Laurie and Spencer interview retired Lutheran Pastor Tom Mundahl. Mundahl has made action the center of his ministry, including leading a venture into Catholic Worker hospitality in a Campus student group. We discuss why it is difficult for pastors to move beyond the comfort zones of their parishioners to lead them into new ways of living and interacting with others. We discuss the obstacle of Christian nationalism as the latest inhibitor of Christian action.
Dustbowl Diatribes 11: Cutrone Convo Postgame
Laurie and Spencer spend some time unpacking the significance of their latest interview with "the last Marxist," Chris Cutrone. Cutrone is one of our favorite Marxist theorists, and talking to him is always thought provoking. Some of the highlights that make this interview different are his ideas on the state of higher education in the US, Cutrone's views on Christianity and church, and his discussion of possible future scenarios including climate change social and economic disruptions. Please fill out this form to be put on the email list for future Maurin Academy seminars, short series and other events (no donation necessary): https://pmaurin.org/donate/
Dustbowl Diatribes 10: Entering the Cutrone Zone (Interview with Chris Cutrone of Platypus)
Spencer and Laurie interview "the last Marxist", Christ Cutrone about his experience with Catholic Worker-style Christians, the limits of the left, and what is to be done.
Dustbowl Diatribes 9: Party Like It’s 1999? First Season Recap Pt. 2
Spencer and Laurie finish their discussion of Season 1 of Dustbowl Diatribes, including a detour into how different Christian theologies can land you in very different places on the environment and the care of other humans.
Dustbowl Diatribes 8: First Season Recap Pt. 1: Can We Think Without Blinders?
Spencer and Laurie recap the first half of Season 1 of Dustbowl Diatribes, with a focus on our intention and purpose in introducing themes like taking advantage of "the spoils of Egypt," and concepts like metabolic rifts and the abstract domination of capital, as well as interviews that helped us understand why it's so hard to break away from that domination.
Should Seeds Be Mere Commodities?
This is a segment from Laurie Johnson's presentation in the first session of The Maurin Academy's Fall 2022 short series on Agricultural Biotechnology and the Information Economy. She is guided by information from the first part of Jack Kloppenberg's First the Seed. The short series with Laurie Johnson and Jakob Hanschu brings Kloppenberg's scholarship to bear on McKenzie Wark's The Hacker Manifesto, and vice versa.
Dustbowl Diatribes 7: Why Liberalism Fails
Launching from the last Dustbowl Diatribes podcast in which we interviewed Nik Gaffron about his experiences resisting fracking in Pennsylvania, Spencer and I talk to Nik about why such resistance almost always fails. Why do liberal strategies to getting something good accomplished meet with ruin? We first need to learn the answer to that question, and really have it sink in, before we can hope to accomplish any real change.
Dustbowl Diatribes 6: What the Frack?
Our guest is Nik Gaffron talks to us about his personal experience fighting fracking on public lands in Pennsylvania. We learn a lot about the fracking process as well as the politics and economics, especially how it impacts people who live near a fracking operation. Why do public officials so easily consent to these large-scale industrial operations in or close to residential areas? Why is it so hard to fight fracking in an effort to protect not only public lands but private property and its value? What are the hidden costs financially and to our health?
Coming Up: Agricultural Biotechnology & the Information Economy
This Maurin Academy short series will run on Tuesdays from 7-8:30 p.m Central US time starting August 23 and ending September 20. Laurie Johnson and Jakob Hanschu will analyze the political economy of agricultural biotechnology using insights from critical studies of the information era. We invite participants to join us. If you would like to... Continue Reading →
Registration Open for Agricultural Biotechnology Short Series
Register for our latest short series on Agricultural Biotechnology and the Information Economy on Eventbrite! We are requesting a donation of any amount for this five session series with Jakob Hanschu and Laurie Johnson. This short series will analyze the political economy of agricultural biotechnology using insights from critical studies of the information era. Through... Continue Reading →