Last Born In The Wilderness

Elliot Robinson, a listener of the podcast that works in land restoration in New Orleans, dropped me a line regarding my episode with social anthropologist Dr. Khalil Avi, featured in episode 220 (http://bit.ly/LBWavi). He posed a great question regarding how to deal with a particular "invasive species" in his work, the Chinese Tallow Tree. I sent the audio of Elliot's call to Avi, and he contacte...

In this episode, I speak with Dark Mountain Project co-founder and writer Dougald Hine. We discuss his new writing series Notes From Underground, published weekly at Bella Caledonia, that explores "the deep context of the new climate movements that have surfaced since mid-2018." In this discussion, we explore this uncharted territory that we have collectively entered into, to which Dougald has rig...

In this episode, I speak with Stephen Pyne, environmental historian and author of Fire: A Brief History. In this discussion with Stephen, I ask him to elaborate on humanity's long, deep, and complex relationship with fire. He explains how this relationship has informed everything from how our bodies have evolved to the impact this has had on our global environment up to the present moment. As Step...

In this episode, I speak with Social Anthropologist Dr. Khalil Avi, author of the article, Don’t Kill The Messenger!: Invasive Species and Halting Biodiversity Loss, published at Gods & Radicals. Avi addresses some of the underlying (colonialist, nationalist, and provincial) assumptions that surround the efforts to halt biodiversity loss in our age of abrupt climate change and environmental catast...

I speak with renowned political dissident, linguist, and author Noam Chomsky. In this brief discussion, I ask Professor Chomsky to examine the current state and trajectory of the United States empire within the scope of recent history, fitting the recent “withdrawal” of the US military presence in Northeast Syria, under Kurdish governance, as an indication of what the US geopolitical influence in...

In this episode, I speak with Samantha Zipporah, reproductive justice activist and author of Mapping The Yoniverse, a “sex and body positive, gender inclusive and affirming, physical and energy anatomy coloring book,” illustrated by Casandra Johns. This interview with Samantha is about reclaiming what has been lost. When it comes to our bodily autonomy and knowledge of our health, sexual or otherw...

In this episode, I speak with political writer William Hawes. We discuss his sharp and insightful essay, Questioning The Extremely Online. As we dig into William’s insights into how being “extremely online” has informed our social behaviors in the past several decades, his most cutting criticisms are aimed at contemporary political activism — both in its theory and praxis — and how even the most d...

In this episode, I speak with Sam Adler-Bell, freelance journalist and co-host of the Know Your Enemy podcast, “a leftist's guide to the conservative movement.” The subject of this interview is his article, Why White Supremacists Are Hooked on Green Living, published by The New Republic. In this discussion with Sam, I ask him to elaborate on his research into the deeper connections between the roo...

In this episode, I speak with Barbara Cecil and Dahr Jamail, co-authors of the How Then Shall We Live? series published at Truthout. // Episode notes + transcript: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/cecil-jamail // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In the episode, I speak with Henry A. Giroux, McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest and the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy, and author of The Terror of the Unforeseen. How has neoliberalism paved the way for the rise of far right ideologies and populists around the world? As demonstrated in the elections of, and policies enacted by, such leaders...

In this episode, I speak with Steven Elliot Martyn, author of Sacred Gardening: Seeds for the Reemergence of Co-Creative Agriculture, and The Story of the Madawaska Forest Garden: Co-creating Integrated Polyculture. He is the co-creator of the Sacred Gardener Earth Wisdom School. In this discussion, I ask Steven to expound on his journey of becoming a “sacred gardener,” which has included years of...

In this episode, I speak with Liyah Babayan, author of Liminal: A Refugee Memoir. In this discussion, we delve into Liyah’s profound, disturbing, and moving retelling of her childhood experiences fleeing the pogroms enacted against the Armenian minority population in Baku, Azerbaijan, in the midst of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-1990, as expressed in her memoir Liminal. After experienc...

In this episode, I speak with the creator of the Nordic Animist Calendar and Historian of Religion, Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen. Rune has spent much of his academic career studying and highlighting various animist spiritual traditions and perspectives, with a special focus on Afro-Atlantic and Nordic traditions—the latter being the focus of this discussion. In his work, Rune has attempted to integrate t...

In this episode with Brian Mier, co-editor at Brasil Wire and correspondent for TeleSur English, we discuss the fires and deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, the United States intervention in the Brazilian political system, and the rise of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. On August 19th, the city of São Palo, Brazil experienced a complete blackout of the sun. To understand the con...

In this episode, I speak Alexander Reid Ross, author of Against the Fascist Creep, and Shane Burley, author of Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It. I ask Alexander and Shane to discuss the curious case of Andy Ngo—right-wing provocateur, so-called “independent journalist” (https://nyti.ms/2lwcMuz), former Quillette editor, and grifter. (http://bit.ly/2lvaU5r) Ngo is best known for using hi...

In this episode, I speak with musician, poet, anthropologist, educator, community organizer and public speaker Lyla June. This discussion with Lyla covers a variety of compelling subjects, including Lyla’s journey of connecting with not only her Indigenous Diné (Navajo) and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) identity and ancestry, but also with her European lineage as well. In connecting with that neglect...

In this episode, I speak with eco-radical and guerrilla ontologist philosopher and writer Julian Langer. In this wide-ranging discussion, we discuss the middle-spaces of social engagement with technology and industrial infrastructure within an eco-pessimist perspective, Julian’s encounters with the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion and the mainstreaming of climate/environmental activism,...

In this episode, I speak with culture activist, teacher, author and ceremonialist Stephen Jenkinson. We discuss his most recent performative project Nights of Grief & Mystery, made in collaboration with “song and dance man” Gregory Hoskins—as documented in the recent short film Lost Nation Road, directed by Ian MacKenzie. After watching Ian MacKenzie’s short documentary film Lost Nation Road, I fi...

In my fourth interview with climate journalist and author Dahr Jamail, we discuss some of the most dramatic and recent examples of abrupt climate disruption in recent months, how these accelerating changes are manifesting across human communities and political institutions across the planet, and how these changes are forever altering the natural world as a whole through widespread species displace...

Documentary filmmaker Ian MacKenzie joined me to discuss his two most recent projects: Love School—an ongoing film project, made in collaboration with John Wolfstone and Julia Maryanska, that explores the revolutionary research village and healing biotope Tamera in Portugal; and Ian's recently released short film Lost Nation Road—which follows culture activist and author Stephen Jenkinson and Cana...

I’m joined by Natalie Minoshka and Ínaru de la Fuente Díaz—on-the-ground activists and citizens of Puerto Rico and active participants in the massive protests that have swept the island for several weeks. They provide some background on the demands of these protests, including what incited them, the historic size and turnout of these demonstrations, and what we can expect in the coming weeks. This...

Lawyer and radical environmental activist Will Falk returns to the podcast to examine the United States legal system, particularly environmental law, and addresses the harsh realities communities around the US continuously face when it comes to protecting natural entities (lakes, rivers, forests, etc.) from ecologically destructive government and corporate projects. // Episode notes: https://www.l...

I am joined by Tania Li, Ph. D., Professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto and the author of Land’s End: Capitalist Relations on an Indigenous Frontier. In our era of globalized neoliberal capitalism, the emergence of capitalist economic and social relations among Indigenous communities is primarily examined as a result of overbearing external pressures, e.g., governments, nonprofit o...

This is a segment of episode #200 of Last Born In The Wilderness “We Live In The Orbit Of Beings Greater Than Us: A Weaving Of Threads.” Listen to the full episode: http://bit.ly/LBW200 / http://bit.ly/LBW200v Episode #200 is something of a highlight reel, featuring numerous segments from previous interviews I’ve conducted and released, with commentary on the underlying themes and threads that tie...

This is episode #200 of Last Born In The Wilderness. This is something of a highlight reel, featuring numerous segments from previous interviews I’ve conducted and released, with commentary on the underlying themes and threads that tie all this work together. This is a beast of an episode (almost four hours in length), so please take your time! This episode features segments of discussions with Si...