Episode 284 of RevolutionZ  presents chapter two (of fourteen) of An Oral History of the Next American Revolution. It relates personal precursors of revolutionary participatory society through the life experiences of  interviewees Alexandra Voline, Andre Goldman, and Senator Malcolm King who  discuss with their interviewer,  Miguel Guevara, all from their own world their personal trajectories into activism including the first major march, the early gun and militarism boycotts, overcoming early resistance and doubt,  achieving early momentum, and much much more on the road to forming and working toward Revolutionary Participatory Society in the U.S. And yes, that is a whole lot which is why this episode is by far the longest so far at four minutes under two hours.  (See the long list of topics below -- to get them, I skimmed the earlier article on ZNet, excerpt two of the serialization and grabbed here and there. It could have gone on and on...lives are big things and so is revolution....)

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Episode 283 of RevolutionZ, An Oral History of A Next American Revolution is the first episode of what hopes to be a Sequence of 14 episodes based on excerpts from a book in progress in which Miguel Guevara interviews 18 revolutionaries from a future parallel earth that is shifted 28 years forward from our own earth. The text excerpts will be published earlier in each week that each audio episode appears. The audio RevolutionZ episodes include the text material plus spontaneous reactions to it including questions, criticisms, elaborations, and clarifications that I deliver on my first hearing the material. This week has a foreword to the book by your RevolutionZ host, an introduction by Miguel Guevara the book's co-author, plus the book's first chapter which features a look forward to just after inauguration day 2048, plus many host interjections. What is the point of such a strange and risky project? To provide for discussion, evaluation, and refinement a realistic account of a possible next American Revolution's aims, methods, and lessons as discerned by a set of its very prominent and effective participants. 

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In Episode 282 of RevolutionZ, Alex Han,  of In These Times, addresses the current  surge, aims, and prospects of both labor and student activism and their possible intersection, as well as media responses and prospects. We discuss union bargaining strategies including and going beyond contract issues, campus organization and tactics, and urge the need to break down barriers between independent media outlets to forge a more strategically unified left media ecosystem. 

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Episode 281 of RevolutionZ has Avi Chomsky as guest to discuss current  campus  and community activism, colonialism, nation states, immigration, borders,  lessons from Central America and the Global South, and the role of students, labor, and religious organizations in sustaining resistance. We consider the logical and emotional innards of dissent, where strategic pursuit of immediate relief intersects with a longer term quest for societal transformation.

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Ep 280 of RevolutionZ has as guest William Lawrence, cofounder of the Sunrise Movement, housing organizer, DSA member, and much mor, to discuss  the inner workings and ideological conflicts within the Democratic Socialists of America. Should DSA work within the Democratic Party to expand progressive representation, or should it cut ties completely and forge a new path without electoral emphasis? What existing structural features exacerbate factionalism? What new features might prevent ideological conflict from overshadowing  policy discourse, or vice vers?. Reform or revolution--or both? Biden or Never Biden--or both? 

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Ep 279 of RevolutionZ, Students Teach, We Learn, hopes to answer some questions that I felt folks might have. I try to address, spontaneously, as one might in a discussion: Why are campuses rebelling? Why now, why so many, why so fast? What are the students seeking? What reactions are rebels encountering   from other students / from administrators / from cops? Summer is near, most importantly, what’s next? Is this 1968 again, how similar is it, how different? Will it be smarter? Will it change colleges, education, and society too? Will it transform campus power relations? Plus a recent article from ZNet that addresses all that and more. in carefully prepared text.

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Episode 278 of RevolutionZ takes the character of and support for MAGA fascism, Mideast genocide, and earth-wide ecological suicide as focus, but spends little time on their cause, texture, or impacts. Rather, we consider why and how there is any support for the first two and massive obliviousness to the third. What is going on in various constituencies  to produce much less sustain such alignments? I want to know, and I assume you want to know. Indeed, unless we know, how can we effectively address people with such horrifyingly harmful views? That is our topic this time.

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Episode 277 of RevolutionZ examines the concept economic growth from a few angles to hopefully provide some insights for further thought--and then spins off into a very tenuously related personal birthday greeting about staying young offered on my 77th birthday. 

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Episode 276 of RevolutionZ takes up the issue of who is, and who isn't part of the left, including splits and divisions from the 60s to now, addressing motives and demarcation lines, and finally possible alternative approaches to the whole issue that might be more  unifying  than what now occurs.

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Episode 275 has as guest Emma River-Roberts to discuss class structure, habits, hierarchy, and possibilities inside the Degrowth movement and really pretty much all movements on the left. Why are working class people largely absent in ecological organizations and when present what do they encounter? For that matter why is discussion of such class issues largely absent and when present largely defensive and  tortured. And, of course, what is to be done?

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Episode 274 of RevolutionZ offers and comments on a searing critique of  the champions of democracy and human rights from Arundhati Roy, plus a disturbing but compelling  view of pro-war sentiments of various prior supporters of Palestine  within Israel. Why do some progressives rally behind Israel's war machine? 

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Episode 273 of RevolutionZ addresses Class (The PMC or as I call it, the Coordinator Class) and left organizing in the Degrowth movement. The episode is built around an essay by Emma River-Roberts, a Degrowth activist, working class organizer, and founder of The Working Class Climate Alliance, which is an affiliate of the Post Growth Institute.  The article is on ZNet and I offer it here and also some comments on it because I believe the article has bearing not only on Degrowth organizing, but really on all organizing for a better world. 

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Episode 272 of RevolutionZ presents and comments on a recent Rebecca Solnit essay about two strands of left thought and activism, a bit through history and a bit today. In the song, Which Side Are You On, is it right and left, or is it right and left and other left, where the latter two are far from a single thing?

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Episode 271 of the Podcast RevolutionZ looks at Evangelical Voting, Magical Thinking, and Evidentiary Reasoning - Organizing or Even Just Conversing in Difficult Times. Why do people believe what they do? Supporting Trump, abetting Israel, ignoring climate calamity or even being left in very contradictory ways. How can words change minds? 

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Episode 270 of RevolutionZ discusses a new attempt to link fund raising, dating, and social activism va- an unusual and ambitious web system and app called  Singles Project. Why try this? How try this? What will emerge from trying this? Nikla Widmark, from Sweden and Alexandria and Michael consider these innovative matters and more.

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Episode  269 of RevolutionZ considers the concept and practice of privilege as in, for example, white privilege, male privilege, and class privilege. Is to uncover, call out, and renounce privilege, a powerful tool for overcoming racism, sexism, and classism, or does this approach instead have unintended consequences that interfere with its own aims? In offering a controversial exploration of a widespread activist approach am I defending my own white, male, class privilege? Or am I trying to contribute to anti-racist, feminist, and economic justice? You decide. And by all means, then let me know your assessment.

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Episode 268 of RevolutionZ addresses the upcoming U.S presidential election. Will there even  be one? If there is, who will be candidates? Should a revolutionary, a radical, a progressive, or a typical citizen vote, get out the vote, watch Netflix, block a bridge, hibernate? All the above? None of the above? Is there even a way to sensibly think about such choices? Hate fascist Trump? Hate Genocide Joe? Okay, then what? 

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Episode 267 of RevolutionZ is, what? Part primal scream. Part an argument for going all in. The title is from The Chambers Brothers. The sentiment is channelled, I hope, from tomorrow to today. The words are equal parts rage, hope, and plain truth. 

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Mazin Qumsiyeh  returns to RevolutionZ to further explore the causes, the toll, the consequences, and the lessons of Israel's barbaric assault on Palestinians, including genocidal acts intended, broadcast live, celebrated, and made possible by U.S., UK, and Gerrman support though particularly by the complicit U.S. including the vile role of AIPAC --  but also to marvel at Palestinian resistance and the unprecedentedly fast and passionate U.S. public and particularly youthful pro-Palestinian activism.

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Episode 265 of RevolutionZ discusses the wisdom or lack thereof of taking the Marxist Tradition as our guide to contemporary activism. Can we have an accessible conversation about these very controversial matters? 

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Episode 264 of RevolutionZ with frequent guest Alexandria Shaner discusses the role of and especially methods for effective  communication for social change. What is at stake? What works well and what doesn't when organizing, especially when there are serious divisions? 

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Ep 263 of RevolutionZ titled Degrowth (and More) 4 Liberation Shared Strategy, continues on from last episode, this time making a case for the relevance of the 20 Theses for Liberation to moving toward a movement of mutually supportive movements by describing the compatibility of its strategic theses with Degrowth activism. This episode also welcomes observations, comments, dissent, support and elaborations from listeners that can be pursued with myself and with each other via ZNetwork's community Discord channel that is accessible via the link: https://discord.gg/JkZhaFJ4HQ 

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Ep 262 of RevolutionZ argues the the potential of the 20 Theses for Liberation project to inspire and sustain  a movement of movements by examining its relevance for Degrowth and vice versa as a generalizable case study. 

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Episode 261 of RevolutionZ Is another in the Ruminations Sequence co-hosted by Alexandria Shaner. We discuss the Israeli invasion and diverse reactions to it, including demonstrations, civil disobedience, and the new Zionist driven Mcarthyism and good and not so good responses to it.  

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Episode 260 of RevolutionZ Considers strategy for  winning a new economy and society. A bunch of recent episodes have again addressed what do we want. This one talks about how we win it. It mainly addresses issues of reform, reformism, and revolution, issues of  building worthy and viable campaigns and projects, and of moving from sporadic dissent that dissipates  to sustained commitment that wins, from mobilizing intermittently to organizing persistently by overcoming obstacles to the latter. Lots of real world examples argue for and apply general proposals and insights. The point is, No Bosses and recent RevolutionZ episodes based on it  highlight nice desires. Can we win them? How?

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