In the 1901 essay On Vegetarianism, Elisée Reclus (1830-1905), anarchist and prominent geographer, recounts his traumatic experiences witnessing butchery at an early age. He attempts to describe the complicated relationships between humans and the animals they raise for slaughter, for labor and for companionship, and draws connections between the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China [...]
Isabella Bird in the Rockies
An excerpt from a collection of letters written to Isabella’s sister in 1873 and published in a Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains.
Factory Towns
In 1800, Robert Owen assumed management of a successful cotton mill in the village of New Lanark, outside of Glasgow. Over the next 25 years, this industrial community became a primary site for experiments in social reform, based on Owen’s socialist philosophy. In 1815, Owen addressed Parliament in an open letter: Observations on the Effect of the Manufacturing System. [...]
Elizabeth Robins
In 1900, Elizabeth Robins, an actress and women’s rights activist based in London, travelled to the gold rush town of Nome, Alaska, to find her missing brother Raymond Robins. She arrived immediately after the “Nome boom had busted, and busted bad.” Listen to her experiences in Living Under Martial Law. Elizabeth Robins in a London production [...]
Queen Victoria’s diary from July 29, 1838!
Sounds boring being Queen. This one is dedicated to Olivia PJ.
Utopian Socialism/Engels
In this essay on recently founded communist colonies from 1844, Engels gives an earnest account of contemporary Shaker communities, the Rappites of New Harmony, the Zoarites of Ohio and Robert Owen’s socialist efforts in the U.K. These communities, all of which rejected private property in favor of “community of goods,” are upheld by Engels as successful illustrations [...]
Hawthorne Diary
In the early 1840s, Nathaniel Hawthorne briefly participated in an experiment in communal living as a member of the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education, a transcendentalist community founded by George Ripley. While providing only indistinct glimpses into the life this community, Hawthorne’s diary entries from this time give us access instead to his own [...]
Brook Farm
Here is an older, somewhat rough recording of George Partridge Bradford’s memoir, Reminiscences of Brook Farm. Bradford is long winded, but offers a much fuller picture of the broad vision, achieved objectives, and daily activities of the Brook Farm community than Hawthorne’s diaries provide. Bradford was a close friend of Emerson’s and an uncelebrated member of [...]
To Build A Fire, 1908
This recording of Jack London’s well-known short story of a man and a dog struggling to survive in the Yukon territory is dedicated to my grandfather Brendan. The Beginning of Dyea Canyon.
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To Build A Fire, 1908
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Brook Farm
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Hawthorne Diary
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Utopian Socialism/Engels
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Queen Victoria’s diary from July 29, 1838!
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Elizabeth Robins
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Factory Towns
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Isabella Bird in the Rockies
- Elisée Reclus on Anarchism, Vegetarianism and Geography
- Elisée Reclus on Anarchism, Vegetarianism and Geography
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Isabella Bird in the Rockies
-
Factory Towns
-
Elizabeth Robins
-
Queen Victoria’s diary from July 29, 1838!
-
Utopian Socialism/Engels
-
Hawthorne Diary
-
Brook Farm
-
To Build A Fire, 1908
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