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22 23<!-- End Jekyll SEO tag --> 24 25</head> 26<body> 27 28 <div id="episodeListContainer"> 29 <header class="siteHeader"> 30 <div id="title" class="left"> 31 <a href="/index"><h1>THAWRA</h1></a> 32 <h4>The Dig's mini-series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century.</h4> 33 </div> 34 <div> 35 <a href="/episodes"><p>Index</p></a> 36 </div> 37</header> 38 39 <div id="episodeList"> 40 41 42 <a href="/episodes/episode-1-europe%E2%80%99s-imperial-juggernaut.html"> 43 <div class="episode-item"> 44 <div><p>1</p></div> 45 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Europeâs Imperial Juggernaut</em></p></div> 46 <div class="mb2 description"><p>The first episode of our series establishes the development of European imperialism in the Arab world from the late 18th through early 20th centuries, the rise of constitutionalist movements that challenged monarchical absolutism, and the emergence of early labor and land reform movements. These processes shaped all political thought and action, affecting revolutionaries as well as restorationists across the region. </p></div> 47 </div> 48 </a> 49 50 <a href='/episodes/episode-2-the-birth-of-arab-nationalism'> 51 <div class="episode-item"> 52 <div><p>2</p></div> 53 <div class="mb2"><p><em>The Birth of Arab Nationalism</em></p></div> 54 <div class="mb2 description"><p>This episode lays out a key genealogy of 20th century anti-colonialism, forged through the âGreat Revoltsâ in Iraq, Syria, and Palestine, and the parallel birth of a range of ideological colorations: Arab nationalism, Islamic resistance, Baâathism, and communism. </p></div> 55 </div> 56 </a> 57 58 <a href='/episodes/episode-3-the-post-colonial-arab-state-system'> 59 <div class="episode-item"> 60 <div><p>3</p></div> 61 <div class="mb2"><p><em>The Post-Colonial Arab State System</em></p></div> 62 <div class="mb2 description"><p>A comprehensive overview of the Middle Eastern Arab state system that crystallized with the end of British and French colonial rule. </p></div> 63 </div> 64 </a> 65 66 <a href='/episodes/episode-4-from-nakba-to-nasser'> 67 <div class="episode-item"> 68 <div><p>4</p></div> 69 <div class="mb2"><p><em>From Nakba to Nasser</em></p></div> 70 <div class="mb2 description"><p>Laying out the politics surrounding the Zionist settler colonial destruction of Palestine, and the ground-shifting event that followed in its wake: Nasserâs 1952 Egyptian Free Officers Movement coup, which would set the tone for two decades of revolutionary nationalism across the region. </p></div> 71 </div> 72 </a> 73 74 <a href='/episodes/episode-5-the-struggle-for-syria'> 75 <div class="episode-item"> 76 <div><p>5</p></div> 77 <div class="mb2"><p><em>The Struggle for Syria </em></p></div> 78 <div class="mb2 description"><p>We trace an arc from the fight for independence, to the first (CIA-backed) coup of 1949, and the rise of the Baâath and Communist movements, detailing how the die for a martial expression of politics was cast by Western subterfuge. </p></div> 79 </div> 80 </a> 81 82 <a href='/episodes/episode-6-cold-war-heats-up'> 83 <div class="episode-item"> 84 <div><p>6</p></div> 85 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Cold War Heats Up</em></p></div> 86 <div class="mb2 description"><p>Laying out the intensification of the Cold War across the Middle Eastâspecifically Nasserâs mass political campaign against the Baghdad pact, the nationalization of the Suez Canal, and the military and political responses it provoked.</p></div> 87 </div> 88 </a> 89 90 <a href='/episodes/episode-7-united-arab-republic-against-eisenhower'> 91 <div class="episode-item"> 92 <div><p>7</p></div> 93 <div class="mb2"><p><em>United Arab Republic Against Eisenhower</em></p></div> 94 <div class="mb2 description"><p>We begin with the USâs Eisenhower Doctrine, which in 1957 inaugurated a new era of imperialism in the Middle East, including the deployment of American combat operations in the region; and end with a local political response: the Baâath Party driving Syria and Egypt into the United Arab Republic, a superstate under Nasserâs rule, in 1958.