The May 13 Group PODCAST

In this episode, host Vidya Shanker welcomes The May 13 Group Podcast producer, Nayantara Premakumar, to explore the metaphor of ecosystems in relation to their work and personal experiences. They discuss the importance of understanding ecosystems holistically, the impact of colonialism and capitalism on land relationships, and the misappropriation of ecosystem language in various fields. The conversation also touches on personal reflections, cultural connections to land, and the need for deeper interrogation of the systems we create and participate in.Episode 2.3 TRANSCRIPT COMING SOON!⁠⁠Notes & References COMING SOON!Music“Inspired” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)⁠ ⁠⁠Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0⁠⁠⁠Contact usWebsite: ⁠https://themay13group.net⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn:Carolina: linkedin.com/in/carodelaVidhya: linkedin.com/in/vidhyashanker/

The May 13 Group will be closed from mid-July to mid-August. Our team will be tending to our other gardens, which means time away from email and limited engagement with social media. In the meantime, you can stay connected with us through ⁠our website. If you would like to reach us, you can do so at [email protected] and we will respond when we can after we return in August.

In this episode, hosts Carolina and Vidhya reflect on our first year building a solidarity economy through this podcast. We connect recent topics—collective knowledge-making, individualism, and the idea of an economy—to each other, evaluation, accountability, and resource distribution. We note the years of work ahead, as today's socio-political situation results from decades of deliberate effort, not recent elections. Grateful for your feedback, we commit to being accessible to everyone fighting within the nonprofit industrial complex.⁠⁠⁠Episode 2.1 TRANSCRIPT⁠⁠NotesCOMING SOON!ReferencesCOMING SOON!Music“Inspired” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)⁠ ⁠⁠Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0⁠⁠⁠Contact us Website:⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://themay13group.net⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn:Carolina: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/carodela⁠⁠⁠⁠Nayantara: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nayantara-premakumar⁠Vidhya: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidhyashanker⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate to our podcast!⁠⁠

In this episode, Ramya Kumaran—a scholar and practitioner around imagination, play, and futures—joins host Vidhya Shanker to explore the transformative power of collective imagination for building new worlds beyond the ones we inherited. We challenge listeners to question whose imagination shapes our current realities and discuss The May 13 Group not as a single utopia but rather as a potential portal or protopia—an incremental steppingstone toward better possibilities. We invite listeners to reflect with us on healing, solidarity, and moving beyond survival to shift our perspective and open paths to meaningfully different futures.Episode 2.3 TRANSCRIPT COMING SOON!⁠⁠Notes & References COMING SOON!Music“Inspired” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact usWebsite:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://themay13group.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn:Carolina:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/carodela⁠Nayantara:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nayantara-premakumar⁠⁠Vidhya:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidhyashanker⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate to our podcast!⁠

In this episode, Carolina and Vidhya engage in dialogue with ⁠Justin Laing⁠ of ⁠Hillombo Consulting⁠ to understand the idea of an economy, which is foundational to building a solidarity economy. We delve into the way knowledge—or perhaps narrative—is produced within racial and gendered capitalism and the role evaluation plays for the owning and ruling class. We close with an invitation to imagine what knowledge work could look like, and what individual roles we each may play, in alternative economic structures. Justin can be found at ⁠www.hillombo.net⁠,⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram ⁠@hillombo⁠, and using his name on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠Episode 1.8 TRANSCRIPT⁠⁠Notes ⁠here⁠References (more ⁠⁠here⁠)⁠Nego Gato⁠; ⁠Olorisha⁠; ⁠Lukumi⁠⁠Mni Sota Makoce⁠⁠Ojibwe Chippewa Tribe⁠⁠American Indian Movement⁠⁠Shawnee Tribe⁠Critical Pedagogy⁠⁠It's the Economy, Stupid⁠⁠Supply & Demand⁠⁠Centrally Planned Economy⁠⁠Elinor Ostrom⁠⁠All Economies are Ultimately Human Economies⁠⁠Political Economy of Economic Policy⁠⁠Economy Studies⁠⁠Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism⁠⁠Eurocentricity⁠⁠National Struggle⁠⁠Feminist Economics Critique to Neo-Classical Economics⁠⁠Collaborate to Co-Liberate⁠⁠Gopal Dayaneni⁠⁠There is No Alternative⁠⁠Clip from “Surviving Progress”⁠⁠Nonprofit Industrial Complex 101⁠⁠Practice & Prospects of Socialism in China⁠⁠Strategic Revolutionary Thought & Legacy of Hugo Chávez⁠⁠Assessing the Cuban Experience⁠⁠What is Racial Capitalism & Why Does It Matter?⁠⁠Origins of the Professional-Managerial Class⁠⁠Cedric Robinson, Racial Capitalism & the Return of Black Radicalism⁠⁠South African Tradition of Racial Capitalism⁠⁠What is the Working Class?⁠⁠Capitalism⁠⁠Why Do We Say that Hegel is an “Idealist”?⁠⁠Idealism or Materialism⁠⁠Democracy & Evaluation⁠⁠John Rawls⁠⁠What is the Capitalist Class?⁠⁠Marxist Theory of the State⁠⁠How America Became Capitalist⁠⁠Origin of Cost–Benefit Analysis⁠⁠Social Darwinism, Race & Research⁠⁠Gramsci & Hegemony⁠⁠Twilight of Neoliberalism⁠⁠Charter Schools, Market Capitalism & Obama’s Neo-liberal Agenda⁠⁠How Free Market Logic Fails in Schooling⁠⁠Market Liberalism Meets Ideological Conservatism⁠⁠Surplus⁠⁠Theory of Change⁠⁠e·val·u·ate⁠⁠What Base & Superstructure Mean in Marxism⁠⁠Marx’s Theory of Class Struggle⁠⁠What Is Liberalism?⁠⁠Important Insights into the Problems of National Liberation & Imperialism⁠⁠Working Poor⁠⁠History of the Tax-exempt Sector⁠⁠On Contradiction⁠⁠Historical Materialism⁠⁠Dialectics, Historical Materialism & Class Struggle⁠⁠Domenico Losurdo⁠⁠Marxism vs Intersectionality⁠⁠Scary S Word⁠⁠State & Revolution⁠⁠Defining Socialism⁠⁠What Do We Mean by Solidarity Economy?⁠⁠Socialism & the Legacy of the Soviet Union⁠⁠Gabriel Rockhill⁠⁠Manifesto of the Communist Party⁠⁠Understanding Left Wing Politics & Capitalism⁠⁠We Didn’t Cross the Border⁠⁠Catherine Liu⁠