S2 E1: Ecotopia

On May 24th, 1990, Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney are driving through Oakland when a pipe bomb detonates in their car. Judi is nearly killed. From the very beginning of the investigation, Judi and Darryl are the main suspects. Even while Judi lies in a hospital bed with terrible injuries, law enforcement and the media are making the case that they were transporting the bomb and it went off by accident. But that is not what happened.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Earth First! and Judi Bari plan a huge, months-long protest call "Redwood Summer," the reaction from the timber industry is fierce. Judi and other organizers are subjected to threats of physical harm and death; a disinformation campaign claims that "Redwood Summer" activists will be violent; and law enforcement and government officials seem indifferent to the danger the activists are facing. As "Redwood Summer" approaches, the situation become more tense and more volatile.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A federal agency comes to the Pacific Northwest to hold hearings that could severely limit logging of redwoods. With the Ecotopia in the center of media attention, both Earth First! and the timber corporations see an opportunity to to get their message to the public. The result is a week of tension, confrontation and violence, with Judi Bari in the center of it all.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Earth First! was founded in the 1981 by four men who were willing to take an "by any means necessary" approach to saving the planet. By the time Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney joined the movement in Ecotopia, the group was divided over key issues. Namely, should tree-spiking, a controversial and potentially dangerous tactic - play a role in Earth First's activism?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By the 1980s, about 95% of the redwood forest in California is gone, the result of 150 years of timber cutting. In 1985, a Texas businessman named Charles Hurwitz buys Pacific Lumber Co, plunging the company into debt. Pacific Lumber is the largest private owner of the remaining old growth redwood forest. It soon becomes clear that Charles Hurwitz intends to clear cut the trees, which would be an environmental catastrophe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With a history of activism and labor organizing under her belt, Judi Bari moves to the Redwood Empire region of California in 1988. She arrives at a time of transition for the region as timber begins to give way to the marijuana industry as the main economic force. It is a tense time to be protesting the increase in timber harvesting and Judi quickly becomes a leading voice ... and target. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On May 24, 1990, a pipe bomb detonated in the white Subaru driven by radical environmental activist Judi Bari. The bomb malfunctioned and Bari, though critically injured, survived. She was the most visible leader of Earth First! in the northernmost counties of California. At the time, Earth First! was in a tense and violent conflict with major timber corporations who planned to clearcut large swaths of the remaining Redwood forest. The person who planted that bomb has never been identified. Who tried to kill Judi Bari?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An all new season, an all new case. Rip Current returns. This time, examining the peculiar assassination attempt on environmental activist Judi Bari. The first episode drops on November 5th.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A further examination of the brief, violent existence of the SLA.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We chat with Author and Sociologist Brittany Friedman about prison activism movements from the 50s through the 70s.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.