</p></div> 95 </div> 96 </a> 97 98 <a href='/episodes/episode-8-origins-of-the-arab-new-left'> 99 <div class="episode-item"> 100 <div><p>8</p></div> 101 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Origins of the Arab New Left</em></p></div> 102 <div class="mb2 description"><p>This is a compact introduction to the Movement of Arab Nationalists, which in the 1950s built a presence that stretched across the region, from Beirut and Jordan to Cairo and the Gulfâbecoming a truly powerful force in Kuwait. Led in significant part by Palestinians, its early history offers a ground-level look at the organizational and theoretical currents shaping radical Arab politics.</p></div> 103 </div> 104 </a> 105 106 <a href='/episodes/episode-9-palestinian-road-to-revolution'> 107 <div class="episode-item"> 108 <div><p>9</p></div> 109 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Palestinian Road to Revolution </em></p></div> 110 <div class="mb2 description"><p> âPalestine on the Road to Revolutionâ covers the creation of a Palestinian national liberation movement throughout the 1950s by a people dispersed by the Nakba: organizations, alliances, and theories of change assembled
110in the universities, cities, and refugee camps surrounding Palestine. We end with the 1958/59 foundation of Fatah, an organization that eventually became the largest in the Palestinian political system, primarily focusing on the idea of launching an armed revolution as the pathway to liberating Palestine. This is the story of the beginning of the Palestinian national liberation movement as we have come to know it today.</p></div> 111 </div> 112 </a> 113 114 <a href='/episodes/episode-10-iraqi-revolution-communist-power'> 115 <div class="episode-item"> 116 <div><p>10</p></div> 117 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Iraqi Revolution, Communist Power</em></p></div> 118 <div class="mb2 description"><p>We learn the story of Iraqâs 1958 July Revolution: a Free Officersâ coup overthrew the imperialist-aligned Hashemite monarchy and brought nationalist Abdul-Karim Qasim to power alongside a surging Communist Party. Revolutionary currents soon turned against one another, however, as did Qasim and Nasser.</p></div> 119 </div> 120 </a> 121 122 <a href="/episodes/episode-11-ba%E2%80%99ath-seize-power.html"> 123 <div class="episode-item"> 124 <div><p>11</p></div> 125 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Baâath Seize Power</em></p></div> 126 <div class="mb2 description"><p>This episode recounts the destruction of the two giant revolutionary projects of 1958: the union of Egypt and Syria under Nasserâs United Arab Republic and Iraqâs July Revolution that brought Qasim alongside communist allies to power. The rival radical projects of pan-Arabism and communism suffered huge blows. The Baâath also transform in this period, from an ideological movement to a party dominated by military men who want to turn the organization into an instrument of raw domination. </p></div> 127 </div> 128 </a> 129 130 <a href='/episodes/episode-12-origins-of-saudi-reaction'> 131 <div class="episode-item"> 132 <div><p>12</p></div> 133 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Origins of Saudi Reaction</em></p></div> 134 <div class="mb2 description"><p>Abdel and Dan anatomize Saudi Arabia, a country whose reactionary, US-aligned trajectory was throughout the 1950s and 60s challenged by labor strikes, dissident currents, rebellious princes, and an anticolonial oil minister. But, eventually, Saudi royal conservatism won out, and was exported across the region. </p></div> 135 </div> 136 </a> 137 138 <a href='/episodes/episode-13-revolutionary-arabia'> 139 <div class="episode-item"> 140 <div><p>13</p></div> 141 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Revolutionary Arabia</em></p></div> 142 <div class="mb2 description"><p>âRevolutionary Arabiaâ chronicles the armed left-wing revolutionary movements that challenged British imperial power across Southern Arabia, from the National Liberation front seizing