What Is This? And Who Are You?
Hello.
My name is Elia Ayoub and I launched this newsletter to explore political ghosts, the ones that refuse to be buried and the ones that have yet to manifest. I focus on the Mashriq/Levant region (Lebanon, Syria, Israel-Palestine), which is where I'm from. It's not a Mashriq-only newsletter though, as I am also a UK-based (Brighton) mostly-anglophone post-doctoral researcher who spends too much of my time thinking about cinema, political chants, the far right (and how to stop it), global warming, solarpunk, philosophy, history, post-growth economics and mutual aid. Also: Star Trek and the Lord of the Rings, because why not.
Academia: My academic background is primarily in cultural studies, history, philosophy and political science. I have a PhD in cultural analysis from the University of Zurich (“hauntings and temporalities in postwar Lebanese cinema”) and a MA in Cultural Studies from SOAS University of London (“Hebrew, Yiddish and the contemporary debates on Zionism.”) I'm also a fellow of the Post Growth Institute and a an Associate Researcher at Lebanon's Center for Social Sciences Research and Action.
Writing: I've been published on Al Jazeera, 972Mag, AlJumhuriya.net, Global Voices Online, L’Orient Today, The New Arab, Middle East Eye, RS21, GenderIT, LSE Middle East Blogs, Shado Mag, Mangal Media, Byline Times, Slingshot, Lausan Collective, South South Movement, Arab Reform Initiative, New Lines Magazine, Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, Carnegie MEC and Crimethinc.
Podcasting: I am the founder of The Fire These Times podcast and co-founder of From The Periphery media collective. I'm also co-producer/co-host of The Inconvenient Revolution on post-2011 Syria with Leila Al-Shami and of Resistance is Fertile on Star Trek with carla joy bergman, both upcoming in 2025.
Other: I'm an editor at Shado Mag. I was also previously SWANA/MENA editor at IFEX and Global Voices and I've worked as a communications consultant for various Syrian, Lebanese, British and Swiss NGOs and think tanks. I keep a semi-updated archive of my stuff on eliaayoub.com
I grew up in Lebanon and spent most of my 20s as an activist and organizer in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. I focused on environmental issues as well as social issues. I was one of the organizers of the 2015 uprising and I took part in the 2019 one. I've also campaigned for the abolition of the Kafala system, for the legalization of civil marriage, for LGBTQ+ rights and for a secular and multi-ethnic state.
As this newsletter makes clear, I am also very invested in Syria and Israel-Palestine.
How to contact me:
The easiest way is to send me an email at ayoub@thefirethesetimes.com and I'll do my best to respond when I can. You can also find me on Bluesky and Mastodon.
Convinced?
Great! Please consider subscribing here. If you can afford it, consider a paid subscription. Most of what I do is unpaid because we continue to live in the stupidest timeline, aka neoliberal capitalism, so until we get rid of capitalism this is what I gotta do.
