The Book on Fire Podcast

Life updates, book updates, parting thoughts. Mentioned: " On historical materialism and The Dawn of Everything " by David Wengrow Endgame: Economic Nationalism and Global Decline by Jamie Merchant Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in a World on Fire by Adam Greenfield Organization, Community, Continuity by Peter Gelderloos Mad World: The Politics of Mental Health by Micha Frazer-Carroll The End...

Our SECOND TO LAST episode of the season! We are joined by Nick Smaligo to talk through the major themes of The Dawn of Everything, and of Graeber's work in general. Nick was full of insights. Nick's essay on The Dawn of Everything: "Closing Paradise's Gate" Also mentioned: The Terms of Order by Cedric Robinson -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into O...

This is not our last episode on The Dawn of Everything, but here we discuss the concluding chapter of the book, which summarizes the book's project while moving forward on some of its new ideas. Next time we will be joined by a guest to help us think about the book as a whole. Mentioned: Secrets, Lies, and Consequences (about Mircea Eliade) by Bruce Lincoln -*- our Discord community for further di...

We are joined by two of our good friends, who deliver a nuanced Indigenous response to The Dawn of Everything, centering on Chapter 11's treatment of Mississippian culture. They also share about an indigenous earthwork that they have recently helped to construct in the city of Bulbancha (a.k.a. New Orleans, Louisiana). Links to further reading, courtesy of our guests: The Great Power of Small Nati...

In the last full chapter of the book, the Davids return to Turtle Island to argue against the inevitability of domination and to give historical context for the indigenous critique of European society. -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood . Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Ra...

Hungry ancestors, play kings, and copious cosmetics. The conclusion of our discussion of Chapter 10. Mentioned: One River book by Wade Davis The King Must Die book by Mary Renault Cover image from a fresco at Knossos, on the island of Crete. -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies"  and "Blind Owl I" by Big Blood . Buy us a coffee :: Email us...

Regarding history, teleology and the state, and the three elementary forms of power. Our discussion of the first half of Chapter 10. Cover image from a detail of the Raimondi Stele from Chavín de Huántar , Peru. -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood . "That Glow in the Morning" by Sarah Louise . Buy us a coffee :: Email us at...

We finish discussing Chapter 8 and move on to Chapter 9. More early cities, and a type of democracy uncovered in Spanish chronicles of Mesoamerica. Mentioned: Henry Corbin , French scholar of Islamic philosophy, and his book Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood . "R Mountain" b...

Cities emerge around the world. What are they like? We return to discuss Chapter 8 of our book. Mentioned: Mountain Gardens  website , instagram Fight Like an Animal podcast -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood . "Jewel of the Blue Ridge" by Sarah Louise . Buy us a coffee :: Email us at  thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave...

We return from halftime to talk more about early farmers and the vast middle ground that spans foraging and agriculture. Mentioned: " Low Level Food Production " by Bruce Smith, 2001. -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood . "Offering" by Anna Luisa . Buy us a coffee :: Email us at  thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave &...

We continue our halftime break in our reading of The Dawn of Everything to review and summarize a book that is cited in Dawn, and written by a friend and colleague of the Davids. This book is Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott. Among other virtues, it provides some possible answers to questions that Graeber and Wengrow persistently dodge. -*- our Discord com...

We go slightly off-book for this episode to explore whether we can find something to affirm in the Garden of Eden myth. Mentioned: Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent Per Faxneld, Satanic Feminism Peter Grey, Lucifer: Princeps -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood . "Earth Wakes Up" by Sarah Louise . Cover image by Thoma...

A close look at the early days of cultivation and domestication. Check out our Book on Fire EXCLUSIVE timeline of dates and places from the chapter Mentioned on the show: " Engels was Right: Early Human Kinship was Matrilineal " by Chris Knight " Anatomy of a Backlash: Concerning the Work of Marija Gimbutas " by Charlene Spretnak " The Dangerous Populist Science of Yuval Noah Harari " by Darshana...

The rest of our discussion of Chapter 5. Towards the end of this episode we share thoughts about where the book has taken us so far. - Mentioned on the show: "Why foragers choose acorns before salmon: Storage, mobility, and risk in aboriginal California" by Shannon Tushingham and Robert Bettinger Jasper Bernes' essay on Revolutionary Motives - For more on wild tending in California and in general:...

Why are people different from their neighbors? The first half of our discussion of Chapter 5. Since we recorded this we learned that the Northwest Coast Hall of New York's Museum of Natural History, created by Franz Boas in 1899, and which we describe on the podcast as being outdated, recently underwent a 5-year renovation in which a member of the Huupa‘chesat-h First Nation participated, and reop...

The continuation of our conversation about Chapter 4 of The Dawn of Everything: Free People, the Origin of Cultures, and the Advent of Private Property. Mentioned: What is Politics? podcast ( youtube ) An article by David Wengrow about Graham Hancock's Ancient Apocalypse Netflix series The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell Mountain Gardens Mountain Gardens on Youtube -*- our Discord community...

Recorded during a windstorm amidst trees falling around the house, the first half of our conversation about Chapter 4: Free People, the Origin of Cultures, and the Advent of Private Property. Mentioned: " The Original Affluent Society " by Marshall Sahlins -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" and "Thank you for the Path" by Big Blood . "T...

In Chapter 3, Graeber & Wengrow use elaborate ice age burials and impressive building projects, along with more recent examples of cultures who changed their social structures according to the seasons, to suggest that perhaps our original political freedom is the freedom to erect and dismantle hierarchies at will. We're experimenting with including visual timelines to help us keep track of all...

In this episode we put the book down and explore some anthropology that the Dawn of Everything is at odds with. Take it slow--it's a long one and there's a lot to cover. Mentioned on the show: What is Politics? podcast Hierarchy in the Forest by Christopher Boehm Sarah Hrdy , primatologist and anthropologist Radical Anthropology Group " Gender Egalitarianism Made us Human " by Camilla Power " Did...

"Wicked Liberty: The Indigenous Critique and the Myth of Progress", in which we see how indigenous Americans' devastating critique of European society caused a stir when it made its way back to Europe. This one ends on a spicy note--Dave is not happy with how the chapter ends. Mentioned: Chapter 3 of Caliban and the Witch, "Taming the Rebel Body" on how the Age of Enlightenment made way for capita...

We return! In our new season we are reading The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber & David Wengrow, a fascinating and controversial book of anthropology and social theory. There's enough groundwork laid in Chapter 1 to make this episode a longer one than we're used to releasing. We hope you find it stimulating. The Dawn of Everything at archive.org NEW: We've starte...

"...those feelings of anguish and rage are the same itch the seed feels in the last days of Winter, before it bursts open and sends out its buds into the world... Remember this story, and there will be hope for Spring." First published on Unsettling America . Audio version originally published by Resonance . ---------------------------------------------- Music by  Big Blood  and  I Love You . Buy...

Witch hunting did not end in Europe. In fact it didn't even end. The final chapter of our book. Mentioned: Debt: The First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber The anthropologist Michael Taussig "Conviction: American Panic" podcast Janet's essay about finding and connecting with nature anywhere  ----------------------------------- Music on this episode by  Big Blood  and  I Love You . Buy us a coffee ::...

Why were women especially targeted by the Witch Hunt? The continuation of Chapter 4.   Mentioned: The Witch Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray The Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Ehrenreich and English Stephany Hoffelt's Domestic Medicine blog Diane Purkiss ----------------------------------- Music on this episode by  Big Blo...

Arguably the most important chapter of the book. "The Great Witch-Hunt in Europe" Mentioned: Malleus Maleficarum or The Hammer of the Witches ----------------------------------- Music on this episode by  Big Blood  and  I Love You . Buy us a coffee :: Email us at  thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism ::  Blog  ::...