CHRIS CARLSSON

CHRIS CARLSSON

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Writer · Organizer · Activist
When Shells Crumble · Shaping San Francisco · Critical Mass

The novel When Shells Crumble begins in December 2024, when the US Supreme Court nullifies the popular vote in the Presidential election and awards the presidency to an authoritarian Republican, who proceeds to demolish democracy and install a fascistic state that hastens ecological havoc. The novel is much more than your usual dystopian tale—it focuses on how to resist political cynicism and defeatism, and rebuild on planetary wreckage. It is a world-building project filled with wisdom, sadness, and joy. We specifically put this fictional text in conservation with his brilliant non-fiction work, Nowtopia, which offers a radical redefinition of “work” that restores dignity and value to their proper places.

JEFFREY SACHS · NOURA ERAKAT

JEFFREY SACHS · NOURA ERAKAT

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On Possible Futures for Palestine

We examine different stances toward a two-state solution, international humanitarian law, and the need to go beyond state-centric notions of justice and the recommendation that a people’s parliament might be a better way to approach the crises we see on a planetary scale.

The Tale of a Wall

The Tale of a Wall

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A Palestinian Prisoner’s Devastating Memoir

Publisher Judith Gurevich and translator Luke Leafgren discuss a remarkable first-person narrative by Nasser Abu Srour, a Palestinian political prisoner who in 1993 was given a life sentence of 215 years. His novel, The Tale of a Wall, tells of the author’s decades-long life in multiple prisons, moving through many historical periods and shifting personal and political lives. The one thing that is always present is the figure of the wall, that becomes his one constant companion. Gurevich and Leafgren tell how they came to acquire the text, and how they came to know this remarkable man through it. The novel itself is a stunning and moving contribution to our understanding of the Palestinan struggle for liberation.

What Does the Recent ICJ Finding with Regard to Israel’s War in Gaza Mean?

What Does the Recent ICJ Finding with Regard to Israel’s War in Gaza Mean?

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A Discussion with NOURA ERAKAT · MICHAEL LYNK & MAUNG ZARNI

Following the recent International Court of Justice ruling on the Gaza genocide case, which found that Israel is plausibly engaging in genocide in Gaza, they explore the case and its implications, as well as the colonial backdrop of the international law behind it.

Genocide and Beyond

Genocide and Beyond

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A Conversation with State Crime Expert PENNY GREEN & Holocaust Historian OMAR BARTOV

They discuss the applicability of the term genocide, the history of its framing, and ways of moving beyond genocidal dynamics. For weeks, hundreds of international law and genocide experts have been warning that the situation in Gaza is approaching or has become an active genocide, a conclusion very vociferously rejected by Israel and its allies.

International Law and Mass Violence

International Law and Mass Violence

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Colonial Roots and Practices: A Conversation with FRÉDÉRIC MÉGRET · NEVE GORDON & NICOLA PERUGINI

As the devastation of Gaza is permitted to continue to unfold, and colonial violence also intensifies in the West Bank, we discuss the role and responsibility of international law in enabling and structuring mass violence, the enduring importance of colonial histories in shaping the colonial present of international law.

Guernica & Gaza

Guernica & Gaza

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Linking Antifascist Solidarity & Solidarity with Palestine

Conversation with LEN and HWEI-RU TSOU, the Taiwanese activists whose main commitment, over a period of decades, has been to discover and disclose the involvement of Asian and South Asian anti-fascists in the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. Today’s conversation is perhaps one of the most unusual and unusually important ones we have had on the podcast. Not only do we discover their longstanding friendship with the celebrated anarchist David Graeber and his father during this journey, but we also hear them linking their anti-fascist work to their pro-Palestine activism, which included their participation in the flotillas of X and Y protesting Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza. We hear Len and Nancy (Ruwei’s English name) draw the links between the anti-fascist struggle in Spain and the international movement for Palestinian rights. The conversation inspires and gives one hope about international solidarity in the past, and the present.

21 Voices from South Africa & Israel-Palestine

21 Voices from South Africa & Israel-Palestine

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Working for Palestinian Liberation

Marthie Momberg’s interviewees are Israelis and South Africans who have followed different paths to become activists for Palestine. Momberg herself is a South African Jew, who slowly began to see the connections between South African apartheid and Israel’s own form of apartheid. The 21 voices speak about this connection, but about many other things as well, including gender, generational difference, race, human rights, and Zionism. Taped in December during Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza, which have brought millions onto the streets in protest across the globe, Marthie’s book serves as a vibrant reminder of the spirit of solidarity. 

The Subversive Seventies

The Subversive Seventies

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A Conversation with Political Theorist MICHAEL HARDT on his expansive study of a broad range of subversive movements across the globe. He shows us how the 70s were actually ahead of us in terms of confronting key issues and contradictions that remain with us today and shows what we can learn from them.

Will Hassan Diab Receive Justice?

Will Hassan Diab Receive Justice?

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A Conversation with DR. HASSAN DIAB · MICHELLE WEINROTH & BERNIE FARBER

Former Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, Alex Neva, described the prosecution of Hassan Diab as, “surreal and disgraceful.” Diab was sentenced to life, despite all of the evidence indicating that he could not possibly have committed it. He is currently facing re-extradition from Canada to France.