The Fire These Times

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 first iteration. This is why I wanted to have Bill on again, partly to reflect on these past 2 years of Trump 2, its impact on both t...

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 the trappings of melancholy that leftwing and progressive movements, but also just people-who-take-part-in-protests more generally, have been dealing with for a very long time. We also borrowed from my own ex...

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 sense that Abdelrahman himself remains empathetic, and dare I say hopeful. I was really struck by not only how eloquent he is, but how he’s able to navig...

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 associate professor of sociology at CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center. Her research and writing centers the lives of people who migrate across borde...

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 that every loss does not hold the promise of anything like resolutions. Take people who were forcibly disappeared in war. Their loved ones just don’t know for sure tha...

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 about fascism and fiction. 

You can support The Fire These Times on Patreon and in return get: early access to all episodes, exclusive videos, mini-series, access to our monthly hangout as well as the Di...

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. Gilbert, is that story. It is an account of the ways these workers-turned-activists mobilized to move beyond industrial agriculture's exploitation of workers and the environment, showing how emancipatory and ecologically attuned ways of living with land are possible. At a...

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, something that I can not just relate to but also use to understand the wider world...

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: [email protected] or Signal: Ayoub.02 (please introduce yourself)

Book your spot here: https://ko-fi.com/eliaayoub

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 been into 'post-apocalyptic' stories, but I soon found out that there was something different about this cast of characters: their people, the Anishinaabe, had already...

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:

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the m...

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, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the monthly hangout, discounts on ⁠my classes⁠ and ⁠newsletter⁠, the class recordings (all of them), an invitat...

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).

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If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the monthly hangout, discounts on ⁠my classes⁠ and ⁠newslett...

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.

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the monthly hangout, discounts on ⁠my classes⁠ and ⁠newsletter⁠, the class recordings (all of them), an invitation to join the Discord chat, merch, personalised thank you cards, and more stuff to come.<...

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 as well

Episode links:

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

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the monthly hangout, discounts on ⁠my classes⁠ and ⁠newsletter⁠, the class recordi...

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.

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the monthly hangout, discounts on ⁠my classes⁠ and ⁠newsletter⁠, the class recordings (all of them), an invitation to join the Discord chat, merch, personalised thank you cards, and more stuff to co...

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 Lebanon.

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive vi...

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).

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the monthly hangout, discounts on ⁠my classes⁠ and ⁠newsletter⁠, the class recordings (all of them), an invitation to join the Discord chat, merch, personalised thank you cards, and more stuff to come.

Registr...

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 compliance' means and why we must all be aware of it.

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is...

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 Offshoot Journal. He was previously on TFTT (episode 107) to talk about Black Anarchism, Abolition and the Radical Tradition.

If you’d li...

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.

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to ev...

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.”

We will go beyond sensationalist headlines and shallow coverage, and beyond simplistic, top-down explanations for the country. Instead of a linear...

For episode 208, Elia and Dana talk about Zahrani Mamdani's victory and what it could mean for all of us.

⁠ If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the monthly hangout, discounts on ⁠my classes⁠ and ⁠newsletter⁠, the class recordings (all of them), an invitation to join the Discord chat, merch, personalised thank you cards, and more stuff to come.

Registration...

In this collaboration episode, guest host israa’ is joined with Jordan and Prince from The Dugout Podcast and Dr. Mohamed Abdou. We got together to talk about Malcolm X, his evolution over time, his commitment to the below, and the role and impact of Islam on his journey towards collective liberation. Along the way, we talk about Malcolm’s impact on our lives and our politics and share insights on how we think Malcolm would be showing up today. 

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is t...

For episode 206, guest host Dana El Kurd is joined by Pablo Abufom, translator, scientist, and organizer with the Coordinadora Por Palestina in Chile. We talk about the largest Palestinian diaspora population outside the Middle East, the limits of ethnic and national affinities, and what it means to organize against the backdrop of American hegemony.

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the month...

For episode 205, Daniel Voskoboynik joins me from what used to be the Warsaw Ghetto to talk about Gaza.

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the monthly hangout, discounts on ⁠my classes⁠ and ⁠newsletter⁠, the class recordings (all of them), an invitation to join the Discord chat, merch, personalised thank you cards, and more stuff to come.

Registrations f...

Guest host Abdulla Moaswes, a Palestinian scholar and old buddy of mine, is joined by two scholars of Kashmir, Ather Zia and Hafsa Kanjwal to talk about Kashmir. It’s a long episode, but that’s because we wanted to make sure to present Kashmir’s history on its own terms, a Kashmir perspective that does not center Pakistan and certainly not India (or China).

This is part 3 of the Kashmir Question series. ⁠⁠The full version is available⁠⁠ on Patreon.

For much of the last 3 decades, Kashmir has been among the most militarised places on Earth, with it...

Guest host Abdulla Moaswes, a Palestinian scholar and old buddy of mine, is joined by two scholars of Kashmir, Ather Zia and Hafsa Kanjwal to talk about Kashmir. It’s a long episode, but that’s because we wanted to make sure to present Kashmir’s history on its own terms, a Kashmir perspective that does not center Pakistan and certainly not India (or China).

