Cocktails & Capitalism

In this episode, we’re joined by Rathbone – an anticapitalist musician, producer, and multimedia artist living in New Orleans. Rathbone writes songs with political lyrics that highlight American war crimes and the evils of imperialism and capitalism. We discuss his music and the process of his evolution into an anarcho-syndicalist.

Rathbone describes some of the fundamental values that constitute his anarchist perspective, including the belief that communities should be allowed to govern themselves. Our discussion touches on the difference between legitimate and illegitimate power and the dream of someday achieving a reality without states or bord...

With Palestine Action racking up the victories, it was high time that I spoke with veteran actionist Shibby about the network’s mind blowing direct  action successes. We discuss the recent shutdown of a facility in Tamworth, the viral action that just took place in Scotland, and the high-level, low-level, and covert strategies that have been used by these brave activists.


We also touch on the ongoing efforts to ban Palestine Action in the UK, and why such a ban will fail to prevent this network from continuing its righteous work.


In addition to...

Too few understand the genocide that is raging in the Congo. Human rights activist Gaëtan-Dauphin Nzowo of Friends of the Congo joins me to examine the country's economic & geopolitical significance and how this genocide has been driven by extractive capitalism. 

As Gaëtan points out, “most Congolese don’t have a smartphone to document the atrocities” committed against them, but the labor and blood of the Congolese people continues to supply the materials needed for our smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles.

We honor the legacy of independe...

I spoke with activist and veteran Greg Stoker about the recent campus protests in solidarity with Palestine, police repression, and imperialism. We explore the concept of the “imperialist boomerang” and how it relates to the brutal crackdowns we’re seeing on college campuses.

“APD, KKK, IOF, they’re all the same!” and “There’s no riot here. Why are you in riot gear?” were among the chants heard at the UT Austin Gaza Solidarity encampment. Greg witnessed droves of state troopers in riot gear cracking down on Palestine supporters and arresting over 100. In the face of state repr...

This exclusive interview with an A15 comrade explores the historic global economic blockade that took place on April 15th in solidarity with Palestine. Recognizing the global economy’s complicity in genocide, folks in 82 cities across 19 countries took action to block the arteries of capitalism. These protestors targeted major economic choke points to maximize impact, resulting in millions if not billions of dollars in lost profits for the capitalist class.

As forces mobilized to attack Rafah, the A15 call to escalate resonated with so many people. This global coordinated economic blockade was a complete departure from symbolic acts of...

“Beautiful Trouble was birthed by seasoned organizers who really wanted to document not only social movement successes…but really dig into what makes an action work.”

In this episode, I speak with trainer and organizer Rae Abileah about Beautiful Trouble – a global network of organizers, artists, and trainers helping to equip activists and social movements with the strategic tools to become more effective and irresistible. 

Rae explains the diverse ways that Beautiful Trouble has been helping activists in the field, from mentoring and trainings to offering hands-on campaign strategy and direct action planning. We discus...

“For me, dismantling the fossil fuel industry is a form of mental healthcare” – Tori Tsui  This week on Cocktails & Capitalism, I speak with the UK-based climate justice activist, researcher, speaker, and writer Tori Tsui. We discuss the relationship between mental health and the climate crisis, breaking down some of the core concepts that are illuminated in Tori's recent book, It's Not Just You: How to Navigate Eco-Anxiety and the Climate Crisis.

The episode explores common misperceptions about eco-anxiety, the Eurocentric nature of the concept, and why it’s so problematic to call eco-anxiety a mental illness. 

Osage scholar Jimmy Lee Beason II offers an Indigenous perspective on Killers of the Flower Moon and the history of the Osage murders that the book and film depict. In this Cocktails & Capitalism interview, we discuss the true history of the Reign of Terror–a horrific string of murders of Osage committed by white settlers pillaging Osage oil wealth. In addition to providing deeper context for the recent Martin Scorsese film, our conversation highlights some of the impact of this dark chapter on the lives of the Osage people.

A member of the Os...

Students at UC Davis just won an historic victory by passing a bill that divests all student funds from apartheid Israel. I spoke with three of the women who were instrumental in making this happen, including the political director, the president, and the social media coordinator for the UC Davis chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). We discussed the magic moment when the bill passed, the work that went into this success, and how they are helping to empower students at other universities to achieve similar victories.

Already, students at many other UCs have followed...

Jewish organizer and activist Max Geller joins me to talk about the birth of new Palestine Action chapters around the world in response to the intensified genocide that has been raging for 4 straight months.

As discussed in last year's episode featuring Jodie Jones, Palestine Action is a UK-based network of activists that has permanently shut down 2 arms factories and caused millions in damages to Israel’s arms dealers. The main target of this network is Elbit Systems, which Max describes as the “most evil company in the entire world." 

Calls to Action: