The Poor Prole’s Almanac

The Poor Prole’s Alamanac, Bleav

Climate Change got you down? Worried about the fact that *everything* seems to be getting worse? Wondering how we got to this point in the first place, and what can we do to build a more resilient future? We take a look at historical pastoral & agricultural societies to see what worked and what didn’t, as well as what resources we have today to make better decisions to build equitable systems. We don’t just discuss ecology and history but also take a leftist perspective on prepping, foraging, homesteading, weapons, community-building, and basically anything that needs discussing during late-stage capitalism.

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295 episodes
Updated May 28

Episodes295

Newest first

Jun 10, 2024 · 58 min
The Back to the Land movement
The counterculture movement of the 1960s and 70s is well-known, and its trappings of communes that were woefully prepared for the work required to survive has been made fodder for more than one trope from this era. We’ll explore this well-worn narrative, but to do so, we need to frame up where the Back-to-the-Land movement originated to understand how it became what is so well known. As we explore the Back to the Land movement, we'll see how the overlaps of right-wing fascism and the socialist m
May 19, 2024 · 50 min
From Howard to Rodale: the Organics movement
If you’ve been following our series on permanent agriculture, we’ve gone in extensive depth on the evolution of soil science to permanent agriculture to the Odum brothers’ vision for agroecology. While their work stemmed from the science-led movement of permanent agriculture as the permanent agriculture movement crashed under the pressures of World War 2, multipl concurrent movements followed. The first we covered was the Odum Brothers and their vision of agriculture driven by ecological limitat
May 13, 2024 · 54 min
The Birth of the Biodynamics Movement
To talk about permanent agriculture and the alternative agriculture movement that fought against monocropping and industrial pesticide and fertilizer use without talking about biodynamics ignores one of the focal components in the development of a huge facet of how these movements came to be today. To try and explain the biodynamic movement without talking about Rudolf Steiner doesn’t fully capture how and why the movement became what it was long after his death. Steiner’s interest spanned from
May 6, 2024 · 51 min
Scott Nearing: Revolutionary Homesteading
Scott Nearing is another name that likely hasn’t reached most folks’ ears who may be searching for leaders in the agriculture-socialist-homesteader space, but Scott’s career spanned a wide and varied path from academics to activism to homesteading. His life was as diverse as it was long, and much of what we know from the counterculture movement of the 70s that centered on self-sufficiency stemmed from his specific brand. However, Nearing's politics and identity as a class traitor is a bit more
Apr 29, 2024 · 53 min
The Odum Brothers and a New Permanent Agriculture
To understand the development of the post-World War permanent agriculture movement and the movements that followed, we need to follow the trajectory of the movement of the field of ecology, and we cannot trace this evolution without talking about the Odum brothers. Eugene and Howard T. Odum were the sons of sociologist Howard Washington Odum & Anna Louise Kranz and would go on to change the trajectory of agroecology, for better or worse. In 1954, both were hired by the Atomic Energy Commission
Apr 22, 2024 · 1 hr 24 min
Reflections on 60 Years of Tree Crops with Robert Seip
Through a confluence of events I was connected with one of the elders of the tree crops world, Bob Seip, and was invited to his farm, buried in rural Pennsylvania. Bob, or Robert, depending on how you know him, has seen a lot at 94, and after walking around the property buried in a foot of snow, it became clear he didn’t feel remotely finished yet. We gathered around his kitchen table, surrounded by recording equipment and dogs and bowls of cracked hickories and butternuts, outside of cell pho
Apr 15, 2024 · 49 min
Reclaiming our Cemeteries!
This episode is a callback to an earlier episode on Tomorrow, Today, with Dr. Scott Cave. We chat about cemeteries, their unique place as third spaces, how they can be sources of community and radical ecology work, and more! This is one of my favorites so if you didn't listen before, listen now! Check out Citizens Cemetery (now Citizen Botany) on Instagram at @CtznBotany To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at https://www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For PPA Wr
Apr 8, 2024 · 40 min
Agroecology in Rojava
In this episode, we’re joined by Berivan & Anya from Defend Rojava. Berivan Omar is a Kurdish feminist activist and social ecologist who lives in Northeast Syria, and Anya Rebrii is an activist and author who is involved with the Emergency Committee for Rojava. They will be authoring a chapter in a book next year with AK Press titled “Rojava in Focus: Critical Dialogues” highlighting the successes and struggles the region has face since its autonomy. We chat about the role agroecology has play
Mar 31, 2024 · 1 hr 10 min
Russell Lord, J. Edgar Hoover & the Permanent Agriculture Movement
Part 2 of the Russell Lord story. Before Murray Bookchin, another man paired ecological health with societal health, Russell Lord. In this episode, we dive into Lord's early years and his exposure to sustainable agriculture. Heavily influenced by Liberty Hyde Bailey, Lord worked as a journalist and extension program educator to advocate for the needs of farmers across the country in the early 20th century. During this time, he made a number of crucial connections which would later catapult him t
Mar 24, 2024 · 50 min
Russell Lord: Ecological Problems Are Agricultural Problems
Before Murray Bookchin, another man paired ecological health with societal health, Russell Lord. In this episode, we dive into Lord's early years and his exposure to sustainable agriculture. Heavily influenced by Liberty Hyde Bailey, Lord worked as a journalist and extension program educator to advocate for the needs of farmers across the country in the early 20th century. During this time, he made a number of crucial connections which would later catapult him to becoming a forgotten but incredi
Mar 17, 2024 · 52 min
The Fall of the Permanent Agriculture Movement
