For episode 169, Elia Ayoub is joined by returning guests Sahar Amarir and Rim-Sarah Alouane to talk about the situation in France, from the recent elections that saw a surprising victory for a Left-Green alliance to how Macronism has been actively normalizing the far right. They described the situation as grim, with far right ideology on questions of race and freedom of worship (especially Islam) the norm in France, with grave implications for the country, the EU and the world. We also talked about Alouane's recent piece on France banning veiled Muslim athletes despite making an inclusivity pledge.

The Fire These Times is a proud member of ⁠From The Periphery (FTP) Media Collective⁠. How to Support: on ⁠Patreon⁠ or on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠. You'll get early access to all podcasts, exclusive audio and video episodes, an invitation to join ⁠our monthly hangouts⁠, and more.

Previous episodes with the guests:

• Sahar: Anti-Imperialism after the Syrian Revolution (Episode 154)
• Rim-Sarah: The Inherent Toxicity of France’s ‘Islamo-Leftism’ Obsession (Episode 72)

Other links:

• That One Time the Olympics Were Cool w/ James Stout (Episode 165)
• The Far Right is Not Inevitable w/ Aurelien Mondon (Episode 163)

Transcriptions: Transcriptions will be by Antidotezine and published on The Fire These Times.

Follow:

• Follow The Fire These Times on ⁠the website⁠, ⁠Twitter⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠
• Follow From The Periphery on ⁠Patreon⁠, ⁠the website⁠ and ⁠YouTube⁠
• Follow Elia Ayoub on ⁠Substack⁠, ⁠Mastodon⁠, ⁠Twitter⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, and ⁠Bluesky⁠, and check out his website.
• Follow Rim-Sarah Alouane on LinkedIn and Bluesky, and check out her website

Credits:

Hosts: Elia Ayoub | Guests: Rim-Sarah Alouane & Sahar Amarir | Producer: Elia Ayoub | Music: ⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠ | Main theme design: ⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠ | Sound editor: Elliott Miskovicz | Team profile pics: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Molly Crabapple⁠⁠⁠ | Episode design: Elia Ayoub.

For episode 168, Elia and Leila are joined by the Chkoun? Collective, a collective of people from "North Africa" resisting anti-Black racism and its intersections with migration and the fight for freedom of movement in the region. We discussed their statement "Solidarities are not a given, they need to be built" and how it relates to our experiences covering Syria, Israel-Palestine, and Lebanon.

The Fire These Times is a proud member of the From The Periphery (FTP) media collective. You can support FTP on Patreon and get exclusive episodes from all FTP podcasts, an invitation to our monthly hangout as well as our future book club, and more perks.

Episode links:

• Latest statement about current events

• There will soon be a library with resources here

• The petition about Saadia's case

• The mentioned campaign in Morocco

• Follow Chkoun? on Instagram @ chkoon

The gang:

• Follow TFTT on Twitter, IG and YouTube

• Follow Elia on Twitter, IG, Mastodon and Bluesky

• Follow Leila on Twitter and Mastodon

• Subscribe to Elia's newsletter Hauntologies

• Check out Leila's blog as well as Elia's archives

Credits:

• Host(s): Elia Ayoub and Leila Al-Shami

• Guest(s): Chkoun? collective

• Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠⁠⁠

• Sound editor: Elliott Miskovicz

• Episode designer: ⁠⁠⁠Elia J. Ayoub⁠⁠⁠

• Team profile pics: ⁠⁠⁠Molly Crabapple⁠⁠

• Original TFTT design: ⁠⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠⁠

• TFTT Transcripts: ⁠⁠⁠Antidotezine⁠

For episode 167, guest host Justin Salhani is joined by Yasser Elsheshtawy to talk about the Dubaization plan that Netanyahu's team put forward for Gaza after their genocide. You won't be surprised to know that we think it's a terrible plan, but what is dubaization?

du·bai·za·tion /dōō’bīzāSHən/ adjective: 1. the act of building a city which relies on spectacular, non-contextual architecture (“The dubaization of Cairo’s skyline”). Synonyms: gulfication; spectacular urbanism. Antonyms: context-oriented urban development; integrated urban fabric; informality.

Bio: Yasser Elsheshtawy is a Non-Resident Scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, DC, and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University (GSAPP). His scholarship focuses on informal urbanism and environment-behavior studies, with a particular focus on Middle Eastern cities. Moreover, he is an Independent Consultant and has worked on numerous projects in Saudi Arabia, collaborating with renowned architectural and planning practices. He taught at United Arab Emirates University from 1997 till 2017 and was appointed as Curator for the UAE Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2016. He was a Visiting Professor at Université Paris Sorbonne during the Fall semester of 2017. He has authored over 70 publications including Riyadh: Transforming a Desert City, Temporary Cities, and Dubai: Behind an Urban Spectacle. He also edited The Evolving Arab City which received the 2010 International Planning History Society Best Book Award, and Planning Middle Eastern Cities. Two chapters on urban development in the Arab world were published in the widely-known City Planning and Urban Design Readers. Elsheshtawy has a PhD in Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Master in Architecture from Pennsylvania State University, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Cairo University.

Links:

• Salhani's profile at Al Jazeera

• Jerusalem Post's article on Netanyahu's plan: From crisis to prosperity: Netanyahu's vision for Gaza 2035 revealed online by Yuval Barnea

• Yasser's piece for DAWN MENA: Selling Egypt by the Pound: 'Gulfication' and the Ras al-Hekma Land Deal

• Yasser's blog Dubaization.com

Recommended Book:

• Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال)

Support us: The best way to support The Fire These Times is to become a member of our ⁠⁠⁠"From The Periphery" Patreon⁠⁠⁠. For only 5$ a month (and less if you pay yearly) you get perks such as early access, exclusive episodes, an invitation to our monthly hangout, upcoming book clubs, and more. You can also help a lot by leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts.

Credits:

• Host(s): ⁠⁠Justin Salhani

• Guest(s): Yasser Elsheshtawy

• Music: ⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠⁠

• Sound editor: Elliott Miskovicz

• Episode designer: ⁠⁠Elia J. Ayoub⁠⁠

• Team profile pics: ⁠⁠Molly Crabapple⁠

• Original TFTT design: ⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠

• TFTT Transcripts: ⁠⁠Antidotezine⁠

For episode 166, Dana & Elia are joined by Ahmed Moor & Antony Loewenstein, co-editors of the book "After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine" to talk about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and whether there is any hope for the One State Solution.

Support us: The best way to support The Fire These Times is to become a member of our ⁠⁠"From The Periphery" Patreon⁠⁠. For only 5$ a month (and less if you pay yearly) you get perks such as early access, exclusive episodes, an invitation to our monthly hangout, upcoming book clubs, and more. You can also help a lot by leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts.

Credits:

• Host(s): ⁠⁠Elia Ayoub and Dana El Kurd

• Guest(s): Ahmed Moor & Antony Loewenstein

• Music: ⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠⁠

• Sound editor: Liam Evans

• Episode designer: ⁠⁠Elia J. Ayoub⁠⁠

• Team profile pics: ⁠⁠Molly Crabapple⁠

• Original TFTT design: ⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠

• TFTT Transcripts: ⁠⁠Antidotezine⁠

For episode 165, Elia and Aydın are joined by investigative journalist and anarchist James Stout of the It Could Happen Here podcast to talk about the 1936 anti-fascist Olympics in Barcelona and the fascists who destroyed it. There's a reason you've only heard of the more notorious Berlin one, and we're gonna get into it here.

You can buy James' book: The Popular Front and the Barcelona 1936 Popular Olympics

His NatGeo piece: The brutal story of the 1936 Popular Olympics: a boycott of fascism and Hitler

The 'Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff' Episode on the Spanish Civil War: The Popular Olympics Antifascist Athletes Help Stop a Coup

Support us: The best way to support The Fire These Times is to become a member of our ⁠"From The Periphery" Patreon⁠. For only 5$ a month (and less if you pay yearly) you get perks such as early access, exclusive episodes, an invitation to our monthly hangout, upcoming book clubs, and more. You can also help a lot by leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts.

Credits:

• Host(s): ⁠⁠Elia Ayoub and Aydın Yıldız

• Guest(s): James Stout

• Music: ⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠⁠

• Sound editor: Elliott Miskovicz

• Episode designer: ⁠⁠Elia J. Ayoub⁠⁠

• Team profile pics: ⁠⁠Molly Crabapple⁠

• Original TFTT design: ⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠

• TFTT Transcripts: ⁠⁠Antidotezine⁠

For episode 164, Dana El-Kurd is joined by Michael Paarlbeg, associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, to discuss the intersection between crime and authoritarian politics in Latin America. They particularly focus on the the state of emergency happening today in El Salvador, covering the rise of Nayib Bukele and the political implications of the “gang state” emerging in the country.

The best way to support The Fire These Times is to become a member of our "From The Periphery" Patreon. For only 5$ a month (and less if you pay yearly) you get perks such as early access, exclusive episodes, an invitation to our monthly hangout, upcoming book clubs, and more. You can also help a lot by leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts.

Show notes:

• Transnational Gangs and Criminal Remittances (academic article, Comparative Migration Studies)

• The Emerging Gang State in El Salvador (Global Americans)

• Gang Membership in Central America: More Complex Than Meets the Eye (Migration Policy Institute)

• How a Fake Gang Crisis in the US Fueled a Real One in Central America (Duke conference)

• Gangs, Guns and Judas Priest (The Guardian)

Credits:

• Host(s): ⁠⁠Dana El-Kurd

• Guest(s): Michael Paarlberg

• Music: ⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠⁠

• Sound editor: Liam Evans

• Episode designer: ⁠⁠Elia J. Ayoub⁠⁠

• Team profile pics: ⁠⁠Molly Crabapple⁠

• Original TFTT design: ⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠

• TFTT Transcripts: ⁠⁠Antidotezine⁠