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

What we got into, in no particular order:

• Dana seeing Mamdani win as a Muslim-American (and Arab/Palestinian) who grew up in the aftermath of 9/11 / Mamdani’s Arabic-language campaign video (in Syrian Arabic - thank you Rama - except when talking to the cat, when he switched to Egyptian Arabic for some reason) and him saying أنا منكم واليكم at his victory speech

• Elia seeing Mamdani win as an Arab who’s never been to New York City but still felt the impact of the War on Terror growing up in Lebanon

• Both Elia and Dana being Mamdani’s age and how that’s f-ed up

• How Mamdani navigated questions about Israel / why we need to be better at making the our opponents face their own contradictions instead of falling in their trap

• The Far Right is not inevitable. It can be stopped. Billionaires are not inevitable. They can be stopped.

• Parallels to the UK with Zack Polanski and the rise of the Green Party

Mentions 

• Mamdani Created a Left-Liberal Coalition on Israel/Palestine by Peter Beinart

• The Far Right is Not Inevitable | The Fire These Times with Aurelien Mondon (ep. 163)
  

The Fire These Times is a proud member of⁠ ⁠From The Periphery (FTP) Media Collective⁠⁠. Check out other projects in our media ecosystem: Syria: The Inconvenient Revolution, From The Periphery Podcast, The Mutual Aid Podcast⁠, ⁠Politically Depressed⁠, ⁠Obscuristan⁠, and ⁠Antidote Zine⁠.

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For more:

• The Fire These Times is on Bluesky,⁠ IG⁠ and has a⁠ ⁠website⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠

• From The Periphery is on⁠ ⁠Patreon⁠⁠, ⁠Bluesky⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠,⁠ Instagram⁠, and has a⁠ website⁠⁠

• Dana is on Bluesky

• Elia is on Bluesky and Instagram

Transcriptions: Transcriptions are done by⁠ Antidote Zine⁠ and will be published on⁠ The Fire These Times' transcript archive⁠.

Credits:

Dana El Kurd (host), Elia Ayoub (host, producer, episode design), ⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Music), ⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (TFTT theme design), ⁠⁠Hisham Rifai⁠⁠⁠⁠ (FTP theme design) and ⁠⁠Molly Crabapple⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (FTP team profile pics)