"AI is not a magical tool built by people in San Francisco making millions of dollars a year and pushing their companies to insane valuations. Artificial intelligence is an extractive technology that relies on the brutal labor of underpaid workers around the world" www.404media.co/ai-is-africa...

Very dystopian timing. I’ve been working on this since November. Thanks @thedialmag.bsky.social

I spoke with @essssraaa.bsky.social about Azerbaijan’s expansionist agenda toward Armenia, the growing divide between the Armenian government and people’s lived realities, historical memory, and comparisons to Palestine. It’s one of my favorite episodes. Do give it a listen!

Syria: One year on after the fall of Assad On From the Periphery Podcast www.patreon.com/posts/145397...

Here I am with the thoughtful and brilliant @aymanmak.bsky.social and @leilashami.bsky.social talking all things Syria one year after Assad’s fall

Recently, I spoke to @karena1.bsky.social for @fromtheperiphery.com about Azerbaijani's president's expansionist statements. We explore the stark difference between lived reality and govt stories, historical memory suppression, trauma, & draw parallels to Palestine. www.patreon.com/posts/ilham-...

Called it

How do we keep showing up when it feels like nothing is changing and when we're burned out? Together with @aymanmak.bsky.social & @karena1.bsky.social we spoke about Palestine Solidarity Against the Odds on @fromtheperiphery.com www.patreon.com/posts/ftpp-8...

Random, but I’m still looking for stable employment (research/analysis/writing/teaching) and I’m happy to send along my CV in English/French. Job has to be in the UK, Canada or online.

It is quite a feat to be able to write a long article on the lack of popularity of political leaders and avoid talking about actual politics Little context, nothing about power or ideology Democracy is just management and it's worked so well so far... www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I cannot help but think of the Armenian genocide where repeated forced displacements were a core part of destroying an entire people

Israel is bombing Gaza City as Netanyahu orders Palestinians to "leave now" www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...

The horror journalist Mariam Dagga photographed in the last months of her life. The last one is from the hospital where she was killed today. Curated by @apnews.com editors apnews.com/photo-galler...

Democrats writing letters

A week after Azerbaijan’s 2023 attack on Artsakh, Israel’s assault on Gaza began. As Gaza’s suffering exposed the limits of human rights and international law, a friend, whose family is from Artsakh, said: “It’s when I realized how f*cked we are.” My piece on the need for solidarity in these times

Good piece from @natachadanon.bsky.social on what people in Sweida say the central government must do to regain their trust. The government is hemorrhaging faith, particularly from minority groups, and seems unwilling or unable to confront the more extreme factions syriadirect.org/is-there-a-r...

Hear me talk with @leilashami.bsky.social about my time in NE Syria, also known as Rojava, speaking with Islamized Armenians, descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide who were forcibly ‘assimilated’ during and after 1915. And listen to the other episodes of her podcast!

In the latest episode of @syriapodcast.bsky.social I'm joined by @karena1.bsky.social to talk about the experiences of Islamized Armenians in Northeast Syria. Available on all podcast apps or here: fromtheperiphery.com/2025/07/30/s...

I needed to hear this episode today ❤️ if anything just to know what I'm feeling is felt by others

The Gaza famine and genocide cannot become the new normal. The latest episode of The Fire These Times is now available everywhere. With @ayoub.bsky.social @leilashami.bsky.social @danielvoskoboynik.bsky.social @essssraaa.bsky.social & @karena1.bsky.social www.patreon.com/posts/135258...

i find myself regularly reminding people that not one single German was severely punished for simply refusing to contribute to the Holocaust

Bye forever, WeTransfer.

the stories that come out of the ICE camps are going to look like the stories that come out of every camp system; rampant corruption, epidemic disease, physical and sexual abuse on a vast scale, a death rate far higher than normal, and medical abuses.

