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Delete Your Account Podcast

Delete Your Account is a new podcast hosted by journalist Roqayah Chamseddine and her plucky sidekick Kumars Salehi. Every week they will talk about important stories from the worlds of politics and pop culture, both on and off-line, in a way that will never bore you.
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Now displaying: October, 2017
Oct 19, 2017

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

Today's episode is on sexual violence and organizing against it, so a major content warning for those listening. We spoke with Jes Skolnik, who has many years of experience organizing around sexual assault. Jes is currently the managing editor of Bandcamp Daily, a contributor to Pitchfork and many other publications, and a boardmember of Pure Joy Chicago, an arts venue and community space for all ages. They have long been involved in pragmatic activism that seeks to rectify social systemic imbalances in material ways for those who need it most, both within the labor movement and outside, as an anarcha-feminist abolitionist. We were also joined by returning guest Alex Press, former labor organizer and current assistant editor at Jacobin and PhD student in sociology at Northeastern University, who's been writing extensively on the Harvey Weinstein allegations and its lessons for responding to sexual abuse.

Jes tells us about their experience organizing against sexual violence and providing material support to victims, including through shelters and rape crisis hotlines, and how being a survivor of abuse impacted their approach to the work. We discuss the seemingly endless stream of new allegations against powerful men in Hollywood and beyond, and our guests give their thoughts on the current moment and whether the current media focus on sexual violence will translate into actual cultural or policy change. We talk about why victims of sexual violence often stay silent, and why victims, predominantly women, have to rely on informal whisper networks to stay safe from abusers. We discuss Alex's piece for Vox on how to formalize and weaponize the whisper network to thwart abuse, as well as her piece for Jacobin on the role that the labor movement could and should play in combatting sexual harassment and assault. Finally, referencing recent examples, we discuss the need for people in left organizations to face abusers in their midst head-on, and to stop making excuses for the bad behavior of their friends. Victims of sexual violence are tired of shouldering the burden of changing our society alone, it is time for everyone to step up.

You can follow Jes on Twitter at @modernistwitch. Follow Alex at @alexnpress.

A transcript for this episode is forthcoming. Please send an email to deleteuracct @ gmail to get a copy sent to you when it is completed.

Oct 4, 2017

If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon page for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!

This week, Roqayah misses the interview so Kumars is joined once again by returning guest-host and fan-favorite Mariame Kaba. Mariame and Kumars speak with Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, Executive Director of the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee and a leader in the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL). We learn about how Ash-Lee got involved in left movement-building in her home state of Tennessee before asking Ash-Lee about her work with M4BL. She explains the distinction between the Movement for Black Lives and Black Lives Matter, before discussing several areas of the M4BL policy platform in-depth. Ash-Lee gives several examples of how policies from the platform are being implemented in communities across the country. We learn about the Highlander Research and Education Center, which has promoted grassroots organizing in the U.S. South for the better part of a century. We also discuss differences between organizing in the North and the South, and the importance of southern organizing to building radical power. Finally, Ash-Lee tells us what makes her hopeful, and her thoughts on where we go from here.

You can follow Ash-Lee on Twitter at @hendersonaw0604. Follow Mariame at @prisonculture. Also, make sure to check out Ash-Lee's recent piece on the importance of organizing the South. You can support the important work of the Highlander Center here.

A transcript for this episode is forthcoming. Please send an email to deleteuracct @ gmail to get a copy sent to you when it is completed.

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