Introduction to the Civilizations Series

Introduction to the Civilizations Series with Dave Power

Introducing the Civilizations Series. We’re going to go through the canon of a “Modern Western Civilizations” history course, but we’re going to fix it – we’re going to put the people’s, the east, and the global south in and re-center your civilizations history. This first episode is a short introduction to our plan. I’m joined by retired history teacher David Power.

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 44: Bernie quits; and don’t be progressive

Justin and Dan talk about the racism and imperialism of the Progressive Era

Justin and Dan start by grieving because Bernie ended his presidential bid today. Then on to a history the imperialism and racism of the Progressive Era and why “progressive” and “leftist” are words for two different politics. 

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 43: Two Chomskyites Trapped in 2020

Justin and Dan talk about Chomsky.

Justin and Dan (that’s Dan Freeman-Maloy, for new listeners) talk about Chomsky – and not just manufacturing consent, but Chomsky’s influence on their political thinking, where they might have tiny disagreements, and how they try to use Chomsky’s work to think through political problems in 2020.

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 42: US Troops at the Venezuelan border

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 42: US troops on the Venezuelan border

We recorded quickly to react to the attack on a naval patrol boat (the Naiguata) off the coast of Venezuela and the positioning of US troops at the Venezuela-Colombia border. With Maria Victor and Joe Emersberger. 

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 41: The magic bullet for COVID-19 with Drs. Thomson and Loubani

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 41: The magic bullet for COVID-19 with Drs. Thomson and Loubani

I talk to nephrologist Ben Thomson and ER doc Tarek Loubani about the magic bullet for COVID-19 (there isn’t one). The key messages: medical people – switch to reusable masks. Everyone: social distancing works, don’t lose your nerve. So do social democratic reforms, like having a public health system. 

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 40: The pandemic and the marginalized, with Dr. Ritika Goel

Dr. Ritika Goel talks about being a family doctor during the first weeks of the pandemic in Toronto

I talk to Toronto doctor and activist Ritika Goel about the first few weeks of the pandemic here in Toronto, some of the emergency measures anti-poverty activists have called for, and the ways the pandemic should force some thinking about the importance of solidarity.

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 39: Might, the novel, by Brian Dominick

Episode 39: Might, the novel, by Brian Dominick

Brian Dominick is the author of Present as Prologue: A GenZero Novella, which describes the first phase of a youth-led, high-tech revolution in America. We talk about youth liberation, education, capitalism, and the liberatory possibilities and limitations of technological change. Interesting discussion about the idea of youth as a class. 

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 37: Postcoloniality and the Racist Legacy of the British Empire

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 37: Postcoloniality and the Racist Legacy of the British Empire, with Navyug Gill and Dan Freeman-Maloy

A wide-ranging and admittedly bookish discussion with William Patterson historian Navyug Gill and frequent guest and sometimes host of the show, Dan Freeman-Maloy. We talk about postcolonial studies, history, and the British Empire, and the ways that its racism lives on. 

Anti-Empire Project Episode 36: Siegebreakers at York University

The Anti-Empire Project Episode 36: Siegebreakers at York University

On November 19, 2019, York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies hosted a panel called “The Art and Politics in Imagining a Free Gaza: A Discussion of Justin Podur’s new novel, Siegebreakers.” It featured poet, theatre worker, and Associate Professor Honor Ford-Smith; writer and Professor Catriona Sandilands; and Lebanese-Palestinian activist and Executive Director of Canadian Friends of Sabeel, Yara Shoufani. The event began with me reading Chapter 1 of Siegebreakers, and interventions by the panelists followed.

So, if you still haven’t read Siegebreakers, you can let me read the first chapter to you!