National & International News

It’s that time of the year again: massive consumer binges propping up an economy in crisis, Greek rioters torching Christmas trees, and… the Ex-Worker holiday special! In Episode 15 of our twice-monthly podcast, Clara and Alanis take a whirlwind tour through two hundred years of blistering anarchist critiques of religion and morality. From romantic poets to guillotined dynamite artists, from Enlightenment philosophers to punk rockers, anarchists have never been so fiery as when they’ve denied the gods and affirmed our right to determine our own values. The discussion touches on direct actions against religion, the shifting politics of atheism, and the contradictions of Christian anarchism. Prison rebel Sean Swain responds to our episode on fascism, a murderous police department receives some crime stopping tips, and we offer anarchist reflections on Nelson Mandela’s legacy, decapitated Lenin statues, and Finnish hockey riots. As the Greeks say: Merry Crisis and Happy New Fear!

Our first episode of the new year will deal with stepping back and defining what anarchism means, and we’re looking for listener contributions, so send in your thoughts to podcast@crimethinc.com, or leave us a voicemail at 202-59-NOWRK.

You can download this and all of our previous episodes online. You can also subscribe in iTunes here or just add the feed URL to your podcast player of choice. Rate us on iTunes and let us know what you think, or send us an email to podcast@crimethinc.com.

For us, this week started with a flurry of bulk book orders from people getting them as gifts for the holiday. It reminded us that outreach takes many forms—and giving books to close friends and family might be one of the most efficient and effective methods there is. Reflecting on it, we decided to try a little experiment this year: our first ever sale, with books 27%-50% off.

We’ve made three simple gift packs designed for different types of recipients: Contradictionary, our most broadly appealing book, suitable for everyone, but an especially delightful Trojan horse for fans of the printed word; Work, an excellent introduction to anti-capitalist ideas for curious folks questioning the forces that shape our world; and Rolling Thunder, perfect for immersing radicals and free-thinkers alike in the contemporary anarchist milieu, providing an excellent base from which to begin exploring real-world projects and actions.

So, if you find yourself caving to the gift-giving pressures of this time of year, or you simply want to share the ideas that are important to you with the people who matter most in your life, these could be a great place to start:

Contradictionary: 5 copies for $20, 27% off regular wholesale price. All five books come with special release bookmark and pencil (usually limited to one per order). Add Contradictionary Gift Pack to cart.

Work: 3 copies for $15, 50% off regular price. All three books come with a copy of the bulk capitalist pyramid poster (usually just one per order). Add Work Gift Pack to cart.

Rolling Thunder Bundle: 3 bundles for $15, 35% off regular price. Each bundle contains the 3 most recent issues of Rolling Thunder (#10, #9, #8); well over 300 pages per bundle. Add Rolling Thunder Bundle Gift Pack to cart.

Each pack comes with 10 PRISM stickers (which make excellent stocking stuffers), and are limited to three of each pack per person. Sale ends January 1st.

Update 12/13: Also, we just had some new mail order wrapping paper printed, replacing the previous design we’ve used for the last three years. All books in every order get wrapped in this paper to aid in protecting them as they venture across the globe to you. We’ve learned from experience and made a more modular design to support the various sizes we end up using—the end result being a more tailored final appearance. Who the fuck cares you may ask? Well, when you spend hours every day of your life making these packages for people, a new wrapping paper is a pretty big deal, so yay for us! Sometimes it’s the small things that get you through another long day. We hope you enjoy the new design a fraction as much as we do.

In this episode, Alanis and Clara allegedly break into an abandoned building to begin a conversation about squatting–and why it’s so important to anarchists. This episode includes two interviews–one with participants in a squatted social center in the United States, and one from an anti-infrastructure land occupation project in France. We’ll also hear the soothing sounds of listener feedback, regarding our last episode and some further clarifications about technology, a review of Hannah Dobbz’s “Nine-tenths of the Law: Property and resistance in the United States,” news, upcoming events, and prisoner birthdays.

We’ve just been chugging along with the podcast—can you believe this is our 14th episode?!—and realized we haven’t actually taken a step back and defined what anarchism means. Our first episode of the new year will deal with this topic, and we’re looking for listener contributions, so send in your thoughts to podcast@crimethinc.com, or leave us a voicemail at 202-59-NOWRK.

You can download this and all of our previous episodes online. You can also subscribe in iTunes here or just add the feed URL to your podcast player of choice. Rate us on iTunes and let us know what you think, or send us an email to podcast@crimethinc.com.

Some radicals believe the internet prefigures a decentralized utopia; others foresee a new digital feudalism of total management and surveillance. In our long-awaited thirteenth episode of the Ex-Worker, Clara and Alanis take on the recent CrimethInc. feature “Deserting the Digital Utopia,” teasing out some of the limitations and possibilities of resistance that engages with digital technologies. A supporter of imprisoned radical hacker Jeremy Hammond discusses his anti-authoritarian politics and the military, corporate, police, and intelligence agencies he targeted with his hacks. Listeners lambast us on our grievous gaffe from last episode, sketchy cops and masked marchers populate the news, and we announce an anarchist primer competition (even if we can’t agree on how to pronounce it).

You can download this and all of our previous episodes online. You can also subscribe in iTunes here or just add the feed URL to your podcast player of choice. Rate us on iTunes and let us know what you think, or send us an email to podcast@crimethinc.com.