funds-in-place-for-CDTA-s-new-bus-rapid-transit-15029404.php) & (https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2020/01/30/cdta-troy-transit-center-eminent-domain-won.html) Let them eat Pie: (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/02/watch-cbs-journalist-use-pie-illustrate-inequality.html) Support us on Patreon: (https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds)

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/)

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 reads you, dear listener, the second fire chapter of Peter Kropotkin's Conquest of Bread! (Starts 1:17:38) Ep art features the FCG9, or Fuck Gun Control 9, image source: @freegunzone on twitter. More info: (https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/08/14/fgc-9-3d-printed-gun/) Support us on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/ironweeds/)

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 episode, Britney puts her professional voice acting skills to task and reads to you, our dear listener, the first chapter of Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin. Enjoy! We got links! Contributions vibe check: (https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/08/2020-presidential-election-democratic-candidates-national-security-employees-contributions/), (https://www.waldrn.com/candidate-support-by-occupation-in-the-2020-democratic-primary/) Anarchist daughter of GOP operative's data dump: (https://www.npr.org/2020/01/05/785672201/deceased-gop-strategists-daughter-makes-files-public-that-republicans-wanted-sea) GENERAL STRIKE! (https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bharat-bandh-january-2020-1634833-2020-01-08) Spicy GMO tomatoes: (https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/scientists-say-theyre-close-to-making-a-spicy-tomato?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf#.XDYIK89KgmI) This cop gave a shit sandwich to a person without a home, still has a job: (https://blavity.com/texas-police-officer-fired-for-giving-a-sandwich-full-of-feces-to-a-homeless-man-wins-his-job-back?category1=news)

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)

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)