This month’s episode of The Rebel Beat podcast features an interview with two people who are huge inspirations for the work we do on this show – Ron Sakolsky and Sheila Knopper. They’re anarchists. They’re grassroots music journalists. They’re radio pirates. And among them, they’ve got a well of music knowledge deeper than the Pacific ocean.
Ron and Sheila live on Denman Island, also known by it’s Indigenous Comox name of “Sladaich”, in so-called British Columbia. On Denman, they helped start a long-running pirate radio project, Tree Frog radio. But even before then, they have a long legacy in community radio, music journalism, and the anarcho-surrealism movement.
In this interview, we’ll hear about some of their work over the decades to bridge music and radical politics. We’ll hear stories about smuggling poetry out of South African prisons, dub poetry in Toronto, and a mission with Pete Seeger.
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On our Turn It Up segment, we big up Moses Sumney, who recently pulled out of his gig at the Montreal Jazz Festival to protest against a racist play. Read all about it here
Check out Rebel Diaz and Ana Tijoux’s new video here
Check out some of Ron Sakolsky and Sheila Knopper’s writing here:
www.akpress.org/soundingoff.html
islandsofresistance.ca/
**Playlist**
Crashprez – Fascists don’t cry
Rebel Diaz feat. Ana Tijoux – Y va caer
Rage Against the Machine – Guerilla radio
Benjamin Zephaniah – Belly of de beast
Mzwakhe Mbuli – Behind the bars
Pete Seeger – Abiyoyo
Fela Kuti – Opposite people
Moses Sumney – Worth it
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