A Conversation About Belief, Power, and Writing with Nick Girard

City buses are hitting 40 °C, gig apps still want their cut, and cops keep buying shiny new toys. I connect the dots between a boiling planet, precarious work, and the prison-industrial cash machine—and ask what it’ll take to snap the circuit.Want the 35-minute after-show? Patrons get it: https://patreon.com/SkepticalLeftist Links • socials: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist • Owen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@owenmacdonald7428  | Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/owenmacdonald.bsky.social 

Atlantis wasn’t real—but that hasn’t stopped pseudoarchaeologists from using it to sell myths about lost civilizations and master races. In this episode, Damien Marie AtHope and Marquis join me to explore the true origins of the Atlantis story, the rise of hyperdiffusionism, and why so much of this fantasy is rooted in racism and bad history.Links: – Damien’s site: https://damienmarieathope.com/ – Damien’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DamienAthope – Support the show:http://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist 

Governments are spending billions on militaries while cutting housing, healthcare, and climate programs. In this episode, we cover five major stories from June 2025—from mass protests and ICE raids to Canada's ballooning defense budget and the unraveling of the global aid system.🛡 Canada’s military spending bonanzahttps://apnews.com/article/canada-nato-military-spending-carney-5f4f02c5dbf5323b395314d4c383cc15 https://www.instagram.com/p/DKuvPLuyY5U/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 🚨 LA protests erupt after ICE raidshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2025_Los_Angeles_protests https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-14/this-is-why-they-protesthttps://www.removepaywall.com/ 👑 No Kings and the liberal co-option of protest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Kings_protestshttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/innocent-bystander-shot-dead-peacekeepers-no-kings-protest-salt-lake-c-rcna213158https://x.com/AnarkYouTube/status/1934653422579359816https://bsky.app/profile/chadloder.bsky.social/post/3lrqmrzrlmk26https://youtu.be/sk6SYnKtcrc?si=NFxbSPH_6rwEFuCG🧳 Spanish hotel workers strike against overtourismhttps://euroweeklynews.com/2025/06/11/tenerife-hotel-strikes-2025-what-tourists-need-to-know-before-friday-check-ins/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/15/travel/europe-tourism-protests.html https://www.removepaywall.com/🌍 Iran and Israel escalate conflicthttps://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-iran-strike-each-other-new-wave-attacks-2025-06-14/ https://time.com/7293886/iranian-generals-scientists-targets-killed-by-israeli-strikes/⚡ Lightning Round 1: French prison attackshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_French_prison_attacks 🎬 Lightning Round 2: New climate resistance documentaryhttps://extinctionrebellion.uk/2025/06/13/new-film-celebrates-climate-resistance/ 💥 Collapse Watch: The global humanitarian system unravelshttps://www.reuters.com/world/un-cuts-aid-appeal-after-donors-slash-budgets-2025-06-16/ https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jun/16/send-armed-un-troops-to-protect-aid-convoys-gaza-sudan-or-risk-dystopia-un-rapporteur https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/hunger-crisis-deepens-global-hotspots-famine-risk-rises-un-warns-2025-06-16/ https://www.ft.com/content/6969644f-ca2f-4ca5-a230-cc230d6d8acf https://www.ft.com/content/8230ac2b-9d3d-4d35-9c78-db9665b74236 Mutual Aid:Ktown for All – Grassroots mutual aid and housing justice for unhoused and immigrant communities in Los Angeles. 🔗 https://linktr.ee/ktownforallJail Support LA – Providing bail funds, legal referrals, and direct support for protesters and detained community members. 🔗 https://linktr.ee/jslosangelesImmigrant Defenders Law Center – Free legal defense and advocacy for immigrants facing detention and deportation. 🔗 https://www.immdef.org/Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) – Faith-based organizing for immigrant rights, labor justice, and sanctuary protections. 🔗 https://linktr.ee/cluejusticeDetention Watch Network – National coalition fighting to abolish immigration detention and support community-based alternatives. 🔗 https://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/Support the show: lintr.ee/skepticalleftist 

In this episode, I talk with Owen MacDonald, leftist YouTuber and political commentator, about the myth of market freedom, why capitalism depends on state violence, and how right-wing media avoids ever engaging with real ideas. We get into the culture war’s empty spectacle, the climate crisis, and how libertarian fantasies fall apart the moment you ask “freedom for who?” It’s a wide-ranging but grounded conversation about power, propaganda, and the lies we’re sold every day.👉 Support the show: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist 👉 Follow Owen on YouTube: youtube.com/@owenmacdonald7428 

 Ian Bushfield of the BC Humanist Association joins me to talk about secularism, religious privilege, and the legal fights to keep church and state separate in Canada. We get into prayers at municipal meetings, public funding for religious schools, Christian nationalism, and what it really means to have freedom from religion. We also touch on the rise of religious influence in Western separatist movements and how the law is (or isn’t) protecting marginalized communities.Check out the BC Humanist Association and follow Ian BC Humanist AssociationBC Humanists LinktreeIan on BlueSkySupport the show:https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist patreon.com/skepticalleftist Share this post and tell a friend

