The East is a Podcast

**Note: When stuff in Iran goes down, my natural inclination is to avoid doing content and stay above the fray, at least until the media hysteria dies down.  Not the best way to run a media project, I know, but I just have a hard time with all the breathless coverage--BREAKING!!!--and don't really want to feed it. Even then, I am still Iranian, and if people ask me to record during these times, my cultural programming compels me to accept the invitation.    This episode of Peacemongers with Mehmet and Erik was recorded as I was travelling for work recently and at the end of a busy, emotional day.  The scale of what had just transpired in Iran was becoming clear to me that morning in between working on the footage I had recorded the day earlier, itself an intense and emotional experience for entirely different, non-Iran-related reasons.  All of this is to say that by the time I recorded with these guys that afternoon, I was feeling pretty loopy. You can kinda hear it at the beginning of the episode when I had the giggles and infected everyone else with them!  I have no idea how I come off in this episode (too lazy to check it too, sorry), and I was reluctant to even post to this feed!! In my memory, I was exceptionally wandering in my rants.  Maybe I'm wrong and it's the same Sini as usual. IDK.**  ---------------------- "Listen to the Iranians" they kept saying. Well, we give you Sina Rahmani, the indomitable host of @eastpodcast and producer of countless other anti imperialist shows. We talk about the events in Iran which have been one-sidedly and sensationally presented in the west. In the background the Empire and the Ethno-state have their fingers dirty. So why is Iran such an important target for the Empire and what does it mean to be sovereign? We discuss some of the contents of the imperial toolbox and factors leading up to the protests. Economic pressure with sanctions and currency manipulation, smuggling of Starlink units and weapons to foment violent riots and the media machinery. We discuss the Shah and his son, the clown-prince in exile, Iranian diaspora, support for Palestine and what the destruction of the Iranian state would mean to people in the area. While the battle may be over the war might just have begun. The peoples and states in the crosshairs of a dying empire will keep being demonised. If they resist they are authoritarian, if they open up they'll be vulnerable. What the future holds and what the way forward to avoid a devastating war is unknown. Early in the episode Sina reads a testimony from his friend Navid Zarinnal, who is living in Teheran. He hosts a podcast on imperialism called The Colony Archive, which we highly recommend. Please note that we had some technical difficulties in the beginning, that led to a lot of chaos and laughter. Big thanks to Sina for being such a joyful human being even in these difficult times. The genocide in Gaza continues. We urge you to support the Palestinians in these very dire times by donating: - via @thesameerproject - via @lifeline4gaza

I have been on the road and unable to do a proper episode on what's happening on Iran, so I decided to post this quick spot I did with The Freedom Side from BT News. You can watch the full episode on their YouTube channel If you can't wait until I am able to record a full episode on Iran (I will try to do one tomorrow night or Saturday morning), my comrade Nick and I recently did an episode of our paywalled show, Pod Kapital, and we discussed a little bit about what has been happening but that is already three days ago and out of date!  Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

***I have been working with Lara Sheehi on her new show.  Make sure you subscribe to her video and audio feeds to listen to the rest of this episode**** Ghassan Abu Sittah: Clinic as site of resistance   In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah to discuss the centrality of the clinic in the genocidal violence perpetrated by the Zionist settler state in Gaza, his concept of the biosphere of genocide, and importantly, the site of the clinic as central to resistance, refusal, and liberation. Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah is a British-Palestinian Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon. He completed his medical education at University of Glasgow in the U.K and his postgraduate residency training in London. In April of 2024 he was awarded and Honorary Doctorate from the American University of Beirut, where is currently Professor of Conflict Medicine. His work was featured by numerous newspapers and media outlets notably La Monde, The Independent, Telegraph, BBC and CNN. Follow us on IG: @psychicmilitancypod & TikTok: @psychic.militancy Consider becoming a Patron to support the show! https://www.patreon.com/psychicmilitancy

[NOTE: This is the first portion of the latest episode of The Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective podcast.  Lots of great content has already been released on both audio and video feeds and more to come, so please make sure you subscribe to both!]  Hosted by AISC co-founder Nina Farnia, this episode features two distinguished guests and friends of AISC, Venezuela's former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Ron and University of Tehran professor Mohammad Marandi. We initially filmed a 2025 anti-imperialist roundup on December 30, 2025, but just a few days later the US invaded Venezuela and abducted President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flires. We brought our guests back after the abduction to discuss the invasion, the abduction, and the future of the Bolivarian Revolution in the face of US imperialism. Both episodes are included here. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel  Follow AISC  X (@penandmachete)  Instagram (@penandmachete) Visit our website to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete. Donations to the producer of this show, Sina Rahmani, are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Producer's note:  Apologies for the long absence from the show. As I explain in the first few minutes of this episode, I have been busy launching some new shows in addition to this special episode, currently only available on the YouTube channel.  More great content for the main feed and bonus feed coming soon! Max Ajl returns to the show to reflect on some of the wider historical contexts that laid the groundwork for the calamity that was 2025.  This was recorded 2 days before the flagrant kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

The Struggle Session is back for November on Sunday Nov 23rd at 3pmET! This monthly livestream panel program is not convening to make you feel better--the unvarnished analysis and fierce self-criticism may make you feel a bit worse! But, it will inform and, hopefully, spur you to taking action. As Marx said, the point isn't just to understand the world but to change it. This is an activist panel for a much needed Struggle Session: Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of Within our Lifetime; Sina Rahmani, host of East is a Podcast and impressario/producer of the online tankie left; Henry Hakamaki, editor at ISKRA Books and co-host of Guerrilla History podcast; and Mehmet Ali Arslan, musician, activist, and co-host of Fredshetsarna podcast in Swedish and English.  Join us for a wide-ranging discussion of the key developments and issues for the anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-genocide left. We'll talk about directions of the Palestine solidarity movement and Gaza resistance in light of the ceasefire/UN occupation force resolution that Russia and China didn't veto, Mamdani on the Left and MAGA civil war on the Right, Jolani at the White House and Kremlin, imperial wars on Venezuela, Lebanon, Iran brewing and much more. Post your questions, suggested topics, and comments. Note there are now two livestream formats: landscape and portrait depending on which fits best on your screen. So do choose the alternative if it doesn't show up properly on your mobile device or computer monitor/screen. You can get priority for your questions/suggestions/comments by posting on patreon.com/adnanhusain. Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)!  www.patreon.com/adnanhusain  Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Like, subscribe, share!  Also available as audio podcast on all major platforms:  https://adnanhusainshow.libsyn.com X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com www.adnanhusain.org

Aman Ullah Tariq is a Pakistani analyst and is one of the hosts of EON. Check out his episode of The Colony Archive Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

***This is a preview of the latest episode of Pod Kapital, the new podcast series co-hosted by me and my comrade Nick Estes exploring Marx's Capital. The episodes are paywalled but we livestreaming our recordings, so subscribe to The East is a Podcast YouTube channel and watch us live for free!*** Nick and Sina return for another episode of Pod Kapital. Today we discuss parts 4+5, chapters 14-21. Subscribe to Nick's Substack to watch the video edition or watch the livestream.  

In this edition of Office Hours, Friday Nov. 7 at a special time, 6pm ET, Adnan hosts Hamza Al-Muqawi a Sudanese writer and activist to talk about Sudan's history as a crucial and continuing front in the struggle against colonialism, imperialism, and capitalist exploitation of Eastern Africa and West Asia. We will learn about Sudan's strategic place on the Red Sea and the geopolitical factors fueling imperial and subimperial designs and interventions as well as the resistance and struggle for liberation by Sudan's people facing terror, deliberate starvation and genocide. Hamza's analysis will help illuminate a central battleground in resisting empire and the struggle for liberation. This is a crucial conversation about a major crisis that is thoroughly ignored. Join us and post your questions and comments. You can prepare for Office Hours 13 by reading Hamza's article on substack: https://abuhureirah.substack.com/p/su... You can have priority for your questions and comments by becoming a supporter and posting on patreon.com/adnanhusain or make a one time contribution via buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Support the show on Patreon if you can (and get early access to episodes)! www.patreon.com/adnanhusain Or make a one-time donation to the show and Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/adnanhusain Like, subscribe, share! Also available as audio podcast on all major plaforms: https://adnanhusainshow.libsyn.com X: @adnanahusain Substack: adnanahusain.substack.com www.adnanhusain.org

Reza Aslan is a religious scholar and bestselling author, including his biography of Jesus of Nazareth, Zealot (2013) and his history of Islam, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam (2005). Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

NOTE: I have been helping the great people over at the Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective launch their new show.  Lots of great content has already been released on both audio and video feeds and more to come, so please make sure you subscribe to both! Imperialism's Political, Economic, and Military Machinations On this episode of the AISC podcast, members Bikrum Gill and Navid Farnia address the US's ongoing military buildup in the Caribbean and the energy conflict between the US and China. They also provide more analysis of the Gaza "ceasefire" and comment on the flareup between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Follow AISC on X (@penandmachete) and Instagram (@penandmachete).  Visit anti-imperialists.com to join the newsletter and find our blog, The Pen is My Machete.  Donations to the producer of this show are welcome at www.patreon.com/east_podcast.