So the head of the BBC is implying that British Jews are somehow connected to a chant about the Israeli army? Does the BBC apologise to British Muslims when armies of self-described Muslim states are criticised? How are we still at this level of the discourse? www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...

loved this conversation and so appreciate the space for independent thought @thefirethesetimes.com has created

My @civilnet.bsky.social interview on my trip to Northeast Syria (AANES), where I met with Islamized Armenians reclaiming their identity

Zohran Mamdani hasn’t said anything negative about Jewish people or cheered on their suffering. Yet these 4 demand he “distance himself” from such rhetoric. They, however, have *all* expressed support for a government that’s committing a genocide & killed Americans. Will they “distance” themselves?

“In Pasadena last week, a man stepped out of his unmarked vehicle at an intersection, unholstered his pistol and aimed it at a group of pedestrians before returning to his car… That incident left the police chief of Pasadena resigned to figure out whether it was a crime or part of a federal raid.”

Dr. Karena Avedissian, political scientist and researcher, shares insights from her recent visit to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava. @karena1.bsky.social

Make it a mainstream Dem platform to abolish ICE

You remember how last week we are all saying we should stay vigilant for a 'false-flag' attack by the U.S to justify an attack on Iran. They didn't need it. They just did it. I think that really signals where we are in terms of the self-righteousness of imperialist forces.

Ppl already spinning this as an act of support for the Iranian people. I’m sorry but solidarity doesn’t come from above with bombs. 4 female political prisoners inside, one of them w/ death sentence, just condemned Israel’s aggression. That’s moral clarity - not whatever this violence is

There is already a nuclear-armed country in the Middle East that does not allow international inspectors despite having nukes for decades - and it’s not Iran. Israel is also one of a handful of countries to have never signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

It’s completely insane that US troops are illegally deployed to suppress domestic opposition and it’s not uniformly condemned by the press and political elite.

LAPD appears to have kettled protesters around 7:45pm to prevent them from leaving, waited for the 8pm curfew to kick in and then mass-arrested them for curfew violations.

When Los Angeles actually *was* burning down six months ago, these people didn't give a damn about us. Now they're spreading fake AI videos showing LA burning

Everyone I knew who covered disinformation got laid off, their bosses got bullied into firing them, or they changed their beats from actual Nazi harassment campaigns. It cannot be stressed the damage the paid-for Substack “free speech” guys did in the service of fascism and against real free speech.

It is as stupid as you think it is. There is no long-term plan. It is actually that stupid. It’s simply that it’s also very dangerous. The system we live in rewards people like these idiots and perhaps that’s a sign that it’s not a good system.

With lots of attention (rightfully) on Israel’s attacks on Syria, let’s not forget that Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) factions continue to occupy swathes of territory as well as detain, mistreat, and extort civilians in northern Syria. A new HRW report details ongoing abuses here:

Labour’s love of Big Tech is as dangerous as its embrace of Enoch Powell-style discourse on foreigners. www.ft.com/content/438f...

A sobering - but must read piece - on what lies ahead for humanity with the rise of AGI

It can happen here. From my student who went from Smolny in Russia to Columbia. She was able to nurture her brilliance. I think about all the other students trapped in not just authoritarian but hostile and dangerous regimes who will never reach their potential. www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The IbrahimforGaza's kitchen was targeted by Israel. Four of their volunteers were killed in northern Gaza and they also had to suspend feeding people in Nuseirat as their volunteers were injured there too. I can personally vouch for the group www.instagram.com/reel/DJOYp44...

For all its faults, the US played an important role in helping to end European colonial rule in Africa. Shifting to an overt policy of neo-colonial extraction—while ending development assistance and ceding genuine diplomacy to China and Russia—is … staggering.

Yep, it's rough watching everyone from late night hosts to lightweight tech YouTubers explain the still dangerous effects & likely intents of this erratic policy both more honestly & accessibly than news outlets. Since Colbert explains how 125% tariffs on China are a systematic risk, CNN should too.

Analysts, experts and diplomats told me Israel wants Lebanon and Syria to stay weak and divided. They feel they can manage the chaos via their military and technological superiority. featuring @aronlund.bsky.social @ayoub.bsky.social @mohanad.bsky.social www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

Three headlines for the same story. Here’s how to read them. 🧵