Wildfires rage, Gaza bleeds, and Walmart posts record profits. In this episode, we dig into the twisted logic of a system that thrives on collapse, from state violence in Palestine and brutal immigration policy to the unchecked greed driving up grocery prices while the world literally burns. We also talk about Indigenous mutual aid during Canada’s wildfire crisis, the deportation of a terminally ill child under Trump’s second term, and why the rhetoric of revolution so often hides authoritarian rot.Gazahttps://rachelgilmore.substack.com/p/israel-is-using-aid-as-a-military https://itsgoingdown.org/international-solidarity-movement-volunteers-speak-on-building-solidarity-in-the-west-bank/Rodney Hinton Jr.https://open.substack.com/pub/tdugout/p/when-black-rage-is-criminalized-rinaldo?r=iu0tj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=falseTrump deporting 4 year old girlhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/28/deportation-mexico-four-year-old-girlCanada’s Strong Border Billhttps://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-legislation-border-fentanyl-1.7550684Wildfireshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Canadian_wildfiresRental protectionshttps://ca.news.yahoo.com/why-canada-apply-labour-protections-122825442.htmlAuthoritarians in Africahttps://www.anarchistfederation.net/burkina-faso-revolution-authoritarianism-the-crisis-of-african-emancipation-politics/Anarchist Sabotage in Canneshttps://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/cannes-power-outage-anarchistsWalmart Priceshttps://people.com/walmart-announces-trump-s-tariffs-will-result-in-higher-prices-in-stores-this-month-11735832Mutual aid shoutoutsIndigenous Climate Action – supporting frontline resistance and sovereignty in the face of wildfire displacement. https://www.indigenousclimateaction.com/Health Workers Alliance for Palestine – providing direct support to medics and aid workers in Gaza. https://healthworkersforpalestine.org/South Texas Human Rights Center – aiding migrants affected by border militarization and brutal policy changes. https://southtexashumanrights.org/Hamilton Encampment Support Network – supporting unhoused people and resisting evictions in Ontario. https://www.hesn.ca/Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project – supporting incarcerated and criminalized people through mutual aid and abolitionist organizing.https://www.patreon.com/torontoprisonersrights/aboutCheck out AnComSciComm on FOFANews and follow him on Blueskyhttps://youtu.be/2-oKULEugDs?si=WLAvxp0Cv9dyMHTZ https://bsky.app/profile/ancomscicomm.bsky.social Support the show at patreon.com/skepticalleftist And follow me in all the places https://linktr.ee/Skepticalleftist

I talked with author Nick Girard about religion, power, and writing as resistance. We got into how faith can be used to justify domination, how capitalism traps us in despair, and why he wrote a book where God is the villain. It’s a personal and political conversation about doubt, masculinity, and imagining something better.📕 Nick’s book: https://a.co/d/e5S9emd🌐 Website: https://iamforworldpeace.com 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/nickdgerard Support the show: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist

In this episode, I’m joined by Eron from Re-Education to talk about anarcho-nihilism—what it is, what it isn't, and whether it’s all just edge-posting or if there's something worth digging into. We talk about individualist anarchism, Stirner, egoism, and what it means to resist when you don’t believe a better world is coming. Is this a real political tendency or just vibes and chaos? And what do you do when you agree with the critiques but still want to build something? It's a messy, open-ended conversation—but maybe that’s the point.📌 Follow Eron: YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DeadHeadAnimation Instagram – ttps://www.instagram.com/re_education.shorts/ TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@reeducation_shorts?lang=en Linktree - https://linktr.ee/Re.education 🎙 Full podcast and all links: https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist ❤️ Support the show on Patreon, Substack, or Ko-fi

From Mali to Montreal, from May Day marches to Maori resistance, the world’s on fire—and people are pushing back. In this episode of Loose Wires, we cover five major stories of revolt and repression: pro-democracy protests in Mali, care worker solidarity in Aotearoa, anarchist actions on May Day, Gaza solidarity at Utrecht University, and the legacy of José Mujica. Plus: Emma Goldman’s flaws, Hasan Piker detained, and the trans-led quilt that asserts their continued presence and resilience.✊ Mutual aid links and support resourcesIn Mali, support → Guamina → AJCAD → Amnesty International MaliIn Aotearoa, back → New Zealand Nurses Organisation → PSA NZ (Public Service Association)In the Netherlands, follow and uplift → SRP Netherlands on InstagramSupport trans and queer lives through → Trans Lifeline → For The GworlsHelp keep radical history alive with → AK Press → The Anarchist Library → PM PressCheck out AnComSciComm on FOFANews and follow him on Blueskyhttps://youtu.be/2-oKULEugDs?si=WLAvxp0Cv9dyMHTZ https://bsky.app/profile/ancomscicomm.bsky.social Support the show at patreon.com/skepticalleftist And follow me in all the places https://linktr.ee/Skepticalleftist  

The NDP is in shambles. Mark Carney is in power. And Bay Street got exactly what it wanted. Jessa McLean joins me to talk through the fallout of Canada’s latest election, from the NDP's collapse to the return of austerity politics dressed in technocratic polish. We get into what happened, what’s next for the left, and why electoralism isn’t going to save us.Follow Jessa’s work at Blueprints of Disruption on Spotify, YouTube, and Substack.Support the show and get early access: https://www.patreon.com/skepticalleftist https://linktr.ee/skepticalleftist