We are at a moment of impasse, a time where political spaces and dynamics are shifting drastically. In the past months we have seen military units deploy to streets, the DOJ get used as an overt weapon of the administration, and terrorism laws being openly utilized to suppress anarchist movements. At the same time, there is a distinct sense in which the state, and this current administration, is breaking the state apart while they are trying to consolidate control over it. We are stuck in a race between administrative authoritarianism and the collapse of the American state as we understand it. The result has been a situation that is kinetic rather than definitive, in which the conditions of politics change into terms that are more material and less clear, which differ from place to place, and in which situational awareness becomes paramount for anyone attempting to act directly and effectively.

At times like this it makes sense to do something anarchists have been doing for decades, delving into operational theory. Operational theory is often described as the space that exists between strategy (large-scale movements over time) and tactics (the immediate techniques of fighting). It is a space in which we focus on dynamics, terrains, logistics, in an attempt not to pin an enemy down to simple categories, but to understand ourselves as acting in an environment that shapes those enemies, and ourselves, in very specific hyper-localized ways. 

In this discussion we will be sitting down with an editor for the upcoming publication BREACH Digest to talk a little bit about operational theory. We discuss what operational theory is, the history of anarchists studying the operational arts, and some resources that you can get into if you want to dig deeper. 

BREACH Digest is a forthcoming publication with a release scheduled in the coming months. To follow their work go to their website, https://breachdigest.noblogs.org/, for more details.

Further Reading

Carl von Clausewitz On War

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1946/1946-h/1946-h.htm

Antoine-Henri Jomini The Art of War

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13549/13549-h/13549-h.htm

RAND Corporation on Netwar and Swarming

https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1382/RAND_MR1382.pdf

https://www.rand.org/pubs/documented_briefings/DB311.html

Institute for the Study of Insurgent Warfare

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/institute-for-the-study-of-insurgent-warfare

Links to works by Col. John Boyd on organic command and control and the OODA loop

https://www.colonelboyd.com/boydswork

US Military Counterinsurgency Manual

https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/fm3-24.pdf





Getting Operational With It: A Discussion with BREACH Digest

We're back after a brief summer break!

The war in Ukraine is often, like many conflicts, discussed through the lens of foreign policy and the interests of these entities that we call states. This is not the framing that we simply inherit from media, it is one that the Left globally has embraced just as thoroughly as liberals and conservatives. Discussions become echoes of the Cold War, where massive power blocks collide in some geopolitical game involving huge historical projects. 

There are myriad issues with this framing, but we will focus on just one in this episode. This framing has a tragic side effect, it has the tendency to disappear people on the ground living through conflict, and often abandoning them as a result. It has led some on the Left to support the worst authoritarians, right wing religious extremists, and genocidaires, all while abandoning people fighting authoritarianism repeatedly, merely because the states that supports the regime they are fighting are "anti-American". 

We want to have a different discussion about war, and about Ukraine; a discussion about what it means to be an anarchist living in a place actively under invasion, facing existential threats, and the threat of immanent arrest or death if you lose. We are joined by Anton from the Solidarity Collectives to talk about the war, how life continues in a warzone, what the war has meant for the anarchist community in Ukraine and the wider region, and how a movement can not just survive, but also actively engage in the situation around them, against all odds.

You can follow the work of Solidarity Collectives here:

https://www.solidaritycollectives.org/en/

https://bsky.app/profile/solcolua.bsky.social



War from Ground Level: A Discussion About Experiencing the War in Ukraine

On this episode of The Beautiful Idea, we speak with several authors and organizers, marking six months into the second Trump administration coming to power. During our multiple discussions, we look at the recent deployment of the military into Los Angeles, CA, the ramping up of ICE raids and arrests across the US, and the passing of the Republican so-called "Big Beautiful Bill," which ear-marks billions for war and the deportation machine, while cutting taxes on the ultra-wealthy and corporations, and slashing social services, health-care, and food assistance for the poor. Already, which has lead to rural hospitals being threatened with closure [https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2025/07/10/medicaid-cuts-could-lead-to-8-mississippi-hospitals-closing-see-why/84530916007/] as food banks struggle to keep up with demand [https://www.yahoo.com/news/federal-funding-cuts-could-close-222733096.html].