This is part 2 of the Kashmir Question series. ⁠The full version is already available⁠ on Patreon.

For much of the last 3 decades, Kashmir has been among the most militarised places on Earth...

Guest host Abdulla Moaswes, a Palestinian scholar and old buddy of mine, is joined by two scholars of Kashmir, Ather Zia and Hafsa Kanjwal to talk about Kashmir. It’s a long episode, but that’s because we wanted to make sure to present Kashmir’s history on its own terms, a Kashmir perspective that does not center Pakistan and certainly not India (or China).

This is part 1 of the Kashmir Question series. The full version is already available on Patreon.

For much of the last 3 decades, Kashmir has been among the most militarised places on Ear...

In this special episode of The Fire These Times, Elia is joined by four members of the From The Periphery media collective to talk about the ongoing famine in Gaza, Israel's genocide and the world's complicity. Despite the obviously horrific nature of this topic, we insisted on not giving in to despair. The génocidaires cannot win.

The five participants connected to the Gaza genocide through their own respective experiences: Leila Al-Shami (Syria: The Inconvenient Revolution) is a Syrian-British activist and writer who lived in Gaza for three years; Karena Avedissian (Obscuristan) is an Armenian scholar who c...

For episode 200 (!) of The Fire These Times, Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor join Dana & Elia to talk about their piece "the rise of end times fascism."

Naomi Klein is the author of Doppelganger, On Fire, How to Change Everything, the Shock Doctrine & No Logo, among others. Astra Taylor is the co-founder of the Debt Collector and is the author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone, The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age and The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart, among others.

“Fascism isn’t just about power—it’s about controlling the stories we tell. It warps narratives to justify oppression, trapping us in cycles of dominance and despair. But stories can also resist, break those cycles, and open the door to something new.“ 

This is how YouTuber and hardcore Trekkie Jessie Gender starts her video essay “The Stories Fascism Fears Most“ which we highly recommend. A few weeks ago, Elia Ayoub sat down with Jessie to talk about it. They got into their love of Star Trek - because of course they did - as well as other franchise...

For episode 198, Elia Ayoub is joined by Venezuelan researcher - and old friend - Laura Vidal to talk about, and around, Venezuela. We got into why Venezuelans flee the Maduro regime, how Venezuela(ns) is often covered, and the broader discourse battles that may or may not include people who still think Maduro is a passionate defenders of the Palestinians (pause for laughter).

Laura was actually one of the first guests of TFTT back in the ancient year of 2020 when Elia was still learning how to use the Audacity sound editing software. 

I...

It's been 20 years since the Assad regime assassinated Samir Kassir, the Lebanese-Syrian-Palestinian historian, journalist and writer in Beirut on June 2nd 2005. Joining Elia Ayoub and Leila Al-Shami today is Lebanese-French political researcher and academic Ziad Majed, a friend and comrade of Kassir, to talk about his legacy in the two decades that have passed given how much has changed since for Lebanon, Palestine and of course Syria.

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to ev...

Palestinian journalist Maram Humaid joins us from Gaza to talk about the many layers of Israel’s genocide, the everyday of those trying to survive it.

This is part 2 of the episode with Elia Ayoub and israa'. ⁠

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the monthly hangout, discounts on ⁠my classes⁠ and ⁠newsletter⁠, the class recordings (all of them), an invitation to...

Palestinian journalist Maram Humaid joins us from Gaza to talk about the many layers of Israel’s genocide, the everyday of those trying to survive it.

This is part 1 of the episode with Elia Ayoub and israa'. It is already available in full on Patreon for free.

If you’d like to support The Fire These Times, the best way to do it is through⁠ ⁠⁠Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes⁠. In return, you’ll get early access to everything I record, exclusive videos, the mini-series all at once, access to the monthly hangout, discounts on ⁠my classes...

For episode 194, I am joined by Amos Goldberg, Professor of Holocaust History at the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Goldberg is among the most vocal Israeli historians of the Holocaust to have called Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide. In 2024, he wrote a paper for the Journal of Genocide Research on the question of intent, which we explored in part 1. 

In this episode, the second part of our conversation, we get into the crisis within Holocaust and Genocide Studies since the start of the Gaza genocide.

In the...

For episode 193, Elia Ayoub is joined by Amos Goldberg, Professor of Holocaust History at the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Goldberg is among the most vocal Israeli historians of the Holocaust to have called Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide. In 2024, he wrote a paper for the Journal of Genocide Research exploring how the question of ‘intent’ is used in discussions around genocides, including the Gaza one. They also get into how genocide is often preceded by claims of self-defense.

If you’d like to suppo...

This is part 2 of the episode. Part 1 was released a few days ago, and you can also listen to the full version for free on ⁠our Patreon⁠.

Presented by guest hosts Michelle and Daniel, Cracks in the Walls: Global Perspectives on Migration brings together eight individuals active in migration struggles around the world (Mexico, Haiti, U.S., and Europe) for a discussion on root causes of migration, current and past repression, and, most importantly, impactful approaches to solidarity and resistance. 

Participants are: