The Fire These Times

Joey is joined by French economist and researcher Timothée Parrique and Lebanese researcher Yusra Bitar to talk about why tackling our world's most pressing challenges must include conversations around degrowth. Timothée Parrique is a researcher at the School of Economics and Management of Lund University (Sweden) and is the lead author of “Decoupling debunked – Evidence and arguments against green growth” (2019), a report published by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB). He is also author of Ralentir ou périr. L’économie de la décroissance (September 2022, Seuil), a wide-audience book adaptation of his PhD dissertation. Yusra Bitar is the Lebanon Research Fellow with the Environmental Politics program at the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI). Yusra and Joey are also both Fellows of the Post Growth Institute (2022 and 2023 respectively). 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 journey through Misarchy: An essay to rebuild everything by Emmanuel Dockès The Future is Degrowth: A Guide to a World Beyond Capitalism by Matthias Schmelzer, Andrea Vetter, Aaron Vansintjan Less is More: How Degrowth will Save the World by Jason Hickel Contact You can follow The Fire These Times on: ⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠ You can follow Joey on: ⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Mastodon⁠⁠⁠, or reach out to him via email at ⁠⁠⁠contact@thefirethesetimes.com⁠ You can follow Timothée on Website | Twitter | Instagram | Mastodon Credits: Host: Joey Ayoub Producer: Joey Ayoub Music: ⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge Main theme design: ⁠⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠⁠ Sound editor: ⁠⁠Artin Salimi Episode design: Joey Ayoub

Joey is joined by Leila Al-Shami, British-Syrian activist and co-author of Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War, Romeo Kokriatski, Ukrainian-American managing editor of The New Voice of Ukraine and co-host of the Ukraine Without Hype podcast, and Dana El Kurd, Palestinian-American assistant professor in the department of political science at the University of Richmond to talk about an essay the four of us wrote. The essay, "A view of anti-imperialism from the periphery," was published by the south/south movement as part of their south/south dialogues: Beyond the colonial vortex of the ‘West’: Subverting non-western imperialisms before and after 24 February 2022. I recommend giving it a read before listening, but this is not necessary. 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: Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge Too Like the Lightning Book I by Ada Palmer Commons journal, including the interviews with Joey Ayoub and Dana El Kurd Sumoud-Washing: A Queer-Feminist Analysis of the Syrian and Palestinian Struggle for Liberation by Nayrouz Abu Hatoum and Razan Ghazzawi Contact You can follow The Fire These Times on: ⁠⁠Website⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠ You can follow Joey on: ⁠⁠Website⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Mastodon⁠⁠, or reach out to him via email at ⁠⁠contact@thefirethesetimes.com⁠ You can follow Leila on: Website | Twitter | Bluesky | Mastodon You can follow Romeo on: Twitter | Bluesky You can follow Dana on: Website | Bluesky | Twitter Credits: Host: Joey Ayoub  Producer: Joey Ayoub  Music: ⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠ Main theme design: ⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠ Sound editor: ⁠Artin Salimi ⁠ Episode design: Joey Ayoub

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.