The Fire These Times

Guests Musa Okwonga and Justin Salhani discuss the impact of Twitter on society, including addiction, lack of transparency, and mental health. They explore the role of race and identity in online discussions, frustrations with Twitter's current state, and the manipulation of bad faith actors. They also highlight the importance of physical spaces and the significance of websites and multiple platforms for journalists.

The Fire These Times is fundraising for Queer Mutual Aid Lebanon! Here to talk to us about their work, queer mutual aid in Lebanon and why they started working after the October 2019 uprising and the 2020 crises (Covid-19, August 4 explosion, economic crisis and more) is repeated guest and buddy-in-chief Ayman Makarem. To support them: ● Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/qmalebanon ● Paypal: @qmalebanon About Queer Mutual Aid Lebanon: We are a small grassroots group of queer/trans people in Lebanon working to secure material support for other queer/trans individuals facing homelessness through mutual aid and community-building. Our work is only possible through consistent support from friends and allies. We run two main programs: a sustainable housing program, and an emergency cash program. Through the sustainable housing program, we intentionally want to move away from one-off payments that do not allow people to plan ahead, and into sustainable monthly payments that can contribute to their long-term safety. Thus, we support around 15 queer/trans individuals in Lebanon with monthly payments of approx. $150/month over a long-term period until they feel they are no longer at direct risk of homelessness or other emergency situations. Members of our group and the people we support are constantly approached by others facing emergency situations. Depending on donations, we are also able to provide emergency cash payments for temporary shelter and/or medical needs. Emergency payments range between $100 to $900, depending on our current budget and the person’s needs. This has been particularly helpful for trans people who were survivors of assault, recently evicted, and/or needing emergency life-sustaining medical procedures. So far, more than 35 people have benefited from this program. What we need You can help sustain our work and help our group stay viable through a monthly donation, or by sharing this with your trusted friends who might be able to help. We're using this Patreon to supplement our routine fundraising efforts (which we usually do through our individual Instagram pages) with something more sustainable. If you'd like to reach us, feel free to send a message through the email below. More about us We want to build a network of mutual support for queer people that works outside traditional modalities of humanitarian aid and emphasizes radical care and practical solidarity. Our group is one of few in Lebanon to explicitly adopt a mutual aid philosophy and we put a lot of effort into integrating mutual aid concepts and dynamics in our feminist and queer practices. Since 2020, as a grassroots group, we’ve taken the time to build a relatively solid structure that allows us to maintain and work through tough situations facing others in our network. We do not operate based on an identity politics framework, nor do we exclude people from our group based on identity. However, this group started by working with and for other working class trans people in our community and it then grew from there. We are constantly learning as we go, and were able to establish a minimum groundwork that allows us to carry out emergency work that other bigger organizations are unable, or unwilling, to do. Given the economic violence in Lebanon, the most pressing needs people are facing are financial, but our group is also focused on providing non-material forms of support as we try to contribute to building a community rooted in political solidarity and economic justice. For inquiries, one-time donations, or if it is cheaper/easier for you to donate through other means (bank transfer, MoneyGram, cash payments, etc.), please get in touch with us on queermutualaidlebanon@protonmail.com

I'm joined again by friend of the pod Dana El Kurd, a Palestinian researcher who specializes in Comparative Politics and International Relations. We talked about Nakba Day (May 15), about the importance of reflecting on the past while also trying to plan for the future, and how we can commemorate the Nakba by building bonds across nations and struggles. This is also the first episode released on a Tuesday! Episodes will from now on be released on Tuesdays and/or Thursday with the long-term goal being two episodes a week. To support this project, keep on reading! You can support The Fire These Times on ⁠patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠ with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more. Mentions and Book Recommendations: The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by Timothy Snyder Yellow Star, Red Star: Holocaust Remembrance after Communism by Jelena Subotić Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices by Ella Shohat Credits: Host: Joey Ayoub Producer: Joey Ayoub Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠ Sound editor: Joey AyoubEpisode design: Joey Ayoub Pluggables: The best way to keep up to date is through the website ⁠thefirethesetimes.com⁠ or through ⁠patreon⁠. I occasionally post on ⁠Mastodon⁠ and friends of the pod occasionally post on ⁠Twitter⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠. The newsletter will be available on ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.com⁠ and ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.substack.com⁠ as well.

I'm joined again by friends of the pod Ukrainian researcher Mariam Naiem and journalist Romeo Kokriatski to talk about why Ukrainians understood very quickly what's at stake, how war leads to frozen temporalities, and why Russia is so obsessed with kidnapping Ukrainian children (which, by the way, is a war crime). Slava Ukraini! You can support The Fire These Times on ⁠patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠ with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more. Mentions and Book Recommendations: Kobzar by Taras Shevchenko Love in Defiance of Pain: Ukrainian Stories by Ali Kinsella, Zenia Tompkins and Ross Ufberg Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder Credits: Host: Joey Ayoub Producer: Joey Ayoub Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠ Sound editor: Artin Salimi Episode design: Joey Ayoub Pluggables: The best way to keep up to date is through the website ⁠thefirethesetimes.com⁠ or through ⁠patreon⁠. I occasionally post on ⁠Mastodon⁠ and friends of the pod occasionally post on ⁠Twitter⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠. The newsletter will be available on ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.com⁠ and ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.substack.com⁠ as well.

I'm very excited to share with you this conversation I had with Christina Heatherton, the author of "Arise! Global Radicalism in the Era of the Mexican Revolution", alongside friend of the pod Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik who joined us as co-host.  The Mexican Revolution was a global event that catalyzed international radicals in unexpected sites and struggles. Tracing the paths of figures like Black American artist Elizabeth Catlett, Indian anti-colonial activist M.N. Roy, Mexican revolutionary leader Ricardo Flores Magón, Okinawan migrant organizer Paul Shinsei Kōchi, and Soviet feminist Alexandra Kollontai, Arise! reveals how activists around the world found inspiration and solidarity in revolutionary Mexico. From art collectives and farm worker strikes to prison "universities," Arise! reconstructs how this era's radical organizers found new ways to fight global capitalism. Drawing on prison records, surveillance data, memoirs, oral  histories, visual art, and a rich trove of untapped sources, Christina Heatherton considers how disparate revolutionary traditions merged in  unanticipated alliances. From her unique vantage point, she charts the remarkable impact of the Mexican Revolution as radicals in this critical era forged an anti-racist internationalism from below. You can support The Fire These Times on ⁠patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠ with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more. Mentions and Book Recommendations: Dark Sweat, White Gold: California Farm Workers, Cotton, and the New Deal by Debra Weber Pancho Villa: A Narrative Biography by Paco Ignacio Talbo Revolution and Disenchantment: Arab Marxism and the Binds of Emancipation by Fadi A. Bardawil Credits: Host: Joey Ayoub Producer: Joey Ayoub Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠ Sound editor: Artin Salimi Episode design: Joey Ayoub Pluggables: The best way to keep up to date is through the website ⁠thefirethesetimes.com⁠ or through ⁠patreon⁠. I occasionally post on ⁠Mastodon⁠ and friends of the pod occasionally post on ⁠Twitter⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠. The newsletter will be available on ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.com⁠ and ⁠www.thefirethesetimes.substack.com⁠ as well.

In which I sat down with friend of the pod Lebanese writer Ayman Makarem for the first ever premium episode. This was first recorded for Patreons in February 2023 and I'm now releasing it to the wider public. What made Seinfeld so special to Ayman as a queer kid from Lebanon? And what is it like to watch shows that don't have you in mind as their target audience? You can support The Fire These Times on ⁠patreon.com/firethesetimes⁠ with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive audio and video episodes, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more. For feedback, questions, comments and whatnot: contact@thefirethesetimes.com Mentions and Book Recommendations: Ayman's: Out of Place: A Memoir by Edward Said (book) First season of Rami (series) Wajib by Annemarie Jacir (film) Guapa by Saleem Haddad (previous guest of the pod) Beer in the Snooker Club by Waguih Ghali Scheherazade Goes West by Fatema Mernissi Joey's: Let's talk about myths, baby! (podcast) Witch, Please (podcast) Comedy Against Work: Utopian Longing in Dystopian Times by Srsly Wrong (podcast) Circe by Madeline Miller Check out Ayman's project ⁠Bizri#5⁠ and his comic series with Hisham Rifai for Unicorn Riot: ⁠Revolution in Every Country Comic Series: Episode 1 – Syria: Erasing an Inconvenient Revolution⁠ ⁠Revolution in Every Country Comic Series: Episode 2 – Sudan: Building Power from Below⁠ Credits: Host: Joey Ayoub Producer: Joey Ayoub Music: ⁠Rap and Revenge⁠ Main theme design: ⁠Wenyi Geng⁠ Sound editor: Joey Ayoub Episode design: Joey Ayoub Pluggables: The best way to keep up to date is through the website thefirethesetimes.com or through patreon. I occasionally post on Mastodon and friends of the pod occasionally post on Twitter and Instagram. The newsletter will be available on thefirethesetimes.com and www.thefirethesetimes.substack.com as well.

