Latitude Adjustment

In the second half of our conversation Jade and I talk about the politics around being a "passport baby" in Canada, and the framing of immigration and citizenship in Canadian politics. Then we dive into political philosophy, discussing classical liberalism, various forms of communism, class consciousness, fascism, and some of the common distortions and misperceptions around these concepts. And Jade provides a reading list. Be sure to check out his TED talk on the post for this episode at LatitudeAdjustmentPod.com

And be sure to follow my interview on the Squat the Planet Podcast. If you miss the livestream you can still catch it later on Youtube.

I speak with Lebanese political writer, Jade Saab, about growing up in Lebanon, the country's struggle to balance institutionalized sectarianism with democracy, post colonial history, the Civil War, the 2015 garbage crisis, notions of direct democracy, and more. In the second half of our interview (episode 11) we'll discuss Jade's recent move to Canada, the framing of immigration in Canadian political discourse, and I try to understand how Communism and Fascism work.

Jade Saab's Writing

Eric Maddox on Squat the Planet Podcast

Latitude Adjustment Podcast website

Cornelius Vango, is a traveler, musician, artist, and the genderqueer anarchist librarian of Slab City. Cornelius recently finished hitchhiking across Alaska with their dog Satan, and I caught up with them in Fresno, during the last segment of their long bus drive back to the Southern California desert.

Latitude Adjustment website (with links to podcast platforms)

Cornelius Vango YouTube channel

Squat the Planet

Born in Sri Lanka to Sri Lankan parents, Shanil Samarakoon spent his early childhood in Malawi, before moving to Sri Lanka as an adolescent. He's currently pursuing his PhD in Energy Justice in Australia, while bouncing between Malawi and Sri Lanka for his nonprofit work with Empower, an organization that helps local communities form cooperatives to take the lead in determining their development priorities, especially around sustainable energy use and solar power. We also discuss the legacy of Sri Lanka's long civil war, contemporary politics in Australia as they relate to energy and immigration policies, and Shanil walks me through the defining principles of Energy Justice, and how we might go about assigning rights and responsibilities through this framework.

http://empowerprojects.org/

https://www.latitudeadjustmentpod.com/

Ndeye Ndao and I cover a lot of ground in this episode, from her initial impressions of American culture as a 19-year-old international student, changes in Senegal since she left to pursue her education, civil rights in the US and Senegal, religion in her life and in Senegalese culture, why she wants more African Americans to visit and connect to Africa, the differences between racism, bias, and passive support for racist systems, her feelings about being a woman of color and an immigrant in America today, and more.

https://www.latitudeadjustmentpod.com/

In this second of a two-part interview, Aram & I discuss the process of his arrival in Germany, his family back in Syria, his thoughts about the use and abuse of the term "refugee" and his complex relationship to this word, and the differences in how religious identity is discussed and inhabited in Syria and in Germany. And some thoughts on the role of religion in contemporary political culture around the world.

https://www.latitudeadjustmentpod.com/

https://medium.com/@AreYouSyrious

Aram AlSaed was a paramedic and a student of fine arts before he left Syria in 2015, traveling by bus, plane, boat, and by foot to reach Germany, stopping along the way to provide medical and translation support for other refugees. In this first of a two-part interview, I speak with him about life in Syria before the war, when things began to change, his work as a paramedic in Syria, when he realized that it was time for he and his brother to leave, and his journey up to the German border. Be sure to check the website for helpful information and resources related to the ongoing refugee crisis, and more. And look for the second half of the interview next week.

Clara is one of those people who just seem programmed from birth to dive into life with both feet and to experience as many things as possible along the way. And aside from stints as a professional boxer and a wilderness firefighter, she's seen a lot of the world from some unusual vantage points. I met Clara in New Mexico about 9 years ago, before I started my own long stretch of solo travel. Aside from discussing her travel and her career paths, we also talk about growing up as hyper religious kids and we examine the similar experiences that we've had in dealing with grief. Plus I struggle to remember some stuff I read about Socrates a long time ago, and try to see how his observations might apply to daily life and the way we approach relationships with others.

https://www.latitudeadjustmentpod.com/podcast/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latitudeadjustmentconversation/

Check out the supplemental videos and reading suggestions for this episode at LatitideAdjustmentPod.com/podcast

Yousef Aljamal and I met in Gaza in 2013. In this long-format episode we discuss life in Gaza under 11 years of siege imposed by Israel and Egypt, his travels and his personal losses, the ongoing Great March of Return Protests, solidarity with indigenous communities and movements, and we take a critical look at internal Palestinian politics, the stigmatization of mental health treatment, the role of Hamas and its politics, and pretty much everything you would want to know about the present situation in Gaza and the rest of Palestine that we could fit into two very long conversations. I also provide a longer intro and closing thoughts to address the divisive nature of this subject in the US and the West, and my own travels in Palestine. It would be impossible to produce a podcast on this subject that everyone will agree with, and that's not the aim of this show on any subject. However, considerable effort was put into producing a show that will give you a detailed look at the present situation from a Palestinian perspective, and into covering topics that are all but completely absent from the treatment of this conflict in mainstream and even alternative media. This episode should be educational for just about anyone trying to get a better understanding of what is often characterized as the most intractable conflict in the world.

I met Tara in Cairo in 2012, and then again in Washington DC. She's been on the move for a long time, both as a veteran Middle East photojournalist with Reuters and AP and now with her own production company which helps humanitarian nonprofits tell their stories through mixed media. We discuss her intense first day on the job in Beirut, how she got into photojournalism, the challenges and advantages of being a woman in her field, work-life balance in a notoriously demanding profession, and the relationship between foreign reporters and the local teams and communities they interact with.