Polite Conversations

Eiynah

A podcast discussing, religion, politics, sexuality...from a liberal, ex-muslim perspective.

  • 12 minutes 50 seconds
    SAMPLE: Ep 78 Technofascism w/Paris Marx
    This is a SAMPLE version of the episode, access the full episode via patreon.com/nicemangos —— Tech critic Paris Marx (@parismarx on Twitter) of the excellent ‘Tech Won’t Save us’ Podcast joins me for a fascinating & frightening discussion about the intersection of Tech & Fascism. Tech Won’t Save Us is a podcast that critically examines the tech industry.
    17 May 2024, 9:57 pm
  • 1 hour 28 minutes
    Ep 77 Pt 2 - Decoding the Decoders w Chris Kavanagh
    In part 2 of this conversation we get into more specific concerns - issues about responsible framing, softballing, etc. At what point do we recognize and consciously not contribute to maintaining the perception of “reasonable intellectual” for someone as far gone (imo) as Harris? At what point has he crossed the line into being as embarrassing as say … Bret Weinstein? We explore all these questions and more. —— If you enjoy the show pls consider supporting via patreon.com/nicemangos and by leaving an Apple Podcasts or Spotify review. Links NYT Investigation: Israel Used 'Most Destructive' Bombs in Areas Designated as Safe in South Gaza Strip: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-22/ty-article/nyt-investigation-israel-used-one-ton-bombs-in-safe-zones-in-south-gaza/0000018c-91f4-d47c-a7fd-dbfcc0bb0000 During the first six weeks of the war in Gaza, Israel routinely used one of its biggest and most destructive bombs in areas it designated safe for civilians, according to an analysis of visual evidence by The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/21/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-bomb-investigation.html Children 5-8, carried to the emergency room by their parents, all had single sniper shots to the head: https://x.com/latimes/status/1758587564397597168?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Rami Igra, previously head of the Captive & Missing Division in the Mossad, says there are no uninvolved civilians in Gaza over the age of four https://x.com/ireallyhateyou/status/1757837275830907052?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Israel Created 'Kill Zones' in Gaza. Anyone Who Crosses Into Them Is Shot. The Israeli army says 9,000 terrorists have been killed since the Gaza war began. Defense officials and soldiers, however, tell Haaretz that these are often civilians whose only crime was to cross an invisible line drawn by the IDF https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-03-31/ty-article-magazine/.premium/israel-created-kill-zones-in-gaza-anyone-who-crosses-into-them-is-shot/0000018e-946c-d4de-afee-f46da9ee0000
    29 April 2024, 6:00 am
  • 1 hour 19 minutes
    Ep 77 Pt 1 - Decoding the Decoders w Chris Kavanagh
    This is part 1 of a 2 part conversation. Part 2 is available early via patreon.com/nicemangos.  Join me for a discussion with Chris Kavanagh of the Decoding the Gurus Podcast. In part one we chat more about the broader questions …like the eternal ‘litmus test’ question of “Is Sam Harris Rightwing?” and I try to get a sense of Chris’ own politics and positions. On the surface Chris and I would probably vote the same, and we’re both critics of the heterodox/IDWsphere but our output is framed very differently, I think our motivations and goals with it are  perhaps vastly different as well. We get into that and more in part 2. —— If you enjoy the show pls consider supporting via patreon.com/nicemangos and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts/Spotify Links: Fastest decline in a population ever recorded https://x.com/medicalaidpal/status/1763172220900151317?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Biggest cohort of paediatric amputees https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-children-who-lost-limbs-in-gaza Law for Palestine Releases Database with 500+ Instances of Israeli Incitement to Genocide – Continuously Updated https://law4palestine.org/law-for-palestine-releases-database-with-500-instances-of-israeli-incitement-to-genocide-continuously-updated/ IDF removing children without consent from Gaza https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-said-to-transport-gazan-orphans-to-west-bank-via-israel-without-cabinets-ok/ https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/1/2/israeli-soldier-brought-baby-back-to-israel-from-gaza Israeli Cabinet Members Join Event Calling for Ethnic Cleansing & Resettlement of Gaza https://youtu.be/7J0_J3Qy6YY?si=clqZe5x8DH1rfCe4 Israeli Ministers attend conference calling for ‘voluntary migration’ of Palestinians   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/29/israeli-ministers-attend-conference-calling-for-voluntary-migration-of-palestinians My miniseries on Sam Harris that Chris mentioned: Woking Up https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1caIpbHnvDjKu0Ph4DA0Nb?si=ab7b7bfcbfc14185 DTG’s recent conversation with Harris: https://open.spotify.com/episode/75PdQjoEnvfn6aHev5Xjuf?si=9RSwlQ4vS4qt1BzEk1Bjww
    23 April 2024, 5:00 am
  • 1 hour 13 minutes
    BONUS Ep w IDSG: “ Talking about Gaza with Eiynah”
    I joined my friend Daniel of the I Don’t Speak German Podcast for a chat recently, to quote their description of the episode; “to talk about Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and in particular about some questions that have come up around IDSG’s public response to it.” Find IDSG here: https://idontspeakgerman.libsyn.com/public-bonus-talking-about-gaza-with-eiynah-mohammed-smith and @idsgpod on Twitter. You can find the Twitter Space mentioned in the episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1dYrfZKfFpdib1zbSnMtQZ?si=7MZzHfT1Qh6ZFnCyIsdw0w
    17 April 2024, 2:31 pm
  • 1 hour 59 minutes
    Ep 76 - The Dawkins Delusion
    My guest for this episode is Jason Lemieux, who formerly worked for The CFI (Center for Inquiry) A US secular non-profit organization where Richard Dawkins is a board member. The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science is a subsidiary of CFI. Join us as we cover the bizarreness & bigotry of increasingly embarrassing Atheist public figure Richard Dawkins. If you enjoy the show pls consider supporting via patreon.com/nicemangos or by leaving a 5 star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. ——— Links: Dawkins’ recent Cultural Christian clip: https://x.com/lbc/status/1774510715975368778?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Dawkins’ Church bells tweet: x.com/RichardDawkins/status/1018933359978909696?s=20 Dawkins’ non-entities tweet: x.com/RichardDawkins/status/1463750520603131907?s=20 Dawkins’ eugenics-y views on Down Syndrome: https://x.com/brokenbottleboy/status/1393882552264499202?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw CFI’s archived note re: Kavin Senapathy https://web.archive.org/web/20201030180906/https://centerforinquiry.org/reposting/ Vs the one they have up https://centerforinquiry.org/reposting/ Dawkins loses Humanist of the Year title https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/apr/20/richard-dawkins-loses-humanist-of-the-year-trans-comments David Silverman fired after allegations: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/david-silverman-atheist-fired-sexual-misconduct Thread re: the whole merge-gate saga https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1406646731933167619?s=61&t= Salon article that was mentioned in the conversation re: merge-gate - Godless Grifters: How the New Atheists merged with the Far Right https://www.salon.com/2021/06/05/how-the-new-atheists-merged-with-the-far-right-a-story-of-intellectual-grift-and-abject-surrender/ Rolling stone article that was mentioned in the conversation: Study Shows How the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ Is a Gateway to the Far Right https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/youtube-far-right-radicalization-study-877061/ My miniseries on Sam Harris, ‘Woking Up’ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1caIpbHnvDjKu0Ph4DA0Nb?si=c3ef3e89db914464
    10 April 2024, 6:00 am
  • 13 minutes
    SAMPLE Aftershow 8 - Raised in a Nazi Cult
    This is a SAMPLE version of the episode, access the full episode via patreon.com/nicemangos *** Join me for an unexpected but fascinating chat that arose from the previous panel episodes on Germany, Identity & Palestine. I knew that one of my panelists (Claus) had been raised far-right and since shed those beliefs, but I had no idea just *how* far-right … Strap yourselves in for a very wild, rollercoaster of a conversation. Major CONTENT WARNING: There’s talk of bigotry, nazi cults, smuggling, murder, suicide, white supremacy, and more horrific stuff. So please proceed with caution. We discuss the skeptic scene and how rapidly it’s devolved, Michael Shermer in particular comes up. I also try to gauge and assess just how fashy Claus’s upbringing was, was it overtly and explicitly fash, was it IDWesque in trying to mask the bigotry… or was it a bit of both? Claus peels back the layers and helps us understand what got him out of that bigoted worldview, what kind of damage