You could call me a professional cooperative agitator. I am a writer, researcher, and content creator for projects related to cooperative economics, law, policy, and culture. I've written some stuff, produce and co-host podcasts, done some farming and legal work for sustainable farmers, coached debate educationally, and helped with political campaigns and issue-based activism.

My partner and I live at (and helped found) Solidarity Collective, a commune on three acres in Laramie, Wyoming. Solidarity Collective is a feminist, anti-capitalist, income-and resource-sharing intentional community. I have three kids under 18. Our community is pro-LGBTTQQIAAP, pluralistically socialist-anarchist, and committed to open, non-hierarchical human relationships, and so am I.

If I'm visiting your city, it's probably to do research and interviews with worker cooperatives, sustainable farmers, labor and other left activists, and also to take in some local music (of any genre) and hang out with people. I love having a good time and hearing your life stories. I'm always open to new experiences and points of view, but I hope my path is always towards love and solidarity.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am interested in all the ways that people can radically share--and that includes sharing space. So I am happy to host you, and grateful if you can host me.

Interests

• theater
• contemporary art
• music
• law
• science fiction
• museums
• socialism
• community
• antiquity
• cooperatives
• spicy foods
• experimental art
• brecht
• anticapitalism
• experimental film

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: My band list is constantly changing. Here's what's on it now: Janelle Monet, Mountain Goats, Propagandhi, Jeffrey Lewis, Tune-Yards, Titus Andronicus, Goat Girl, Tennis, Parquet Courts, Stars, Billy Bragg, Sufjan Stevens, Sturgill Simpson, The Coup, Birds of Chicago, the Weakerthans, Olivia Tremor Control, Al Riggs, Kaia Kater, more.

Movies: Some favorites: Primer, Secretary, Get Out, Matewan, Sorry to Bother You, League of Their Own, Last Temptation of Christ, Reds, Salt of the Earth, Jesus of Montreal, Hereditary, Dogville, Rogue One, Re-Animator, Brazil, Blade Runner, more.

Some books: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Saint Joan of the Stockyards by Bertolt Brecht, Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (reprint of the original _Strand_ magazine serials with illustrations by Sidney Paget), Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon, How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn Against Capitalism by David Schweickart, Alexander of Macedon: A Historical Biography by Peter Green, Cleopatra: A Study in Politics and Propaganda by Hans Volkmann, Cosmos by Carl Sagan, Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg, The Ethics of Ambiguity by Simone DeBeauvoir, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston, many many more.

I mainly read short sci-fi stories from the Analog and Asimov mags.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In 2009 I helped teach debate to 100 college students at a university workshop in occupied Iraq, in a beautiful city in Kurdistan called Duhok. The students and faculty all risked a lot to get to Duhok for a week, and it was one of the most profoundly rewarding experiences of my life.

What I Can Share with Hosts

music, stories, love and solidarity, a listening ear, a willingness to try new experiences, and I am not at all judgmental. I also have some cooking skills; my breakfasts are particularly notable.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, France, Germany, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Russian Federation, South Korea

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States