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The Fire These Times: Voices from the Periphery

The Fire These Times: Voices from the Periphery

By The Fire These Times

A podcast project working to uplift internationalist dialogues on human rights, climate change, and visions of bold futures. Our unique editorial team are deeply committed to weaving together radical Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, Jewish, and Armenian perspectives from the periphery. Founded in 2020 by Elia J. Ayoub.

To support, get early access and get exclusive perks: www.patreon.com/firethesetimes
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[Repost]: Wretched of the Earth: Thoughts on Syria, Palestine and Discourse

The Fire These Times: Voices from the PeripheryMay 18, 2021

00:00
01:10:44
Obscuristan: Navalny from the Periphery w/ Anna, Karena & Daniel

Obscuristan: Navalny from the Periphery w/ Anna, Karena & Daniel

In this special collab episode between Obscuristan and The Fire These Times, Karena Avedissian and Anna are joined by Daniel Voskoboynik to discuss the life of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and what his death means for those of us not quite at the heart of the Russian empire. Plus, Anna and Karena announce that they're joining the wider TFTT collective! 


Obscuristan is available wherever you listen to podcasts. About:

Join political scientist Karena and total civilian Anna on a trip to Obscuristan. Each week, Karena and Anna dive into a truly bizarre story from Eurasia in its full political, social, and imperialist context. Join us, and you’ll find out why Obscuristan isn’t so strange at all when you consider the sh*t it’s been through.


The best way to support The Fire These Times is to:

  • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a member of our Patreon at Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠. With a monthly or yearly subscription, you get perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the video and book clubs, merch and more.
  • Leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. This allows us to show up on these platforms in the first place.
  • Tell your friends and enemies about it.


Episode Credits:

  • Hosts: Karena Avedissian and Anna
  • Producer: Anna
  • Guest: Daniel Voskoboynik
  • Music: ⁠Sarven Yapar⁠
  • Sound editor: Anna
  • Episode designer: Elia J. Ayoub
  • Team profile pics: Molly Crabapple
Mar 22, 202401:09:44
Politically Depressed Eps. 9-12
Mar 16, 202401:44:14
155/ The '82 Israeli Siege of Beirut: Similarities and Differences with Gaza Today w/ Justin Salhani

155/ The '82 Israeli Siege of Beirut: Similarities and Differences with Gaza Today w/ Justin Salhani

For episode 155, Ayman sits with Beirut-based journalist and friend of the show, Justin Salhani, to talk about his recent essay for Al-Jazeera. Expanding on the essay, the two talk about parallels between the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and siege of Beirut and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. As two children of survivors of the '82 siege, their conversation moves between political/military analysis and discussions of memory and narratives as tools of agency. 

The best way to support The Fire These Times is to:

  • ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a member of our Patreon at Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠. With a monthly or yearly subscription, you get perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the video and book clubs, merch and more.
  • Leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. This allows us to show up on these platforms in the first place.
  • Tell your friends and enemies about it.

Episode Credits:

  • Hosts: Ayman Makarem
  • Producer: Ayman Makarem
  • Guest: Justin Salhani
  • Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠
  • Sound editor: Ayman Makarem
  • Episode designer: Elia J. Ayoub
  • Team profile pics: Molly Crabapple
  • Original TFTT design: Wenyi Geng
Mar 08, 202401:05:55
154/ Anti-Imperialism After the Syrian Revolution w/ Sahar Amarir

154/ Anti-Imperialism After the Syrian Revolution w/ Sahar Amarir

For episode 154, French-Moroccan-Amazigh analyst Sahar Amarir joins Elia J. Ayoub and Leila Al-Shami to talk about her piece "Imperialist is Multiple, so Should be Our Solidarities: on the Need for Post-Post-Colonialism" published in The Funambulist.

The best way to support The Fire These Times is:

Through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠. With a monthly or yearly donation, you get perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the video and book clubs, merch and more.
Leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. This allows us to show up on these platforms in the first place.
Tell your friends and enemies about it.

Episode Credits:

Hosts: Elia J. Ayoub and Leila Al-Shami
Producer: Elia J. Ayoub
Guest: Margaret Killjoy
Music: ⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠
Sound editor: Artin Salimi
Episode designer: Elia J. Ayoub
Team profile pics: Molly Crabapple
Original TFTT design: Wenyi Geng
Mar 01, 202401:22:47
153/ Living Like the World is Dying w/ Margaret Killjoy

153/ Living Like the World is Dying w/ Margaret Killjoy

For episode 153, anarchist writer, musician and podcaster Margaret Killjoy joins Elia J. Ayoub and Aydın Yıldız to talk about the very easy topic of apocalypse. What does that even mean? And how do we deal with that without falling into complete despair? Many of y'all know that one of the taglines of this pod is building the new in the shell of the old, right? Well, this is about that. Sort of. It's mainly about staying sane and healthy and as hopeful as possible long enough to even want to build the new in the shell of the old.

Margaret Killjoy, in our view, is one of the best minds on this difficult subject, and we think you'll agree.


Transcript:

This episode's transcript is available on the website. If you'd like to help make The Fire These Times more accessible you can help out with transcriptions by reaching out to Antidote Zine, the collective with whom we are working on transcripts.


Show notes:


The best way to support The Fire These Times is:

  1. Through ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes. With a monthly or yearly donation, you get perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the video and book clubs, merch and more.
  2. Leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. This allows us to show up on these platforms in the first place.
  3. Tell your friends and enemies about it.

Episode Credits:

  • Hosts: Elia J. Ayoub and Aydın Yıldız
  • Producer: Elia J. Ayoub
  • Guest: Margaret Killjoy
  • Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠
  • Sound editor: Elia J. Ayoub
  • Episode designer: Elia J. Ayoub
Feb 23, 202401:25:51
152/ Israel and American Jewish Dissent w/ Geoffrey Levin

152/ Israel and American Jewish Dissent w/ Geoffrey Levin

For episode 152, Dana El Kurd hosts Geoffrey Levin to talk about his book "Our Palestine Question: Israel and American Jewish Dissent, 1948-1978". Levin is assistant professor of Middle Eastern and Jewish Studies at Emory University and the Director of Undergraduate Engagement at Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies.

Our Palestine Question is a new history of the American Jewish relationship with Israel focused on its most urgent and sensitive issue: the question of Palestinian rights. Given the ongoing genocide launched by the Israeli state on the Palestinians of Gaza, this book couldn't be more timely.


Show notes:


The best way to support The Fire These Times is:


  1. Through ⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes. With a monthly or yearly donation, you get perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the video and book clubs, merch and more.
  2. Leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. This allows us to show up on these platforms in the first place.
  3. Tell your friends and enemies about it.


Episode Credits:

Host: Dana El Kurd
Producer: Elia J. Ayoub
Guest: Geoffrey Levin
Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠
Sound editor: Elia J. Ayoub
Episode designer: Elia J. Ayoub

Feb 16, 202449:31
Politically Depressed Eps. 5-8

Politically Depressed Eps. 5-8

This is a compilation of 4 episodes of our new podcast Politically Depressed, a weekly podcast by Lebanese writer and organizer Ayman Makarem.
These are episodes 5-8 compiled into one long episode (with time codes below).
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider following and rating it on whatever app you use to listen to your podcasts!
Time codes:

00:00 - Episode 5: Sounds of Silence
22:00 - Episode 6: White People Cannot Stop Fascism (Alone)
48:30 - Episode 7: Life on Pause
1:12:20 - Episode 8: Treat Us As Though We're Mourning

The best way to support Politically Depressed and The Fire These Times is through ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠⁠⁠.
The other best way is to leave a review about Politically Depressed and The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. Please do this if you haven't already. It makes a huge difference to our visibility.
And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about Politically Depressed and The Fire These Times.
Feb 09, 202401:34:54
151/ Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors w/ Tory Stephens

151/ Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors w/ Tory Stephens

For episode 151, Joey Ayoub and Daniel Voskoboynik host Tory Stephens, Climate Fiction Creative Manager at Grist.org, to talk about Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors and why narrative work is an integral part of any climate solution. Why does Imagine 2200 choose hope over dystopia? What are effective narrative shifting tactics and strategies? Stephens is also on the Hollywood Climate Summit Board so Joey talked to him about moving beyond post/apocalyptic films. We also asked him how listeners can take part in Imagine 2200.


Relevant Links:

The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠⁠⁠.

The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. Please do this if you haven't already. It makes a huge difference to our visibility.

And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times.


Credits Host(s): Joey Ayoub and Daniel Voskoboyni Producer(s): Joey Ayoub Guest(s): Tory Stephens Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Sound editor(s): Joey Ayoub Episode designer(s): Joey Ayoub

Portrait Arts (Joey and Daniel's): Molly Crabapple Artist of the original image: Taj Francis - Imagine 2200 Collection Cover

Feb 02, 202401:00:39
150/ The Israeli War on Southern Lebanon w/ Karim Safieddine, Michelle Eid & Justin Salhani

150/ The Israeli War on Southern Lebanon w/ Karim Safieddine, Michelle Eid & Justin Salhani

For episode 150, Lebanese journalist Justin Salhani guest hosts Lebanese researchers Michelle Eid and Karim Safieddine to talk about the under-reported and overlooked war in southern Lebanon. They look at the human impact of this conflict on Lebanon - a country that in just over four years has experienced a stunted revolution, one of modern history's worst economic crises, and the destruction of large parts of its capital due to a port explosion. They dissect media narratives, share personal anecdotes, and tie the current conflict to history, recalling the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, and more. 


Michelle Eid is a researcher focused on socio-economic rights and development in the Levant, with a focus on food sovereignty and agricultural politics. She is also the editor-in-chief of Al Rawiya, a digital magazine covering the Levant. Karim Safieddine is an organizer and researcher from Lebanon; he's completing his PhD in Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh.


Pieces by Salhani:

Pieces by Eid:

Joey's Note: "October 17" isn't to be confused with "October 7". October 17 refers to the 2019 uprising in Lebanon whereas October 7 refers to the 2023 Hamas attack which was followed by Israel's ongoing genocidal war in Palestine.

Book Recommendations: 

  • House of Many Mansions - Karim Salibi
  • Return to Haifa - Ghassan Kanafani
  • Being Arab - Samir Kassir
  • The New Left - Fawaz Traboulsi


The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠⁠.

The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. Please do this if you haven't already. It makes a huge difference to our visibility.

And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times.


Credits Host: Justin Salhani Producer: Ayman Makarem Guests: Karim Safieddine, Michelle Eid Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Sound editor: Ayman Makarem Episode designer: Joey Ayoub

Jan 26, 202459:54
Politically Depressed - First 4 Episodes
Jan 18, 202401:34:36
149/ How Azerbaijan is Greenwashing Genocide w/ Karena Avedissian and Anna

149/ How Azerbaijan is Greenwashing Genocide w/ Karena Avedissian and Anna

For episode 149, Joey sat down with Karena Avedissian and Anna, TFTT returnees and co-hosts of Obscuristan, a podcast which is soon joining the broader network (whaaat? - We talk about that at the beginning of the episode).

We talked about Azerbaijan hosting COP29 next year, the global climate conference, and why it might be a problem for a petro-dictatorship to host a climate conference. We discussed how Azerbaijan is trying to greenwash its recent genocide of the Armenians of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh by claiming the area, devoid of its human population, has now achieved net-zero (yes, we're not joking). We also talked more broadly about the Armenian struggle for justice and what we might learn from the Palestinian one.

You'll also hear Joey's exclusive, world-premiere take on Aliyev's ridiculous mustache.

--

The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠.

The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. Please do this if you haven't already. It makes a huge difference to our visibility.

And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times.

--

Links

--

Episode Credits

Hosts: Joey Ayoub, Karena Avedissian and Anna
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠
Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠
Sound editor: Joey Ayoub
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Dec 22, 202301:08:05
148/ Understanding Seen and Unseen Violence in Israel-Palestine w/ Diana Greenwald & Alexei Abrahams

148/ Understanding Seen and Unseen Violence in Israel-Palestine w/ Diana Greenwald & Alexei Abrahams

For episode 148, Dana El Kurd and Joey 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? What is structural violence? And how do these two differ?

Diana is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at The City University of New York. Her research  focuses on the politics of the Middle East, nationalism, conflict, and  state-building. She obtained her Ph.D. in political science from the  University of Michigan in 2017. From 2017-8, she was Postdoctoral  Research Fellow at the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy  School. Her current book manuscript examines Palestinian local politics  under Israeli occupation. This project draws on elite interviews and  local data on policing and taxation collected in the West Bank between  2014 to 2019.

Alexei leads the digital trace team at the Canadian Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO), McGill University. He is the author of a forthcoming book, Social Media Observatory (No Starch Press, 2024), on how to code full-stack web applications for public interest research on contemporary political discourse. He's also the author of "Seeing absence and all its instruments: How decontextualization of kinetic violence undermines our understanding of the Israel-Palestine Conflict."

The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠.

The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts.

And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times.


Episode Credits

Host: Joey Ayoub

Producer: Ayman Makarem

Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠

Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠

Sound editor: Ayman Makarem

Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Dec 15, 202357:32
147/ From Capitalism Realism to Solarpunk Realities w/ HydroponicTrash, Luka Dowell, Ariel Kroon
Dec 08, 202301:26:36
Palestine and Global Solidarity - Remastered w/ Sumaya Awad and Shireen Akram-Boshar

Palestine and Global Solidarity - Remastered w/ Sumaya Awad and Shireen Akram-Boshar

In this remastered release, Joey 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 ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the growing solidarity movements around the globe, the Palestinian struggle for liberation - all resonate in today’s context. This episode serves as a reminder that the recent escalation in Palestine has origins well before Oct 7 and that calls to end Israel’s genocide are growing louder and louder. 


Recommendations:

Shireen:

  • Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement Paperback by Angela Davis

  • The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

  • Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire by Deepa Kumar

  • A Woman in the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolution by Samar Yazbeck

Sumaya:

  • The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

  • Smiley’s People by John le Carré

Movies:

  • Qafr Kassem by Borhan Alaouié

  • The Feeling of Being Watched by Assia Boundaoui


The best way to support The Fire These Times is through Patreon.com/firethesetimes.

The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts.

And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times.


Episode Credits

Host: Joey Ayoub

Producer: Ayman Makarem

Music: Rap and Revenge

Main theme design: Wenyi Geng

Sound editor: Ayman Makarem

Episode design: Joey Ayoub


Dec 02, 202301:09:17
146/ Jewish Safety Means Palestinian Liberation: Organizing In Israel-Palestine After Oct 7 w/ Sally Abed, Orly Noy and Amjad Iraqi

146/ Jewish Safety Means Palestinian Liberation: Organizing In Israel-Palestine After Oct 7 w/ Sally Abed, Orly Noy and Amjad Iraqi

In episode 146, Joey 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 is the chair of B'Tselem, arguably Israel's most well-known human rights NGO, and editor of the Hebrew-language news magazine Local Call. Amjad Iraqi is a member of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, an editor and writer at +972 Magazine, and previously an advocacy coordinator at Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.

In this wide-ranging conversation, the hosts and guests spoke about the current state of Israel's political landscape, from its ongoing "Smotrichization" to the political crackdowns, from the normalization of genocidal rhetoric against Palestinians to the necessity of being "chronically optimistic" to push for change in Israel-Palestine. At a time when Netanyahu and the Israeli far-right have effectively taken over politics, and with so many self-described liberals joining in the calls for violence, principled left-wing voices seem all but gone in Israel. Finally, each guest shares their personal theory of change, offering a glimpse into their vision for the future. 


These episodes are intended to be evergreen conversations. If you're interested in resources dedicated to real-time information, you can follow us on Instagram where we amplify voices on the ground in Palestine-Israel.


The best way to support The Fire These Times is through Patreon.com/firethesetimes.

The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts.

And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times.

Nov 24, 202359:23
145/ Arab Jews For Palestinian Liberation w/ Hadar Cohen and Dahab Kashi
Nov 17, 202301:12:36
Understanding Hamas: Anti-Authoritarian Perspectives - Remastered

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, Joey interviews Tareq Baconi, author of the book "Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance" published in 2018. Baconi meticulously outlines the nature of Israel's blockade on Gaza, the various aspects of Palestinian resistance to ongoing occupation, and contextualizes Hamas's role, structure, and motives within this wider social and political struggle.


The audio is remastered and includes a new introduction by Joey that situates this conversation in the post Oct 7th reality.


Episode Credits

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Ayman Makarem
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Ayman Makarem
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Nov 10, 202301:07:06
144/ Against the Imperialist Impulse w/ Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im

144/ Against the Imperialist Impulse w/ Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im

For episode 144, 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 around the world, and longstanding failures from international bodies to curtail state and corporate impunity, how do we understand protecting human rights today? Abdullahi brings decades of experience as an activist, scholar and jurist to the table, drawing on cross-cultural prisms and critical religious thought.


Mentions

The works of Ustaz Mahmoud Taha:

Books by Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im:


The best way to support The Fire These Times is through Patreon.com/firethesetimes.

The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts.

And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times.


Contact


Credits

Host: Daniel Voskoboynik
Producer: Ayman Makarem
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Ayman Makarem
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Nov 03, 202301:16:56
Special Episode: Roundtable on Israel-Palestine w/ Dana El Kurd, Orly Noy, and Yair Wallach

Special Episode: Roundtable on Israel-Palestine w/ Dana El Kurd, Orly Noy, and Yair Wallach

On October 7th, Hamas fighters breached the militarized fence separating the occupied Gaza strip from Israeli communities in the south, killing 1400 people and taking 200 hostages. Israel immediately retaliated with severe bombardment of the Gaza strip that, at the time of this writing, has killed 7000 people. In the West Bank, settler violence and army raids have also killed dozens of Palestinians, and Palestinian citizens of Israel as well as leftist Israelis have been arrested for speaking out.

While the world is currently transfixed by what’s happening in Israel-Palestine, this story did not begin on October 7th. Joey Ayoub and Daniel Voskoboynik are joined by Dana El Kurd, Orly Noy, and Yair Wallach to think through this moment, process our grief together, and articulate alternative visions for both peoples. We focused on three themes: a) Grief, b) Thinking Through This Moment, c) What can be done?

This will be the first of many episodes on post-October 7th Israel-Palestine.

Dana El-Kurd is a researcher in political science, and an assistant professor at the University of Richmond. Works on state-society relations in the Arab world with topics like authoritarianism and international intervention. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and she is also the author of "Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine." A regular guest of TFTT, Dana has recently co-written an essay with Leila Al-Shami, Joey Ayoub and Romeo Kokriatski for the South/South Movement entitled "A view of anti-imperialism from the periphery."

Orly Noy is an editor at Local Call, a Hebrew-language news site committed to democracy, peace, equality, social justice, transparency, freedom of information and resisting the occupation. She is also a political activist with the Balad political party, and a translator of Farsi poetry and prose. She is the chair of B’Tselem’s executive board. Her writing deals with the lines that intersect and define her identity as Mizrahi, a female leftist, a woman, a temporary migrant living inside a perpetual immigrant, and the constant dialogue between them. She recently published a piece for 972Mag and Local Call entitled "Enough with the warlords. There is another way."

Yair Wallach is a social and cultural historian of modern Palestine/Israel at SOAS, University of London, studying the entangled and relational histories of Jews and Palestinians. He is also the author of the 2020 book "A City in Fragments: Urban Text in Modern Jerusalem" and has most recently published in The New Statesman a piece entitled: "The deadly logic of the existential war: Warnings that the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict is heading towards genocide should be heeded."

Support human rights workers in Palestine-Israel and the diaspora

Medical Aid for Palestinians | Adalah | Al-Shabaka | Gisha | Hamleh | Hamoked | The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel | Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre (JLAC) | MIFTAH: The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy | Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) | Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P) | Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) | Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)


The best way to support The Fire These Times is through Patreon.com/firethesetimes.

The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts.

And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times.

Credits:

Host: Daniel & Joey

Producer: A.M.

Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Main theme design: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wenyi Geng

⁠⁠⁠Sound editor: A.M.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Oct 28, 202301:31:16
143/ Sudan in Revolution and War w/ Dalia Abdelmoniem and Raga Makawi
Oct 24, 202301:13:56
142/ How the World Failed Nagorno-Karabakh w/ Karena Avedissian & Anna

142/ How the World Failed Nagorno-Karabakh w/ Karena Avedissian & Anna

Joey 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 in Nagorno-Karabakh is a crime against humanity, the sort of crime that should never be normalized.


You can support The Fire These Times on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.


Recommendations:

Contact

Credits:

Oct 10, 202301:01:03
141/ How the EU Criminalizes Solidarity with Migrants w/ Border Violence Monitoring Network

141/ How the EU Criminalizes Solidarity with Migrants w/ Border Violence Monitoring Network

Joey 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/firethesetimes⁠⁠⁠⁠ with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.


Mentions and Book Recommendations:

Contact


Credits:

Sep 26, 202355:08
140/ The Moral Urgency of Degrowth w/ Timothée Parrique & Yusra Bitar

140/ The Moral Urgency of Degrowth w/ Timothée Parrique & Yusra Bitar

Joey 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 – Evidence and arguments against green growth” (2019), a report published by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB). He is also author of Ralentir ou périr. L’économie de la décroissance (September 2022, Seuil), a wide-audience book adaptation of his PhD dissertation.

Yusra Bitar is the Lebanon Research Fellow with the Environmental Politics program at the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI).

Yusra and Joey are also both Fellows of the Post Growth Institute (2022 and 2023 respectively).

You can support The Fire These Times on ⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠⁠⁠ with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.


Mentions and Book Recommendations:


Contact


Credits:

Host: Joey Ayoub

Producer: Joey Ayoub

Music: ⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge

Main theme design: ⁠⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠⁠

Sound editor: ⁠⁠Artin Salimi

Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Sep 19, 202301:05:03
139/ Anti-Imperialism From the Periphery w/ Leila Al Shami, Romeo Kokriatski & Dana El Kurd

139/ Anti-Imperialism From the Periphery w/ Leila Al Shami, Romeo Kokriatski & Dana El Kurd

Joey 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 Richmond to talk about an essay the four of us wrote.

The essay, "A view of anti-imperialism from the periphery," was published by the south/south movement as part of their south/south dialogues: Beyond the colonial vortex of the ‘West’: Subverting non-western imperialisms before and after 24 February 2022. I recommend giving it a read before listening, but this is not necessary.

You can support The Fire These Times on ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠⁠ with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.


Mentions and Book Recommendations:

Contact


Credits:

Host: Joey Ayoub  
Producer: Joey Ayoub  
Music: ⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠
Main theme design: ⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠
Sound editor: ⁠Artin Salimi ⁠
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Sep 12, 202301:04:20
138/ We Need To Talk About Twitter w/ Musa Okwonga and Justin Salhani

138/ We Need To Talk About Twitter w/ Musa Okwonga and Justin Salhani

After some 12 years on the site, I've finally deleted my Twitter account. Its takeover by a profoundly narcissistic, mediocre and insecure bigot gave me that extra excuse I'd been looking for all these years.

But why does any of that matter? After all, isn't it 'just a website'?

Yes. And no. Whether you are an activist or a scholar or a journalist or a policy-maker, Twitter has had an undeniable influence over your life - even if you've never been on it.

I was a very active user of that site. I gathered some 34,000 followers, had my tweets featured in mainstream media dozens of times, and made a lot of friends. Twitter is also how a lot of my work got published, and how so many people even heard about me in the first place. For that, I'll be forever grateful.

But still, I quit it, and I ain't going back. I've reached this conclusion after many years of deliberation. Weighing the pros (exposure, networking, connections etc) and cons (addiction, restlessness, a huge waste of time etc). I don't know whether this is the right decision for everyone (although at this rate the site might become irrelevant soon enough anyway) and in many ways this conversation isn't even about that.

I invited returning guests Musa Okwonga and Justin Salhani to talk about the impacts of social media on our world, with a focus on Twitter.

You can support The Fire These Times on ⁠⁠patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠ with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.


Mentions


Contact

You can follow The Fire These Times on: ⁠Website⁠ | ⁠Bluesky⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠YouTube⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Substack⁠

You can follow Joey on: ⁠Website⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Bluesky⁠ | ⁠Mastodon⁠, or reach out to him via email at ⁠contact@thefirethesetimes.com⁠

You can follow Musa on: ⁠Website⁠ | ⁠Bluesky⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠

You can follow Justin on: ⁠Website⁠ | ⁠Bluesky⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠


Episode Credits

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Joey Ayoub
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Aug 24, 202301:18:42
Queer Mutual Aid Lebanon Special Fundraising!

Queer Mutual Aid Lebanon Special Fundraising!

The Fire These Times is fundraising for Queer Mutual Aid Lebanon! Here to talk to us about their work, queer mutual aid in Lebanon and why they started working after the October 2019 uprising and the 2020 crises (Covid-19, August 4 explosion, economic crisis and more) is repeated guest and buddy-in-chief Ayman Makarem.

To support them:

● Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/qmalebanon

● Paypal: @qmalebanon


About Queer Mutual Aid Lebanon:

We are a small grassroots group of queer/trans people in Lebanon working to secure material support for other queer/trans individuals facing homelessness through mutual aid and community-building. Our work is only possible through consistent support from friends and allies. We run two main programs: a sustainable housing program, and an emergency cash program.

Through the sustainable housing program, we intentionally want to move away from one-off payments that do not allow people to plan ahead, and into sustainable monthly payments that can contribute to their long-term safety. Thus, we support around 15 queer/trans individuals in Lebanon with monthly payments of approx. $150/month over a long-term period until they feel they are no longer at direct risk of homelessness or other emergency situations.

Members of our group and the people we support are constantly approached by others facing emergency situations. Depending on donations, we are also able to provide emergency cash payments for temporary shelter and/or medical needs. Emergency payments range between $100 to $900, depending on our current budget and the person’s needs. This has been particularly helpful for trans people who were survivors of assault, recently evicted, and/or needing emergency life-sustaining medical procedures. So far, more than 35 people have benefited from this program.

What we need

You can help sustain our work and help our group stay viable through a monthly donation, or by sharing this with your trusted friends who might be able to help. We're using this Patreon to supplement our routine fundraising efforts (which we usually do through our individual Instagram pages) with something more sustainable. If you'd like to reach us, feel free to send a message through the email below.

More about us

We want to build a network of mutual support for queer people that works outside traditional modalities of humanitarian aid and emphasizes radical care and practical solidarity. Our group is one of few in Lebanon to explicitly adopt a mutual aid philosophy and we put a lot of effort into integrating mutual aid concepts and dynamics in our feminist and queer practices.

Since 2020, as a grassroots group, we’ve taken the time to build a relatively solid structure that allows us to maintain and work through tough situations facing others in our network. We do not operate based on an identity politics framework, nor do we exclude people from our group based on identity. However, this group started by working with and for other working class trans people in our community and it then grew from there. We are constantly learning as we go, and were able to establish a minimum groundwork that allows us to carry out emergency work that other bigger organizations are unable, or unwilling, to do.

Given the economic violence in Lebanon, the most pressing needs people are facing are financial, but our group is also focused on providing non-material forms of support as we try to contribute to building a community rooted in political solidarity and economic justice.

For inquiries, one-time donations, or if it is cheaper/easier for you to donate through other means (bank transfer, MoneyGram, cash payments, etc.), please get in touch with us on queermutualaidlebanon@protonmail.com

Jun 06, 202332:12
137/ Re-membering the Nakba, Imagining the Future w/ Dana El Kurd

137/ Re-membering 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 across nations and struggles.

This is also the first episode released on a Tuesday! Episodes will from now on be released on Tuesdays and/or Thursday with the long-term goal being two episodes a week. To support this project, keep on reading!

You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

Mentions and Book Recommendations:

Credits:

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠
Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠
Sound editor: Joey Ayoub
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Pluggables:

The best way to keep up to date is through the website ⁠thefirethesetimes.com⁠ or through ⁠patreon⁠. I occasionally post on ⁠Mastodon⁠ and friends of the pod occasionally post on ⁠Twitter⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠. The newsletter will be available on ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.com⁠ and ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.substack.com⁠ as well.

May 16, 202301:20:41
136/ When War Gets Normalized, Or What's At Stake in Ukraine w/ Mariam Naiem and Romeo Kokriatski

136/ When War Gets Normalized, Or What's At Stake in Ukraine w/ Mariam Naiem and Romeo Kokriatski

I'm joined again by friends of the pod Ukrainian researcher Mariam Naiem and journalist Romeo Kokriatski to talk about why Ukrainians understood very quickly what's at stake, how war leads to frozen temporalities, and why Russia is so obsessed with kidnapping Ukrainian children (which, by the way, is a war crime). Slava Ukraini!


You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.


Mentions and Book Recommendations:


Credits:

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠
Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠
Sound editor: Artin Salimi
Episode design: Joey Ayoub


Pluggables:

The best way to keep up to date is through the website ⁠thefirethesetimes.com⁠ or through ⁠patreon⁠. I occasionally post on ⁠Mastodon⁠ and friends of the pod occasionally post on ⁠Twitter⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠. The newsletter will be available on ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.com⁠ and ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.substack.com⁠ as well.

Apr 28, 202301:34:16
135/ Radical Legacies of the Mexican Revolution w/ Christina Heatherton and Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik

135/ Radical Legacies of the Mexican Revolution w/ Christina Heatherton and Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik

I'm very excited to share with you this conversation I had with Christina Heatherton, the author of "Arise! Global Radicalism in the Era of the Mexican Revolution", alongside friend of the pod Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik who joined us as co-host. 

The Mexican Revolution was a global event that catalyzed international radicals in unexpected sites and struggles. Tracing the paths of figures like Black American artist Elizabeth Catlett, Indian anti-colonial activist M.N. Roy, Mexican revolutionary leader Ricardo Flores Magón, Okinawan migrant organizer Paul Shinsei Kōchi, and Soviet feminist Alexandra Kollontai, Arise! reveals how activists around the world found inspiration and solidarity in revolutionary Mexico. 
From art collectives and farm worker strikes to prison "universities," Arise! reconstructs how this era's radical organizers found new ways to fight global capitalism. Drawing on prison records, surveillance data, memoirs, oral  histories, visual art, and a rich trove of untapped sources, Christina Heatherton considers how disparate revolutionary traditions merged in  unanticipated alliances. From her unique vantage point, she charts the remarkable impact of the Mexican Revolution as radicals in this critical era forged an anti-racist internationalism from below.


You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.


Mentions and Book Recommendations:

Credits:

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠
Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠
Sound editor: Artin Salimi
Episode design: Joey Ayoub


Pluggables:

The best way to keep up to date is through the website ⁠thefirethesetimes.com⁠ or through ⁠patreon⁠. I occasionally post on ⁠Mastodon⁠ and friends of the pod occasionally post on ⁠Twitter⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠. The newsletter will be available on ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.com⁠ and ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.substack.com⁠ as well.


Apr 21, 202301:28:52
Unlocked. When You're Not The Target Audience: Two Arab Millennials Talk About Seinfeld w/ Ayman Makarem (Premium 1)

Unlocked. When You're Not The Target Audience: Two Arab Millennials Talk About Seinfeld w/ Ayman Makarem (Premium 1)

In which I sat down with friend of the pod Lebanese writer Ayman Makarem for the first ever premium episode. This was first recorded for Patreons in February 2023 and I'm now releasing it to the wider public.


What made Seinfeld so special to Ayman as a queer kid from Lebanon? And what is it like to watch shows that don't have you in mind as their target audience?


You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive audio and video episodes, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

For feedback, questions, comments and whatnot: contact@thefirethesetimes.com


Mentions and Book Recommendations:

Ayman's:

Joey's:


Check out Ayman's project ⁠Bizri#5⁠ and his comic series with Hisham Rifai for Unicorn Riot:


Credits:

Host: Joey Ayoub

Producer: Joey Ayoub

Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠

Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠

Sound editor: Joey Ayoub

Episode design: Joey Ayoub


Pluggables:

The best way to keep up to date is through the website thefirethesetimes.com or through patreon. I occasionally post on Mastodon and friends of the pod occasionally post on Twitter and Instagram. The newsletter will be available on thefirethesetimes.com and www.thefirethesetimes.substack.com as well.

Apr 14, 202301:30:15
134/ Why White Nationalists Love Assad w/ Leila Al-Shami and Shon Meckfessel

134/ Why White Nationalists Love Assad w/ Leila Al-Shami 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, is the co-author of Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War and, together with Shon, she co-wrote the chapter of No Pasarán: Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis (edited by Shane Burley, also a previous guest of the pod) on this topic. You can also check out Mariam Elba's excellent 2017 piece on this issue for The Intercept.

Shon is also the author of "Suffled How It Gush: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans" and "Nonviolence Ain't What It Used To Be: Unarmed Insurrection and the Rhetoric of Resistance."

Aaaand check out Bizri#6!


Kind reminder that the best way to support this podcast is by Mussolini-ying Bashar.

The second best way? you can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.


Credits:

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Artin Salimi
Episode design: Joey Ayoub


Pluggables:

The best way to keep up to date is through the website thefirethesetimes.com or through patreon. I occasionally post on Mastodon and friends of the pod occasionally post on Twitter and Instagram. The newsletter will be available on www.thefirethesetimes.com and www.thefirethesetimes.substack.com as well.

Apr 07, 202353:52
133/ Overcoming the Trauma of Caste w/ Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Rhythima Shinde and Vivek Ramachandran

133/ Overcoming the Trauma of Caste w/ Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Rhythima Shinde and Vivek Ramachandran

This is a conversation with Thenmozhi Soundararajan, the author of 'The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing and Abolution'. She is a Dalit American commentator on religion, race, caste, gender, technology and justice.

She is also the Executive Director of Equality Labs.

We were joined by my friends Rhythima Shinde (who is also Dalit) and Vivek Ramachandran. They both read the book and helped me greatly in the research for this episode, so during one of our chats I asked if they can come on and they gracefully agreed. The result was amazing, as I think you'll agree.


Blog post: https://thefirethesetimes.com/2023/03/31/podcast-overcoming-the-trauma-of-caste-w-thenmozhi-soundararajan-rhythima-shinde-and-vivek-ramachandran/


You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.


Mentions and Book Recommendations:


Credits:

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Ibrahim Youssef
Episode design: Joey Ayoub


Pluggables:

The best way to keep up to date is through the website thefirethesetimes.com or through patreon. I occasionally post on Mastodon and friends of the pod occasionally post on Twitter and Instagram. The newsletter will be available on www.thefirethesetimes.com as well.

Mar 31, 202301:37:08
132/ Let's Talk About Youth Autonomy w/ carla joy bergman

132/ 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 son Uilliam Joy. Make sure to check them out!

As the title suggests, we focused on youth autonomy. What does it mean? How is it integral to structures of power and oppression, and how can we challenge it? Why are children so routinely undervalued while also always spoken for?


You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.


Mentions and Book Recommendations:

-----

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Artin Salimi
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

----

You can also follow updates on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List
Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website
The newsletter is available on Substack

Mar 24, 202301:05:26
131/ Commoning in Lebanon's Palestinian Refugee Camps w/ Yafa El Masri

131/ 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 presented at the 2022 Pluriverse of Eco-social Justice summer school in Coimbra, Portugal, where we met.

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We spoke about:

  • what it's like to find and build a home in a space that is 'supposed' to be temporary but is not
  • Lebanon's most vulnerable people coming together during the Covid pandemic and finding access to care in Palestinian refugee camps
  • anti-Palestinian discrimination in Lebanon
  • about the impact of Lebanon's broader anti-refugee politics through a (James) Baldwinian understanding of 'the Other'
  • about the ongoing crisis in Lebanon
  • and more

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You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

----

Mentions and Book Recommendations:

-----

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Ibrahim Youssef
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

----

You can also follow updates on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List
Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website
The newsletter is available on Substack

Mar 17, 202301:22:26
130/ Armenian-ness and Solidarity in a Changing World w/ Karena Avedissian and Anna

130/ Armenian-ness and Solidarity in a Changing World w/ Karena Avedissian and Anna

This is a conversation with Karena Avedissian and Anna, and a collaboration with their podcast Obscuristan.

The main thread of our conversation was about Armenian-ness and how complicated of an identity it is due to the old and transnational history of Armenians. Some have ancestry in the Ottoman empire and therefore feel closer to the Levant, especially after the genocide which also exiled so many to my part of the world. Others lived under the Russian empire and then the USSR. There are of course those who moved to Europe and North America and elsewhere as well.

Karena is of Armenian-Iranian origins and grew up in the US, but lives in Armenia. Anna is from Artsakh and Armenia and is currently in the US. So we inevitably had to also talk about Armenian proximity to Whiteness in the US and why it's important to understand it.

We brought up Ukraine a lot as well as Russia's full-scale invasion last year prompted them to launch their podcast which partly seeks to decolonize Russian history and imperialism. We also brought up Azerbaijan's ongoing violence against Armenians in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh.

Also: Lebanon as Beirut has a special place in Armenian history, something I didn't really know until I myself visited Armenia.

Also: Gilmore Girls, coz why not.

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Mentions and Book Recommendations:

Karena:

Anna:

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You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Ibrahim Youssef
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

----

You can also follow updates on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List
Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website
The newsletter is available on Substack

Mar 10, 202301:52:58
129/ The Meaning of Time in Prison w/ Morgan Godvin and Molly Hagan

129/ The Meaning of Time in Prison w/ Morgan Godvin and Molly Hagan

This is a conversation with Morgan Govin and Molly Hagan. This is how Morgan introduces herself on her website: "I spent five years addicted to heroin and four years incarcerated as a direct result of my addiction. I lost my mom and four close friends to  overdose. I found a system of injustice within the US justice system. Now, I work to change the systems that harmed us. I strive for safer, healthier communities." Morgan is also JSTOR Daily’s engagement editor for the American Prison Newspapers collection.

Molly is a writer, journalist and photographer whose piece "The Meaning of Time in The Hour Glass" kickstarted this conversation. 

We also talked about Morgan's experience, about the US' brutal carceral system, and the meaning of time in prison. We also talked about logics of scarcity and what we lose, wherever we live, when incarcerated people are rendered invisible.

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Mentions and Book Recommendations:

Molly:

Morgan:

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You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Ibrahim Youssef
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Mar 03, 202301:31:21
128/ The Islamic Regime of Iran Will Fall w/ Vicky and Kiana

128/ The Islamic Regime of Iran Will Fall w/ Vicky and Kiana

Feb 24, 202301:24:20
127/ Against Multipolar Imperialism: An Internationalist Response w/ Kavita Krishnan, Promise Li and Romeo Kokriatski

127/ 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.

Kavita Krishnan is an Indian Marxist and Feminist who used to be a politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation who made news a few months ago when she resigned over Ukraine. Promise Li is a US-based Hong Konger organizer and part of the Left diaspora collective Lausan. Romeo Kokriatski is a Ukrainian-American journalist, managing editor of the New Voice of Ukraine and co-host of the Ukraine Without Hype podcast.

Promise is also a returning guest of the pod, and Romeo's been on a few times as well.

Due to Russia's ongoing bombardments of Ukraine, Romeo's power went out towards the end of the episode so we had to continue without him. 

Slava Ukraini.

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Mentions and Book Recommendations:

- My piece for Lausan Collective: The periphery has no time for binaries
- Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism is Changing India by Angana P. Chatterji, Thomas Blom Hansen and Christophe Jaffrelot  (Kavita)
- Money Power and Financial Capital in Emerging Markets: Facing the Liquidity Tsunami by Ilias Alami (Promise)

Regular updates on India can be found on The India Cable

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You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

Want to help our with transcribing episodes? Check out this link.

----

You can also follow updates on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List
Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website
The newsletter is available on Substack

----

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Ibrahim Youssef
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Feb 17, 202301:41:09
Premium Episode 1: Watching Seinfeld as Arab Millennials w/ Ayman Makarem (Sample)

Premium Episode 1: Watching Seinfeld as Arab Millennials w/ Ayman Makarem (Sample)

In which I talk about Seinfeld with fellow Arab millennial and writer (and previous guest of the podcast) Ayman Makarem. It's that simple! 

What made that sitcom so special to Ayman as a queer kid from Lebanon? And what is it like to watch shows that don't have you in mind as their target audience?  

This is a sample episode. To listen to the full episode please head out to http://www.patreon.com/firethesetimes and get access to exclusives, monthly hangouts, book clubs and more for $5 a month.

Check out Ayman's project Bizri#6 and his comic series with Hisham Rifai for Unicorn Riot:

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Book. series and movie recommendations:

Ayman's:

Joey's:

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Want to help our with transcribing episodes? Check out this link.

----

You can also follow updates on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List
Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website
The newsletter is available on Substack

----

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Joey Ayoub
Episode theme design: Joey Ayoub

Feb 16, 202305:52
126/ The Memory We Could Be: Fear and Our Ecological Future w/ Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik

126/ The Memory We Could Be: Fear and Our Ecological Future w/ Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik

Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik is the Argentinian author of The Memory We Could Be: Overcoming Fear to Create Our Ecological Future and amongst the most fascinating thinkers I know. He's also a good friend.

We spoke about reckoning with past ecological violence of, bio-cultural memory and our collective ecological heritage. Basically, why we need to mix futurism and ancestrality. Also: storytelling, trauma, healing, climate change and The Office and Gilmour Girls, because why not.

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EARTHQUAKE DONATION LINKS:

The White Helmets
whitehelmets.org/en/

The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) Foundation
sams-usa.net

Huquqyat
https://www.huquqyat.org/

Molham Team
Molhamteam.com

Kurdish Red Crescent
heyvasoruk.org

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Book recommendations:

Also, the poetry of Joy Harjo, Ilya Kaminsky, Victoria Chang, Dunya Mikhail and Vito Apushana.

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You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

Want to help our with transcribing episodes? Check out this link.

----

You can also follow updates on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List
Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website
The newsletter is available on Substack

----

Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Sound editor: Ibrahim Youssef
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Feb 10, 202301:30:57
125/ Understanding (Anti-)Fascism in a World in Crisis w/ Shane Burley

125/ Understanding (Anti-)Fascism in a World in Crisis w/ Shane Burley

This is an episode with writer and filmmaker Shane Burley, editor of the must-read book published by AK Press: "No Pasarán! Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis." It is an anthology of antifascist writing that takes up the fight against white supremacy and the far-right from multiple angles. From the history of antifascism to today's movement to identify,  deplatform, and confront the right, and the ways an insurgent fascism is  growing within capitalist democracies, a myriad of voices come together  to shape the new face of antifascism in a moment of social and  political flux.

Burley is also the author of a number of books incl. Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse (AK Press, 2021) and Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It (AK Press, 2017).

No Pasarán also features Leila Al-Shami and Shon Meckfessel, authors of a chapter on the links between White supremacists and tge Assad regime. Both Leila (previous guest of the pod) and Shon are upcoming guests on the topic.

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Recommended Books:

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You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

Want to help our with transcribing episodes? Check out this link.

