Special Episode - Earth Dispatch

Dispatch from the Desert Planet

This special non-fiction episode includes commentary about the attempted insurrection on January 6th, 2021 and extended reading/listening/watching resources.

Transcript available here

Related to the complicity of Capitol police (be it active or passive) Aljazeera is reporting on the FBI’s warning US Law Enforcement before the attack. They also have live updates pertaining to the insurrection, Donald Trump, consequences, and lack thereof.

BBC News has an article called The 65 Days that Led to Chaos at the Capitol that helps track some of the key moments, predominately on social media, that led to Wednesday’s action as well as the evolution of the Stop the Steal quote, movement.

Unicorn Riot’s reporting on Proud Boy’s leader Henry Tarrio’s arrest. Tarrio was arrested before the attempted insurrection, upon arrival to DC, because in December of 2020 he carried out a hate crime against a Black church in the area. His arrest revealed two illegal high capacity firearms. I think this one is particularly important because it helps illustrate that Wednesday’s action was part of a steady violent escalation, very much reinforced by racism, rather than a spontaneous show of political ideology.

PRX’s podcast Reveal’s most recent episode Democracy Under Siege dives into the attempted coup and explores a historical parallel

Politics and Prose Bookstore has lecture/reading from On Tyranny author Timothy Snyder free on YouTube. It’s a bit over an hour. The takeaway is, it can happen and it happens fast.

It Could Happen Here is Robert Evan’s podcast from 2019 that considers the possibility of a modern American civil war.

Speaking of imaginings of a modern US civil war, Omar El-Akkad’s American War is a work of speculative fiction that reads like historical fiction. As a former conflict journalist El-Akkad brings intense realism to his dystopia. (Affiliate link included, purchasing through Bookshop helps support DDP)

And, if you’re turning to SpecFic right now, obviously, read Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. If it’s not an option for you right now due to funds. A teacher has done a very cool thing and shared a reading on Youtube to help get students through shelter in place. She also displays the PDF text.

In June of last year Politico wrote about the current golden age of conspiracy theories.

Reporter Jake Hanrahan’s podcasts Q Clearance delves into the origins of the Qanon conspiracy.

Also, check out our Bingo, Fascism card! It’s free, and terrifying.