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:

• Out of Place: A Memoir by Edward Said (book)
• First season of Rami (series)
• Wajib by Annemarie Jacir (film)
• Guapa by Saleem Haddad (previous guest of the pod)
• Beer in the Snooker Club by Waguih Ghali
• Scheherazade Goes West by Fatema Mernissi

Joey's:

• Let's talk about myths, baby! (podcast)
• Witch, Please (podcast)
• Comedy Against Work: Utopian Longing in Dystopian Times by Srsly Wrong (podcast)
• Circe by Madeline Miller

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

• ⁠Revolution in Every Country Comic Series: Episode 1 – Syria: Erasing an Inconvenient Revolution⁠
• ⁠Revolution in Every Country Comic Series: Episode 2 – Sudan: Building Power from Below⁠

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:

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