In this episode you will hear from:

 * Silky Shaw [https://bsky.app/profile/silkys13.bsky.social], the executive director of the Detention Watch Network, and author of Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition [https://www.haymarketbooks.org/events/614-unbuild-walls-why-immigrant-justice-needs-abolition], from Haymarket Books. Shaw talks about the rapid acceleration of deportations under Trump and the construction of new detention facilities, such as the newly built concentration camp, Alligator Alcatraz.
 * Jessica Pishko [https://bsky.app/profile/jesspish.bsky.social], author of The Highest Law in the Land: How the Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/707263/the-highest-law-in-the-land-by-jessica-pishko/], breaks down the interplay between police and ICE, as well as the brutal violence deployed by law enforcement during recent demonstrations in Los Angeles.
 * Kristian Williams [https://www.kristianwilliams.com/], author of Our Enemies and Blue: Police and Power in America [https://www.kristianwilliams.com/product/our-enemies-in-blue-police-and-power-in-america/], takes on the role of counter-insurgency in the Trump administration, the weaponization of fascist spectacle, and the growth of conspiracy theories within protest movements.
 * Vicky Osterweil [https://bsky.app/profile/vickyacab.bsky.social], author of In Defense of Looting [https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/vicky-osterweil-in-defense-of-looting] and a member of Collective of Anarchist Writers (CAW) [https://www.cawshinythings.com/], breaks down the recently passed Republican budget bill, and talks about its potential impact in our communities and ways in which we can push back.

As anger continues to build in the streets, we hope this discussion shines a light on the contours and context of the building social war being waged against poor and working people across the US.

MUSIC:

Intro music by Breakaway [https://breakawaybreakaway.bandcamp.com/] and Seaside Tryst [https://seasidetryst.bandcamp.com/]

Filastine & Nova - Requiem 432 [https://youtu.be/A2LvqColxzA?si=eYcsOINIb65k3758]

Neurosis - The Doorway [https://youtu.be/OUBegD4_Bn4?si=DWI5Z6VcwDftXZ7S]

Big Beautiful Social War: Six Months Into Trump 2.0

For as long as people have been getting pregnant, they’ve also been figuring out how to get un-pregnant. A self-managed abortion (SMA) is when a person ends their pregnancy outside of the formal medical system. Most often, self-managed abortions are done as “medication abortions” — abortions induced by medication. In this episode of The Beautiful Idea, we talk about self-managed medication abortions done with a combination of the drugs misoprostol and mifepristone. Guests Jane and Hazel are both abortion doulas (also known as abortion companions) with extensive experience supporting people completing self-managed medication abortions. Jane, based in Appalachia, works with the Mountain Area Abortion Doula Collective (MAADCO). Hazel, based in the Rust Belt, is a former abortion clinic worker, and wrote the zine “how to do it anyway: a guide to self-managing an abortion at home” after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. We discuss the history of reproductive justice, how self-managed abortion is often stigmatized and why that can be harmful, and the actual step-by-step details of what a medication abortion entails (how to measure pregnancy, which pills to take when, how it might feel physically in the body, what to look out for to determine if an abortion has been completed, pain management, and some of the ways that people sometimes emotionally or culturally process an abortion), among other topics. 

There are many resources on self-managed medication abortion available. Here are just a few, mentioned in today’s show:

-“how to do it anyway: a guide to self-managing an abortion at home” (https://www.tangledwilderness.org/shop/p/how-to-do-it-anyway)

-National Network of Abortion Funds (https://abortionfunds.org/) — connects people to local abortion funds for financial aid, and to resources that provide practical support (childcare, rides to clinics, etc.)

-Abortion Finder (https://www.abortionfinder.org/) — finds verified abortion clinics 

-Plan C Pills (https://www.plancpills.org/about) — educational website w resources on how to source abortion pills, how to dose them, what to look out for

-Aid Access (https://aidaccess.org/en/) — provides access to medication abortion via mail

-RX List (RXlist.com) — searchable database that provides information about general drug interactions

-Miscarriage & abortion hotline (https://mahotline.org/) — text hotline for medical advice, particularly if you are self-managing an abortion

-The Mountain Area Abortion Doula Collective (MAADCO) (https://mtnabortiondoula.co/)

-Holler Health Justice (https://www.hollerhealthjustice.org/)

-The Yellow Hammer Fund (https://abortionfunds.org/fund/yellowhammer-fund/)

-“The Janes” (https://www.hbo.com/movies/the-janes) — HBO documentary on the Jane Collective (1960s/70s underground network of abortion providers)

-“Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff” podcast episode about the Jane Collective (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-cool-people-who-did-cool-96003360/episode/part-one-the-jane-collective-direct-96629898/)

Self-Managed Medication Abortion: Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It

Welcome back to The Beautiful Idea. So much has happened since we started to put this episode together. We've got a lot to cover, so let's not waste any time and dive right into it!

On today's episode, first we present a interview with an organizer on the recent "Statelessness" conference that took place in Evansville, IN. For more on the conference, check out this recording from the presentation [https://compulsories.noblogs.org/files/2025/04/painting-presentation.mp3], the Belki Sibe [https://www.belkisibe.com/] documentary which was shown at the event, a presentation from keynote speaker Jane Gordon [https://newbooksnetwork.com/jane-a-gordon-statelessness-and-contemporary-enslavement-routledge-2020], and a PDF booklet about the conference [https://archive.org/details/statelessness-booklet-print-v-5].

Next, we speak with someone involved in Antifa International, which supports international antifascist prisoners [https://linktr.ee/antifainternational], and then turn towards our discussion on the recent deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles, CA.

A reminder to follow the Beautiful Idea on BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/beautifulidea.bsky.social], Mastodon [https://kolektiva.social/@thebeautifulidea], and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thebeautifulideashow/] and check out our website [https://thebeautifulidea.show/]. The Beautiful Idea is also a proud member of the Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast network [https://channelzeronetwork.com/].

Music Credits

Intro:

 * Breakaway [https://breakawaybreakaway.bandcamp.com/] & Seaside Tryst [https://seasidetryst.bandcamp.com/]

Transition clips:

 * Infernal Noise Brigade - Goat Eyes [https://youtu.be/wwYw-ulJFFo?si=urNMB2_grn5BHvhF]
 * Eyedea & Abilities - Music Music [https://youtu.be/u4pjTV1pyGE?si=lwMccZ8viRwwWjg8]
 * Decide Today - Free Marius Mason (June 11) [https://decidetoday.bandcamp.com/album/2019-east-europe-tour-cd]

ICE Melts as Streets Erupt, Revolt at Delaney Hall Migrant Prison, UW Campus Occupation Against War Profiteers

In this conversation, we speak with two recent International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteers about their experiences accompanying Palestinians in the West Bank. International Solidarity Movement is an initiative based in Palestine that enables international volunteers to physically accompany Palestinians facing harassment and attacks from the Israeli occupation. We discuss what everyday resistance — both large and small — looks like for Palestinians in the West Bank. Among many other topics, we explore the ways that ISM volunteers move between what they call “protective presence” and “solidarity” in their accompaniment work, how their experience has shifted or impacted the way they understand anti-colonial resistance more broadly, and what they see on the horizon for Palestine. 

This interview was originally conducted immediately following the agreement to a ceasefire between the IDF and Hamas, on January 16th, 2025. Israel violated the ceasefire numerous times from January 19 to March 17, killing at least 170 people in Gaza, averaging nearly three deaths a day. On March 18th, Israel officially broke the ceasefire agreement, and continues to bombard Gaza with air strikes and ground offensives. Gaza is on the verge of famine and a total collapse of healthcare infrastructure, as Israel continues to bar the entry of much-needed medical supplies, fuel, and other humanitarian aid including food and clean water to the region. 

As of May 19th, 2025, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 53,339 people — including at least 17,400 children — have been confirmed killed in Gaza.

Last month, we published an interview with a friend and comrade of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces on September 6th, 2024, while accompanying Palestinians in the West Bank as an ISM volunteer. 

That interview, called “The Murder of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi and the Future of International Solidarity” is available on our feed and at this link: https://thebeautifulidea.show/the-murder-of-aysenur-ezgi-eygi-and-the-future-of-international-solidarity-2/. 

For more information about the work of ISM, visit their website at: https://palsolidarity.org/

An Interview with International Solidarity Movement Volunteers

Join us as we sit down with members of the subMedia Collective to discuss their upcoming series InterRebellium. In this conversation we run down the history of subMedia, beginning in the 90s rave scene, the development of anarchist media in the first 25 years of this century, and what the future holds.

Finally we discuss their upcoming series, InterRebellium, which traces a trajectory of insurgent and autonomous action through struggles around the world. The trailer for InterRebellium can be found at https://sub.media/interrebellium-trailer/

subMedia's work can be found on their site https://sub.media

You can also follow them on Kolektiva platforms at https://kolektiva.social/@subMedia and https://kolektiva.media/a/submedia/video-channels

subMedia has also released a series with recent podcast guest Peter Gelderloos, It's Revolution or Death, which can be found here: https://sub.media/its-revolution-or-death-part-one-short-term-investments/

