Today we’re joined by Bill Fletcher Jr. Over 2 years ago, this longtime USA-based labor and social justice activist was on TFTT to talk about the threats of what was then a theoretical disaster: a second Trump administration. I’m sorry to say that our predictions came true, and I don’t think I have to tell any of you how disastrous the 2nd Trump admin has been, even by the low standards of the first iteration. This is why I wanted to have Bill on again, partly to reflect on these past 2 years of Trump 2, its impact on both the US and the world, but also, along the way, what we have learned on how to prepare ourselves against the ongoing dangers of authoritarianism and fascism. Bill also put his organiser’s hat on to tell us how to better organise our side in order to take on our opponents.
Book Recs:
- Russia’s New Imperialism: Capital and Ideology by Ilya Budraitskis and Ilya Matveev
- Neither Settler nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities by Mahmood Mamdani
- The Years Of Rice And Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
Film Recs:
- Exterminate All the Brutes
- Blade Runner (both)
- Series: Strategist Kanbei
Bill’s novels:
Elia’s Links
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Masterclass on Modern Lebanon: Registration is now open for November 2026.
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The Fire These Times
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Social Media: TFTT is on Bluesky and Instagram.
Transcription: You can help Antidote Zine transcribe TFTT episodes here.
Recent Articles
- ShadoMag: How Belfast came together after the pogrom
- 972Mag: Lebanon walks into Israel’s trap
Recent Interviews
- It Could Happen Here: The Media Context for the Belfast Pogrom
- It Could Happen Here: Israel’s Attack on Lebanon
- Crimethinc: “History Is Repeating Itself”
- The Final Straw podcast: The US-Israeli War with Iran Spreads, Nuclear Weapons, Lebanon and Anti-Imperial Solidarity
- The Dugout podcast: Honoring Political Ghosts
- The Breakup Theory podcast: Episode 31 – Iran and the US-Israeli Death Drive Economy
Highlighted Hauntologies articles
- Report from Belfast. Day 1. (July 2026)
- The Lie I Tell Myself When Covering Israel (April 2026)
- Israel’s Lebanese Ghosts (March 2026)
- This moment (January 2025)
- Iranian protesters don’t owe us an explanation (February 2026)
- How Hezbollah lost everything (January 2026)
- Notes on Assadism, Zionism, Fascism and Hope (August 2025)
From The Periphery
TFTT is a proud member of From The Periphery Media Collective. Check out other projects: Politically Depressed | Syria: The Inconvenient Revolution | From The Periphery Podcast | The Mutual Aid Podcast
Credits:
Elia Ayoub (host, sound editor, episode design), israa’ (host), the rosa artist (TFTT theme design, 2026-), Rap and Revenge (Music), Wenyi Geng (TFTT theme design), Hisham Rifai (FTP theme design), Molly Crabapple (FTP team profile pics) and Antidote Zine (Transcriptions).
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