Category: Transcribed
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This Cannot Be The New Normal
In this episode of The Fire These Times, Elia and four members of the From The Periphery media collective discuss the Gaza famine, Israel’s genocide, and global complicity, emphasizing resilience and rejection of despair amidst personal connections to the crisis.
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The Rise of End Times Fascism w/ Naomi Klein & Astra Taylor
In episode 200 of The Fire These Times, Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor discuss “the rise of end times fascism” with hosts Dana and Elia, exploring critical themes of power, culture, and democracy.
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The Wars Within the War on Gaza w/ Maram Humaid
In episodes 195 and 196, journalist Maram Humaid discusses the complexities of Israel’s genocide and survival in Gaza with hosts Elia Ayoub and israa’.
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Intent, Holocaust Studies and the Gaza Genocide w/ Amos Goldberg
The episode discusses global migration struggles, featuring activists from various countries addressing root causes, solidarity, and resistance.
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Cracks in the Walls: Global Perspectives on Migration
The episode discusses global migration struggles, featuring activists from various countries addressing root causes, solidarity, and resistance.
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We Are the Children of the Children of War
Elia Ayoub and Lebanese journalist Justin Salhani have one thing in common: their parents lived through the Lebanon wars (1975-1990). Claude Salhani was a well-known photojournalist United Press International and Reuters. The photo featured in this episode shows him in the middle, injured after an Israeli strike on Beirut in 1982. We also talked about…
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Doikayt (‘Hereness’) Now! w/ Molly Crabapple
For episode 189 of The Fire These Times, Elia Ayoub is joined by friend of the pod Molly Crabapple to talk about the Jewish Labor Bund and how their concept of Doikayt (‘Hereness’) can help us build a better world than the hellscape being proposed by techno-dystopianism and end-time fascism. Molly’s upcoming book is called…
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Revolutionary Aid in Sudan w/ Eiad Husham
How did Sudanese revolutionaries organize neighborhood and resistance committees to resist state and non-state violence? What are some of the principles underpinning their worldview? What can we learn from them? For episode 188 of The Fire These Times, Elia Ayoub is joined by Sudanese journalist Eiad Husham to talk about his piece “revolutionary aid in…
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Öcalan’s Statement and the Future of the PKK w/ Dîlan
On February 27, Abdullah Öcalan urged the PKK to cease hostilities against Turkey, advocating for a legal framework to secure Kurdish rights. Dîlan and hosts discuss the implications of this statement for Kurdish communities and the WANA region.
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Making Home in Exile: Stories from the New Syrian Diaspora w/ Wendy Pearlman
For episode 183, Leila and Elia are joined by Wendy Pearlman to discuss her newest book, The Home I Worked to Make: Voices from the New Syrian Diaspora as well as her previous book We Crossed a Bridge and Trembled.
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Our Mirror Worlds w/ Naomi Klein
For episode 182, Elia, Anna, and Dana are joined by author, scholar, and activist Naomi Klein to discuss her most recent book, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, and the myriad connections her analysis of the cultural rise of fascism has to our work at From the Periphery.
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Don’t Despair, We Got This w/ Margaret Killjoy
In episode 181, Elia Ayoub interviews Margaret Killjoy about her newsletter piece during the post-election despair.
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Syria and Palestine’s Intertwined Liberations w/ Banah Ghadbian
In episode 180, Leila Al-Shami and Elia Ayoub discuss Dr. Banah Ghadbian’s article on the Golan Heights and its significance for Palestine and Syria’s liberation, emphasizing their interconnected struggles amid ongoing oppression and resistance narratives.
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Roundtable on Syria
For episode 178, From the Periphery collective members Leila Al-Shami, Elia Ayoub, Karena Avedissian, and Ayman Makarem hosted a roundtable to discuss the latest developments in Syria and to provide a historical and political background to help understand the current moment.
