Under the Tree Podcast

Episode # 74: Organizing to Change the World with Clément Petitjean

One of Karl Marx’s most famous dictums is carved onto his gravestone: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.” The first step is opening our eyes, making meaning, making sense, interpreting and constructing a world. Another step is allowing ourselves to feel the world throbbing inside of us, to hear its…

June 1, 2023

Episodes

activists, authors, Black Panthers, Clement Petitjean, communityorganizing, freedom, liberation, Occupation Organizer, organizing, SDS, SNCC, solidarity, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Students for a Democratic Society
Episode # 73: Fighting Times with Jon Melrod

Unchecked, the US juggernaut is headed for catastrophe, either a new and friendly-looking American fascism, or some other form of extreme social disintegration. Another world is surely coming—greater equality, participatory democracy, socialism, and peace are all within our reach, but nuclear war, complete capitalist climate collapse, work camps and slavery are also looming possibilities. There…

May 18, 2023

Episodes

Fighting Times, Jon Melrod, labor, organizing
Episode # 72: Open Your Mouths for the Muted; Fight for the Rights of the Destitute with Randolph Stone

This political moment—complex, contradictory, characterized by escalating crises—urges us to focus our attention on movement building. Beyond campaigns, projects, policies, or organizations, we need to find multiple ways to weave our work together into a sturdy quilt, or a mighty and irresistible social upheaval that advances the cause of peace and freedom, joy and justice…

May 4, 2023

Episodes

abolition, activists, Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project, death penalty, freedom movement, justice, juvenile justice, legal aid, liberation, police accountability, Pontiac prison, public defender
Episode # 71: With My Mind Stayed on Freedom with Dan Berger, Zoharah Simmons, and Michael Simmons

The struggle for Black Freedom was intensifying in 1966, and when the term “Black Power!” leapt from the March Against Fear in Mississippi into the mainstream, the Freedom Movement was newly energized. White supremacist hearts were all aflutter, and Mister Backlash went into overdrive with the usual bullshit: Black Power is hate! Is racist! Is…

April 20, 2023

Episodes

authors, black freedom, Black power, Dan Berger, freedom movement, Michael Simmons, Stayed on Freedom, writer, Zoharah Simmons
Episode # 70: There But for Fortune with Michael Fischer

What’s the worst thing you ever did in your life? OK, stop blushing, and be honest. Are you sure you haven’t repressed, suppressed, and forgotten the most unkind or terrible or illegal or unjust things you’ve done? Think harder. What were the consequences of your actions for others, and for yourself? I’m joined in conversation…

April 5, 2023

Episodes

authors, carceraleducation, crime, education, grace, incarceration, justice, liberation, Michael Fischer, solidarity, teacher, writer
Episode # 69: Socialism…Seriously with Danny Katch

We’re in a five-alarm shit-storm of trouble to be sure, and the overlapping crises can feel overwhelming—racial reckoning, catastrophic capitalist climate collapse, a financial system that parodies a massive, out-of-control Ponzi scheme, a legislature impersonating a medieval auction block, and more. We meet up with Danny Katch to help us name this political moment. Danny…

March 22, 2023

Episodes

authors, danny katch, organizers, socialism, solidarity
Episode # 68: From Dungeons to Revolutionary Focos with Destine Phillips, Denzel Burke, & Tommy Hagan from the R.E.A.L. Youth Initiative

It takes a lot to change the world, and because we live day-by-day immersed in what is—the world as such—imagining a landscape much different from what’s immediately before us requires a combination of somethings: seeds, surely, desire, yes, effort, of course, always effort, idealism and romance, maybe, necessity and desperation at times, and a vision…

March 8, 2023

Episodes

abolition, activists, education, freedom, incarceration, justice, juvenile prisons, organizers, palestine, re-entry, real youth initiative, solidarity
Episode 67: Of Borders and Dreams with Susan Mills

A border can be “a story of identity” or “a wound…in the landscape.” It is sometimes a place to be feared, and other times a place to be honored. Borders can, of course, be metaphors: the boundary between boy and man, or girl and woman; the thin line between sanity and madness; the final frontier…

February 23, 2023

Episodes

authors, borders, freedom, immigration, justice, On the Wings of a Hummingbird, pilsen community books, solidarity, Susan Mills
Episode 66: Waiting for Democracy with Stephanie Skora

Stephanie Skora is the force behind the Girl, I Guess Progressive Voter Guide. She’s a self-proclaimed ‘Jewish, queer, trans, nerd’ dedicated to helping members of the community navigate confusing ballot races and identify the most progressive candidates. A grouchy Jewish trans dyke, and an anarchist with a political science degree – Stephanie is as wise…

February 9, 2023

Episodes

abolition, activists, Chicago elections, elections, freedom, Girl I GUess, justice, progressive voter guides, solidarity, stephanie skora, voters matter, voting
Episode 65: Chasing Justice – A Homecoming with Marshan Allen

We travel to the Illinois Parole Board to stand in solidarity with a couple of my students seeking clemency or commutation or a pardon from Governor Pritzker, and to support our friend and colleague Marshan Allen as he asks to have his conviction erased so that he can practice law when he finishes law school.…

January 25, 2023

Episodes

abolition, activists, clemency, criminal reform, education, freedom, justice, solidarity

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