Show Notes
I was so excited to be joined by two kickass and unbending comrades and colleagues, both of whom have been fighting the struggle against the violence of Zionism in the academy and beyond. We discuss each of our "cases" with specific focus on the mechanics of these zionist smear campaigns and their intention to silence us, disappear us, and derail us from our political commitments. But more importantly, we talk about how we have NOT disappeared and we continue to confront power—maybe even commit to kicking it in the shins ;-) Maura Finkelstein is a writer and anthropologist. Her first book, The Archive of Loss: Lively Ruination in Mill Land Mumbai, was published by Duke University Press in 2019. Her anti-Zionist writing has been published by Allegra Lab, The Scottish Left review, The New Arab, The Markaz Review, Mondoweiss, Middle East Eye, and Al Jazeera. She is currently working on a book about Hillel International and a history of Zionist repression on US college and university campuses. Check out some of Maura's writing and speaking here: https://themarkaz.org/equating-critique-of-israel-with-antisemitism-us-academics-are-being-silenced/ https://www.americananthropologist.org/online-content/what-is-our-anthropology-for-knowledge-production-and-platform-in-a-time-of-genocide https://azadessa.substack.com/p/on-academic-freedom-in-a-time-of?publication_id=274849&post_id=160531034&isFreemail=true&r=58m3sz&triedRedirect=true Michel DeGraff is a linguist, educator and human-rights advocate. After being faculty at MIT Linguistics for 28 years, he now has a brand-new title of "Faculty at Large" at MIT School of the Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences — in retaliation for his protesting the rejection of his "Special Topics" course proposal on "Language and linguistics for decolonization and liberation in Haiti, Palestine and Israel." For nearly three decades now, his work has centered on justice for marginalized communities through liberatory linguistics, mother-tongue-based education and related initiatives toward universal access to quality education and equal opportunity. His most recent articles, for a Free Palestine and on academic freedom and free speech, have been published in Curriculum Inquiry, CounterPunch, Middle East Eye, Academe Blog, Mondoweiss, Newsweek, Inside Higher Ed, Le Monde Diplomatique, etc. (all available at http://mit.edu/degraff). His forthcoming book, to be published by MIT Press in both Kreyòl and English, is titled: Our own language: Harnessing the Power of Kreyòl and Other Mother Tongues for Education and Liberation / Lang a nou : Kreyòl ak lòt lang manman se zouti pou edikasyon ak liberasyon Find Michel here: http://mit.edu/degraff And check out some of his writing: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03626784.2025.2607673 https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/17/what-a-federal-court-taught-us-and-what-universities-must-learn-about-anti-zionism-vs-antisemitism/ https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/teach-linguistics-mit-zionist-lawsuit-shows-language-silence-israel-critics https://academeblog.org/2026/01/30/the-new-mccarthyism-at-the-mit-chapter-of-aaup/ Make sure to follow us on IG: @psychicmilitancypod; TikTok: @psychic.militancy; UpScrolled: @psychicmilitancy And for pre-releases and all the updates, consider becoming a patron at: www.patreon.com/psychicmilitancy
More from Psychic Militancy
I am releasing this audio out of order because it is an urgent call to action and support! Hala Sabbah, our incredible comrade from the Sameer Project joined me on this urgent livestream to give us a report back about their work, what's happening, and most importantly, what we all need to do to uplift their continued interventions and struggle.
We are baaaaaaaack with our very popular TGT spin-off, TGT-The Musical with Nora, who, yes, we still all love. This time we were joined by our dear comrade Maura Finkelstein, who, let's face it, we also ALL love. As always, a surprise singing comrade appearance is in store. Join us as we talk resistance, how to continue sustaining ourselves for the long struggle, and so much more. Nora Barrows-Friedman is an associate editor at The Electronic Intifada and has been a reporter and broadcaster focusing on Palestine for more than 20 years. She is the author of "In Our Power: US Students Organize for Justice in Palestine." Maura Finkelstein is a writer and anthropologist. Her first book, The Archive of Loss: Lively Ruination in Mill Land Mumbai, was published by Duke University Press in 2019. Her anti-Zionist writing has been published by Allegra Lab, The Scottish Left review, The New Arab, The Markaz Review, Mondoweiss, Middle East Eye, and Al Jazeera. She is currently working on a book about Hillel International and a history of Zionist repression on US college and university campuses. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PsychicMilitancy like our content, and send to comrades! Follow us on IG: @psychicmilitancypod For special content and pre-releases, consider becoming a paying patron member: www.patreon.com/psychicmilitancy
Hi everyone! Releasing a little snippet of our bonus episode where me and Sina laugh about all the things that go into this show and how we got here--and, of course, much more. If you want to hear the entire thing and some special Lara & Sina analysis, please consider supporting the show at: www.patreon.com/psychicmilitancy Thank you, as always, for all your support!
This is a special episode release (out of order, yes!) to commemorate Tufan al-Aqsa, continued and fierce resistance in Palestine, Libnan, Yemen and across the region, as a direct result of the Resistance's Oct. 7, 2023 political intention to disrupt Zionist foreclosure on Palestinian life and life-making. Fady Joudah joins me on the show for the firs time. I've been wanting to have him on for a while and this seems to not only be the perfect day, but also, we get to talk about his beautiful new book, EXHIBIT G, which is it's very own experience. If you haven't yet picked it up, you can from Milkweed Editions. Fady Joudah is the author of […], a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, and Exhibit G. His other poetic works include: The Earth in the Attic; Alight; Textu, a book-long sequence of short poems whose meter is based on cellphone character count; Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance; and Tethered to Stars. He has translated several collections of poetry from the Arabic and is the co-editor and co-founder of the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize. He was a winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition and has received the Jackson Poetry Prize, a PEN award, a Banipal/Times Literary Supplement prize from the UK, the Griffin Poetry Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Arab American Book Award. He lives in Houston, with his wife and kids, where he practices internal medicine. Fady will be giving the Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture, titled, "Notes on Solidarity, on October 15 at 7pm local time and tickets can be found here: https://mosaicrooms.org/edward-w-said-lecture-2026 Don't forget to follow us on IG at: @psychicmilitancypod and make sure subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PsychicMilitancy For pre-releases and bonus content, consider supporting us as a paying member at patreon.com/psychicmilitancy
I was SO excited to have a dear comrade and incredible filmmaker and professor Mtume Gant on the show for the first time! If you don't know him already from his incredible art, his new film, The Hand that Feeds, or from his co-hosting of The Imperial 80s with our comrade Jared Ware of Millennials Are Killing Capitalism, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE! I was so happy to continue our conversation from his podcast, Within Our Gates, linked below. We explored the ways that cinema and cinematic practices recreate a social order intent on stabilizing imperialism and racial capitalism, get into his new film, and his new writing—let me tell you how excited I am to delve into this!! And, maybe, just maybe, psychoanalysis, of course, the good (ahem, Fanon), the bad, and the seriously hideous. Mtume Gant is a Filmmaker/Artist, Political Theorist and Educator. He is the director of several films, most recently The Hand that Feeds and an Assistant Professor of Film at Purchase College. He is the host of Within Our Gates podcast where he looks at cinema and the arts from a materialist perspective, as well as the co-host of The Imperial 80's YouTube series, an anti-imperialist analysis of 80's cinema. He is currently finishing his first book The Three Cinemas, a guide book on how to use the frameworks of Third Cinema as a tool for revolutionary analysis and practice. Find Mtume's podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/within-our-gates/id1793170342 Don't forget to subscribe to your YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@PsychicMilitancy And for pre-releases and bonus ontent, including maaaaaybe an upcoming reading group, consider becoming a paying Patron member at: www.patreon.com/psychicmilitancy Find us on IG: @psychicmilitancypod