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Mutual Aid in Lebanon Today w/ Serge and Abir
For episode 177, Leila is joined by Serge from Buzuruna Juzuruna, an agro-ecological farm and heirloom seed producer in the Bekka Valley working on food autonomy, and Abir from Hostel Beirut, a worker owned cooperative in the heart of the Lebanese capital committed to social and economic justice for all.
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Beekeeping, Bosnia & in the End Times w/ Larisa Jašarević
In episode 175, hosts Elia Ayoub and Anna discuss Larisa Jašarević’s new book “Beekeeping in the End Times,” exploring themes of bees, climate change, and folk traditions, while emphasizing connection to nature and personal roots in our lives.
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The Holocaust, the Nakba and Reparative Memory
Elia Ayoub and Daniel Voskoboynik discuss the Holocaust, Nakba, and Israeli genocide in Gaza, examining how memory is weaponized. They also explore the parallels between the portrayal of a Nazi family in “The Zone of Interest” and Israeli politics.
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Facing the German Far Right w/ Musa Okwonga
For episode 169, Elia Ayoub is joined by returning guests Sahar Amarir and Rim-Sarah Alouane to talk about the situation in France, from the recent elections that saw a surprising victory for a Left-Green alliance to how Macronism has been actively normalizing the far right. They described the situation as grim, with far right ideology…
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Building Transnational Solidarity w/ Chkoun? Collective
For episode 168, Elia and Leila are joined by the Chkoun? Collective, a collective of people from “North Africa” resisting anti-Black racism and its intersections with migration and the fight for freedom of movement in the region. We discussed their statement “Solidarities are not a given, they need to be built” and how it relates…
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Netanyahu’s Dubaization Plan for Gaza After the Genocide w/ Yasser Elsheshtawy
For episode 167, guest host Justin Salhani is joined by Yasser Elsheshtawy to talk about the Dubaization plan that Netanyahu’s team put forward for Gaza after their genocide. You won’t be surprised to know that we think it’s a terrible plan, but what is dubaization?
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That One Time the Olympics Were Cool w/ James Stout
For episode 165, Elia and Aydın are joined by investigative journalist and anarchist James Stout of the It Could Happen Here podcast to talk about the 1936 anti-fascist Olympics in Barcelona and the fascists who destroyed it. There’s a reason you’ve only heard of the more notorious Berlin one, and we’re gonna get into it here.
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El Salvador’s Gang State w/ Michael Paarlberg
For episode 164, Dana El-Kurd is joined by Michael Paarlbeg, associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, to discuss the intersection between crime and authoritarian politics in Latin America. They particularly focus on the the state of emergency happening today in El Salvador, covering the rise of Nayib Bukele and the political implications…
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Spaces of Exception and the Struggle for Native American and Palestinian Autonomy
For episode 162, host Ayman Makarem is joined by two guests, Malek Rasamny and Matt Peterson, to talk about their 10-year long multi-media project The Native and the Refugee. The three talk about the project, its many manifestations, its focus on settler colonialism as a framework, as well as the current genocidal situation unfolded in…
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The Gaza Genocide Changes Everything
Elia and Ayman talk about Gaza, and why this genocide changes everything.
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Raising a Brown Child in a Time of Genocide w/ Nikesh Shukla
In episode 160, Dana El Kurd, Fabien Goa, and Elia Ayoub are joined by Nikesh Shukla to discuss ‘Brown Baby: A Memoir of Race, Family and Home’. They explore raising brown kids in a world where racialized lives are easily disposable. Support through Patreon and sharing the podcast is encouraged.
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Taking Authoritarianism Seriously w/ Bill Fletcher Jr
In episode 157, Elia Ayoub interviews Bill Fletcher Jr, discussing the dangers of downplaying authoritarianism in US elections and organizing spaces. They cover various global perspectives.
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Obscuristan: Navalny from the Periphery w/ Anna, Karena & Daniel
Sahar Amarir discusses “Imperialist is Multiple, so Should be Our Solidarities” in episode 154 of The Fire These Times podcast.
