In this episode of H&T we again talk with Alex Vitale, author of "The End Of Policing", about the way that police are portrayed in television and film in the USA over the past several decades. How did we go from the films of Charlie Chaplin, wherein he is chased by the police and escapes from them while the audience cheers him for evading capture, to the situation we have today, with a slew of shows where police can do no wrong, and the bad guys are always completely evil, etc?

How did this change happen? And what did Adam 12 and The Mod Squad have to do with it? And how did Orson Welles condemn Dirty Harry and Starsky and Hutch in 1958? And why is the state always sending anti-colonial soldiers to train U.S. police departments? And why did Hill Street Blues change its famous opening statement?

We answer these and other questions in this episode of Hammer & Tongs! My guest is the returning Alex Vitale, author of several books about policing in the U.S., most recently The End Of Policing on Verso Books. He and I met in San Francisco earlier this summer and spent an afternoon talking about cops and movies and we decided to do this show and so here it is. Please share widely!

Our theme music (in the beginning of the show) is by Money Chicha. We also played parts of ".44 Blues" by Corey Harris from his album "Mississippi To Mali", "Highway Patrolman" by Johnny Cash (a cover of a Bruce Springsteen song) from his album "Johnny 99", "Working For The Highway Patrol" by Red Simpson, "Mack The Knife" as performed by Louis Armstrong, and "We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thing" by Heaven 17. And of course there were excerpts from the theme music to "The Rockford Files" and "Hill Street Blues".

This is a link to an excellent podcast about the show "Cops" called "Running From Cops":
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/headlong-running-from-cops/id1459118695

Hammer & Tongs - Copaganda

Eddie Yuen gives us his thoughts on the current political climate, vis a vis the Far Right, which this time last year were everywhere - in the streets, in the news,   on everyone's minds. Now, not so much. What does this mean?

Eddie Yuen is a lecturer in Critical Studies at The San Francisco Art Institute and is co-author of Catastrophism (Pm Press, 2012) and The Battle Of Seattle (Soft Skull Press, 2001).

The host is DMZ, the producer is Rohan Edwards, and the theme music is by Money Chicha: http://www.moneychicha.com.

Talking with Eddie Yuen about The Far Right and the current political moment

This podcast explores Cults And Capitalism, through the lens of an amazing documentary called "Wild Wild Country", about the Rajneesh religion (or cult, depending upon who you ask). 

We'll discuss and criticize the film as well as try and give a broader political context to the piece, in terms of the political moment when the events were happening, specifically the beginning of noeliberal capitalism.

We hope you enjoy it, and if we've got something to say and you all want to hear it, we'll be back.

Cults And Capitalism *.18

Hammer & Tongs is a radical left political podcast and this episode is devoted to talking with Alex Vitale about his new book "The End Of Policing."

https://www.versobooks.com/books/2426-the-end-of-policing

"How the police endanger us and why we need to find an alternative

Recent years have seen an explosion of protest against police brutality and repression—most dramatically in Ferguson, Missouri, where longheld grievances erupted in violent demonstrations following the police killing of Michael Brown. Among activists, journalists, and politicians, the conversation about how to respond and improve policing has focused on accountability, diversity, training, and community relations. Unfortunately, these reforms will not produce results, either alone or in combination. The core of the problem must be addressed: the nature of modern policing itself. “Broken windows” practices, the militarization of law enforcement, and the dramatic expansion of the police’s role over the last forty years have created a mandate for officers that must be rolled back.

This book attempts to spark public discussion by revealing the tainted origins of modern policing as a tool of social control. It shows how the expansion of police authority is inconsistent with community empowerment, social justice—even public safety. Drawing on groundbreaking research from across the world, and covering virtually every area in the increasingly broad range of police work, Alex Vitale demonstrates how law enforcement has come to exacerbate the very problems it is supposed to solve.

In contrast, there are places where the robust implementation of policing alternatives—such as legalization, restorative justice, and harm reduction—has led to reductions in crime, spending, and injustice. The best solution to bad policing may be an end to policing."

This show was recorded in the studios of KZYX in Mendocino California and was produced and co-hosted by Alice Woefli. Our theme music is by Money Chicha and this version was edited by the host DMZ.

Thanks for listening!

Hammer & Tongs Episode 3 Alex Vitale

This is me covering a song by a band called Silo Road.

https://www.siloroadband.com

Recorded one night at Sherman Street Cinema.

Enjoy!

Katie Bell At Sherman  Feb 2020

This is a cover of a song originally by Tom Russell.

Enjoy!

St. Olav's Gate Acoustic 3:9:20

Hammer & Tongs is a left-wing podcast produced by a group of friends in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our politics are somewhere in between anarchist, council communist and radical socialist, and we try and keep a “big picture” view with an eye towards longer-term analysis. The host is David Martinez, the audio producer is Rohan Edwards, the theme music is by Money Chicha (www.moneychicha.com), and the photo of an actual working pair of hammer and tongs is by Hawkeye Glen (http://hawkeyeglenn.com/index.html).

Hammer & Tongs

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