Author: Ruby Dee Philippa

Readings and a conversation with author Ruby Dee Philippa, moderated by Ethan Port, bass player for Savage Republic, discussing punk culture and Philippa’s new book, Old Tricks, New Treats. Old Tricks is the third in the Bags of Tricks trilogy of stories about San Francisco punks in the early 1980’s.

Is a punk rock ethos alive in 2025? Where is the passion from that era? How has social media changed what used to be a true DIY way of creating art, passing along information and living in the world?

If it's not your mother's punk, how and where do those values show up today? 

Ruby Dee Philippa grew up in the foothills of Northern CA and the West Texas flatlands, riding horses in the back woods near Folsom Prison, and singing with family on the back porch. She stumbled into life on the streets of San Francisco, enchanted by the insanity of life as a punk in those early days. She later co-founded the North Coast California Earth First! in Arcata, CA and started the roots-rockabilly band Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers.