Kevin Dunn discusses Belfast punk, The Troubles in Northern Ireland, and Stiff Little Fingers' groundbreaking debut Inflammable Material, the focus of his new book in the 33 1/3 series.

Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material explores the band's complicated and controversial relationship with the Belfast punk scene, a scene that actively defied violent social divisions to create important non-sectarian spaces through which an “Alternative Ulster” was imagined and put into practice.

Kevin Dunn is Professor in the International Relations Department at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, USA. He is author of Global Punk: Resistance and Rebellion in Everyday Life (Bloomsbury 2016), Inside African Politics (with Pierre Englebert; 2013, 2020, and 2026), as well as the award-winning novel Vicious is My Middle Name (2022). Active in DIY punk scenes since the 1980s, he continues to perform in several bands, runs an independent record label, publishes various zines, and is a regular contributor to the influential DIY punk zine Razorcake.

Bill Kopp is an Asheville-based music journalist, speaker and author of three books. Reinventing Pink Floyd – From Syd Barrett to The Dark Side of the Moon was published in 2017. Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave was published in 2021. His latest, 2005’s What’s the Big Idea – 30 Great Concept Albums is based on interviews with groundbreaking artists including Pete Townshend and Bob Mould.

Content Warning: This event may include discussion of violence.