The Fire These Times

Sarah Hegazi was a queer Egyptian activist who was severely punished by the Sisi regime for waving a rainbow flag at the September 2017 Mashrou' Leila concert in Cairo. On the 14th of June, 4 years ago, Sarah died by suicide in exile in Canada. In this episode from September of that year, Hamed Sinno, lead singer of Mashrou Leila, reflects on her passing with Elia Ayoub. They also got into mental health, the port of Beirut explosion and what it was like to grow up queer in Lebanon. The best way to support The Fire These Times is to become a member of our Patreon. For only 5$ a month (and less if you pay yearly) you get perks such as early access, exclusive episodes, an invitation to our monthly hangout, upcoming book clubs, and more. You can also help a lot by leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Credits: Host(s): ⁠⁠Elia J. Ayoub⁠ Guest: ⁠⁠Hamed Sinno Music: ⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠⁠ Sound editor: Elliott Miskovicz Episode designer: ⁠⁠Elia J. Ayoub⁠⁠ (Artwork is from a Mashrou' Leila album) Team profile pics: ⁠⁠Molly Crabapple⁠ Original TFTT design: ⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠ TFTT Transcripts: ⁠⁠Antidotezine⁠

For episode 162, host Ayman Makarem is joined by two guests, Malek Rasamny and Matt Peterson, to talk about their 10-year long multi-media project 'The Native and the Refugee'. The three talk about the project, its many manifestations, its focus on settler colonialism as a framework, as well as the current genocidal situation unfolded in Gaza. They also talk about their film 'Spaces of Exception' (2018), which is currently being screened across the globe. Malek Rasamny is a documentary filmmaker, researcher and writer. He is currently working on a doctoral research project at Paris Nanterre University concerning the social phenomenon of reincarnation within the Druze community of Lebanon. Matt Peterson is an organizer at Woodbine, an experimental space in New York City. He previously directed the documentary feature Scenes from a Revolt Sustained (2015), and co-edited the books In the Name of the People (2018) and The Reservoir (2022). The best way to support The Fire These Times is to become a member of our Patreon. For only 5$ a month (and less if you pay yearly) you get perks such as early access, exclusive episodes, an invitation to our monthly hangout, upcoming book clubs, and more. You can also help a lot by leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Credits: Host: Ayman Makarem Producer: Ayman Makarem Guest(s): Malek Rasamny & Matt Peterson  Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Sound editor: Ayman Makarem Episode designer: Elia J. Ayoub Team profile pics: Molly Crabapple Original TFTT design: Wenyi Geng TFTT Transcripts: Antidotezine

Elia and Ayman talk about Gaza, and why this genocide changes everything. Demand a complete arms embargo on Israel immediately. Sanctions immediately. Cut off all diplomatic immediately. To hold Israel accountable for genocide means making them pay for reparations, sending its war criminals to The Hague, and conditioning going back to normal relations on the implementation of full rights to Palestinians. Due to the time-sensitive nature of this episode, it is being released for Patreons and for the general public at the same time. Palestine Children's Relief Fund: https://www.pcrf.net/ Credits: Host(s): Ayman Makarem and ⁠Elia J. Ayoub Producer: ⁠Elia J. Ayoub⁠ Music: ⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠ Sound editor: Elia J. Ayoub Episode designer: ⁠Elia J. Ayoub⁠ Team profile pics: ⁠Molly Crabapple Original TFTT design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠ TFTT Transcripts: ⁠Antidotezine

For episode 160, Dana El Kurd, Fabien Goa and Elia Ayoub are joined by Nikesh Shukla to discuss his book 'Brown Baby: A Memoir of Race, Family and Home' which the three of us read with Gaza on our mind (although it was written in 2021 and is not on Palestine). More broadly, we talked about what it's like to raise a brown kid in a world where racialized lives are easily disposable. On Brown Baby: From the editor of The Good Immigrant. We have to believe in hope in these dark uncertain times. Hope brings us together. How do you find hope and even joy in a world that is racist, sexist and facing climate crisis? How do you prepare your children for it, but also fill them with all the boundlessness and eccentricity that they deserve and that life has to offer? Nikesh Shukla explores themes of racism, feminism, parenting and our shifting ideas of home. This heartbreaking, compelling, intensely relatable memoir is a love letter to the author’s late mother – who passed away just before his eldest daughter was born – and to his two young daughters. In Brown Baby, Shukla examines, with humour and sharp, beautiful prose, how to raise the next generation with a sense of joy in an often bleak world. The best way to support The Fire These Times is to become a member of our Patreon. For only 5$ a month (and less if you pay yearly) you get perks such as early access, exclusive episodes, an invitation to our monthly hangout, upcoming book clubs, and more. You can also help a lot by leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Credits: Host(s): Dana El Kurd, Fabien Goa and Elia J. Ayoub Producer: Elia J. Ayoub Guest: Nikesh Shukla Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Sound editor: Mae-Li Evans (May-Lee) Episode designer: Elia J. Ayoub Team profile pics: Molly Crabapple Original TFTT design: Wenyi Geng TFTT Transcripts: Antidotezine

