Conversation #50: Remembering Heather Heyer (August 12, 2018)

We’ve got a big show this week. Paul starts off talking about a book of Terry Pratchett’s earliest stories, Dragons at Crumbling Castle and Other Tales. Then he has some notes on the opera by John Adams, Nixon in China.

Then, we get into our big topics: one year ago, Heather Heyer was murdered in Charlottesville. And there was another outrage that didn’t get nearly as much media attention: DeAndre Harris, beaten by six men and seriously injured, was actually charged with a felony for allegedly attacking the men who attacked him.

Next up, we get into the no-platform strategy for dealing with fascists, and quote an interview with Mark Bray.

Speaking of platforms, we then review the cases of Sarah Jeong and Alex Jones, and then talk about how the whole notion of free speech on Twitter and other corporate platforms is a mess, and why true solidarity requires a public commons.

Next, we read and discuss two passages from Mark Bray’s book Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook: first, a part of the introduction in which he introduces the concepts of fascism and anti-fascism, and then a part from chapter 5, in which Bray takes on the topic of free speech for fascists.

Finally, we’ve got a quote from Karl Popper on the paradox of tolerance, and a clip from comedian Aamer Rahman.

How to Listen

You can find the MP3 file here.

The Podcast feed is here.

The Podcast channel on YouTube is here.

More Information

This review of Dragons at Crumbling Castle and Other Tales on The Guardian’s site here seems to have been written by an actual child, “cupcakekate.”

There’s a Wikipedia page about Nixon in China.

We mention several articles:

• “Antifa History and Politics, Explained” (an interview with Mark Bray) by Abdulla Shihipar
• “In Defense of Sarah Jeong” by Zach Beauchamp
• “The Problem with Twitter, as Shown by the Sarah Jeong Fracas” by Ezra Klein
• “Gray Lady Dons White Hood” by Deroy Murdoch
• “Alex Jones —- Hero of the LEFT?!!” by Russell Meyers
• “The Paradox of Tolerance” by Jason Kottke

The publisher’s page for Mark Bray’s remarkable book Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook can be found here

And finally, here’s Aamer Rahman on punching Nazis.

This Week’s Music

I’ve used some brief clips from two different recording of Nixon in China, the 1987 Elektra Nonsuch release and the 2009 Naxos Colorado Symphony release, as well as brief clips of works by Philip Glass, Glassworks and Einstein on the Beach.