InterRebellium: A Discussion with subMedia

Dean Spade is the author of "Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During this Crisis and the Next", and "Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law". Well known for highlighting the ways that mutual aid can be a direct response to societal needs as well as a transformative practice that shifts our reliance away from the state and toward each other, Spade has just published a new book called "Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build relationships, hook up, and raise hell together". Informed by over two decades of experience pushing for trans liberation and racial and economic justice, Spade's new book discusses the urgency of building sustainable, accountable, and truly abolitionist interpersonal relationships that empower us to resist state violence over the long haul. In a time of increasing despair, he urges us to move beyond symbolic actions and embrace riskier, more meaningful forms of action that require trust, deep solidarity, and real vulnerability. We touch on Spade's personal journey of radicalization, think about some of the potential of this moment, and unpack some concrete tools for self-reflection and expression.

In addition to Spade's books, check out the "Five Questions for Cultivating Solidarity When Responding to Political Repression", downloadable in English & Spanish here: https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/en/resources-all/five-questions-for-cultivating-solidarity

Follow Dean Spade:

Twitter – https://x.com/deanspade

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/spade.dean

Personal website – https://www.deanspade.net/

A Discussion With Dean Spade

Welcome back to The Beautiful Idea! We're excited to bring you a jam-packed show today and we have some amazing content planned, so be sure to subscribe to the show [https://thebeautifulidea.show/] and follow us on Mastodon [https://kolektiva.social/@igd_news] and BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/igd.bsky.social].

In today's episode, we feature:

 * An interview with an organizer for the recent Florida Abolitionist Gathering [https://crimethinc.com/2025/03/15/they-cant-beat-all-of-us-a-reportback-from-the-florida-abolitionist-gathering].
 * A participant in the Imaginary Crimes Tour [https://cryptpad.fr/pad/#/2/pad/view/g6H3S1Zum45tRJPwAP9t--jD2CyBQFq-rY5g6YOQB8A/embed/] which is already underway, about how people are fighting back against state repression against the Stop Cop City Movement.
 * Present an audio version of a call for events and gatherings on May Day [https://crimethinc.com/2025/04/08/may-day-means-resistance-a-call-to-take-action-on-may-first].
 * Unpack Trump's escalating trade war.

Extended show notes can be found at https://thebeautifulidea.show/people-hit-the-streets-as-trumps-trade-war-heats-up/

People Hit the Streets As Trump's Trade War Heats Up

On September 6th of last year, 26 year old University of Washington graduate Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi was shot and killed by IDF soldiers while doing accompaniment in the West Bank of Palestine with International Solidarity Movement (ISM). In this episode, we speak with a friend of Ayşenur's who had travelled to the West Bank to do accompaniment with ISM alongside her, and was present during the days leading up to and immediately after her murder. 

We discuss what happened to Ayşenur, settler violence against Palestinians and IDF complicity, grief, remembrance, and ways in which anarchist movements internationally can effectively support people facing violence from the state and occupying forces. 

During the discussion a number of pieces are referenced:

"Theses On Palestine Solidarity" (anonymous): https://haters.noblogs.org/files/2024/01/Theses-on-Palestine-Solidarity.pdf

"The Gaza Ghetto Uprising" (Adi Callai*): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt_1k7nSv1M&pp=ygUUZ2F6YSBnaGV0dG8gdXByaXNpbmc%3D

"The Gaza ceasefire will not cure the wounds of genocide" (Roaa Shamallakh): https://mondoweiss.net/2025/01/the-gaza-ceasefire-will-not-cure-the-wounds-of-genocide/

For more information about Ayşenur and her murder at the hands of the IDF, please see https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2024/10/02/remembering-ay-enur-activist-s-death-felt-deeply-seattle-and-beyond and https://southseattleemerald.org/voices/2024/09/10/aysenurs-legacy-the-tragic-loss-of-an-activist-a-friend-and-a-fighter-for-international-solidarity

The speaker interviewed on this episode does not represent the views of International Solidarity Movement. For more about the work of ISM, visit their website at:https://palsolidarity.org/

This interview was originally conducted immediately following the agreement to a ceasefire between the IDF and Hamas, on January 16th, 2025. We apologize for the delayed release.

*Adi Callai has previously been interviewed by contributors to this show. Shortly following the October 7th attacks, they appeared on "This is America" (with Tom Nomad) to discuss IDF strategy (https://itsgoingdown.org/counter-insurgency-israel-podcast/).

The Murder of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi and the Future of International Solidarity 

The Beautiful Idea is a media project bringing you interviews, ideas, and stories from the frontlines of social movements and struggles, from a distinctly anarchist perspective.

More information at https://thebeautifulidea.show