Episodes
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
Philosopher of Possibility :: A talk with Graeber scholar Nick Smaligo
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
Thursday Sep 12, 2024
Our SECOND TO LAST episode of the season! We are joined by Nick Smaligo to talk through the major themes of The Dawn of Everything, and of Graeber's work in general. Nick was full of insights.
Nick's essay on The Dawn of Everything: "Closing Paradise's Gate"
Also mentioned: The Terms of Order by Cedric Robinson
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Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" and "Thank You for the Path" by Big Blood.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com
Wednesday Aug 14, 2024
Conclusion :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 12
Wednesday Aug 14, 2024
Wednesday Aug 14, 2024
This is not our last episode on The Dawn of Everything, but here we discuss the concluding chapter of the book, which summarizes the book's project while moving forward on some of its new ideas.
Next time we will be joined by a guest to help us think about the book as a whole.
Mentioned:
Secrets, Lies, and Consequences (about Mircea Eliade) by Bruce Lincoln
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Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com
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Sunday May 12, 2024
Monumental Legacies (w/ special guests)
Sunday May 12, 2024
Sunday May 12, 2024
We are joined by two of our good friends, who deliver a nuanced Indigenous response to The Dawn of Everything, centering on Chapter 11's treatment of Mississippian culture. They also share about an indigenous earthwork that they have recently helped to construct in the city of Bulbancha (a.k.a. New Orleans, Louisiana).
Links to further reading, courtesy of our guests:
The Great Power of Small Nations by Elizabeth Ellis
The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere by Paulette F.C. Steeves
Gods of Thunder - Timothy R. Pauketat
[Pauketat podcast interviews here and here]
ArchaeoEd: A podcast about ancient civilizations of the Americas
A Sacred Path: The Way of the Muscogee Creeks
Stolen Anarchy: Playing Indian & The Roots of Collectivism | TwinRabbit
Plains Sign & the Myth of Indigenous Illiteracy | TwinRabbit
Deciphering Cherokee ritual imagery deep in the caves of the American South
IG: @nanihbvlbancha
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Book on Fire Discord community for further discussion -*-
Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood, Selections from "Disaster Prone" mixtape by Deejay Karo.
Cover photo by Joe Darensbourg.
Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
Friday Apr 12, 2024
Full Circle :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 11
Friday Apr 12, 2024
Friday Apr 12, 2024
In the last full chapter of the book, the Davids return to Turtle Island to argue against the inevitability of domination and to give historical context for the indigenous critique of European society.
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Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Why the State Has No Origin, Part 2 :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 10
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Hungry ancestors, play kings, and copious cosmetics. The conclusion of our discussion of Chapter 10.
Mentioned:
One River book by Wade Davis
The King Must Die book by Mary Renault
Cover image from a fresco at Knossos, on the island of Crete.
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Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" and "Blind Owl I" by Big Blood.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Why the State Has No Origin, Part 1 :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 10
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Regarding history, teleology and the state, and the three elementary forms of power. Our discussion of the first half of Chapter 10.
Cover image from a detail of the Raimondi Stele from Chavín de Huántar, Peru.
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Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "That Glow in the Morning" by Sarah Louise.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
Hiding in Plain Sight :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 9
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
We finish discussing Chapter 8 and move on to Chapter 9. More early cities, and a type of democracy uncovered in Spanish chronicles of Mesoamerica.
Mentioned:
Henry Corbin, French scholar of Islamic philosophy, and his book Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi
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Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "R Mountain" by Sarah Louise.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
Sunday Jan 14, 2024
Imaginary Cities :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 8
Sunday Jan 14, 2024
Sunday Jan 14, 2024
Cities emerge around the world. What are they like? We return to discuss Chapter 8 of our book.
Mentioned:
Mountain Gardens website, instagram
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Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "Jewel of the Blue Ridge" by Sarah Louise.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
Saturday Oct 21, 2023
The Ecology of Freedom :: The Dawn of Everything, Chapter 7
Saturday Oct 21, 2023
Saturday Oct 21, 2023
We return from halftime to talk more about early farmers and the vast middle ground that spans foraging and agriculture.
Mentioned:
"Low Level Food Production" by Bruce Smith, 2001.
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Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood. "Offering" by Anna Luisa.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Against the Grain by James C. Scott :: Book Report
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
We continue our halftime break in our reading of The Dawn of Everything to review and summarize a book that is cited in Dawn, and written by a friend and colleague of the Davids. This book is Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott. Among other virtues, it provides some possible answers to questions that Graeber and Wengrow persistently dodge.
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Featured music: "Stars Sewn Into Our Skies" by Big Blood.
Buy us a coffee :: Email us at thebookonfirepodcast@gmail.com
[[ Dave & Janet's Radical Vitalism :: Blog :: Instagram ]]