For Episode 159, Dana El Kurd and Elia Ayoub are joined by Ukrainian researcher Yuliia Kishchuk who signed the Ukrainian Letter of Solidarity with Palestinian people published on the Ukrainian journal Commons, a site that both Dana and Elia have also contributed to in the past. In this episode, they argue for Palestinian-Ukrainian solidarity and explore the obstacles preventing it from happening more broadly. 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. Further Reads: - “The right to resist.” A feminist manifesto by The Feminist Initiative Group - Cross-stitches that bind us together: on Ukrainian and Palestinian embroidery by Yuliia Kishchuk Credits: - Host(s): Dana El Kurd and Elia J. Ayoub - Producer: Elia J. Ayoub - Guest: Yuliia Kishchuk - Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ - Sound editor: Karena Avedissian - Episode designer: Elia J. Ayoub - Team profile pics: Molly Crabapple - Original TFTT design: Wenyi Geng - TFTT Transcripts: Antidotezine

For Episode 158, Elia Ayoub is joined by Lebanese journalist and friend of the pod Justin Salhani to talk about recent calls for and acts of violence by far right Lebanese Christians against Syrian refugees. In addition to giving context with regards to what's happening, they talk about Lebanon as a structurally violent state, one which has always scapegoated refugees, first Palestinians and now Syrians. The consequences of the ongoing calls for violence will be long-reaching and long-lasting, with government officials from multiple parties joining in the scapegoating party. The result has been an increasingly dangerous atmosphere for a population that is already amongst the most vulnerable ones. 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: Host(s): Elia J. Ayoub Producer: Elia J. Ayoub Guest: Justin Salhani Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Sound editor: Artin Salimi Episode designer: Elia J. Ayoub Team profile pics: Molly Crabapple Original TFTT design: Wenyi Geng TFTT Transcripts: Antidotezine

For episode 157, Elia Ayoub sits with Bill Fletcher Jr to talk about why downplaying authoritarianism is so dangerous, whether with regards to the upcoming US elections or even in organising spaces. We spoke about the US, Lebanon, Syria, Zimbabwe and more. Bill Fletcher Jr is a longtime USA-based labor and social justice activist who has worked for several unions and organizations. Fletcher is the former president of TransAfrica Forum; a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies; and in the leadership of several other projects. Fletcher is the co-author (with Peter Agard) of “The Indispensable Ally: Black Workers and the Formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, 1934-1941”; the co-author (with Dr. Fernando Gapasin) of “Solidarity Divided: The crisis in organized labor and a new path toward social justice“; and the author of “‘They’re Bankrupting Us’ – And Twenty other myths about unions.” Fletcher is a syndicated columnist and a regular media commentator on television, radio and the Web. 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: Host(s): Elia J. Ayoub Producer(s): Elia J. Ayoub Guest(s): Bill Fletcher Jr Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Sound editor(s): Elia J. Ayoub Episode designer(s): Elia J. Ayoub Team profile pics: Molly Crabapple Original TFTT design: Wenyi Geng

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

This is a compilation of 4 episodes of our new podcast Politically Depressed, created by writer and organizer Ayman Makarem. These are episodes 9-12 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 (It really makes a huge difference to our visibility.) Time codes: 00:00 - Episode 9: This Fire Will Consume You Too 20:20 - Episode 10: Do Protests Work? 41:45 - Episode 11: I Caught a Zionist Infiltrator at a Palestine Solidarity Protest 59:00 - Episode 12: Community of Grief w/ Lina Mounzer The best way to support Politically Depressed and The Fire These Times is through ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠⁠⁠. The other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about Politically Depressed and The Fire These Times.

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