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Foreign. Welcome to the Silky Smooth Sounds with Green and Red podcast. Your co host Scott Parkin in Berkeley, California and I wanted to let you know about an event that we have coming up on May 21st. It will be a live podcast and a panel discussion, an in person panel discussion on Radicals, Realists and Repression, the State of US Activism. The panel will feature Professor Thomas Zaitsoff, who is a professor in the School of Public affairs at American University and author of no Option but Sabotage. Also a guest on the Green the Red podcast, Professor Omar Wassall, who is an assistant professor in UC Berkeley's Department of Political Science myself and then it will be moderated by our friend and comrade and also guest on the Green Red podcast, Jason Miles, who's the host of the this Is Revolution podcast. The panel will be talking about the rollback of First Amendment protected activities, which includes anti protest legislation, militarized police so surveillance being drastically increased. And then in contrast to that, the large scale resistance that we're seeing both through weekend protests like no Kings mobilizations around May Day, but then also the fierce resistance to ICE that we're seeing in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and many other places. And well, just to throw a little flavor in there, we'll also be talking about the anti AI data center movement as well. And so there's a lot of interesting things going on in our world right now. We're living in very dark times, but hopefully this panel will start a process of illuminating some of that. It will be at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists in Berkeley at 1924 Cedar Street. Doors open at 6:30. The event begins at 7pm it will be on Thursday, May 21st. And for those of you who are not in the Bay Area, there will be a live streaming option as well. It'll actually be live streamed on our YouTube channel, so please check us out. I have the RSVP in the show notes for this posting and look forward to seeing everyone on May 21st.
Episode: May 21st Panel on Radicals, Realists, and Repression: The State of Activism in the U.S.
Date: May 11, 2026
Hosts: Bob Buzzanco and Scott Parkin
Special Panel Announcement by Scott Parkin
This brief episode is dedicated to announcing and previewing a major public panel event hosted by Green & Red, titled "Radicals, Realists and Repression: The State of US Activism." Co-host Scott Parkin describes the panel's focus on the intensifying repression of activism in the U.S., as well as the burgeoning forms of resistance across the country. The event will feature a discussion among leading scholars and organizers, offering critical perspectives on protest, surveillance, and social change.
"We're living in very dark times, but hopefully this panel will start a process of illuminating some of that." — Scott Parkin [01:45]
On the Need for Critical Dialogue:
"The panel will be talking about the rollback of First Amendment protected activities, which includes anti protest legislation, militarized police so surveillance being drastically increased." — Scott Parkin [00:38]
On Diverse Forms of Resistance:
"In contrast to that, the large scale resistance that we're seeing both through weekend protests like no Kings mobilizations around May Day, but then also the fierce resistance to ICE that we're seeing in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and many other places." — Scott Parkin [00:57]
On Expanding Movement Frontiers:
"And well, just to throw a little flavor in there, we'll also be talking about the anti AI data center movement as well." — Scott Parkin [01:11]
Scott Parkin adopts an urgent yet hopeful tone, emphasizing both the dark context of repression and the vibrancy and necessity of resistance. The episode serves as both an open invitation and a rallying call for engagement and critical conversation.