The Fire These Times

This is a conversation with Aurelien Mondon, he’s a senior lecturer in politics, languages and international studies at the University of  Bath and co-author of the 2020 book “ Reactionary Democracy: How racism and the populist far right became mainstream ” alongside Aaron Winter. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefirethisti.me You can follow on Twit...

This is a conversation with Phoebe Wagner, co-editor of the 2017 book Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation alongside Bronte Christopher Wieland. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefirethisti.me You can follow on Twitter or Instagram @ firethesetimes too. Topics Discussed: What is Solarpunk? What is wrong with modern storytelling about the fut...

This is a conversation with professor Marwa Daoudy, associate professor at Georgetown University and the author of the recently published book The Origins of the Syrian Conflict: Climate Change and Human Security . Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefirethisti.me You can follow on Twitter or Instagram @ firethesetimes too. Topics Discussed: Climate change...

This is a conversation with Sophia Armen , an Armenian-American writer, scholar and organizer, about the legacy of the Armenian Genocide today. We spoke about race in the Ottoman Empire and then in the Turkish republic, how the genocide changed Armenian cosmology, the cruel absurdity of borders and various other topics. We also got into Palestine as well as our various positionalities. Sophia shar...

This is a conversation with Banah Ghadbian. She’s a Syrian activist  whose dissertation “Ululating from the Underground: Syrian Women’s  Protests, Performances, and Pedagogies under Siege” was the subject of our conversation. As usual, we ended up talking about a lot of other things as well. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefirethisti.me You ca...

This is a conversation with Promise Li . He’s a US-based member of the Lausan collective and the Democratic  Socialists of America doing solidarity work with Hong Kong and China’s  dissident movements. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefirethisti.me You can follow on Twitter or Instagram @ firethesetimes too. Topics Discussed: Growing up in Hong...

This is a conversation with Daniel Randall .  He’s a London-based railway worker and workplace representative for the  National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers and a member of  the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty . We spoke about antisemitism on the Left as Daniel has an upcoming book on this very topic. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog:...

This is a conversation with Guy Standing, a Professorial Research  Associate at SOAS University of London and a founding member and  honorary co-president of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), a  non-governmental organisation that promotes a basic income for all. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefirethisti.me You can follow on Twitter...

This is a special episode with Sumaya Awad and Shireen Akram-Boshar. Sumaya's the co-editor of the book " Palestine: A Socialist Introduction " which Shireen contributed to. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefirethisti.me You can follow on Twitter or Instagram @ firethesetimes too. Topics Discussed: Our relationship to Palestine What triggered the recent...

As he was talking to me Majed Abusalama 's family was being threatened with airstrikes by the Israeli state. Video interview available on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE7il3GJRNI Follow: We Are Not Numbers https://wearenotnumbers.org

In light of what's been happening in Palestine I am re-releasing my conversation with Mohammed Sulaiman from last year.  Mohammed is a Palestinian writer and researcher who grew up in Gaza and currently works at the University of South Australia . The core of our conversation was Mohammed’s two essays for Hummus For Thought: Wretched of the Earth: Thoughts on Syria, Palestine and Discourse (2...

A conversation with my good friend Maya Schkolne on (anti)Zionism and international solidarity. Also: having multiple identities, Jewish supremacists in Israel, erasing the Nakba, apartheid (South Africa/Israel), and more. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefirethisti.me You can follow on Twitter or Instagram @ firethesetimes too. List of resources: Jehad...

This is a conversation with Giulio Mattioli and Julia Steinberger about their article ‘ the political economy of car dependence: A systems of provision approach ‘ published in the ‘ Energy Research & Social Science ‘ journal. We also discussed the topics below. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefirethisti.me You can follow on Twitter or Instagram @ fi...

This is a conversation with Jeffrey Karam. He’s Assistant Professor  of Political Science at the Lebanese American University and an  associate at Harvard’s Middle East Initiative. He’s also the editor of the book “ The Middle East in 1958: Reimagining a Revolutionary Year “, the topic of our conversation. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefiret...

This is a conversation with Rim-Sarah Alouane . She’s a French legal academic, commentator, and PhD candidate in law researching religious  freedom, human rights, and civil liberties in France, Europe & North America. We spoke about a recent piece she wrote entitled ‘ A Spectre in France’s Public Debate: Islamo-Leftism ‘ for Reset Dialogues. Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/fi...

This is a conversation with Lebanese director Ely Dagher . He is the director of the Palme D’Or-winning Waves ’98, one of my favorite short films. He also has an upcoming feature  film called The Sea Ahead . Get early access + more perks at Patreon.com/firethesetimes Blog: https://thefirethisti.me You can follow on Twitter or Instagram @ firethesetimes too. Topics discussed: Waves ’98 The ima...

This is a conversation with Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel . We spoke about their book “ Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East “ as well as related topics. Shownotes: https://thefirethisti.me/2021/03/31/postsectarianization-mapping-the-new-politics-of-the-middle-east-with-nader-hashemi-danny-postel/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/firethesetimes YouTube: https://www.youtub...

This is a conversation with Aida A. Hozić .  She is an Associate Professor of International Relations and Associate  Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of  Florida, United States. Her research is situated at the intersection of  political economy, cultural studies, and international security. Her current research project explores interplays between f...

This is a conversation with Andrew , the Solarpunk Anarchist from Trinidad and Tobago behind the YouTube channel ' Saint Andrewism .' Topics Discussed What is Solarpunk? Solarpunk Anarchism? The problem with Greenwashing How to talk about the climate & problems with the climate movement Generational shifts in the climate movement The importance of intersectionality Switzerland's voting pattern...

This is a conversation with David Andress. He is a Professor of  Modern History at the University of Portsmouth and is the author of the  book “ Cultural Dementia: How the West has Lost its History and Risks Losing Everything Else “ If you like what I do, please consider supporting this project with only 1$ a month on Patreon or on BuyMeACoffee.com . You can also do so directly on PayPal...

A few days ago La Plume Noire library was attacked by a group of around 50-60 fascists while it was hosting a food and clothing collection for homeless people in the area. This got a bit of media attention, but it is not the first time such an attack happens.  I had La Jeune Garde spokesperson Raphael Arnault on to talk about what happened exactly. He was on the scene and you may have heard h...

This is a conversation with Dana El Kurd . She is a Palestinian academic who specializes in Comparative Politics and International Relations. Dana works as a researcher at the Arab  Center for Research and Policy Studies and as an assistant professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. We spoke about her most recent book “ Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Pal...

Hey everyone, I don't usually do this but in light of recent events friends suggested that I republish this episode from July 2020. If you haven't heard, last night eight workers in massage parlors were murdered in Atlanta in the Southern region of the United States. Six of these workers were Asian-Americans. In response to the massacre, Red Canary Song, a US-based grassroots Asian sex workers coa...

Today we'll be talking to Anne Kretzschmar. She’s a coordinator with the Stay Grounded network which works on a global level to reduce air traffic and build a climate-just transport system. They recently published a paper entitled  ‘ A Rapid and Just Transition of Aviation: Shifting towards climate-just mobility ‘ which was a big part of our conversation. Topics discussed: Social and environm...

Today we'll be talking to Musa Okwonga . Musa is a writer, broadcaster, poet, speaker, musician. author, sportswriter, broadcaster and commentator on current affairs. He's also the first person to come on the podcast three times (twice here and once in the previous 'Hummus For Thought' one). He most recently published a wonderful short book called " In The End, It Was All About Love " and publishe...