The Field Between

We are thrilled to be joined by Addy and Ben, who are on the steering committee for Pittsburgh's Not On Our Dime campaign, a grassroots effort to financially divest the city of Pittsburgh from Israel's war crimes, as well as provide a means of democratic oversight of the city's funds by requiring some level of transparency into how the city invests taxpayer money.

This is a great episode for anyone who wants to learn more about the campaign, about ballot measure more generally, and anyone who wants to support these sorts of efforts.

Please support the Not On Our Dime campaign by signing up to volunteer (if you're in Pittsburgh), and by donating here: http://notonourdimepgh.com/donate/

We catch up on a few random items, then we discuss the cryptocurrency scandal surrounding Hailey Welch (Hawk Tuah), another beautifully-written opinion piece by NYT's Bret Stephens, and then Ahmed finally get Yasmine to admit she wants a Christmas tree.

We catch up on the weekend, and then discuss a really insightful Thomas Friedman article in which he solves Syria. Then we discuss Bari Weiss's media outlet's investigation into a Muslim press conference before we talk about Luigi Mangione, his arrest, and a moment that seemingly brought everyone together.

We try to provide a very basic summary of what's happening in Syria, but mostly we respond to a lacking analysis coming from the US left that seems to think the Russian nation state has noble intentions in the region.

As always, we welcome feedback. As we stated in the episode, we would be happy to have anyone on who can further clarify some things that are beyond our current understanding of the situation. If you know that person (or are that person), DM us on instagram @the_field_between_pod.

Media we recommend:

• Foreign Exchanges with Derek Davison
• American Prestige (Derek Davison and Danny Bessner)
• Intercepted with Jeremy Scahill

While Yasmine is away, the guys will play.

Corey and I (Ahmed) submit our audition tape to become the left's Joes Rogan (most people would have written "Joe Rogans," but it's actually like "Attorneys General").

Mostly we try to gauge what lessons are being learned from the post-election analysis in the New York Times (would you be surprised if I told you it's very few?).

We talk to our friend, Professor Barbara Sostaita, about her recently published book Sanctuary Everywhere, which is out with Duke University Press.

You can buy her book here: https://www.dukeupress.edu/sanctuary-everywhere

Also, please watch the incredible trailer for the book, created by Alex Morelli, whose still image was used for cover art for the episode: https://vimeo.com/1004989085

From DUP:

"In Sanctuary Everywhere, Barbara Andrea Sostaita reimagines practices of sanctuary along the U.S.-Mexico border in order to explore the possibilities for radical fugitivity in the face of militarized border enforcement. After the 2016 presidential election, churches, universities, cities, and even states began declaring themselves sanctuaries. Sostaita proposes that these calls for expanded sanctuary are insufficient when dealing with the everyday workings of immigration enforcement. Through fieldwork in migrant clinics, shelters, and the Sonoran Desert, Sostaita demonstrates that, as a sacred practice, sanctuary cannot be fixed in any one destination or mandate. She turns to those working to create sanctuary on the move, from a deported nurse offering medical care on the border to incarcerated migrant women denying rules on touch in detention facilities to collectives set up to honor those who died crossing the border. Understanding sanctuary to be a set of fugitive practices that escapes the everyday, Sostaita shows us how, in the wake of extreme violence and loss, migrants create sanctuaries of their own to care for the living and the dead."

Here are the articles mentioned in the episode:

From Sanctuary to a Queer Politics of Fugitivity by Karma Chavez

Outro song: 'Clandestino'

Composed by Manu Chao

Lyrics by Manu Chao

Performer: Lila Downs

We start of with some follow-up to the election, and a critique of the game Bernie Sanders has been running for the last 4+ years before we get into something a little more fun and lighthearted: Yasmine made Ahmed watch Love Is Blind Habibi.

We come to you mid-week for an emergency broadcast. We briefly give our thoughts on the election results. Overall, I think it's an honest discussion of how we ended up here, the losses and wins, why neither of us is surprised this happened, and how we plan to focus our energy going forward.

If you enjoy what we're doing, please consider rating us wherever you listen to podcasts, and following us on Instagram @the_field_between_pod

Not gonna lie... a pretty rough episode in terms of topics.

We make our final election predictions before moving on to discuss the shocking news about Al Maghrib Institute's Wissam Sherif, as well as the organization's unemphatic response. For those who would rather skip the details and discussion of the specific allegations of sexual abuse, we introduce the topic at around 27:00 and shift the discussion at 30:00. We also discuss the migrant worker deaths in Saudi Arabia, NEOM, and the Mukaab projects.

Ahmed quit his job! Yasmine finished the Tour de Appalachia. We then discuss the election, who we're voting for, and a really important Thomas Friedman op-ed.