Interdependent Study

There is a clear connection between anti-Blackness and racism to the state of the political economy of the United States. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “Over 160 Years After Abolition, Anti-Black Racism Still Structures US Economy” by CJ Polychroniou in Truthout, which is a conversation between CJ Polychroniou and economic scholars Michelle Holder and Jeannette Wicks-Lim about how a...

The role and impact of carceral AI technologies in our criminal punishment system and on our society is significant, outrageous, and dangerous. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “Precrime Is No Longer Science Fiction” by Sarah Fathallah in Inquest, which highlights and analyzes the dangerous impact of biometric technologies to predict the likelihood of crime and criminality and expand t...

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s work with Black and Latino gang members in Chicago in the 1960s shows his commitment to engaging young people in the Black freedom struggle. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “The Martin Luther King Jr. We Don’t Know” by Jeanne Theoharis in Hammer & Hope, which highlights and analyzes the history of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s lesser known work with Bla...

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is here, but it is fueled by an undercurrent and history of sportswashing and corruption. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the book Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine by Jules Boykoff (and published by OR Books), which analyzes and critiques the history and impact of sportswashing, politics, corruption, and authoritarianism on FIFA and...

The role and impact of carceral AI technologies in our criminal punishment system and on our society is significant, outrageous, and dangerous. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “Carceral AI is here. It’s time to fight back” by Dasha Pruss in Inquest, which highlights and analyzes the harmful effects of carceral AI technologies in our criminal punishment system across the country and ho...

The organizing work to curb runaway corporate power in the United States in the fight for housing justice is critically important and necessary. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “When Disaster Strikes: Housing Inequality and The Rising Threat of Disaster Capitalism” featuring a conversation between Andrea Portillo, Iris Craige, Stella Adams, and Audrey Aradanas in The Forge (in collabo...

The powerful #StopCopCity movement is part of the larger fight for police abolition, for racial, social, Indigenous, and environmental justice, and for the survival of every living creature on the planet. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the book No Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement, edited by Kamau Franklin, Micah Herskind, and Mariah Parker (and published by Haymarket Books), w...

The effects of plantocracy, slavery, racism, capitalism, and white supremacy have had a lasting impact on labor and life in the South. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “May Day: Exporting the Southern Plantocracy” by Sherronda J. Brown, Tea Troutman, and Aarohi Sheth in Scalawag, which explores and analyzes the ways the ruling class in the South has combined anti-Blackness and anti-lab...

The organizing work to curb runaway corporate power in the United States is critically important and necessary. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss two pieces in The Forge, including “The Corporate Power of It All” by Adem Sengal and Emanuel Nieves and “The Contours of Corporate Power” featuring an interview between Katherine Diaz, Sofia Lopez, and Corrine Hendrickson, which highlight and analyze t...

The organizing work and fight against authoritarianism is taking place across the globe. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss a zine from Interrupting Criminalization titled “Transformative Justice Under Authoritarianism – Volume 1: A Conversation with the YoNoFui Collective of Argentina” by Melanie Brazzell and Andrea J. Ritchie (in collaboration with YoNoFui), which summarizes a conversation betwe...

The implementation of a “millionaire tax” on the ultra-wealthy in states around the country could have a powerful impact on our economy and on people’s lives. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “More Than A Slogan: Labor’s New Gambit to Tax the Rich” by Rebecca Burns in In These Times, which highlights and analyzes recent efforts to organize around and implement new taxes on corporations...

The need for cross race, cross class organizing and solidarity is more important now than ever. Listen as Aaron and Damien AND special guest Beth Howard discuss the book Song for a Hard-Hit People: A Memoir of Antiracist Solidarity from a Coal Miner’s Daughter by Beth Howard (and published by Haymarket Books), which shares an Appalachian organizer’s personal and professional experiences from child...

The United States’ immigration and deportation machine is brutal, dangerous, and hurts all of us. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “The Democrats Will Not Save Us” by Spencer Piston in Inquest, which highlights and analyzes how the immigration and deportation machine in the United States is a bipartisan creation, and as such, has evolved into a deadly apparatus of the government and ma...

There is a lot to learn from Minnesota’s response to and take down of ICE earlier this year. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “Why Was Minnesota’s Resistance to ICE the Strongest Yet?” in Hammer & Hope, which is a collection of articles from local organizers on the ground in Minneapolis highlighting and analyzing what made the resistance to ICE there so effective and the lessons th...

Racism has played a central role in the Trump administration and its agenda, and it is having a dangerous effect on our country. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “White Supremacy in Donald Trump’s White House” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor in Hammer & Hope, which highlights and analyzes how the Trump administration has weaponized racism and DEI initiatives to distract from the shared...

The migrant, refugee, and immigration crises around the world are the direct outcome of capitalist, imperialist globalization and climate change. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the book Border & Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism by Harsha Walia (and published by Haymarket Books), which examines and analyzes the impact of border policies, globalization,...

It is critical that we remain cautious about and question how U.S. capitalism will function and evolve with the advent and influence of AI. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “Capitalism Without Humans” by Sarah Jaffe in In These Times, which analyzes the role of and reaction to how new technology like AI and autonomous systems are increasingly replacing human labor and are evolving the...

The United States and Israel have launched an illegal war on Iran. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the pieces “US and Israel Launch Illegal War on Iran, Call for Regime Change” by Sharon Zhang and “As Trump Bombs Iran, We Need to Reckon With the American War Machine” by Negin Owliaei in Truthout, which report and analyze the current, ongoing war that the United States and Israel have waged on I...

It is important for organizations to do all they can to tap into and maximize people’s energy in times of crisis to propel our work and fight for justice. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the final piece in a six-part series titled “Abolitionist Lessons from the Prison Belts” in Inquest called “Finding the Opportunity in Crisis”, which features a conversation between Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Judah Sch...

Organizing is a great way to address the tremendous crises we’re facing, and investing in and supporting organizers is key to its success. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “Our Prescription for Winning: Give Organizers What They Need to Thrive” by Alicia Jay, Kara Park, and Rebecca Gorena in The Forge, which analyzes some of the pressing dynamics and issues facing organizers and the cu...

Black history is for everyone, and there is so much that all of us can learn from it. Listen as Aaron and Damien AND special guest Stephanie Olson discuss the book Black History Is for Everyone by Brian Jones (and published by Haymarket Books), which explores and analyzes how teaching and learning Black history in real and meaningful ways can challenge our understanding of ourselves, race, nation,...

The Trump administration’s plans for the occupation of Gaza are concerning, egregious, and a danger to the future of the Palestinian people. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the piece “The US Occupation of Gaza Is Officially Beginning” by Mitchell Plitnick in Truthout, which outlines and analyzes the Trump’s administration's plans to implement a Board of Peace to govern Gaza and oversee the...

The urgent need to abolish ICE cannot be more clear. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the pieces “‘Everybody Showed Up’: Stunning Crowds at Minnesota Day of Strike and Shutdown Against Ice” by Sarah Lazare and “A Staggering Number of Minnesotans Took to the Streets Friday to Demand ICE Leave. The Next Day, ICE Responded by Killing Another Resident” by Thomas Birmingham and Ari Bloomekatz in In T...

The violence surrounding Black communities in Chicago has been engineered and orchestrated by the state. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the book Engineered Conflict: Structural Violence and the Future of Black Life in Chicago by David Omotoso Stovall (and published by Haymarket Books), which explores how state and institutional violence has targeted, displaced, and marginalized Black communiti...

The funding behind the carceral system has given it substantial political power in this country. Listen as Aaron and Damien discuss the fifth piece in a six-part series titled “Abolitionist Lessons from the Prison Belt” in Inquest called “Following the Money”, which features a conversation between Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Judah Schept, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, and Craig Gilmore about the importance of follo...