The Fire These Times

The Fire These Times is expanding into a network of autonomous, decentralized projects and podcasts from the periphery. The first new addition to this media ecosystem is Politically Depressed, a new weekly, blog-style podcast by Lebanese writer and organizer Ayman Makarem. We've compiled the first 4 episodes of Politically Depressed into this compilation (with time codes below). If you enjoy this podcast, please consider following and rating it on whatever podcast app you use. Stay tuned to hear about the many other projects and podcasts we have lined up! Time codes: 1:40 - Episode 1: Introductions 19:18 - Episode 2: Israel Attacks Beirut 48:45 - Episode 3: Genocide Golden Globes 1:11:25 - Episode 4: Sanity or Humanity --- The best way to support Politically Depressed and The Fire These Times is through ⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠⁠. The other best way is to leave a review about Politically Depressed and The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. Please do this if you haven't already. It makes a huge difference to our visibility. And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about Politically Depressed and The Fire These Times.

For episode 149, Joey sat down with Karena Avedissian and Anna, TFTT returnees and co-hosts of Obscuristan, a podcast which is soon joining the broader network (whaaat? - We talk about that at the beginning of the episode). We talked about Azerbaijan hosting COP29 next year, the global climate conference, and why it might be a problem for a petro-dictatorship to host a climate conference. We discussed how Azerbaijan is trying to greenwash its recent genocide of the Armenians of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh by claiming the area, devoid of its human population, has now achieved net-zero (yes, we're not joking). We also talked more broadly about the Armenian struggle for justice and what we might learn from the Palestinian one. You'll also hear Joey's exclusive, world-premiere take on Aliyev's ridiculous mustache. -- The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠. The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. Please do this if you haven't already. It makes a huge difference to our visibility. And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times. -- Links Learn For Artsakh on Instagram Azerbaijan presents green energy potential of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur at COP28 in Dubai (Archived link) Augmented Azerbaijan? The return of Azerbaijani irredentism by Laurence Broers Don’t water it down: The role of water security in the Armenia-Azerbaijan war by Nareg Kuyumjian The Azerbaijan pavilion at COP28 in Dubai (Archived link) Nvard Yerkanian: They Came With Peace Wikipedia overview of COP28 -- Episode Credits Hosts: Joey Ayoub, Karena Avedissian and AnnaProducer: Joey AyoubMusic: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠Sound editor: Joey AyoubEpisode design: Joey Ayoub

For episode 148, Dana El Kurd and Joey Ayoub are joined by Diana Greenwald and Alexei Abrahams to talk about seen and unseen violence in Israel-Palestine. They explore the many forms of violence of the Israeli occupation that led to the October 7 massacre and the brutal Israeli response in Gaza. What is kinetic violence? What is structural violence? And how do these two differ? Diana is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at The City University of New York. Her research  focuses on the politics of the Middle East, nationalism, conflict, and  state-building. She obtained her Ph.D. in political science from the  University of Michigan in 2017. From 2017-8, she was Postdoctoral  Research Fellow at the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy  School. Her current book manuscript examines Palestinian local politics  under Israeli occupation. This project draws on elite interviews and  local data on policing and taxation collected in the West Bank between  2014 to 2019. Alexei leads the digital trace team at the Canadian Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO), McGill University. He is the author of a forthcoming book, Social Media Observatory (No Starch Press, 2024), on how to code full-stack web applications for public interest research on contemporary political discourse. He's also the author of "Seeing absence and all its instruments: How decontextualization of kinetic violence undermines our understanding of the Israel-Palestine Conflict." The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠. The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times. Episode Credits Host: Joey Ayoub Producer: Ayman Makarem Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠ Sound editor: Ayman Makarem Episode design: Joey Ayoub

This is an episode that Joey recorded a few months ago. We're releasing it now to take a bit of a break from our exploration of Israel-Palestine and because Solarpunk is how at least one of us, Joey, tries to create hope where none exists.  This episode was recorded after the four of us - Joey, Ariel Kroon, Luka Dowell and Andre aka @HydroponicTrash took part in the Solarpunk conference.  Solarpunk has an eye to a better future, but how do we get there? What is necessary for us to do, and how can we think differently, in order to make this better future possible? We focus on the relationship between speculative fiction, dual power, world-building, and political action. The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠⁠. The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times. Episode Credits Host: Joey Ayoub Producer: Artin Salimi Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠ Sound editor: Artin Salimi Episode design: Joey Ayoub Links: https://anarchosolarpunk.substack.com Hydroponic Trash on TikTok Solarpunk Now! Solarpunk Presents

