A Play with No End

Like Occupy Wall Street, the Gilets Jaunes movement was born of an economic crisis, and has been driven by a desire for systemic change; the media has tarred supporters of both as anti-Semitic and misogynistic. But are the yellow vests’ protests also fated to fizzle out under the weight of their aspirations? In the August issue of Harper’s Magazine, Christopher Ketcham takes issue with such misrepresentations. Ketcham was beat up and teargassed alongside the Gilets Jaunes earlier this year while reporting on the origins and dynamics of the movement. He celebrates the Gilets Jaunes for both their politesse and their purposeful destruction of property. In this episode, Ketcham, author of the new book This Land, talks with web editor Violet Lucca about the cultural gulfs between the American and French traditions of protest, the military-industrial complex’s inordinate contributions to climate change, and Hillary Clinton, the “faithful servant of mammon.” Read Ketcham’s article: https://harpers.org/archive/2019/08/a-play-with-no-end-gilets-jaunes/ This episode was produced by Violet Lucca and Andrew Blevins.