In 1946, Paul Sears took the stage at the “Food & the Future” Conference to deliver a new vision of agriculture from a global, ecological perspective. In this speech, on the heels of World War 2, he credited Darwin & Kropotkin for providing a biological framework for the ethics humanity needed in order to make sense of what seemed like an unravelling world. Sears told his audience that “Our responsibility now has two facets—we are custodians of ourselves and our environment as well. We did not m
Mar 11, 2024 · 1 hr 4 min
The Permanent Agriculture Movement & FDR
Did you know that one time the United States almost accidentally stopped climate change and became a leading global force in defense of ecology? A unique confluence of events came together and presented an opportunity for the United States to protect itself and concurrently its soils as well. In the 1930s, the permanent agriculture movement gained an advocate in the White House in the name Franklin D Roosevelt. It allowed some of the most radical policies to unfold in American agricultural histo
Mar 4, 2024 · 39 min
The Birth of the Permanent Agriculture Movement
Did you know that one time the United States almost accidentally stopped climate change and became a leading global force in defense of ecology? A unique confluence of events came together and presented an opportunity for the United States to protect itself and concurrently its soils as well. We talk about the lead-up to this movement under the FDR administration and the players involved in the development of the resources for this unique opportunity. To read about this unique period in histor
Feb 26, 2024 · 53 min
John Hershey: The TVA & the Downingtown Food Forest
John Hershey and in particular the Downingtown Food Forest are pointed to as examples of what the tree crop and permanent agriculture movement can create, given the opportunity. That said, very little about John Hershey the man has been written or compiled, despite ample writing and close relationship with folks like J. Russell Smith. In this episode, we dive into John Hershey's story and contextualize his lasting legacy: the Downingtown Forest and the tree crops that are tied to this landscape.
Feb 19, 2024 · 44 min
J. Russell Smith-- the Tree Crops Visionary
J. Russell Smith might be the most well-known figure in history in regards to tree crops in North America— largely because of his book “Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture”, which has been a foundational text for many people in permaculture and agroecological spaces. While this book is worthwhile for any novice and experienced horticulturalist to read, his work expands much further than this one book. In fact, his successes and imprint on industries for generations were so expansive, often worki
Feb 12, 2024 · 49 min
J. Russell Smith-- Tree Crops and Geography
J. Russell Smith might be the most well-known figure in history in regards to tree crops in North America— largely because of his book “Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture”, which has been a foundational text for many people in permaculture and agroecological spaces. While this book is worthwhile for any novice and experienced horticulturalist to read, his work expands much further than this one book. In fact, his successes and imprint on industries for generations were so expansive, often worki
Feb 5, 2024 · 52 min
Liberty Hyde Bailey-The World in the Palm of his Hand
In this episode, we dive into the second half of the life of a botanist that should be known by everyone listening to this podcast-- Liberty Hyde Bailey. Liberty Hyde Bailey is likely a name many folks are familiar with, but the depth of knowledge of his significance remains fairly thin. A cursory search online highlights various facets of his career— his work in pomology, his defense of rural living and communities, and his importance in the re-discovery of Mendel’s work on recessive traits. Wh
Jan 29, 2024 · 59 min
Liberty Hyde Bailey- A Portrait of a Young Botanist
In this episode, we dive into the history of a botanist that should be known by everyone listening to this podcast-- Liberty Hyde Bailey. Liberty Hyde Bailey is likely a name many folks are familiar with, but the depth of knowledge of his significance remains fairly thin. A cursory search online highlights various facets of his career— his work in pomology, his defense of rural living and communities, and his importance in the re-discovery of Mendel’s work on recessive traits. While all of these
Jan 22, 2024 · 50 min
The Birth of Soil Science; Franklin Hiram King
When we talk about the major figures in agricultural development, our focus tends to be on researchers in the 20th and 21st centuries. Before that, soil science to that point had existed as it needed to; fundamentals of crop rotation manure, compost, and the basic tools known in agriculture for thousands of years stood as a framework for how farmers related to the soil beneath them. One of the earliest contributors to the development of soil science as a science beyond these basics outlined prio
Jan 15, 2024 · 59 min
New Food Histories with Hank Shaw
Renowned forager and chef Hank Shaw joins us to discuss foodways, invasives, the impacts of culture on our cuisine, and how we can change the narrative around local foods. We spend some time talking about how pollution and abundance can influence how we perceive different food choices and what we can do to build better, locally-driven food systems. Hank Shaw is an American chef, author, and outdoorsman who runs the wild foods website Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. He is the author of five books Hu

The Poor Prole’s Almanac

The Back to the Land movement

From Howard to Rodale: the Organics movement

The Birth of the Biodynamics Movement

Scott Nearing: Revolutionary Homesteading

The Odum Brothers and a New Permanent Agriculture

Reflections on 60 Years of Tree Crops with Robert Seip

Reclaiming our Cemeteries!

Agroecology in Rojava

Russell Lord, J. Edgar Hoover & the Permanent Agriculture Movement

Russell Lord: Ecological Problems Are Agricultural Problems

The Fall of the Permanent Agriculture Movement

The Permanent Agriculture Movement & FDR

The Birth of the Permanent Agriculture Movement

John Hershey: The TVA & the Downingtown Food Forest

J. Russell Smith-- the Tree Crops Visionary

J. Russell Smith-- Tree Crops and Geography

Liberty Hyde Bailey-The World in the Palm of his Hand

Liberty Hyde Bailey- A Portrait of a Young Botanist

The Birth of Soil Science; Franklin Hiram King

New Food Histories with Hank Shaw