Last Born In The Wilderness

In this interview, I speak with Amy Lou, a registered nurse currently working in the ICU at the local hospital in Twin Falls, Idaho. Amy has been attending to patients suffering from COVID-19 for several months. She describes the impact this pandemic is having on healthcare workers' ability to provide an adequate level of care as infection rates in Idaho continue to spike, with insights into the h...

In this interview, I speak with Sami Ruggles, a registered nurse working in the COVID Unit at the local hospital here in Twin Falls, Idaho. Sami describes the impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on healthcare workers' ability to provide adequate care for patients suffering from the virus, as well as the role comorbidities in the general population has played in the severity of the public hea...

In this interview, I speak with Jennifer Gardner, a registered nurse living and working in Twin Falls, Idaho. Jennifer Gardner has a background in obstetrical nursing, and currently works in Perianesthesia in Southern Idaho. She has just completed her Master’s degree as a Family Nurse practitioner. I’ve known Jennifer for several years now, and asked her if she would be willing to discuss the impa...

In this episode, I speak with Jennifer Gardner, Sami Ruggles, and Amy Lou — registered nurses working locally in Southern Idaho. This episode is a compilation of segments of each of those interviews, with the full interviews to be released alongside this episode as well. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/registered-nurses // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.c...

In this episode, I speak with Cultural Somatics practitioner and teacher Tada Hozumi. This discussion, in many ways, builds upon my previous interview with animist counselor Dare Sohei, a colleague of Tada's, in exploring and articulating the Cultural Somatic framework that encapsulates their approach in addressing systemic oppression, colonized bodies, dance, ancestral trauma, and call-out cultur...

In this episode, I speak with animist counselor and artist Dare Sohei.  In the very beginning of this discussion, I asked Dare what the animism in animist counseling is. From there, Dare tells me how the recognition of our inherent relationships—whether they are secure or insecure attachments to our bodies, the land, ancestors, more-than-human life, and cultural somas (such as "white supremacy," a...

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Ira Leifer, founder and CEO of Bubbleology Research International Inc, and researcher who specializes in bubble-related oceanographic processes, satellite remote sensing, and air pollution. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/ira-leifer // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypa...

In this episode, I speak with prolific writer and historian Gary Lachman, author of numerous books on the evolution of consciousness, popular culture, and the history of the occult. Most recently, his works include The Return of Holy Russia: Apocalyptic History, Mystical Awakening, and the Struggle for the Soul of the World, and Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump, both of which...

In this episode, I speak with political activists and commentators Shemon and Arturo, authors of several articles published at Ill Will Editions, including Theses on the George Floyd Rebellion, The Rise of Black Counter-Insurgency, and The Return of John Brown: White Race-Traitors in the 2020 Uprising. Since late May of this year, cities across the United States have been rocked by numerous riots...

In this episode, I speak with writer, arborist, and professional horticulturist Max Paschall. We discuss his essay The Lost Forest Gardens of Europe, published at the Shelterwood Forest Farm website. In addressing the ever-increasing, ongoing impacts anthropogenic climate change is having on food production and land management, for those of us that descend from European colonizers in North America...

In this episode, I speak with Alexander Reid Ross, author of Against the Fascist Creep, and Shane Burley, author of Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It. We discuss several important topics, including the historic ongoing wave of protests and uprisings across the United States since May this year, as well as the disturbing uptick of incidences of far-right vigilantism since then. We also ex...

In this episode, I speak with writer, translator, and activist John Washington. We discuss his book, The Dispossessed: A Story of Asylum at the US-Mexican Border and Beyond, published by Verso Books. At the center of The Dispossessed is the story of Arnovis, a Salvadorian man seeking asylum in the United States. As John weaves together the harrowing story of this man as he attempts to cross numero...

In this episode, Kollibri terre Sonnenblume and I speak with Dr. Riane Eisler—social systems scientist, cultural historian, and attorney. She is the author of numerous books, including most famously The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future, and most recently Nurturing Our Humanity: How Domination and Partnership Shape Our Brains, Lives, and Future, co-authored with anthropologist Douglas...

