Scene Report

Josephine is on a victorious rock n’ roll joy ride. For SCENE REPORT, we spoke about blurring the rock n’ roll and queer scenes, her timeless New York yenta ancestry, using art to manifest her transition, and channeling Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris all at once.Host, Producer & Editor: Reed DunleaExecutive Producer: Ash TynerAssociate Producer: Jason HalalTheme Song: Jesse Crawford Logo: Kyle Seely This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

On this latest episode of SCENE REPORT, we talk with Fat Tony from Houston Texas about the legacy of Houston hip hop, being a DIY hustler across genre and scenes, and his family's African roots. Recorded in my kitchen on 10/20/23.Host, Producer & Editor: Reed DunleaExecutive Producer: Ash TynerTheme Song & Logo: Kyle Seely Thanks Tony This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

On this introductory episode of SCENE REPORT, we talk with my Palestinian American brother Johnny Hummus about ending false hummus, metal/punk in New York and Florida, and the historic and modern struggles of his people. Recorded in my kitchen on 7/23/23 with a preface recorded on 12/4/23. Host, Producer & Editor: Reed DunleaExecutive Producer: Ash TynerAssociate Producer: Conor WilliamsTheme: Kyle Seely with Hart SeelyLogo: Kyle SeelyBanner: Elvis Metcalf with Miles Shelton & Ash Tyner Thanks Johnny This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

A new podcast from Reed Dunlea, formerly of "Protest & Survive." "Scene Report" explores counterculture artists and the communities that sustain their work. Dropping real soon. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

Winona LaDuke is probably the most dedicated, smart and hilarious activist you will ever come across. She lives on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Northwestern Minnesota, with about 130,000 other Anishinaabe and Ojibwe people. Since founding the White Earth Land Recovery Project in 1989, and Honor the Earth in 1983, she’s been fighting to preserve the indigenous sovereignty and environmental integrity of her land and people there. She also notably ran for Vice President with Ralph Nader for the Green Party in 1996 and 2000. LaDuke and her collaborators in Minnesota just waged a years-long battle against the Line 3 pipeline, which Canadian energy company Enbridge ultimately pushed through in 2021. That fight was building on her work against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, a watershed moment in anti-pipeline protest, and in building a new type of movement linking environmental, indigenous, and racial justice activists. In this wide-ranging interview for Protest & Survive, LaDuke discusses being present in her community, anti-colonialism land back, building local sustainable economies, and trying every tactic to win. Produced and hosted by Reed Dunlea, edited by Jason Halal, music by Jesse Crawford, and photography by Keri Picket. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

The 83rd, whose name is reclaimed from a Bushwick police precinct, is a record producer who runs a record label and media company called Sermon 3. "My biggest driving factor is pushing boundaries in art, music and possibilities; and also giving priority to people who deserve it, who a lot of times are the foundations of art, music, culture, that don't get the proper privy. When I look at my family, the Black community and all the things that we've done and all the things that go unwritten and uncovered, with Sermon 3 I wanted to cover deep roots in Mississippi and ghetto house and things that were happening in hoods and rural areas that impacted the rest of the world, but they never got an interview." I met The 83rd at Occupy City Hall in New York City in June 2020. The 83rd was projecting a message on a building across the street from the protest, which was a 5-point plan he’d developed about how to address police violence: end qualified immunity, pass a Civilian Defense Act, divest the police, invest in black communities, and end petty-crime arrests. The 83rd amplifies these and other messages through Sermon 3, a platform for art, music, culture, protest and news. He’s connecting people to organize and participate in direct action, and to treat cultural expression as a shared language of resistance. If you're only going to listen to one thing from The 83rd, skip this interview, and check out his incredible Solitary Souls project, an archival EP exploring the history of slavery in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. This episode was edited by Jason Halal. Music is by Jesse Crawford and The 83rd. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

Lorelei Ramirez is a comedian, artist, writer, and activist. Since the pandemic they have been working to build an organization called Helper's International, which distributes money, resources, and supplies to those who need it most. Their art and performance has been shown in venues across New York City and they've worked on television shows such as High Maintenance and Los Espookys. Their comedic work is absurd and sometimes grotesque, and they are currently hosting a weekly Twitch stream called "Art is Easy." This week, guest host and producer Sophia Steinert-Evoy spoke with Lorelei over Zoom about mutual aid, forming community networks in times of crisis, Bernie Sanders, and Ric Wilson's banger "Fight Like Ida B and Marsha P," which led to a tangent on the union anthem, "Which Side Are You On?" Lorelei recommends the podcast, "We The Unhoused." Music by Ric Wilson, Florence Reece, Pete Seeger, Billy Bragg, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and Black Lives Matter Berkeley.  Photo by Daniel Rampulla. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

