shado-lite

What happens when riders refuse to pay, and do it together? In this episode, we explore the fare strike as a bold social justice tactic, where collective refusal to pay transit fares, or drivers' refusal to collect them, becomes a tool to demand more equitable public services. From Chile to Japan, fare strikes have been used to demand better public transport, job protection and wage increases - but does it always work? Can we just stop paying for the bus to protest privatisation? Or does it require a deeper, more strategic approach.

This week, Zoe and Larissa are in conversation with community organiser, youth worker and educator, Sara Bafo. This episode draws on her extensive experience to consider how we can use the media, the limitations of mainstream channels, and how we build alternatives. They also discuss how to take these decisions collectively with accountability to those we organise alongside.N.B. this episode was recorded on Thursday 3rd July 2025 so all views expressed are from that date.

This week, Zoe and Larissa throw it all the way back to the medieval period to explore the history of the commons and the violent enclosures that helped birth capitalism. What can this forgotten legacy teach us about reclaiming shared resources and reimagining collective power? By revisiting the commons, the duo digs into how past struggles over land and labor can illuminate the tactics social movements need today - from resisting privatisation to building new forms of solidarity and mutual aid. Tune in for a rich conversation on reclaiming what was once shared - and what could be again.

Serbia's students have sparked the country's largest mass mobilisation in the country's history - and they're not stopping at protests. Zoe and Larissa are joined by Kata from Extinction Rebellion Serbia to break down how radical solidarity between students and workers turned campus anger into nationwide power. From occupied universities to decentralised rural organising, this revolution is writing the figuring out a way of organising that genuinely builds alternative systems while tearing down the old ones.

Zoe and Larissa are back with Season 3 of Shado-Lite. This season we are focusing on organising tactics from across the world and history that actually work.First up: the classic protest march. With fascism rising, military-industrial-complex raging, and borders hardening, are we still marching toward change or just marching in place? Time to get strategic about resistance. Let us know your thoughts by DMing us @shado.mag on instagram.

Are you interested in learning more about the role of art and cultural production in resistance? Listen to this episode to find out about a book that is for you.In another guest episode with the inimitable Isabella Kajiwara, we are discussing ‘I, Rigoberta Menchú’, the autobiographical account of Rigoberta Menchú, a Mayan Indigenous K’iche woman. Rigoberta tells the story of her community’s resistance to the Guatemala government in the 1970s and their army-led repression of revolutionary movements. Rigoberta describes the violence and brutality faced by Indigenous Guatemalans during this repression.‘I, Rigoberta Menchú’ is an account that she calls the testimony of her people and this legacy has continued to inspire indigenous peoples in struggle throughout Central America.This is the final book of the last bookshelf series ‘Literature for Liberation’ which has traversed revolutionary autobiographies, exploring the role of storytelling in political education and movement ecosystems. In this episode, we discuss the threads of shared experience between these accounts – in repression, resistance, community building and worldmaking. From these stories, we learn lessons about how to build the future we are dreaming of.

In our previous episode, we spoke about the importance of supporting political prisoners, but how do we better understand their experiences? The Trinity of Fundamentals by former Palestinian political prisoner, Wisam Rafeedie, is a semi-autobiographical account of his nine years in hiding from the occupation, penned from an Israeli prison.We often hear that each of us has a part to play in the revolution and this book is testament to that. This book is not only revolutionary in content but in how it came to exist through comradeship in the Palestinian resistance, too. In this episode, shado’s Isabella Kajiwara returns as a guest to the pod and talks about the incredible story behind that brought this book into being, and the lessons we can learn from it.Tune in for this expansive discussion about how we might apply those lessons, and use the book as a tool in our organising — including a reflection on what it means to critically engage with the shortcomings of revolutionaries.

What does it really mean to live a revolutionary life? Assata Shakur’s autobiography offers deeply personal – and candid – reflections on struggle, survival, and liberation. This is why it is such a must-read for organisers across the world.Led by Isabella Kajiwara, the latest bookshelf season – Literature for Liberation – is exploring seminal autobiographies from revolutionaries across various struggles, inviting readers to reflect on the role of storytelling in our collective political education and movement ecosystems.Isabella explains that the aim of the season is not to individualise struggle or put people on pedestals, but to study revolutionary lives as a lens through which to understand the wider struggle they are part of. By understanding how Assata Shakur understood political education, resisted carceral repression, and leaned on kinship throughout her organising, we can learn important lessons about what it means for each of us to live a revolutionary life.

In this episode actress and Quechua storyteller, Nathalie Kelley discusses with contributing SHADO editor Samara Almonte, her journey as an Indigenous storyteller amidst growing-up in diaspora. Nathalie is a graduate of Kiss The Ground's Soil Advocacy program, and on the board of the Fungí Foundation. She is passionate about using her IG platform of 1.6 million followers to highlight the threats against Indigenous communities around the world while elevating Indigenous wisdom and technologies as means of coming back into harmony with our ecosystem. Resources:Vive el QuechuaJulia Watson. Lo—TEK. Design by Radical Indigenism Julia WatsonSisa Quispe (@sisa_quispe) • Instagramnewamauta