Not a Goodbye, but a See You Later

Hey everyone, this is Artxmis with the Uncivilized Podcast. I just wanted to give a quick update and explanation concerning our recent inactivity.

Our last episode, 63, went up in February. We are now in July. This marks the longest period between episodes since episodes 20 to 21 in 2021 (funny how that works!).

This is not for the lack of having recorded episodes. In fact, we have several episodes recorded. This includes the second uncivilized roundtable between VoF & Jaime, an asynchronous interview with two people of the anarchist news collective, an interview with a semi-nomadic homesteader, a sort of whistleblower episode on indigenous abuses in the Congo, and a recently recorded series of interviews from my time at the Earthkin ancestral skills gathering.

The reason for the lack of episodes is because I'm the last remaining member of the original Uncivilized Podcast team. For those that don't know, Uncivilized Podcast began as the Critical of Capital Podcast, between myself (known then as Jay), Brady, Viktor, and Gavin.

We eventually lost Viktor, but gained Emanuel / Walks-With-Knives. Within the last two years, Brady stepped away from his more consistent appearances. Emanuel likewise has featured less. None of these people having moved away did so out of reasons of animosity, but simply because life moves its own way. That being said, it has been hard being the one who seeks guests, writes questions and prompts, and records alone. This was never meant to be an individual project, but a one made by friends. We once had a strong engagement in the comment section as well as other public areas and even private discussions regarding the content of the episodes. We felt it had a strong, if small niche, in the online anarchist world. This too has faded.

Gavin, our longtime editor, has also recently stepped away for personal reasons. Now lacking an editor has increased the stress for what should be an enjoyable project. It's not an impossible feat to learn basic audio editing, but I lack the interest in sitting at the computer to do so and to learn the methods. If we are going to put out content, it is going to be higher quality (my microphone quality notwithstanding!). I do not wish to put out poorly edited episodes. I have since come to realize the incredible work Gavin has put in. Dead air, "ums", other necessary cuts, plus the recent inclusion of music, are all many of the moving parts.

In the past we have covered a wide range of content, from book reviews, to political theory, to current events. I don't regret any episodes. But I find myself lacking interest in anything new. There have been a few ideas floating in my head, such as dedicated interviews with people I met at the Earthkin gathering, but they don't scratch the same itch I used to have. I also feel strange going long periods of time without uploading episodes, but this is a minor issue of guilt and not main driving force. Admittedly, I have little intellectual interest or emotional engagement in anarchism, as of late. This is not to say I have abandoned anarchism, but my identification with it has definitely become problematized.

All of this to say the Uncivilized Podcast is going on indefinite hiatus. I have a pair of friends who are helping to get up these already recorded episodes. Once these recorded episodes have gone live (over the course of the next few months, perhaps), the youtube channel and other associated platforms will become inactive. This is not the end of the podcast, but a "see you later" of sorts. My hope is that with time, there can be a rebuilt culture around the background of the podcast and a rejuvenation of our energies.

Thank you for your support these last almost 7(!!) years.

Uncivilized and unapologetic,
Artxmis