The Ex-Worker

This episode offers an audio version of "Iran: An Uprising Besieged from Within and Without," discussing the uprising that broke out across Iran on December 28, 2025, triggered by economic distress and escalating to call for the toppling of the government. It includes three analyses exploring the tensions within the uprising between grassroots movements and monarchist groups courting the support of the United States and Israel. -------SHOW NOTES------ Table of Contents: The View from Syria {38:45} This episode offers an audio version of "Iran: An Uprising Besieged from Within and Without," published by CrimethInc. on January 7, 2026. The online version includes footnotes and hyperlinks offering more information. Thanks to Ayman Makarem of From The Periphery media collective for reading and recording this episode. To learn more about previous waves of resistance in Iran, you could start with "Revolt in Iran," discussing the revolt that began on September 16, 2022, and "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Woman, Life, Freedom)—The Genealogy of a Slogan," exploring the background of that movement. For deeper background, you could read "There Is an Infinite Amount of Hope… but Not for Us," an interview publishing in 2020 discussing the pandemic, economic crisis, repression, and resistance in Iran. To learn more about the conditions that ethnic minorities experience in Iran, read Precarious Work Means Precarious Life, discussing the Rajaee Port Disaster and what it shoes about the situation confronting Baluch ethnic minorities. Women, Life, Freedom" against the War Against Apartheid and Tyranny

This episode offers an audio version of “Make Ready: Safeguarding Our Movements against Repression,” exploring the implications of Donald Trump’s executive order designating “Antifa” as “a major terrorist organization” and how we can prepare our communities to endure whatever comes next. It also includes an audio version of “When the Police Knock on Your Door: Your Rights and Options.” -------SHOW NOTES------ Table of Contents This episode offers an audio version of “Make Ready: Safeguarding Our Movements against Repression,” published by CrimethInc. on September 18, 2025, and “When the Police Knock on Your Door: Your Rights and Options,” published by CrimethInc. on August 24, 2017. The online versions include a variety of footnotes and hyperlinks offering more information. Thanks to Margaret Killjoy of Strangers in a Tangled Wildnernessfor reading this episode. To learn more about why avoiding confrontation is rarely the best way to deal with rising authoritarianism, read “It’s Safer in the Front: Taking the Offensive against Tyranny.” You could also listen to it here. To learn more about security culture, consult our classic guide on the subject. You can download and print out an introductory poster about security culture here. To learn more about your rights in interactions with law enforcement officials, read “If an Agent Knocks” by the Center for Constitutional Rights, “You Have the Right to Remain Silent” by the National Lawyers Guild, and “If the FBI Approaches You to Become an Informant” by CrimethInc. You can read narratives from activists who endured grand jury subpoenas in a variety of ways here. For more background on the use of racketeering charges against defendants in the Stop Cop City RICO case, you could read this introduction and this update. You can learn about how the J20 defendants beat their charges here. To learn about how to strategize for and carry out direct action, begin with this step-by-step guide. You can also read “A Demonstrator’s Guide to Operational Security.”

This episode offers an audio version of “Mutual Aid, the Commons, and the Revolutionary Abolition of Capitalism,” exploring why the best way to understand mutual aid as an effort to create participatory commons in which everyone can contribute and there is no fundamental division between organizers and beneficiaries. -------SHOW NOTES------ Table of Contents Mutual Aid Means Resistance {19:33} This episode offers an audio version of “Mutual Aid, the Commons, and the Revolutionary Abolition of Capitalism,” published by CrimethInc. on June 6, 2025. The article version includes a variety of hyperlinks offering more documentation about the events referred. To keep abreast of the prevailing discourse about the difference between mutual aid and charity, you could begin with Dean Spade’s “Solidarity Not Charity.” By contrast, this text presents some of the criticisms of the ways that the framework of mutual aid is used and misused. You can read read Peter Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution here. You can read about Peter Kropotkin’s influence of the origins of Alcoholics Anonymous here. You can read AA founder Bill Wilson’s text “Benign Anarchy and Democracy,” which is quoted in this episode, here. You can read read Errico Malatesta’s “Mutual Aid” here. The allusion to “relations without measure” in this episode is a reference to the journal Killing King Abacus. For more perspective on how the non-profit industrial complex foreshortens the potential of movements for social change, read The Revolution Will Not Be Funded. You can read about mutual aid projects in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Poland, New York City, and many other places on our website. You can also learn about mutual aid projects like the Really Really Free Market. The True Levellers Standard Advanced: Or, The State of Community Opened, and Presented to the Sons of Men

This episode offers audio versions of “Minneapolis to Feds: ‘Get the Fuck Out’” and “Los Angeles Stands up to ICE: A Firsthand Report on the Clashes of June 6,” which trace the origins of the angry response to federal raids that spread across the United States in early June 2025. -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers audio versions of “Minneapolis to Feds: ‘Get the Fuck Out’” and “Los Angeles Stands up to ICE: A Firsthand Report on the Clashes of June 6,” published by CrimethInc. on June 4, 2025 and June 6, 2025, respectively. The articles include a variety of hyperlinks offering further documentation of the events. The clash in Minneapolis came on the heels of a raid in San Diego in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Homeland Security Investigations agents shot flash-bang grenades at an angry crowd. You can read more about the response to the federal raid in Minneapolis here. After the uprising in Los Angeles, fierce protests followed elsewhere around the country. We published reports from Austin, Texas and Chicago, Illinois. We have also published a readercollecting many reports and analyses covering the events of the first half of June 2025. Many ICE operations have obviously been calculated to be as brutal as possible, targeting documented as well as undocumented people with the intention of terrorizing the general public. This gratuitous cruelty is fundamental to Donald Trump’s governing strategy, as explained here. A large number of employees at other federal agencies have been reassigned to assist in the assaults on communities that ICE is carrying out. You can read about that here. To learn more about what you can do to resist ICE assaults on your community, you could begin with this guide. You can also educate yourself about rapid response networks. In 2018, demonstrators established blockades at ICE facilities, demonstrating how to take the initiative in the fight against ICE. The movement against white supremacy and police that culminated in 2020 with the George Floyd uprising offers an important reference point for any struggle against federal forces. This short guide has been circulating in the wake of the uprising in Los Angeles; it covers street safety and other important factors to consider in the midst of the resistance to ICE and Donald Trump’s attempt to impose fascism via military occupation. chemical weaponsthis tutorial here

This episode offers an audio version of “Become an Anarchist or Forever Hold Your Peace,” arguing that neither courts nor laws will halt the descent into autocracy. Massive numbers of people will have to take it upon themselves to organize concrete acts of resistance, to take direct action on a horizontal and participatory basis—in other words, to become anarchists. -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of “Become an Anarchist or Forever Hold Your Peace,” published by CrimethInc. on February 21, 2025. The article version includes a variety of hyperlinks offering documentation confirming the claims therein. If you’re interested in learning more about anarchist ideas, you could start with To Change Everything, our introduction to anarchism, or with “The Secret Is to Begin,” which offers further points of departure. To learn about direct action, start with this guide. You can read our argument that it was naïve for Democrats to invest so much hope in Robert Mueller’s investigation of Donald Trump here. We published it well before that investigation ended in a complete washout. Along similar lines, our text “Take Your Pick: Law or Freedom” has proved prescient, accurately predicting some of the quandaries that fetishizing legality has created for Democrats as Donald Trump and his cronies gain control of more and more aspects of the government and judicial system. You can read our critical analysis of democracy in full in our book From Democracy to Freedom. We offer it in print or as a free PDF. For more background on the neoliberal nightmare that has unfolded in Argentina since the victory of Javier Milei, read this. For background on the damage that the Trump regime is doing to public health, consult this text. For background on the damage that the Trump regime is doing to medical research, consult this one. You can learn about how the cuts to USAID have impacted people around the world here. Elon Musk is even trying to make it impossible to keep up with the weather. Whatever you’re imagining, what’s happening is worse. The Case for Resistance: What We’re Up Against—and What It Could Look Like to Fighthereprevious episodeIt’s Safer in the Front

This episode offers an audio version of “It’s Safer in the Front,” making the case that seeking safety by avoiding confrontation is not likely to be an effective strategy in a time of escalating political conflict. {February 25, 2025} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of “It’s Safer in the Front,” published by CrimethInc. on January 28, 2025. The article version includes a variety of hyperlinks offering more documentation about the events referred. To learn more about the mobilization against the “Summit of the Americas” in Québec City in 2001, read this. To learn more about the movement against capitalist globalization, of which it was a part, you could start here. You could also read David Graeber’s reflections on the movement. To learn more about the demonstrations against George W. Bush’s second inauguration, read this. For more background on the history of anarchist protest activity against presidential inaugurations across the decades, you could start here. To learn more about the mobilization against the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in 2008, read this. To learn more about the anarchist demonstration against Donald Trump’s first inauguration, read this. To learn about how the arrestees used solidarity to win a historic victory over the charges brought against them, start here. You could also read this text about what to do when kettled. And to get a sense of what it was like on the streets that day, don’t miss the J20 protest simulator! For background on the movement to stop Cop City in Atlanta, start here; to learn about the Block Cop City mobilization, read this. Finally, this article explores the trumped up charges brought against arrestees in the movement. For background on the anti-fascist resistance to the “Unite the Right” rally, read these reflections. To learn about the Kronstadt revolt, you could start here. We Fight because We Like It: Maintaining Our Morale against Seemingly Insurmountable Odds

This episode offers an audio version of “Sacrificial Violence and Retribution,” exploring the responses to two different extrajudicial killings as a way to understand the different forms of violence that are contending in our society today. {November 22, 2024} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of “Sacrificial Violence and Retribution,” published by CrimethInc. on December 23, 2024. The article version includes a variety of hyperlinks providing citations for the claims made herein. To get deeper into René Girard’s analysis of sacrificial violence, you can read the first chapter of his book Violence and the Sacred here. You can read an incomplete roundup of various responses to the shooting of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, here. In this news clip, you can see a representative speaking on CNN on behalf of a fundraising campaign in support of Luigi Mangione’s legal defense. You can read a discussion of the causes of the anger directed at insurance executives here. You can read some statistics about gun violence in the United States in general here. For information about how much damage mass deportations are likely to inflict on the United States economy—not to mention the lives of millions of families—start here. To learn more about why people travel to the United States without documents and what role they play in the United States economy, read our book, No Wall They Can Build. Finally, for a further discussion of revenge and political violence, you could read an earlier article of ours, “Against the Logic of the Guillotine.”

This episode offers an audio version of “The Case for Resistance,” laying out an analysis of what we can expect from Donald Trump’s second term and how we can prepare to confront it. “This is a pivotal moment, and everyone who isn’t cynically detached is sounding the alarm. Those of us who recognize the necessity of fighting had better find each other, identify the strengths and weaknesses of all the parties involved, recall the lessons of the past eight years, and strategize.” {November 22, 2024} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of “The Case for Resistance,” published by CrimethInc. on November 20, 2024. The article version includes a variety of hyperlinks providing citations for the claims made herein. For background, you could start by listening to episode #106 of the Ex-Worker, which explores the various ways that the Democratic Party is responsible for creating the situation in which Donald Trump can return to power. It is also available as the article “History Repeats Itself: First as Farce, Then as Tragedy.” Unfortunately, we predicted this dire turn of events in “Why Stop at Removing Biden?”, published by CrimethInc. in July 2024. For information about how to organize an assembly, you could read the article “How to Organize an Assembly,” which details the steps in organizing a successful assembly and presents some sample discussion questions you could use to discuss how to prepare for the second Donald Trump administration. For access to a wide array of materials about security culture, digital security, phone safety, protective gear, direct action strategy, street tactics, jail support, and first aid, you could consult “EVERYBODY OUT!,” the resource list we published ahead of the 2020 elections. To get some historical context and refine your sense of strategy ahead of the second Trump era, read The Trump Years,” a chronology of resistance and direct action under the first Trump administration.

At a time when misinformation, rising authoritarianism, and disasters exacerbated by industrially-produced climate change are creating a feedback loop of escalating crisis, it’s crucial to understand disaster response as an integral part of community defense and strategize about how this can play a part in movements for liberation. In this reflection, a local anarchist involved in longstanding disaster response efforts in Appalachia recounts the lessons that they have learned in the course of dealing with the consequences of Hurricane Helene over the past six weeks and offers advice about how to prepare for the disasters to come. {November 18, 2024} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of The Eye of Every Storm: Anarchist Response to Hurricane Helene, published by CrimethInc. on November 13. We present this in collaboration with Audible Anarchist, another collective producing audio content. For related content, you can listen to an interview with an anarchist involved in Mutual Aid Disaster Relief organizing in the wake of Hurricane Irma in 2017 in the fourth episode of The Hotwire. You can also read these accounts of anarchist relief efforts in North Carolina following Hurricane Florence in 2018. Finally, this analysis written in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida explores the colonial roots of the disasters that a series of hurricanes has inflicted upon New Orleans. You can read about how people responded to the impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico here. Anarchists in Brasil have made the case that capitalism is one of the chief causes of the suffering inflicted by the floods of May 2024. In episode 95 of the Ex-Worker Podcast, you can hear two perspectives on the responsibility of the Turkish and Syrian governments for the suffering caused by the earthquakes of February 6, 2023. For more information about how capitalism is implicated in the sort of industrially produced climate change that is exacerbating hurricanes and other “natural” disasters around the world, you could consult this short text by Peter Gelderloos. Finally, if you are looking to get connected to anarchist disaster relief efforts, you could start by learning more about Mutual Aid Disaster Relief.

Donald Trump has won the 2024 election. In order to understand what we’re up against, let’s look at how we got here. In many ways, the Democrats are responsible for Donald Trump’s return to power. Over the past four years, the Democrats have beefed up the institutions through which the fascists will enact their policies, normalized violence against the people that the fascists intend to target, turned over the communications platforms via which people share information, and discouraged people from the kind of tactics one needs to fight against a fascist regime is complicity. {November 6, 2024} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of History Repeats Itself: First as Farce, Then as Tragedy in Argentina, published by CrimethInc. on November 6th. The article makes the case that, in many ways, the policies of the Democratic Party are responsible for Donald Trump’s return to power. For background on the events described in this article, consult The Billionaire and the Anarchists, which traces Twitter from its roots as a protest tool to Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform; Take Your Pick: Law or Freedom, which explores how the slogan “Nobody Is Above the Law” actually paved the way for tyranny; The Trump Years, a chronology of grassroots resistance from January 20, 2017 to January 20, 2021; and Why Stop at Removing Biden, an analysis of why it took the Democratic Party so long to remove Joe Biden and what the consequences were bound to be—a forecast borne out by the results of the 2024 election. Regarding the argument that state power has become a “hot potato” that burns whatever party holds it, consult this article and Chile and this earlier article about Ukraine. For a point of departure regarding how people can organize ahead of a second Trump administration, consult Don’t Doom Scroll, Organize: How to Get Active in the Current Terrain.

This episode offers an audio version of “Don’t Stop: Continuing the Fight Against Cop City”, published on December 12th. It traces the activities of the movement to Stop Cop City and defend the Weelaunee Forest from June through December 2023, including accounts of the campaign for an Atlanta voter’s referendum on Cop City, the Sixth Week of Action, the relationship between clandestine direct action and public organizing, local Black organizing against the project, the Block Cop City march in November, and potential strategic pathways forward. Tune in for an in-depth evaluation of the latest phase in one of the most critical social struggles of our time. {February 4, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of “Don’t Stop: Continuing the Fight Against Cop City”, published by CrimethInc. on December 12th. It includes excerpts from “Don’t Panic, Stay Tight: Frontline Reflections on Block Cop City,” an account of the November 13th march in Atlanta. The City in the Forestaudio versionThe Forest in the Cityaudio versionBeneath the Concrete, the Forestaudio versionBalance SheetDefending Abundance EverywhereThe Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol Are Guilty of MurderLiving in an Earthquakeaudio versionUnderstanding the RICO Charges in Atlantaaudio versionStay up to date on developments with news from the Atlanta Community Press Collective The Uncover Cop City campaign is targeting the insurers whose coverage makes Cop City possible, including Nationwide Insurance and Accident Fund - follow the links to find office locations and contact information to show your opposition to the project.

At first, it appeared to be an ordinary forest defense campaign aimed at discouraging Atlanta city government from pouring money into an unpopular police training facility. But over the past two years, the fight against Cop City has escalated into one of the fiercest struggles of the Biden era, pitting a wide range of courageous people against a united front of politicians, prosecutors, and police. In their desperate efforts to deflect popular resistance and force through the project, police and prosecutors have pressed trumped-up domestic terrorism charges against almost every defendant arrested since last December; they have killed one forest defender; they have charged those engaged in legal support for the arrestees. In the following account and analysis, published on June 21st as “Living in an Earthquake: The Fight against Cop City Confronts Unprecedented Repression,” participants in the movement in Atlanta trace its trajectory from the fifth Week of Action that began on March 4, 2023 through the City Council vote of June 5. {December 28, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of “Living in an Earthquake: The Fight against Cop City Confronts Unprecedented Repression,” published by CrimethInc. on June 21st. For background on the first two and a half years of the movement, see the following articles and podcast episodes: “The City in the Forest,” (audio version) – chronicles the first year of the movement “The Forest in the City” (audio version) – chronicles the second year of the movement “Beneath the Concrete, the Forest” (audio version) – collects first-person accounts from the occupation of Weelaunee forest through the first half of 2022 “Balance Sheet” – explores and evaluates the strategies that different currents in the movement have employed “Defending Abundance Everywhere” – essays on the webs of relationships linking all creatures and underlying the struggle to defend the forest “The Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol Are Guilty of Murder” – analysis of the assassination of Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán “Understanding the RICO Charges in Atlanta” (audio version) – analysis of the new wave of legal repression launched in September 2023 For our most recent coverage, see “Don’t Stop: Continuing the Fight Against Cop City”, published by CrimethInc. on December 12th; stay tuned for the audio version, soon to be released as Ex-Worker Episode #105. You can find texts, posters, graphics, and more materials about the movement online through Defend the Atlanta Forest: Library. Check out the Atlanta Community Press Collective for ongoing coverage.

A so-called “anarcho-capitalist” has just been elected president in Argentina. What does this mean for anarchists and the prospects for revolutionary change in South America? Spoiler alert: it’s not looking good. In this episode, we share an account from an Argentinian anarchist analyzing the recent rise to power of Javier Milei, an extreme neoliberal economist, in the context of the global turn towards fascist and reactionary populist leaders like Trump and Bolsonaro. You’ll get an in-depth look at the history of center-left rule, military dictatorship, and neoliberal austerity that resulting in the powerful popular uprising of 2001, along with an detailed assessment of the economic challenges, disillusionment with the political class, and failures of the left and radical social movements that facilitated Milei’s rise. This is a disturbing but essential exploration of one of the year’s most important political developments, with critical implications for those of us fighting the culture and politics and fascism around the world. {December 10, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of Back to the Future: The Return of the Ultraliberal Right in Argentina, published by CrimethInc. on November 26th. The article quotes from a post-election statement by a coalition of “especifist” anarchist organizations in Argentina. For coverage of recent popular mobilization in Argentina, see our coverage of the 2018 G20 protests in Buenos Aires: Setting the Stage: Background Materials and Logbook November 14–16, Logbook November 17–19: Peronism, Counter-Summit Creativity, and the Schedule of Resistance, and Logbook November 20–22: Security Zones and Shantytowns. This episode discusses in depth the 2001 uprising that succeeded in driving the neoliberal regime from power. The classic zine account is Que Se Vayan Todos: Argentina’s Popular Uprising. Argentina featured one of the world’s largest and most powerful anarchist movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including some of the earliest anarcha-feminist projects. To learn more about this history, you could start with some of these resources: “Anarchism in Latin America” by Ángel Cappelletti, “The Anarchist Expropriators: Buenaventura Durruti and Argentina’s Working-Class Robin Hood” by Osvaldo Bayer, “Anarchism in Argentina” and “Resistencia Libertaria: Anarchist Opposition to the Last Argentine Dictatorship” by Chuck Morse, and “No God, No Boss, No Husband: The world’s first Anarcha-Feminist group.” In case you were confused on this point, “anarcho-capitalist” is an oxymoron. We explore this in more depth in Episode 18 of the Ex-Worker, “What Anarchism Isn’t, Pt 1: Libertarianism and Anarcho-Capitalism.”

On November 13, 2023, demonstrators in southern California blockaded a facility of Raytheon, a defense contractor, in solidarity with the Palestinians on the receiving end of the bombs that it produces. They managed to block the facility for more than seven hours, supported by waves of hundreds of activists joining the action, and succeeded in shutting down operations for the day. This episode offers an audio version of How They Stopped Work at the Raytheon Facility: Report on a Day of Blockading, published on November 15th. Participants summarize how the action was organized and unfolded, police responses, the background of direct actions against the war machine and mobilization in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and reflections for future resistance. {November 25, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of How They Stopped Work at the Raytheon Facility: Report on a Day of Blockading, published on November 15th. For evaluations of direct action strategies towards Palestinian solidarity, see our previous articles and episodes “Shutting Down the Port of Tacoma: Reflections from the Salish Sea,” also available as Episode 101 of the Ex-Worker; and “Strategizing for Palestinian Solidarity: Expanding the Toolkit From Demands to Direct Action,” also available as Episode 99. Our coverage of the war in Palestine so far includes “From the Galilee to Gaza—A Voice From Palestine” – also available as Episode 98 – and ““A Nuclear Superpower and a Dispossessed People”: An Anarchist from Jaffa on the Escalation in Palestine and Israeli Repression”. For further background, see “A Coup d’État in Israel? The Bitter Harvest of Colonialism” (March 27, 2023) – also available as Episode 92 of the Ex-Worker - “The Revolt in Haifa: An Eyewitness Report” (2021), and “Contemporary Israeli Anarchism: A History” (2013). For classic strategic analysis, you can also read more about why we don’t make demands and what we mean by direct action.

