Speaking Out of Place
Public activism on human rights, environmental and indigenous justice, and educational liberation, with an emphasis on politics, culture, and art. Website:
https://speakingoutofplace.com/
Episodes
186 episodes
Making Community Change and Sharpening Activist Skills—A Conversation with Youth United for Community Action
Today I am excited to talk with three members of Youth United for Community Action, an organization based in East Palo Alto that has been fighting for community empowerment since 1994, when a small gro...
The Continuing Struggle to #StopCopCity—Ordinary People Transformed into Activists of Conscience
In 2021, the City of Atlanta announced that it was entering into a partnership with the Atlanta Police Foundation to destroy the South River Forest and build what became known as “Cop City,” a large facility for the training of police officers....
Anna Badkhen: To See Beyond—Finding the Language of Survival and Hope
Today I have the immense pleasure of speaking with author Anna Badkhen about her new collection of essays,
Bullshit and Infinity: Why AI Cannot Predict Anything: A Conversation with Carissa Véliz
Today I have the immense pleasure of talking with Carissa Véliz, an associate professor at the University of Oxford, about her new book, Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future—from Ancient Oracles to AI. Linkin...
The Effects of the War on the Iranian People: A Conversation with Fatemeh Jamalpour and and Nilo Tabrizy
Today I am deeply honored to welcome back Iranian journalists Fatemeh Jamalpour and Nilo Tabrizy. Before, they talked about their book,
How to Sell a Genocide, and Sustain It: A Conversation with Adam Johnson
Today I am excited to talk with journalist and media critic Adam Johnson about his new book, How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza.&nbs...
Amplifying the Violence of Incarceration: Victoria Law on Prisons During Pandemic
Today I am honored to speak with veteran journalist Victoria Law. She is the author of such books as Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women, Prison By Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular R...
Note from Non-People: A Conversation with Serhat Tutkal and Hevin Karakurt on Kurdish History, Language, Culture
Today it’s a special honor to welcome Serhat Tutkal and Hevin Karakurt to Speaking Out of Place. These two scholars engage in a broad discussion of Kurdish history, culture, politics, literature and language, with particular attention to issues...
Science in Resistance--Direct Action for Climate Justice, Democracy in Education: A Conversation with Fernando Racimo
Today it gives me special pleasure to speak with Fernando Racimo, a leading scientist-activist, about his new book, Science in Resistance. This book gives...
The Joy of Struggling Together for Freedom in Education—A Discussion with the Coalition for Action in Higher Education
Today I am excited and honored to be talking with Dr. Shamell Bell and Sherena Razek, two activist scholars who join us to talk about their work on the Coalition for Action in Higher Education, which will be convening its
What We Can Learn from Anti-Racist Organizing in Detroit in the 1960s and 70s—A Conversation with Say Burgin
Today, on Speaking Out of Place, I have the pleasure of talking with Say Burgin about her book, Organizing on Your Own: The White Fight for Black Power in Detroit. Tracing th...
The Seasons of a Shepherd's Life and the Importance of Belonging--A Conversation with Helen Whybrow
Today it gives me special pleasure to speak with Helen Whybrow about her book, The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life. Besides being a detailed account of the day to day, season by season life on her farm, where she and he...
Jamaica Osorio: Poems on Gaza—Contemplating the Impossible and Being Steadfast in Solidarity
Today I am deeply honored to spend time with poet, activist, and scholar Jamaica Osorio. Shortly after October 7, 2023, she began to write a series of astonishing poems about the war in Gaza and the genocide. Osorio graces us with readings of s...
The Imperative to Support the People of Venezuela: A Vitally Important Conversation with Anderson Bean, Simón Rodríguez, and Emiliano Terán
Starting in the autumn of 2025, the US began attacking small civilian boats in or near Venezuelan waters, summarily executing over 126 people. January, 2026 began with it kidnapping Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and br...
Talking with Yuri Herrera About Season of the Swamp, Palestine, ICE, and Fighting for a Better World
Today I am deeply honored to speak with novelist, essayist, and scholar Yuri Herrera about his new novel, Season of the Swamp, which is a deeply researched and dazzlingly imagined account of Benito Juarez’s time spent in exile in New Orleans.&n...
A Conversation with Andrew Ross: The Weather Report: A Journey Through Unsettled Climates
Today I am delighted to speak with Andrew Ross about his new book, The Weather Report: A Journey Through Unsettled Climates. In this study, Ross revisits areas of the world that he has written about before—Palestine, the United Arab Emirates, P...
Ananya Roy and Veronika Zablotsky: Beyond Sanctuary: The Humanism of a World in Motion
Today I am happy to speak with Ananya Roy and Veronika Zablotsky about their co-edited volume, Beyond Sanctuary: The Humanism of a World in Motion, which was based on a Sawyer Seminar they convened at UCLA. The essays collected in this...
Thea Riofrancos: Confronting Contradiction and Working for the Planet
I am delighted to talk with scholar, journalist, and activist Thea Riofrancos about her new book, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism. She takes us deep into the mining of lithium and the production of lithium batteries...
Fighting Academic Cowardice and Activating Fearlessness: Speaking with Roderick Ferguson
Today I am delighted to talk with Roderick Ferguson about his provocative and much-needed intervention, “An Interruption in Our Cowardice.” Initially driven by his deep disappointment in some Black intellectuals’ compliance and even assis...
Indigenous Surviving, Thriving, and Love: A Conversation with Julian Brave Noisecat
Today I have the true honor of speaking with journalist, storyteller, historical researcher, and Native American ceremonial dancer Julian Brave Noisecat about his book, We Survived the Night. This highly original book blends many...
Movements, Media, and Sustaining Solidarity: A Conversation with Rachel Kuo
Today we speak with Rachel Kuo about her book, Movement Media: In Pursuit of Solidarity, recently published by Oxford University Press. This fascinating study understands political activism through a unique perspective, asking the ques...
Nicholas Mirzoeff and Priscilla Wathington in Dialog: To See in the Dark; Making Language Say What it Should Not Have to Do
Today I have the privilege and pleasure of speaking with Nicholas Mirzoeff and Priscilla Wathington about the genocide in Gaza, and how developing a new way of seeing and writing is demanded of us to address this historical moment. In the words...
The Student Intifada Is Alive and Well, and on Both Coasts: Talking with Members of Students for Justice in Palestine
Intimidation, repression, and punishment with regard to activism for Palestine has only increased over the past year. Today I speak with three campus organizers from Students for Justice in Palestine who remain determined and committed, even in...
Erin McElroy: Hacking in “Postsocialist” Times—Unbecoming Silicon ValleyEpisode
Today I am delighted to welcome activist and scholar Erin McElroy to the podcast. She is the author of a remarkable book, Silicon Valley Imperialism: Techno Fantasies in Postsocialist Times. At the center of this rich and provocative study is t...
Iranian Women Leading Fight for Freedom: A Conversation with Nilo Tabrizy
Today I am honored to speak with Nilo Tabrizy, co-author of a remarkable and powerful book, For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprising. This interview complements another episode I did with her collaborator, ...
