

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

May 25, 2025 • 1h 2min
The humble olive w/ Robert Massoud
Robert Massoud is the founder of Zatoun, which bottles and distributes olive oil from Palestine to North America. He also ran Beit Zatoun House, a cultural centre and meeting place in downtown Toronto for many years. Zatoun is a grassroots, volunteer-powered initiative launched in 2004. As North America's longest-standing source for fair trade Palestinian olive oil, Zatoun uses this essential staple as a symbol of solidarity, resilience, and cultural connection. The organization not only helps Palestinian farmers earn a livelihood under challenging conditions, but also sparks meaningful dialogue across continents. Zatoun is behind impactful projects like Trees for Palestine, which plants 10,000s olive trees each year in Palestine, and Project Hope, offering creative arts therapy to children in refugee camps. Since its inception, Zatoun has invested close to $600,000 into these efforts, blending advocacy with practical support for communities living under occupation. Check out this 4-part radio documentary. The Beit Zatoun legacy site offers event archives using the Wayback Machine and media articles. Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

May 21, 2025 • 1h 40min
Tankie Group Therapy #32: The West is not worth saving
Tankie Groupy Therapy is back! A lively, "dudes rock" episode featuring: Alex, Joe, Sina, Adnan, and our newest member, Jay Ware from Millennials are Killing Capitalism Check out Adnan's conversation with Alana Lentin on his new podcast Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Fundraisers Mohammed's campaign has languished since the amazing boost he received last month. Please consider supporting him or his brother's fundraiser https://chuffed.org/project/120676-mohammed-from-gaza Consider supporting his brother's campaign as well https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ameer-and-his-family-rebuild-their-lives Support 'Mahmoud Khalil Center for Children in Northern Gaza https://www.chuffed.org/project/128465-help-bring-life-back-to-a-neighborhood-in-gaza The Sameer Project https://chuffed.org/project/113222-tent-campaign-the-sameer-project

May 18, 2025 • 1h 7min
Alex Aviña: "Ayotzinapa and Palestine: Global Laboratories of Repression"
Comrade and longtime friend of the show Alex Aviña recently gave a lecture the seminar "Global Laboratories of Repression, Global Visions of Liberation" and the organizers have kindly shared the audio for listeners of the show!

May 6, 2025 • 1h 43min
Fascism has no ethnicity: a forum on the Ziofash ascendency
**Note: This extra-long conversation continued for another 25 mins, which has been posted for Patrons of the show.** A very special episode featuring comrades and former guests of the show: Nora Barrows-Friedman from El, writer Morgan Artyukhina, filmmaker Dror Dayan, and Adam Horowitz from Mondoweiss Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Apr 30, 2025 • 1h 38min
Is your Rage Pure Enough? w/Sina Rahmani - Psychlib ep.5
*I was invited to the Psychlib podcast to discuss the power of rage and it resulted in ~90 mins of mostly me ranting* In this wide-ranging and wide-ranting discussion, Sina, Sacha and Benji explore the psychological clay feet of the dying white empire. We explore the entanglement of settler colonies and how they can't genocide their way to victory over the rest of the world. We look at the psychological protective and mobilizing role of rage. If, like us, you consider that ranting Sina is peak Sina, you'll enjoy this episode! Watch the video on their YouTube channel

8 snips
Apr 25, 2025 • 1h 12min
Syncretic imperialism: A forum on Spanish imperialism in Latin America
A forum exploring some of the characteristics of Spanish imperialism in Latin America featuring comrade Alex Aviña, and co-hosts of Kuskalla podcast, Yojana Miraya Oscco and Renzo Aroni Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Apr 16, 2025 • 2h 38min
Is the Apocalypse Avoidable? Are We Headed for World War 3? w/ Sina Rahmani
*I recently did two very long livestreams with friend of the show and comrade Jared Ware from Millenials are Killing Capitalism. I didn't want to subject all of you on the free feed to almost six hours of mostly Sina yeling so I put one of our conversations behind the paywall. You can watch that episode linked below* Back by popular demand. Sina Rahmani will return to the show to discuss whether we are in the early days of World War 3. Has it been "quietly" raging for a few years now? Are such questions hyperbolic or alarmist by nature? What possible futures actually await us in an era of extreme violence and geopolitical fluctuation? In particular, we will discuss the possibility of a US-Israeli detente with Iran, the continuation of hybrid war, or the escalation to a more direct hot war. How does the "trade war" with China figure into this? Check out Friday's discussion if you missed it. Because 3 hours is a long conversation, we included "key moments" in the show description so you can navigate to specific parts if you prefer: Support The Sameer Project - https://linktr.ee/thesameerproject Campaign for Ameer - https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ameer... Campaign for Mohammed - https://chuffed.org/project/120676-mo... Our BuyMeACoffee page: https://buymeacoffee.com/makcapitalism Subscribe to The East Is A Podcast on YT: / @theeastisapodcast Their podcast feed: https://eastisapodcast.libsyn.com/ Support The East Is A Podcast Here: / east_podcast Support MAKC Here:

Mar 27, 2025 • 1h 28min
Team Barbarism is winning!
*Producer's note: This episode begins with a request to help my friend Mohammed in Gaza. Please consider supporting Mohammed's fundraiser to support his family in their efforts to survive the genocide. As I explain in the episode, Mohammed's family has been displaced 5 times, most recently 10 days ago! Any sized donation is welcome!* Prof. Adnan Husain hosts a conversation with Nora Barrrows Friedman (@norabf), Alex Aviña (@Alexander_Avina), and Sina Rahmani (@UrOrientalist) about the increasingly violent and dangerous turn of events both in the imperial core and West Asia. *Co-published with The Adnan Husain Show* Watch the video edition on Adnan's YouTube channel Check out Adnan's video series on Ramadan and fasting 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

Mar 19, 2025 • 1h 16min
Tankie Group Therapy #31: This is what imperial decline looks like
**Note: We recorded this episode on Sunday afternoon, one day before the Ziofash Entity committed a heinous massacre and ended their ceasefire pretense.** After a brief hiatus, the Tankie Group Therapy crew (Sina, Alex, Nora, Mikey, Louis, Joe) reunite to discuss the ongoing genocide in Palestine and beyond. Video edition available here Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Mar 9, 2025 • 1h 16min
Why we write w/ Mary Turfah and Taylor Miller
Friend of the show Alex Avina returns to guesthost a conversation about writing and resistance with Mary Turfah and Taylor Miller. Check out some of their recent work below: "Against These Walls: A Unity of Struggle from Gaza to Sonora" Taylor Miller "Peace From Our Point of View" Mary Turfah "Points of Entry" Mary Turfah "Silicon Wadi, Silicon Desert" Taylor Miller Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/2XEPGfRF5-4 Bonus episode available now! Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast