The Final Straw Radio

Ed, co-founder of SASSI (Southerners Against Surveillance Systems & Infrastructure), speaks to The Final Straw Radio about the proliferation of surveillance infrastructure in the South (and more broadly in United States). We speak about topics such as the increasing cooperation between the state and corporate surveillance companies, the desire of these companies to extract ever-increasing amounts of data from the public, the way the state uses private databases to sidestep traditional warrant processes, some of the specific technologies that cities in the south have contracts with and their efficacy. We also touch on how folks at SASSI investigate these topics...

East End Co-Op Union + BDS This week, Ian spoke with member of UE local 667, organized workers at the East End Co-Op in Pittsburgh about the origins and goals of their organization and their divestment campaign to remove products from occupied Palestine from the shelves of their co-op. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Links: MIT living wage calculator UE 667 FB UE 667 IG UE 667 X BDS Movement Announcement Shine White on Hunger Strike White antiracist prisoner in North Carolina, Shine White, was transferred to a new facility and brutally beaten...

This week, the show has two segments. Pittsburgh Anarchist Book Fair First up, you'll hear a brief interview with M, an organizer of the first Pittsburgh anarchist book fair, happening October 24-26 across a few venues in the Steel City A list of events (still being updated): https://pizz.ation.ist/ Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1327126225660995 As is anarchist book fair tradition, everything will be free. We're renting a few spaces, and expecting a few other costs. Sharing that info here so folks can get a sense of what that looks like. If...

A conversation with Tariq D. Khan, author of The Republic Shall Be Kept Clean: How Settler Colonial Violence Shaped Antileft Repression, out from University of Illinois Press in 2023. In this conversation we talk about the connections between the anti-Indigenous motivations of the genocidal frontier wars in the US and the inward turn to heretical movements pushing for freedom for the laboring classes through the great upheavals of the period known as the Nadir, between the end of post-Civil War Reconstruction and the 1920's. We talk about the roots of anti-Leftist violence of the various Red Scares and intersections with t...

This week, an interview with members of Signals Rising, who provide education and support around radio technologies including meshtastic networks as alternative communications or in disaster relief scenarios. Check out their website for resources and ways to get in touch Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) A couple of fun Software Defined Radio (SDR) toys: https://flipperzero.one/ https://github.com/sharebrained/portapack-hackrf

This week, we're featuring two segments. First up, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, an lawyer with the National Lawyers Guild, speaks about the recent declarations of war by the Trump administration on anteefah, what has changed legally, what they might be telegraphing and smart ways to move forward in this tense atmosphere. Check out our recent chat with Mo about Knowing your Rights and Risks with the police, linked in our show notes, or learn more about their work at NLG.ORG Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Then, A speaks briefly about supporting mutual aid efforts in Gaza. For...

This week, Ian talks with Cartoonist Aaron Losty about his new graphic novel, The Hanging, out now from Strangers Publishing. Among other topics, they discuss formative works, collaboration, and making genre comics for a small press audience. In the back half, they talk about Aaron's experience as a co-founder of Cartoonist Cooperative, the state of the organization three years after its inception, decision-making processes, and recent campaigns. Apologies for the audio quality of the interview. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Aaron Losty Bluesky: @aaronlosty.bsky.social Instagram: @aaronlosty Patreon: patreon.com/aaronlosty Website: aaronlosty.com <...

This week, we spoke with Nolan Huber of the Atlanta Community Press Collective about recent developments in the case of 61 people facing RICO indictments and other charges in relation to the movement to Stop Cop City, an urban police training center built in south Atlanta's Weelaunee forest. For the hour we talk about the case, last week's dismissal of racketeering and arson indictments and other recent victories for the Defend The Forest movement. You can hear past interviews in our archives by clicking the tag for Stop Cop City and see ACPC's coverage of the case and other local...

This week, we're featuring an interview with Shannon, one half of the mutual aid project operating in Washington DC known as Remora House. For the hour we talk about Remora House, the impact on houseless and non-citizen communities has been impacted by the Trump Administration's crack down and sending in of troops to DC and some ideas on strengthening the resistance as the feds and national guard are deployed into our neighborhoods to break up our communities and our resolve Remora House Transcript Remora House PDF (Unimposed) Remora House Zine (Imposed PDF) Links from Shannon: Remora House Linktree...

This week we're sharing an interview with Tomas Rothaus, author of the recently publish memoir, Another War Is Possible: Militant Anarchist Experiences in the Antiglobalization Era, out this year from PM Press. We speak about the anti-globalization movement and how it's remembered, debates around mass mobilizations and Black Bloc street conflicts, mentorship and inter-generationality in anarchism and the importance of a sober audacity in political struggle. Tomas has three more, related books scheduled to come out in the next 2 years listed at PM Press's website. We hope you enjoy. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) You can...

As we enter into the 2025 Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners, we're sharing a discussion with three anarchists doing prisoner support in different national contexts, prompted by topics brought by the guests. You'll hear first from Moshe of ABC Belarus, then Nicole of the Solidarity Apothecary and finally from Anya of Solidarity Zone speak on topics such as service work in solidarity, gendered dynamics of care work, difficulties in organizing ongoing and longterm anti-repression work from within exile and diaspora communities, burnout and self-care. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Links ABC Belarus Solidarity Zone Solidarity A...

This week, we're sharing a recent interview with anarchist prisoner Malik Muhammad. Malik is 3 years into a 10 year concurrent federal and Oregon sentence for alleged use of molotov cocktails during the 2020 uprising and is currently incarcerated at the Snake River Detention Facility, in the hole. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) We speak about Malik's politicization, their case, realities and organizing in the Oregon prison system, keeping connections with the outside, Malik's writing and inspiration. You can find more about their case and at malikspeaks.noblogs.org

This week, we're sharing three segments. First up, you'll hear Yara speaking about Solidarity International, a new initiative to support prisoner support and anti-repression work beyond borders initiated by various anarchist and anti-authoritarian groups networked together, including the International Anarchist Defence Fund and various anarchist black cross groups across the world. SolInt Transcript SolInt PDF (Unimposed) SolInt Zine (Imposed PDF) We're releasing this in the run up to the 2025 Week of Solidarity With Anarchist Prisoners (or WOSWOP), August 23-30th, in which people are invited to gather, connect and take action against borders and against prison walls...

This week, Ian talks with cartoonist Mattie Lubchansky about her new book, Simplicity, out July 29 from Pantheon Graphic Library. The conversation touches on Mattie's work as Associate Editor for The Nib, her history with comics, and her ambitions beyond the printed page, but mostly focuses on the role of art in organizing and living our politics amid all the compromises required of life in the Real World Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Links: Instagram: @mattielubchansky x/twitter: @Lubchansky website: https://mattielubchansky.com tour: mattielubchansky.com/tour bluesky: @mattielubchansky.com podcast website: https://nogodsnomayors.com podcast b...

This week, we're sharing this a chat with my friend, Dani Burlson on her recent book, Red Flag Warning: Mutual Aid and Survival in California's Fire Country! We speak about fire ecology, housing pressures and mutual aid in the wake of natural (and human caused) disaster. Check the show notes for links to a few projects mentioned. You can find more of Dani's writings at DaniBurlison.com/, books listed here, and more by Caw at CawShinyThings.com Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Northern CA projects mentioned: Undocufund North Bay Jobs With Justice North Bay Organizing...

This week, we're sharing a recent interview with Kennedy Block and Josh MacPhee, editors of Strike While The Needle Is Hot: A Discography of Workers Revolt from Common Notions. We speak about audio strike records, their role, what they tell us about the struggles they cover or were produced to amplify, and a bit about where music and popular resistance stand today. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed PDF) Until the end of the month, the book is available from CommonNotions.org with a 15% discount if you check out using the code: strike15 . Josh can be...

This week on the podcast, we're featuring three segments. First up, A member of DFW Support Committee, then organizers of the A Better World Bookfair in Waynesboro, VA and finally, organizers working to save the UNCA woods Transcript DFW Save The Woods A Better World Book Fair PDF (Unimposed) DFW Save The Woods Zine (Imposed PDF) DFW Save The Woods DFW Support Committee First up, you'll hear a member of the DFW Support Committee supporting the defendants arrested on and around July 4th in relation to a solidarity noise demonstration outside the Prairieland ICE Detention Facility in...

This week, we're sharing an interview with Heatscore and Nuke of sub.Media about their new documentary series, InterRebellium. The first episode, entitled El Estallido Social about the social uprising that flared up in 2019 in lands controlled by the state of Chile featuring anarchist and Mapuche voices on the conditions in which the uprising developed, experiences of it and its aftermath. You can view the film for free at sub.Media/InterRebellium alongside materials for discussion. We also speak about the role of film and media production in radical organizing and critique and upcoming episodes of the series....

This week, we're sharing an interview with Talia Lavin, author of Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy. In this chat, we speak about her more recent book, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America. There's a lot in the book, most of it pretty disturbing (especially, I'm sure, for anyone who is ex-vangelical) and there is discussion of hateful ideology and child abuse and corporal punishment, though not in lurid detail, so listener discretion is advised. We hope to cover related topics in the future. Transcript PDF (Unimposed) Zine (Imposed P...

This week on the show we feature an interview with two anarchists activists in southern California about the recent resistance to Federal-led immigration raids in Los Angeles and the wider region. Both guests speak about their experiences working in rapid response structures to immigration raids, to anti-homeless sweeps and other community needs over the years and how they've changed as conditions and technologies have changed. We talk about inviting and engaging new activists and some strategies that showed success. Some great writings from the streets can be found at Ediciones Ineditas: https://ineditas.noblogs.org/post/2025/06/18/fuck-i-c-e-city-wide-los-angeles-goes-up/<...