**Note: Nick and I have been doing a new show behind our respective paywalls, Pod Kapital, going through the new translation of Marx's Capital published by Princeton University Press. We had originally envisioned it as short-run series but after the tremendous response we have received from listeners, we have decided to make the show permanent. At this point, most of the episodes are locked but we will be figuring out ways to make future episodes accessible to non-Patrons in one way or another.** In this episode, we discuss Marx's chapter on cooperation. We also change the structure of our reading of Capital, slowing down and stretching out our study sessions. There's so much we want to cover. Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

The next installment of the Imperial '80s series is sure to be one for the ages. Evil Dead 2. Bruce Campbell. Chainsaw arm. Sawed off Shotgun. Necronomicon. Sina Rahmani from the East is a Podcast. What more could you want? We can't talk about this film without discussing settler colonialism, zionism, & orientalism (and therefore imperialism)! As always to support our show, please become an Imperial 80s patron, where you get first access to bonus episodes and support both Mtume and J's work on this series. We do hope to have the time to record a bonus episode for this one with Sina as well. Watch the video edition on our MAKC's YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Millennials Are Killing Capitalism and the East is a Podcast will reflect upon the events of the week and talk about all of the unknowns. There is a ceasefire again, but will it hold? If we know that "Israel" violates every ceasefire, and every agreement, what form will their violation take this time? We will throughout this live-stream ask folks to support some families in Gaza who still are living in a state of tremendous devastation. Support Doaa Osama and her family in Gaza https://chuffed.org/project/149565-support-doaa-osama-and-her-family-in-gaza Help Ahmed and his family start over after losing everything https://chuffed.org/project/139183-help-ahmed-and-his-family-start-over-after-losing-everything Help Reem's family Survive https://chuffed.org/project/146196-help-reems-family-survive Help Mahmoud and His Family Survive and Stand Again https://chuffed.org/project/141277-help-mahmoud-and-his-family-survive-and-stand-again

A collaborative livestream discussion meant to support and fundraise for the Sameer Project, a Palestinian led mutual aid organization operating within Gaza, and especially its Mass Displacement Response Campaign for emergency relief. Streaming on multiple channels, the discussion is also sponsored by Jay of Millennials are Killing Capitalism and we will be joined by Sina of East is a Podcast, Benji and Sacha of Resistance is Fertile, Lara Sheehi, Jared of iMWiL!, Renee of Saturdays w/Renee on BLM, and Nick of The Red Nation Podcast. Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Please consider supporting Mahmoud.

***Note: Jay and I did another fundraiser episode. This time, we used the website Lifeline4Gaza to help lift up some slow-moving campaigns. During the episode, I linked to two other campaigns whose organizers I know and who need your help: consider donating to Ahmed or Mahmoud***   As promised we are back to air more grievances! This week Sina and Jared are combining forces once again! Nora Barrows-Friedman from Electronic Intifada, and our frequent guest and comrade Alexander Aviña will be joining us, and some other special guests will join us as well! Last week Adnan Husain, Nick Estes, Mtume Gant, Sina Rahmani, and Jared Ware all joined forces for an "airing of the grievances" and to raise money for Mohammed and his siblings in Gaza For this conversation - in between the airing of the grievances - we will be promoting the work of Lifeline4Gaza. lifeline4gaza gathers links to existing appeals from families, individuals & grassroots community efforts in Gaza. Appeals are automatically ordered according to urgency, or cumulative donations, using software designed to prioritize those receiving the least donations over the past five days (calculated in real-time & accounting for currency conversions). Appeals supported by @gazafunds, @radiowatermelon & @palestineasdiqa are tagged as such (when identified). lifeline4gaza is an ever-evolving, open-source collaborative volunteer initiative to provide a lifeline to people in Gaza, Palestine during the usa-zionist genocide. Volunteers working on developing & maintaining this website met on x/twitter & can be reached at: @ll4gaza on x/twitter @lifeline4gaza on instagram   Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel

Note: Nick Estes and I have launched a new project called Pod Kapital in which we will be reading canonical Marxist texts for weekly episodes on his Substack. I will be posting the audio editions for all my patrons but if you want to watch the video edition, you will have to sign up behind his paywall! I encourage you to do so anyway for the great content he is posting ! The Red-Brown alliance is finally happening! The American Indian-Iranian alliance, that is. Host of the East Is a Podcast, Sina Rahmani, joins the Red Scare Podcast for the "Pod Kapital" series, where we dissect and discuss classic Marxist texts. We're aiming for the fences for the first reading, starting with Karl Marx's magnum opus: Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. 1 (1867).  We're offering this introduction for free, hoping that you will subscribe to the Substack to join our semi-weekly classes. This eight-week course will meet via livestream on Substack every Tuesday at 1 pm CT. Recordings will be reposted for those who cannot attend the livestreams but still want to follow along. Here's the reading and podcast schedule:  September 9: Introduction: Seeing the Monster September 16: Part 1: The Commodity and Money September 23: Part 2: Money and Capital September 30: No Class October 7: No Class October 14: Part 3: Absolute Surplus Value October 21: Part 4: Relative Surplus Value October 28: Parts 5 & 6: Surplus Value and Wages November 4: Part 7: Process of Accumulation November 11: Part 8: Original Accumulation November 18: Conclusion: The Secrets of Political Economy There are several English translations of Capital. For this series, we'll be using the recent Princeton version, translated and edited by Paul Reitter. We also recommend, and will be referencing, the Ben Fowkes translation and the English version available for free at Marxists.org. Purchasing a copy of the book isn't a prerequisite for participating in this study group. (If you're interested in a critical conversation about the Princeton translation, check out the episode of Guerrilla History with Paul North and Paul Reitter.) Sina will also be referring directly to the original German texts found at the Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe (MEGA) archives. Jonathan Sperber's Karl Marx: A Nineteenth Century Life (2013) is an excellent intellectual biography of Karl Marx. We will be referring to it throughout the series. We hope that you read along. But we also want to provide you with enough context and analysis that may inspire you to read or give a foundational overview of Capital.  Each episode will be structured with an introduction, a summary, and a critical reflection on the reading, concluding with answering subscriber questions about the text. We hope you tune in to the livestream or post your questions in the comments section or chat function.  Pilamayaye ota! Many thanks for your continued support.

UPDATE ***Yesterday, Jay from MAKC hosted a livestream for me, Adnan Husain, and Nick Estes partly as a mini-fundraiser for my friend Mohammed in Gaza.  The response has been amazing.  As I mention in the episode, donations started pouring in from listeners/ viewers.  Someone even donated $500!. It was really moving for me--I even shed a tear on the livestream! Thank you to all who donated. Mohammed was elated to see some money come in, as he has been trying to arrange for transport south for him and his siblings. For a few weeks, donations had dried up, and it was a source of anguish for him.  Seeing him get excited as he watched the donations come in made me really happy. The happiness was short-lived. This afternoon (Tuesday) Mohammed messaged me to let me know his brother's wife just had a miscarriage. The Zionists have been shelling the north heavily as they accelerate the genocide,  and it caused her to miscarry. Needless to say, they are devastated. Martyred before life! It goes without saying that there are a lot of really worthy campaigns.  Here are two being run by a friends of mine https://chuffed.org/project/139183-help-ahmed-and-his-family-start-over-after-losing-everything https://chuffed.org/project/141277-help-mahmoud-and-his-family-survive-and-stand-again I once again want to thank all of you who have been donating and sharing/organizing campaigns.  Our ruling class has decided that this starvation war is normal, and it's up to us to do everything we can to support Palestinians fighting to stay alive. I encourage you to adopt your own campaigns. Even if you don't have a large social media following, you can find ways to fundraise. There are a lot of people out there who are not online and would like to show their support.  I have learned this first hand!  I hope you enjoy this episode. It's a livestream and clocks in at over 2.5 hours.  It was fun and chaoatic and very adhoc. I will endevour to do more in the coming weeks and months! -Sina *** The East is a Podcast will host a conversation with multiple friends, airing grievances, covering multiple topics, discussing news and raising funds for Mohammed and his siblings amid evacuation orders. This stream will feature Nick Estes from The Red Nation, Adnan Husain from The Adnan Husain Show, Jared Ware from Millennials Are Killing Capitalism, and possibly other special guests. Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

EIAP shadow commander in charge of finding guests Max Ajl returns to the show after a long hiatus to discuss what lessons can be drawn from the 12-day war between Iran and ZioAmerikkan Empire.    Check out his piece, "Peoples and Regimes: Anti-Imperialism and the Islamic Republic of Iran" Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast

Tankie Group Therapy is back! This time with an actual licensed therapist! Sina hosts alongside Adnan from  @adnanhusainshow , Jay from  @MAKCapitalism , and Lara Sheehi! Watch the video edition on The East is a Podcast YouTube channel Consider supporting the show www.patreon.com/east_podcast