The Dugout | a Black anarchist podcast

What does it mean to develop discipline without reproducing authoritarianism? How can study become a form of preparation? How can remembering political prisoners change the way we understand incarceration happening around us now?

This is Black August 2026: Part 2.

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Media Featured for Black August in this episode

Archival footage from Ellis Haizlip's Soul featuring Georgia Jackson, mother of George and Jonathan Jackson. | Watch more of SOUL! on this Youtube playlist

A reading of Ya'Iyr Carter's "The Death of Jonathan Jackson," published through In the Belly

This episode features readings and discussion from the 2026 Black August issue of In the Belly, a prisoner-led abolitionist magazine. The hosts discuss pieces by Pierre "Polo" Pinson and Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, alongside poetry by Assata Shakur and a poem featured in Judas and the Black Messiah. Together, these works raise questions about revolution, religion, spirituality, negotiation, reproductive labor, political education, and what it means to build a liberated world rather than simply seek reforms within the existing one.

This episode is an invitation to study history, question the promises of the present, and think seri...

A #RepressionWatch upload to The Dugout.

For this RepressionWatch episode, I talk with organizer Sammie (they/them) about the 2024 Gaza solidarity encampment at the University of Michigan, the police raid that broke it up, and the lasting toll of being sprayed with a chemical agent called Deep Freeze. We get into the felony charges that followed, misogynoir in organizing spaces, and what it means to keep showing up for a movement after the state has already come for you.

EPISODE CORRECTION: Sammie refers to a co-defendant as an "Arab person", but meant to say he's "...

In this episode of The Dugout, we speak with Lebanese anarchists about organizing and surviving through war, occupation, sectarianism, displacement, and economic crisis. We discuss what brought them to anarchism, how they understand Lebanon’s history, and why the experiences of South Lebanon and Beirut can look so different.

We talk about the realities of Israel’s attacks, the conditions facing migrant and kafala workers, and the everyday needs people are confronting as communities are displaced and homes are destroyed.

At the center of the conversation is a simple principle: abandon nobody.

What does...

What does it mean to defend your community when the state has already decided it won't? Today we sit down with Alex, Manuel, and Solaris of Atlas Defense, a Twin Cities community defense collective. We get into what community defense actually means, how they built a cadre with no hierarchy, and how Indigenous sovereignty and death work shape the way they think about safety. We also talk about how their organizing shifted once ICE occupied the Twin Cities, and what it takes to keep each other safe under repression.

Show Notes on Patreon

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Guests:Cal & Isaac, two of the Minnesota 15 defendants

In this episode of The Dugout, we sit down with Cal and Isaac, two of the fifteen people indicted following Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration occupation of the Twin Cities. We trace their political histories, from labor organizing and anti-cult work to anti-fascist organizing, and get a firsthand account of the ICE occupation of Minneapolis-St. Paul: the killing of Renee Goode, the general strike of January 23rd, and the federal raids that led to their arrest and indictment. We discuss the specific repression they're facing (including a pre-dawn...

In this episode of The Dugout, we sit down with organizers Noura and F12 for a conversation about Palestine, abolition, Afropessimism, international solidarity, and what it actually takes to sustain struggle.

What does it mean to travel to Palestine without romanticizing struggle? What is “protective presence,” and what can international organizers actually offer communities living under occupation? How does the occupation control not only land and movement, but people's relationship to time, planning, and the future itself?

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About the Guests

Modibo Kadalie and Andrew Zonneveld sit down for a conversation about the moments that shaped their politics over decades of organizing. Modibo reflects on the decision to resist the Vietnam draft and leave the United States, while both discuss what it was like raising children alongside anti-war organizing, how the history of Georgia and the Black South continues to influence their thinking, and where they see Pan-Africanism today. They also share what’s next for On Our Own Authority Publishing and close by reflecting on the movements, struggles, and everyday acts of resistance that continue to give them hope fo...

