Kristian Williams

AK Press just listed Between the Bullet and the Lie, a collection of essays I’ve written about Orwell.

As I write in the introduction:

“Roughly the first half of the book is occupied with my efforts to understand various aspects of Orwell’s outlook—his ethics, his patriotism, his emotional life. The second half attempts to apply his thought to a range of political (and to a lesser degree, literary) questions that trouble us today. My aim has not been to treat him as an oracle issuing sacred decrees, but instead to see how his thought can help us to understand the circumstances in which we find ourselves.”

The book will be out in November, but it’s not too early to order a copy.

A few days ago I spoke with Stéphane Doucet on Winnipeg’s CKUW 95.9FM about the history and dangers of community policing. The interview is online here.

Three new reviews, each different from the others:

Most substantively, I wrote about Mark Greif’s essay collection Against Everything for Toward Freedom. “Review” might not be the right term, though, since I really use my reading of Greif’s work to launch a broader exploration of the essay form and the ways that readers come to trust or distrust writers.

Less weighty, more fun: At In These Times, I have a review of the Fox series APB, a show about how policing would be done if Steve Jobs were in charge.

And finally, last year I wrote a review of Queering Anarchism for Perspectives on Anarchist Theory (which I also help to edit). The Institute for Anarchist Studies just posted it on the web site.

This Friday, March 17, the Portland Mennonite Church will be screening “Do Not Resist,” a documentary about the militarization of the police. I will be speaking on a panel after the movie, along with Katherine McDonnell of the ACLU, and Mireaya Medina from the City of Portland’s Community Oversight Advisory Board.

The church is at 1312 SE 35th.
Doors at 5:30; movie at 6; discussion to follow.