Politically Depressed

Fascist gangs are roaming the streets looking for Syrians. It's terrifying and needs to be stopped. I talk about this recent surge of violence, its short history, but also I give a bit of a primer on Lebanon - which turns out to be incredibly difficult to do. I'll probably do more like these cause the urgent situation calls for it, but also to elaborate on some of the stuff I touch on here.

*Correction: The Tal al-Zaatar Massacre happens in 76' not in 75' as I state in the episode.

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TipJar: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poldep

Suggestions:

West Beirut - Ziad Doueiri

A History of Modern Lebanon - Fawwaz Traboulsi

Banking on the State - Hicham Safieddine

Nada is one of my favourite people. She's funny, interesting, unique - basically a person whose presence in my life I miss so much. We talk about Beirut, Gaza, her coverage of the war in Lebanon, and so much more in between. I sincerely hope you are enjoying these interviews because I've really enjoyed recording them - insofar as I'm 'enjoying' anything these days.

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TipJar: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poldep

Keep This Between Us Subseries: https://www.patreon.com/collection/468212?view=expanded

Nada's Social Media: https://twitter.com/NadaOHomsi

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Love and Solidarity,

Ayman

This is an interview with Sudanese writer, editor, and commentator Sara Al-Hassan. We talk about her writing and coverage of the current war in Sudan, the frustrating hashtag discourse, and feelings of grief at the mass atrocities in Sudan, Gaza, and beyond. We talk about other things as well.

Note: Interview episodes like this are gonna be longer than my solo episodes. I hope you all still appreciate them.

Tip Jar: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poldep

My comic on Sudan (with recommended readings): https://unicornriot.ninja/2022/revolution-in-every-country-comic-series-episode-2-sudan-building-power-from-below/

Sara's Pages:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BSonblast

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/bsonblast/

Love and Solidarity

No words feel like they live up to the current moment. We all need to do more, especially those who can and are waiting for something to push them. The warning bells couldn't be louder. Act now. Before it's too late.

TipJar

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poldep

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/politically_depressed/

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Vulnerability is strength. Existence is resistance. Justice will prevail. What meaning do sayings like these hold in our world of collapse and crisis? With mass atrocities across our region, I wonder about how people hold on and struggle against despair.

Tip Jar: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poldep

Mentions:

https://unicornriot.ninja/revolution-in-every-country/

https://shop.mangalmedia.net/products/a-letter-home-ayman-makarem-hisham-rifai

Instagram:

@politically_depressed

Love and Solidarity.

Left or right looks pretty much the same to those on the bottom. This episode is more analysis than introspection, a brief departure from previous episodes. I'll be moving between the two from now on, especially as I continue to make more episodes sharing my thoughts and feelings about this absolutely f*cked up world.

Tip Jar: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poldep

And it haunts me. I don't know if I'll ever forget it. But I had to talk about it. This is a really stressful episode. I'm unable to hold back my grief. So please don't listen unless you feel ready and able to.

TW: Description of de*d body.

https://www.instagram.com/politically_depressed/

I interview my favourite writer Lina Mounzer. We talk about grief, community, and being in Lebanon at a time of war and during the on-going genocide in Palestine. This is a shortened version for public release. The full interview will be released on our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/firethesetimes

Follow Lina on Twitter: @warghetti

Check out The Markaz Review at www.themarkaz.org - an arts, culture and literary magazine by and for the greater Middle East.

This is a tactic. Infiltrators, saboteurs, and opportunists. We should all be vigilant of those actively damaging and/or co-opting activist spaces. I recount this story as a cautionary tale but also as a detailed account to help others spot similar suspicious behaviour. ** Oh! I didn't mention that someone did snap a photo of him at the end, so we can spread it and make sure he's never welcomed to these marches. Highly recommend, esp if it gets really suspicious. Stay safe everyone.

The short answer is sort of. The long answer is it depends. But as we continue to protest and organize for a ceasefire in Palestine, and for an end to white-supremacist, imperialist, capitalist, patriarchy (yes it is one of those podcasts), we need to really think hard about what tactics and strategies we're relying on, and why. I share my reflections on this as well as debut my world famous zizek impersonation.

Support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/firethesetimes