Anti-intellectualism is running rampant: attacks are now coming not only from the far right but even some self-proclaimed representatives of the left. This week we turn our attention to the source of some of these polemics, including provocateurs like Catherine Liu, who criticize academics using the language of identity politics and "wokeness." Cutting past the shallow critiques and the clickbait, we talk about the nature of the "professional managerial class," the real meaning of lived experience, and the urgency of sustaining an intellectual vocation.

In this episode, we continue our discussion of the current landscape for gender expression and liberation. We talk about the theoretical framework for Zein’s book project and think beyond trans politics to consider the ways that gender is constructed in wartime to meet certain political objectives.

If you like what you hear, then please be sure to rate us or to head to our Instragram account (@exilic_city) to drop a comment with your thoughts!

In this episode, we talk with Professor Paisley Currah about the current landscape of anti-trans laws in the US and how they create conditions of internal exile for transgender people by stripping them of legal status.

Read more:

Isaac Sederbaum and Paisley Currah, "When Compliance Becomes a Crime: What Does Transgender Citizenship Mean after a New Kansas Law?" Can We Still Govern?, March 3, 2026.

Paisley Currah, "The Anti-Trans Playbook," New York Review of Books, December 18, 2025. Unpaywalled

Paisley Currah,  Donald Trump's War on Gender is Also a War on Government," The New Yorker, May 27, 2025. Unpaywalled

TransLash with Imara Jones

What does it mean to oppose one's country, and can that critique come from a place of love? Joined by special guest Dr. Christina Greer, we discuss Malcolm X and James Baldwin as quintessential American thinkers as well as outsiders linked to larger global struggles against colonialism and imperialism. The conversation ends with important insights about how their message resonates today.

In this special episode, we discuss the recent February 28 attack on Iran by Israel and the United States, with close analysis of how the war has been manufactured, what the role of the Iranian diaspora has been, and what possible outcomes lie ahead.

In this preview episode, we briefly discuss the on-going situation in Iran with an interest in thinking about the ways people in the Iranian diaspora approach this political moment.

This is Politics and the Exilic City with Nojang Khatami and Zein Murib: a podcast about the experience of exile and in-betweenness, the possibilities of sustaining resistance in marginal spaces, and the politics of movement and migration. As an archive of some of those movements in New York City, our podcast throws light on the experiences of prominent and lesser known figures who have passed through this place, marked by displacement and a feeling of being unsettled. Beyond NYC, we think together about transnational perspectives and orientations, asking what it means to belong - and not belong - to a place, especially in politically dark times.

This first episode introduces listeners to who we are, what we’ll do in this podcast, and what you can expect from the upcoming episodes.

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