In this episode, Angustia Celeste joins israa’ for a rich conversation ranging from the politics of borders, relationships, harm reduction, and mutual aid. We would like to offer a trigger warning for the last 20 minutes of the conversation as we discuss addiction, loss, and harm reduction.

Angustia Celeste is an anarchist writer and parent. They have been in different epochs a sex worker, a healthcare worker and a humanitarian aid volunteer.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• The Insurgent Southwest by Angustia Celeste

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/fatima-insolacion-the-insurgent-southwest

• It was not an Unexpected Death by Angustia Celeste

https://crimethinc.com/2024/03/14/it-was-not-an-unexpected-death-an-account-from-the-opioid-epidemic

• They will Beat the Memory Out of Us by Peter Gelderloos

https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745349770/they-will-beat-the-memory-out-of-us/

Additional Resources

• Shifting Trends in Policing Dissent with Kristian Williams & Garrett

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2MaHW5oSfL32SKab4TdJdT

https://sites.libsyn.com/572680/then-now-how-movements-are-policed-with-kristian-williams-garrett

• Life During Wartime: Resisting Counterinsurgency Edited by: Kristian Williams, Lara Messersmith-Glavin, William Munger

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16057163-life-during-wartime

For More:

• Angustia Celeste can be reached at [email protected]

• israa’ is on Bluesky and IG

• Ayman is on Bluesky and IG

• The Mutual Aid Podcast is on IG, YouTube, and BlueSky. You can email us at [email protected]⁠

• From The Periphery is on ⁠Patreon⁠, YouTube⁠, Instagram, and has a website⁠

  
  

Credits:

Hosts - israa and Ayman

Artwork - Hisham Rifai

Music - Beit Youssef and Ramsey Khudairi

The Mutual Aid Podcast is a proud member of ⁠⁠⁠⁠From The Periphery (FTP) Media Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠.

How to Support:

Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠: You’ll get early access to all podcasts, exclusive audio and video episodes, an invitation to join ⁠⁠⁠⁠our monthly hangouts⁠⁠⁠⁠, and more.

Leave reviews wherever you get your podcasts.

This is a special announcement episode broadcast on all FTP channels.

We at FTP are hosting a series of weekly film screenings and discussions on the Lebanese wars starting this Sunday April 20.

In this short episode, Elia and Ayman go through the list of films they selected, what you can expect from the screenings, and how you can participate.

To sign up and join the watch parties head over to ⁠our Patreon⁠ where you'll find ⁠this post with the invitation link⁠.

Invites are immediately available to all Patreon members. If you don't want to become a member, you can buy the link with a one-time purchase.

--

All the films (except the last) are already publicly available on ⁠this playlist⁠ on our Youtube Channel.

The films we'll watch are:

⁠A Feeling Greater than Love⁠ (2017) dir. Mary Jirmanus Saba

- A feature-length documentary about the class struggle and labour movements in the lead up to the outbreak of the war in 1975.

⁠Lebanon's War⁠ - Part 3: Explosion (2001)

- A 42 minute episode of a documentary series by Al-Jazeera on the Lebanon Wars that covers in great depth the 1975 outbreak of the civil war with incredible, rare interviews.

⁠Beirut, My City⁠ (1983) dir. Jocelyne Saab

- A 38 minute film by a legendary Lebanese filmmaker filmed in Beirut amidst the Israeli siege that serves as a timeless intimate meditation on a city tortured by war and occupation.

⁠Souha, Surviving Hell⁠ (2001) dir. Randa Chahal Sabagh

- A 57 minute documentary following communist resistance fighter South Bechara as she returns to the south of Lebanon after its liberation from Israeli occupation in 2000.

⁠Last Days of the Man of Tomorrow⁠ (2017) dir. Fadz

- A short film that serves as a brilliant, illuminating, and humorous retrospective on the war by the post-war generation.

-- --

Hope to see you at the film screenings! ⁠Here again is the link to sign up. ⁠

This week we talked with Dean Spade, author of Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity in this Crisis (and the Next).

Dean Spade has been working to build queer and trans liberation based in racial and economic justice for the past 25 years. He’s the author of Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law, and Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) the director of the documentary “Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back!.” His next book, Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up and Raise Hell Together, is forthcoming from Algonquin Press in January, 2025.

In this expansive conversation, we start with Dean’s definition of mutual aid and how mutual aid differs from charity before we jump into the problem of criteria. Dean shares why he wrote Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next), how it was received, and what he has learned since writing the book. Throughout the conversation, we explore the many ways mutual aid is manifested. Whether through food, housing, babysitting, or post-death care, we land on how mutual aid projects contain the things that sustain and care for life. We also discuss how mutual aid is inherently political and reflects one’s political beliefs. And how engaging with mutual aid can help us deepen our political education and understanding of the world around us. We end the conversation by exploring the role of relationship building and the interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics that make or break our groups.

Books By Dean:

⁠Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up and Raise Hell Together

Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)⁠

⁠Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law

References:

Dean’s website: https://www.deanspade.net/

Big Door Brigade: https://bigdoorbrigade.com/

Credits:

The Mutual Aid Podcast is a proud member of ⁠⁠⁠⁠From The Periphery (FTP) Media Collective⁠⁠⁠⁠.

How to Support:

Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠: You’ll get early access to all podcasts, exclusive audio and video episodes, an invitation to join ⁠⁠⁠⁠our monthly hangouts⁠⁠⁠⁠, and more.

In this episode, israa & Ayman share what they know about the history of mutual aid, as a term and practice. While neither of us is a historian, we attempt to track the use of the term throughout history and the way it shows up in different societies. From Kropotkin to Omar Aziz to the Black Panthers, Sudanese Resistance Committee, and Syrian Local Councils, we share our understanding of the development of the term and how mutual aid helps us prefigure a new world in the shell of the old.

References Made:

Peter Kropotkin - Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution

The Peoples Want Manifesto

Nina Simone: I wish I knew How it would Feel to be Free

Credits:

Hosts - israa and Ayman

Artwork - Hisham Rifai

Music - Beit Youssef and Ramsey Khudairi

The Mutual Aid Podcast is a proud member of ⁠⁠⁠From The Periphery (FTP) Media Collective⁠⁠⁠.

How to Support: on ⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠: You’ll get early access to all podcasts, exclusive audio and video episodes, an invitation to join ⁠⁠⁠our monthly hangouts⁠⁠⁠, and more.

In this episode, israa and Ayman provide an overview of what we mean we talk about mutual aid. We provide a theoretical framework with many practical and tangible examples. This expansive conversation attempts to weave our understanding and experience with mutual aid with a wider exploration that stretches time, geographies, and societies.

-- --

Become a member of our Patreon to support this podcast

Patreon.com/fromtheperiphery

Welcome to The Mutual Aid Podcast. Join Ayman and israa every week as they discuss, share, and explore all things mutual aid. In this intro episode they talk about the reasons they started this project, what the project even is, and their experience, history, and positionally with mutual aid in general. They also discuss what you can expect from this project in the future and the necessity to take discussions of mutual aid more seriously, especially as the systems around us face collapse and crisis.

Gaza Relief Mutual Aid

https://www.instagram.com/ibrahimforgazamutualaid/

https://www.liberationthrumutualaid.com

Queer Mutual Aid Lebanon

https://www.patreon.com/qmalebanon

References:

https://www.thepublicsource.org/charity-mutual-aid

Peter Kropotkin - Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution

Dean Spade - Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During this Crisis (and the Next)

David Graeber - Debt: The First 5000 Years

Support this podcast:

https://www.patreon.com/fromtheperiphery

Credits:

Artwork - Hisham Rifai

Music - Beit Youssef and Ramsey Khudairi

Hosts - israa and Ayman