Podcasts about Tahrir Square

APEX Express is a weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. Over the past few years, a series of popular uprisings across the world have been described by mainstream media as “Gen-Z Uprisings” – movements led by young people and described in western media as generally being against government corruption. These movements have been most notably visible in our own media due to their use of technology, including platforms like Discord and TikTok, and internationally consistent adoption of pop culture symbolism, like the flag of the “straw hat pirates,” a black flag depicting a grinning jolly roger wearing a straw hat. The flag is the banner of the protagonists of the long-running hit anime series One Piece whose adventures often find them coming to the defense of marginalized communities around their world. But these movements didn't come out of nowhere (or the internet for that matter). Understanding their origins – and the elections that have resulted from their successes – can shed light both onto the international struggle against authoritarianism and the challenges we face building an alternative. In this episode we are looking at two countries, Nepal and Bangladesh, where popular uprisings in the summer of 2024 and fall of 2025 have led to elections this year. In this episode, we are joined by two US based organizers, Sharmin Hossain and Samir Shrestha, whose work as part of South Asian diasporas has rooted them in movement work here in the US while maintaining relationships and solidarity abroad. Sharmin Hossain is a Bangladeshi Muslim organizer from Queens, New York, who is currently the Organizing Director for 18 Million Rising. To learn more about 18 Million Rising, check out their site at www.18millionrising.org. Follow Sharmin on all platforms at @sharminultra Samir Shrestha belongs to the indigenous Newari tribe of Nepal, where he was born. He has spent the last 18 years involved in movement work here in the US. To learn more about The Ruckus Society and request a training, visit: www.ruckus.org/training-action-support/training-requests/ To learn more about Convergence Magazine and the Block and Build Podcast, follow them at @_convergencemag and @blockandbuildpod. Check out Covergence's work at www.convergencemag.com. Transcript Swati Rayasam: [00:00:00] welcome fellow travelers to Apex Express. It's been a minute, but in case you don't remember, my name is Swati Rayasam, and I'm gonna be your conductor tonight. I have been very excited about this week's episode for a few months because tonight Apex is featuring Convergence Magazine's Block and Build podcast. Block and Build is creating a roadmap for the movement that's working to block the impacts of [00:01:00] rising authoritarianism while building the strength and resilience of the broad front that we need to win. And both the team at Convergence and the guests for tonight's show are close comrades and friends of Apex. On this episode, Cayden Mak, podcast host and editor-in-chief of Convergence, is joined by Samir Shrestha and Sharmin Hossain, two US-based organizers from the South Asian diaspora, Nepal and Bangladesh respectively. Sharmin and Samir will talk about the history and continued struggles of the international Gen Z uprisings, which have only really made a blip in Western media coverage. They'll discuss the history of those movements and the political conditions which created them, as well as help us understand how Americans can be in meaningful solidarity with people's movements abroad. Without further ado, I'll hand it over to Cayden. Cayden: Over the past few years, a series of popular uprisings across the world have been described by mainstream media as the Gen Z uprisings, movements led by young people and described in Western media as [00:02:00] generally being against government corruption. These movements have been most notably visible in our own media due to their use of technology, including platforms like Discord and TikTok, and internationally consistent adoption of pop culture symbolism. but these movements didn't come out of nowhere, or out of just the internet, for that matter. Understanding their origins and the elections that have resulted from their successes can shed light both onto the international struggle against authoritarianism and the challenges that we face building an alternative. In this episode, we're looking at two countries in particular, Nepal and Bangladesh, where popular uprisings in the summer of 2024 and fall of 2025 have led to elections this year. I was recently joined by two US-based organizers, Sharmin Hossain and Samir Shrestha, whose work as part of the South Asian diaspora has rooted them in movement work here in the US while maintaining relationships and solidarity abroad. Sharmin Hossain is a Bangladeshi Muslim organizer from Queens, New York, who's currently the organizing director for 18 Million Rising. Sharmin, thanks so much for joining us today  Sharmin: Thank you for having me. I love Convergence.  Cayden: Thank you. [00:03:00] And, Samir Shrestha belongs to the indigenous Newari tribe of Nepal, where he was born. He spent the past 18 years involved in movement work here in the US, and Samir, it's really good to see you this morning.  Samir: So good to see you too, Cayden.  Cayden: Well, to start us off, let's try and set some context Sharmin. I'm wondering if you can give us kind of a quick gloss of the 2024 uprisings in Bangladesh, where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her party were ousted from power. What are the sort of themes of the protests, and then the way that the state responded, and where are we kind of now? Sharmin: Wow, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor to talk about my country and all the amazing things that happened, because I think the Global South really forges, like, new possibilities as far as, like, what we can do and, and consolidate as far as power goes. So today is actually March 26th, and it's Bangladeshi Independence Day, coincidentally. Cayden: Happy independence Day.  Sharmin: Happy Independence Day. I find it very serendipitous for us to delve into this layered and complex history, um, of the student movement. So [00:04:00] the Bangladesh student protests of July 2024, were deeply rooted in systemic inequalities that the young working class and the poor faced. Nearly 32 million young people were actually out of the workforce, or education in a population of a country of 170 million. So that's a pretty significant number. And so that issue was a focal point for widespread discontent in the country. In July of 2024, the High Court of Bangladesh actually reinstated a quota system for government jobs after an appeal was made when the then-ruling Hasina government abolished the quota system, um because in 2018 she faced a lot of pressure from student protesters. But this quota system is really interesting, and it represents a lot. It reserved 30% of government jobs for descendants of freedom fighters. And in Bangladeshi history, that's a very complex and layered identity. Millions of our [00:05:00] ancestors actually fought in the liberation war against the US-backed Pakistani military, and the Bangladeshi Liberation War, and genocide in Bangladesh actually resulted in the death of over three million people who sacrificed for the birth of our nation. And so for the Hasina government, the quota system was actually what she used to appoint a lot of her loyalists and her supporters to high levels of government, the military, and it basically created the political ecosystem for the Awami League, her party, to maintain dominance. And the Awami League actually was the party that once led the liberation struggle, and over the course of 15 years, we actually saw how much they consolidated power through political repression, the Digital Security Acts that was surveilling and targeting freedom of speech, as well as the corruption and fear that they [00:06:00] stoked against their opposition. And these government jobs, like most of us, it represents many things. It represents the government's responsibility to take care of poor people, um, economic and political opportunity, and it also represents, like, the corruption and the authoritarian rule of the Awami League, and how they were rigging elections, and how the court systems, and even entrance exams for the Bangladeshi civil service, were actually regularly leaked and compromised. And so -within that background, that's when you have the Students Against Discrimination movement take the streets in July demanding fair access to government jobs. And things actually got violent really fast. Within seven days, nearly 174 people were murdered, and thousands were injured. There was an indefinite curfew, social media blackouts, and then a military occupation with shoot on sight orders. And of course, the bullets that were raining upon, Bangladeshis were US, [00:07:00] arms. So students were terrorized by these vigilante groups that were collaborating with the Bangladeshi police. And these student groups were actually organized by the Bangladeshi Awami League. These student groups were notorious for repressing student elections, sexually assaulting students, um really threatening people that were running for student elections. And so there's already this, like, vigilante ecosystem that exists within the campuses that was weaponized during the student protests. And then you have a climax moment on July 14th. Sheikh Hasina went on television accusing the students of being Razakars, and Razakars are collaborators of the Pakistani army, and it's a very derogatory term in Bangladesh, and it refers to people who support the Pakistani military's operation to suppress the Bangladeshi Liberation War. They're also accused of heinous crimes. And so when students were accused of being Razakars, it, like, [00:08:00] lit a fire. Millions took the streets that day, and they were like, “Oh, hell no.” Like, “How dare she disrespect us?” While there's thousands of people who are on the streets, blood, everywhere. Rickshaw wallas are having to pull students into hospitals. There's just so much violence happening on the ground. And so on that National Day of Action, July 15th, clashes happen. Multiple deaths are live-streamed, and one of them, Abu Sayeed, he was a university student at Rangpur University in northwest Bangladesh, really galvanized the country because we watched this student, who is not armed, surrender and get sh- shot, by the Bangladeshi police. And we know what these spontaneous moments of violence do to the public, right? It usually always sets fire to another wave of social protests and action. And so then millions start marching to Sheikh Hasina's home, and [00:09:00] really, her brutal and arrogant response sealed her fate. And the protesters, and at this point, this is a populist movement, millions of people that are rickshaw wallas, working-class people, students, teachers, are taking the streets, marching towards her house. And they demand her resignation. And on August 5th, within 36 days of the movement, she resigns and flees to India, our neighboring country. Over 1,400 people have been killed, under her brutal repression. And so that's some of the background of the student movement, and we can talk more about some of the dynamics of it. Cayden: Yeah, that's super helpful, and I think reflecting on the ways in which also the sort of, like, escalation on the part of the government is, I think, a really important story here, for sure. Samir, I'll also now turn it to you. What should our listeners know about last fall's uprisings in Nepal, which also ousted the sitting government of, K.P. Oli and his, his party and how they led to [00:10:00] elections, earlier this month, in March of this year?  Samir: Thanks, Cayden, and Happy Independence Day to you, Sharmin. I am somebody who was born and raised in Nepal, and am spending most of my life in the diaspora now, and I wanna name the limitations of, uh, my understanding of what's going on in Nepal because of me not being on the ground organizing with the masses. And, I wanna honor the work that's been happening in Nepal, on the ground one of the big things that, that's really n- is important to name is, like, it's only been 20 years since we abolished monarchy. Uh- Mm-hmm. … uh, 2006, right? That is a big thing for us to understand. And the party that was in power, and has been in power since, was the party that has been organizing our movements, and that is the organized left in Nepal, and, like, really betrayed our people once we, once they got into power, right? And, like, started kind of veering towards the right once they got in power. So 20 years later The economic conditions of our people on the ground are really dire. There's no jobs available. People are migrating. A lot of our folks, one of the biggest source of economy and source of money for our, [00:11:00] our people back home is, like, migrant work, uh, in Dubai and, traveling to Dubai, Qatar, and working under very bad conditions. So one- that's one of the big things that's also been informing,, lot of the consciousness of the- our young people in Nepal, right? And then one of the other things that's named really important is, so since the election, since 2006, the Communist Party, the Congress Party, and the Maoist Party have been, they're the only ones who have been in power for the last 20 years, and these are all old upper caste men, even though they were the ones who were leading the movement and were organizing at left. But these were s- the representation and the leaders in these parties were all upper caste, caste Arya people, which is the dominant caste in Nepal, right? And that's a very important layer to name. And that really informed, I think, a lot of the ways they showed up after we won. And, and that's one, one big question that we always have in the left, right? What do we do after we- Yeah … abolish monarchy? What do we do after we win? And we haven't figured that out too, as does any other movements, right? And 20 years later, the frustration is on the very high, against the status quo. And then we, and there [00:12:00] was a lot of, like, obviously there was a lot of inspiration from Bangladesh, like Indonesia, and, like, the uprisings there. And, like, this one, uh, thing started trending the young people started organizing around Nepo babies. There's like, you know, “Yeah, you don't have access to we do, you're gonna take our access away from social media while your kids, and people who have connections to you and have, access to you are just posting about the life, the lavish life they're living abroad and in my homelands,” right? So that's one of the places where it started. And once that started, there was online campaign. And there was already conversations around banning social media in Nepal, and they were- Hmm … finding, like, different ways around it, and that really escalated the way people really responded to the situation, is like once they started organizing around Nepo babies and how they were, like, getting momentum around that, that's when exactly the social media ban went into effect, right? And that's a really important name because, like, one of the biggest pet peeves for me as a diaspora person has been this idea of people only started the uprising and took the streets because of the social media ban. [00:13:00] But just- Hmm. Mm-hmm … all these other things really added up to it. That was just the, just the point of escalation, right? So fast-forward, people started organizing on Discord. Uh, also the irony of it is that was one of the apps that was banned, uh, in Nepal as, uh… And people started organizing in Discord. And also wanna name the reality of, like, the only people who had access to Discord are also, like, privileged folks like us- Sure like younger, upper middle class people. So we were not really getting folks from outside Kathmandu and from our villages and from rural areas, right? So they didn't really have any say in what the organizing would look like. So it happened very, organically, very decentralized. So there was a call for people to show up at Maitighar which has been a popular protest space in Nepal, for a very long time. And it was like at the, at the center of Kathmandu. So there was a call out september 8. A lot of folks came out, and then people from outside Kathmandu that couldn't make it to Kathmandu started coming in big numbers. And the goal of the protest was peaceful protest, right? [00:14:00] And one of the things that happened, don't quote me on this, but my understanding of it from, talking to people there is, like, a lot of political parties who had, who were the opposition from the Communist Party at that time started infiltrating the protest, and the protest started becoming, quote-unquote, “violent,”, which was not, uh, what the young people wanted. So fast-forward, that led to 19 deaths on the first day of the protest, which led to the home minister resigning, at the end of the day. But Oli, the prime minister, is so arrogant and really didn't figure out the power of young people and, like, how they could keep mobilizing and organizing. He decided to just downplay them and say, “I'm not resigning,” which led to more heightened escalated protests the second day, where people started marching to the parliament buildings and started burning down buildings. And people started, people got to a lot of, like, the political parties' political party leader home and started burning them, and, really started, holding them accountable. And also , there was videos of clips of, like, people torching into people's homes and, like, [00:15:00] Sher Bahadur Deuba, who has been in power for the last 20 years in different, ways, who's one of the, considered one of the most corrupt leader in Nepal, from Nepali Congress party, got attacked by the protesters. So fast-forward, more escalation led to, like, 52 more deaths, and the Oli party finally decided to resign at the end of that night, and that's, that's when curfew was impo- imposed by, the army. So that led to, like, a total of 72 deaths. I wanna name, like, in just the two days of mobilization, two days of organizing, because sometimes in the left we don't understand. We talk about the similarities of our struggles but we don't really talk about the conditions that led to it and, like, the level for the risk that our folks leveraged, to be able to topple the government, right? So I just wanna name that out loud and honor that part of, like, how the, how people, like, really leveraged risk. And then fast-forward, people started organizing. The conversation kept going on on Discord, and then there was, like, a town hall style meetings happening on Discord where, like, I think 7 to 8,000 people were on it. And also I still wanna name again, the people who didn't have access to the internet and [00:16:00] phones were not able to part- participate in that. And decided Susila Karki, who was a chief justice 10 years ago, a woman, who also joined protesters during the first day of them mobilizing in the street. They decided, they voted, to hold her as the interim prime minister for now. And There was also one other layer is like a lot of people wanted Balen Sah, who is our prime minister now, but constitutionally if he was part of the interim government, he wouldn't be able to run for prime minister. So that was like a strategic decision that, uh, like he made, and the movement made around not electing him as part of the interim government. So one of the big responsibilities of the interim government was to hold elections in six months, which honestly I was not very-  Cayden: That's hugely ambitious. Samir: It is hugely ambitious, right? And also the reality is it happened, and also there are questions around, yeah, were we able to hold elections in a way where everybody had access to it, right? And that is a big question that I'm still asking, I'm still sitting with. But there were like record numbers that showed up to the polls, but [00:17:00] we haven't really, like we still really don't have answers around what accessibility looked like for people to show up at the polls. And fast-forward now, the Rastriya Swatantra Party which emerged at like a, at a very popular party in 2022, won with majority. And we just sworn in our new Prime Minister Balen Sah yesterday, we can talk about more later. Cayden: Well, thank you for summing up, both of you for summing up- Pretty long, complex histories fairly quickly for us. I've been thinking about the way that, like, Western media largely reports on these kinds of uprisings as if they come out of nowhere. And, like, we know as movement people that rarely, if ever, like, do they truly come out of nowhere. So, like, yeah, I wanna dig into what the longer arc of these stories really is. And I, I really wanna talk about, I guess, like, the specific texture in both Bangladesh and Nepal about how these protest movements position themselves against the government, against, like, other social forces, and, like, how kind of, like, other social phenomena acted on and shaped [00:18:00] these movements as well. Sharmin: I love that question 'cause it allows us to see, like, also the rich history of our, like, respective areas, and how much, like, young people have always been at the forefront of so many revolutionary struggles. And we often, um, you know, uh, post social media era like to make generalizations that this never existed before. But actually, you know, in Bangladesh, students are the most incredibly organized force that has shaped much of our history since 1947. The 1969 uprisings against Ayub Khan, the 1971 Liberation War, and then the , 1987 protests against the military dictator Ershad. And then later, our return to democratic governance in 1990 and the road safety protests of 2018, which actually laid the groundwork for so much of the student, frustration with the government not being able to keep students safe because of road safety issues and [00:19:00] just, the general mismanagement of transportation and, public resources. And so the campus has always been a key space for the pulse of the nation. But it's also a key space for goons and vigilante groups to organize their forces. So the Bangladesh Awami League has their faction, the Chhatra League, and then there's, you know, the Jamaat-e-Islami, which is the right-wing Islamist group of Bangladesh that has been growing, has their faction, the Chhatra Shibir. And then the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which, you know, has been in opposition to the Awami League, also has their goons on campuses. And so one of the major, trends you'll see during these moments is how these factions are actually weaponized to make sure that the violent state apparatus is deployed within public spaces. And, you know, you asked about, like, missteps and some of the things that political formations, might forget to plan for or think [00:20:00] about. And, you know, one of the things that I, I'm sure Samir can relate a little bit is, like, a lot of these student organizations, you know, students against discrimination, there was a group of men who claimed leadership of the student movement and formed, a party, the National Citizens Party. And you notice quickly the contradictions of their formation. All the women leaders were either asked to leave or they left because of what an undemocratic, unfeminist space it was. And then you noticed quickly that the National Citizen Party started allying itself with the right-wing forces to gain a populist base. And that, to me, is the, one of the biggest contradictions of what do leftists do when we gain power? And also, like, the sober conversation is, are these leaders leftists? Or did-  Cayden: Yeah, were they ever? Were they ever?  Sharmin: Or did we project our leftist dreams onto them and I think one of the things that [00:21:00] we've been doing for many generations, and I think Vincent Bevins' work really synopsizes this well, in looking at the last decade of popular uprisings, is that we've been doing politics without ideology, right? Mm-hmm. That these political for- formations actually don't have a coherent theory of change when they're contesting for power. And so you notice quickly the National Citizens Party was very reactionary, and it was very anti-fascist by, their vernacular, but what anti-fascism meant was that we hate the Awami League, we're gonna ban the Awami League, and the Awami League is no longer going to exist. And then we're- Yes … gonna fight for Sheikh Hasina to be hanged, right? And so that became their populist slogan.  Cayden: Hmm.  Sharmin: And so, you know, there is no left force in Bangladesh, and that's something that we have to name, that for sure there are garment workers that are organizing a party. There's a communist league that does not actually grow in their base. Um- Hmm … and that is why coming out of [00:22:00] the July uprisings, you notice this leadership actually turned center right really fast because they didn't have a, a vision that was rooted in economic and political struggles of the working-class students who made up majority of the base of people that were on the streets. Um, and you know, it was surprising, Cayden, I'll just say, like, after the, the NCP was getting ready for elections that just happened this past February, they joined a coalition with the largest Islamist force of Bangladesh, and this is such a misstep, right? To join forces. W- your enemy of your enemy is not your friend, right? Like, wh- where, like, where, when has that gotten us anywhere? It falls into the traps of organizing without a clear, coherent ideology, and then the post-uprising impact is weakened. And so a lot of that groundwork of, like, theoretical work, we actually have to do that to be able to be ready for fights that take power in the way that [00:23:00] feel, restorative and generative, instead of what we're seeing now, which is a populist right-wing growth in Bangladesh. Cayden: That feels like such an important lesson that we need to learn, unfortunately, over and over again, and I feel like this theme of, the enemy of my enemy is sometimes still my enemy has been coming up on this show a lot lately. That like, it, I, uh, you know, we see it happening in our movement politics here too, especially in, in this sort of moment of authoritarian retrenchment in our own government, that like, there are, there are challenges around that, and there's like ways that I think, yeah, it makes sense that it feels good in the moment to be like, “Yeah, there's more of us than there are of them.” But it's like, well, who, who are us? Like, what is the us that we're talking about? Samir, I will pass it to you to talk about, I guess, some of the texture that we should know about the protest movement in Nepal, and like what are the ways that, other social forces also outside the state have shaped the way that the protests have played out there. Samir: I was listening to Sharmin, and I was like, “Oh, there's so many similarities,” [00:24:00] like in a lot of the political forces that led our movements and also like talking about K.P. Oli, there's so many similarities of like how they were the face of the movement. And as somebody who really admired K.P. Oli because, you know, he was part of the social movement left. He was part of , like the first people's movement struggles, uh, that happened in the '90s that got rid of absolute monarchy. He was the face of the Communist Party. He did take up arms, right? So all of the tools that our revolutionary histories have used to, find liberation, right? So he used a diversity of tactics. Like, he started as somebody who believed in picking up arms. And then he led a people's movement in the '90s of, like with other political parties to get rid of the Panchayat system, which was a system of absolute monarchy and where all the political parties were dissolved right by the king from the 1960 to 1990, right? But one of the big things that I think we didn't think about when our movements were being led, when our movement ancestors were organizing and like really thinking about is like what does identity mean for our movements. There's political forces, [00:25:00] the social movement parties that are leading our people and organizing our people, and they did the organizing that happened in Nepal, the door-to-door, the base building that happened, if that was done by political parties, right? Which is true, and we need to name that layer, too. And I think one of the things that we're missing in this moment right now is we have been so, so frustrated by the last 20 years of governance by these forces. We wanna forget the political history of how we got here, right? Mm-hmm. And that has been one of my big critique of the young people in Nepal, right? And for me, I also think about as somebody who's getting older and also had access to my dad who was part of this movement, right? He was a big force as part of the Communist Party, and now he's heavily traumatized because of the way he got betrayed by his comrades, right? And I think one of the forces I was talking about identity is, like, all of these political forces were led by upper caste Brahmin men, and there was no indigenous representation. So finally, the 1990, we were able to get rid of absolute [00:26:00] monarchy. By '96, we still don't have full democracy in Nepal, so, you know, the Maoists decided to wage a civil war where they really organized the masses, and really created conditions for the monarchy, to bow down, right? And the Maoist party came out of this forest and, like, built a coalition with the Communist Party and the Congress Party to take the streets again. In 2006, we finally were able to get rid of monarchy, but 2006 to 2014 was a struggle to, like, really, draft a new constitution for us, where we made some progress and where we also did some things where it took us back around, like, women's rights, right? And so there was a big feminist movement that really created, like, organizing conditions of 2026 in so many ways, right? And one of the things that we were seeing during the last 20 years is what's happening is all the communist parties, the people who led our movements and uprisings were veering towards the right, right? Hmm. Because they consolidated more power, like, you know, exactly what happened with, uh, Bangladesh. They consolidated more power where, you know, they could stay in power [00:27:00] for long. The indigenous folks were part of the struggles and the uprisings in the 100 years of our movement struggles. But once we won and they got, the Communist Party got into power, they started, like, pushing policies that would not benefit indigenous peoples, right? And then one of the big things that Nepal wanted is federalism in terms of, like, one of the big critiques of Nepal has been the government is so centralized in Kathmandu. Other people outside of Kathmandu really don't get to take part in politics. And, so federalism was one of the big things that we pushed for, right? At Indigenous Struggles, that is the one thing that we pushed for so that we can govern our homelands, and that was the one thing that Oli was, like, against too, and that was also one of the reasons why he started becoming less and less popular, right? But one of the things that's 2026 was, I think it's also really important to understand, is the 2026 uprisings were led by youth who I believe, I dare to say, didn't have, the full understanding, the political understanding of our political histories in that way. And there's this, like, disconnect in terms of, like… it's hard for me to bridge the 100 years of left in Nepal [00:28:00] and like, you know, this youth uprising that's happening in Nepal that has no connection because it's not an organized group, right? It's very decentralized. Right. It happened on Discord. And that is one of the big questions we have now is, like, how do we as young people, the young people who led this uprisings, how do they stay organized, right? And that is a big question we still don't, we don't have answers to, right? The movement histories and, you know, the last 20 years has been very traumatizing, but there's also so many lessons and so many beautiful things that happened during the organizing, right? So how do we make those connections? How do we ask those questions? How do we talk to this feminist group? How do we talk to, like, workers, right? We need to figure that out. And I think one of the big things, like Sharmin talked about too, is like the student protest student movements were a big part of how we got liberation in Nepal, and the student movements are like directly connected to political parties because they have the student wing. But that also doesn't mean they are not organized. Yes, they were organized, and they really figured it out, but they have gotten corrupt. There's goons there, there's only men there. [00:29:00] And, like, how do we really ask those questions as a movement now and start building on some of our social movement histories? And that is a big question. And I haven't heard anything, and I'm very curious what's gonna happen on that, and I've been sitting with that a lot, too.  Cayden: Yeah. No, I, I mean, I feel like thinking about the challenges in remembering and then sometimes, like, having movement history misremembered to us by people with motivations. I can see how in that way for these young people who are getting organized, who are, like, trying to figure out what they want from the government in the future . there's some real, delicate territory for them to negotiate around, like, understanding themselves in a lot of ways as political and historic actors, which is really interesting. Swati Rayasam: You are tuned in to Apex Express on 94.1 KPFA, 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley, 88.1 KFCF in Fresno and online@kpfa.org.  Cayden: One of the other trends that [00:30:00] I would love to talk about is this, sort Western media trend where, an uprising happens somewhere, a protest movement happens somewhere, and they're like, “Oh, there's an interim government. Great.” And then, like, in the US, we don't hear anymore the establishment of interim government is, first of all, deeply informed by the social movements and social forces that are already moving on the ground and also glosses over the way politics is done in a particular place. I'm wondering if there's stuff that you've noticed that has really been lost from the international media discourse about the politics of both Bangladesh and Nepal since the sort of student uprising moment. And if there's stuff that you've been seeing in the like, interim government moments that you're like, “Oh, this is something to watch out for.” Like, “This is something that we can draw some lessons from.”  Sharmin: Yeah. Well, in Bangladesh we had a United States favorite Nobel Laureate, you know, Muhammad Yunus- Mm-hmm as our interim government. And, and I think what's so fascinating is that, you know, he is the world's sweetheart because he created [00:31:00] this, like, you know, microfinancing program that is, a program that they say, you know, empowers the poor people. And, we know that in practice it actually did not reverse poverty, and it actually left millions of people in more debt, than, they or- originally were projected to gain. And so I think what's very fascinating about having such a pro-capitalist, figure that is, a sweetheart of empire, it spoke to his legacy in office, you know? During his time, he also signed one of the most devastating US-Bangladesh trade agreements with Trump- Hmm … which actually, further isolates China from the Bangladeshi trade market and, forces Bangladesh to do all of our trade deals with the US. And it's a non-binding agreement. And so it is, deeply unlawful and also devastating to the economy of this area of Southeast Asia that actually needs China as, an ally, as a country that has, contributed a lot to the development of [00:32:00] our, transportation systems and, so for us it- it's also about how much of this interim government was, you know, representing the interests of the global elite and what he was willing to do to be able to s- to, to squash, revolutionary energy within the country. The Women's Commission was one of the most powerful consolidation of feminist leaders under the interim government that were looking to reform land laws for women. And similar to what, Samir was saying, right? Women's rights just are the first thing that these governments throw under the bus and that- women's commission report that was looking to really examine land laws and inheritance laws and and the rights of women economically like actually triggered one of the largest anti-feminist rallies in the country's history- Wow … where millions, millions of Jamaat-e-Islami men and their supporters took the streets in [00:33:00] protest of women having rights. And that was something you did not see the Western media touch, even-  Cayden: No …  Sharmin: even though the Western media was, like, so excited for this revolution, right? You know, on the ground too, you have those people that are like, “This is a CIA-backed, like, uprising,” right? And then on the ground you see, like, oh yeah, people actually don't want to touch the complexities of this country because it is layered within, like, religious nationalisms- Mm-hmm ethnic nationalisms, and caste. And so in my experience, I would just say that people know very little of the political forces within this, greater West Asian political landscape and how it connects to US imperialism here and abroad, you know? Pakistan was once the CIA's closest ally in the Cold War, and they continue to be during the war on terror right now, right? Mm-hmm. The United States provided Pakistan with military, diplomatic, and economic support because a [00:34:00] pro-US military dictatorship in this region that was a staunch anti-communist ally created a buffer between the axis of the USSR, China. Cayden: Hmm.  Sharmin: And then I'll say at the same time, on the ground, there were dozens of reports of mobs that were attacking temples and Hindu leaders. Hindus are a minority in Bangladesh that have been historically, marginalized, and these contradictions were, were getting highlighted, right? Because that violence was eerily similar, right? The partition of South Asia- Yeah …  Cayden: excluded  Sharmin: Hindu-Muslim communalism, and there were tensions and divides that fell across class lines. And for Western and, hegemonic media outlets, this looked like, oh, the Muslims are attacking the Hindus again.  Samir: Right.  Sharmin: And so for me, like, the being able to reckon Islamophobia, communal violence, identity and class politics, but also the way nationalism operates in South Asia, it, it's a tricky dance [00:35:00] And I've been learning how to really convey this complex history because the country's, uh like, beautiful history of, like, using guerrilla warfare to defeat US-backed forces in the region, it also represents something different from its neighbors, India and Pakistan. Mm-hmm. And within that, you know, we have Bangladesh joining the PLO in Lebanon to fight on behalf of Palestinian liberation. We have the fact that the country's actually i- inception was based on a socialist vision, right? And it's now one of the fastest-growing economies in the world with the fast fashion garment industry that's also ravaged by climate crisis and mass displacement. And so for me, it always just comes back to anti-war and anti-imperialism, like all the nodes of my brain, because I'm like, “Here's this US global death-making machine and this defense industry that sells tear gas shells to my country and [00:36:00] sells Israeli surveillance technology to my country.” And then there's this Bangladesh trade agreement that Trump was able to wager during this vulnerable moment for our country and it's at the core of all the political and economic violence within my country. And so the neoliberalization of our campuses and what these students are facing is because of the war economy. And so, so I just, like, zoom out in those moments, and I'm like, “Oh, this, this feels very much so like Cold War politics and the aftermath.”  Cayden: Yeah, like the politics of the Cold War have just simply never left us. Like, they're still here, and it's like we've sort of swapped in China as the big bad in a lot of ways.  Sharmin: Right.  Cayden: Samir, I wonder if there's, stuff that you've been seeing about the interim government in Nepal that you think are worth our sort of examination as kind of like lessons that we can draw from what happens after the protest, and yeah, like how that has been part of the electoral moment also we're in in Nepal right now. Samir: Yeah, [00:37:00] well, the interim government was, what was it, about five months. I think we didn't really see a lot of work that happened from the interim government, but obviously one of the big wins of the interim government was they were successfully able to hold elections. And the Western media has only focused on Balen Saha, this, quote-unquote, “rapper,” this charismatic guy who is gonna, who's 35 years old and is gonna lead. And then like Sushila Karki, I mean, one of the big things that everybody is like, “Oh, she's the first woman prime minister of Nepal, and what does that mean for us?” And, you know, this identity politics of like, “Oh, we finally got a woman president.” And for us it's like when we talk about it, that's the only thing we see in the discourse. But the reality is she was also a woman prime minister in an interim government that she knew was gonna last for six months, right? And also one of the things that a lot of people don't think about and realize is like the youth really didn't know who she was. And I think that's one of the big things that Sarmin talked about too, is like how do our youth have the consciousness? And do we have a left, social movement left, that's actually supporting them to really understand, you know, the conditions [00:38:00] of our people and who we're electing and, like, how we're organizing and what that means for us, right? But one of the big popularities about her was, like, she was not a career, jurist as she was appointed, was a lawyer that was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2009 by the Judicial Council, and she had this reputation of pushing back against some of the political parties and some of the establishments in that time. So that was, like, one of the big things that really lured our folks, there was this one interview of her that went really viral about how she talks about, you know, establishment parties and how she challenged, some of the status quo while she was… Because a lot of times what happens with some of these appointments are people who are loyal to the to the parties, right? That was the one big thing that really attracted a lot of our young folks, to mobilize around her being the prime minister. And it's just, like, a lot of unknowns around, like, we still don't know because with the older parties, it was very clear to us that the Communist Party was, like, more loyal to China, right? And the Congress party was more loyal to India. And then one of the things a lot that we don't see in the discourse even in left spaces, right? Even [00:39:00] in, like, media spaces is, more than US imperialism, India and China is also waging some form of imperialism in our homelands, right? And that we don't wanna name that layer because in the US, as, us being in the belly of the beast, our only responsibility is to fight US imperialism. And then for me, as somebody from the Global South, I understand that how that impacts our movement and how that is dangerous and harmful to our people in our, back in our homeland. Because China and India are bullying Nepal in a lot of different ways politically, right? Because nothing happens in Nepal without the consent of India and China, right? And India obviously has more power, and they're, like, fighting over that power in Nepal right now. And the other thing that I wanted to name is, I was hoping K.P. Oli, during our interim prime ministership, during that interim government, would be held accountable, which didn't happen. And we're not talking about that, right? And also she [Karki] had a lot of limitations, and we still are figuring out what, like, what kind of power she held, right? But the hope was for me was, like, that she would hold the people who were responsible for our people's deaths accountable during the six months she was there, which [00:40:00] really didn't happen and really moved. And that's one of the things that hasn't been talked about, and I think that was a big political opportunity for her to do some of that work to push K.P. Oli out of power because he, after doing all of this, was still able to contest the elections and lost really badly. But one of the things for me, the inspiration was, like, how Sheikh Hasina was pushed out of the country, right? Like, that was one of the hopes and dreams, and that didn't really happen, during this interim government.  Cayden: Hmm. That's interesting that there's, like, a possibility that he might be back. Well, I wanna turn a little bit to thinking about this history that's been unfolding and, like, what it is like to be observing, talking to comrades and loved ones as an organizer who's based here in the US as part of your diasporic community. One of the things I think a lot about is, like- When we talk about solidarity with people's movements internationally in the US, sometimes we forget that, like, people from those diasporas are our comrades. They are here. And that we have a lot to, [00:41:00] like, learn from them. What has it been like watching the sort of, like, social movements in Bangladesh and Nepal respectively, and what has it been like to have that consciousness as an organizer here in the US dealing with all of the political stuff that we've been dealing with here? Samir: I love that you asked that question, Cayden, and also, like, yes, I just wanna start with, like, this layer of like, oh, yes, we have comrades here who are from these diasporic communities who actually can inform us in this. And to add another layer to that, even with, with my, you know, my history of being born and raised in Nepal and, like, being connected to our movements there and, like, living here for the last 20 years now, right? That also creates another layer where I don't have access to everything, and that also creates a layer of, like, that I don't have to know everything, right? And I wish our left- Mm-hmm … Western left understood that layer sometimes because – In our movements, I'm gonna go be a little– I'm gonna little shit about our movements here, you know? Because one of the things that happens is, like, the romanticization of what's going on in our homelands without understanding, and this idea- Mm-hmm of, like-like, we have to know the answers to every… It's okay to not have answers. I think that's a big thing that I reflect on a lot as somebody here, [00:42:00] right? And also, the reality is I have access to my father, who is, for me, the only revolutionary that I know who was part of, like, social movements and who, like, really spent his whole life to the movement and is now still doing things after being betrayed by his party, right? So I think that's one of the big things. I think it's okay to know that. I think the second thing for me as somebody in the diaspora, it's my role in the diaspora. It's also what is my role in the diaspora to inform my comrades. If you're an upper-caste person, it is your responsibility to name that in the movement spaces that you hold and name that layer- Mm … and inform people about that layer. I think about that a lot. I sit up, I sit with that and reflect on that a lot, and that really informs the way I show up as somebody in the diaspora. And my responsibility, one of the things that we saw when all of this was happening you know, the movements, the social movement left was so fast, got into this train of, like, it's a Color Revolution [i.e., the revolution is backed by the US government/is a US-led intervention], as if our peoples don't have the capacity to organize. Yes, there was infiltrations. Yes, India was involved. But yes, there was also uprising where 70 people died, right? So just, bringing it down to, like, it's not really being complex and, like, [00:43:00] being nuance about that. And that really is harmful to our people back home, right? Because that, in that, when we're doing that, we're taking away, like, access from our people in terms of, like, how they are doing things. And also, like, really, I think invalidating the fact that our, the governments that was being oppressing against the uprisings are oppressive. So that just, like, invisibilizes, uh, what the state is doing, right? Because it is a Color Revolution, you know. The, it is not led by the people. We're, there was even sign, things like they said, like, “Oh, there were signs in English.” Like, can you just think about, you know, the, the orientalist, uh, you know-  Cayden: Yeah …  Samir: orientalist way that you are thinking even as somebody who considers yourself a social movement left. So that's, I think, one my, that, for me, that is a big responsibility. And- And that is where I can also make an impact as somebody in the diaspora. I am not on the ground, that is the reality of it, and knowing where I can make impact and how I can make impact, and knowing very clearly that I don't have all the answers, and I'm not– I'm an outsider in so many… I go back home every time I go home for a couple of months, the way I show up in these movement spaces [00:44:00] is I'm here to listen and I'm an outsider, and I'm trying to figure out how I can support you, right? And that is, for me, a role as a diasporic person, and I'm very clear on that. And I think it's also because I have access to my dad who grounds me in that, and it's like- Mm-hmm “Samir, you don't live here anymore.” He will remind me very clearly. He's like, “You don't live here anymore.” And you need to understand that, and that's okay.” And he will ground me in that, and that really helps me in terms of thinking of how I wanna show up as a diasporic person.  Cayden: Yeah. No, that's, that's really helpful, and I think that, like, this thing that you're describing about the sort of like in some ways, like, healthy, but in other ways sort of, like, overblown skepticism that US observers can have about uprisings, revolutions in other countries just because, like… The, the word that came to mind as you were describing it was, like, infantilizing, right? That it's, like, as if people can't independently form their own political opinions without the intervention of the, like, global superpower is just sort of, like, baffling to me. You hit on something that, like, I think about a lot [00:45:00] also as somebody who is, like, a generation removed from the immigrant generation in my family. I don't have a ton of relationships with my family who are in Hong Kong and China, but, like, how do I, like how do I relate to that? It's very challenging, and it's- and I, I think that there's so much in, like, US like left social movement discourse that I'm just kind of like, “I actually don't know how to relate to this as a diasporic person sometimes.” Sharmin, I'm also interested to hear from you on this.  Sharmin: Yeah. Yeah, similarly, I feel, I feel like there is this, like, uh, relationality that it's pushing people that are here to really think about more clearly. I feel like some of the early '70s through the '90s was a very, like, symbolic type of solidarity that we had- Mm-hmm where, where, you know, we would do the cultural attire, the cultural associations, you know, the melas, which are, like, big fairs that we have in these hubs of, like, immigrant communities. And now I think the politics are coming back. Like, I think after the July uprising, [00:46:00] you actually saw solidarity actions popping up across hubs in, you know, New York and California where people were like, “Actually, this impacts me and I wanna talk about what this means. I wanna talk about the cultural and political organizations that run this local community.” And one thing that I really took back from the last two visits to Bangladesh is really learning the skills of talking to somebody who disagrees with me because-  Cayden: Hmm …  Sharmin: I think in the United States the left does not practice, being able to engage, talk, even, like, be in relationship with people that might be politically opposed to you. And so when I go to Bangladesh, I'm actually surrounded by a lot of homophobes. I'm surrounded by a lot of men who, like, support the Awami League, and I've had to kind of, like, sit in this in between of being like, “Oh, yeah, like, I actually have to learn how to debate better. I have to learn how to, like, you know, be that person that's, like, holding humanity but also holding the, the critical left analysis that I, I believed in to be right because I [00:47:00] know I'm right.” Right? And I know that, like, this is a hill that's worth dying on. And I think with Mamdani's win in, in New York, like, there's so many examples of how that, like, South Asian left politic that's actually talking about class exists- Mm-hmm.  Cayden: Yeah …  Sharmin: within the geography of our communities. And, you know, especially for, you know, Samir and I are, like, the minority South Asians, so we're not the Indian upper caste. And so for us, we're like, “This has always been the reality of our people.” They are working-class organizers. They're people who know how to talk about the intricacies of domestic labor, about the unorganized labor forces, about the people that are left out of the political agenda of our government. And so for me, like, I really take some of the lessons that DRUM [ Desis Rising Up and Moving]  is doing on the ground in New York around what it means to actually build a member base that's rooted in relationship, but also towards a North Star. And that North Star, it looks a little socialist. It looks a little working class. It looks [00:48:00] very deeply rooted in a feminist, anti-oppressive politic. And I think for someone in diaspora, that's been the biggest growth area for me, where I'm like, “How do I hold this vision and not lose hope that my people are not, like, all right-wing people that are out to, like, you know, destroy me and my people?” But we are in this center-right populous moment that will require us to do cultural shift. It will require us to do that, like, slow work of tilling the land, like Ella Baker spade work. And you know, a comrade of mine, Nafiz, who's a brilliant writer at Jamhor, when I was talking to him about processing the February elections, he was just like, “You know, I actually think, like, I'm seeing a lot of possibility right now because I saw what happened to Egypt after Tahrir Square, and I saw where Egypt went and what a military dictatorship did to that country.” And he was like, “And Bangladesh, that's not what happened to us.” And, and he was like, “And this is important for us to really reckon with how… Not to [00:49:00] say, like, ‘Oh, it could be so much more worse,' but it could be so much more worse.” And we have to work within these, like, terrains in a way that's, like, really reckoning with why are people wanting to find comfort in these right-wing religious social groups, because they are the only organized groups of people that are providing shelter and food. And so unless the left fills that gap, we are gonna see right-wing populism, and we've seen it within white supremacy here, but it translates to every Global South country, from Brazil to, you know, um, obviously South Asia. And so yeah, I just am trying to be more, like, relative in that way, where I'm like-  Cayden: Hmm Sharmin: “Oh, we're a lot more relative than we think we are.”  Cayden: Yeah. That is such a good insight about, like, having to context switch Across geography, across political context, like builds a, like a really important muscle for us as organizers. This has been an absolutely fantastic [00:50:00] conversation and I've learned so much from both of you. My one sort of like, well I have two outgoing questions and they're sort of related to one another. One is thinking about like as a monolingual English speaker, as somebody who's like in the US, I think one of the things that I've often felt a challenge around is like where do I look to for news, for updates, and for analysis about what's going on in the Global South, especially for places where I have no cultural or language connection. And like when you're assessing news and information that's coming out about movement politics. What do you consider, what do you think about, what are the questions you ask yourself when you're like seeing headlines, kinda day-to-day that you think would be useful for other folks to start thinking about? Sharmin: Yeah. I, I really think about, like, multiple nationalisms right now, that there's, like, these competing forces of, like, who gets to tell the story. And I always, like to think about, like, how, uh, US [00:51:00] interests, Chinese interests, or even, like, Indian interests are determining the news landscape right now. And I don't like to think about it, but I, I've been looking at so much coverage that feels very much like, yikes, like what is going on, with our, like, news ecosystem? And unfortunately, I think we need to get back on Facebook. Like, I think that the fact that- … progressives and the left have left Facebook, like, I get it. Fuck Meta, and Facebook is the main place for so much like organizing. And we-  Cayden: Contest every space.  Sharmin: Get back on Facebook. Who cares if there are right-wing trolls on it? You we have to create alternative like information systems that are, like, really amplifying to these networks and groups of people that are getting inundated with that information. And I think we're really lucky because there's a lot of leftist South Asian publications now, Himal South Asian, Jumphore, you could become Patreon supporter and really be a part of these legacy, South Asian [00:52:00] left, thinkers that are actually thinking about, like, the long-term arc, and they, they're contending with socialism. They're contending with the communist, like, legacies of our organizations. And so, I just really appreciate that they're doing political analysis with politics and not just focusing on, like, symbolic forms of, like, political analysis. So shout-out to them and, and their hard work because yeah, they, they're English media that is getting translated for this day and age, you know? Cayden: Yeah. I… It was really exciting to me to, like, do a lot of the sort of, like, background for this conversation and find, like, English language movement media coming out of South Asia. I was like, “This is so exciting.” Like, this is… I feel like in some ways the thing that they're trying to do is, like they're kind of our comrades- Mm-hmm in a sense, right? Like, they're trying to do a similar thing to the thing that we're trying to do at Convergence, and I was like, “Ooh, this is really cool. Like, I'm bookmarking this.” Yeah. So I don't know. Samir, do you have, do you have other thoughts about, like, what things [00:53:00] US people should be thinking about as they're kind of assessing news and developments? Samir: Yeah, big ups Himal Magazine. I think that is a big source of information for me too. And also as somebody who struggles with reading Nepali now, which I'm very embarrassed of it's really hard for me to get access. to. I have to sit with my dad to, like, really go through some of the news articles, which, you know, my dad gracefully agrees. Uh, I think one of the big things is, like, I do benefit a lot from his free labor. I'll just name that on this podcast. But I think, and one of the things I would say is like- Thanks,  Cayden: dad …  Samir: really, like, figuring out, like, I don't know, like, pushing through the binary of, like, what US imperialism means for Nepal and what also there's, there could be other forms of imperialism that I named earlier, that Sharmin named too. And also right now, I think there's a lot of unknowns for us too, right? We have this party that was not part of the political establishment that came into picture in 2024. So we are still grappling with the idea of, like, what does this mean for us? Who are they gonna be loyal to, and how does, what does this mean for geopolitics in Nepal, right? So we are still sitting with that question. And there is some clarity around, I think one of the things I would say is there's a [00:54:00] lot of excitement, even in diaspora community, and my role in the diaspora also has been talking to some of my friends who are stoked about this prime minister right now because we haven't built a left that is informing them of the nuances and, like, how we can actually figure out the critique of this person, right? Because for me, I think it's really important the social movement left to understand because even my friend, my comrades are sending me, “Oh, this rapper is a prime minister now.” It's somebody that I trust a lot, right? Yeah. And I have to do the work of like, “Hey, this person has this history of governing in this way when he became the mayor of Kathmandu, where he was against poor people,” right? He did some changes, structural changes that helped, upper middle class people. And using that as a way to, like, really assess what he's gonna do for Nepal, and I'm actually skeptical, right? He is somebody from the Madhesi movement, which is a indigenous group that is very marginalized in Nepal, but he also comes from a very upper class background, right? And that's also real. We have to name that. His party's ideology is to push us away from federalism in some sense, right? And also the reality is they had a majority, they won a majority because we didn't have a social movement left outside of political parties that would help us assess him, right? [00:55:00] So that's, I think that's the question. Those are some of the questions I would love people to ask, because I am asking those questions as somebody who is from Nepal and from the diaspora, and I check myself every time. And yeah, I will end it with, like, it's okay to not have all the answers, and just, yeah, do some of that work of, like, reflecting on, like, asking yourself how you are taking in some of the information that you're seeing. And obviously, Himal Magazine is a big source, and one of the Substacks that I would highly recommend too is, I think we could put it in the links later, it's called Kalam Weekly, which is on Substack. I have some critiques of their writing too, but that's really been helping me understand what's going on in Nepal right now.  Cayden: You both have been so incredibly generous with your time, and this has been such a rich conversation. I don't know if there are places also where if our listeners want to follow your work, I don't know, if there's organizations or places where you are publishing thoughts, either your own or organizationally that you wanna share. Sharmin, is there any place people can find you online? Sharmin: Yeah, for sure. We're building the Asian American left at 18 Million Rising, so you could follow us there, and I'm @sharminultra [00:56:00] on all social media.  Cayden: And Samir, is there a place people can find you?  Samir: Uh, yeah, I am a very quiet person. Uh, but direct action has been a big part of our struggles in the last few years, and we are really thinking about, like, how we can escalate strategically, so I am part of a network of direct action trainers called the Ruckus Society. Hit us up. We do trainings, go to our website, request a training if you need any direct action support. We love nerding out on action design and thinking about action curriculum and how we train our people to do action safely. And follow Ruckus Society, and I don't really have a social that's public, so…  Cayden: that's so fair. I respect your choice not to be perceived.  Samir: I mean, also, I'm not Sharmin, I feel I learn from her so much, from Sharmin, so I just wanna name that, and also just from how I- And  Sharmin: we're friends. Like, we, we've done direct actions together. Like, we've been arrested together. Like-  Cayden: Yeah. …  Sharmin: we're comrades, so it's just so fun to be able to talk about this- Well, I really-  Cayden: Yeah …  Yeah. Thanks again, Sharmin, Samir. Absolutely a pleasure to talk, and I'm, I'm sure we'll talk again soon.  Sharmin: Talk soon. [00:57:00] Thank you, guys.  Samir:

