Sludgefest

Everything is aggressively stupid and evil right now, so Lucy and I just talked about whatever we felt like for about an hour. With as few references to Elon Musk as we could manage. Need to tune your brain to TV static for an hour? This is the episode for you. Energy drinks, television shows, AI slop, manosphere ghouls, edible books, biased steaks, and a sequel to the groundbreaking 2015 document...

"I hope they are a little bit more than intrigued" The fourth in our series on the environmental and humanitarian legacy of US uranium mines in The Navajo Nation. In this episode, we cover the 1950’s and 60’s. The Atomic Age promises endless energy and domestic convenience for middle-class white America, but is sustained Navajo miners and millers working long days in uranium mines at  great  expen...

"Mean, bad man" The third in our series on the environmental and humanitarian legacy of US uranium mines in The Navajo Nation. In this episode, we cover the years 1868-1960. The Navajo return home after being ethnically cleansed by the American military to Bosque Redondo. After losing nearly everything, they rebuild their lives, herds, and communities. The United States continues to atte...

"Soup Will Be Your Salvation" The second in our series on the environmental and humanitarian legacy of US uranium mines in The Navajo Nation and abroad. Before we talk about the mines, we need to discuss the historical context of settler-colonial oppression of the Navajo by the United States. In this episode, we cover the years 1849-1868, during which the United States military subjects...

The first in our series on the environmental and humanitarian legacy of US uranium mines in The Navajo Nation and abroad. Before we get there, we will need to bring along some history. In this episode, we outline the broader historical context, in which the Navajo find themselves beset by a succession of ruthless settler-colonial empires: first Spain, then Mexico, and finally the United States. *C...

Join Jesse and Lucy Valentine of the Boonta Vista podcast as they wade through the sewage of yore. Waste pits below an ancient cathedral. The River Thames, swollen with turds. Favorite soups. Urine therapy. It’s all here. Intro/Outro by Chat Pile Political cartoon slideshow References: River Thames  documentary, ITV 1991 Magnusson, Roberta J. Water technology in the Middle Ages: cities, monasterie...

Come, enter the Landscape of Thorns and join Jesse and Lucy Valentine (of the Boonta Vista podcast ) by the fire. New episodes of Sludgefest are coming soon, and they're pretty upsetting so, we're taking a brief psychic rest to discuss mildly less depressing topics. Jonathan Frakes’ haunted chalkboard, Spam musubi, radioactive cats, car salesmen with sharpened nipples. It's all here. T...

Join Jesse and Lucy Valentine from the Boonta Vista podcast as we take a dip in the viscous, multicolored pools of Lemon Springs. We discuss one of Australia’s weirdest environmental crimes and what it could mean for wildlife and collectors of horror film-memorabilia. Listen to the Boonta Vista Podcast here or anywhere you get your pods. Sludgefest produced by Jesse Black and Shannon Rawlings Intr...

Jesse speaks with Dr. Julia Morris , author of the book Asylum and Extraction in the Republic of Nauru. It's a great book and tremendous piece of research which deeply informed our series on Nauru. If you haven't listened to the previous two episodes of our series on Nauru, you may want to check those out first. Dr. Morris is Assistant Professor of International Studies at the University o...

The second and final episode of our series on Nauru. After gaining independence and taking control over the phosphate industry, the island undergoes an unprecedented economic boom, followed by a devastating crash. Amid financial crises, Nauru finds temporarily lifelines in two new industries- lifelines that further entangle the island with extractive capitalism and a dark colonial legacy. Hosted b...

From mines in the jungle, to shining company towns, to refugee tents, to the deep ocean floor- join us as we follow the story of the island in part 1 of our 2 part series. Thank you to those who helped make Sludgefest possible: Editor, sound designer and logo artist Shannon Rawlings ( @bbytengu  on Twitter). Music by by  California Death Worm . You, dear listener!

3M and Dupont carry on the legacy of colonial violence by poisoning water, wildlife, people, and Indigenous ways-of life with "forever chemicals". Donate to mutual aid programs to benefit Indigenous communities at indigenousmutualaid.org . Donate to the Western Klamath Restoration Project , a partnership of conservation researchers and the Karuk Tribe to restore their ancestral lands and...

Northfolk Southern brings black skies and acid rain to Ohio. Special thanks to Shannon Rawlings for edits and sage wisdom. Full reference list here: