

The East is a Podcast
Sina Rahmani (@urorientalist)
A critical lens on the history of the present on West Asia and North Africa. Interviews with experts and archival mashups.
Created by Sina Rahmani (twitter: @urorientalist)
Created by Sina Rahmani (twitter: @urorientalist)
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 1, 2025 • 1h 2min
Which way, Iranian man? w/ Navid Zarrinnal (Pt.1)
The first half of a long conversation with longtime friend of the show Navid Zarrinnal about Iran's perpetually tortured relationship with the West and how anti-imperialist resistance shapes attitudes of the population. Check out the second half of the conversation on @TheColonyArchive or subscribe to The East is a Podcast on Patreon to listen to the audio. Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Jul 30, 2025 • 25min
On John Carpenter's They Live (1988) w/ Sina Rahmani
**Nick Estes from The Red Nation Podcast invited me on his new project on Substack to talk about John Carpenter's They Live (1988). This is a preview of the episode. Support Nick on Substack to access this and other great bonus content!** Nick Estes in conversation with TRN Podcast producer and host of The East is a Podcast Sina Rahmani (@UrOrientalist) exploring what John Carpenter’s They Live (1988) can teach us how the ruling class uses ideaology to govern our daily lives—and how to break free of that control.

Jul 28, 2025 • 1h 35min
Tankie Group Therapy #34 - Gaza defends our humanity
Tankie Group Therapy is back! Sina, Alex, Nora, and Jay get together for another session to discuss the latest news from the Gaza Holocaust. Support Palestinians in Gaza through their fundraisers Watch the video edition on the East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Jul 16, 2025 • 1h 19min
The ruins of imperialism w/ Kit Klarenberg and Alexander Mckay
**I put the concluding 20 mins of the conversation behind the paywall on audio. If you want to listen to the entire episode, sign up for Patreon for less than $2 a month or watch it on our YouTube channel (linked below)** **Note: I managed-yet again-to mess up my audio settings at the last minute before we started recording resulting in me sounding blown out. Apologies!** Returning guest Alexander Mckay and Kit Klarenberg, co-hosts of the Decline and Fall, discuss the deepening crisis Western imperialism faces as it wages proxy wars against Iran and Russia simultaneously and economic war against China. Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Jul 14, 2025 • 1h 37min
Tankie Group Therapy #33 : Bread and Circus
Tankie Group Therapy is back! After a long hiatus, Sina is joined by TGT stalwarts Nora, Alex, Adnan, and Lara. Video edition coming soon! Fundraisers Mohammed's family has been ordered to evacuate for the fourth time. Please consider donating to his campaign https://chuffed.org/project/120676-mohammed-from-gaza The Sameer Project https://chuffed.org/project/113222-tent-campaign-the-sameer-project Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Jul 6, 2025 • 1h 18min
Psyhclib#6: Iran vs. "Israel" - Weakness is strength w/ Sina Rahmani
***I was invited by the good people at Resistance is Fertile to talk about 12-day-war. ** In this episode, Sacha and Benji welcome Sina Rahmani to analyze the recent 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel. They discuss the implications of the attacks, the psychological impact on both nations, and the broader geopolitical stakes involving external actors like China and Pakistan. The conversation delves into the strengths and weaknesses revealed on both sides, the significance of Iran’s capacity to retaliate, and the ongoing narrative wars shaping public perception. Tune in for an in-depth exploration of this complex and evolving situation. Watch the video edition on The Resistance is Fertile YouTube channel Sina's channel: / @theeastisapodcast On Twitter: https://x.com/UrOrientalist If you are on Twitter, please tell @teamyoutube to reinstate the "benjischoendorff" channel! Don't give us any money! Give instead toward Gaza reconstruction, for example, https://x.com/munigaza Or help Gazans provide essential services to Gazans with the Sameer Project: https://chuffed.org/project/113222-te... or https://doctorsagainstgenocide.org/no... Or contribute to Benji's chuffed appeal for Omar and his family of seven in Gaza: https://chuffed.org/project/133857-he... And for Ibrahim, his pregnant wife, 6 mo baby and extended family! https://chuffed.org/project/134655-he... RIF Linktree https://linktr.ee/resistanceisfertile

Jul 1, 2025 • 1h 18min
F*ck ICE, Free Gaza! w/ Abraham Marquez
Longtime friend of the show Aalex Aviña (@Alexander_Avina) returns to guest host an episode with journalist Abraham Marquez (@abemarquez3) about the recent intensification of the war on racialized communities and undocumented people. Check out Abraham's article, "Paramount and Compton rise up for undocumented workers" on his Substack Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Jun 25, 2025 • 50min
Becoming a critical thinker & an anti-imperialist writer w/ Louis Allday
Longtime friend of the show and frequent guest host Louis Allday (@Louis_Allday) was invited to Iran for an international media conference hosted by Press TV. Watch the full episode on Press TV website https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/06/01/749030/Becoming-a-Critical-Thinker-&-an-Anti-Imperialist-Writer Check out Liberated Texts

Jun 17, 2025 • 1h 51min
Looking into the Abyss: ZioAmerica, Iran, and the Struggle for a Human Future w/ David Yaghoubian and Sina Rahmani
**Adnan invited me on his show to record on the latest development. We went for so long, I was eventually out of words!* Adnan convenes an emergency panel to discuss and analyze the recent Israeli-US attack on Iran, its implications for Iran, the region and the world. Prof. David Yaghoubian (CSU-San Bernardino) and Sina Rahmani (East is a Podcast) share their insights and reflections along with passionate and deeply committed analysis about the place of Iran as the frontline state fighting for a sovereign future against Western imperial hegemony. Watch the episode on our YouTube channel Co-published on The East is a Podcast Like, subscribe, share! X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com YouTube @adnanhusainshow www.adnanhusain.org Support the show on Patreon if you can! www.patreon.com/adnanhusain

May 31, 2025 • 1h 18min
Palestine and the World: Emancipation and the Minority Question, 1789-1923
**Producer's note: This is the second episode of "Palestine and the World: History in a Time of Genocide (Denial)," a 7-part series Adnan recorded for his podcast, The Adnan Husain Show with his colleague Dr. Ariel Salzmann. All 7 parts are available right to patrons of his show and will be released individually on the free feed over the next 5 weeks. Subscribe to his show on your podcast app or watch the episode on YouTube channel linked below** Part 2 of Palestine and the World: History in a Time of Genocide (Denial). In this episode Dr. Ariel Salzmann takes a global perspective on the failures of emancipation and liberation in the "long 19th century" from the promise of universal rights in the republican revolution in France and its continual subversion and violent suppression of resistance. The promise of emancipation from slavery, colonization, class oppression, patriarchy, minorities under nationalism, and antisemitism in Europe was systematically derailed. This process historically and its contradictions had important consequences on the shape of resistance globally and on Jewish nationalism. "The Minority Question" in the older empires, especially in the Ottoman Empire, becomes the frame for Dr. Salzmann's analysis of the fateful consequences for the Middle East. Watch the episode on our YouTube channel Like, subscribe, share and support (if you can!): www.patreon.com/adnanhusain @adnanahusain on X adnanahusain.substack.com www.youtube.com/adnanahusain786 www.adnanhusain.org