What does it take to platform the truth? In this live episode from Doha Web Summit, The Take talks to veteran correspondent and anchor Ayman Mohyeldin about the path from the US to Gaza and Tahrir Square that defined him as a journalist, as he brings moments that define our time to news audiences around the world. In this episode: Ayman Mohyeldin (@AymanM), MS NOW Anchor Episode credits: This episode was produced by Sarí el-Khalili, with Melanie Marich, Tamara Khandaker and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhemm. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Robert Kesten, President and CEO of Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library in Fort Lauderdale, Florida talks with Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™. Founded in 1973 the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library has grown into the largest lending library of its kind in the U.S. with more than 34,000 books and audio-visual materials. The archives also contain more than 6 million pages of documents and more than 2,000 objects of critical importance to our LGBTQ history. Rotating exhibitions, talks, lectures and films have attracted thousands to the Stonewall National Museum each year enriching the lives of countless others. Some of the upcoming events include their fourth annual Gala fundraiser where they will ceremoniously and historically induct architect, philanthropist and president of the Arcus Foundation Jon Stryker, retired Congressman Barney Frank and Grammy winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian into its nationally traveling “Standing on the Shoulders of Heroes” exhibition on February 21st. This fabulous fundraising event takes place at The VENUE in Wilton Manors, FL from 6P to 9P for a fabulous night of celebration with cocktails, dinner, conversation and community. Other events include Amazon Rising: The Legacy of Wonder Woman that runs now through February 17th and Sahara: NYC's Lesbian Legacy that will be on display February 28th to April 5th. Also the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library in partnership with the LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame will celebrate the 2026 class of inductees recognizing the achievements and contributions of LGBTQ athletes, coaches, advocates and sports enthusiasts. We talked to Kesten about what he would like to accomplish at the Stonewall National Museum and his spin on our LGBTQ issues.  Robert Kesten is a seasoned nonprofit executive with extensive experience in the for profit and government sectors. Kesten has had the unique experience of working on the break-up of the USSR on the ground in the Soviet Union and being in Tahrir Square during the Arab Spring in Egypt. This has given him a special understanding of human rights, the need for democracy and the role education plays in the transformation of nations and their people. Kesten's varied career also includes writing and producing an award-winning documentary film on learning the lessons from the Holocaust winning the Jury Prize at the Moscow Film Festival. The Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library is a safe welcoming place that inspires and promotes understanding through collecting, preserving and sharing the proud culture of our LGBTQ community and their significant role in American society.  For More Info… LISTEN: 600+ LGBTQ Chats @OUTTAKE VOICES

I was in one of those "big box" stores over the weekend - and Santa was strolling the aisles wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. I told my wife, "It was fun to see Santa. I was just a little surprised to see him carrying pepper spray on his belt." (OK, I made that part up.) But the thought never would have occurred to me, except for that crazy Black Friday and all the headlines. People getting pushed, punched, sprayed, hospitalized, and even shot - all in the frenzy to get some coveted item cheap. Well, there was this image on a news organization's website that was almost laughable - if it weren't more sad than funny. Pictures captioned with the day's major headlines kept rotating across my screen. First came the photo of pre-dawn bargain-hunters massing outside the store - caption: "Shoppers Show Up in Droves." Next picture - hundreds of thousands of Egyptians massing in a square in their capitol city, and it said: "Crowd Swells in Cairo's Tahrir Square." You're right! They were there trying to bring down at that time a dictator. I smiled - and then I sobered - at the contrast. One crowd fighting for bargains. Another crowd fighting for freedom. I was ready to put those pictures side-by-side with the caption of my own: "So what are you fighting for?" I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Black Friday Battles." I'm not against bargains. I like them. But the contrasting agendas of those Black Friday crowds were reminders to make sure that I'm investing myself in the battles that really matter. Even though there are less important battles that constantly jockey for my attention and for my time. We find our lives filled with the pursuit of more house, more money, more Facebook friends, more fun, more title, more commitments, more sports, more gadgets, more entertainment. We dance to the music of a culture that tells us what we must have, what we must see and do. We put our energies more into having than giving, into activity - more than relationships, into maintaining church programs - more than moving out to reach people who are clueless about our Jesus. Christians choose to define themselves by the ten percent that divides them rather than the 90% that unites them. Couples fight over petty differences instead of fighting for their marriage. Relationships between family, friends, business people often focus on the insignificant rather than what really matters and really is important. Church folks fight over music styles and personal slights instead of fighting for the lost and for the hurting people just across town. Jesus said to stop running after all these "temporaries" that possess the lives of people who live like this world is all there is. And our word for today from the Word of God says, in Matthew 6:32-33, "seek first the kingdom of God." In other words, the things that God thinks are worth living for and fighting for. Like the hard work of a happy marriage, strong relationships, building kids who have a Jesus of their own. Like the ever-living, never-dying souls of the people you know, and the powerless and broken people who break the heart of Jesus and ought to break ours. I love this high tribute to David, the "man after God's own heart." It says, "He fights the Lord's battles" (1 Samuel 25:28). After all, those are the only ones worth fighting.

I was in one of those "big box" stores over the weekend - and Santa was strolling the aisles wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. I told my wife, "It was fun to see Santa. I was just a little surprised to see him carrying pepper spray on his belt." (OK, I made that part up.) But the thought never would have occurred to me, except for that crazy Black Friday and all the headlines. People getting pushed, punched, sprayed, hospitalized, and even shot - all in the frenzy to get some coveted item cheap. Well, there was this image on a news organization's website that was almost laughable - if it weren't more sad than funny. Pictures captioned with the day's major headlines kept rotating across my screen. First came the photo of pre-dawn bargain-hunters massing outside the store - caption: "Shoppers Show Up in Droves." Next picture - hundreds of thousands of Egyptians massing in a square in their capitol city, and it said: "Crowd Swells in Cairo's Tahrir Square." You're right! They were there trying to bring down at that time a dictator. I smiled - and then I sobered - at the contrast. One crowd fighting for bargains. Another crowd fighting for freedom. I was ready to put those pictures side-by-side with the caption of my own: "So what are you fighting for?" I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Black Friday Battles." I'm not against bargains. I like them. But the contrasting agendas of those Black Friday crowds were reminders to make sure that I'm investing myself in the battles that really matter. Even though there are less important battles that constantly jockey for my attention and for my time. We find our lives filled with the pursuit of more house, more money, more Facebook friends, more fun, more title, more commitments, more sports, more gadgets, more entertainment. We dance to the music of a culture that tells us what we must have, what we must see and do. We put our energies more into having than giving, into activity - more than relationships, into maintaining church programs - more than moving out to reach people who are clueless about our Jesus. Christians choose to define themselves by the ten percent that divides them rather than the 90% that unites them. Couples fight over petty differences instead of fighting for their marriage. Relationships between family, friends, business people often focus on the insignificant rather than what really matters and really is important. Church folks fight over music styles and personal slights instead of fighting for the lost and for the hurting people just across town. Jesus said to stop running after all these "temporaries" that possess the lives of people who live like this world is all there is. And our word for today from the Word of God says, in Matthew 6:32-33, "seek first the kingdom of God." In other words, the things that God thinks are worth living for and fighting for. Like the hard work of a happy marriage, strong relationships, building kids who have a Jesus of their own. Like the ever-living, never-dying souls of the people you know, and the powerless and broken people who break the heart of Jesus and ought to break ours. I love this high tribute to David, the "man after God's own heart." It says, "He fights the Lord's battles" (1 Samuel 25:28). After all, those are the only ones worth fighting.

In Geneva, at the Festival de la Bâtie, Khalid Abdalla presented Nowhere for the first time with French subtitles. Neither confession nor monument, but an “anti-biography,” this solo unfolds as an act of resistance against linear narratives and fixed identities. On stage, the intimate becomes political cartography: Tahrir Square and its echoes, counter-revolutions, the ongoing Nakba, the unbearable awareness of a genocide unfolding in the present. With deliberate restlessness, Abdalla shapes a fractured form that refuses to smooth over the violence of the world. Nowhere summons “political ghosts,” embraces vulnerability as strength, and opens a ritual space where memory, responsibility, and action contend for visibility. In this conversation for Le Beau Bizarre, Khalid Abdalla shares the genealogy of the piece and what it makes possible: a way of living and speaking when everything around us insists on silence. Suivez nous sur les réseaux, abonnez vous sur les plateformes d'écoute ! Facebook Linkedin Instagram

The New Preachers of Egypt—so named because of their novel preaching styles, which incorporate everything from melodrama to music to self-help—came to prominence on the world's first Islamic television channel on the cusp of the Arab Spring uprisings. They promoted an innovative and inclusive Islamic piety that millions of young middle-class viewers found radical and compelling—but were scorned as neoliberal by leftists, as stealth Islamists by secularists, and as too Westernized by other Muslim preachers. Drawing on long-term fieldwork with the New Preachers, their producers, and followers in Cairo, Yasmin Moll shows how Islamic media and the social life of theology mattered to contestations over the shape of a New Egypt. These mass-mediated fractures within Islamic Revivalism were happening at a time of both revolutionary possibility and authoritarian entrenchment. The New Preachers' Islamic media inspired a "revolution within" that transcended the country's divisions and anticipated the ethos of creativity, solidarity, and coexistence that soon would mark Tahrir Square, the ethical epicenter of the 2011 uprising. Vividly written and boldly theorized, The Revolution Within: Islamic Media and the Struggle for a New Egypt (Stanford University Press, 2025) challenges conventional accounts of the 2011 revolution and its aftermath as a struggle between secular and religious forces, reconsidering what makes a practice virtuous, a public Islamic, a way of life Godly. Yasmin Moll is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Reighan Gillam is Associate Professor in the Department of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies at Dartmouth College. Her research examines the ways in which Afro-Brazilian media producers foment anti-racist visual politics through their image creations. She is the author of Visualizing Black Lives: Ownership and Control in Afro-Brazilian Media (University of Illinois Press). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

When we the people are called to show up in the streets over and over in growing numbers till the powers that enable Trump withdraw support and authoritarian dominoes fall, here's my 2013 conversation about Egypt's Arab spring. The documentary THE SQUARE puts you in Tahrir Square as revolution swirls around you. The film follows a handful of activists risking their lives to build a new society. Though the Muslim Brotherhood ultimately replaces one authoritarian rule with another, the protests ended Mubarak's 30 years of dictatorship. I speak with JEHANE NOUJAIM, Director, KARIM AMER, Producer, and KHALID ABDALLA, participant. Watch: youtube.com/watch?v=2a6SLuVtiVU

The journalist Richie McGinniss has always craved action. As a reporter he's found it – and a lot more – in the chaos of the streets, embedding himself with protestors to cover the most divisive and violent demonstrations in American history.Richie may be a media professional of the new era, posting his intense, on-the-ground videos on social media, but he brings an old-school newsman's credibility from his extensive professional experience and globe-trotting life story.Richie studied Arabic and Middle Eastern history at Georgetown University and subsequently traveled to Jordan, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, and Egypt's Tahrir Square less than a month before it became the flashpoint for the widespread protests and revolutions that erupted during the Arab Spring. Richie has worked at the Al-Jazeera program, “Min Washington,” broadcasting to households in Arabic throughout the Middle East, at NBC News's Washington Bureau as a production assistant, and as the video director at Daily Caller, where he built a team of ten video producers. While covering the demonstrations in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Richie witnessed Kyle Rittenhouse shoot Joseph Rosenbaum and nearly got shot himself when a bullet ricocheted near his foot. Richie was plunged into the national spotlight and praised for his clear, non-biased, neutral reporting of the violence. On the ground for the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol, Richie not only got closer to the action than virtually any other journalist but emerged with a nuanced understanding of how news events can be interpreted and manufactured by the media. Richie recently published his book, Riot Diet: One Man's Ride Through America in Chaos. I've read Riot Diet and can tell you it's a powerful series of reports from some of the most infamous protest riots of our times. Though definitely not for the faint of heart, I highly recommend Richie's book to anyone interested in an insider's look at some of the people covering those events and how they unfold.https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0DLQXN1DK

Elio Zarmati is a retired filmmaker, journalist, and author of the new memoir "Goodbye Tahrir Square: Coming of Age as a Jew of the Nile." He tells the story of his  life, aged 7-14, growing up in war-torn Egypt. It is a message of growing up during societal unrest, and how our life is not defined by outside conflict.   Go to www.dcoffeyfoundation.org to support this month's charity of focus. The D Coffey Foundation helps young people to pursue their goals through athleticism and scholarship. 

The Arab Spring hits THE NEWSROOM in its fifth episode ("Amen"), but once again Aaron Sorkin finds himself more concerned with Will McAvoy's workplace dramas, including a nefarious attempt by the ACN morning show to bring his downfall. PLUS: Was the '60s "the decade where everything changed"? At least one magazine cover believes so! PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/122160705

https://zarmati.com/ Elio Zarmati,a fascinating individual with a unique perspective on the Middle East. Elio is the author of Goodbye, Tahrir Square:Coming of Age as a Jew of the Nile, a poignantmemoir that offers a timely exploration of identity, displacement, and thecyclical nature of history in the region. Elio's backgroundis as rich and multifaceted as the region he writes about. Born in Egypt and raised in Franceand England,he brings a global perspective to his work. He has a distinguished careerspanning journalism, filmmaking, and entrepreneurship. Notably, he built Gelula& Co. into the world's largest provider of subtitles and dubbing servicesfor motion pictures, demonstrating his keen understanding of communication andcultural bridges. As the Middle East continues to grapple with political upheaval,conflict, and the refugee crisis, Elio's personal narrative provides apowerful lens into the past and present. Growing up in 1950s Cairo amidst revolution anddecolonization, Elio witnessed firsthand the complexities of identityand the challenges faced by marginalized communities. His experiences resonatedeeply with the current struggles in the region, from the ongoing conflict in Gaza to the plight ofrefugees. What Elio CanOffer Your Audience: A LostWorld: Elio can transport your audience to a bygone era, offering aglimpse into the rich cultural and historical heritage of Jewish life in Egypt. Echoes of History: He can draw parallels between past and presentrevolutions in the region, providing valuable insights into the cyclical natureof conflict and change. A Personal Journey: Elio can share hisexperiences of displacement, identity, and the search for belonging, offering adeeply personal and relatable narrative. In an interview orarticle, Elio can illuminate many historical and timely parallelsbetween the historical and present middle east such as: A Pivotal Moment:He can share how the Suez Crisis affected his family, community, and his ownsense of identity. A Coming-of-Age Story: Elio can discuss hisformative years in the once big city of Cairo, including his relationships withEgyptian peers and the impact of the Suez Crisis. The Power ofEducation: Elio can discuss the role of education in shaping hisworldview and his reflection on leaving Egypt. ANew Beginning: He can share his experiences as a young immigrant in France and England, and how they shaped hisunderstanding of identity and belonging. The Weight of Exile: He canshare the emotional and psychological toll of leaving his homeland and thechallenges of building a new life in a foreign country. The Art ofStorytelling: Elio can discuss his decision to write his memoir andthe impact he hopes it will have on your audience. A Hopeful Vision:He can share his vision for a more peaceful and just future for the Middle East. Elio Zarmati Bio: Elio Zarmati isa writer, journalist, filmmaker, and entrepreneur whose life spans continentsand disciplines. Born in Egyptand educated in France and England, Elio witnessed firsthand thepolitical upheaval and cultural richness of mid-20th century Cairo. His career includes serving as apublisher, screenwriter, and television director, as well as building Gelula& Co. into a global leader in subtitling and dubbing services. Currentlybased in Los Angeles and Ojai, California, Elio isalso an advocate for sustainable living and urban agriculture through hiscompany, Potagers Kozart. Hismemoir, Goodbye, Tahrir Square, reflects on his experiences as a EuropeanJew in Egyptduring times of war and revolution, exploring themes of identity, displacement,and resilience. We look forward to supporting you and {Outlet(s)|your outlet}in connecting with Elio in any way we can. Get socialwith Elio on Linkedin

Growing up in Connecticut and Long Island, New York, McGinniss studied Arabic and Middle Eastern history at Georgetown University and traveled to Jordan, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, and Egypt's Tahrir Square less than a month before it became the flashpoint for the widespread protests and revolutions that erupted during the Arab Spring. McGinniss next worked at the Al-Jazeera program “Min Washington,” broadcasting to households in Arabic throughout the Middle East, at NBC News's Washington Bureau as a production assistant, and as the video director at Daily Caller, where he built a team of ten video producers. While covering the demonstrations in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sparked by the police shooting of a black man named Jacob Blake, McGinniss witnessed Kyle Rittenhouse shoot Joseph Rosenbaum and nearly got shot himself when a bullet ricocheted near his foot. McGinniss was plunged into the national spotlight and was praised for his clear, non-biased reporting of the violence. As The New Yorker observed in its trial coverage, “when McGinniss testified, he strove to be as assiduously neutral about the shooting as he had been in interviews with me and with others.” After his appearance on Tucker Carlson was taken out of context by CNN, McGinniss's straightforward appearance not only corrected the record, it also showed how one person can compel a news corporation to diverge from preset talking points and relay to the public the truth behind a shooting that will go down in history as the peak of 2020's unrest.   But McGinniss soon found himself a political lightning rod. Donald Trump's MAGA supporters initially celebrated McGinniss for not vilifying Rittenhouse and merely reporting what he saw. During the trial, his role as a named victim put him in the crosshairs of the political right. After Rittenhouse's acquittal on murder charges, McGinniss felt the wrath of Black Lives Matters supporters and others. “I was really the friend of nobody,” he says.

Goodbye, Tahrir Square: Coming of Age as a Jew of the Nile (Cherry Orchard Books, 2025) is a first-person memoir written from the standpoint of a Jewish boy growing up in Egypt during the watershed years that shaped the Middle East into the powder keg it is today. Described as the “Holden Caulfield of the Nile” for his rebellious attitude, the boy witnessed—between the ages of seven to fourteen—the 1952 revolution that overthrew King Farouk and gave rise to the dictatorship of Gamal Abdel Nasser; the 1956 Suez war that marked the end of the British empire; and in its wake the destruction of the Jewish community that had lived in Egypt since Biblical times. Though set in times of revolution and war, Goodbye, Tahrir Square is not a political book. It is the story of a boy whose close-knit extended Sephardic family, full of rich traditions and colorful characters, is suddenly torn asunder by the forces of revolution and war. A man-child coming of age like a wild cactus in the rubble of the past, overcoming a hostile environment, forging friendships that transcend ethnic and religious animus, and finding his own identity as he awakens to literature, history, art, archaeology, and the magic of love and sex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Goodbye, Tahrir Square: Coming of Age as a Jew of the Nile (Cherry Orchard Books, 2025) is a first-person memoir written from the standpoint of a Jewish boy growing up in Egypt during the watershed years that shaped the Middle East into the powder keg it is today. Described as the “Holden Caulfield of the Nile” for his rebellious attitude, the boy witnessed—between the ages of seven to fourteen—the 1952 revolution that overthrew King Farouk and gave rise to the dictatorship of Gamal Abdel Nasser; the 1956 Suez war that marked the end of the British empire; and in its wake the destruction of the Jewish community that had lived in Egypt since Biblical times. Though set in times of revolution and war, Goodbye, Tahrir Square is not a political book. It is the story of a boy whose close-knit extended Sephardic family, full of rich traditions and colorful characters, is suddenly torn asunder by the forces of revolution and war. A man-child coming of age like a wild cactus in the rubble of the past, overcoming a hostile environment, forging friendships that transcend ethnic and religious animus, and finding his own identity as he awakens to literature, history, art, archaeology, and the magic of love and sex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Goodbye, Tahrir Square: Coming of Age as a Jew of the Nile (Cherry Orchard Books, 2025) is a first-person memoir written from the standpoint of a Jewish boy growing up in Egypt during the watershed years that shaped the Middle East into the powder keg it is today. Described as the “Holden Caulfield of the Nile” for his rebellious attitude, the boy witnessed—between the ages of seven to fourteen—the 1952 revolution that overthrew King Farouk and gave rise to the dictatorship of Gamal Abdel Nasser; the 1956 Suez war that marked the end of the British empire; and in its wake the destruction of the Jewish community that had lived in Egypt since Biblical times. Though set in times of revolution and war, Goodbye, Tahrir Square is not a political book. It is the story of a boy whose close-knit extended Sephardic family, full of rich traditions and colorful characters, is suddenly torn asunder by the forces of revolution and war. A man-child coming of age like a wild cactus in the rubble of the past, overcoming a hostile environment, forging friendships that transcend ethnic and religious animus, and finding his own identity as he awakens to literature, history, art, archaeology, and the magic of love and sex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

Goodbye, Tahrir Square: Coming of Age as a Jew of the Nile (Cherry Orchard Books, 2025) is a first-person memoir written from the standpoint of a Jewish boy growing up in Egypt during the watershed years that shaped the Middle East into the powder keg it is today. Described as the “Holden Caulfield of the Nile” for his rebellious attitude, the boy witnessed—between the ages of seven to fourteen—the 1952 revolution that overthrew King Farouk and gave rise to the dictatorship of Gamal Abdel Nasser; the 1956 Suez war that marked the end of the British empire; and in its wake the destruction of the Jewish community that had lived in Egypt since Biblical times. Though set in times of revolution and war, Goodbye, Tahrir Square is not a political book. It is the story of a boy whose close-knit extended Sephardic family, full of rich traditions and colorful characters, is suddenly torn asunder by the forces of revolution and war. A man-child coming of age like a wild cactus in the rubble of the past, overcoming a hostile environment, forging friendships that transcend ethnic and religious animus, and finding his own identity as he awakens to literature, history, art, archaeology, and the magic of love and sex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

Goodbye, Tahrir Square: Coming of Age as a Jew of the Nile (Cherry Orchard Books, 2025) is a first-person memoir written from the standpoint of a Jewish boy growing up in Egypt during the watershed years that shaped the Middle East into the powder keg it is today. Described as the “Holden Caulfield of the Nile” for his rebellious attitude, the boy witnessed—between the ages of seven to fourteen—the 1952 revolution that overthrew King Farouk and gave rise to the dictatorship of Gamal Abdel Nasser; the 1956 Suez war that marked the end of the British empire; and in its wake the destruction of the Jewish community that had lived in Egypt since Biblical times. Though set in times of revolution and war, Goodbye, Tahrir Square is not a political book. It is the story of a boy whose close-knit extended Sephardic family, full of rich traditions and colorful characters, is suddenly torn asunder by the forces of revolution and war. A man-child coming of age like a wild cactus in the rubble of the past, overcoming a hostile environment, forging friendships that transcend ethnic and religious animus, and finding his own identity as he awakens to literature, history, art, archaeology, and the magic of love and sex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

Rusha Latif is an Egyptian-American researcher and author based in the San Fransisco Bay Area. In episode 44 of Tahrir Podcast, we discussed her book, “Tahrir's Youth: Leaders of a Leaderless Revolution,” (American University in Cairo Press, 2022) which explores the role of the Revolutionary Youth Coalition (RYC) in the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Rusha challenges the prevailing narrative that the revolution was spontaneous and leaderless, offering a compelling ethnographic study that highlights the organizational strategies and leadership dynamics within the RYC. The book delves into the personal and political stories of key youth leaders, examining how their diverse backgrounds and shared commitment shaped the revolutionary movement in Tahrir Square. Through their experiences, Latif provides critical insights into the potential of horizontal leadership and participatory democracy in revolutionary organizing. Tahrir's Youth not only preserves the voices of Egypt's youth revolutionaries but also offers lessons for future movements around the world, especially in understanding the complexities of leadership and the limits of grassroots mobilization.Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tOBCbOXe7m0Rusha's book: https://aucpress.com/9781649030207/Streaming everywhere! https://linktr.ee/TahrirPodcastReach out! TahrirPodcast@gmail.comSupport us on Patreon for as low as $2 per month ($20 per year)! https://www.patreon.com/TahrirPodcast

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 1253, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Coastal Terminology 1: Graybeards are frothy or gray-crested these. waves. 2: This pair of words is used for debris from an imperiled or wrecked ship. flotsam and jetsam. 3: From the French for "throw", it's a structure extending from the shore, where boats can dock. a jetty. 4: These small pockets of seawater that remain as the ocean ebbs can abound in aquatic lifeforms. tidepools. 5: A tombolo is one of these that connects an island to the mainland or 2 islands together. a sandbar (or isthmus). Round 2. Category: News Of The 21St Century 1: On June 5, 2012 Wisconsin made him the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall vote. Scott Walker. 2: The largest ever marine oil spill happened when a rig leased to this company sank in 2010. BP. 3: Firsts for this new German chancellor in 2005 included first East German in the post. (Angela) Merkel. 4: Ending a 100-year dispute, in 2011 this univ. returned thousands of artifacts to Peru that were taken from Machu Picchu. Yale. 5: (ABC News anchor David Muir gives the clue.) As the Arab Spring made its way into Egypt in January of 2011, I reported from this pivotal public gathering place where protests eventually brought down 2 Egyptian leaders. Tahrir Square. Round 3. Category: Historic Literature 1: The Kentucky plantation she visited in 1833 gave her a model for the Shelby home in "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Harriet Beecher Stowe. 2: "Das Kapital" was written in this capital city. London. 3: Machiavelli wrote this book in 1513, but it wasn't published until 1532, 5 years after his death. The Prince. 4: Language in which Newton wrote his "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy". Latin. 5: This Thoreau work was 1st published in a magazine in 1849 as "Resistance to Civil Government". Civil Disobedience. Round 4. Category: IS In Your Stars. With I in quotes 1: In 2016, this "Luther" star was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire. Idris Elba. 2: Famous among the smaller set for singing "Let It Go", she earned her first Tony nomination in "Rent". Idina Menzel. 3: Say "Sir" to this actor, nominated for a 2001 Oscar for his portrayal of Gandalf. Ian McKellen. 4: James Osterberg has been known as this since his days fronting proto-punk-rockers The Stooges. Iggy Pop. 5: "We'll always have Paris" and her as Ilsa in "Casablanca". Ingrid Bergman. Round 5. Category: Walter Cronkite 1: Cronkite anchored this network's Evening News from April 16, 1962 to March 6, 1981. CBS. 2: Cronkite broke in on a live broadcast of "As the World Turns" to report this 1963 event. JFK's death (assassination). 3: After Walter called the Vietnam War unwinnable, this man said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost America". Johnson. 4: In 1950 this legendary newsman persuaded Walter to leave radio journalism for television. (Edward R.) Murrow. 5: The New York Times praised "Cronkite diplomacy" after Walter helped broker the 1977 summit between these 2 men. Begin and Sadat. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/ AI Voices used

This weekend on America's Roundtable, co-hosts Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy will be joined by Chris Mitchell, CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief and author of compelling books including "ISIS, Iran and Israel: What You Need to Know about the Current Mideast Crisis and the Coming Mideast War." (https://www.amazon.com/ISIS-Iran-Israel-Current-Mideast/dp/0986223336) Chris Mitchell covered the historic decision by President Trump to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, and saw the opening of Saudi Arabia to the world. In 2011, CBN News began the award-winning program, Jerusalem Dateline, hosted by Chris Mitchell and translated into multiple languages. Chris Mitchell first began reporting on the Middle East in the mid-1990s. Chris repeatedly traveled there to report on the religious and political issues facing Israel and the surrounding Arab states. Chris moved to Jerusalem in August 2000 to establish the CBN News Bureau. During the ensuing years, Chris and the staff have been able to cover firsthand how Jerusalem and the Middle East comprise the epicenter for world-shaking events. In 2005, CBN News covered the wrenching Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip as thousands of Israelis were evicted. The following year, CBN Founder Pat Robertson joined Chris Mitchell and the crew on the front lines of the 2006 second Lebanon war. When the Arab Spring erupted in 2011, CBN News sped to Tahrir Square in Cairo where thousands gathered to protest the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Through Chris Mitchell's leadership, CBN News covered the rise of ISIS and its reign of terror, from the bombed-out city of Sinjar to the mass grave of Yazidis. The CBN News team saw the ruins of the Islamic State after its demise in the city of Mosul. The television news crew spent time with the Kurdish Peshmerga, the brave men and women spearheading the battle against ISIS and they met face-to-face with persecuted Christians and told the world about the awful rise of Christian persecution throughout the Middle East. A native of the Boston area, Chris earned a B.A. in History at the University of New Hampshire in 1975. In 1987, he graduated with honors from Regent University, earning an M.A. in Communication. Book | "ISIS, Iran and Israel: What You Need to Know about the Current Mideast Crisis and the Coming Mideast War." (https://www.amazon.com/ISIS-Iran-Israel-Current-Mideast/dp/0986223336) americasrt.com (https://americasrt.com/) https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/ America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472 Twitter: @ChrisCBNNews @ileaderssummit @AmericasRT @NatashaSrdoc @JoelAnandUSA @supertalk America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit. America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America's economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world. Tune into America's Roundtable Radio program from Washington, DC via live streaming on Saturday mornings via 65 radio stations at 7:30 A.M. (ET) on Lanser Broadcasting Corporation covering the Michigan and the Midwest market, and at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk Mississippi — SuperTalk.FM reaching listeners in every county within the State of Mississippi, and neighboring states in the South including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. Listen to America's Roundtable on digital platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, Google and other key online platforms. Listen live, Saturdays at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk | https://www.supertalk.fm

We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show! Reza Sayah is an Iranian-American journalist, currently based in Tehran. He's reported on major events around the world including the Ukrainian Revolution of 2004, the Second Iraq War, and the Egyptian Revolution. Reza has spent much of his career working for major broadcast news networks including ABC, CNN, and Al Jazeera. In those roles, he's had to explain complicated conflicts - in the form of very brief segments. And he says the corporate news model often works to perpetuate conflicts. But, another way is possible. This episode was originally published in June 2022. Watch:Top Hamas official discusses Israel attack, Iran relations for PBS NewshourReza Sayah reports on Iran's Jewish community for PBS NewshourReza Sayah: How This Iran-Backed Militia Helped Save Iraq from ISIS for PBS NewshourReza Sayah's Tedx talk: How to Spot News that is NOT News ABOUT THE SHOWMaking Peace Visible is a project of War Stories Peace Stories. Making Peace Visible is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin, with help from Faith McClure. Learn more at warstoriespeacestories.org. We want to learn more about our listeners. Take this 3-minute survey to help us improve the show! Support this podcast and the War Stories Peace Stories project

Bloomberg says “Germany's Days as an Industrial Superpower Are Coming to an End”. Which poses at least one serious question - has Bloomberg been listening to Multipolarity? As the industrial decline narrative goes mainstream, it seems like the copium has finally run out in the Chancellories of Europe. Meanwhile, reports in the West of a Chinese bust have reached the kind of fevered tone normally associated with the final days of a boom. Yet somehow retail spending is growing at 7.4 per cent a year, and prices of consumer items like cars are still coming down. So is this the world's first projection-recession? Finally, Egypt is threatening to withdraw from the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. How much of that is sabre rattling designed to please the Egyptian in the street? And will it be enough to stop the Egyptian in the street becoming the Egyptians in Tahrir Square?

Embark on a journey from Poland to China in this riveting episode as we explore why dictators are drawn to town squares and how these very squares become the stages of their demise. From Tiananmen Square in Beijing, witness the poignant events of 1989, to the Grand Market in Krakow, a symbol of resilience against Nazi and Communist regimes. Discover the historical significance of town squares as dictators' theatres of power and learn how, in a twist of fate, these squares become the battlegrounds for resistance, ultimately sealing the fate of autocracies.  Till then Check out the other episodes, The strange Polish notion of Holocaust Envy - https://bit.ly/48zECZr The Oak Tree that chronicled Poland's Modern History - https://bit.ly/4b1PlO8 The suprising evolution of Polish food - https://bit.ly/48RUGWe The complicated legacy of Schindler's List - https://bit.ly/3vF9NEi The untold story of Holocaust heroism: 'Under the Eagle' Pharmacy - https://bit.ly/3vEtzzL Two Billion Euros and the Polish Temple of Memory - https://bit.ly/3HjkrmN You can check previous episodes of 'Podcasts from Nowhere' on https://bit.ly/4b3wOB8  You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @‌whywetravel42(https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42  ) Do follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.  Do share the word with your folks!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated globally in outrage at Israel's genocidal bombardment of Gaza. In the Middle East in particular, protests have been massive, faced state repression, and evoked memories of the Arab Spring revolutions. In Egypt, for example, protestors marched to Tahrir Square for the first time since 2013. In Jordan, protestors faced regime and security forces preventing them from reaching the border to show solidarity with Palestinians. The liberation of Palestine has long resonated throughout the Middle East and North African region. This connection is deeper than just sympathy: the settler-colonial project of Israel, its backing by US imperialism, and the complicity of the Arab regimes with Zionism reflect on the oppression of the people of the region more broadly. Because of this, one of the long-held slogans of the Palestinian left has been that the road to Jerusalem flows through Cairo, Damascus, and Amman, that Palestinian liberation will have to be achieved through regional revolt and revolution. This panel of revolutionaries from around the region will talk about the inextricable ties between Palestinian liberation and liberation across the region, and its special relevance in this crucial historic moment. Speakers Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian journalist and scholar-activist, currently based in Germany. He's also a member of the Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists, and was among the organizers of the 2011 uprising in Egypt. Soheir Asaad is a Palestinian feminist and political organizer and a human rights advocate. She received a Master's degree in international human rights law from the University of Notre Dame (US). Soheir is the advocacy team member of Rawa, for liberatory, resilient Palestinian community work. She is also the co-director of the “Funding Freedom” project. Previously, Soheir worked in legal researcher and international advocacy in Palestinian and regional human rights organizations. Dr. Banah Ghadbian (they/them) holds a Phd in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, San Diego. Their PhD dissertation, "Ululating from the Underground: Syrian Women's Protests, Performances, and Pedagogies" looked at the ways women and children in Syria utilize theatre, protest, graffiti, and freedom school spaces in the Syrian Revolution. Dr. G has taught using theatre and social justice curricula at the Syrian Women's Association in Amman, Jordan and with displaced Syrian and Palestinian youth in the Arab Youth Collective of San Diego, among many other places. Dr. G holds a masters in Ethnic Studies and a BA in in Comparative Women's Studies and Sociology. Banah is an Assistant Professor of Comparative Women's Studies at Spelman College where they also serve as faculty advisor for the Students for Justice in Palestine. Banah is a member of Palestinian Feminist Collective. ————————————————————— This event is sponsored by Haymarket Books and is part of Until Liberation: A Series for Palestine by Haymarket Books cosponsored by Palestinian American Organizations Network, Mondoweiss, Spectre, Dissenters, Tempest, Palestine Deep Dive, The New Arab, and more. Watch the live event recording: https://youtube.com/live/FYFWQjjm7ac Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

Overview Confessions of a Knight Errant is a comedic, picaresque novel in the tradition of Don Quixote with a flamboyant cast of characters. Dr. Gary Watson is the picaro, a radical environmentalist and wannabe novelist who has been accused of masterminding a computer hack that wiped out the files of a major publishing company. His Sancho Panza is Kharalombos, a fat, gluttonous Greek dancing teacher, who is wanted by the secret police for cavorting with the daughter of the Big Man of Egypt. Self-preservation necessitates a hurried journey to the refuge of a girls' camp in rural Texas. Then a body turns up nearby that is connected to Middle East antiquities, and they are on the run once more. Gretchen McCullough was raised in Harlingen Texas. After graduating from Brown University in 1984, she taught in Egypt, Turkey and Japan. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama and was awarded a teaching Fulbright to Syria from 1997-1999. Her stories, essays and reviews have appeared in The Barcelona Review, Archipelago, National Public Radio, Story South, Guernica, The Common, The Millions, and the LA Review of Books. Translations in English and Arabic have been published in: Nizwa, Banipal, Brooklyn Rail in Translation, World Literature Today and Washington Square Review with Mohamed Metwalli. Her bi-lingual book of short stories in English and Arabic, Three Stories from Cairo, translated with Mohamed Metwalli was published in July 2011 by AFAQ Publishing House, Cairo. A collection of short stories about expatriate life in Cairo, Shahrazad's Tooth, was also published by AFAQ in 2013. Currently, she is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Rhetoric and Composition at the American University in Cairo. Book Website http://www.gretchenmccullough.wix.com/gretchenmccullough Favorites YouTube https://youtu.be/3ff8O98jt3E Transcript Stephen: So today on Discovered Word Smith I have Gretchen McCullough and you may notice if you're on YouTube watching the episode that there's no video because Gretchen is not. Anywhere in this hemisphere of where I'm at or at least I should say this continent. So we had a bit of a spotty connection and we turned off video to make sure we could hear everything. So Gretchen, welcome. How are you doing today? I'm Gretchen: doing great. Thanks for having me on your show. Stephen: Yeah. And I'm excited. So let's jump right into that before we start talking about your book. Tell us a little bit about you. And where you are at the moment. Gretchen: I'm sitting in my bedroom and it's dark outside. It's quite noisy. I live in a really busy part of Cairo. And yeah. That's where I am. It's across the Nile from Tahrir Square where a lot of Americans probably are familiar with Tahrir Square because of the uprising. It's not that far from the square. It's a huge island called Zamalek. And you can walk everywhere in this area. You don't really need a car. It's a neat burrow. There are lots of coffee shops. Yeah. Stephen: Nice. What, why what brought you to Cairo? Gretchen: It's a long odyssey. I taught in Egypt in the 1980s and then I taught in Turkey and then I taught in Japan. And then I went and got an MFA from the university of Alabama. And I had a Fulbright in Syria in 1997 to 99. And. I went back to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a year and a friend of mine said, there's a job in Cairo. You're perfect. Why don't you apply? And I did. And I got the job at the American university in Cairo in 2000. And I've been here ever since. Stephen: Gretchen, where are you originally from? Gretchen: I'm originally from Harlingen, Texas. It's called the Rio Grande Valley. It's near the Mexican border, near Brownsville. It's the very tip of Texas. That's where I grew up. I'm from a very small town. Stephen: Big change. Gretchen: Yes. I wanted to get out of that town in 1980 and I didn't realize how far I would go.

In our 12th episode of Radical Publishing Futures, Nadine El-Hadi, senior acquisitions editor at Hoopoe Fiction joins Meg Arenberg from her office near Tahrir Square in Cairo. The discussion focuses on the special position of Hoopoe and the American University in Cairo Press as a pioneering publisher of Arabic literature in English translation that is also located in the Middle East North Africa region itself. The speak about the particular opportunities and challenges of publishing primarily translations, and the burden of shifting narratives of Arab culture and Islam that predominate in the West. Nadine also talks about the growing worldwide audience for translated literary fiction that has buoyed Hoopoe in its early years as a separate imprint of AUC Press, literary culture in Egypt, and the various paths by which a novel in Arabic ends up as an English title on Hoopoe's list. The two discuss the stunning new translation of Libyan novelist Ibrahim al-Koni's latest novel, The Night Will Have its Say, which retells the Muslim wars of conquest in North Africa, among other recent titles published at Hoopoe. Nadine El-Hadi is senior acquisitions editor at American University in Cairo Press. She runs both the press's Arabic Language Learning List as well as its fiction imprint, Hoopoe Press.

In this episode, we start our exploration of power. We seek to introduce the concept and begin to frame how individuals interested in social change might start to think about power in their own work. To explore how power operates in our world, we look at how revolutionary movements of the past have both confronted and utilized power. Our guest scholar for this conversation is Dr. Michael Hardt, Professor of Literature at Duke University. --- Michael Hardt's writings explore the new forms of domination in the contemporary world as well as the social movements and other forces of liberation that resist them. In the Empire trilogy -- Empire (2000), Multitude (2004), and Commonwealth (2009) -- he and Antonio Negri investigate the political, legal, economic, and social aspects of globalization. They also study the political and economic alternatives that could lead to a more democratic world. Their pamphlet Declaration (2012) attempts to articulate the significance of the encampments and occupations that began in 2011, from Tahrir Square to Zuccotti Park, and to recognize the primary challenges faced by emerging democratic social movements today. His new book, The Subversive Seventies, focuses on how the revolutionary movements of the 1970s confronted and sought to change power structures. While his work on power is extensive, the publications below provide a useful introduction to his scholarship addressing the topic: Hardt, M. (2023). The subversive seventies. Oxford University Press.  Hardt, M., & Negri, A. (2000). Empire. Harvard University Press. The Social Science for Public Good Podcast is a project of the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance and VT Publishing intended to make social science theories accessible and available to individuals and organizations seeking to promote social change. Music: Purple-planet.com

Today during our moving madness, we share some slices of history.The first time I called a global hotspot hotel to talk to a regular person was Feb 2, 2011, as protests engulfed Cairo's Tahrir Square at the start of the Arab Spring. One of the benefits of having been doing this show for so many years is the historical record left behind. Today we experience history unfolding…Remember the Arab Spring? We had such hope that Democracy would finally sweep through the middle east. It began with a singular act of defiance!On Dec 17, 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a young Tunisian street vendor who had his produce confiscated by police, set himself on fire to protest against police harassment and the authorities' lack of concern,His actions triggered nationwide protests and calls for an end of the authoritarian rule of Pres Zine El Abidine Ben Ali…And then all hell broke loose… protests continued in Tunisia… the president fled to Saudi Arabia….But the flame had been lit and the fire was spreading throughout the middle east, many converging on EgyptEgyptian activists called for a mass rally in a “Day of Anger” on Jan 25, 2011, set to coincide with the annual celebration of the Egyptian police, and the people took to the streets for unprecedented protests in Cairo as the city came to standstill….Violent clashes between anti Mubarak protesters and police took overOn Jan 28, Egyptian president Hasni Mubarek announces “I have ordered the government to step down and I will name a new government tomorrow”….On Feb 2, protesters declared Feb 4 the “Friday of Departure” for Mubarak, as the clashes between pro Mubarak and anti government began in Tahrir Square….That day, I decided to call hotels around Tahrir Square to get a first hand account of what was happening there from just an average working Egyptian….You just have to get through to the correct person… Sadly, the Arab Spring fizzled and democracy didn't come to the Middle East where things are just as bad as they were before that brave and fed up Tunisian man set himself on fire….For our next segment, we jump ahead about a decade, to Jan 3, 2020. Unbelievably, Donald Trump was now in the WH and many of us worried about the reality that a mad man had the authority to push a button and launch another World War….terrifying!The US and Iran have had a fraught relationship for decades now with a very tenuous co-existence in place when Trump bragged about the US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, He was the head of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and the architect of its military and political power.…. A US air raid at Baghdad int'l airport hit during the early morning hours killing Soleimani and others with him. Many worried that this would escalate the already high tensions between our nations, so I thought it might be a good time to pick up the phone again, this time to speak with an Iranian citizen human to human…. It was Jan 3, 2020

What happens when a revolution dies? Jack Shenker witnessed firsthand the phenomenal Egyptian strike waves of the late 2000s that led to the toppling of the Mubarak regime, reporting from Tahrir Square and the towns and factories beyond - in 2016 publishing The Egyptians. This episode, our very special guest brings in a mug from the April 6th Youth Movement, once among the leaders of the revolution and now outlawed by the state and designated a terrorist symbol - the first time our cursed object has had to be smuggled across borders. Reliving Jack's experiences of revolutionary promise, collapse and anguish, we discuss the painfully quick cycle of birth, life and death or a revolution, just as the mug became revolutionary legacy-tat, before being banned as a symbol of sedition. How did Jack end up burning incriminating documents in his old Cairo apartment? How many references to Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile will we squeeze in? Is everything neoliberalism's fault? Get involved in this very special episode to find out. Find Jack here: https://twitter.com/hackneylad   *** Also, why not join our Patreon? *** ONLY £4 A MONTH TO SUPPORT YOUR FAVOURITE CULTURAL HISTORIANS, IN EXCHANGE FOR 20+ BONUS EPISODES AND A CURSED OBJECTS STICKER PACK Theme music and production: Mr Beatnick Artwork: Archie Bashford

Robert Worth, a journalist previously based in Baghdad with the New York Times and author of A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil from Tahrir Square to ISIS, describes the deadly and intractable problem of corruption in Iraq. He discusses the role the United States and its pallets of cash played in this, but also the enforced sectarian apportionment of power—the Muhasasa—that ensures each group protects its fiefdom rather than acting in the best interest of the whole country. (This episode was originally published in 2022.)

#louisiana #folklore In the first story, Mr Monkey is about to get married, but his friend mucks things up. In the second, a tortoise turns to stone, and in the third, Brother Hyena learns why eating eggs should be a secret. Source: Louisiana Folk-tales: In French Dialect and English Translationby Alcée Fortier Narrator: Dustin Steichmann Music: Louisiana Five Jazz Orchestra - Yelping Hound Blues Sound Effects: "L'Ana Waterthrush Smaller File Giant City Creek March 29th 2019 130PM.mp3" by kvgarlic is marked with CC0 1.0. Podcast Shoutout: Strange Animals -A podcast about living, extinct, and imaginary animals! Listener Shoutout: Cairo, Egypt's sprawling capital, is set on the Nile River. At its heart is Tahrir Square and the vast Egyptian Museum, a trove of antiquities including royal mummies and gilded King Tutankhamun artifacts. Photo Credit: "Dancing langur monkeys in Bandhavgarh" by ianduffy is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. Music Suggestion: 새타령 (Sae-ta-ryung) by 김소희 (Kim So Hee) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sandman-stories/message

From the early days of the Tahrir Square protests, music was vital to the young people making their voices heard. And though the country is taking another authoritarian turn, that spirit of dissent cannot be extinguished. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

In the mainstream news, we might not hear much about a political movement in America, or in another country, unless it “turns violent.” Building an effective protest movement takes planning, a shared commitment and coordination, and most movements are explicitly nonviolent. In fact, it's often people unaffiliated with movements who are responsible for violence at protests. The situation frustrates both activists and journalists. Activists complain that their actions don't get enough coverage, or more important, that the coverage tells an incomplete or skewed story. Journalists counter that activists need to get better at communicating with the media. Our guest Hardy Merriman watches political movements and the media that covers them closely, and he has advice for how both sides can tell better stories. Merriman is Director of the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC), an organization that supports civil resistance movements globally through research and education. He's deeply worried about the rise and strengthening of autocracy around the world. Authoritarians are cracking down on activists in ways that are hard to see – making the jobs of journalists more difficult, and even more crucial. LEARN MOREChronicling Civil Resistance: The Journalists' Guide to Unraveling and Reporting Nonviolent Struggles for Rights, Freedom and JusticeBy Deborah Mathis and Hailey Grace Allen, edited by Hardy MerrimanICNC, April 2021Fostering a Fourth Democratic Wave: A Playbook for Countering the Authoritarian ThreatBy Hardy Merriman, Patrick Quirk, and Ash JainICNC and The Atlantic Council, March 2023Read more from Hardy Merriman at hardymerriman.comPlease leave us a rating or review and let us know what you think of the episode.HOW TO RATE AND REVIEW MAKING PEACE VISIBLEIn Apple Podcasts on iPhone Tap on the show name (Making Peace Visible) to navigate to the main podcast pageScroll down to the "Ratings and Reviews" sectionTo leave a rating only, tap on the starsTo leave a review, tap "Write a Review"In Spotify(Note: Spotify ratings are currently only available on mobile.)Tap on the show name (Making Peace Visible) to navigate to the main podcast pageTap on the star icon under the podcast description to rate the showIn Podcast Addict(Note: you may need to sign in before leaving a review.)From the episode page: On the top left above the show description, click "Post review."From the main podcast pageTap "Reviews" on the top left.On the Reviews page,  tap the icon of a pen and paper in the top right corner of the screen.ABOUT THE SHOWMaking Peace Visible is a project of War Stories Peace Stories. Our mission is to bring journalists and peacebuilders together to re-imagine the way the news media covers peace and conflict, and to facilitate expanded coverage of global peace and reconciliation efforts. Join the conversation on Twitter: @warstoriespeace. Write to us at jsimon@warstoriespeacestories.org. More at warstoriespeacestories.org.  Making Peace Visible is hosted by Jamil Simon, and produced by Andrea Muraskin. Additional sound engineering by Faith McClure.Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions, Podington Bear and Bill Vortex.

Dr. Emily Bashah is a licensed psychologist, author, and podcast co-host with a private practice in Scottsdale, AZ. She was born and raised in Canada and her parents are from Iraq. In this podcast, she shares her personal, academic, and professional journey and discusses The Optimistic American and her new co-authored book Addictive Ideologies: Finding Meaning and Agency When Politics Fail You. Dr. Bashah also shares what drew her to the field of psychology and her commitment to humanitarian and social causes, about which she feels very passionate. Dr. Bashah shares a story of her parents living in Iraq during the rise of Saddam Hussein's power and control. She states, “so, when my parents were living there, my father was 17 years old at the time…he's riding his bicycle and all of a sudden, he comes across a commotion in the main Town Square, which is called Tahrir Square, and this is in Baghdad, and he sees that there are Jews that are being publicly hanged. This was a mock trail. It went over a couple of days. Basically, the government hand-picked several Jews. There were actually seven Jews that were hanged that day, two of whom were minors under age 17, and they were falsely accused for being spies for Israel.” Dr. Bashah later shares “unfortunately, my grandfather, my mother's father at the time, was last seen being pushed into a government vehicle and disappeared. The last we know about his whereabouts, he was taken to an underground jail called the Palace of No Return, never to be heard from again.” Dr. Bashah remembers being 12 years old and really committing herself to “somehow undoing or finding some kind of justice for the harm that had been committed to my family and my grandfather's disappearance because I saw how much it really traumatized my, my mother and my father.” She shares that she wanted to work with people in some kind of healing capacity and “that's really what led me to psychology.” Dr. Bashah discusses her work in forensics and how the intersection of psychology and law has helped her in her private practice as well as earning her a reputation as an expert witness in criminal, immigration, and civil courts. She has also worked on high-profile cases related to domestic terrorism, capital offenses, and first-degree murder. In addition to her private practice, Bashah Psychological Services, PLC, she is involved with The Optimistic American and is co-host of The Optimistic American podcast alongside her partner and co-host Paul Johnson, entrepreneur, and former mayor of Phoenix, AZ. Together, they also co-authored a new book Addictive Ideologies: Finding Meaning and Agency When Politics Fail You. Dr. Bashah shares the harrowing story of the persecution of Jews in Iraq by Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party through her family's own personal experiences while Paul Johnson uses his own mayoral experiences to chart a path for the future that can avoid similar atrocities. The book draws upon an understanding of societal divisions and clinical and social psychology to show the real power we have to promote constructive change. Dr. Bashah reflects on her journey and shares advice with those interested in the field of psychology and shares a message of hope for those who want to recreate themselves. She states “I'm an author. I have a podcast. I have a private practice. I supervise doctoral students. I'm a businesswoman. I'm an entrepreneur. There are all these different facets of me. I'm an expert in courts, but also, I'm called upon as an expert in media and in news...so, there's so many different things that you could recreate who you want to be. It's a wonderful thing, and psychology permits that, but find your own path.” Near the end of our podcast discussion, Dr. Bashah shares how she picked up belly dancing and why dancing is such an important part of remaining connected to her Arab ancestry and heritage. She also offers additional advice including “I know a lot of your guests and listene...

It is now more than a decade since Egypt's January 25th Revolution, otherwise known simply as “Tahrir Square.” All over the world in 2011, people watched the footage from Cairo in amazement at the scale of the mobilization, the creation of community and a remarkable range of services in the square, and the eventual ejection of the Mubarak regime which opened a path to elections. But it was all over in less than three years when General Al-Sisi's counter-coup restored military dictatorship. What has life been like for activists and rights defenders in the years since, and what is left of the passionate activism that powered the revolution? In 2011 Mohammed Lotfy had been working abroad for Amnesty International but he came home to help build a new society. Now the executive director of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, he sees, at first hand, the daily reality of those who made the revolution and, in his own family, the cost of defending rights in Egypt today. And in our Coda, a Nigerian activist tells us how Audre Lorde has transformed his approach. For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode's content, visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/ Contact us at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org

In this episode, we hear from Yasmin El-Rifae, writer and author of Radius: A Story of Feminist Revolution (Verso, 2022). Radius is the story of the women and men who formed Opantish—Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment—who deployed hundreds of volunteers, scouts rescue teams, and getaway drivers to intervene in the spiralling cases of sexual violence against women protesters in Tahrir Square during the uprising in Egypt.

Egypt's skateboarding and rollerblading enthusiasm was born out of lockdown tedium and quickly spread from city to city as one of the nation's fastest-growing trends. In Cairo, the rollerskating community has increased substantially over the last two years to raise awareness of the sport and show off the beauty of Egyptian venues such as Tahrir Square. Recorded by Rafael Diogo as part of the Cities and Memory Cairo city sound guide. 

Chan Marshall, better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer, songwriter and producer. After three decades in the music industry, she has eight original albums under her belt but has also made three cover albums. The most recent saw her singing everything from the work of The Pogues to Lana Del Rey. This Saturday she will be recreating Bob Dylan's iconic 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert. It was one of the most controversial tours in the history of rock & roll, where Dylan enraged fans for electrifying his songs. Power will be performing them in the same order as Dylan himself: the first half of the show will be acoustic before an electric band join her for the second half. Chan joins Emma to talk music, motherhood and honouring a rock and roll icon. With just five days to go until the US midterms, Emma takes a look at what matters to women voters. On Monday we heard from a former Republican strategist, today Emma will be joined by Democratic Party political strategist and former head of EMILY's List, Stephanie Schriock. A new project, led by Lancaster University, has created memory boxes, designed to help women whose babies are taken into care at birth while a court determines their child's future. We hear why these ‘Hope boxes' are so important to the women who developed the idea and Research Fellow, Claire Mason who supported them. And discuss why the number of newborns in care proceedings in England and Wales has increased over the past decade. We revisit the events of the Egyptian protests in 2012-2013 in Tahrir Square in Cairo, with the author Yasmin El-Rifae. Her book, ‘Radius, A Story of Feminist Revolution', tells the story of the women and men who formed Opantish – Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment and Assault to intervene in the spiralling cases of sexual violence against women in the square. The group members often risked assault themselves and Yasmin was also one of their organisers.