What does it take to build revolutionary institutions that last? In Part 1 of this interview, we’re joined by Andrew and Modibo of On Our Own Authority, a radical publishing collective and community bookstore in metro Atlanta. Together, we discuss the politics of publishing, preserving movement history, and creating spaces where revolutionary ideas can be studied, debated, and put into practice.

The conversation explores Black radical traditions, oral history, direct democracy, social ecology, independent bookstores, and why movements need physical spaces that outlive social media and political trends. Along the way, we reflect on writing history from be...

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, we ask a simple question: what does America mean to those living through its violence today? From expanding state repression and political prisoners to the mythology of the Fourth of July, we reflect on what it means to reject nationalism while committing ourselves to solidarity, community, and revolutionary struggle.

Along the way, we discuss the Prairie Land defendants, Baldwin's complicated relationship to America, the future of resistance, and what it takes to build movements that can survive the years ahead.

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EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00...

🔗 Support the fundraiser for Lorenzo Araujo's family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-loving-...

I saw this news story and knew I had to make this video.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three who was shot and killed by an ICE officer during an immigration operation in Houston. We look at the contradictions in the case, why Lorenzo's family is demanding an independent investigation, and how ICE keeps relying on familiar claims about "perceived threats" and vehicles being used as weapons to justify deadly force. I also place this case in the broader history of...

We sit down to talk about THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR; Based on the novel by Sam Greenlee, the film follows Dan Freeman, the first Black CIA officer, who uses the counterinsurgency and intelligence tactics he learns from the U.S. government to train Black militants in Chicago and build an underground revolutionary movement.

We explore its gender politics and the limited role afforded to women in its revolutionary vision, the hierarchical model of organizing it presents, and the ways the film reproduces familiar masculine revolutionary archetypes centered on secrecy, military discipline...

What was STAR, and why does its legacy still matter today? In this episode, we dive into the history of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), the radical organization founded by Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. We trace STAR's origins, its mutual aid and housing programs, and its role in the broader struggle for queer and trans liberation. We also examine the realities of state repression, discuss current conditions facing LGBTQ+ communities, and reflect on what organizers today can learn from STAR's vision of collective care and survival.

Mentioned Media:

BOOKS 

What can economics teach anarchists, organizers, and people trying to build a different world?

Jordan sits down with Brooke of Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness and Live Like the World Is Dying for a conversation on economics, anarchism, and building alternatives to capitalism. Brooke shares her journey from journalism student to economist, bookkeeper, and organizer while breaking down economic concepts in accessible terms. Together, they explore how economic systems shape our lives, why understanding them matters for social change, and what cooperative, participatory, and anarchist approaches to economics might look like in practice.

From central...

In this episode, Fawaz and Dr. Mohamed Abdou continue their conversation on anarchism, authoritarianism, and the future of resistance in Sudan and beyond. Beginning with the question “Do we need anarchism?”, the discussion explores anarchism not as a rigid ideology or replacement religion, but as a living culture of freedom, mutual aid, and resistance to domination. Together, they examine how authoritarianism reproduces itself through the modern state, capitalism, propaganda, nationalism, and even within revolutionary movements themselves.

The episode dives into the limits of armed struggle in Sudan, the failures of nationalist and Marxist movements, and the dangers of r...

In this episode, Sudanese anarchist organizer Fawaz joins Dr. Mohamed Abdou for a wide-ranging conversation on the war in Sudan, authoritarianism, colonialism, and the struggle for liberation beyond the state. Together, they unpack the roots of the conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, tracing how colonial borders, militarized tribal divisions, resource extraction, and regional powers have shaped decades of violence and displacement. The discussion explores how authoritarian systems manufacture chaos in order to sustain control, while ordinary people are left to survive genocide, war economies, and social fragmentation.

The episode also examines the relationship between...

Before the city of Philadelphia dropped a bomb on a Black neighborhood, MOVE spent over a decade building one of the most uncompromising radical organizations in American history. Founded by John Africa in the early 1970s, MOVE combined Black liberation politics with a sweeping critique of modern civilization — technology, education, government, and "the system" itself. In this episode, we trace MOVE's arc from their communal house in Powelton Village to the 1978 standoff that sent nine members to prison, to the catastrophic 1985 bombing that killed 11 people and burned down 61 homes. Along the way, we wrestle with hard questions: What made MO...

Before the city of Philadelphia dropped a bomb on a Black neighborhood, MOVE spent over a decade building one of the most uncompromising radical organizations in American history. Founded by John Africa in the early 1970s, MOVE combined Black liberation politics with a sweeping critique of modern civilization — technology, education, government, and "the system" itself. In this episode, we trace MOVE's arc from their communal house in Powelton Village to the 1978 standoff that sent nine members to prison, to the catastrophic 1985 bombing that killed 11 people and burned down 61 homes. Along the way, we wrestle with hard questions: What made MO...

In this episode, Fawaz and Dr. Mohamed Abdou continue their conversation on anarchism, authoritarianism, and the future of resistance in Sudan and beyond. Beginning with the question “Do we need anarchism?”, the discussion explores anarchism not as a rigid ideology or replacement religion, but as a living culture of freedom, mutual aid, and resistance to domination. Together, they examine how authoritarianism reproduces itself through the modern state, capitalism, propaganda, nationalism, and even within revolutionary movements themselves.

The episode dives into the limits of armed struggle in Sudan, the failures of nationalist and Marxist movements, and...

In this debut episode, Sudanese anarchist organizer Fawaz joins Dr. Mohamed Abdou for a wide-ranging conversation on the war in Sudan, authoritarianism, colonialism, and the struggle for liberation beyond the state. Together, they unpack the roots of the conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, tracing how colonial borders, militarized tribal divisions, resource extraction, and regional powers have shaped decades of violence and displacement. The discussion explores how authoritarian systems manufacture chaos in order to sustain control, while ordinary people are left to survive genocide, war economies, and social fragmentation.

The episode also...

Recorded live at Rafales (the anarchist learning camp hosted by ORA (Organisation Révolutionnaire Anarchiste) in Montreal).

We sat down with Zoya, one of the organizers, to dig into what Black autonomy actually looks like in practice: as theory, as daily organizing, and as a framework that refuses to wait for someone else's revolution to be finished first. From prefigurative politics to Afro-pessimism, from the Black Liberation Army to Cooperation Jackson, from Standing Rock to the Anarchist Group in Sudan, this conversation traces the lineage of Black radical struggle across generations and geographies. We also get into w...

In this episode, we sit down with James Stout, a conflict reporter and author of Against the State: Anarchists and Comrades at War in Spain, Myanmar, and Rojava, to talk about solidarity, journalism, and what it means to document struggle without reproducing the logic of the state.

We begin with solidarity with Sudan and trace James’s path from growing up rural to finding anarchism and becoming a conflict reporter. From Venezuela to the Darién Gap, we explore what it looks like to practice kindness in conflict zones and why mainstream media so often misses the rol...

Ever wondered how an episode of The Dugout comes together?
We take you behind the scenes of how we make The Dugout: from how the podcast started, to researching topics, booking guests, recording, editing, and posting episodes online. We break down our full process, talk about the challenges of building independent media, and share what goes into making a Black anarchist podcast with limited resources.
Like, comment, and subscribe for more behind-the-scenes content from The Dugout.

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00:00 Intro

02:21 How We Started THE DUGOUT

06:35 How we PLAN podcast episodes

This episode traces a powerful political and personal journey, from early childhood memories and family roots in Missouri to a deep engagement with Black radical politics, incarceration, and revolutionary thought. Beginning with formative lessons from family and life on the land, the conversation moves through experiences of schooling, racial identity, and the impact of media in shaping self image and political awareness.

Support Zolo! https://www.patreon.com/zoloazania

A turning point emerges during Black History Week, opening the door to a broader understanding of history, resistance, and imagination. From there, we explore the influence...

What does it mean to become a revolutionary as a teenager—and live long enough to reflect on it?

In this episode of The Dugout, we sit down with Panther veterans Jamal Joseph and Ashanti Alston for a rare, intergenerational conversation on struggle, survival, and political transformation. Both joined the Black Panther Party as teenagers—15 and 17—shaped by the political urgency of their time: rebellion in the streets, the assassination of Malcolm X, and the global fight for Black liberation.

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Guests

Ashanti Omowali Alston is a writer, speaker, and member of the...

In this episode of The Dugout, we’re joined by Lebanese writer, researcher, and podcast host Elia Ayoub, founder of The Fire These Times. Together we unpack Lebanon’s sectarian political system, the long shadow of the Lebanese Civil War, and the global political frameworks that shape how people interpret struggles in SWANA today.

Elia reflects on growing up in post–civil war Lebanon and how events like the 2006 Israeli invasion and the 2019 October uprising shaped his political thinking. The conversation explores how sectarian governance, regional geopolitics, and foreign intervention—from the United States to Iran—...

We spend some time unpacking the recent US/Israel strike on Iran and Lebanon.

With tensions rising between the U.S., Israel, and Iran, many are getting pulled into spewing out takes that delegitimize the complexity of diaspora and the struggles of folks on the ground opposing authoritarian regimes . In this episode, we slow things down and ask some questions: what's happening in this moment? What are the dangers of campism and how can it be reaction to imperial guilt? And what does international solidarity look like?

00:00 Intro
02:15 Why we waited to record this...

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Peyman Vahabzadeh, Iranian-born sociologist, theorist of radical phenomenology, and author of For Land and Culture, about the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the largely erased Turkmen Council (Shura) movement that briefly flourished in its wake. Having participated in the revolution at age 17, Vahabzadeh reflects on the intoxicating rupture of revolutionary time—when the state’s grip loosens and new possibilities emerge—and asks whether freedom can exist outside such moments of upheaval.

We center the Turkmen Shuras: nearly 300 grassroots councils that organized land redistribution, education, women’s participation, and self-defense during a fleeting...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE | Sudan’s current way is the latest chapter in a decades-long fight between grassroots revolution and military power. In this episode, we break down how women, workers, and resistance committees built a movement from below — and how it was pushed into counter-revolution.

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To donate to comrades in Sudan...

https://opencollective.com/support-sudanese-comrades

Watch our ON SUDAN playlist on Youtube to learn more:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTSf-b7rj7Kierq08hactDYbqI6qTDiPy&si=f8kc15xiBPvdq_9y

What's Happening In Sudan | Watch

ht...

This episode we examine antisemitism in the black community. What is antisemitism, how does it function, and how does it show up within Black communities?

We begin with a reading and reaction to James Baldwin’s essay “Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They’re Anti-White.” Baldwin challenges us to think about proximity to power, resentment, and how racial hierarchy shapes perception. His analysis helps clarify how anger at structural oppression can become misdirected toward visible groups rather than systems.

We then turn to contemporary controversies, including recent comments from Kanye West and narratives about “Jewish media.” We discuss h...

This episode centers on Zolo Agona Azania, a former political prisoner, artist, and organizer who spent more than three decades incarcerated before his release in 2017. Drawing from an interview published as a zine, the episode follows Zolo’s account of his early life, imprisonment, political study, and the challenges of reentry.

Support Zolo at https://www.patreon.com/zoloazania/

Cahshapp: $ZoloAzania

Stay connected with The Dugout! Follow us for updates, exclusive content, and more:

🔗OUR WEBSITE: https://www.thedugoutpodcast.com/

🔗 ⁠Instagram⁠: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/dugoutpodcast/⁠

🔗 ⁠Substack⁠: ⁠https://tdugout.substack...

In this episode, we reflect on recent rapid response movements, what it's felt like to process the rising state violence (especially the threats of more I.C.E. raids in Springfield, OH). Then we move on to unpack community defense and rapid response movements in Twin Cities area and beyond with the following pieces...

Rapid Response Networks in the Twin Cities (CrimethInc) – How organizers built decentralized, trust-based networks to respond quickly to ICE raids and police escalation.

https://crimethinc.com/2026/01/15/rapid-response-networks-in-the-twin-cities-a-guide-to-an-updated-model

From Minneapolis: I’ve Never Seen Unity Like This (Margaret Killjoy) – A firsth...

In this episode, we’re joined by Isabella, an internationalist who has been involved in multiple institutions of the Rojavan Revolution and is currently on the ground in Syria. Together, we trace her personal journey into the revolution and explore the political, social, and feminist structures that have sustained Rojava through years of war, pressure, and transformation.

We discuss the foundations of the Rojavan Revolution and DAANES, the role of Mala Jin, Jinwar, and Jineology, and the development of Kongra Star as the vanguard of the women’s revolution. Isabella shares insights into how revo...

In this episode of The Dugout, we start with a mental health check-in and reflections on our goals for 2026, then move straight into the chaos of the moment: ICE activity in Central Ohio, shifting global conflicts, and what non-campist solidarity actually looks like when empires, states, and militias all claim to be the answer.

We talk about Venezuela, Iran, Kurdistan, Greenland, and Sudan — including scenes from El Fasher — to make sense of how one system of domination shows up across many places and in many forms. We dig into new developments in repressive technology, the...

In this episode of The Dugout, we talk to Germán Gonzalez, one of the Stanford 11 and one of five students facing felony charges after intense repression during the pro-Palestine encampment movement at Stanford University. We break down how Gonzalez’s family background in El Salvador radicalized them to be in solidarity with Palestine, the rising tide of 2023/2024 student encampment movements, the university and local repression leading to trumped up charges, and what it means to hold your ground in the face of genocide, war profiting, and censorship.

To stay up to date on Stanford 11 case….

To...

This year, we've put out over 50 episodes, almost double what we did in Season 1, and we learned a lot.

From interviews with Ohio organizers/farmers to political thinkers online to former Black Panther Party and Black Liberation army members; to breakdowns of 101 topics like PROPERTY, CAPITALISM, and beyond.

Now we want to reflect and thank you all for listening!

Season 2 Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3op9939LV5uWX3tYSkISfs?si=1cc2f360135b42b1

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Stay connected with The Dugout! Follow us for updates, exclusive content...

In this episode, we sit down with members of the DFW Defense Committee to break down the state and federal repression facing local organizers and community members. We begin with who the defendants are and their relationship to the defense work, then move into what’s happening on the ground beyond the state’s narrative.

Our guests reflect on the lives and commitments of the defendants before their arrests and trace how state repression has materially shaped their lives and the broader community. They outline major takeaways from this moment, including how the state is revealing its hand...

What happens when war becomes something you can ‘like’ on Instagram? When war becomes a brand? We live in a world where violence is curated aesthetically in more ways than we can imagine. INSPIRED BY  @uncivilized_media - "how israel uses sex to sell Zionism"...https://youtu.be/OHJEpnCL5nE?si=zugNnzR6kx540lpd

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/Wo4e3SnKkjg

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LEARN MORE FROM THIS VIDEO ESSAY1. “The Naked Faces of Israel” — (Book Chapter / Academic)

Analyzes the Brand Israel campaign and how the state used sexuality, tech aesthetics, and Western...

In this expansive conversation, writer and creator Prince Shakur traces the evolution of his political, creative, and personal journeys from being a precocious kid entering college early to becoming a sharp, imaginative voice on YouTube and in contemporary literature. Prince reflects on the early days of his channel, how experimenting online shaped his storytelling, and how technical growth allowed him to more fully realize his creative vision.

Across the episode, we examine the pressures of the attention economy, the shifting terrain of journalism and truth-telling, and the responsibilities that come with documenting one’s ow...

I (Prince) sat down with my co-host, Jordan, to talk about how they came into politics — not as theory first, but through life, loss, and the chaos of 2020.

We talked about what it means to get assigned Marx by a professor, their upbringing and early anti-authoritarianism. About being radicalized by police violence during the George Floyd protests. Jordan opens up about the moments that shaped him: studying revolutionary texts for the first time, organizing on the ground, and trying to make sense of what martyrdom means.

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