Best of 2025: Sick Sad World w/ Vicky Osterweil

Death Panel

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4.8 • 588 Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2025

⏱️ 115 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As this year comes to a close, we’re releasing a Best of 2025 series—by no means objective, and making plenty of tough decisions to leave a few favorites out. Each of these will also be posted in the public feed. We’ll be back early in the new year with new episodes. This episode was originally released April 28th for Death Panel patrons. To support the show and help make episodes like this one possible, become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod Original description: Beatrice speaks with Vicky Osterweil about some of the major events that happened during our parental leave—from Trump’s kidnapping of protesters for political speech to the proposed autism registry—and what the first months of Trump’s second term tell us about the administration’s particular approach to fascism. Find Vicky's pieces "On Rubicons Crossed" and "Fascism Minus Kampf" at CAW Journal: https://www.cawshinythings.com/ Find Vicky's book, In Defense of Looting, here: https://bookshop.org/a/118130/9781645036692 Show links: We're testing out a new Bookshop.org page (still under construction), where you can find books by past guests and book recommendations from the hosts. Find it here: bookshop.org/shop/deathpanel Get Health Communism here: bookshop.org/a/118130/9781839765179 Find Tracy's book Abolish Rent here: bookshop.org/a/118130/9798888902523 Find Jules' latest book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny, here: bookshop.org/a/118130/9781804291603 Outro by Time Wharp: timewharp.bandcamp.com/track/tezeta

Transcript

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0:00.0	anything could happen and a lot of it's really, really bad.
0:04.8	But anything could happen.
0:07.2	We are in a period of extreme possibility.
0:10.4	They have had their shot and they have proven to be extremely unstrategic,
0:17.1	extremely slapdash, extremely over-aggressive.
0:21.3	They overestimate their forces and underestimate powers. Welcome to the Deaf panel.
0:51.4	Patrons, thank you.
0:52.8	Your support truly makes this show possible, and we couldn't do any of this without you. And to help us out some more, post about your favorite episodes, pick up copies of health communism, a short history of trans misogyny, and abolish rent at your local bookstore, or request them at your local library, hold reading or discussion groups, share the show with someone who needs to hear it, and of course, you can also follow us at Death Panel underscore. I'm Beatrice Sander Bolton, and today I'm joined by returning guest and dear friend of the panel, Vicki Osterwile, who has graciously agreed to help me discuss some of what has happened while we were out on parental leave. Vicky is a brilliant author, worker, and agitator.
1:29.4	She's the author of the 2020 book, In Defense of Looting, a riotous history of uncivil action.
1:34.7	She writes about revolt, history, culture, anarchy, and technology as a founding member of
1:39.2	Ka, a worker-owned anarchist journal of Arts and Culture.
1:42.7	Her new book called The Extended Universe, How Disney Killed the Movies and Took Over the World, is forthcoming from Haymarket in spring of 2026. Vicky, welcome back to the death panel. As always, it's a true honor and pleasure to get the chance to have you on the show. Oh my God. I was going to say how honored I am to be here for these two months slash two decades of
2:01.9	U.S. history to discuss.
2:03.3	So thank you so much for having me back.
2:04.8	And congratulations again on Baby Death Panel.
2:07.7	I can't wait to meet the little guy.
2:09.6	I'm so glad you're here.
2:11.0	We've been calling this one the fascism check-in.
2:14.0	And honestly, it feels like there's more than enough to warrant that title as like a kind
2:18.8	of multi-part conversation at this point. Since we've been out on parental leave, a wave of
2:24.4	stories have piled up each more, you know, disturbing than the last ICE kidnapping protesters,
2:29.8	the FBI arresting not just organizers, but judges, a proposed autism disease registry, new disability
	...

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