Antifascist courage is a choreography of mutual aid, preparation, and care. In this episode I talk with scholar-organizer and retired Muay Thai fighter Ben Case, author of Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence (2022), about how “physical courage” develops across a spectrum of practices — from speaking up for a co-worker and signing a union card to holding a picket line and putting your body between ICE and your neighbor.

We dig into the realities of “big” vs. “little” violence, the strategic and moral limits of “respectable” protest narratives, and why bodies, training, and solidarity matter when the state blurs dissent with “disorder.” Ben lays out how fight-sport training can normalize adrenaline, prevent panic, and sharpen on-the-spot judgment; why movements we label “nonviolent” often include non-armed force; and how a range of tactics actually functions together on the ground. We also revisit the 2017 Richard Spencer punch as a case study in consequence, deterrence, and dignity — and what it does (and doesn’t) tell us about backlash and movement strategy.

Ben Case is an antifascist organizer and researcher whose work interrogates how punditry and policy launder certain protest tactics as “legible” while criminalizing others. He’s a retired pro Muay Thai fighter, a coach/official, and the author of Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence. His scholarship and fieldwork examine how non-armed force (property damage, de-arrests, sabotage) gets mislabeled or erased — with real consequences for movements and public understanding.

Part 2 now on Patreon: the second half of my conversation with Ben — plus a segment on the Graham Platner morality play (PTSD, internet alienation, a Nazi tattoo, accountability, and the anxieties of masculinity). Will remain paywalled for 2–3 weeks. Join at @antifascistdadpodcast to hear it now.

Subscribe on YouTube at @antifascistdad for weekly mini-essays and the Basics series; the first Basics installment is now public.

Join the Patreon for Part 2s, early access, and paywalled bonus briefs.

TikTok and YouTube @antifascistdad.

Pre-order the book that this project supports — Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (North Atlantic Books) — pub date April 26, 2026.

Brief: Beyond Violence and Nonviolence (Part 1) w/ Ben Case

Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence

Magic Numbers Are No Shortcut to Strategy (New article from Ben Case)

Venezuela Military Personnel

'Violent protest is not protected,' Biden says of college campus unrest - ABC News

The Success of Nonviolent Civil Resistance | ICNC

Hegset...

• (00:00:00) - Anti-Fascism Dad: Ben Case
• (00:02:53) - Fascist Squish and Antifascist News of the Week
• (00:12:45) - Ben Case on Non-Violence
• (00:19:00) - What Does It Mean to Be Physically Brave?
• (00:22:30) - Physical Training for Protestors
• (00:27:32) - Warm Hand Lock
• (00:29:46) - On The Perfect Protest
• (00:34:37) - The Difference Between Little Violence and Big Violence
• (00:39:52) - Black Bloc Protester Punch Richard Spencer in the Face
• (00:47:01) - Punishing Richard Spencer: Should You Be Punished?
• (00:49:46) - Fascist Dad of the Week

Part 2 with Sara Rasik opens with my reflections on Part 1 (how UofT organizers timed the encampment to convocation, why student testimony was patronized as a “mental-health” issue) and on how movement memory travels from 1980s anti-apartheid organizing to Gen Z. Then Sara and I work through the hard stuff: “students should be studying,” “supporting terrorism,” safety claims, the meaning of “from the river to the sea,” movement discipline, gatekeeping and rules, and what was built even after tents came down. We end on globalize the intifada as a transnational language forliberation—and a closing story about the Macklemore “Hind’s Hall” moment with my kids.

Guest
Sara Rasikh — organizer/spokesperson, UofT Occupy for Palestine; PhD student (UofT).

• Follow: YouTube/TikTok @antifascistdad
• Pre-order the book Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (North Atlantic Books, Apr 2026): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/

Content notes
State violence, encampments, doxxing, police, genocide/famine, antisemitism/anti-Palestinian racism (discussion), explicit lyric quoted (“FTP”) in Macklemore section.

References

• UofT encampment—injunction & dismantling (July 2–3, 2024): University’s official notice and Reuters same-day coverage confirm the court order to clear by 6:00 p.m., July 3 and the camp’s removal. Office of the President

• Campus encampment wave scale (May 2024): AP reported rapid spread across Europe and the U.S.; The Chronicle’s tracker packages recap scope and arrests through 2024–25. AP News

• Greta Thunberg—deportation & Athens remarks (Oct 6, 2025): On-the-ground AP and Reuters pieces (plus AP video) document the deportations and her statement at Athens airport. AP News

• Hannibal Directive on Oct 7, 2023: Haaretz investigation (with summary reporting by Al Jazeera) details the order’s use on Oct 7.

• (00:00:08) - Interview
• (00:01:46) - Anti-Israel protesters at U of T
• (00:08:10) - Issues of movement discipline
• (00:15:26) - To Globalize the Intifada
• (00:18:25) - What Would You Say to a 14-Year-Old Student?
• (00:19:42) - Macklemore's 'Thank You' For Supporting Palestine

Mark Bray, historian of antifascism is now in exile, thanks to the backlash over Charlie Kirk’s murder and the Trump administration's accelerating attempts to label antifascists as terrorists. Bray, his partner and their two young children fled the US after the local Turning Point USA chapter posted a petition to have him fired from Rutgers, where he teaches. Altogether, these attacks prompted a flood of death threats.

But no one can exile the work. Mark joins me to ground antifascism in history, movement strategy, and parenting. We unpack how education becomes propaganda when sourcing and truth-testing are abandoned; and how movements need a diversity of rhetoric—from accessible to militant.

Also: navigating slogans like Abolish ICE, ACAB, and Globalize the Intifada, and the Glastonbury “Death to the IDF” chant. We compare liberal/centrist antifascism with mass, working-class antifascism, and manage to end on hope: making space for young people’s bold experiments even when veteran organizers feel the weight of years.

Also: news from the Portland Frog detachment!

The full second half—movement discipline, courts vs. power, deeper dive on slogans, and my reflection on Mark’s “technique vs. content” distinction—is live now for supporters: https://www.patreon.com/cw/AntifascistDadPodcast.

Pre-order the book that powers this podcast: Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times (pub date April 26, 2026)
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/807656/antifascist-dad-by-matthew-remski/

Bray, Mark. Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House Publishing, 2017.

Bray, Mark, and Robert H. Haworth, eds. Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader. Translated by Mark Bray and Joseph McCabe. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2019

Meet the Portland protest frog that started a movement - YouTube

‘I’ve definitely had spicier tamales,’ says Portland ICE protest frog that got pepper sprayed by federal agents - oregonlive.com

ICE Agents Shoot Pepper Spray into Protester's Frog Costume Air Vent

Antifa expert at Rutgers University flees US amid death threats

He Wrote a Book About Antifa. Death Threats Are Driving Him Out of the US | WIRED

Antifa expert at Rutgers University says he is moving to Spain because of death threats

• (00:00:00) - How many Turning Point USA members does it take to send a historian
• (00:00:27) - Anti-Fascist Dad Podcast: Mark Bray in Exile
• (00:06:51) - Fascist Squish
• (00:13:10) - Antifa vs Anti-Fascists: Part 2
• (00:18:12) - Mark Bray: Anti-Fascist Dad
• (00:20:40) - In the Elevator With Anti-Fascists
• (00:23:11) - Making Anti-Fascism Legible to Young People
• (00:27:49) - What Are the Early Messages Students Get About Fascism?
• (00:38:59) - Fooled by Fascism: Seth Todd