The East is a Podcast

**Note: When stuff in Iran goes down, my natural inclination is to avoid doing content and stay above the fray, at least until the media hysteria dies down. Not the best way to run a media project, I know, but I just have a hard time with all the breathless coverage--BREAKING!!!--and don't really want to feed it. Even then, I am still Iranian, and if people ask me to record during these times, my cultural programming compels me to accept the invitation. This episode of Peacemongers with Mehmet and Erik was recorded as I was travelling for work recently and at the end of a busy, emotional day. The scale of what had just transpired in Iran was becoming clear to me that morning in between working on the footage I had recorded the day earlier, itself an intense and emotional experience for entirely different, non-Iran-related reasons. All of this is to say that by the time I recorded with these guys that afternoon, I was feeling pretty loopy. You can kinda hear it at the beginning of the episode when I had the giggles and infected everyone else with them! I have no idea how I come off in this episode (too lazy to check it too, sorry), and I was reluctant to even post to this feed!! In my memory, I was exceptionally wandering in my rants. Maybe I'm wrong and it's the same Sini as usual. IDK.** ---------------------- "Listen to the Iranians" they kept saying. Well, we give you Sina Rahmani, the indomitable host of @eastpodcast and producer of countless other anti imperialist shows. We talk about the events in Iran which have been one-sidedly and sensationally presented in the west. In the background the Empire and the Ethno-state have their fingers dirty. So why is Iran such an important target for the Empire and what does it mean to be sovereign? We discuss some of the contents of the imperial toolbox and factors leading up to the protests. Economic pressure with sanctions and currency manipulation, smuggling of Starlink units and weapons to foment violent riots and the media machinery. We discuss the Shah and his son, the clown-prince in exile, Iranian diaspora, support for Palestine and what the destruction of the Iranian state would mean to people in the area. While the battle may be over the war might just have begun. The peoples and states in the crosshairs of a dying empire will keep being demonised. If they resist they are authoritarian, if they open up they'll be vulnerable. What the future holds and what the way forward to avoid a devastating war is unknown. Early in the episode Sina reads a testimony from his friend Navid Zarinnal, who is living in Teheran. He hosts a podcast on imperialism called The Colony Archive, which we highly recommend. Please note that we had some technical difficulties in the beginning, that led to a lot of chaos and laughter. Big thanks to Sina for being such a joyful human being even in these difficult times. The genocide in Gaza continues. We urge you to support the Palestinians in these very dire times by donating: - via @thesameerproject - via @lifeline4gaza

I have been on the road and unable to do a proper episode on what's happening on Iran, so I decided to post this quick spot I did with The Freedom Side from BT News. You can watch the full episode on their YouTube channel If you can't wait until I am able to record a full episode on Iran (I will try to do one tomorrow night or Saturday morning), my comrade Nick and I recently did an episode of our paywalled show, Pod Kapital, and we discussed a little bit about what has been happening but that is already three days ago and out of date! Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

***I have been working with Lara Sheehi on her new show. Make sure you subscribe to her video and audio feeds to listen to the rest of this episode**** Ghassan Abu Sittah: Clinic as site of resistance In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah to discuss the centrality of the clinic in the genocidal violence perpetrated by the Zionist settler state in Gaza, his concept of the biosphere of genocide, and importantly, the site of the clinic as central to resistance, refusal, and liberation. Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah is a British-Palestinian Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon. He completed his medical education at University of Glasgow in the U.K and his postgraduate residency training in London. In April of 2024 he was awarded and Honorary Doctorate from the American University of Beirut, where is currently Professor of Conflict Medicine. His work was featured by numerous newspapers and media outlets notably La Monde, The Independent, Telegraph, BBC and CNN. Follow us on IG: @psychicmilitancypod & TikTok: @psychic.militancy Consider becoming a Patron to support the show! https://www.patreon.com/psychicmilitancy

[NOTE: This is the first portion of the latest episode of The Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective podcast. Lots of great content has already been released on both audio and video feeds and more to come, so please make sure you subscribe to both!] Hosted by AISC co-founder Nina Farnia, this episode features two distinguished guests and friends of AISC, Venezuela's former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Ron and University of Tehran professor Mohammad Marandi. We initially filmed a 2025 anti-imperialist roundup on December 30, 2025, but just a few days later the US invaded Venezuela and abducted President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flires. We brought our guests back after the abduction to discuss the invasion, the abduction, and the future of the Bolivarian Revolution in the face of US imperialism. Both episodes are included here. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow AISC X (@penandmachete) Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Producer's note: Apologies for the long absence from the show. As I explain in the first few minutes of this episode, I have been busy launching some new shows in addition to this special episode, currently only available on the YouTube channel. More great content for the main feed and bonus feed coming soon! Max Ajl returns to the show to reflect on some of the wider historical contexts that laid the groundwork for the calamity that was 2025. This was recorded 2 days before the flagrant kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

The Struggle Session is back for November on Sunday Nov 23rd at 3pmET! This monthly livestream panel program is not convening to make you feel better--the unvarnished analysis and fierce self-criticism may make you feel a bit worse! But, it will inform and, hopefully, spur you to taking action. As Marx said, the point isn't just to understand the world but to change it. This is an activist panel for a much needed Struggle Session: Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of Within our Lifetime; Sina Rahmani, host of East is a Podcast and impressario/producer of the online tankie left; Henry Hakamaki, editor at ISKRA Books and co-host of Guerrilla History podcast; and Mehmet Ali Arslan, musician, activist, and co-host of Fredshetsarna podcast in Swedish and English. Join us for a wide-ranging discussion of the key developments and issues for the anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-genocide left. We'll talk about directions of the Palestine solidarity movement and Gaza resistance in light of the ceasefire/UN occupation force resolution that Russia and China didn't veto, Mamdani on the Left and MAGA civil war on the Right, Jolani at the White House and Kremlin, imperial wars on Venezuela, Lebanon, Iran brewing and much more. Post your questions, suggested topics, and comments. Note there are now two livestream formats: landscape and portrait depending on which fits best on your screen. So do choose the alternative if it doesn't show up properly on your mobile device or computer monitor/screen. You can get priority for your questions/suggestions/comments by posting on patreon.com/adnanhusain. Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! www.patreon.com/adnanhusain Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Like, subscribe, share! Also available as audio podcast on all major platforms: https://adnanhusainshow.libsyn.com X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com www.adnanhusain.org

Aman Ullah Tariq is a Pakistani analyst and is one of the hosts of EON. Check out his episode of The Colony Archive Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

***This is a preview of the latest episode of Pod Kapital, the new podcast series co-hosted by me and my comrade Nick Estes exploring Marx's Capital. The episodes are paywalled but we livestreaming our recordings, so subscribe to The East is a Podcast YouTube channel and watch us live for free!*** Nick and Sina return for another episode of Pod Kapital. Today we discuss parts 4+5, chapters 14-21. Subscribe to Nick's Substack to watch the video edition or watch the livestream.

In this edition of Office Hours, Friday Nov. 7 at a special time, 6pm ET, Adnan hosts Hamza Al-Muqawi a Sudanese writer and activist to talk about Sudan's history as a crucial and continuing front in the struggle against colonialism, imperialism, and capitalist exploitation of Eastern Africa and West Asia. We will learn about Sudan's strategic place on the Red Sea and the geopolitical factors fueling imperial and subimperial designs and interventions as well as the resistance and struggle for liberation by Sudan's people facing terror, deliberate starvation and genocide. Hamza's analysis will help illuminate a central battleground in resisting empire and the struggle for liberation. This is a crucial conversation about a major crisis that is thoroughly ignored. Join us and post your questions and comments. You can prepare for Office Hours 13 by reading Hamza's article on substack: https://abuhureirah.substack.com/p/su... You can have priority for your questions and comments by becoming a supporter and posting on patreon.com/adnanhusain or make a one time contribution via buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! www.patreon.com/adnanhusain Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Like, subscribe, share! Also available as audio podcast on all major plaforms: https://adnanhusainshow.libsyn.com X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com www.adnanhusain.org

Reza Aslan is a religious scholar and bestselling author, including his biography of Jesus of Nazareth, Zealot (2013) and his history of Islam, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam (2005). Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast