E336 - The Nine Rigors w/ Rax King

Sean reports back on Labor Note drama!In the fun half, we listen to some of Graham Platner's town hall in an effort to redeem the term ULTRA. Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/c/thiswreckage to hear it!For a Fighting Workers Movement, A Militant Critique of Labor Notes panel: https://youtu.be/lt5X16UQ6bA?is=T_W0N0gkrCqkl9DwNYT piece on how ultra is a slur: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/magazine/ultraprocessed-food-insult.htmlCheck out geese: https://www.geesemag.com/articles/enter-daedalus-2028 https://www.geesemag.com/articles/the-direction-of-determinationPlatner video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjMLrU8mI9AMinnesota 15 legal defense fund: https://chuffed.org/project/186570-minnesota-15-legal-defense-fundSong: New Order - Ultraviolence

Henry Wallis of the FORMS podcast returns to help us read through Books 10-19 of BOOK OF REVELATION! We meet the whore of Babylon, the Beast, and 666 On the next episode, we’ll finish Revelation and move on to Capital Vol III!For the full episode support the show at http://patreon.com/c/thiswreckagesong: Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around

Thanks to friends in International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: Caucus of Rank and File Electrical Workers, Sean was able to attend the 2026 Labor Notes convention in Chicago, Illinois. A bunch of fellow workers from ILC Chicago were also there so Sean sat down with them at a loud bar in the convention center hotel to discuss their experiences at various panels they went to.Whither the Teamsters for a Democratic Union? Whither the labor movement? Is there a future for the types of left labor reform movements that Labor Notes calls for? Sean, Hope and Jamie Merchant give their assessment of the good, bad and ugly at the conference including those topic which remained unaddressed but hung in the air.To support our work become a patron at www.patreon.com/thiswreckageSong: Neil Young - This Note's For You

The second episode from the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont, Illinois for Labor Notes 2026 convention. This time Sean sits down with fellow workers JoJo and Gav from ILC Chicago to discuss various panels that they had just seen. In a surprise appearance, friend from New York, Joyce of the dissident Teamsters Mobilize stops by to talk about the trouble their group had at the conference due to TM's adversarial stance towards the reigning Teamsters for a Democratic Union leadership. Tune in to next week's new episode where Andy and Sean break down the counterprogramming event that occurred outside LN2026 featuring supporters of TM, Spartacists League and the leftcom group International Communist Party.Become a supporter of our work at www.patreon.com/thiswreckagesong: Neil Young - This Note's For You

Sean is joined by favorite guest and wife Rax King to discuss her upcoming essay in journalism cooperative Flaming Hydra on why organizing in the food service industry is so difficult but also so vital. What will it take for labor to break through in this industry? What can restaurant work teach us about labor in general? Why are these restaurant owners always clenching their jaws and sweating so much? Answers to these questions, an introduction to Rax's patented Nine Rigors system of becoming a human, an old fashioned gripezone and more on this special, last minute episode.To support our work and get access to all our bonus material become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/thiswreckage Check out Rax King's excellent newsletter for all her great writings: https://www.patreon.com/c/raxkingisdead/homeCome see Rax in person in NYC for the Veiled Prophet event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-veiled-prophet-nyc-book-event-tickets-1990109537198

As Sean and Varn reconvene we are faced with the unenviable task of trying to understand what the hell the Democratic Party is going to run on in 2026 and 2028, How to understand this economic moment? How to understand the various geopolitical crises around the globe? How are counterhegemonic actors like Graham Platner and Alex Jones going to politically confront the brave new world of AI? Stay tuned!To listen to the entire episode including the bonus section become a supporter of our show at www.patreon.com/thiswreckageTo watch the video of this whole episode become a supporter of C Derick Varn at www.patreon.com/varnvlogLinks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRqRb6xYtEQhttps://www.cio.com/article/4131876/data-center-capex-to-hit-1-7-trillion-by-2030-due-to-ai-boom.html

NEW EP! Was Trump's China trip a Nothing Burger or a soy slop?Why does the Deep State care so much about Taiwan?And Sean's NY☭ hat came from WHERE?All that plus choo-choo talk (LIRR Strike) in the bonus! For the full episode, sign up at http://patreon.com/thiswreckagehttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/nyregion/lirr-strike-long-island-rail-road.htmlhttps://nypost.com/2026/05/16/us-news/hochul-pushed-lirr-strike-to-pick-up-votes-on-long-island-from-gop-opponent-transit-union-chief/De-Tuckerized version of Sean's hat: https://www.neoliberalhell.com/shop/p/mysterious-hatSong: Misfits - She (Demo version)

NEWS EP! Sean reports back from the a Beverly Hills Hedge Fund summit. Europe goes solar punk. US debt passes GDP as Project Freedom fails, and the Mideast bases lie in ruin. Is America through, or just through being cool? Billionaires Unfazed by Iran: https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/19bda51e-fb62-4432-bc37-b9b425f19edd Labor Market Unfazed by Iran https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/57482c61-164e-4f48-8214-370b269ac7b6Europe Solar/Iran War: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/business/europe-solar-panels-iran-war.html US Debt Milestone: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/business/us-debt-trump-policies-budget.htmlThis (US base) Wreckage: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/01/world/video/us-military-bases-iran-strikes-images-invs-digvid"Operation Trust Me Bro" : https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/05/07/top-iran-negotiator-mocks-operation-trust-me-bro-and-questions-reports-of-trumps-peace-proposal/Saudi/Kuwait Cold Feet — Gulf states pulling back from US posture on Hormuz https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/us/politics/trump-strait-of-hormuz-saudis.htmlIran Economic Wreckage: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/world/middleeast/iran-economy-layoffs.htmlAmerica is through being cool? https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/opinion/vintage-clothes-america-cool-culture.htmlSong: Nirvana - Milk It

We're joined by Henry Wallis of the FORMS podcast to guide us through one of the most obscure and challenging, yet arguably most consequential Biblical texts: the Book of Revelations.For the FULL episode, Discord access, and all bonus content support the show at http:///patreon.com/ThisWreckageWritten by a Christian exile on an Aegean Island in a time of intense imperial Civil War and internal repression of Jews and Christians, the text is interpreted by scholars as a coded polemic against tyranny and assimilation, and by end-times preachers (and US officials) as a description of contemporary events. Now, Henry, the Orthodox scholar, Sean, the occasional Church-goer, and Andy, the non-practicing Reddit Athiest, will take on the text with fresh eyes. We read from the King James Bible and David Bentley Hart's translation of the New TestamentSong: Blind Willie Johnson - John the Revelator

Interviews from this past weekend's Upstate Anarchist Bookfair with Riot Act Books, Solarpunk writer Phoebe Wagner, Flock Off Ithaca, Bolshevik Tendency, and Warzone DistroFor an extended version of this episode, sign up for FREE at http://patreon.com/thiswreckageAt the end I include a snippet of our Armed Love interview with Ben Morea, who passed away this weekend. Check out the full interview here: Part 1: https://www.patreon.com/posts/65595770?collection=87680 Part 2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/65563424?collection=87680Critique of "win" narrative in Minneapolis: https://illwill.com/proto-politics-in-purgatorySong: Another Dimension - Twilight Zone (Remix)