May Day and Peter Linebaugh on Gods & Radicals, New Books in History Podcasts

“The Incomplete, True, Authentic and Wonderful History of May Day is a new collection of essays from Peter Linebaugh about the history of May Day. The essays were written for a range of occasions celebrating or otherwise relating to May Day. Collectively, the essays recognize the power of May Day historically and internationally. They reflect on the holiday in relation to a number of historical figures from Native American anarcho-communist Lucy Parsons, the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement, and Karl Marx to Jose Marti, W. E. B. Du Bois, and SNCC, along with many others. The book also makes an argument for the continued relevance and importance of this workers’ day.

In the interview Linebaugh discusses his own background as a child of empire from schooling in London to working as a professor in the United States and living in numerous places in between. He introduces listeners to some of the essays in detail and then generally talks about the importance of May Day historically. He also addresses questions about the continued relevance of the holiday today, including possible lessons for today’s political and economic climate."—New Books in History Podcast

Listen: New Books in History Podcast
Listen: Gods and Radicals
Buy The Incomplete, True, Authentic, and Wonderful History of May Day

Check out Paul Buhle talking about James Connolly on Rag Radio and Law & Disorder

"Historian Paul Buhle, a leading figure on the American Left since the 1960s who now produces radical comics, was our guest on Rag Radio, Friday, May 8. Buhle is the editor of A Full Life: James Connolly the Irish Rebel, subtitled, “A graphic remembrance 100 years after his cruel murder during the Easter Rising.” Paul also wrote an afterward to the comic which we are publishing below, along with Paul’s Truthout op-ed, “The Irish socialist who organized an uprising.”

On Rag Radio, Paul joined Thorne Dreyer in a discussion of the life of James Connolly, his role in the fight for Irish independence and in the historic Easter Rising rebellion, and his death before a British firing squad. We also talk about Connolly’s time in the United States where he organized for the IWW. And we discuss the history and historical significance of radical comics and graphic histories and the fundamental role in their development played by Austin-based comix artists Gilbert Shelton, who pioneered much of his work in The Rag, and Jack Jackson (Jaxon)." —Rag Radio

Listen: Rag Radio
Listen: Law & Disorder
Buy A Full Life: James Connolly the Irish Rebel

"Songs for A Wolf at the Gate (is) such a pleasure..."

"...After the wonderful opener "The Prayer of the Beggar King", which is one of the most memorable renditions of St. Francis' prayer yet put to music, Songs for A Wolf at the Gate acquaints listeners with its large cast. Van Steenwyk's book turns the legend of Francis taming a town-terrorizing wolf into a society-wide morality tale, so here the different levels of the town's social strata, along with the beasts of the nearby forest, each get a tune with its own distinct lesson. Felton goes full-Aesop on "The Song of the Raven", where he sweetly admonishes the hoarding bird for stealing away the other animals' food ("Raven, Raven, don't you know that's no way to live and grow?/Raven, Raven, it's better to go hungry with friends than it is to be full alone"), while on "The Song of the Nobles", the ruling class's raucous gang vocals sneer at the peasants they casually exploit..." —Spirit You All Music

Check out S. Brenner, M. Dante and Stephen Jay Shwartz reading excerpts from Jewish Noir

October 15th, 2015: Co-sponsored by Litquake at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco: Writers R.S. Brenner, M. Dante, and Stephen Jay Schwartz read from a new anthology on Jewish Noir, followed by a discussion on crime and Jewish fiction.

"A short story is the perfect medium for busy people, and Jewish Noir, heralded as the first book of its kind, presents a month’s worth of short stories to delight any reader of the genre. Editor Kenneth Wishnia sums up the lure: “[ . . . ] a majority of the world’s Christians are taught that if you follow the right path, everything will turn out well for you in the end. In Judaism, you can follow the right path and still get screwed (just ask Job). That’s noir.”"—New Pages

Watch HERE
Review: New Page
Buy Jewish Noir

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