Blogging 2022 : A Summary

See also : Blogging 2021 : A Summary.

January (3)

Since launching Yeah Nah Pasaran! (a weekly anti-fascist radio show and podcast on 3CR) at the beginning of 2020, most blogposts are now dedicated to promoting episodes — and 2022 was no exception. Hence in January, we relaunched by interviewing former prisoner and rights’ activist Jock Palfreeman and then Haley McEwan. However, I also wrote a little about the boycott of the Sydney Festival and in particular drew attention to the decision by Amyl and The Sniffers not to join it. This did not go down well with fans, especially on Facebook, but in the end did the band no real harm, and since then The Sniffers have gone from strength to strength.

February (6)

In February we interviewed Amanda E Rogers, Bjørn Ihler, Sara Aniano and Amanda Moore. I also updated Trot Guide and republished the speech by Vladimir Putin announcing a Very Special Military Operation in Ukraine.

March (7)

YNP! in March featured Richard McNeil-Willson, Cat Tebaldi, Kelly Weill and Andre Oboler. March also saw ‘Australia First Party’ troll Nathan Sykes plead guilty to making repeated and explicit violent threats against a Melbourne journalist and some other trolls and alleged terrorists gained some media and police attention. In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some voices were raised in opposition and, finally, Shane Warne’s Freedom to hang a picture of Adolf Hitler in every United Australian classroom Party was canvassed.

April (7)

#110 of YNP! was an interview with Stephanie Alice Baker, #111 with Mark Bray, #112 with Andy Campbell and #113 with Anke Richter. I also wrote about Nathan Sykes, The Naughty Neo-Nazi : Do Not Go To Jail, Do 150 Hours of Community Service, Todd Sampson’s brief televisual flirtation with some notorious local neo-Nazis and Far left candidates at the 2022 Australian federal election.

May (4)

Four lousy posts about four (or five) episodes of YNP!, starring Jason Wilson, Hampton Stall, a conversation about the 2022 Australian federal election (among ourselves and then with Cameron Wilson) and finally a yarn — hallelujah! — with Elle Hardy.

June (6)

Jordan McSwiney, Robert Horvath and Heron Greenesmith were guests on YNP! in June (during which we also promoted 3CR’s annual radiothon), I republished Andrew Giles-Peters’ essay Karl Korsch: A Marxist Friend Of Anarchism for some reason and also published some antifa notes.

July (3)

Three posts on three episodes of YNP! with Katherine Stewart, Gerard Gill and Brooke Binkowski.

August (6)

In August we spoke to Jesse Daniels, Priyamvada Gopal, Beatriz Buarque, Tom Tanuki and Lydia Khalil. Some nazis also attended The Irish Times Pub in Melbourne, from which they obtained both fun and profit.

September (6)

In September we spoke to Terri E Givens, Samantha Kutner, Joe Mulhall and Raja of The Humanism Project. I also promoted a benefit gig organised in response to the neo-Nazi incident at The Irish Times in August and recounted how Perth-based neo-Nazi e-celeb Dennis Huts (whom you may remember from such failed projects as the ‘United Patriots Front’) tried, succeeded, but then ultimately failed to have my Facebook page permanently expunged from that august platform.

October (7)

Our guests in October were David Broder, Jason Wilson, Gregor Wakounig and Anna A Meier. YNP! also won a Bonus! Community Broadcasting Association of Australia Awards for Best Radio Program — Talks, neo-Nazis in Melbourne and Ustaše fanboys in Sydney were kept busy making heartfelt salutes at the football and intimidating children and yoof at picnics, while I also took some anarchist notes at the end of the month.

November (5)

In November, Cam spoke to Dylan Reeve on Make Believe, Steph Reist on Post-Bolsonaro Brazil and to Sarah Riccardi-Swartz on ROCOR & Appalachia while I managed to join him for a discussion with Meghan Tinsley on War & Memory (#142) and April Anson on Ecofascism (#143). The month also saw a gathering at a local social centre, I joined Mastodon and briefly examined some of the candidates at the 2022 Victorian state election.

December (6)

Finally, there were just a handful more shows in December (with Alex Newhouse and Ryan Broderick) while Proud Boys paraded in St Kilda (posing the question ‘Are the Proud Boys left wing feminists?’), neo-Nazis were welcomed to a boxing gym in West Sunshine, and I made some final antifa notes for the year.

In addition to 66 blogposts I also made a little over 70 posts on Patreon this year (mostly extensions of material already featured here with some featuring slightly lengthier discussions and/or digressions into wider territory), many hundreds (?) of posts (mostly links) on Facebook, and thousands of tweets — about all and sundry. Otherwise, apart from a few comments here and there, I did very little other writing of any note, and the year as a whole was unproductive. Still, I made a start on a few bits and pieces and, with sufficient enthusiasm, may even complete them next year, who knows …

More generally, 2022 witnessed the further decline of the anti-lockdown/pro-freedumb movement, with fewer and smaller public rallies and a desultory performance at the ballot box in opposition to Dictator Dan’s cruel regime, now set to be extended by another four years. I may post a few more reflections on 2022, here or elsewhere, in the near future.

See also : While Trump Floundered in 2022, His Far Right Acolytes Built a Movement, Spencer Sunshine, Truthout, December 28, 2022.