empires crumble: Recent Episodes
Empires Crumble
Rhyd Wildermuth's presentation on paganism, animism, and climate change, delivered in the Château of Esch-sur-Sure on 11 September, 2021.
Text available at Rhyd.substack.com
In this episode, Alley and Rhyd discuss the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the way the US government has used (and will continue to use) human rights and identity concerns as a way to advance imperialist policies.
Alley and Rhyd discuss the move by governments to create "health passports" and restrict activity to those who refuse to get them.
Rhyd and Alley discuss land, its history, its meaning, and its politics. For more information, consider enrolling in Alley's upcoming course with Gods&Radicals at https://abeautifulresistance.org/land-loss-and-reconnection
We're back!
After a 7 month hiatus, Alley and Rhyd return to discuss Alley Valkyrie's latest essay, "The Needle and The Damage Done," regarding the Suez Canal and how global distribution has affected the way we eat, the way we see ourselves, and the rise of nationalist movements across the world. Subscribe to our Patreon (Patreon.com/EmpiresCrumble) to watch the video version of this podcast.
Like a world championship chess player wearing a clown nose, Donald Trump has been able to convince liberals he's an idiot while setting them up for an impossible situation they cannot respond to...
Ecological, environmental, and governance crises are all related. Alley and Rhyd discuss the major aspects of each of these (climate problems, Black Lives Matter and the backlash against it, the rise of far right parties in Europe, and the massive job losses across the world) and their relationship to each other.
Events in the U.S have taken a turn for the revolutionary. But with Trump's threat to label Antifa as a terrorist organization and white Americans policing the way Black people protest, things could get really terrifying. Alley and Rhyd discuss the myth of non-violence and the larger consequences of the new uprising in America. Spoiler alert--they think you should get your passport...
"Marx says that revolutions are the locomotives of world history. But the situation may be quite different. Perhaps revolutions are not the train ride, but the human race grabbing for the emergency brake"
What comes after COVID-19? What will our world look like? And how can we make a more beautiful world in the ruins of this crumbling empire?
Beware: Alley and Rhyd get a little...hopeful in this episode. :)
[Audio Essay from Rhyd Wildermuth] While leftists craft ridiculous conspiracy theories about banking cabals or 5G, some people are literally conspiring to keep us alive.
Finally back in the same place for a bit, Alley and Rhyd discuss Magic and its relationship to Fascism, especially in regards to the power of words. Originally recorded 12 March (just before the COVID-19 curfew in France)
No one’s behind this. That’s the true occult knowledge behind COVID-19 and every other catastrophe which will continue to define our lives. An audio essay from Rhyd Wildermuth
In addition to our regular episodes, we'll now be adding audio essays from both Rhyd Wildermuth and Alley Valkyrie. Here's the first, from Rhyd, on the "State of Exception."
Governments around the world have begun curtailing civil liberties in order to fight the spread of COVID-19. Are they following China's example, or is this really a core feature of all modern nation-states?
With the upsurge of interest in socialism and the complete failure of the judicial process to dethrone Trump, the idea of a General Strike seems to be on American's minds. But do they even know how one works? Alley and Rhyd discuss the General Strike in France and why the US is much farther from such potential than most people understand.
Can a system really be changed from within? Is false hope a form of manipulation? Alley and Rhyd discuss the American Situation, with an eye towards the larger problem facing climate activists around the world
As climate catastrophe and capitalism's crises disrupt the ability of people to survive, migration will become the norm. Unfortunately, there are governments and people trying to stop them... Alley and Rhyd look at the recent history of immigration and border laws, and explore the bind of immigrant workers exploited by capitalists twice over, as well as their own experiences with family and personal immigration.
The official narratives of politicians, governments, and the media no longer hold the same power upon the people. Conspiracy theories abound. But aren't governments technically conspiracies? And revolutions...those are too. So how do we tell who's lying, who's in charge, and what's really a conspiracy and what's really just a theory? Or is that even possible? And what if no one is actually behind these conspiracies at all?
"We thought we had more time..."
With more and more news that the climate collapse is accelerating, it's time we seriously look at the pretty little lies we tell ourselves to keep ourselves going. Alley and Rhyd discuss some of these, including the latest leftist delusion, "Fully Automated Luxury Communism."
"The dark ages were really only dark for the rich..."
With more and more reports that "civilization" may end because of catastrophic climate change, we may be entering into a new "dark ages."
But is that really something to fear? Alley & Rhyd discuss the previous dark ages, as well as recent moments of civilizational collapse and ask, "why should we be afraid of the dark?"
Hannah Arendt, bell hooks, Slavoj Zizek...just a few names on an ever-growing list of philosophers that good leftists aren't "allowed" to read anymore because of something "problematic" they said.
In this episode, Alley and Rhyd discuss the "canceling" of artists, philosophers, and other creators and trace the roots of our obsession with "right belief" to the Christian wars against heresy and the Calvinist obsession with "faith" over "works."
The revolution won't be tweeted... From toxic "social justice" crusades to internal sabotage, "internet leftism" is destroying itself and fueling the far-right. In this episode, Alley Valkyrie & Rhyd Wildermuth discuss the mechanisms of these problems and their roots in our alienation from ourselves and each other, and propose solutions to help the Left remember the real world that capitalist social media obscures.
What's the relationship between anarchism and art? How do we create the kind of world we want to see? And how we learn to believe that we are "good enough?" In this episode, Alley and Rhyd talk with guest Margaret Killjoy and share stories of how they became who they are.
While many people have begun to use Globalization and Globalism inter-changeably, they are absolutely not the same thing. In this episode, Alley & Rhyd discuss the damage done by global Capital, the history of Globalization, the anti-semitic conspiracy theories of Globalism, and the solution: Internationalism.
"I have met my own people, and I hate them all." --Claudia, from Interview With The Vampire
In this episode, Alley and Rhyd discuss their own journeys into Paganism and witchcraft and how they differed radically from the "business" of Paganism and witchcraft in America.
Alley and Rhyd discuss the problems of nationalism and explore the important differences between indigenous and colonized people's struggles for national independence and the far right and white nationalist struggles, and the role of global capitalism in the destruction of cultural differences.
What’s an Egregore? What’s an egregore got to do with America? And what really happened to the dude who made KONY2012? In the sixth episode Alley Valkyrie and Rhyd Wildermuth discuss how the ingredients of the ritual that manifested American make it impossible to change, and discuss how an egregoric understanding can inform resistance and magic against the State.
Why is being a "witch" suddenly popular? What does the rise of the witch identity mean for actual witches? Why our capitalists trying to sell us stuff? And what are the dangers of this trend? In Episode 4: The Witch, Alley Valkyrie and Rhyd Wildermuth look at the questions (and try to keep their focus while ravens call, a dog barks, and a door randomly opens while they're talking about the dead...)
In this third episode, Alley Valkyrie & Rhyd Wildermuth discuss fascism and its specifics and ask, is what we're seeing really fascism?
In this episode, Alley Valkyrie & Rhyd Wildermuth discuss this current crisis of Capitalism, how Trump and other opportunists exploit this crisis (and are much smarter than you think), and how all of this has created the material conditions for civil unrest, fascism, and its socialist opposition.