The Fire These Times

Today we’re joined by Aruna Chandrasekhar. Aruna is a climate and environmental journalist based out of Mumbai, and I wanted to have her on after reading an excellent essay she wrote for Equator called City of Sweat . If you’re listening to this from the UK, the US, Canada or indeed from a good chunk of the world, you experienced heatwaves this year. Very few places experienced them like India did...

Today we’re joined by Bill Fletcher Jr. Over 2 years ago, this longtime USA-based labor and social justice activist was on TFTT to talk about the threats of what was then a theoretical disaster: a second Trump administration. I’m sorry to say that our predictions came true, and I don’t think I have to tell any of you how disastrous the 2nd Trump admin has been, even by the low standards of the fir...

Early this year, I had Nicole Bedera, Aydin and Ed on to talk about the resistance against ICE that was happening in their town of Minneapolis and that was making headlines all around the world. Since then, enough time has passed for today’s guest, mags, to have written a powerful piece called “ Will Minneapolis Choose Melancholy? ” I wanted to have them on, alongside a returning Ed, to talk about...

One thing you’ll get from this episode - and from reading Abdelrahman’s memoir Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming recounting his six years in Sisi’s nightmarish prisons in Egypt - is a lot of empathy, not just towards what he went through, what others like Ayman Moussa - who was 19 when arrested in 2013 and is still serving a 15-year sentence - are still going through, but the sens...

Last time, I sat down with Shui-yin Sharon Yam to talk about ambiguous loss, diasporic parenting and grieving the what-ifs. Thank you to those who sent me nice feedback about that one. As you might imagine, it wasn’t an easy one to record, but it felt necessary after I realised that we all experience ambiguous loss in one way or another.  Today I’m talking to Heba Gowayed . She is a writer and ass...

Over the past few years, I’ve had to reckon with loss and grief that felt unresolved, and perhaps unresolvable. It’s something we’re all dealing with in different ways. When loved ones die, we know they’re dead. Everything that comes with that remains horrible, even maybe unbearable, but there is no ambiguity over the fact that a loss happened. That’s not the case with ambiguous loss, the reality...

Do fascists really believe in fascism? Yes, yes they do, and we need to stop pretending otherwise to better equip ourselves against them. I had the writer Toby Buckle ( Political Philosophy Podcast ) on to talk about his essay “ Fascists Really Believe It ” for Liberal Currents.  Recorded 26 August 2026. Patreon release 27 August 2026 (+ video exclusive ). I was previously on his podcast to talk a...

Two decades ago, a group of Indonesian agricultural workers began occupying the agribusiness plantation near their homes. In the years since, members of this remarkable movement have reclaimed collective control of their land and cultivated diverse agricultural forests on it, repairing the damage done over nearly a century of abuse. Countering Dispossession, Reclaiming Land , by my guest David E....

This will come as a total surprise, but I really like James Baldwin. I know, it’s shocking. I always kept it subtle, like how I named this podcast after his book The Fire Next Time, and how I have been bringing him up every other episode for years, and how I have a shelf that is just for books by him and about him.  The reason I like James Baldwin is that I’ve found something for me in his work, s...

In which I talk about the upcoming class on modern Lebanese history and politics, the 5th and last one one this year. Dates (UK Time): November 7, 2-4 pm November 14, 4-6 pm November 21, 4-6 pm November 28, 4-6 pm Quick links: All details here: https://thefirethesetimes.com/lebanonclass/ All Patreon supporters get a discount (message me!) Email: ayoub@thefirethesetimes.com or Signal: Ayoub.02 (ple...

These days, the apocalypse has been on my mind a lot. Maybe that's not surprising, given the state of the world. This can easily descend into dread and hopelessness, which is something I try and avoid for my own sake. When I picked up Moon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves , written by my guest Waubgeshig Rice, in a bookshop in Ottawa, I didn't know what to expect. I've always bee...

Elia Ayoub is joined by Ayman Makarem ( Politically Depressed ) to talk about the Ceuta ‘incident’ which left at least 70 people dead, the political discourse in Europe, the Moroccan monarchy’s cynicism, antisemitic conspiracy theories, and the danger that is Fortress Europe – including for Europeans. Links: ​Hauntologies: On Ceuta ​ Harsha Walia’s commentary ​ Border Violence Monitoring Network I...

For episode 219, I talk to Chanda Prescod-Weinstein about her latest book " The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry and the Cosmic Dream Boogie ." Science is political. Reality is queer af. Also: race, imperialism, Star Trek (of course), Supergirl and post/colonialism. If you’d like to support The Fire These Times , the best way to do it is through ⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠ . In return,...

For episode 218 of The Fire These Times, I talk to Luka Dowell ( Solarpunk Now! ), Ariel Kroon ( Solarpunk Presents ) and Andre ( HydroponicTrash ) about our changing relationships to Solarpunk given everything that's been going on in the world since the last time we all sat together (in 2023). ⁠⁠⁠⁠Lebanon emergency relief⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support: You can support my work with ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠a one-off or monthly do...

For episode 217, I talk about Israel bombing my hometown of Ain Saadeh yesterday, and why it worries me more than anything they've done so far. ⁠⁠⁠Lebanon emergency relief⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support: You can support my work with ⁠⁠ ⁠a one-off or monthly donation⁠⁠⁠ on Ko-fi Masterclass on Modern Lebanon: ⁠⁠ ⁠Registration is still open for May 2026⁠⁠⁠ Newsletter : Subscribe to⁠ ⁠ ⁠Hauntologies⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Social...

For episode 216, I am joined by Lebanese writer and translator Lina Mounzer as well as Lebanese journalist Justin Salhani to talk about the ongoing consequences of Israel's war on Lebanon. This is an intra-Lebanese conversation that is meant to give you an idea of the sort of discussions happening in Lebanon while contextualising as much as we could so that you come out of it better informed a...

For episode 215, I talk about how Israel's wars on Iran and Lebanon will spread beyond the region, and what must be done to stop them. I also talked about the ongoing generational hauntings affecting everyone in Lebanon. ⁠⁠⁠Lebanon emergency relief⁠⁠⁠ Support: You can support my work with ⁠ ⁠a one-off or monthly donation⁠⁠ on Ko-fi Masterclass on Modern Lebanon: ⁠ ⁠Registration is now open for...

For episode 214, I talk about how Israel's war on Lebanon haunts our world, and why Israeli impunity is creating monstrous realities that can engulf us all. Support: You can support my work with ⁠a one-off or monthly donation⁠ on Ko-fi Masterclass on Modern Lebanon: ⁠Registration is now open⁠ Newsletter : Subscribe to ⁠Hauntologies ⁠ Social Media : I’m on ⁠Bluesky⁠ , ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠Mastodon⁠...

For episode 213, I talk about the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran, how we got here, and what this means for both Iran and Lebanon. Also: Israel's ideological opposition to the concept of accountability, Israel's decreasing popularity in the US, the Ayatollah's brutal reign, and finally Hezbollah's catastrophic decision to join the war and how this is causing a severe crisis in Leban...

In which I read my Hauntologies essay " Iranian protesters don't owe us an explanation " (00:00 to 09:50) and reflect on it (09:50-36:49). Support: You can support my work with ⁠ ⁠a one-off or monthly donation⁠ ⁠ on Ko-fi Masterclass on Modern Lebanon: ⁠ ⁠Registration is now open⁠ ⁠ Newsletter : Subscribe to ⁠ ⁠Hauntologies⁠ ⁠ Social Media : I’m on ⁠ ⁠Bluesky⁠ ⁠ , ⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠ and...

Elia Ayoub is joined by three folks from Minneapolis, sociologist Nicole Bedera and From The Periphery's very own Aydin and Ed from Antidote Zine, to talk about the ongoing resistance against the federal occupation of the state of Minnesota by ICE. What is happening? How are they resisting? What can we learn from it, here in the UK and elsewhere? Nicole also explained what 'symbolic compli...

For episode 210, William C. Anderson comes back to The Fire These Times to talk to Elia Ayoub about the current crises in the US and how we should try and understand our current authoritarian moment. Anderson is the author of The Nation on No Map (AK Press 2021) and co-author of As Black as Resistance (AK Press 2018). He writes a column for Prism called Another Way Out and is the co-founder of Off...

For episode 209, Elia sits down with Nicole Rose from The Solidarity Apothecary to talk about her Overcoming Burnout series, which is also a podcast and an e-book . We talked about burnout, grief, trauma, mutual aid, herbalism, and more. Note: this was recorded in November 2025, a few days before the death of my dog Flip. This is why it took until now to publish the episode. Support: You can suppo...

Hey everyone, I wanted to let you all know that I’ll be giving online classes starting this January, and that I’m still accepting new people for the very first class. I recommend doing so asap as I’ve already had to open up a second class due to that amazing response I’ve received so far. All details below. The class is entitled “Beware of Small States: An overview of Lebanon from 1975 to 2025.” W...

For episode 208, Elia and Dana talk about Zahrani Mamdani's victory and what it could mean for all of us. Support: You can support my work with ⁠ ⁠a one-off or monthly donation⁠ ⁠ on Ko-fi Masterclass on Modern Lebanon: ⁠ ⁠Registration is now open⁠ ⁠ Newsletter : Subscribe to ⁠ ⁠Hauntologies⁠ ⁠ Social Media : I’m on ⁠ ⁠Bluesky⁠ ⁠ , ⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠ and ⁠ ⁠Mastodon⁠ ⁠ Contact: To collaborate, re...