Cookie is a punk, zine maker, writer, podcaster, and restorative justice and trans support advocate based In Pittsburgh, PA. She is also my friend. I first met Cookie via their incredible fanzine about eating every slice of pizza in Manhattan, Slice Harvester, when I was a young punk living in New York City. In this episode we have different recollections of our first interaction, but either way, we've spent years collaborating and chilling since. Cookie was a member of the now-defunct Support New York, an anarchist collective that developed methods for facilitating community-based accountability processes around sexual violence. Cookie is now active with Trans Buddy Pittsburgh, a community peer-support organization that helps trans and non-binary people navigate healthcare. They continue their great work documenting the freakier side of the American punk scene, via their Life Harvester Radio podcast and Life Harvester newsletter. We discuss all of these projects and causes, as well as what it's like to transition genders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Note: this episode was recorded before the current Black Lives Matter protests erupted around the country following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others. We thus do not discuss the movement, or specifically a world without police, but I think some of Cookie's work and insights could be useful for imagining one. Music by Jesse Crawford, editing by Chris Pickering, photo by Colin Hagendorf. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

This special episode of Protest & Survive is coming live from the streets of New York, in their own words. Recorded on Saturday June 6, 2020 at The March for Stolen Lives and Looted Dreams, hosted by Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour, including a performance by the Resistance Revival Chorus. The rally is followed by ambient field recordings from a march over the Brooklyn Bridge. Black Lives Matter. Justice for George, Breonna, Ahmaud, and all others who have died too soon. Change is coming. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

It’s been over a year and ten episodes of Protest & Survive. In season one, we recounted fighting Proud Boys, learned what it takes to repeal a century-old racist law, saw the response to the Muslim Ban at JFK Airport, heard about the awful people effects of the drug war in the Philippines, reminisced on an Arabic-language punk band’s tour of Southeast Asia, and I got a tattoo. In Season 2, we’re going to keep talking to a lot of dedicated people that you’re probably not going to hear interviewed in too many other places. To all our listeners new and old, thanks for joining us so far, and stay tuned. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

“This was the first time, and probably the last time this will ever happen. In Jakarta, the mic got taken from me, many f*****g times throughout the set," says Nader. "It gives me some hope to continue doing this. They took the mic and sang the songs in Arabic, and my heart was just melted. I couldn’t believe it.”New York City Arabic-language punk band Haram went on tour in Southeast Asia and Japan last summer. It was the first time Nader, who grew up Muslim in Yonkers with Lebanese refugee parents, got the chance to play in Muslim-majority countries. The band, on Toxic State Records, was previously investigated by the NYPD/FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. We spoke with Nader the night before he left on tour about his hopes and anxieties, and follow up to break down the journey when he returned home.Photo by Jerry Permana, music by Jesse Crawford. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

Tamara Santibañez is a multidisciplinary artist, working in tattoos, visual arts, and publishing. We spoke to her on the last episode of P&S about her work with people in jail and prison. In this follow-up episode, we wanted to more explore an idea Tamara has been developing that we touched on in the last episode, her Trauma-Aware Philosophy of Tattooing. We figured the best way to do that was to record getting a tattoo from Tamara, and talk about how she applies this philosophy. You can find more about Tamara's work here, and view her tattoos here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

Tamara Santibañez is a multidisciplinary artist, working in tattoos, visual arts, and publishing. She also works with people in jail/prison and recently out, having taught drawing at Rikers Island and Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, working with a reentry program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and giving free tattoo cover ups to women who were tattooed during their criminal justice involvement.  Tamara's tattoo work draws on West Coast Chicanx black and gray technique, while also incorporating the punk aesthetics of her life, resulting in a historic but deeply personal style. You can find more about her work here, and view her tattoos here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli is a filmmaker. She recently wrote, directed and starred in a feature titled "So Pretty," which is, according to Jessie, "a narrative-ish film following four to six young gender deviants in New York City as they nap and f**k and try to get by as best they can." The film is an adaptation, and translation, of a novel by gay German writer Ronald M. Schernikau, which originally was set in 1980s West Berlin. The worlds of queer housing and rave scenes overlap with mass protest in "So Pretty," as staged and real settings blend. In this interview, which took place in Jessie's bedroom in Brooklyn, we discuss becoming an optimist through art, Donald Trump's effect on mobilization, transitioning while making a film, the community built when making a film, and the importance of Black Lives Matter, J20, and Occupy Wall Street. More information on upcoming screenings of "So Pretty" can be found here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com

AJ Santos is a punk. He grew up in the Philippines, playing in punk bands, running in gangs, and using drugs. People referred to him and his friends as “scums of society.” In 2013, AJ immigrated to the United States, where he built a new life for himself. He started some punk bands in New York, called Namatay Sa Ingay and Material Support. He also started organizing with Migrante International, a migrant rights organization that is part of the National Democratic Movement of the Philippines. With Migrante, AJ and other Filipino immigrants lobby the U.S. government and raise awareness about the issues facing their friends and family back home. Since Rodrigo Duterte began his War on Drugs after becoming president of the Philippines in 2016, many of AJ’s friends have been killed, jailed, or forced into hiding. AJ was never planning on becoming an activist, but those circumstances changed that. “I need to do this because I have to. It’s not even a choice for me. I’m not trying to be edgy. I didn’t choose this life. I don’t even consider myself an activist. I’m just a punk rocker. I’m just a punk rocker who happened to be politicized.” We spoke with AJ at host Reed Dunlea’s home studio in Brooklyn, about growing up surrounded by poverty in the Philippines, punk as a sanctuary, his mom’s fight against the Marcos dictatorship, moving to the U.S. to find better opportunities, being a father, lyrics about “bourgie white girls,” mourning from afar, and how to f**k the police and the government. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scenereportpodcast.substack.com