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The ’82 Israeli Siege of Lebanon: Similarities and Differences with Gaza Today w/ Justin Salhani
Sahar Amarir discusses “Imperialist is Multiple, so Should be Our Solidarities” in episode 154 of The Fire These Times podcast.
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Living Like the World is Dying w/ Margaret Killjoy
In episode 153, Margaret Killjoy joins J. Ayoub and Aydın Yıldız to discuss the meaning of apocalypse and how to avoid despair. They explore building the new within the old and the impact of Margaret’s work.
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Israel and American Jewish Dissent w/ Geoffrey Levin
Geoffrey Levin joins Dana El Kurd on episode 152 to discuss “Our Palestine Question,” providing a timely history of American Jewish involvement with Israel and Palestinian rights.
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Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors w/ Tory Stephens
Elia Ayoub and Daniel Voskoboynik speak with Tory Stephens about Imagine 2200, a climate fiction project, emphasizing hope over dystopia and effective narrative strategies.
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How Azerbaijan is Greenwashing Genocide w/ Karena Avedissian and Anna
In episode 149, Elia interviews Karena Avedissian and Anna from Obscuristan podcast about Azerbaijan hosting COP29 and greenwashing tactics.
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Understanding Seen and Unseen Violence in Israel-Palestine
For episode 148, Dana El Kurd and Elia Ayoub are joined by Diana Greenwald and Alexei Abrahams to talk about seen and unseen violence in Israel-Palestine. They explore the many forms of violence of the Israeli occupation that led to the October 7 massacre and the brutal Israeli response in Gaza. What is kinetic violence?…
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From Capitalist Realism to Solarpunk Realities
In episode 147, Elia discusses with Ariel, Luka, and HydroponicTrash the concept of Solarpunk, its connections to speculative fiction, political action, and creating a better future.
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Palestine and Global Solidarity
In this remastered release, Elia Ayoub is joined by Sumaya Awad and Shireen Akram-Boshar. Awad is a co-editor of the book Palestine: A Socialist Introduction, and Akram-Boshar is a contributor to the same book. Originally released on May 20th 2021, this episode has been remastered and re-released. Many of the topics discussed – including the…
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Organizing In Israel-Palestine After October 7
In episode 146, Elia J. Ayoub and Dana El-Kurd talk to Sally Abed, Orly Noy and Amjad Iraqi. Abed is a member of the national leadership of Standing Together (עומדים ביחד نقف معًا), a grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace, equality, and social and climate justice. Orly Noy…
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Arab Jews for Palestinian Liberation w/ Hadar Cohen and Dahab Kashi
In episode 145, Daniel and Elia host a conversation between two Arab Jewish activists Hadar Cohen and Dahab Kashi, exploring the radical power of Arab Jewish perspectives. Often seen as mutually exclusive identities, the existence and experience of Arab Jews transcends the narrow, and violent, confines of both Zionism and Arab Nationalism. The artist Yossi…
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Understanding Hamas: Anti-Authoritarian Perspectives – Remastered
In light of the genocidal onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza following the October 7th Hamas attack, we’ve decided to re-release an old episode on Hamas, Gaza, and Palestine-Israel. In this episode from June 2021 (episode 83), Elia interviews Tareq Baconi, author of the book “Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance” published in…
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Against the Imperialist Impulse: An Interview w/ Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im
Daniel is joined by renowned Sudanese Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im for a wide-ranging conversation on human rights, spirituality, and inter-cultural justice. Professor An-Na’im is an internationally recognized scholar of Islam and human rights, specifically from cross-cultural perspectives, and teaches courses in international law, comparative law, human rights, and Islamic law. With intensifying human rights violations…
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Special Episode: Roundtable on Israel-Palestine w/ Dana El Kurd, Orly Noy, and Yair Wallach
After the October 7th attacks by Hamas, Israel launched massive bombardment campaigns of the Gaza strip that, at the time of this writing, has killed 7000 people. This is a genocide. In the West Bank, settler violence and army raids have also killed dozens of Palestinians, and Palestinian citizens of Israel as well as leftist…
