Left Melancholy: A Minneapolis Retrospective w/ mags and Ed (E228)

<p>Early this year, <a href="https://thefirethesetimes.com/2026/02/09/organizing-against-ice-w-nicole-bedera-aydin-and-ed/" target="_blank"><u>I had Nicole Bedera, Aydin and Ed on</u></a> to talk about the resistance against ICE that was happening in their town of Minneapolis and that was making headlines all around the world. Since then, enough time has passed for today’s guest, mags, to have written a powerful piece called “<a href="https://therebuild.ghost.io/will-minneapolis-choose-melancholy/" target="_blank"><u>Will Minneapolis Choose Melancholy?</u></a>” I wanted to have them on, alongside a returning Ed, to talk about the trappings of melancholy that leftwing and progressive movements, but also just people-who-take-part-in-protests more generally, have been dealing with for a very long time. We also borrowed from my own experience from Lebanon, as well as that of Hong Kong.</p><p>Recs:</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.plutobooks.com/product/the-kurdish-womens-movement/" target="_blank"><u>The Kurdish Women’s Movement: History, Theory, Practice</u></a> by Dilar Dirik</p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.akuk.com/hope-without-hope-rojava-and-revolutionary-commitment.html" target="_blank"><u>Hope Without Hope - Rojava and Revolutionary Commitment</u></a> by Matt Broomfield</p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.plutobooks.com/product/days-of-love-and-rage/" target="_blank"><u>Days of Love and Rage</u></a> by Anand Gopal</p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/646320/here-where-we-live-is-our-country-by-molly-crabapple/" target="_blank"><u>Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund</u></a> by Molly Crabapple</p></li></ul><p>Also: <a href="https://antidotezine.com/2026/06/02/summer-reading-list-minneapolis-2026/" target="_blank"><u>A Summer Reading List for Minneapolis 2026</u></a></p><p>Elia also brought up <a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2987-we-traitors" target="_blank"><u>We, Traitors: Bundist Writings on Zionism, Palestine, and Socialism</u></a> by Nathan Tankus and Eyshe Beirich, both of whom are upcoming guests of TFTT.</p><p>But first, some admin:</p><p><a href="https://thefirethesetimes.com/lebanonclass/" target="_blank"><u>You can still register for my November class</u></a>, the 5th and last class on modern Lebanese history and politics before I take a long break from it all. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about Lebanon and why it matters so much to today’s geopolitical nightmare,