On November 6, 2023, several hundred people showed up at the Port of Tacoma in Washington State to block access to a shipping vessel that was scheduled to deliver equipment to the Israeli military. This episode shares an account and analysis of the action published on November 10th as “Shutting Down the Port of Tacoma: Reflections from the Salish Sea.” Participants review the history of port blockades in the Puget Sound, share their experience at the protest, and seek to offer inspiration for continued transoceanic solidarity. {November 23, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of Shutting Down the Port of Tacoma: Reflections from the Salish Sea. To read more about this action, see the reportback “The Boat That Wasn’t Blocked” on Puget Sound Anarchists. For background on a previous blockade action in the region, check out Episode 61 on The Olympia Train Blockade of 2017. The recent history of port shutdowns in the Northwest includes the Port Militarization Resistance movement blockades of the ports of Olympia and Tacoma to protest against the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan in 2006–2009; coordination between Occupy/Decolonize Seattle ILWU port workers in Longview that shut down the Port of Seattle among other ports in 2011–12; the Block the Boat action in 2014; the “Shell No” lockdown in 2015, Shell No. and the Block the Boat delay of an Israeli-operated ship for weeks in 2021. Our coverage of the war in Palestine so far includes “Strategizing for Palestinian Solidarity: Expanding the Toolkit From Demands to Direct Action” - also available as Episode 99 of the Ex-Worker; “From the Galilee to Gaza—A Voice From Palestine” – also available as Episode 98 – and ““A Nuclear Superpower and a Dispossessed People”: An Anarchist from Jaffa on the Escalation in Palestine and Israeli Repression”. For further background, see “A Coup d’État in Israel? The Bitter Harvest of Colonialism” (March 27, 2023) – also available as Episode 92 of the Ex-Worker - “The Revolt in Haifa: An Eyewitness Report” (2021), and “Contemporary Israeli Anarchism: A History” (2013). For classic strategic analysis, you can also read more about why we don’t make demands and what we mean by direct action.

On April 19, 2023, a Russian anarchist named Dmitry Petrov was killed in battle near Bakhmut, Ukraine. In this episode, we offer a eulogy remembering Dmitry as an uncompromising anarchist fighter who participated in an unbelievable amount of radical activity around the region. His extraordinary life spanned anarchist organizing as a teenager in Moscow; environmental defense, radical unionism, and refugee solidarity activism; years of underground direct action against police, military, and profiteers from gentrification; participating in the Maidan protests in Ukraine, uprising against dictatorship in Belarus, and the struggle against the Islamic State in Rojava; co-founding the Anarcho-Communist Combat Organization; and finally taking up arms against Russian imperialism in Ukraine. This episode combines an incomplete biography of his life in combat against all forms of hierarchy and domination, along with a translation of his text “The Mission of Anarchism in the Modern World,” a remembrance published by the Anarcho-Communist Combat Organization titled “Dima Ecolog’s Partisan Path”, and a song inspired by his direct action. Join us in commemorating the life of a powerful anarchist comrade who will be dearly missed. {November 7, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ The Mission of Anarchism in the Modern WorldDima Ecolog’s Partisan PathBlack Blog FighterThis episode offers an audio version of In Memory of Dmitry Petrov: An Incomplete Biography and Translation of His Work, published on May 3rd, 2023. It includes an account of his life and anarchist activity assembled by CrimethInc. operatives (be sure to check out the original article for all the links to the source material), along with Dmitry’s text, “The Mission of Anarchism in the Modern World,” a tribute from his fellow fighters from the Anarcho-Communist Combat Organization titled “Dima Ecolog’s Partisan Path” (here in the original Russian), and a song based in part on his activities called “Black Blog Fighter” by the Russian punk band Electric Partisans. A print version of this text in the form of a small book is available from Active Distribution in Europe. We hope to announce soon that copies will be available for purchase in the US via PM Press; we’ll update this link when that comes to pass. A Collection of Dmitry’s Writings in EnglishDmitry speaking at May Day 2009 in MoscowDmitry speaking at the Ukrainian House (UkrDom) during the Maidan Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII Part IX Part XSocial revolution in Kurdistan Red and Black Devils Life without a State: Revolution in Rojava Kurdistan: Real Democracy in Conditions of War and Blockade Sarah: My Whole Life Has Been a StruggleFor a discussion of the complexities of formulating an anarchist anti-war strategy that does not effectively cede the field to state militarism, you could begin with this article from the Russian-language anarchist website Autonomous Action, “In the Spirit of Sholem Schwarzbard - Addressing Confusion about the War in Ukraine” Dmitry Petrov was killed alongside two other anarchist fighters, Cooper Andrews and Finbar Cafferkey. You can read about Cooper’s motivations in his own words here and consult a eulogy from his comrades here. You can learn about Finbar’s lifelong activism here, read an interview with him here, and listen to a song of his here.

As the Israeli bombardment of Gaza intensifies, with over 10,000 deaths recorded to date, it is more urgent than ever for people everywhere to take decisive action to stop the war machine. In this episode, we share the strategic reflections of a collective of Jewish anarchists based in the US on Palestinian solidarity. The authors propose a shift from making demands to taking direct action, relying not on appealing to the consciences of politicians but on concretely interrupting the functioning of the businesses and agencies that are enabling the slaughter. After offering historical context to Israeli settler colonialism and Palestinian resistance, this article connects the movement to defend the Weelaunee Forest and Stop Cop City to Palestinian solidarity struggles, and describes approaches used by different collectives involving targeting war profiteers and law enforcement/military exchange programs. A publisher’s afterward reflects on the uses and limits of tertiary targeting through reflections on the SHAC model and the Green Scare. Tune in for vital strategic reflections on what we can do from wherever in the world we’re listening to take action against militarism, displacement, and death in Palestine. {November 7, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of Strategizing for Palestinian Solidarity: Expanding the Toolkit From Demands to Direct Action, published on November 3rd, 2023. This episode includes the analysis of The Fayer Collective of Jewish anarchists. To learn more about their work, see their text “Finding Our Own Fire” and this article in Jewish Currents. Our coverage of the war in Palestine includes “From the Galilee to Gaza—A Voice From Palestine” – also available as Episode 98 of the Ex-Worker – and ““A Nuclear Superpower and a Dispossessed People”: An Anarchist from Jaffa on the Escalation in Palestine and Israeli Repression”. For further background, see “A Coup d’État in Israel? The Bitter Harvest of Colonialism” (March 27, 2023) – also available as Episode 92 of the Ex-Worker - “The Revolt in Haifa: An Eyewitness Report” (2021), and “Contemporary Israeli Anarchism: A History” (2013). For background on our discussion of tertiary targeting and direct action strategy, check out our critical assessment of The SHAC Model (2008) and the broader context of The Green Scare (2008). You can also read more about why we don’t make demands and what we mean by direct action. The authors connect Palestinian solidarity to the movement to Defend the Weelaunee Forest and Stop Cop City. For our coverage of that movement, see Episodes 85, 86, 96, and 97 of the Ex-Worker for audio coverage; you can also read “The City in the Forest,” chronicling the first year of the movement; “The Forest in the City”, chronicling the second year of the movement; “Balance Sheet,” exploring the strategies that different currents in the movement have employed; and “Living in an Earthquake,” on the most recent wave of repression and resistance.

As the Israeli military escalates its slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and societies around the world fracture and clash over the conflict, we want to amplify anti-authoritarian voices from within the territory to share their experiences and analysis. In this short but moving account, we present the perspective of a Palestinian living in the north of Palestine, who speaks about different aspects of life under colonization and about the struggle for liberation through grassroots organizing and solidarity. {November 1, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode is an audio version of the article “From the Galilee to Gaza: A Voice From Palestine”, originally published on October 17, 2023. For more coverage of Palestinian struggles and Israeli anarchist analyses and solidarity efforts, see ““A Nuclear Superpower and a Dispossessed People”: An Anarchist from Jaffa on the Escalation in Palestine and Israeli Repression” (October 8, 2023), “A Coup d’État in Israel? The Bitter Harvest of Colonialism” (March 27, 2023), “The Revolt in Haifa: An Eyewitness Report” (2021), and “Contemporary Israeli Anarchism: A History” (2013).

Prosecutors in Georgia have charged activists protesting against a planned police militarization facility known as "Cop City" with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has indicted 61 people on RICO charges. In this episode, we explore the ramifications of this more or less unprecedented stage of repression. {Oct 6, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode is an audio version of the September 5th article “Understanding the RICO Charges in Atlanta.” For more information, check out this video recording of an online seminar organized by the National Lawyers Guild: Understanding the RICO Indictments Against Stop Cop City Activists. For more background on the ways that this law has been wielded as a tool of repression against social movements, see “On the Political Use of RICO Charges.” For further coverage and analysis of the last year of struggle in the forest in Atlanta, check out the articles Balance Sheet: Two Years against Cop City–Evaluating Strategies, Refining Tactics {February 28, 2023}, which evaluates the strategic hypotheses that the movement has produced and tested over the past two years and reflects on the risks and possibilities of the next phase of the struggle; Defending Abundance Everywhere: A Call to Every Community From the Weelaunee Forest {March 2, 2023}, a collection of short essays that draws on the struggle to defend the forest to reflect on the abundance that exists in our communities and in the more-than-human world; Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol Are Guilty of Murder: The Evidence and the Motive {April 20, 2023}, which exposes the truth about the police’s killing of Tortuguita in the forest; and “Living in an Earthquake: The Fight against Cop City Confronts Unprecedented Repression” {June 1, 2023}, which explains the latest rounds of repression and domestic terrorism charges. For more Ex-Worker Podcast audio coverage of the movement, check out Episode 85, “Stop Cop City / Defend Weelaunee Forest, Part I: History and Analysis”, which presents an audio version of our April 2022 article The City in the Forest: Reinventing Resistance for an Age of Climate Crisis and Police Militarization; Episode 86, “Stop Cop City / Defend Weelaunee Forest, Part II: Accounts and Solidarity”, which narrates the August 2022 article Beneath the Concrete, The Forest: Accounts From the Defense of the Atlanta Forest; Episode 96, which narrates the February 2023 account The Forest In The City: Two Years Of Forest Defense In Atlanta, Georgia. Stay up to date on the latest developments, calls to action, and more by following Stop Cop City Soliidarity – which includes a very helpful target map to help plan actions against the project’s supporters and funders – the Atlanta Community Press Collective, StopCop.City, Defend the Atlanta Forest linktree, and the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. The Ex-Worker is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network, an English-language anarchist radio and podcast network run by radical media makers. You can find episodes from other anarchist podcasts covering the struggle to defend the forest in Atlanta and Stop Cop City, including The Final Straw Radio, This is America, from It’s Going Down, and more.

This episode continues the Ex-Worker Podcast’s coverage of the movement to Stop Cop City and defend the Weelaunee Forest in Atlanta, Georgia. In this episode, we present an audio version of The Forest In The City: Two Years Of Forest Defense In Atlanta, Georgia, originally published February 22, 2023, which continues the chronology of the movement whose origins we reported in episodes 85 and 86. In this eloquent and nuanced narrative, you’ll hear a detailed account of the movement’s second year, from the frenzy of activity in spring 2022 through the third and fourth weeks of action, waves of backlash and repression, and the tragic murder of forest defender Tortuguita, up to the eve of the March 2023 week of action. In addition to a chronology of developments and actions, the article shares insights learned by participants in the movement about relations with the media, the significance of music and the arts in social struggles, the importance of optimism and confidence, the risks of specialization, and many more aspects of revolutionary strategy. We encourage all of our listeners to learn what you can from this account, and to take action to support forest defenders and fight back against Cop City and its world. To learn more, be sure to check out the show notes and links, and stay tuned for forthcoming audio versions of more of CrimethInc.’s coverage of the struggle. {May 25, 2023} -------SHOW NOTES------ This episode offers an audio version of the article The Forest In The City: Two Years Of Forest Defense In Atlanta, Georgia, originally published February 22, 2023. Please note that this audio version does not include the article’s Appendix, which offers a day-by-day chronology of events with links to media coverage; we thought that including this in the audio version would feel redundant for listeners, and the episode is already nearly two hours long! If you’re interested, you can consult the original article to read this and check out the links it includes. For further coverage and analysis of the last year of struggle in the forest in Atlanta, check out the articles Balance Sheet: Two Years against Cop City–Evaluating Strategies, Refining Tactics {February 28, 2023}, which evaluates the strategic hypotheses that the movement has produced and tested over the past two years and reflects on the risks and possibilities of the next phase of the struggle; Defending Abundance Everywhere: A Call to Every Community From the Weelaunee Forest {March 2, 2023}, a collection of short essays that draws on the struggle to defend the forest to reflect on the abundance that exists in our communities and in the more-than-human world; and Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol Are Guilty of Murder: The Evidence and the Motive {April 20, 2023}, which exposes the truth about the police’s killing of Tortuguita in the forest. For more Ex-Worker Podcast audio coverage of the movement, check out Episode 85, “Stop Cop City / Defend Weelaunee Forest, Part I: History and Analysis”, which presents an audio version of our April 2022 article The City in the Forest: Reinventing Resistance for an Age of Climate Crisis and Police Militarization, and Episode 86, “Stop Cop City / Defend Weelaunee Forest, Part II: Accounts and Solidarity”, which narrates the August 2022 article Beneath the Concrete, The Forest: Accounts From the Defense of the Atlanta Forest. Stay up to date on the latest developments, calls to action, and more by following Stop Cop City Soliidarity – which includes a very helpful target map to help plan actions against the project’s supporters and funders – the Atlanta Community Press Collective, StopCop.City, Defend the Atlanta Forest linktree, and the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. The Ex-Worker is a proud member of the Channel Zero Network, an English-language anarchist radio and podcast network run by radical media makers. You can find episodes from other anarchist podcasts covering the struggle to defend the forest in...