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Sudan: In Revolution and War
Ayman Makarem is joined by two Sudanese commentators, Raga Makawi and Dallia Abdelmoniem, to talk about the war in Sudan. Both guests talk at length about the situation as well as the political, economic, and revolutionary context it exists within. This intimate discussion explores the many ways Sudanese people are reflecting on and struggling against…
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How the World Failed Nagorno-Karabakh w/ Karena Avedissian & Anna
Elia Ayoub is joined by returning guests Karena Avedissian and Anna to talk about the recent crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh / Artsakh where the near entirety of the ethnic Armenian population was ethnically cleansed by Azerbaijan. The Aliyev dictatorship running Azerbaijan has met no challenges from the so-called international community – quite the contrary. What happened…
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How the EU Criminalizes Solidarity with Migrants w/ Border Violence Monitoring Network
Elia is joined by Anas & Elena from the Border Violence Monitoring Network to talk about the way in which the European Union is criminalizing solidarity with migrants and how the EU has turned the Mediterranean into a giant graveyard for people who look like me. You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/fromtheperiphery with a…
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The Moral Urgency of Degrowth w/ Timothée Parrique & Yusra Bitar
Elia is joined by French economist and researcher Timothée Parrique and Lebanese researcher Yusra Bitar to talk about why tackling our world’s most pressing challenges must include conversations around degrowth. Timothée Parrique is a researcher at the School of Economics and Management of Lund University (Sweden) and is the lead author of “Decoupling debunked –…
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Anti-Imperialism From the Periphery w/ Leila Al Shami, Romeo Kokriatski & Dana El Kurd
Elia Ayoub is joined by Leila Al-Shami, British-Syrian activist and co-author of Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War, Romeo Kokriatski, Ukrainian-American managing editor of The New Voice of Ukraine and co-host of the Ukraine Without Hype podcast, and Dana El Kurd, Palestinian-American assistant professor in the department of political science at the University of…
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Podcast: Remembering the Nakba, Imagining the Future w/ Dana El Kurd
I’m joined again by friend of the pod Dana El Kurd, a Palestinian researcher who specializes in Comparative Politics and International Relations. We talked about Nakba Day (May 15), about the importance of reflecting on the past while also trying to plan for the future, and how we can commemorate the Nakba by building bonds…
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Podcast: Why White Nationalists Love Assad w/ Leila Al-Sami and Shon Meckfessel
In which I sat down with my buds Leila Al-Shami and Shon Meckfessel to talk about how and why a bunch of fascists became fans of everyone’s favorite genocidal mass murdering dictator, Bashar (يلعن روحك يا) Assad, who was recently voted most likely to end up like Mussolini by I-just-made-it-up magazine. Leila, a recurring guest,…
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Podcast: Let’s Talk About Youth Autonomy w/ carla joy bergman
This is a conversation with carla joy bergman, the editor of the excellent book Trust Kids!: Stories on Youth Autonomy and Confronting Adult Supremacy and co-author of the equally excellent book Joyful Militancy: Building Thriving Resistance in Toxic Times, both published by AK Press. She’s also the co-host of the Grounded Futures podcast alongside her…
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Podcast: Commoning in Lebanon’s Palestinian Refugee Camps w/ Yafa El Masri
This is a conversation with Yafa El Masri, a Palestinian refugee researcher who grew up in Burj El Barajneh in Beirut, Lebanon. She’s currently finishing her PhD at the University of Padova in Italy. We primarily spoke about her paper “72 Years of Homemaking in Waiting Zones: Lebanon’s “Permanently Temporary” Palestinian Refugee Camps” which she…
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Podcast: Against Multipolar Imperialism: An Internationalist Response w/ Kavita Krishnan, Promise Li and Romeo Kokriatski
I’m excited to share with you my convo with Kavita Krishnan, Promise Li and Romeo Kokriatski on why the idea of multipolarity needs to be understood & critiqued, and why the left cannot abandon anti-authoritarianism and internationalism. You can find the episode wherever you listen to podcasts. Kavita Krishnan is an Indian Marxist and Feminist…
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Podcast: Solarpunk and Post-Capitalist Desires w/ HydroponicTrash
This is a conversation with hacker, gardener and writer Andre, aka HydroponicTrash. You can also find Andre on Substack at AnarchoSolarpunk. The title is taken from one of Andre’s essays. You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Breaker, Amazon Music, Audible, Stitcher, Radio Public, Pocket Casts, Castro and RSS. Andre’s…
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Podcast: Bosnia, False Histories and Fact-Free Politics w/ Edin Hajdarpašić
This is a conversation with Edin Hajdarpašić, associate professor of history at Loyola University Chicago on Bosnia, False Histories and Politics. He wrote an essay called “What Use Is Fact-Checking Against Fact-Free Politics?” which was the basis for our conversation. The Fire These Times is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Breaker, Amazon…
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Podcast: From Yarmouk to the World: On Syria, Palestine and Lebanon w/ Nidal Betare
Nidal Betare joins Elia Ayoub to talk about growing up in Yarmouk, being Palestinian-Syrian and the links between Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon. The Fire These Times is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Breaker, Amazon Music, Audible, Stitcher, Radio Public, Pocket Casts, Castro and RSS. Support: Patreon.com/fromtheperipherySubstack: thefirethesetimes.substack.com Twitter: twitter.com/fireTheseTimes Instagram: instagram.com/firethesetimes Recommended…
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Podcast: Black Anarchism, Abolition and the Radical Tradition w/ William C. Anderson
This is a conversation with William C. Anderson, author of the book The Nation on No Map (AK Press 2021) and co-author of As Black as Resistance (AK Press 2018). He’s also the co-founder of Offshoot Journal and provides creative direction as a producer of the Black Autonomy Podcast. The Fire These Times is available…
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Podcast: The threads that bind us from Syria to Ukraine
This episode is a multilingual online encounter, part of the Post-Extractive Futures series, co-produced by War on Want, Tipping Point UK, JunteGente, and The Fire These Times project. I was the moderator. The Fire These Times is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Breaker, Amazon Music, Audible, Stitcher, Radio Public, Pocket Casts, Castro…
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99/ Inconvenient Findings and Enduring Hierarchies (With Marie Berry and Milli Lake)
This is a conversation with Marie E. Berry and Milli Lake, co-founders and principal investigators of the Women’s Rights After War Project. We primarily spoke about their article “on inconvenient findings” and their paper for Annual Reviews “women’s rights after war: on gender interventions and enduring hierarchies” Dr. Berry is Associate Professor at the Josef Korbel School…
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Podcast: The Political Economy of Solarpunk (with Andrew Dana Hudson)
This is a conversation with speculative fiction writer and sustainability researcher Andrew Dana Hudson. This is episode 94 of The Fire These Times podcast. His stories have appeared in Slate Future Tense, Lightspeed Magazine, Vice Terraform, MIT Technology Review, Grist, Little Blue Marble, The New Accelerator, StarShipSofa, and more, as well as various books and…
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Podcast: Syrian Prison Literature and the Poetics of Human Rights (with Shareah Taleghani)
This is a conversation with Shareah Taleghani, Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies and Arabic at Queens College at the City University of New York and the author of the book Readings in Syrian Prison Literature: The Poetics of Human Rights published by Syracuse University Press. This is episode 93 of The Fire These Times…
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Podcast: Understanding Hamas: Anti-Authoritarian Perspectives (with Tareq Baconi)
This is a conversation with Tareq Baconi, author of the book “Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance” published in 2018. This is episode 83 of The Fire These Times. You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/fromtheperiphery with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive…
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Special Episode: Palestine and Global Solidarity
This is a special episode with Sumaya Awad and Shireen Akram-Boshar. Sumaya’s the co-editor of the book “Palestine: A Socialist Introduction” which Shireen contributed to. Released May 20th 2021. Topics Discussed: Books Recommended: Shireen: Sumaya: Movies: If you like what I do, please consider supporting this project with only 1$ a month on Patreon or…
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72/ The Inherent Toxicity of France’s ‘Islamo-Leftism’ Obsession (with Rim-Sarah Alouane)
This is a conversation with Rim-Sarah Alouane. She’s a French legal academic, commentator, and PhD candidate in law researching religious freedom, human rights, and civil liberties in France, Europe & North America. We spoke about a recent piece she wrote entitled ‘A Spectre in France’s Public Debate: Islamo-Leftism‘ for Reset Dialogues. Topics Discussed Recommended Books…
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71/ Bearing Witness to What is Lost: Lebanon’s ‘Postwar’ Hauntings (with Ely Dagher)
This is a conversation with Lebanese director Ely Dagher. He is the director of the Palme D’Or-winning Waves ’98 (available below), one of my favorite short films. He also has an upcoming feature film called The Sea Ahead. I highly recommend watching Waves ’98 before listening to the episode. It’s only 15 minutes long 🙂…
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70/ (Post)Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East (With Nader Hashemi & Danny Postel)
This is a conversation with Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel. Hashemi is the Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver and Postel is Assistant Director of the Center for International & Area Studies at Northwestern University. We spoke about their book “Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle…
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69/ The Entrenched “Manliness” of Ethnic Power-sharing Peace Agreements w/ Aida A. Hozić
This is a conversation with Aida A. Hozić. She is an Associate Professor of International Relations and Associate Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida, United States. Her research is situated at the intersection of political economy, cultural studies, and international security. She is the author of Hollyworld: Space, Power…
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66/ Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine (with Dana El Kurd)
Patreon supporters received early access to this. This is a conversation with Dana El Kurd. She is a Palestinian academic who specializes in Comparative Politics and International Relations. Dana works as a researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and as an assistant professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. We…
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64/ In the End, It Was All About Love (with Musa Okwonga)
Welcome to The Fire These Times, the podcast bringing you conversations at the intersection of politics, culture and the environment. I’m your host Elia Ayoub and today we’ll be talking to Musa Okwonga. Musa is a writer, broadcaster, poet, speaker, musician. author, sportswriter, broadcaster and commentator on current affairs. He’s also the first person to…
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59-60/(Anti-)Fascism and the Future of Complex Warfare (with Emmi Bevensee)
This is a two-parts conversation with Emmi Bevensee. They’re a data journalist who utilizes a data storytelling approach to make complexity understandable. We spoke about so many things that I can only write them down as categories. Transcript available below. Part 1, out on January 30th (Patreon supporters) and January 31st (General Public). First section:…
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58/Democracy, Counterrevolution, the Rhetoric of Anti-Imperialism (with Rohini Hensman)
My conversation with Rohini Hensman, India-based Sri Lankan labor activist and feminist and an independent scholar.
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54. What Management Theory Can Learn From Anarchism
This conversation will try and argue that anarchism and management theory can work very well together, outside of a capitalist logic
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52. The Palestinian Left and Its Decline (1982-2007)
I spoke with Francesco Saverio Leopardi of Ca’Foscari University of Venice about his recently released book ‘The Palestinian Left and Its Decline: Loyal Opposition’.
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51. The Case for People-centered Recovery Processes in Beirut
A conversation with Dr Mona Harb on how to rebuild in a way that actually helps.
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47. Evaporated Euphoria: the Current Crises in Lebanon
We spoke about the importance of independent and critical media in Lebanon today and about the aftermath of ‘this brief moment of euphoria that a lot of people experienced during the October 17’ uprising, and particularly since the August 4th explosion in Beirut.