In this remastered release, Joey Ayoub is joined by Sumaya Awad and Shireen Akram-Boshar. Awad is a co-editor of the book Palestine: A Socialist Introduction, and Akram-Boshar is a contributor to the same book. Originally released on May 20th 2021, this episode has been remastered and re-released. Many of the topics discussed - including the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the growing solidarity movements around the globe, the Palestinian struggle for liberation - all resonate in today’s context. This episode serves as a reminder that the recent escalation in Palestine has origins well before Oct 7 and that calls to end Israel’s genocide are growing louder and louder.  Recommendations: Shireen: Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement Paperback by Angela Davis The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire by Deepa Kumar A Woman in the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolution by Samar Yazbeck Sumaya: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy Smiley’s People by John le Carré Movies: Qafr Kassem by Borhan Alaouié The Feeling of Being Watched by Assia Boundaoui The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠. The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times. Episode Credits Host: Joey Ayoub Producer: Ayman Makarem Music: Rap and Revenge Main theme design: Wenyi Geng Sound editor: Ayman Makarem Episode design: Joey Ayoub

In episode 146, Joey Ayoub and Dana El-Kurd talk to Sally Abed, Orly Noy and Amjad Iraqi. Abed is a member of the national leadership of Standing Together (עומדים ביחד نقف معًا), a grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace, equality, and social and climate justice. Orly Noy is the chair of B'Tselem, arguably Israel's most well-known human rights NGO, and editor of the Hebrew-language news magazine Local Call. Amjad Iraqi is a member of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, an editor and writer at +972 Magazine, and previously an advocacy coordinator at Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. In this wide-ranging conversation, the hosts and guests spoke about the current state of Israel's political landscape, from its ongoing "Smotrichization" to the political crackdowns, from the normalization of genocidal rhetoric against Palestinians to the necessity of being "chronically optimistic" to push for change in Israel-Palestine. At a time when Netanyahu and the Israeli far-right have effectively taken over politics, and with so many self-described liberals joining in the calls for violence, principled left-wing voices seem all but gone in Israel. Finally, each guest shares their personal theory of change, offering a glimpse into their vision for the future.  These episodes are intended to be evergreen conversations. If you're interested in resources dedicated to real-time information, you can follow us on Instagram where we amplify voices on the ground in Palestine-Israel. The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠. The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times.

Daniel and Joey host a conversation between Hadar Cohen and Dahab Kashi, exploring the radical power of Arab Jewish perspectives. Often seen as mutually exclusive identities, the existence and experience of Arab Jews transcends the narrow, and violent, confines of both Zionism and Arab Nationalism. The artist Yossi Zabari spoke about the power of the 'hyphen connecting Arab and Jew', and in this episode we explore the potential that acknowledging that hyphen has in our current critical moment. The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠. The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times.   Credits: Host: Daniel Voskoboynik and Joey Ayoub Producer: Ayman Makarem Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Main theme design: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠ Sound editor: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Ayman Makarem Episode design: Joey Ayoub

In light of the genocidal onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza following the October 7th Hamas attack, we've decided to re-release an old episode on Hamas, Gaza, and Palestine-Israel. In this episode from June 2021, Joey interviews Tareq Baconi, author of the book "Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance" published in 2018. Baconi meticulously outlines the nature of Israel's blockade on Gaza, the various aspects of Palestinian resistance to ongoing occupation, and contextualizes Hamas's role, structure, and motives within this wider social and political struggle. The audio is remastered and includes a new introduction by Joey that situates this conversation in the post Oct 7th reality. Episode Credits Host: Joey AyoubProducer: Ayman MakaremMusic: Rap and RevengeMain theme design: Wenyi GengSound editor: Ayman MakaremEpisode design: Joey Ayoub

For episode 144, Daniel is joined by renowned Sudanese Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im for a wide-ranging conversation on human rights, spirituality, and inter-cultural justice. Professor An-Na’im is an internationally recognized scholar of Islam and human rights, specifically from cross-cultural perspectives, and teaches courses in international law, comparative law, human rights, and Islamic law. With intensifying human rights violations around the world, and longstanding failures from international bodies to curtail state and corporate impunity, how do we understand protecting human rights today? Abdullahi brings decades of experience as an activist, scholar and jurist to the table, drawing on cross-cultural prisms and critical religious thought. Mentions The works of Ustaz Mahmoud Taha: Brief Bio of Ustaz Mahmoud Taha Second Message of Islam, The – Syracuse University Press Books by Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im: Decolonizing Human Rights Islam and the Secular State — Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im | Harvard University Press The best way to support The Fire These Times is through ⁠Patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠. The other best way is to leave a review about The Fire These Times wherever you listen to podcasts. And the other other best way is to tell your friends and enemies about The Fire These Times. Contact You can follow The Fire These Times on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can follow Daniel on: Website | Twitter | Instagram Credits Host: Daniel VoskoboynikProducer: Ayman MakaremMusic: Rap and RevengeMain theme design: Wenyi GengSound editor: Ayman MakaremEpisode design: Joey Ayoub

A roundtable discussion on Israel-Palestine featuring Dana El Kurd, Orly Noy, and Yair Wallach. They explore themes of grief, thinking through the current moment, and potential solutions. The Israeli response and repression, personal experiences of fear and grief, sustainability of the Israeli model, building solidarity, and the limitations of political institutions are discussed.