Our SECOND TO LAST episode of the season! We are joined by Nick Smaligo to talk through the major themes of The Dawn of Everything, and of Graeber's work in general. Nick was full of insights. Nick's essay on The Dawn of Everything: "Closing Paradise's Gate" Also mentioned: The Terms of Order by Cedric Robinson -*- our Discord community for further…

This is not our last episode on The Dawn of Everything, but here we discuss the concluding chapter of the book, which summarizes the book's project while moving forward on some of its new ideas. Next time we will be joined by a guest to help us think about the book as a whole. Mentioned: Secrets, Lies, and Consequences (about Mircea Eliade) by Bruc…

We are joined by two of our good friends, who deliver a nuanced Indigenous response to The Dawn of Everything, centering on Chapter 11's treatment of Mississippian culture. They also share about an indigenous earthwork that they have recently helped to construct in the city of Bulbancha (a.k.a. New Orleans, Louisiana). Links to further reading, cou…

In the last full chapter of the book, the Davids return to Turtle Island to argue against the inevitability of domination and to give historical context for the indigenous critique of European society. -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at theboo…

Hungry ancestors, play kings, and copious cosmetics. The conclusion of our discussion of Chapter 10. Mentioned: One River book by Wade Davis The King Must Die book by Mary Renault Cover image from a fresco at Knossos, on the island of Crete. -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" and "Blind …

Regarding history, teleology and the state, and the three elementary forms of power. Our discussion of the first half of Chapter 10. Cover image from a detail of the Raimondi Stele from Chavín de Huántar, Peru. -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "That Glow in the Morning" b…

We finish discussing Chapter 8 and move on to Chapter 9. More early cities, and a type of democracy uncovered in Spanish chronicles of Mesoamerica. Mentioned: Henry Corbin, French scholar of Islamic philosophy, and his book Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars S…

Cities emerge around the world. What are they like? We return to discuss Chapter 8 of our book. Mentioned: Mountain Gardens website, instagram Fight Like an Animal podcast -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "Jewel of the Blue Ridge" by Sarah Louise. Buy us a coffee :: Email…

We return from halftime to talk more about early farmers and the vast middle ground that spans foraging and agriculture. Mentioned: "Low Level Food Production" by Bruce Smith, 2001. -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "Offering" by Anna Luisa. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at …

We continue our halftime break in our reading of The Dawn of Everything to review and summarize a book that is cited in Dawn, and written by a friend and colleague of the Davids. This book is Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott. Among other virtues, it provides some possible answers to questions that Graeber a…

We go slightly off-book for this episode to explore whether we can find something to affirm in the Garden of Eden myth. Mentioned: Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent Per Faxneld, Satanic Feminism Peter Grey, Lucifer: Princeps -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "Earth…

A close look at the early days of cultivation and domestication. Check out our Book on Fire EXCLUSIVE timeline of dates and places from the chapter Mentioned on the show: "Engels was Right: Early Human Kinship was Matrilineal" by Chris Knight "Anatomy of a Backlash: Concerning the Work of Marija Gimbutas" by Charlene Spretnak "The Dangerous Populis…

The rest of our discussion of Chapter 5. Towards the end of this episode we share thoughts about where the book has taken us so far. - Mentioned on the show: "Why foragers choose acorns before salmon: Storage, mobility, and risk in aboriginal California" by Shannon Tushingham and Robert Bettinger Jasper Bernes' essay on Revolutionary Motives - For …

Why are people different from their neighbors? The first half of our discussion of Chapter 5. Since we recorded this we learned that the Northwest Coast Hall of New York's Museum of Natural History, created by Franz Boas in 1899, and which we describe on the podcast as being outdated, recently underwent a 5-year renovation in which a member of the …

The continuation of our conversation about Chapter 4 of The Dawn of Everything: Free People, the Origin of Cultures, and the Advent of Private Property. Mentioned: What is Politics? podcast (youtube) An article by David Wengrow about Graham Hancock's Ancient Apocalypse Netflix series The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell Mountain Gardens Mount…

Recorded during a windstorm amidst trees falling around the house, the first half of our conversation about Chapter 4: Free People, the Origin of Cultures, and the Advent of Private Property. Mentioned: "The Original Affluent Society" by Marshall Sahlins -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies…

In Chapter 3, Graeber & Wengrow use elaborate ice age burials and impressive building projects, along with more recent examples of cultures who changed their social structures according to the seasons, to suggest that perhaps our original political freedom is the freedom to erect and dismantle hierarchies at will. We're experimenting with including…

In this episode we put the book down and explore some anthropology that the Dawn of Everything is at odds with. Take it slow--it's a long one and there's a lot to cover. Mentioned on the show: What is Politics? podcast Hierarchy in the Forest by Christopher Boehm Sarah Hrdy, primatologist and anthropologist Radical Anthropology Group "Gender Egalit…

"Wicked Liberty: The Indigenous Critique and the Myth of Progress", in which we see how indigenous Americans' devastating critique of European society caused a stir when it made its way back to Europe. This one ends on a spicy note--Dave is not happy with how the chapter ends. Mentioned: Chapter 3 of Caliban and the Witch, "Taming the Rebel Body" o…

We return! In our new season we are reading The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber & David Wengrow, a fascinating and controversial book of anthropology and social theory. There's enough groundwork laid in Chapter 1 to make this episode a longer one than we're used to releasing. We hope you find it stimulating. The Dawn …

"...those feelings of anguish and rage are the same itch the seed feels in the last days of Winter, before it bursts open and sends out its buds into the world... Remember this story, and there will be hope for Spring." First published on Unsettling America. Audio version originally published by Resonance. ------------------------------------------…

Witch hunting did not end in Europe. In fact it didn't even end. The final chapter of our book. Mentioned: Debt: The First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber The anthropologist Michael Taussig "Conviction: American Panic" podcast Janet's essay about finding and connecting with nature anywhere ----------------------------------- Music on this episode by …

Why were women especially targeted by the Witch Hunt? The continuation of Chapter 4. Mentioned: The Witch Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray The Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Ehrenreich and English Stephany Hoffelt's Domestic Medicine blog Diane Purkiss ---------------------…

Arguably the most important chapter of the book. "The Great Witch-Hunt in Europe" Mentioned: Malleus Maleficarum or The Hammer of the Witches ----------------------------------- Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- [[ Dav…

Capitalism needed to invent a new kind of person, a new subject to fit into its scheme. Science and rationalist philosophy was happy to provide. Mentioned on the podcast: Harriet Washington Medical Apartheid Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene Jared Diamond Guns, Germs, and Steel Excellent critique of Diamond's book from the Savage Minds blog --------…

We return to finish chapter 2. Mentioned on the show: The podcast series "Seeing White" from Scene on Radio Dr. Kim Tallbear on For the Wild podcast Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism …

We begin discussing the pivotal second chapter. There was too much to fit into one episode, so this conversation will be continued. Mentioned: Q, the novel, by Luther Blissett The World Turned Upside Down, by Christopher Hill Music on this episode by Big Blood and I Love You. -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Buy us a coffee :: E…

Life during feudalism, popular revolt, heretical resistance: "All the World Needs Jolt: Social Movements and Political Crisis in Medieval Europe". Further reading: Tragedy of the Commons on Wikipedia "First as Tragedy, then as Fascism", article from The Baffler about the legacy of Garrett Hardin, who popularized the "tragedy" in a 1968 essay. The R…

Caliban and the Witch is much more than a book of history. Today we introduce our new book, get oriented to the subject matter, define some terms, and cover highlights from the preface and the introduction. Order the book from AK Press here. It can also be found free online as a scanned PDF here And possibly as an EPUB ebook here. ---------------- …

To begin Season 2 we are following threads from last season's discussions of Donna Haraway's Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene before starting our next full book. Next time we will also have new music, so enjoy Reanimator one last time. We discuss articles by two authors, all of which can be found online. First up is a piece b…

In the final episode of our first season we revisit highlights from the book, and ask ourselves how we would integrate the lessons and insights into our ongoing work. How could the ideas in book be extended? What does Haraway leave out that we can provide? This is a thoughtful episode, processing and integrating many big ideas that we've been waiti…

With some delay, this is our discussion of the last chapter of Staying with the Trouble, a speculative fiction called "The Camille Stories: Children of Compost". Stay tuned for our for our final thoughts about Haraway's book before we move on to new material. Mentioned in this episode: The trailer for Donna Haraway: Storytelling for Earthly Surviva…

Apologies! this episode was accidentally deleted and is now being re-posted. Mentioned in this episode: More about Dave & Janet Ursula Le Guin's Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction essay (PDF) Everything Matters: Why This is No Time for Cynicism by Janet The Evolution of Beauty (book) by Richard O. Prum A recent Radiolab episode about The Evolution of Be…

Two chapters this week: "Making Kin" and "Awash in Urine." Haraway proposes that voluntary non-reproduction may be a solution to ecological crisis. Is she right? Mentioned in this episode: Kim TallBear's lecture "Making Love and Relations Beyond Settler Sexualities" Permaculture and the Myth of Overpopulation and as always.. -*- our Discord communi…

Could our intestinal microbiome be luminescent? In this episode we discuss "Sympoiesis: Symbiogenesis and the Lively Arts of Staying with the Trouble", chapter 3 of our book. -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- (not Facebook any longer) Featured in the show: The Hawaiian Bobtail Squid The Bee Orchid comic from xkcd.com Website for …

Discussion of Chapter 2 of Staying with the Trouble, "Tentacular Thinking: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene" Music by our friends Reanimator, from their album "Special Powers" -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]…

We discuss the Introduction and First Chapter of Donna Haraway's "Staying with the Trouble". Music from our good friends Reanimator, from their 2000 album Special Powers. Mentioned in the episode: Navajo grandma shows her string figures The Songlines, by Bruce Chatwin -*- our Discord community for further discussion -*- Email us at thebookonfirepod…

In this episode Janet & Dave introduce themselves, the podcast, and introduce the first book we'll be reading-- Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene by Donna J. Haraway. (Music by Reanimator) Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com [[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram :: Website ]]…