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44. That Cairo Concert, Mental Health and Growing Up Queer in Lebanon (With Hamed Sinno)
a conversation with Hamed Sinno, lead singer of the Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila.
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43/The World’s Most Technologically Sophisticated Genocide is Happening in Xinjiang (with Rayhan Asat & Yonah Diamond)
This is a conversation with Rayhan Asat and Yonah Diamond, authors of the piece “The World’s Most Technologically Sophisticated Genocide Is Happening in Xinjiang.” Asat is an international human rights lawyer and the sister of Ekpar Asat, who was forcibly disappeared by the CCP. Diamond is and international human rights lawyer with the Raoul Wallenberg…
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42. It Sounded Like The World Itself Was Breaking Open
I spoke with Lebanese writer and translator Lina Mounzer about witnessing and experiencing the Beirut explosion on August 4th, 2020. So far there are 157 deaths, 5,000 injuries, US$10–15 billion in property damage and an estimated 300,000 people left homeless. The blast was linked to about 2,750 tonnes (3,030 short tons) of ammonium nitrate –…
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38. My Father and Syria’s Forcibly Disappeared (With Wafa Mustafa)
This is a conversation with Wafa Mustafa, a Berlin-based Syrian journalist. We spoke about her father, Ali Mustafa, who was forcibly disappeared by the Assad regime on July 2nd 2013. Wafa highlights the fact that those who are forcibly disappeared are often depoliticized and coated in ‘humanitarian’ language. We spoke about how she participated in…
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26. The Legacy of Samir Kassir 15 Years On
In-depth conversation with Ziad Majed about Samir Kassir 15 years after his assassination.
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22. Building Mutual Aid in Lebanon
This is a conversation with Ayman Makarem. He’s a Lebanon-based writer and filmmaker who recently wrote essays on mutual aid in Lebanon for The Public Source. One of the themes of The Fire These Times is to promote mutual aid for the 21st century so I was really looking forward to speaking with Ayman about…
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20. On Primo Levi, the Lebanese Revolution and Life in the Midst of History
This is a conversation with Lina Mounzer. She’s a Beirut-based writer and translator who, like me, took part in the October and post-October protests. I wanted to catch up with her to talk about how she started preparing for the worst yet to come very early on. This anticipation – of economic hardship, of violence…
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17. What the Lebanese Should Know About Ethiopia
The conversation around the abusive Kafala system in Lebanon rarely includes the stories of the people who leave their homes to go work in a stranger’s house in another country.
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16. The Second Wave of the Lebanon Protests
Is Lebanon undergoing a second wave of protests? And how do they differ from the October 2019 ones?
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15. The Legacy of Yiddish Bundism
Molly Crabapple and I discuss the legacy of Bundism, the Yiddish Language today and the concept of Doikayt.
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14. Revolution, disenchantment and the Lebanese New Left (with Fadi Bardawil)
What insights does the 1960s Lebanese New Left offer us today?
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12. Independent Media Versus the Lebanese Oligarchy
How does the Lebanese oligarchy work and how can independent media help defeat it?
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08. Lebanon’s October Uprising, Six Months Later
This is a conversation with Lebanese journalist Timour Azhari of Al Jazeera (previously The Daily Star) about the legacy of the October 17 uprising six months since it began. We spoke about the current state of Lebanese politics, the government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis and its impact on the country’s most vulnerable groups as…
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Podcast: Denying Genocide, from Halabja to Ghouta
This is a conversation with Sabrîna Azad, a writer who published a moving piece in which she looked at how deniers of Assad’s war crimes in Syria were evoking painful memories for survivors of Saddam Hussein’s genocidal campaigns against Kurds.
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Hong Kong’s Existential Crisis w/ JP from Lausan Collective
This is a conversation with JP, a Hong Kong activist with Lausan, a left-wing and decolonial group based out of Hong Kong and its diaspora.