anarchism on the radio

On Tuesday night I took part in a radio discussion about anarchism. Besides the host of the radio show and the person running the technical stuff, there were three of us in the broadcasting room and another person joined us by phone. The person on the phone lives in Washington right now; she moved there recently from Fort Collins. The radio station is a local one that broadcasts from here in Fort Collins.

I was a bit nervous the night before the show but by the time it happened there just didn’t seem to be very much time to get nervous. And I was really excited that the show was happening at all and that I was able to be a part of a public discussion of anarchism.

It ended up going really well, I think. Hearing perspectives on anarchism from several different individuals was a great experience; every one has slightly different focuses, concerns, and interests and that helped to create a much rounder representation of an idea.

A few people called into the show. I guess it was the first time that the person doing the show (it was a weekly broadcast, although this was the first show that focused on anarchism) had people call in. So, that kinda suggests that some people were listening and interested.

The show was an hour long but it went by so fast. I think there were many things that all of us wanted to talk about that we were unable to reach simply because we ran out of broadcast time. I went into it wanting to talk at least a little about feminism in relationship to anarchism—how they are essentially the same thing (challenging hierarchy and working for alternatives). Patriarchy was mentioned at least twice, so that’s pretty good. I also wanted to mention the food co-op here in town. It is a wonderful place and an excellent model for alternatives that can exist and function in the present. While it still operates within a capitalist society, I think that it seriously challenges capitalism and is, at its heart, anti-capitalist and embodies many anarchistic values.

All in all, it was a great experience and I am very excited that it happened. And I hope similar things will happen in the future and with increasing frequency.