On October 6, 2022, University of British Columbia faculty members Mohammed Rafi Arefin and Naomi Klein from the new Centre for Climate Justice co-moderated a livestream discussion about the upcoming COP27 summit that will be held in Egypt, while the country's most prominent pro-democracy activist, Alaa Abd El Fattah, remains in prison.As the world gets hotter, basic freedoms are under ever greater assault around the globe. These trends are about to collide in dramatic fashion at the upcoming United Nations climate summit, which this year takes place in Egypt, under the iron rule of Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Just a decade ago, Cairo's Tahrir Square was synonymous with a hopeful, youth-led movement for liberation and democracy. Today, journalists are routinely arrested and thousands of political prisoners languish behind bars. With Egypt on the front lines of climate impacts and escalating repression, this panel discussion tackled tough questions about the relationship between meaningful climate action and political freedom. Is it possible to have one without the other? Are Egypt's political prisoners being sacrificed in the name of climate urgency? What are the responsibilities of those choosing to attend the summit? What pressure can be brought to bear in this microcosm of the intersection of climate and justice? What pressure points exist for political action in Egypt's debt negotiations and the government's drive to attract foreign capital in areas like green energy?Hear from Sanaa Seif, sister of Alaa Abd El Fattah, as well as celebrated writers, journalists, and activists Omar Robert Hamilton, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, and Bill McKibben.Intercepted is publishing a lightly edited version of the livestream. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Social media has emerged as everybody's favourite punching bag for all things wrong in today's politics and society. Echo chambers led extremism, asymmetric virality of information, tech monopolies and their advertising ambitions, algorithms and recommendation engines have all been crucified for sharing the blame in this ‘evil' scheme. However, what is often overlooked is humans' sociological, cognitive and behavioural attitudes which shape much of netizen's social media presence and actions. In this episode, Shrikrishna Upadhyaya hosts Pranay Kotasthane to discuss three interrelated mechanisms, namely, reference networks, Overton Window and disproportionate rewards for extreme content, understanding which could contain the key in cracking the social media problem. Additional Readings:Global Policy Watch: Social Media's Rule of Three by Pranay KotasthaneHow social media took us from Tahrir Square to Donald Trump by Zeynep TufekciYou can follow Shrikrishna Upadhyaya on twitter: https://twitter.com/shrikrishna5You can follow Pranay Kotasthane on twitter: https://twitter.com/pranaykotasCheck out Takshashila's courses: https://school.takshashila.org.in/You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.You can check out our website at https://shows.ivmpodcasts.com/featuredDo follow IVM Podcasts on social media.We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.https://twitter.com/IVMPodcastshttps://www.instagram.com/ivmpodcasts/?hl=enhttps://www.facebook.com/ivmpodcasts/Follow the show across platforms:Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Gaana, Amazon MusicDo share the word with you folks!

Islam and Anarchism with Mohamed Abdou This week, Scott spoke with Mohamed Abdou, a North African-Egyptian Muslim anarchist activist-scholar who is currently a Visiting Scholar at Cornell University and an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the American University of Cairo. Mohamed is the author of the recent book, Islam and Anarchism: Relationships and Resonances published by Pluto Press in 2022. For nearly 2 hours, Scott and Mohamed speak about Mohamed's experience of the Tahrir Square uprising of 2011 and the western media coverage of it, current unrest in Iran, Orientalism, decolonial education, Islam, Settler Colonialism, anarchism and a lot more. You can follow Mohamed on Twitter at @minuetInGMinor or on facebook at @MohammadAbdou2020 Upcoming Stay tuned next week for a chat with the organizers of the 2022 Atlanta Radical Bookfair and another surprise topic. For patreon supporters, pretty soon we should be sharing early releases of conversations with Robert Graham about his 2015 book “We Don't Fear Anarchy, We Invoke It” and with Matthew Lyons on far right christian movements and other chats. More on how to support us at tfsr.wtf/support. Announcements And now a few brief announcements Asheville Survival Program Benefit For listeners in the Asheville area, you're invited to an outdoor Movie Night benefit for Asheville Survival Program halloweeny season double feature on Saturday October 8th at 6pm at the Static Age River Spot. There'll be food, music and merch. To find out more sbout the venue, you can contact Asheville Survival via their email or social media, found at linktr.ee/avlsurvival Atlanta Radical Bookfair If you're in the southeast of Turtle Island, consider visiting so-called Atlanta on Saturday, October 15th where from noon to 6pm you'll find the Atlanta Radical Bookfair at The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American Culture and History in Georgia. There'll be speakers and many tables, including us! Hurricane Ian Relief If you want to offer support to folks in Florida around Hurricane Ian, one place to start could be with Central Florida Mutual Aid. They have tons of ways to plug in remotely or on the ground for what is likely to be a long and arduous cleanup and repair effort. You can learn more about them at linktr.ee/CFLMutualAid Also, Firestorm books is collecting donations of emergency goods at their storefront in Asheville. Prisons in the Wake of Ian We've regrettably missed the opportunity to promote the phone zap campaigns to raise awareness of prisoners in the path of Hurricane Ian before the storm hit, but suggest that folk check out FightToxicPrisons.Wordpress.Com to learn more about efforts to press public officials to heed the calls to protect prisoners during storms like this rather than follow the path of inertia and cheapness that leads to unnecessary deaths of folks behind bars. #ShutDownADOC2022 There is currently a prison strike within the Alabama Department of Corrections known by the hashtag #ShutDown ADOC2022. Campaigners have organized a call-in campaign to demand an end to retaliation against Kinetic Justice (s/n Robert Earl Council) who has been assaulted by guards on September 29th and placed in solitary confinement as well as retaliation of any prisoners participating, Kinetic's release from solitary and the meeting of prisoners demands. Supporters are asking folks to call Warden William Streeter at (256) 233-4600 or Commissioner John Hamm at (334) 353-3883. You can find a recent interview with Kinetic at Unicorn Riot, as well as more on the prison strike at UnicornRiot.Ninja . … . .. Featured Tracks: Blues for Tahrir by Todd Marcus Blues Orchestra from Blues for Tahrir Kill Your Masters by The Muslims from Fuck These Fuckin' Fascists

History, tourism, destinations and the growth of Egypt with Ashish Sanghrajka, the founder of Big Five Tours & Expeditions This week, I'm talking with Ashish Sanghrajka about evolution and growth in Egypt and how this has shaped tourism over the years. We will learn about special experiences with Big Five and how history has shaped them. Ashish has been traveling to Egypt since he was 15 years old and shares an emotional account of his travels over the years and how the stark differences between different political times has been a difficult and rewarding journey. In the 2000's political discord racked the nation and protests took to the streets. Tahrir Square was full of citizens fighting for women's rights and freedom.  In 2021 the Egyptian Museum of Civilization was opened to the public and a parade through Tahrir square celebrates the history of this culture and the opening of the museum. Seeing an iconic Egyptian destination in times of strife and times of celebrations the transition of growth to the magical Egypt that everyone knows and loves. Today, the tourism industry is the largest employer of women and the country is thriving. The antiquities and magic of Egypt is preserved and re-aligned for all to enjoy. On today's episode, we are talking about how a trip to Egypt is evidence of growth the country has gone through over the last 20 years. Immerse yourselves in the history of civilization as you explore the off-beaten paths of Cairo, Luxor and beyond. Having experiential and open ended dialogues with your private tour guide in Egypt can make for a meaningful, educational and beneficial travel experience. Tune in to find out more about this exciting destination where I will be traveling in November 2022 and the prospects for future trips!  Today on The Intrepid Traveler: ∙ Ashish Sanghrajka, CEO of Big Five and the story of how Big Five was born∙ The ebbs and flows of trouble and growth in Egypt through the different political eras∙ Ashish's personal experience in the evolution of Egypt and how the country's struggles have shaped tourism since the 90's∙Experiences with opportunities to immerse yourself in culture and have a chance to see first hand the growth of women and their rights, or political change while exploring off the beaten path∙ How Big Five enriches your Egypt experiences by taking the time to slow down and explore. Think hot air balloons over Luxor and luxury hotels that embody the mysterious ambiance, the true spirit of Egypt∙Exclusive behind the scenes opportunities not available to the general public ∙How culture is connected to the core of tourism in Egypt and especially at Big Five Connect with the guests: Big Five - sustainability, adventure, luxuryAshish Sanghrajka - CEO of Big Five Thanks for tuning in!  Thanks for joining us on today's episode of The Intrepid Traveler podcast! If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review our show to help us reach even more aspiring travelers. Don't forget to check out our website, visit us on Facebook,  Instagram or follow us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on our latest epic travel adventures! 

Reza Sayah is an Iranian-American journalist, currently based in Teheran. He's reported on major events around the world including the Ukrainian Revolution of 2004, the Second Iraq War, and the Egyptian Revolution. Reza has spent much of his career working for major broadcast news networks including ABC, CNN, and Al Jazeera. In those roles, he's had to explain complicated conflicts - in the form of very brief segments. And he says the corporate news model often works to perpetuate conflicts. But, another way is possible. Watch:Reza Sayah reports on Iran's Jewish community for PBS NewshourReza Sayah: How This Iran-Backed Militia Helped Save Iraq from ISIS for PBS NewshourReza Sayah's Tedx talk: How to Spot News that is NOT NewsMaking Peace Visible is a project of War Stories Peace Stories. Our mission is to bring journalists and peacebuilders together to re-imagine the way the news media covers peace and conflict, and to facilitate expanded coverage of global peace and reconciliation efforts. Join the conversation on Twitter: @warstoriespeace.Making Peace Visible is hosted by Jamil Simon, and produced by Andrea Muraskin.Music in this episode is by Holizna, MARiAN, and Meavy Boy.

“I talked as much about the National Basketball Association in Syria as I did about politics. Syrians felt so global and interested in everything. As a young backpacker, I don’t know that I appreciated the historical moment that I was in.”  –Rolf Potts In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Shaun talk about how they first came to know of Father Paolo and Deir Mar Musa monastery in Syria (3:00); the warm and hospitable experience of traveling in other parts of the country (10:00); Father Paolo’s “interfaith dialogue” initiatives at Deir Mar Musa  (18:30); what happened to Father Paolo after the Syrian government cracked down on dissent and protest in 2011 (29:00); and how Father Paolo’s monastery fostered interfaith dialogue over debate, and what his legacy is in Syria (43:00). Shaun O’Neill is the author of A Church of Islam: The Syrian Calling of Father Paolo Dall’Oglio. Notable Links: The strangers we meet on the road (Deviate episode) Paolo Dall’Oglio (Italian priest and peace activist) Deir Mar Musa (Christian monastery in Syria) 2011 Syrian uprising (phase of the Arab Spring) Sufism (mystic Islamic practice) Neuromancer, by William Gibson (novel) Tahrir Square (public area in Cairo) Hafez al-Assad (Syrian president from 1971-2000) Kurdish Syria (northeast part of the country) Alawites (ethnoreligious group) Interfaith dialogue (interaction between religious traditions) Desert Fathers (early Christian monks) Free Syrian Army (civil war faction) Daesh (militant Islamists in Syria and Iraq) Pope John Paul II (Catholic leader) Of Gods and Men (2010 film) Frans van der Lugt (Dutch priest killed in Syria) Syncretism (combining of different beliefs) The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel's 2017 album Lumber. Note: We don't host a “comments” section, but we're happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“I talked as much about the National Basketball Association in Syria as I did about politics. Syrians felt so global and interested in everything. As a young backpacker, I don't know that I appreciated the historical moment that I was in.”  –Rolf Potts In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Shaun talk about how they first came to know of Father Paolo and Deir Mar Musa monastery in Syria (3:00); the warm and hospitable experience of traveling in other parts of the country (10:00); Father Paolo's "interfaith dialogue" initiatives at Deir Mar Musa  (18:30); what happened to Father Paolo after the Syrian government cracked down on dissent and protest in 2011 (29:00); and how Father Paolo's monastery fostered interfaith dialogue over debate, and what his legacy is in Syria (43:00). Shaun O'Neill is the author of A Church of Islam: The Syrian Calling of Father Paolo Dall'Oglio. Notable Links: The strangers we meet on the road (Deviate episode) Paolo Dall'Oglio (Italian priest and peace activist) Deir Mar Musa (Christian monastery in Syria) 2011 Syrian uprising (phase of the Arab Spring) Sufism (mystic Islamic practice) Neuromancer, by William Gibson (novel) Tahrir Square (public area in Cairo) Hafez al-Assad (Syrian president from 1971-2000) Kurdish Syria (northeast part of the country) Alawites (ethnoreligious group) Interfaith dialogue (interaction between religious traditions) Desert Fathers (early Christian monks) Free Syrian Army (civil war faction) Daesh (militant Islamists in Syria and Iraq) Pope John Paul II (Catholic leader) Of Gods and Men (2010 film) Frans van der Lugt (Dutch priest killed in Syria) Syncretism (combining of different beliefs) The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel's 2017 album Lumber. Note: We don't host a “comments” section, but we're happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

India Policy Watch: The Road Of FireInsights on burning policy issues in India- RSJThe Union Defence Minister along with the chiefs of the three armed services on Tuesday announced the ‘Agnipath’ scheme for recruitment into the Indian military. You can read more about the scheme here. I have summarised the key features below:The soldiers under this scheme (referred to as ‘Agniveers’) will be enrolled for a duration of four years in a conscription or tour of duty (ToD) like model that’s prevalent in other countries. They will be paid between INR 30,000 - 40,000 per month during their tenure apart from risk or hardship allowance as applicable. 30 per cent of their salary will be deducted as a voluntary contribution into a corpus called ‘SevaNidhi’ with a matching contribution from the government. Roughly put, the soldiers will get this SevaNidhi package of about INR 11.7 Lacs plus the interest accumulated on this amount at the end of their four years of service. Few other post-retirement benefits are thrown in, including a life insurance cover and access to a bank loan of INR 18.2 Lacs against the SevaNidhi package.About 25 per cent of Agniveers will be absorbed into the regular cadre after four years. The rest will receive an Agniveer Skill certificate, the SevaNidhi corpus and some preferential treatment in getting into the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and maybe even state police forces. The Agniveers who leave at the end of four years, however, will not get the usual entitlements of gratuity and pension. This is huge. Over a period of couple of decades, this could mean only about 25 per cent of the forces will have the pension benefits that are available to all today. The enrollment under this scheme will be on an all-India and an all-class basis. This will be, by itself, a distinct rank in the armed forces with its own insignia. The likely implications of this are quite significant. The recruitment of soldiers today, especially in the army, is based on state-wise quotas and on the retirement of soldiers from various regiments that are class based. Class here should be read as an euphemism for caste or community. Drawing Agniveers on an all-class basis will mean withering away from the traditional structure of regiments. It could also mean a larger representation of states where unemployment rates are high because there might not be state-wise quotas anymore. This could further alter the composition mix of the armed forces.The government also positioned this as a move that will infuse youth and vitality (or ‘josh’ and ‘jazba’ as mentioned in various media reports) into the armed forces. The whole thing including the names Agnipath and Agniveer sounds like a campaign for an early 1990s Nana Patekar film. You could soon shoehorn Agni Pariksha (for the recruitment tests), Krantiveer (best Agniveer cadet), Yugpurush (lifetime achievement award for Agniveers), Angaar, Tiranga, Prahaar and so on. You get the picture. We are in this territory now. Anyway, the average age of the armed forces which is 32 now will come down by about five years. The younger workforce will be more technology-savvy that will be more attuned to the changing nature of modern warfare. Also, the 75 per cent of Agniveers who will go back into civil society will serve as a disciplined and nationalistic labour pool to draw from for organisations. There will be Agniveers in every village and taluk who will improve the moral fibre of our society. We will have no riots, no littering, no traffic violations and no crime. The retired Agniveers will change us. Because they will put the nation first. Always. Like Arnab. Well, that’s the official line anyway. BacklashUnfortunately, the response to the scheme hasn’t been what the government was expecting. There have been protests, arson and general lawlessness by unemployed youth that seems to be spreading across the country at the moment. A large section of retired armed forces officials too have questioned both the scale and speed of a change like this. The issues agitating them have some basis:There have been very few recruitment rallies during the two years of the pandemic. About 60,000 soldiers retire every year and this gap is filled up during the regular recruitment drives. It is safe to assume there's a 1.5 Lac gap that’s opened up since 2020. The expectation among aspirants was this will get filled up in the next year or so. That apart, there are those in the middle of their recruitment process who are unclear about their status now. Roughly put, there could be more than a crore of youngsters under the age of 21 who were waiting for these recruitment drives to restart. What they have now instead is about 46,000 open positions for the current year with a 25 per cent probability of a long-term career in armed services with full benefits. If you work the numbers, it also suggests a reduction in armed forces count by about 1.5 - 2 Lacs (about 10-15 per cent of the workforce) over the next four years. I’m not sure if that’s also a stated intent of this scheme but it will be a collateral result unless the Agniveer recruitment numbers are ramped up significantly in the following years.There is an inherent contradiction in acknowledging a modern military requires advanced warfare systems, technical know-how and expertise that takes years to build and having only 25 percent of personnel working on longer tenure commissions. Will the constant churn come in the way of managing these systems? Will there be institutionalised knowledge management that will be able to handle this scenario? Also, the eventual dismantling of the class-based system that this move seems to portend will need to be thought through. It is fundamental to how the army operates today.The other question is about the prospects of the 75 per cent who will be released every four years. This is a number that will keep rising over a period of time. All the romanticisation of the armed forces and its discipline aside, these will be youngsters without a college degree and with limited technical skills. How useful will they be to the wider world? Not much if you go by the current record of hiring of retired defence personnel. They will have to study further and acquire specific skills to be employable. To expect CAPF or the state police force to absorb them is a bit optimistic. Also, there are aspirants for those jobs too with their own patronage system who will scuttle these moves. Lastly, for all the josh and jazba that are likely to come free because of this move, it will be useful to understand the repercussions of having a workforce that knows only one in four among them will qualify for the longer commission. What behaviour will this engender in them? How objective will the criteria for selection be? And if the 75 per cent who are released struggle to get jobs and earn their livelihoods, the feedback loop to the future cohorts will be immediate. The situation will turn more fraught at the end of every four-year cycle. The comparison with other countries that have a ToD model is useful but it is important to appreciate we are a US$ 2000 per capita economy with over 40 per cent of the employable labour pool either without a job or underemployed. In other countries, those who want to continue to be in the armed forces almost self-select themselves. These arguments, for and against aside, this is a good example to understand the complexities of policymaking, especially in defence, in India. A Difficult ProblemLet’s begin with the single most important policy objective for armed forces now in India. This is quite stark and apparent - it needs to modernise its defence infrastructure and increase its capacity in areas of modern warfare like the air force and navy. Given the threat perception on its borders, this is an already delayed exercise. You can read a detailed ORF report on India’s platform modernisation deficit here for more. TL;DR: yes, we do have a modernisation challenge on hand. And it is quite bad.Now the key question is what’s coming in the way of modernisation? There are multiple answers to this but on the top of that list is a lack of funds. The defence budget has broadly remained around 2.2 per cent of the GDP over the last decade. India has struggled to contain its fiscal deficit and it has limited ability to allocate more to its defence budget. As we have written on umpteen occasions, the Indian state is spread wide and thin. It does way too many things badly. Therefore, it cannot find money to do things it must. More importantly, pension benefits (24 per cent) and wages (28 per cent) take up over half of its budget. These numbers, especially pension outlays, will continue to grow in the coming years as the full impact of OROP (one rank one pension) plays out. The OROP that came into effect in late 2015 is a known and acknowledged policy mistake that is quite simply unsustainable. But it is almost impossible to walk back on that now. So, the search for circumventing that burden is one of the factors that has led to this scheme. A bad policy decision has a long-term downstream impact and this is a classic case of that playing out. Even if the Agnipath scheme is implemented as it stands today, the easing up of the pension burden will take decades to play out. The need for modernisation of the armed forces is as of yesterday. But the government is hoping through a combination of a 10-15 per cent reduction in the strength of the military and a long-term solution to control the burgeoning pension bill would have given it some room to ramp up on modernisation without increasing defence outlay. There are various estimates of the net present value of the expenditure on a single soldier who joins the armed forces today. At fairly conservative estimates of discount rates, wages and future pension benefits, Pranay estimates this to be about INR 1 crore. In my view, that is the absolute floor for that value and it might be around INR 2 crores if one were to take a bit more realistic assumptions. So, a 1.5 - 2 Lac workforce reduction could mean a significant availability of funds to modernise the defence platforms over time.  Growth, Growth, GrowthThat’s likely the thinking that’s gone behind the scheme. Everything else including the messaging on josh and jazba or having retired Agniveers in every village is to make it palatable to the public. It is difficult to acknowledge openly to people that the economy cannot support the defence requirements of India when you have made nationalism and nation-first important planks of your political strategy. This communication plan could have worked except it had to contend with the other real problem of the Indian economy at the moment. Lack of jobs. For reasons that could take up another post, the Indian economy isn’t generating enough jobs for its large youthful population. Roughly, India needs to create between 15-20 million non-farm jobs every year to keep pace with those entering the labour force. The labour participation rate has remained in the 40-45 per cent range for a long time. New job creation data can be contentious but it is difficult to argue that India is creating anything more than 3-4 million jobs every year. The quality of many of these new jobs isn’t great. The merry-go-round of employees switching jobs and getting big hikes in the IT/ITES sector shouldn’t blind us to the reality in the broader economy. There aren’t enough jobs. The two prerequisites for job creation, an 8-9 per cent GDP growth and skew towards sectors like construction, infrastructure or labour-intensive exports aren’t being met. The reason the job crisis hasn’t snowballed into a larger political and social issue is the immense faith in the PM among the youth. There’s a strong belief among them that India is on its way to becoming a superpower. The regular dose of nationalism and jingoism that’s amplified by the media helps continue this narrative. A related issue here that accounts for the violent protests is the lure of government jobs. The public sector jobs at the junior levels have become more remunerative than similar roles in the private sector in the last decade. As much as people love quoting the salaries of the CMDs of PSU Banks or the senior IAS officers and comparing them to the compensation of private-sector CEOs, the reality is that at mid to junior levels the government jobs are better paying. You can dig deeper into the wage bills of listed PSUs and compare them with their private counterparts for evidence. The other supposed benefits of a government job like job security, work-life balance and a possibility of rent-seeking (though low in defence jobs) make the package very attractive. This has meant a dramatic reversion in trend of people hankering for public sector jobs that had waned in the first couple of decades of liberalisation. So, a reduction in the number of such jobs or cutting down their benefits as the Agnipath scheme is likely to be isn't going to be accepted despite the great popularity of the PM and the ruling party among this segment. Their expectation, in contrast, is for the number of government jobs to go up.Considering the constraints, it is difficult to see what else the government could have done here. The need to reduce wage and pension costs to fund modernisation is real. And given the fiscally conservative instinct of this government, it won’t deficit fund the modernisation programme. As is its wont, it has chosen to put a bold announcement with emphasis on other benefits while trying to solve its key problems under cover. There’s this myth that a big bang approach to reform is the only model that works in India. That’s wrong. A lot of what has looked like big reforms in India have actually had a long runway that’s often invisible to people. A more comprehensive reading of the history of ‘91 reforms makes this clear. So, the usual template has been followed so far: minimal consultation, no plans to test it out at a smaller scale and instant big bang implementation. The results are unsurprising. I am guessing we will see a similar script play out for the next few months. There will be rollbacks (a few have been already announced), some concessions that will tinker around years of service or percentage releases, and a few sops thrown in, to temper the anger. If I were to give more credit than is due to this government’s planning chops, I might even say it possibly did this on purpose. Release a more extreme form of scheme, brace for impact and then roll back to the position that you always wanted in the first place. It is one way to game public opinion to your favoured outcome. Of course, a more impactful solution to this is to acknowledge the mistake that OROP is and shift the pension of defence forces onto a voluntary, defined contribution scheme like the NPS which has been implemented since 2004 for all new recruits joining government services, except defence. That is the only sustainable solution to this problem. But dispassionate policy making in defence sector in India is difficult. All kinds of emotions about izzat, vardi, naam and nishaan get mixed up. Nana Patekar gets in the way of clear-headed thinking.  * (with apologies and acknowledgement to Harivansh Rai ‘Bachchan’)Addendum— Pranay KotasthaneFor a researcher working on the public finance of defence, the Agnipath scheme is an important milestone. Over the long term, it has the potential to substantially reduce the pension burden. And as RSJ writes, the scheme will have no impact on the allocations for modernisation in the short term. Nevertheless, this scheme is important for the single reason that just as today’s deficits are tomorrow’s taxes, today’s reforms become tomorrow’s savings. Many commentators suggest that India’s defence expenditure problem can be solved merely by increasing defence expenditure to 3 per cent of GDP, from the current allocation of 2.04 per cent. That’s hardly the case. Projecting current growth rates of defence spending components over the next ten years suggests that even if the government were to agree to a 3 per cent spending, pension spending will grow rapidly enough to allow only an incremental increase in the fiscal space for capital outlay.Keeping the public finance angle aside, I took away two lessons in politics.One, the political narrative that can be used to sell a policy solution sometimes matters more than the solution itself.In an article for the Times of India in March, I listed four alternatives before the government to manage personnel costs. The three solutions that were dropped tried to address the pension problem directly. It wasn’t possible to project these solutions as achieving any other objective. In contrast, the solution that was picked up, i.e. Agnipath, was the only one that allowed the government to skirt the fiscal motivations for this reform. The government went in with this stated objective: “attracting young talent from the society who are more in tune with contemporary technological trends and plough back skilled, disciplined and motivated manpower into the society.”  No mention of the fiscal angle. At all.This strategy itself had mixed results in the early days. Politically, it allowed the government to make statements such as these: “We never see the Armed Forces through the perspectives of savings. Whatever we need to spend, the government is willing to spend. Our aim is to defend the country’s borders. Whatever needs to be spent, will be spent.” — Mr Rajnath Singh, Union Defence MinisterHowever, not acknowledging the real reason why these reforms were mooted, created an impression that the government has needlessly and suddenly foisted another disruptive scheme on unsuspecting masses.Two, the government failed to align cognitive maps of important stakeholders, yet again. Pension reforms are wicked problems everywhere in the world because there are strong endowment effects of a large, organised collective at play. Some of you might recall that a couple of years ago, nearly 800,000 French people protested and disrupted key services across the country in opposition to the proposed pension reform. That reform merely aimed to consolidate 42 different pension schemes, with variations in retirement age and benefits, into a universal points-based system. Even so, the government had an excellent, indigenous pension reform example at hand. As we’ve written many times before, the civil services pension reform of 2004 was a rare example of introducing a scheme to reduce the pension burden without protests. Despite this example, the government chose to opt for an Agnipath scheme that made some applicants suddenly ineligible for selection. The resulting protests and violence eventually made the government relax the age criteria this time. The government mandarins would surely have anticipated these consequences. To smoothen the transition, the government could’ve done regular recruitment along with the Agnipath recruitment this year. Over the subsequent three-four years, it could have increased the intake for the latter and tapered down the intake in the regular induction in a phase-wise manner. But it chose a sledgehammer instead of a scalpel. Global Policy Watch: Social Media’s Rule of Three Global policy issues relevant to India— Pranay KotasthaneSocial media continues to confound us all. By now, we all have read a number of hypotheses on how social media rewards “evil”. In the initial days, social media’s tendency to push us into echo chambers was oft-cited as the mechanism that made people more extreme in their views. Then came the view that the evil lay in the “likes”, “retweets”, and “share” features, which promoted an asymmetric virality. Thereafter came the notion that it was the economic models that were to blame. Advertisement-led services and Big Tech monopolies were the real problems, we were told. And over the last four years or so, it’s the algorithms and recommendation engines of social media companies that have been the target. Despite these arguments, we still don’t have a conclusive answer. Several studies have refuted many of the assertions made above. And so, let’s take a step back from specific social media apps, and instead ask: what are the meta-mechanisms that make all forms of social media a powerful instrument? I can think of three interrelated mechanisms. All three mechanisms are connected to sociological and cognitive behaviours in the Information Age.One, Social Media expands our Reference NetworksReference Networks is a term used by psychologists to mean “people whose beliefs and behaviour matter for our behaviour”. A really small part of our behaviour is independent of others’ actions and beliefs. Most of our behaviour is interdependent, i.e. it depends on what people in our reference network say or do. For most of human history, geographic proximity largely determined our reference network. For instance, our on-road driving behaviour is shaped by people who are around us and whom we consider ‘like us’. TV, radio, books, and newspapers have played a major role in creating new horizontal comradeship (or what Benedict Anderson called ‘imagined communities’), but these media did not supplant the importance of geographically proximate reference networks. Social media, by contrast, expands our reference networks like never before. People across the world can now influence our perceptions instantly and repeatedly. And by this reference network expansion, I do not imply the ‘echo chambers’ trope. Courtesy of social media, our reference network in fact now includes many more people who think unlike us. Sociologist Zeynep Tufecki explains this mechanism using a beautiful metaphor:“While algorithms will often feed people some of what they already want to hear, research shows that we probably encounter a wider variety of opinions online than we do offline, or than we did before the advent of digital tools.Rather, the problem is that when we encounter opposing views in the age and context of social media, it’s not like reading them in a newspaper while sitting alone. It’s like hearing them from the opposing team while sitting with our fellow fans in a football stadium. Online, we’re connected with our communities, and we seek approval from our like-minded peers. We bond with our team by yelling at the fans of the other one. In sociology terms, we strengthen our feeling of “in-group” belonging by increasing our distance from and tension with the “out-group”—us versus them. Our cognitive universe isn’t an echo chamber, but our social one is. This is why the various projects for fact-checking claims in the news, while valuable, don’t convince people. Belonging is stronger than facts.” [MIT Technology Review, August 2018]Expressed another way, every issue becomes global by default because our reference networks are also global. Two, Social Media expands the Overton WindowRepeating what I had written about this particular mechanism in edition #130. The Overton Window framework suggests that for any political issue, there's a range of socially acceptable positions that's narrower than the range of all possible positions. These socially acceptable ideas are seen as being inside the Overton Window — they are mainstream and uncontroversial. On the other hand, policy positions outside it are viewed as shocking, upsetting, and electorally harmful. The key insight of this framework is that, with social pressure, the Overton Window can shift over time; today's radicals may become tomorrow's moderates. In the Information Age, something even more striking has happened. The Overton Window on practically every issue has been stretched such that nearly all possible positions on an issue have become socially acceptable. With that happening, the older institutions, which earlier exuded authority, are shredding legitimacy with every decision they make.With the old gatekeepers no longer wielding the same power as earlier, the range of opinions on any issue can be extremely broad. And combined with the fact that each of those views attracts a new reference network, the Overton Window of social acceptability gets stretched.Three, Disproportional Rewards for Extreme ContentMany analysts say that this mechanism is a result of skewed algorithms and the incentives arising out of an advertisement-based model. While that’s partly true, there’s a deeper reason: information overload. Persuasion is a key power in the information age. Persuading someone requires attracting someone’s attention. And since attention is a scarce commodity in a crowded information environment, the only way to attract it is to come up with something surprising and shocking. Consider this analogous example. If I were to write “Lng Yrs g, W Md Tryst WTh Dstny”, you would immediately identify that I’m talking about Nehru’s iconic 1947 speech, despite me dropping all vowels. From an information theory perspective, vowels carry “less” information content because they occur more frequently. In contrast, consonants contain “more” information because the probability of their occurrence is low.In a similar manner, a news feed post which reads “There was a bomb blast in Kabul”, carries less information, because this has quite unfortunately become a regular occurrence over the last few years. In contrast, a shocking opinion or news like “Russian information ops influenced the 2016 election results” surprises us, and hence carries more information. Over time, not only does the Overton Window expand, it becomes broader at the two poles. My proposition is that many real-life events attributed to social media (positive or negative) can be explained by a combination of these three mechanisms. Consider the work done by an online group DRASTIC (Decentralized Radical Autonomous Search Team Investigating COVID-19) in mid-2021. Their work alone changed the conversation on the Wuhan lab origin theory (RSJ wrote about it here). In this case, the expanded reference network allowed a band of interested folks to build on each other’s work. The Overton Window expansion meant that the group could put forward an idea that seemed preposterous at that time. And a skew towards surprises meant that their idea didn’t just die away in a closed in-group, but instead sailed across the globe.HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Article] Janan Ganesh has a cracking column in FT, which discusses a favourite topic of ours: economic growth. Sample these lines from the column: “The looming recession will be painful. But it will also drive a certain kind of post-materialist humbug from polite discourse. Growth will be harder to dismiss as a bean counter’s tawdry obsession when there is so little of the stuff to go round.”[Article] Zeynep Tufekci’s analysis of “how social media took us from Tahrir Square to Donald Trump”.[Post] Gurwinder from The Prism has this terrific insight: ideologies are memetic superbugs. His words: “The most successful ideology in the West today, wokeism, has succeeded because it’s perfectly configured, not to establish social justice, but to establish more copies of itself. It’s a memetic superbug evolved for contagion rather than truth or compassion, and if contaminating others requires it to delude the senses, twist the truth, and darken the heart, then so be it.”[Tweet] The always-insightful Bryan Caplan’s take on intersecting echo chambers lights a bulb. He says: “If you want to combat error, critique your in-group. You speak their language and they trust you, so you might persuade someone. If you want to raise your status, critique your out-group. They won't listen, but your in-group will love it.” The latter tendency dominates the former by a big margin, I guess. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicpolicy.substack.com

Robert Worth, a journalist previously based in Baghdad with the New York Times and author of A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil from Tahrir Square to ISIS, describes the deadly and intractable problem of corruption in Iraq. He discusses the role the United States and its pallets of cash played in this, but also the enforced sectarian apportionment of power—the Muhasasa—that ensures each group protects its fiefdom rather than acting in the best interest of the whole country.

The full episode transcript is available on our website: https://history.wisc.edu/ask-a-historian/ During the Arab Spring, Egyptian women played particularly prominent roles as activists on Tahrir Square and in the political groups that mobilized to debate the future of the Egypt. How did Egyptian feminism develop in the decades leading up to the Arab Spring? Professor Aaron Rock-Singer takes us through the 20th- and 21st-century history of Egypt to trace the ways in which the British colonial project, the secular nationalist state, and Islamist revival movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis sought to shape the role of women in Egyptian society. Aaron highlights the contradictions and characteristics of the project of feminism in Egypt's authoritarian political environment. He also reflects on the possibilities and challenges for activists under the current Sisi regime. Timestamps: 03:05 Women in the Egyptian Revolution and the Abdel Nasser period 11:06 The British colonial project to create a quiescent population 16:08 The Sadat and Mubarak periods 22:24 Salafism, authenticity debates, and gender segregation 31:52 Comparing developments in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East 36:17 Reflections on the aftermath of the Arab Spring and the Sisi regime Episode links: Aaron Rock-Singer is Assistant Professor of History and the University of Wisconsin—Madison. His first book, Practicing Islam in Egypt: Print Media and Islamic Revival, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/practicing-islam-in-egypt/05564917D380AE6C37E3AECD3D6C7316#fndtn-information You can follow Aaron on Twitter @AaronRockSinger. Our music is Pamgaea by Kevin MacLeod. Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4193-pamgaea CC BY 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Please send us your questions for a historian: outreach@history.wisc.edu

A well-known blogger and activist jailed for a peaceful protest, a young man imprisoned and tortured for wearing the wrong T- shirt, a young woman abducted by masked police, and now among more than a thousand people who have been forcibly disappeared – these are just some of the alarming stories from the new Egypt.Orla Guerin has spent the last four years reporting from Cairo where she has witnessed a systematic assault on freedoms and human rights. The country's ruler, former army chief, President Abdel Fatah al Sisi is standing for re-election (next month) in a climate of fear and intimidation. Seven years after the euphoria in Tahrir Square, Orla asks what happened to the hope born during the revolution, and reports on the abuses which campaigners say are at the heart of the Sisi regime.