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We got out of bed to talk to Rania Khalek — who joined us from Beirut.

What started this conversation was an offhand remark Rania made about how living in Lebanon, a country that is being attacked and invaded, is less stressful than being in America, where it seems everyone seems on edge and nervous and ready to snap. Why is that? From that discussion, we get into all sorts of things — what’s ailing America today, Rania’s childhood in DC and her experience with post-9/11 racism against anyone who vaguely looked Muslim, the power of American culture abroad, the internalized self-orientalism among the Lebanese (and Russians, too), parasitic Western non-profit expats (and journalists) f*****g their way through Beirut, Israel’s sadistic war on Palestine, the hardcore alienation in American society, self-care, seed oils…and a lot more.

—Yasha

PS: Check out Rania’s show. (She had me on last month to talk about Silicon Valley and Gaza.)