Everyone is talking about the Covid-19 pandemic and the way it is shaking up our lives! You’ll find Coronavirus related content on most podcasts you could listen to. These ones have a particular focus on the implications for social movements. If you have suggestions for others we could add to this list contact the Commons Librarians.
Changemakers Podcast: This is a big moment
- Dr. Claire Hooker, from Sydney Health Ethics at the University of Sydney;
- Professor David Isaacs, one of Australia’s leading infectious disease doctors;
- Dr. Robert Kennedy, a G.P in Redfern, inner city Sydney;
- Alex Kelly, a strategic communications consultant and an instigator of a mutual aid group;
- Elly Bird, a councillor from the Lismore area, active in social groups that assist vulnerable communties; and
- Dr. Daniel Aldana Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-author of the book Planet to Win: Why we need a Green New Deal.
ChangeMakers is a short series podcast that tells stories about people who are striving for social change across the world. This is Episode 27, 26/04/2020. Read the full transcript. See the ChangeMakers collection on the Commons for more.
Living The Dream with a Workers’ Plan To Survive Covid-19 Crisis
In this episode of the Living the Dream podcast Dave (@withsobersenses) chats with Godfrey Moase (@gemoase) a director of the United Workers Union. The UWU, a recent fusion of the National Union of Workers and United Voice, has been receiving a lot of attention due to the industrial actions of its members, its claims to be revitalising internal democracy and its Workers’ Plan To Survive Covid-19 Crisis: a broad vision to address the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in a way that points beyond capitalism. Here Godfrey explains the strategy and organisational direction of the UWU, gives a critique of the #changetherules defeat and presents what he thinks is a viable way forward to accumulate class power. See also “We Can Use This Crisis to Reconceptualize the Economy”, an interview with Tim Kennedy the National Secretary of the UWU in Jacobin.
Living the Dream is a Brisbane based anti-capitalist podcast. This episode is from 6/4/2020.
Other relevant Living the Dream episodes:
- Living The Dream with a Climate Emergency, COVID-19 and The Australian State
- Living The Dream in the time of COVID-19
- Living The Dream with COVID-19 and a Recession
- Living The Dream against anti-Chinese Racism
Rebel Steps: COVID-19 Rent Strike Organizing
This Rebel Steps episode looks at how you can participate in a rent strike, step by step. There are lots of calls for a rent strike. We’re not the first and we’re not going to be the last! But we wanted to add our voice because there’s just not a lot of details of how to do this, especially in this very unusual moment. Basically, we’re asking, if we could organize a rent strike in 7 days across the country and across the world, what would be the first step?
Warning: You alone skipping rent is not a rent strike and is very dangerous. A rent strike is a type of protest where tenants as a group refuse to pay rent until specific demands are met. You organizing your building to not pay rent together is a rent strike. But even when doing this together, the risks of a rent strike are incredibly high, including risk of eviction. Please take this decision seriously.
This episode is from 23/03/2020. Check out the show notes for the episode here for resources.
The Dig: Organizing Now with Sarah Jaffe & Jasson Perez
Dan interviews veteran organizer Jasson Perez and journalist Sarah Jaffe on left organizing amid COVID and where it might go.
The Dig podcast goes deep into politics everywhere, from labor struggles and political-economy to imperialism and immigration. Every week, Daniel Denvir interviews smart left-wing intellectuals and activists about racism, feminism, electoral politics, criminal justice and any issue relevant for a new socialist movement that must understand the world in order to change it. From Jacobin magazine. This episode is from 8/4/2020.
The Dig: Surviving This Plague with Amy Kapczynski and Gregg Gonsalves
Dan interviews Amy Kapczynski and Gregg Gonsalves on the politics of public health and what we can learn from ACT UP. This episode is from 3/4/2020.
Stay tuned for more episodes from the Dig’s COVID Series.
Power in the Pandemic: Where is the power in the pandemic?
You’re listening to the first episode of Power in the Pandemic. Before we share the voices we are capturing from across the world about their experiences of the coronavirus, we explore the role power plays during this crisis. In this introductory episode, we consider how the coronavirus has made us rethink power structures. We hear from David Mwambari about a Post-Corona, Pan-African vision and why now is the time to decolonise. We also consider the effects of the virus on social movements and narratives. This podcast is a partnership between Power Shifts and Oxfam in Depth Podcast.
Movement Memos: Imagining Protest in a Quarantined World
Kelly Hayes talks with Lisa Fithian, anti-racist organiser active and NVDA trainer, about how we can resist from a distance during the COVID-19 pandemic. What does the future of protest look like? Listen below and/or read the transcript.
Movement Memos is an ongoing call to action for movement work and mutual aid efforts around the country. Kelly Hayes connects with activists, journalists and others on the front lines to break down what’s happening in various struggles and what listeners can do to help. This episode is from 20/4/2020.
Looking for more? See Activist Inspiration and Learning in Lockdown.