In this episode, I speak with writer and editor Vicky Osterweil, author of In Defense of Looting: A Riotous History of Uncivil Action, published through Bold Type Books. In her book, Vicky discusses the history of looting—the mass act of publicly and directly seizing goods—and the vital role this act of wealth distribution has played (and continues to play) in movements toward addressing injustice...

In this episode, I speak with Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, and Julian Walker, hosts of the Conspirituality podcast. In continuing my exploration into QAnon and the widespread proliferation of and cult-like adherence to conspiracy theory thinking in the United States, I felt it was time to have this discussion with the hosts of this timely, well crafted, and increasingly needed podcast project. Con...

In this episode, I speak with Margaret Killjoy—anarchist author, musician, and crafter. In the wake of the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests and uprisings since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, "anarchists" have been in the news. Whether it's President Trump calling for the arrest of "radical-left anarchists" and "Antifa," or Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice P...

In this episode, I speak with eco-radical philosopher, writer, and poet Julian Langer.  We begin this discussion by addressing Julian's recent essay The Whole is Less than the Sum of its Parts, in which he redefines what we commonly understand "collectivism" and "individualism" to be. Also, we address themes addressed in some of his other writings, including his thoughts on solitude in A Thought O...

In this interview, I speak with political commentator Jared Yates Sexton, author of the upcoming book American Rule: How A Nation Conquered The World But Failed Its People. As I remark on in this discussion, I first became aware of Jared and his work from his analysis of the QAnon conspiracy theory. I ask him to expound on the tenets of this alarmingly popular and increasingly pervasive belief sys...

In this episode, I speak with anti-racist and environmental activist Hilary Moore, author of Burning Earth, Changing Europe: How the Racist Right Exploits the Climate Crisis–And What We Can Do About It, and co-author of No Fascist USA! The John Brown Anti-Klan Committee and Lessons for Today’s Movements. In her booklet Burning Earth, Changing Europe, Hilary examines how right wing ideology, in its...

In this interview, I speak with journalist and author Vincent Bevins, author of The Jakarta Method: Washington’s Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World. The events that have shaped our world, particularly in the post-Cold War era, are often unexamined and under-appreciated. This is especially true in a time of rising right wing populism and reactionary violence in...

In this episode, I speak with Bayo Akomolafe, author of These Wilds Beyond Our Fences. We begin by discussing Bayo's recent essay, I, Coronavirus. Mother. Monster. Activist. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/bayo-akomolafe-3 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I speak with dear friend, healer, and counselor Barbara Cecil. This is a griefful time. We are witnessing systems fail and a deep fracturing of our collective shared experience of reality, particularly for those embedded within the dominant culture of North America, to which many of us are tied to. More and more, time seems to be quickening and grinding to a stuttering halt, all a...

In this episode, I speak with feminist writer and teacher Silvia Federici. We discuss the themes of her new book, Beyond the Periphery of the Skin: Rethinking, Remaking, and Reclaiming the Body in Contemporary Capitalism, published through PM Press.  The body—our sense of “self” in relation to others—has been restricted, reduced, and mutilated under Capitalism and the impositions of the State. Thi...

In this episode, I speak with award-winning journalist and author Dahr Jamail.  I can imagine most of you listening to this episode will recognize what Dahr and I both feel and know in this time we are in. Many of us are beginning to come to terms with the reality we have been dealt — a global predicament that includes a pandemic that won’t soon leave us, economic crisis and social unrest that wil...

In this interview, I speak with meteorologist and geoscientist Nicholas Humphrey.  As the nations of the world continue to confront the challenges of a global pandemic, and as the United States experiences the worst economic crisis in its history and convulses in the wake of accelerated social breakdown and civil unrest, the global climate crisis continues unabated. I ask Nicholas to provide his i...