Early this year, I had Nicole Bedera, Aydin and Ed on to talk about the resistance against ICE that was happening in their town of Minneapolis and that was making headlines all around the world. Since then, enough time has passed for today’s guest, mags, to have written a powerful piece called “Will Minneapolis Choose Melancholy?” I wanted to have them on, alongside a returning Ed, to talk about the trappings of melancholy that leftwing and progressive movements, but also just people-who-take-part-in-protests more generally, have been dealing with for a very long time. We also borrowed from my own experience from Lebanon, as well as that of Hong Kong.
Recs:
Also: A Summer Reading List for Minneapolis 2026
Elia also brought up We, Traitors: Bundist Writings on Zionism, Palestine, and Socialism by Nathan Tankus and Eyshe Beirich, both of whom are upcoming guests of TFTT.
But first, some admin:
You can still register for my November class, the 5th and last class on modern Lebanese history and politics before I take a long break from it all. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about Lebanon and why it matters so much to today’s geopolitical nightmare, I think you’ll benefit from taking this class.
I also wanna make the case for joining the Patreon of TFTT at Patreon.com/thefirethesetimes
Not only do you get early access to everything I do as well as other perks such as the monthly hangouts and exclusive video interviews, but you only need to commit to the first year. It’s cheaper to subscribe on a yearly basis anyway, but I understand that not everyone can commit for longer than that. If that’s you, please know that you can continue being on the Patreon for free after that initial year. Just message me closer to the date and I’ll send you a free invite.
That initial support is, I’m hoping, enough for me to make this project financially sustainable, and I’m grateful for the 200 or so listeners who currently support TFTT on Patreon.
Just a note: If you have an iPhone, I recommend subscribing from a browser instead of your Patreon application as it’s less expensive for you to do so since Apple decided it can rip people off through the Patreon app.
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Contact: To collaborate, reach out on ayoub@thefirethesetimes.com / Signal @ Ayoub.02
Credit: Elia Ayoub (host, sound editor, episode design),the rosa artist (TFTT theme design, 2026-),Rap and Revenge (Music),Wenyi Geng (TFTT theme design, 2022-2026),Hisham Rifai (FTP theme design),Molly Crabapple (FTP team profile pics) andAntidote Zine (Transcriptions).