it did to the people around him, and how he sees echoes of it in present day culty, conspiracist circles. —— Links Eric Ludendorff: “The Nazis distanced themselves from Ludendorff because of his eccentric conspiracy theories In 1926, Ludendorff divorced Margarethe Schmidt and married his second wife Mathilde von Kemnitz (1877–1966). They published books and essays claiming that the world's problems were the result of Christianity, especially the Jesuits and Catholics, but also conspiracies by Jews and the Freemasons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Ludendorff Claus briefly mentioned Derek Black’s story: Derek Black is an American former white supremacist. He is the son of Don Black, founder of the Stormfront online community, and godson of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke. He publicly renounced white nationalism and chronicled his personal journey away from his family's beliefs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Black https://www.npr.org/2018/09/24/651052970/how-a-rising-star-of-white-nationalism-broke-free-from-the-movement https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/01/derek-black-new-college-desantis-plan.html Claus Also mentioned Zundel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Zündel Ernst Christof Friedrich Zündel (German: [ˈtsʏndl̩]; 24 April 1939 – 5 August 2017) was a German neo-Nazi publisher and pamphleteer of Holocaust denial literature. He was jailed several times: in Canada for publishing literature "likely to incite hatred against an identifiable group", and on charges of being a threat to national security; in the United States, for overstaying his visa; and in Germany for charges of "inciting racial hatred". He lived in Canada from 1958 to 2000. David Silverman: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/david-silverman-atheist-fired-sexual-misconduct
    19 March 2024, 6:52 pm
  • 28 minutes 31 seconds
    SAMPLE: Aftershow 7 - Germany, Identity & Palestine (pt2)
    Join us for part 2 of this Panel on wtf is going on in Germany. My German guests include Ilyas who is a German Muslim, Claus is a German who was raised with very right-wing views but has since shed them, and we also have John who has a Master’s degree in German Studies and lived there as an exchange student. We discuss aspects of German identity, history, nationalism and the thinking behind some of the blind and bizarre support we see for Israel, the stifling of pro-Palestinian views - especially in the arts, the treatment of left leaning Jewish people who are critical of Israel, the Herero & Nama genocide, the ICJ, ex-muslims & ‘liberal’ Muslims in Germany becoming tools of the right, & more. —— All guests on the Aftershow are Patrons of the Polite Conversations. Truly amazing to get to chat with fascinating patrons of the show from all around the world. Subscribe via Patreon to access the full episode. If you enjoy the show pls consider supporting via patreon.com/nicemangos and/or leaving a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. _____ Links: In case u are unfamiliar with trump-voting ‘liberal muslim’ Asra Nomani, here’s a book she wrote https://x.com/ilyasibnkarim/status/1674447440785686530?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Masha Gessen: Hannah Arendt would not qualify for the Hannah Arendt prize in Germany today https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/18/hannah-arendt-prize-masha-gessen-israel-gaza-essay Masha Gessen: In the Shadow of the Holocaust https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-weekend-essay/in-the-shadow-of-the-holocaust Germany officially recognises colonial-era Namibia genocide: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57279008 Germany Officially Recognizes It Committed Genocide In Present-Day Namibia https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001233776/germany-officially-recognizes-it-committed-genocide-in-present-day-namibia How Germany’s colonial genocide shapes Namibia today https://x.com/ayakibrahim/status/1746289541097415017?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Germany Is Known for Its Heavily Funded, Thriving Art Scene. But a Slew of Cancellations Is Threatening That Reputation: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/germany-cancellations-2407316 We're starting to see Germans assert that they are sole arbiters of Holocaust memory and understand it on a deeper level than Jewish descendants https://x.com/davidgross_man/status/1735312154905981153?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Germany: checkpoints in Palestinian neighbourhood https://x.com/ruairi_casey/status/1741813613843640496?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw An association sponsored by the Federal Foreign Office calls for international law violations: https://x.com/hahauenstein/status/1747251240600506631?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Marione Ingram is an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor and peace activist who has been demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. She just had a series of talks canceled in Germany, for which she says she never got a real explanation. https://x.com/democracynow/status/1747983242186125383?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw On Candice Breitz - Germany smothering the Arts: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/22/germany-antisemitism-israel-gaza-arts-censorship/ Candice Breitz https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/dec/07/a-frenzy-of-judgement-artist-candice-breitz-on-her-german-show-being-pulled-over-gaza On Adam Bromberg: Germany is Criminalising Palestinian Solidarity https://tribunemag.co.uk/2023/06/germany-is-criminalising-palestinian-solidarity German official targets Jewish artist over alleged anti-Semitism for criticising Israel Occupation https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230202-german-official-targets-jewish-artist-over-alleged-anti-semitism-for-criticising-israel-occupation/
    29 February 2024, 10:11 pm
  • 32 minutes 42 seconds
    SAMPLE: Aftershow 7: Germany, Identity & Palestine (pt 1)
    This is part 1 of a 2-part conversation. Join myself and my panel of German/Germany related guests for a fascinating discussion about Wtaf is going on in Germany these days. My German guests include Ilyas who is a German Muslim, Claus who is a German that was raised with very right-wing views but has since shed them, and we also have John who has a Master’s degree in German Studies and lived there as an exchange student. We discuss aspects of German identity, history, nationalism and the thinking behind some of the blind and bizarre support we see for Israel, the stifling of pro-Palestinian views, the perception of Arabs and foreigners in general, the treatment of left leaning Jewish people who are critical of Israel & more. —— All guests on the Aftershow are Patrons of the Polite Conversations. Truly amazing to get to chat with fascinating patrons of the show from all around the world. —— If you enjoy the show and would like to access the full episode, pls subscribe via patreon.com/nicemangos Links: Thread about merge-gate which was briefly mentioned at the start of the episode https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1406646731933167619?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Allegations against Andrew Torres (Thomas Smith’s former co-host): https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1620956911561764865?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw There were multiple people protecting, legitimizing and profiting from working with Andrew, they knew for years, but chose to do nothing and continued to profit. https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1755655557548069020?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw In case u are unfamiliar with trump-voting ‘liberal muslim’ Asra Nomani, here’s a book she wrote https://x.com/ilyasibnkarim/status/1674447440785686530?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw In Berlin, schoolchildren have been banned from wearing the scarf https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/11/keffiyeh-scarf-fashion-history-palestine How Palestine became a Forbidden word in German Highschools https://www.972mag.com/germany-education-israel-narrative-palestinians/ Karl Lagerfeld calls refugees enemies of Jews https://www.dw.com/en/karl-lagerfeld-evokes-holocaust-to-bash-germanys-angela-merkel-on-refugees/a-41368478 Palestinian rights and the IHRA definition of antisemitism https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/nov/29/palestinian-rights-and-the-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism Will Politico 's New Owner Allow Criticism of Israel? https://jewishcurrents.org/will-politicos-new-owner-employ-journalists-who-criticize-israel A clampdown on the arts in Germany https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/07/arts/design/germany-arts-cancellations-israel-palestinians.html In Germany, a Witch Hunt Is Raging Against Critics of Israel https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2020-12-10/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/in-germany-a-witch-hunt-rages-against-israel-critics-many-have-had-enough/0000017f-db0d-df0f-a17f-df4fa21b0000
    24 February 2024, 12:55 am
  • 1 hour 25 minutes
    Twitter Space: Dystopian Propaganda
    This is a Recording of my Twitter Space from Feb 20th 2024 with friends of the pod Jack Graham, Daniel Harper (of IDSG). Linguist Dr. Caitlin Green also makes an appearance. Join us for a discussion about all the nightmarish content on social media these days, IDF influencers, thirst traps and TikTok War Crimes. Horrific stuff. Proceed with caution. —- As always, if you enjoy the show pls consider supporting via patreon.com/nicemangos Links: Propaganda images/memes we discussed in the beginning https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1760143208766456133?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw T-Rex Costume, bombs and techno, dancing on a tank https://x.com/rachael_swindon/status/1748398198358507960?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Bill Maher’s poorly aged Burqa bit https://x.com/billmaher/status/1740866573655810131?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Contrasts: Fine dining scene vs. Starving population https://x.com/brandyljensen/status/1754145731466723520?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw Lifestyle piece on IDF soldiers cooking in the kitchens of Gazans https://x.com/gawanmac/status/1757500107912556767?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw IDF using Human Shields: https://www.btselem.org/human_shields
    21 February 2024, 3:37 am
  • 1 hour 11 minutes
    Ep 75 (pt 2) - The Kavernacle: Complicity, Tokenism & Accidental F@scism
    [This is part 2 of a 2 part conversation, you can listen to part 1 here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Yhb4lNGPfGwquHk4kBHjD?si=zLnUj1VTTFSvke6Nti6nRg Or here: https://youtu.be/KBU3Rjh3noY ] In this part of the conversation (with YouTuber The Kavernacle) we continue to discuss Israel, and New Atheism. We also talk about the complicity of Western countries in whats currently being done to Palestinians …and about how the right tokenizes & incentivizes minorities to uphold supremacist structures/systems. What I think listeners of this podcast will most enjoy though, is our difference in interpretation of Sam Harris’s extremely bigoted, fashy worldview. Is it accidental, or by design? Weigh in, dear listeners, via YT comments or Twitter comments, or Patreon comments - I’d love to hear your thoughts! And if you enjoy the show pls consider supporting via patreon.com/nicemangos —— Links: Find Kavernacle on YT: https://www.youtube.com/@TheKavernacle here are some vids we mentioned from his channel: IDF Tik Tok: https://youtu.be/dAw7Cm0woKU?si=O9pcaoi_lBIF8qvj Passport Bros: https://youtu.be/WHf6itM7_ZY?si=1kCdxTwnUn_wL4CF Find my YT channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5BiXCGHjmkXjbzP3MJg77w Find the Woking Up Series that was mentioned here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1caIpbHnvDjKu0Ph4DA0Nb?si=ab7005c8a8a4466b Or here: https://soundcloud.com/politeconversations/sets/woking-up-miniseries?si=eddd3e794f0f4ff4adec999b8b0bc374&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing My thoughts on SH’s Thoughts on White Supremacy was another episode we mentioned: https://soundcloud.com/politeconversations/debunkingharris?si=bc8f9e5a5836416aaef0b90a931a725f&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing On Media bias & suppression: CTV told journalists not to use the word “Palestine” and suppressed stories critical of Israel https://x.com/thebreachmedia/status/1727445643696787573?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw CNN staff say network’s pro-Israel slant amounts to ‘journalistic malpractice’ https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/04/cnn-staff-pro-israel-bias In a historic 2009 ruling, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled in favour of civil rights for transgender citizens, and further court rulings upheld and increased these rights. https://t.co/nLNQIvOO3h Pakistan to provide free healthcare for trans people: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1Z21A3/#:~:text=KARACHI%2C%20Pakistan%20 Sam’s claim that “France could become a *majority* Muslim country in 25 years” (he made this claim 18 years ago in 2006) https://x.com/adamjohnsonchi/status/828823659171217408?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw
    7 February 2024, 5:12 pm
  • 14 minutes 17 seconds
    Winding Things Down
    Support the show via: patreon.com/nicemangos
    31 January 2024, 7:35 pm
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