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You can also follow updates on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List
Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website
The newsletter is available on Substack

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Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Feb 03, 202301:06:04
124/ Jessie Gender on how Star Trek deals with neurodiversity, race, and queerness

124/ Jessie Gender on how Star Trek deals with neurodiversity, race, and queerness

Jessie Gender is a known YouTuber and commentator who deals with the nuance in the nerdy, focusing on LGBTQ issues (especially the transgender community), women, nonbinary and autistic people as well as other social and political issues through geek topics.

Both Jessie and Joey also happen to be Trekkies on the autism spectrum which gave this conversation an added layer of complexity.

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Book Recs:

  • Second Self by Uma McCormack
  • Star Trek Lower Decks
  • Star Wars Andor

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You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

You can also follow The Fire These Times on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List

Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website

The newsletter is available on Substack

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Host: Joey Ayoub  

Producer: Joey Ayoub  

Music: Rap and Revenge

Main theme design: Wenyi Geng

Sound editor: Joey Ayoub

Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Jan 27, 202359:26
123/ Hauntings, Futurisms and the Present Movement w/ Luka Dowell aka Solarpunk Now!

123/ Hauntings, Futurisms and the Present Movement w/ Luka Dowell aka Solarpunk Now!

Luka Dowell joins Joey Ayoub to talk about Hauntings, Futurisms, and Solarpunk. Luka is the host of the podcast Solarpunk Now! which I highly recommend. They are passionate about theory, politics, art, science/tech,  sustainability. Topics that interest them include ecology, psychology, economics, digital media and online communities, and our future.

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Recs:

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You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

You can also follow The Fire These Times on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List 

Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website 

The newsletter is available on Substack

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Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Episode design: Joey Ayoub


Jan 20, 202301:38:32
122/ In Search of Afro-Solarpunk w/ Rob Cameron
Jan 13, 202301:04:32
121/ Solarpunk and Post-Capitalist Desires w/ HydroponicTrash

121/ Solarpunk and Post-Capitalist Desires w/ HydroponicTrash

And we're back!

This is a conversation with hacker, gardener and writer Andre, aka HydroponicTrash (on Twitter, TikTok and Mastodon). You can also find Andre on Substack at AnarchoSolarpunk. The title is taken from one of Andre's essays.

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Book Recs:

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You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

You can also follow The Fire These Times on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List

Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website

The newsletter is available on Substack

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Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Jan 06, 202301:30:46
Special: How to Make Football Radical, a 2022 FIFA World Cup Retrospective w/ Musa Okwonga, Justin Salhani and Fabien Goa
Dec 22, 202201:51:36
120/ Russian Imperialism, Cynical Discourse and Life Amidst War w/ Mariam Naiem & Romeo Kokriatski

120/ Russian Imperialism, Cynical Discourse and Life Amidst War w/ Mariam Naiem & Romeo Kokriatski

This is a conversation with Ukrainian researcher Mariam Naiem and journalist Romeo Kokriatsk. We spoke about the ongoing situation in Ukraine, the history of Russian imperialism, cynical online discourse and life amidst war.

You can support The Fire These Times on Patreon with a monthly or yearly donation. You can also find it on Twitter @firethesetimes, Instagram @firethesetimes and TikTok @thefirethesetimes. Joey Ayoub can be found on Twitter @joeyayoub and Instagram @joeyayoub91. The newsletter is available on Subtack @ thefirethesetimes.substack.com

The Fire These Times will be back in October! 

Recommended Books:

  • Imperial Knowledge: Russian Literature and Colonialism by Ewa M. Thompson
  • Katerina by Taras Shevchenko
  • I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch

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You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more.

You can also follow The Fire These Times on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List

Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website

The newsletter is available on Substack

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Host: Joey Ayoub
Producer: Joey Ayoub
Music: Rap and Revenge
Main theme design: Wenyi Geng
Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Aug 05, 202201:57:14
119/ Lessons on the Path to Radicalization w/ Andrew Sage & Emmi Bevensee

119/ Lessons on the Path to Radicalization w/ Andrew Sage & Emmi Bevensee

This is a conversation with Andrew Sage of the Andrewism YouTube channel and Emmi Bevensee about our respective journeys towards political radicalization. 

You can support The Fire These Times on Patreon with a monthly or yearly donation. You can also find it on Twitter @firethesetimes, Instagram @firethesetimes and TikTok @thefirethesetimes. Joey Ayoub can be found on Twitter @joeyayoub and Instagram @joeyayoub91. The newsletter is available on Subtack @ thefirethesetimes.substack.com

Recommended Books:

Emmi:

Andrew:

Jul 29, 202201:06:55
118/ Bosnia, False Histories and Fact-Free Politics w/ Edin Hajdarpašić

118/ 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. He wrote an essay called "What Use Is Fact-Checking Against Fact-Free Politics?" which was the basis for our conversation.

You can support The Fire These Times on Patreon with a monthly or yearly donation. You can also find it on Twitter @firethesetimes, Instagram @firethesetimes and TikTok @thefirethesetimes. Joey Ayoub can be found on Twitter @joeyayoub and Instagram @joeyayoub91. The newsletter is available on Subtack @ thefirethesetimes.substack.com

Recommended Books:

  • Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History by Michel-Rolph Trouillot
  • Bosnian Studies: Perspectives from an Emerging Field by Dzeneta Karabegovic and Adna Karamehic-Oates
  • Beekeeping in the End Times by Larisa Jasarevic
Jul 22, 202201:30:41
117/ The Impossible Cities: Hong Kong & Beirut w/ Karen Cheung

117/ The Impossible Cities: Hong Kong & Beirut w/ Karen Cheung

This is a conversation with Karen Cheung, author of the book "The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir." As you'll hear, we ended up finding a lot of things in common between our two cities and experiences.

You can support The Fire These Times on Patreon with a monthly or yearly donation. You can also find it on Twitter @firethesetimes, Instagram @firethesetimes and TikTok @thefirethesetimes. Joey Ayoub can be found on Twitter @joeyayoub and Instagram @joeyayoub91. The newsletter is available on Subtack @ thefirethesetimes.substack.com

Recommended Books: 

  • Hong Kong Without Us:A People's Poetry edited by The Bauhinia Project
  • Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon
  • Either/Or by Elif Batuman
Jul 15, 202201:23:17