Last Born In The Wilderness

Prolific author and historian Dr. Gerald Horne joined me to discuss his recently published book, The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, and Capitalism in 17th Century North America and the Caribbean.  In the 17th century, major European powers were undergoing massive colonization projects on the North and South American continents, resulting in mass genocide...

John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, joins me for this episode. This interview covers two major geopolitical trends currently developing in the world today: the reconciliation process currently unfolding between North and South Korea and the inflamed tensions between the United States, Israel, and other regional players with the government of Iran....

I speak with Israel Bravo, an innovator in the world of beekeeping and bee colony storage. Israel has years of experience in beekeeping and, through experimentation and passionate dedication to the preservation of bee colonies, has managed to work through and ultimately overcome one of the major reoccurring problems experienced by many beekeepers around the world: the decline of bee populations in...

In this episode, I speak with Alley Valkyrie about the recent events in western France regarding the communal, long-term occupation at the ZAD (French: zone à défendre; English: zone to defend). Alley provides a much-needed explanation of the events currently unfolding there, contextualizing and expounding on the cultural, political, and historical trends that have led to the present situation on...

Psychiatrist, lecturer, and author Dr. Iain McGilchrist joins me for this episode. We discuss some of the themes and ideas presented in his book The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. In the very beginning of this interview, Dr. McGilchrist presents a detailed picture of the "divided brain"—specifically, the evolutionary and adaptive perceptual function...

In this episode, I speak with Max Dashu, founder of the Suppressed Histories Archive and author of Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700–1100. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/max-dashu // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast [ EP 114 / REC 04.11.2018 / REL 04.20.2018...

In this episode, I speak with Dmitry Orlov. This interview was recorded Sunday, April 15, 2018, less than two days after the events discussed in this episode. We discuss the recent missile strikes by the US military in Syria, the Trump Administration, and the broader US military establishment's true intentions and objectives behind the strike, as well as what other major world powers (Russia in pa...

Shane Burley joins me to discuss his book Fascism Today: What It Is and How To End It. At the beginning of this interview, Shane provides a precise description of what fascism is, the historical context in which it first emerged, and what fascist organizing in contemporary US society looks like. We discuss and break down the pseudo-scientific claims espoused by many of these groups regarding the c...

Rhyd Wildermuth returns to the podcast to discuss some of the ideas presented in his recent essay, A New Luddite Rebellion. Rhyd expounds on the role social media has played in our ability to discuss complex and nuanced ideas and the role identity politics has played in the Left's (in)ability to effectively organize against capitalism and produce tangible alternatives to the dominant organizing id...

This is a segment of my incompletely recorded conversation with Daniel Christian Wahl. Unfortunately, due to some technical issues with the recording of this episode, a significant chunk of our conversation was lost and unsalvageable. Daniel asked that I release what was recorded, and here is the finished result. I thank Daniel for sharing his insights with me, and I appreciate his kindness. // Ep...

I speak with Johann Hari, journalist and author of Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression—and the Unexpected Solutions and Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs.  Johann goes over some of the themes he explored in Lost Connections, which include exploring some of the root causes of depression and anxiety, understanding some of the deep misconceptions w...

In this episode, Silvia Federici goes over many of the details and themes in her groundbreaking book Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation, an extensive history of the body in the transition to capitalism. Silvia discusses the conditions that led to the witch-hunts in medieval Europe and the lasting impact these events have had on the trajectory of capitalist developmen...

In this episode, Cynthia Jones and I speak with Milica Popovic, Associate Professor of Art at the College of Southern Idaho. Milica discusses her personal experiences with the social and economic disintegration in her home country of Serbia during the fracturing of the Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. She describes how she and her husband left their home country and made their way to the Unite...

This is my second interview with David O'Hara, and as with the first, conversing with him is always a delight and a great pleasure. In this episode, we discussed his trip to Central America and the recent archaeological discovery of a vast Mayan metropolis that "at its peak some 1,500 years ago, covered an area about twice the size of medieval England, with an estimated population of around five m...

In this episode, journalist and author Dahr Jamail lays out the details of the current state of the global climate system. He discusses the catastrophic changes currently underway in our oceans, the ongoing disappearance of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, the receding land ice on Greenland, and what this means for sea level rise in the upcoming decades. We discuss the implications of these very rapi...

Patrick Dougherty is a veteran, clinical psychologist, and founder of Moving Through It, an organization that raises public awareness and cultivates a deeper understanding of collective trauma, helping to provide a means for individuals and groups to move through the various states of feeling we have all begun to experience as we enter a time of great uncertainty and instability. // Episode notes:...

This is episode 100 of the podcast. Incredible. I read a letter from a listener and responded to it. I express how grateful I am for the support I've received for this project, and I reiterate the purpose and what I aim for with Last Born In The Wilderness. For this episode, I go solo. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/100 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon....

I’m joined by Peter McCoy, founder of Radical Mycology, a nonprofit grassroots organization that engages in wide and varied methods (from organizing events and workshops to producing media content) to educate and actively demonstrate the vast potential fungi has in the fields of nutrition, waste disposal, medicine, food production, and water treatment, just to name a few. // Episode notes: https:/...

Conjurer, egoist-communist, political theorist, and gonzo journalist Dr. Bones joins me for this episode. This conversation touches on some themes brought up in his most recent piece, New Year’s Day—a striking essay on the surreal quality of the time we all live in. Our discussion covers our thoughts on the legalization of cannabis in parts of the US and the pushback against it under Attorney Gene...

In this episode, Professor Paul Ehrlich and I discuss the very severe loss of biodiversity on this planet in recent decades, human civilization and its detrimental impact on animal and insect populations, abrupt climate change, the toxification of the environment, and the looming specter of nuclear war. Also, we discuss the psychological blind-spots in the individual and collective human psyche th...

Samra Culum is Student Development Coordinator at the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) and a refugee. As a child, she fled with her family from war-torn Bosnia, and through the CSI Refugee Resettlement Program, settled in Twin Falls, Idaho, with her family. In this episode, Samra discusses what she and her family experienced in their community in Bosnia as underlying tensions and divisions broke ou...

Carne Ross is a former British diplomat, Middle East and WMD expert, who resigned in 2004 after giving what was then secret information to a British inquiry into the Iraq War. This year, Ross was featured in the documentary Accidental Anarchist, a film that follows his path from British diplomat to an advocate for anarchism. This film follows his journey to find and eventually witness anarchist pr...

Riccardo Manzotti is the author of The Spread Mind: Why Consciousness and the World Are One. He teaches Psychology of Perception at IULM University, Milan (Italy), and has specialized in AI, artificial vision, perception, and the philosophy and science of consciousness.  The discussion you will hear in this episode deals with a few different subjects brought up in Manzotti’s work, namely what the...

Ian MacKenzie is an award-winning filmmaker and media activist, and co-director of the film Amplify Her, a documentary that follows the powerful and emerging female producers in the electronic music scene. I sought out Ian MacKenzie to have this conversation with me because I had become familiar with his work regarding gender and the sacred roles of men and women can embody, and I have come to rec...

Bayo Akomolafe is a researcher, lecturer, and author, born and raised in Nigeria. He is an international speaker, poet, and activist for a radical paradigm shift in consciousness and current ways of living. He is globally recognized for his poetic, unconventional, counterintuitive, and indigenous take on global crisis, civic action, and social change. Akomolafe discusses some of the themes raised...