In which I sat down with my buds Leila Al-Shami and Shon Meckfessel to talk about how and why a bunch of fascists became fans of everyone's favorite genocidal mass murdering dictator, Bashar (يلعن روحك يا) Assad, who was recently voted most likely to end up like Mussolini by I-just-made-it-up magazine. Leila, a recurring guest, is the co-author of Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War and, together with Shon, she co-wrote the chapter of No Pasarán: Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis (edited by Shane Burley, also a previous guest of the pod) on this topic. You can also check out Mariam Elba's excellent 2017 piece on this issue for The Intercept. Shon is also the author of "Suffled How It Gush: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans" and "Nonviolence Ain't What It Used To Be: Unarmed Insurrection and the Rhetoric of Resistance." Aaaand check out Bizri#6! Kind reminder that the best way to support this podcast is by Mussolini-ying Bashar. The second best way? you can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more. Credits: Host: Joey AyoubProducer: Joey AyoubMusic: Rap and RevengeMain theme design: Wenyi GengSound editor: Artin SalimiEpisode design: Joey Ayoub Pluggables: The best way to keep up to date is through the website thefirethesetimes.com or through patreon. I occasionally post on Mastodon and friends of the pod occasionally post on Twitter and Instagram. The newsletter will be available on www.thefirethesetimes.com and www.thefirethesetimes.substack.com as well.

This is a conversation with Thenmozhi Soundararajan, the author of 'The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing and Abolution'. She is a Dalit American commentator on religion, race, caste, gender, technology and justice. She is also the Executive Director of Equality Labs. We were joined by my friends Rhythima Shinde (who is also Dalit) and Vivek Ramachandran. They both read the book and helped me greatly in the research for this episode, so during one of our chats I asked if they can come on and they gracefully agreed. The result was amazing, as I think you'll agree. Blog post: https://thefirethesetimes.com/2023/03/31/podcast-overcoming-the-trauma-of-caste-w-thenmozhi-soundararajan-rhythima-shinde-and-vivek-ramachandran/ You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more. Mentions and Book Recommendations: Debhrahmanising History: Dominance & Resistance in Indian Society by Braj Ranjan Mani Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem The Conspirituality podcast Credits: Host: Joey AyoubProducer: Joey AyoubMusic: Rap and RevengeMain theme design: Wenyi GengSound editor: Ibrahim YoussefEpisode design: Joey Ayoub Pluggables: The best way to keep up to date is through the website thefirethesetimes.com or through patreon. I occasionally post on Mastodon and friends of the pod occasionally post on Twitter and Instagram. The newsletter will be available on www.thefirethesetimes.com as well.

This is a conversation with carla joy bergman, the editor of the excellent book "Trust Kids!: Stories on Youth Autonomy and Confronting Adult Supremacy" and co-author of the equally excellent book "Joyful Militancy: Building Thriving Resistance in Toxic Times", both published by AK Press. She's also the co-host of the Grounded Futures podcast alongside her son Uilliam Joy. Make sure to check them out! As the title suggests, we focused on youth autonomy. What does it mean? How is it integral to structures of power and oppression, and how can we challenge it? Why are children so routinely undervalued while also always spoken for? You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more. Mentions and Book Recommendations: Earthsea by Ursula K LeGuin Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki The Mushishi series by Yuki Urushibara ----- Host: Joey Ayoub Producer: Joey Ayoub Music: Rap and Revenge Main theme design: Wenyi Geng Sound editor: Artin Salimi Episode design: Joey Ayoub ---- You can also follow updates on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website The newsletter is available on Substack

This is a conversation with Yafa El Masri, a Palestinian refugee researcher who grew up in Burj El Barajneh in Beirut, Lebanon. She's currently finishing her PhD at the University of Padova in Italy. We primarily spoke about her paper "72 Years of Homemaking in Waiting Zones: Lebanon's “Permanently Temporary” Palestinian Refugee Camps" which she presented at the 2022 Pluriverse of Eco-social Justice summer school in Coimbra, Portugal, where we met. ---- We spoke about: what it's like to find and build a home in a space that is 'supposed' to be temporary but is not Lebanon's most vulnerable people coming together during the Covid pandemic and finding access to care in Palestinian refugee camps anti-Palestinian discrimination in Lebanon about the impact of Lebanon's broader anti-refugee politics through a (James) Baldwinian understanding of 'the Other' about the ongoing crisis in Lebanon and more ---- You can support The Fire These Times on patreon.com/firethesetimes with a monthly or yearly donation and get a lot of perks including early access, exclusive videos, monthly hangouts, access to the book club, merch and more. ---- Mentions and Book Recommendations: A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Sornit Eleven Lives: Stories from Palestinian Exiles edited by Muhammad Ali Khalidi The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You by Dina Nayeri Placeless People: Writings, Rights, and Refugees by Lyndsey Stonebridge Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Sornit ----- Host: Joey Ayoub Producer: Joey Ayoub Music: Rap and Revenge Main theme design: Wenyi Geng Sound editor: Ibrahim Youssef Episode design: Joey Ayoub ---- You can also follow updates on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Website & Mailing List Joey Ayoub can be found on Mastodon | Twitter | Instagram | Website The newsletter is available on Substack