habibti please

We know we all got to indulge in some laughs this week but it was also a reminder of the rising fascism we are witnessing globally and the need for popular education and movement building. For our first episode of 2021, we hope we do a bit of popular education as Nashwa sits down to chat with Marxist historian Vijay Prashad. Vijay is currently the director of Tricontinental which we hope people check out! We discuss his newest book Washington Bullets, popular education, the failed coup in Venezuela, Guantanamo Bay, cancel culture, and more.

If you want to support and unlock full length Habibti Please exclusives like this episode and post-show, please consider becoming a patron on Patreon or a paid Substack subscriber. We are a small team and it costs a bit to make this happen. We are happy to contribute to this passion project but we are also *so* grateful to anyone who is able to support us continuing to build content. 

Guest Information: 

Guest of the week: Vijay Prashad

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian and journalist. Prashad is a Marxist commentator and the author of thirty books, including Washington Bullets, Red Star Over the Third World, The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World and The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South. He is the Chief Correspondent for Globetrotter and a Columnist for Frontline (India). He is the Chief Editor of LeftWord Books (New Delhi). He has appeared in two films – Shadow World (2016) and Two Meetings (2017). He is currently the director of Tricontinental. You can buy his newest book here.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Nashwa Lina Khan and Johnny Zapras

Production Assistance by Andy Assaf, Kandeel Imran, and Raymond Khanano

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Nashwa and Ryan sit down with Niki Ashton, MP for Churchill–Keewatinook Aski. Together they explore the political landscape of the prairies and building a larger left in Canada. They also discuss the Regina Manifesto, the NDP’s labour origins, and current contradictions, and Ashton’s leadership run. International politics also gets some airtime, a favourite topic for Nashwa and Ryan. 

We are grateful to have local music for this episode from Bluebloods. The song is "Postcard from a Quarantined Miner in Flin Flon." Created just over 100 years after the Winnipeg General Strike and Spanish Flu Pandemic, the work draws parallels between today's crises and those of Manitoba's past, exploring the province's storied history as a site of labour unrest and how isolated rural communities have dealt with previous pandemics and epidemics. Incidentally, HudBay, Flin Flon's major employer, is now in the process of finalizing the closure of its mines, which will bring significant unemployment to the city. 

If you like the show and would like to see a specific politician interviewed please find us on social media and drop us a line! 

Guest Information:

Guest of the week: Niki Ashton

Niki was first elected as MP for Churchill–Keewatinook Aski in 2008 when she was 26, and lives in her hometown of Thompson. She serves as the NDP’s Critic for Transport, and Deputy Critic for Women and Gender Equality. Niki believes in true reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. She is proud to work to bring together Indigenous peoples, students, labour, the LGBTQI2S+ community, and women in the pursuit of justice. Niki is a strong voice in Ottawa for change because she’s unafraid of challenging the status quo. She’s fought hard to end crushing student debt, expand health care to include pharmacare and dental coverage, and protect the environment.

Find Niki online! 

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Additional music provided by: Bluebloods

Led by producer-songwriter Conrad Sweatman, Bluebloods makes electronic-inflected R&B music about the Canadian prairies and North American midwest. Bluebloods' debut album, Make It Rain, earned a four star review in the Winnipeg Free Press, which called it a "a profound statement of intent from an emerging artist whose work will soon be sought after" while Winnipeg's Stylus magazine called it "one of the most ambitious works of art to ambush the ears of our city." 

Find Bluebloods on Soundcloud, Facebook, Spotify, and their website. 

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Additional music provided by Bluebloods—find them on Soundcloud, Facebook, Spotify, and their website. 

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Nashwa Lina Khan and Johnny Zapras

Production Assistance by Raymond Khanano

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Ryan and Nashwa have a second chat with Leah Gazan, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre. They discuss Erin O’Toole’s egregious comments, Canada’s role and complicity in violence abroad, UNDRIP and the Medical Assistance in Dying Legislation. We also get an update on Motion 46.

Additional Resources:

Read the text of Motion 46 here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/leah-gazan(87121)/motions/10852236

Take action to support Motion 46 here

Guest Information:

Guest of the week: Leah Gazan 

Leah Gazan is the Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre. She is an educator by trade and has spent her life working for human rights on the local, national, and international stage. Gazan is the NDP Critic for Children, Families, and Social Development and recently introduced Bill C-232 The Climate Emergency Action Act and submitted Motion 46 to convert the Canada Emergency Response Benefit into a permanent Guaranteed Livable Basic Income. MP Gazan is a member of Wood Mountain Lakota Nation, located in Saskatchewan, Treaty 4 Territory.

Find Leah Gazan on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Andre Goulet, Nashwa Lina Khan and Johnny Zapras

Production Assistance by Raymond Khanano

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Nashwa sits down with two tenant organizers to discuss the eviction blitzes we are presently witnessing in Toronto. She’s joined with Johnny Dib of the York South-Weston Tenant’s Union and Matt Wittman of Parkdale Organize.We recommend people check out Keep Your Rent and People’s Defence Toronto, both groups are mentioned on the show and doing amazing work. We also suggest people use and share the Toronto Covid Evictions Tracker. 

This episode about tenant advocacy happening in Toronto is part of a tiny series of episodes we will be putting out on Canadian activism and social movements. There is presently a grotesque amount of evictions going on. While evictions have always been a problem, presently they have become so commonplace that they are being facilitated through Microsoft Office Teams in blocks. To further illustrate this point, consider that in November 2020 there were over 6,500 eviction hearings—  a 21% increase compared to November 2019. 

Anti-eviction action and organizing has an important history. In the second year of the Great Depression it was so intense in that evictions effectively stopped in New York, Detroit, and Chicago. There is safety in numbers and community, this episode reveals how organizing and community care matter. We will not stand by as our neighbors lose housing. Next episodes will include defunding movements in different parts of Canada and an episode on transit justice in Toronto. 

If you want to support and unlock full length Habibti Please exclusives like the video and post-show, please consider becoming a patron on Patreon or a paid Substack subscriber. We are a small team and it costs a bit to make this happen. We are happy to contribute to this passion project but we are also *so* grateful to anyone who is able to support us continuing to build content. 

If you are able to help support tenants right now there is a gofundme for The East York 50: This fundraiser was set up to help support a group of 50 immigrant families slated to be evicted.

Solidarity is forever and solidarity to those fighting evictions! If you like the show and would like to see a specific politician interviewed or cause covered please find us on social media and drop us a line! 

Guest Information: 

Guests of the Week: Johnny Dib of The York South-Weston Tenant Union and Matt Wittman of Parkdale Organize

The York South-Weston Tenant Union

The York South-Weston Tenant Union is named after an electoral district in the northwest of Toronto. It was formed in February of 2020 when 7 tenant associations where tenants had already been organized at the building level came together to ensure longevity and continuity in the organizing efforts in their own buildings as well as to support other tenants who want to organize. The Tenant Union is also an advocacy group for tenant rights and pushes for legislative and policy reform on all issues affecting tenants. 

Johnny Dib is an active member of the York South Weston Tenant Union, he has played a role since 2017 in knocking doors and connecting neighbours in several apartment tower complexes where landlords were pushing very steep rent increases.

Parkdale Organize 

Parkdale Organize is a group of working class people who organize to build neighbourhood power in Parkdale. The organization aims to build working class organizations independent of politicians and social service providers.

Matt Wittman (he/him) is a tenant organizer in Parkdale working with Parkdale Organize. 

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Show Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Andre Goulet, Nashwa Lina Khan and Johnny Zapras

Production Assistance by Raymond Khanano

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

Hi habibtis and habibis! This is the special tenth episode of Habibti Please. In this episode, Nashwa co-hosts with friend of the pod Arif Hasan; together the two interview special guest Noam Chomsky. While preparing for the interview, Nashwa and Arif set out to thoughtfully curate a set of questions that were diverse in range and are rarely asked of Dr. Chomsky in recent years. As a result, in the episode the group discusses the reactionary international as well as socialist gains in Bolivia and operationalizes the distinctions between facism and Trump’s reign. Other topics covered include intergenerational conflicts in left politics, Guantanamo Bay, and so much more. Please be sure to also check out the post show!

If you want to support and unlock full length Habibti Please exclusives like the video and post-show, please consider becoming a patron on Patreon or a paid Substack subscriber. We are a small team and it costs a bit to make this happen. We are happy to contribute to this passion project but we are also *so* grateful to anyone who is able to support us continuing to build content. 

Habibti Please is proud to be part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan and Arif Hasan 

Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica and Johnny Zapras

Production by Nashwa Lina Khan and Johnny Zapras 

Production Assistance by Arif Hasan, Raymond Khanano and Conrad Sweatman

*** A special thank you to friends of the show who helped with preparation, whether it was looking over questions or talking through the planning. This episode took a small village; the love, feedback and support will forever be appreciated and remembered. 

We are eternally grateful to everyone who listened to me (Nashwa) stress out about this episode. I haven’t even been podcasting for a year and the amount of love and support we have received seems boundless and we hope we reciprocate that same love and care for people in our own lives. 

with love and solidarity - nashwa and johnny 

Social Media & Support:

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Our Linktree

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Nashwa and Dawson sit down to discuss the American election. They talk about the Biden/Harris win, small scale electoral wins and what’s left for the left. It’s great the Cheeto man is now Cheeto dust but let’s remember the neoliberal shills that Biden and Harris are. 

Thanks for getting to episode 9! October was our first official month as a podcast and we appreciate everyone’s support. Upcoming episodes include guests like Niki Ashton, Don Davies, Leah Gazan and Noam Chomsky. 

Nashwa recently appeared on a Harbinger exclusive on the American election hosted by Andre Goulet, featuring Rob Rousseau, and Hillary Argo. You can find this episode on Apple podcasts and here. 

If you want to support and unlock full length Habibti Please exclusives please consider becoming a patron on Patreon or a paid Substack subscriber. We are a small team and it costs a bit to make this happen. We are happy to contribute to this passion project but we are also grateful to anyone who is able to support us continuing to build content.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan and Dawson Kimyon

Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica and Johnny Zapras

Production by Nashwa Lina Khan, Dawson Kimyon and Johnny Zapras 

Production Assistance by Raymond Khanano

Social Media & Support:

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

View all our links on Linktree

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Nashwa sits down with Vicky Osterweil, the author of In Defense of Looting. Nashwa interviews Vicky about her entry into left politics, her newest book, the politics of looting while also exploring the limits of electoral politics, and so much more. Nashwa and Vicky cover a range of topics including the history of looting, and whiteness as property. They also dive into liberation movements, armed self-defence, Black radical tradition, and the micro-moments in uprisings/riots. In our small worlds we can do the things that the government will not and Osterweil reminds us of the openness we should have to multiple tactics. Osterweil articulates the potential we have to build power in the streets while mapping a history of eviction defence, debt abolition, and a broader set of tactics deployed in tandem with looting. Osterweil’s smart and poignant insights into the contradictions of liberalism offer listeners a foundation to desire more. 

This episode reminds us that we have a collective struggle, to recenter what we all long for and what we all owe each other. Osterweil helps us re-imagine what could be and the radical possibilities that await us when we fight for one another. A world beyond electoral politics has existed and always will, see you in the streets! 

Guest Information:

Guest of the week: Vicky Osterweil

Vicky Osterweil is a writer, editor and agitator based in Philadelphia. 

Her book, In Defense of Looting, was released in August by Bold Type Books. You can buy her book here: In Defense of Looting by Vicky Osterweil. 

We highly recommend people check out her 2014 article in The New Inquiry by the same name.

Additional Resources:

Some readings mentioned in this episode : 

* Whiteness as Property by Cheryl I. Harris 

* The Wages of Whiteness by David R. Roediger 

* Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. DuBois

* Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom: Towards the Human, After Man, Its Overrepresentation -- An Argument by Sylvia Wynter

* Assata (Shakur), an Autobiography by Assata Shakur 

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan 

Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Nashwa Lina Khan and Johnny Zapras

Production Assistance by Raymond Khanano

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

Friend of the show Dawson Kimyon joins Nashwa again to analyze the treasure that was the presidential debate. We also discuss Alaskan queen, Miss Sarah Palin’s latest antics. Don’t forget fracking is bad actually!

Thanks for getting to episode 7! October was our first official month as a podcast and we appreciate everyone’s support. Upcoming episodes include guests like Niki Ashton and Vicky Osterweil.

Nashwa’s birthday is November 5th and the week we will release the episode with Noam Comsky and some fun surprise content. If you want to support and unlock full length Habibti Please exclusives please consider becoming a patron on Patreon or a paid Substack subscriber. We are a small team and it costs a bit to make this happen. We are happy it’s a passion project but we are grateful for anyone who is able to support us to continue building content. Consider supporting our chai fund!

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan and Dawson Kimyon

Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Nashwa Lina Khan, Dawson Kimyon and Johnny Zapras

Production Assistance by Raymond Khanano

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Ryan and Nashwa sit down with Meryam Haddad to discuss left politics in the Green Party and beyond. *Please note that this episode was recorded before Annamie Paul was declared party leader.* The duo ask Meryam about campaigning during a pandemic, her own politics, and the thirst young people have for left politics in Canada. Additional topics explored in this episode include Indigenous Sovereignty, defunding the police, and socialism in the larger Canadian landscape. 

Guest Information:

Guest of the week: Meryam Haddad

Meryam Haddad was a candidate in the recent election for the leadership position of the Green Party of Canada. She ran on an eco-socialist platform, highlighting an inextricable link between social justice and climate change.

Meryam became an immigration lawyer in 2013 and regularly takes on pro-bono work to help new-arrivals in difficult situations. Since beginning her practice, she has helped hundreds of families, many of them refugees, to make Canada their new home.

She is fluent in Arabic and has represented many new Canadians, including asylum seekers from the Middle East and North Africa. Meryam is most noted for representing many Yemeni, Syrian and Palestinian refugees. She has also helped a number of 2LGBTQI+ refugees escape persecution. 

Merym is also on the board of AGIR, an organisation that helps new LGBTQI+ arrivals. She is a proud member of Quebec Solidaire and Projet Montréal.

You can find Meryam on Twitter @MeryamHd2020

Additional Resources:

Meryam, Nashwa and Ryan discuss Land Back and the Yellowhead Institute’s Red Paper on Land Back. You can find the paper here: https://redpaper.yellowheadinstitute.org/.

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan and Ryan Deshpande 

Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Nashwa Lina Khan and Johnny Zapras

Production Assistance by Raymond Khanano

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

Subscribe to us on Substack

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Nashwa is joined by Dawson Kimyon for the first of *fingers crossed* many more American politics check-ins, which he will co-host. In this episode, we discuss the ABCs of American politics this week which includes the notorious ACB, Biden’s sad attempts to pander and whether we need left intellectuals. We also have the conversation about Chomsky we wanted to avoid, as a treat. 

Production Credits:

Hosted by Nashwa Lina Khan and Dawson Kimyon

Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica

Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica

Production by Nashwa Lina Khan, Dawson Kimyon and Johnny Zapras 

Production Assistance by Raymond Khanano

Social Media & Support:

Follow us on Twitter @habibtiplease

Support us on Patreon

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit habibtiplease.substack.com/subscribe