[A monthly link list of recommended articles, videos, podcasts, photos, toots … you name it]
[Videos]
ANOHNI and Naomi Klein in Conversation
No Idle Threat – Violet Blue: Seminar – “On dangerous ground investigating Aotearoa New Zealand’s Covid-19 response”
[Music]
The Cure — Alone (Four Tet Remix)
Boff Whalley of Chumbawamba on Book Tour – Okay, music and talk. Contains book spoilers. But.
Music Can Hear Us (PAMPALP016) by DJ Koze [bandcamp: shortcode must include 'track', 'album', or 'video' param] – Too much vocoder for me, but the production quality is enormous.
[Podcasts]
Sick Sad World w/ Vicky Osterweil [.soundcloud] – “Beatrice speaks with Vicky Osterweil about some of the major events that happened during our parental leave—from Trump’s kidnapping of protesters for political speech to the proposed autism registry—and what the first months of Trump’s second term tell us about the administration’s particular approach to fascism.” I have a love/hate relationship with Vicky’s infectious optimism. But i loved, again, to listen to their analysis.
Lʹaffaire Gurlitt | Face cachée [rts.ch] – “En novembre 2013, le magazine “Focus” révèle un scoop: plus de 1’400 œuvres disparues depuis des décennies sont découvertes dans lʹappartement dʹun vieil homme à Munich: Cornelius Gurlitt. Très vite, les mots “trésor nazi”, “spoliations” et “secrets” enflamment les médias. Cette affaire hors du commun commence en 2010, lors dʹun simple contrôle douanier entre Zurich et Munich, un événement anodin qui, pourtant, va déclencher la saisie de sa collection et un scandale international.” Delivers background for one of the hugest scandals in Bern, when the art museum accepted the donation of the Gurlitt art haul, containing many artworks stolen from Jews during the Nazi period.
NO Bonzo on Art and Anarchism | Final Straw – “a chat with no Bonzo, anarchist historian, printmaker and artist, about how they developed their art, the historical work they do and some upcoming projects. You can find more of their work at https://noBonzo.com” A refreshing approach to art, illustration and anarchy.
Project 1933, Part I: January to March 15 [in bed with the right rss.com] – “Germany 1933 is having a bit of a moment. Which made us at In Bed with the Right decide to explore that year in detail. In this series, Adrian and Moira tell the story of how Hitler seized power, what it did to society, what it felt like to live through it, and — as always — what role gender and sexuality played in events. We will be going month by month for these episodes, but this first installment cheats a little bit and covers January 1 to March 15.” The project is ambitious and could backfire. But i love the idea to look at what happened in Nazi Germany in 1933 in parallel to how Trump and his lackeys try to turn the US into a more fascist regime (it never was not fascist). Which will help to show some parallels but also some differences.
[Toot Threads]
Siamo tutti antifascisti
No SWERFs No TERFs No Bigots
[Pandemic Roundup]
Covid: April 24, 2025
Covid: April 17, 2025
Covid: April 10, 2025
Covid: April 3, 2025
[The Must Read[s] This Month]
The rise of end times fascism [the guardian] – “If policing the boundaries of the bunkered nation is end times fascism’s job one, equally important is job two: for the US government to lay claim to whatever resources its protected citizens might need to get through the tough times ahead. Maybe it’s Panama’s canal. Or Greenland’s fast-melting shipping routes. Or Ukraine’s critical minerals. Or Canada’s fresh water. We should think of this less as old-school imperialism than super-sized prepping, at the level of the national state. Gone are the old colonial fig leaves of spreading democracy or God’s word – when Trump covetously scans the globe, he is stockpiling for civilizational collapse.” Epic article and analysis by Astra Taylor and Naomi Klein. What puzzles me is how they can both still believe, that a better state (or better state regulation) might offer us a solution?! The state, under capitalism, is the problem.
Anarchist Compass: 29 Ways of Navigating Christofascism [igd] – “29 Offerings for Navigating Christofascism is an act of love and solidarity. It is intended for everyone who sees themselves on the side of antifascism, including those who’ve newly had their eyes opened. It’s especially dedicated to those who, in myriad ways, rebelliously, collectively, and bravely care for each other. Please share this zine freely and widely. Thanks to Chanaleh for the cover art, Sorrel for reading over the intro, and Casandra for turning the zine into PDFs.” A zine initiated by Cindy Milstein. And i am in it.
Welcome to the Desert of the Imaginary | Adrian Daub [substack] – “So much of our new authoritarianism is about attention, about feelings, about a dark kind of empathy. As we all are far too much up in one another’s business online, “liberal tears”, triggered “snowflakes”, “OWNED” “lib professors” seem far more important to right wing feelings than actual policy. In the internet age, imagining how “they” must feel is clearly way more powerful than in previous decades. From being the most unpleasant guy at the school board meeting, to the pointlessly intimidating questioner at the end of a lecture, it is not so much about invading space as it is about having a foothold in the Other’s emotional and affective life. You can’t not think of us, these intrusions say. The one option you don’t have is the one we fear the most: not thinking about us at all.” Must-read context from the author of the book The Cancel Culture Panic.
Fascism Minus Kampf [caw magazine] – “It is appropriate that this fascist regime which has only ever witnessed the world through the mirror of the spectacle should do a fascist coup so exactly backwards and upside down.” I love Vicky’s thinking and writing. But the jury is still out. If their coup does succeed, it won’t matter if they did it backwards or not.
[Articles English]
The sex wars (continued). [substack] – “I want an end to the trauma and violence of both capitalism and of patriarchy, but I know for certain that eliminating sex work isn’t the answer to the latter. Abolishing all wage labor will be part of a post-capitalist world (see: “the problem with sex work is work”), but in the meantime, I am more distraught over the mining practices for luxury watches than I am about the client who sends me pictures of flowers and random gift cards (even years after I stopped working). I am more concerned over the unchecked sexual violence that takes place, as I’ve written about before, in other jobs: in academia, in the service industry, in prisons. I am more concerned that sex work is treated, somehow, as more anti-feminist than the military, than the government, than the police. No feminist with an actually radical analysis will argue that any job is feminist, why is this the boring question we’re focusing on?” After reading Enemy Feminisms by Sophie Lewis i have trouble with the last point. By framing it as not “actually radical analysis” we can’t tackle this type of thinking. But the rest of the article gets it spot on.
ISSUE 2 [the siren] – “The Trump presidency does feels like something of a farce –its interminable stream of executive actions is exceedingly dramatic. The tough guy rhetorical posturing feels overblown. DOGE’s hyperbolic claims about eliminating government waste are absurd. But this farce isn’t funny – it’s terrifying.” Issue two of the new satire magazine delivers.
The UK’s Anti-Trans Ruling Is a Defeat for All Women | Sophie Lewis [the nation] – “Feminism does not, and has never, in fact, required a definition of “woman.” To the contrary, while “enemy feminisms” (as I call them) have repeatedly attempted to ontologize and naturalize sex, other feminisms, over the centuries, have pursued the struggle against sexual hierarchy as an all-encompassing utopian endeavor whose present and future constituencies are necessarily moot: Much of revolutionary feminism, for example, remains agnostic about whether “women” will definitely exist after patriarchy, especially given how many female subjects—Indigenous, enslaved, disabled, queer, sex-working—have been excluded from womanhood in the past.” Yes, and also: Boycott Harry Potter.
Tradwives Are the Harbinger of Systemic Breakdown [jacobin] – “This strategy has been used repeatedly. When there’s an economic shock — whether that’s introducing capitalism to formerly socialist societies or, in our current moment, the arrival of artificial intelligence (AI) — governments need to rapidly shrink the labor force without causing social unrest. Pushing women back into the home is one solution. There are historical precedents for this even in the United States, such as when women were brought into the workforce during World War II and then sent back into the home when the war ended.” A Marxist analysis of the tradwives phenomenon.
Kunsthaus Zurich Reaches Settlement with Jewish Heirs of Manet Work [artnews] – “Bührle was a German Swiss industrialist who sold weapons to both the Allies and Nazi Germany during World War II. As a result of his arms dealing, he became the richest man in Switzerland at the time. He also lined his pockets directly and indirectly from slave labor in concentration camps. On top of this, Bührle, who died in 1956, is also known to have bought Nazi-looted artworks.” They settle in an attempt to make their critics shut up. We won’t.
How Kids Are Harmed by Trump’s Budget Cuts [propublica] – “The administration is quietly putting America’s children at risk by cutting funds and manpower for investigating child abuse, enforcing child support payments, providing child care and much more.” Points out a shocking pattern hidden amidst the deluge of executive orders. And here we thought these republican assholes were pro-child.
Non-U.S. Alternatives List [github] – “A collectively curated list of non-US-based alternatives to popular services, because it is time to prioritise our privacy, security, and digital sovereignty.” A great list for those of us who try to boycott US social media.
Chuds on Parade: Meet Trump’s Cabinet [unicorn riot] – “The second Trump administration has embraced authoritarian, racist, and Christian nationalist ideologues as core members of its cabinet, more so than in 2016 or 2020. This escalation in far-right, white-male politics is raising alarms and causing fear all over the country as it quickly becomes part of Trump’s governing strategy for the next four years and beyond. Most people in Trump’s orbit have made their motivations abundantly clear while being shamelessly vocal about their bigotry.” I puked, but thanks for the erm awesome collage.
Secret Evidence | Rupa Marya [substack] – “We require academic freedom and freedom of speech. We require protection for whistleblowers who expose the racist rot at the heart of academic medicine, which prevents us from achieving measurable outcomes in health equity. We require transparency around who is driving this racist repression in our schools and what their allegiances are.” Full solidarity with Rupa, co-author of the must-read book Inflamed.
Sarah Wynn-Williams’s ‘Careless People’ [pluralistic] – If like myself, you were intrigued by the book, but did not plan to read it, Cory offers a pretty good summary. If you do want to read it, spoilers!
Man sets off on Nidderdale walk dressed as a curlew [bbc] – “A man is walking 53 miles (85km) in a homemade bird costume to raise awareness and funds for conservation projects. Matt Trevelyan, a farming officer for Nidderdale National Landscape, began the two-day challenge on Saturday and has been walking along the Nidderdale Way. He crafted the 10ft-long (3m) costume of a Eurasian curlew – Europe’s largest wading bird – out of polystyrene and bamboo.” Quirky. Love it.
Global Climate ReportMarch 2025 [ncei] – “March 2025 was the third-warmest March on record for the globe in NOAA’s 176-year record. The March global surface temperature was 1.31°C (2.36°F) above the 20th-century average of 12.7°C (54.9°F). This is 0.03°C (0.05°F) less than the record-warm March of last year. March 2025 marked the 49th consecutive March with global temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th-century average.” This is fineeeee *melt*.
The Age of Neofascism and Its Distinctive Features | Gilbert Achcar – “If it is true that the possibility of a new world war remains limited, our world faces something no less dangerous than the two world wars of the twentieth century, namely climate change, which threatens the future of the planet and of humanity. Neofascism is pushing the world towards the abyss with the blatant hostility of most of its factions to indispensable environmental measures, thus exacerbating the environmental peril, especially when neofascism has taken over the reins of power over the most polluting people in the world proportionally to its number, namely the people of the United States.” Sure, people pollute, but even more so US industry (AI!).
A Single Ray of Light: On Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day” and Living in the Shadow of Long COVID [literary hub] – “Since growing ill, I’ve become a different person—the omissions change me. But in the context of the decades I may spend chronically ill, I am in my infancy. The question of who I will become remains. I’ve felt isolated in this experience, but I am not alone. I’ve felt invisible, but there are activists like the three women testifying—and all the advocates beside them—who, despite the prisons of their bodies, have found a way to make their voices heard, to ensure that people are noticing the missing.” Let’s build communities of care. If only i could still believe that i can find one.
RFK Jr.’s “MAHA” movement doesn’t want to eliminate chronic illness. They want to eliminate the chronically ill. | The Gauntlet [substack] – “Societies are healthy when they work together to protect the collective, not when they individualize health and purposely push the weakest toward harm and death. MAHA fantasizes about reanimating an America that never existed; one where, once disabled people are disappeared from view and the weak die of vaccine-preventable illnesses, everyone remaining will become strong, thin, fit and naturally sunburn-resistant.” The RFK Jr. approach is textbook eugenic. What the brain worm.
Feminists Against Women [political research associates] – “The collective song of revolutionary feminism can be heard in DIY estrogen undergrounds, abortion networks, transformative justice teams, prison-abolitionist accountability collectives, and in family-abolitionist and disability-liberationist communes attempting to communize care while dreaming of dismantling—for all—the tyrannies of wage, state, and market.” I can’t get enough of Sophie Lewis’s writing.
Addicted to Humus: Matthew Ingram on the Revolutionary Potential of Compost [the quietus] – “Compost as our salvation. I’ve mentioned compost’s high seriousness. And, truthfully, its ecological importance can’t be underestimated. We throw away, as though it were rubbish, a truly disgraceful amount of organic matter. It is piled up in municipal rubbish heaps, burnt, or in the case of our “humanure” flushed out to sea. […] We forget at our peril that the soil which grows all our food is a precious and rapidly diminishing resource.” The book looks like a lot of fun, connecting counter-cultural history with the gardening revolution.
[Articles German/French]
Staatlich gefördertes Punching-Down [daslamm] – “Satire darf vieles. Sie ist Mittel, um an Ereignissen und Personen Kritik zu üben, sie der Lächerlichkeit preiszugeben und Zustände anzuprangern. Wer dabei nach unten tritt, ist armselig – und hat die Schwächeren auf dem Gewissen.” I have been following a instagram account that has been debunking these assholes for a while now. So long that i would punch these punching down “comedians”, if i should ever meet them.
Das vielleicht letzte juristische Gefecht zwischen RAF und BRD [ak analyse & kritik] – “Entgegen der unermüdlichen Leugnung von Staatsanwaltschaft und Gericht ist dieses Verfahren allerdings ein RAF-Prozess, weil sich die böse RAF, mit ihren dämonischen Superkräften, aus dem Grab heraus unbemerkt in Ermittlungen, Anklage und Gericht eingeschlichen hat und nun überall im Weg steht.” Freedom for Daniela Klette!
Biometrie weltweit: Hier werden Protestierende mit Gesichtserkennung verfolgt [netzpolitik.org] – “Vielen Länder nutzen Gesichtserkennung, um Proteste und Demonstrationen zu überwachen und zu unterdrücken. Ein Überblick über Biometrie-Hotspots zeigt, wie ernstzunehmend die Auswirkungen auf die Demokratie sind.” Bio-metric surveillance, by country.
SRF und die Junge Tat: Werbespot mit Rückendeckung [das lamm] – “Auf Anfrage von das Lamm zitiert die Medienstelle des SRF die Angebotsverantwortliche Anita Richner. Das SRF stehe hinter der Reportage, würde die Kritik aber “innerhalb der Redaktion diskutieren” und die “internen Standards weiter schärfen” um sicherzustellen, dass “sensible Themen mit grösster Sorgfalt behandelt” würden. Anita Richner, die seit 1994 in wechselnden Funktionen beim SRF tätig ist, ist die Ehefrau von Markus Somm, Verleger und Chefredaktor des rechten Satiremagazins Nebelspalter. Erst letzten Herbst stand Somm gemeinsam mit der AfD-Fraktionsvorsitzenden Alice Weidel auf der Bühne des Zürcher Kongresshauses und peitschte das Publikum in rassistischem Furor gegen “Muslime, die ihr Unwesen trieben” auf.” The best take on the scandalous, bad documentary on the Swiss neonazis.
La nuit sera longue – Zerocalcare [lundi.am] – “Les lectrices et lecteurs de lundimatin connaissent probablement déjà les enjeux qui entourent l’affaire “Budapest” et l’incarcération en France de Rexhino « Gino » Abazaj. Sinon, vous pouvez lire cet article, écouter ce qu’en dit Eric Vuillard, prix Goncourt ou encore lire la lettre de Maja devant ses juges hongrois. Mercredi 9 avril, la cour d’appel de Paris rendra son verdict quant à la demande d’extradition de Gino vers la Hongrie où il risque pas moins de 24 années de détention pour avoir secoué (selon la police) des néo-nazis hongrois.” Some good news this month, Gino will not get extracted to Hungary.
Rede zum 80. Befreiungstag des KZ Buchenwald [marina weisband] – “Die sanfte Radikalität der Freundlichkeit im Angesicht von Gewalt. Die tausend Akte des Widerstands, die sich hier ereignet haben. Sie sagen uns die ganze Zeit, was wir zu tun haben. Wir haben es nur bisher nicht gehört und nicht gesehen. Wir müssen uns aus dem Glauben an wertvolle und weniger wertvolle Menschen befreien. Aus der Sucht nach Status und Dynastie und Feinden. Aus dem „Wir“ gegen „Die“. Das ist vielleicht die schwerste Übung von allen. Denn wir alle sind mit der Gewalt der Vergangenheit aufgewachsen und von ihr geprägt. Waren irgendwo Opfer und wurden irgendwo zu Tätern. Und müssen lernen, uns selbst zu lieben. Und dann unseren Nachbarn. Und dann müssen wir lernen, für unsere Nachbarin eine Suppe zu kochen und spontan vorbeizubringen. Und uns mit der Mietgemeinschaft zu vernetzen. Und einen Park für Kinder zu gestalten. Und uns in der Gewerkschaft zu engagieren. Und mehr und mehr Netzwerke zu bauen, die resilient sind. Und solidarisch. Und sich gegenseitig beschützen. Wir müssen Demokratie nicht einfach nur verteidigen, wir müssen sie ausbauen! Jeden einzelnen Menschen darin als wertvollen Experten anerkennen, als gebraucht und bereichernd. Und wie passt das dazu, Nazis zu bekämpfen?” A brave speech considering the current climate in Germany, where any critique of Israel is framed as antisemitic.
[Older articles, still great]
Chumbawamba – Well Done, Now Sod Off [2000]
Beyond Power / Knowledge exploration of the relation of power, ignorance and stupidity [david graeber] – “Bureaucratic knowledge is all about schematization. In practice, bureaucratic procedure invariably means ignoring all the subtleties of real social existence and reducing everything to preconceived mechanical or statistical formulae. Whether it’s a matter of forms, rules, statistics, or questionnaires, it is always a matter of simplification. Usually it’s not so different than the boss who walks into the kitchen to make arbitrary snap decisions as to what went wrong: in either case it is a matter of applying very simple pre-existing templates to complex and often ambiguous situations. The result often leaves those forced to deal with bureaucratic administration with the impression that they are dealing with people who have for some arbitrary reason decided to put on a set of glasses that only allows them to see only 2% of what’s in front of them.” Graeber is one of the few anarchist theorists who offers a critique of bureaucracy.
Sarah T. Roberts and Mél Hogan — Left Behind: Futurist Fetishists, Prepping and the Abandonment of Earth [boundary 2] – “When viewed through the dual lens of prepperdom and nihilistic accelerationism—both of which hold out for global disaster with a certain amount of titillation and glee—the large-scale projects for which techno-élites like Musk have become famous can be seen in another light entirely: as dismal, fatalistic projects that have given up any faith (pun intended) in the ability to resolve the human condition or life on Earth, in general, or perhaps, even more specifically, that there would be inherent value in such an effort at all.” Stop prepping, start communal caring.
Fascism and the Women’s Cause: Gender Critical Feminism, Suffragettes and the Women’s KKK [libcom.org] – “The central problem of this study is the forms of appearance fascism can take. We argue feminism has provided one such form of appearance. This is because fascism developed through the progressive era of imperialism, when women dissenters and insurrectionists struggled for equal rights. Women were also being recruited into colonial formations of the family and fascist causes. Against the grain of how historical fascism is often portrayed, some feminist historians argue women’s rights causes can in fact be reconciled through fascist movements themselves.” Soon available as a book.
Double-Shift: Dialectic of the Tradwife | Sophie Lewis [dilettante army] – “Side-by-side with the hypocrisy of these grifters great and small, there is, however, a powerful recognition of humanity’s desire to be liberated from capitalist work in both its waged and unwaged forms. Given the choice between spending your days making profitable TikToks of yourself slow-cooking meals while never having to worry about rent, suggests Niloufar Haidari, “versus commuting to a hideously-lit office where you stare at a screen for nine hours a day, just to come back home and then have to begin your second shift of domestic labour … only the most unhinged girlbosses among us would choose the latter.” In the end, Stacey and Lillian’s emotional labors in front of the camera—one of them doing video journalism, the other, political makeup tutorials—do not appear so very different. For those of us who have been raised on the abusive religion of work, perhaps that can be a freeing realization. Or at least a starting-point.” Sophie’s must-read book Enemy Feminisms features no chapter on tradwives, but links to this article.
R.I.P.
David Thomas, Pere Ubu
Colette Durruti
[If you care to receive more regular updates, please follow my diigo (feed: rss) for all of my saved links or mastodon for an edited choice of them]
Header Photo: Zäme chli d’Wöhli ha