power in South Yemen to the Dhofari revolutionaries in Oman waging a liberation war against the British and the sultan. While todayâs alliance of reactionary Gulf monarchies seems inevitable, here we see they were made by colonial powerâand that they were seriously contested by revolutionary movements in the 1960s and 1970s. </p></div> 143 </div> 144 </a> 145 146 <a href='/episodes/episode-14-palestinian-revolution'> 147 <div class="episode-item"> 148 <div><p>14</p></div> 149 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Palestinian Revolution</em></p></div> 150 <div class="mb2 description"><p>We cover the rise of the Palestinian Revolution and then its explosion after the Arab defeat in the June War of 1967 with the Israeli colonial state. Fateh, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other factions launched an armed guerrilla struggle, engaging the Palestinian people in a full-scale mobilization for their liberation. Also: Baâathists Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr and Saddam Hussein seized power in Iraq, as did Muammar Gaddafiâs Free Officers in Libya. </p></div> 151 </div> 152 </a> 153 154 <a href='/episodes/episode-15-black-september'> 155 <div class="episode-item"> 156 <div><p>15</p></div> 157 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Black September</em></p></div> 158 <div class="mb2 description"><p>We address the Palestinian revolution in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordanâleading up to the 1970 conflict that the national movement had with the Jordanian state and the violent expulsion of PLO guerrillas that followed during Black September. Then, Egypt and Syria checked Israelâs power in the October War of 1973âonly for Anwar Sadat, Nasserâs successor, to lead Egypt into Kissingerâs plan to pacify the Arab revolution. </p></div> 159 </div> 160 </a> 161 162 <a href='/episodes/episode-16-siege-of-beirut'> 163 <div class="episode-item"> 164 <div><p>16</p></div> 165 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Siege of Beirut</em></p></div> 166 <div class="mb2 description"><p>This final episode of the main series traces a massive defeat of the Palestinian Revolution: Israelâs 1982 invasion of Lebanon and the brutal siege of Beirut. Under severe pressure and isolated in the wake of Egyptâs normalization with Israel, the PLO evacuated its headquarters in Lebanon. What followed was an unthinkably large massacre of Palestinian civilians and an end to the decades-long era of Arab revolutionary politics that Thawra was dedicated to chronicling.</p></div> 167 </div> 168 </a> 169 170 <a href='/episodes/epilogue-part-1-islamic-revolution-and-gulf-wars'> 171 <div class="episode-item"> 172 <div><p>17</p></div> 173 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Epilogue Part 1: Islamic Revolution and Gulf Wars</em></p></div> 174 <div class="mb2 description"><p>In Palestine and across the region, the sort of secular left wing and nationalist parties, whose stories we have dedicated Thawra to telling, were being eclipsed by conservative Islam
174ic religious parties. That includes Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Muslim Brotherhood across the region. We end this episode by discussing the PLO's move toward the Oslo Accords.</p></div> 175 </div> 176 </a> 177 178 <a href='/episodes/epilogue-part-2-decades-of-american-destruction'> 179 <div class="episode-item"> 180 <div><p>18</p></div> 181 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Epilogue Part 2: Decades of American Destruction</em></p></div> 182 <div class="mb2 description"><p>How did the Oslo Accords play out through the rest of the 1990s and the years waiting up to the Second Intifada, which began in 2000? And what did the Second Intifada, these years of enormous militant mass uprising, what did that movement expose about the reality of the Zionist project and indigenous resistance to that project in post-Oslo Palestine? 183</p></div> 184 </div> 185 </a> 186 187 <a href='/episodes/epilogue-part-3-genocide-and-resistance'> 188 <div class="episode-item"> 189 <div><p>19</p></div> 190 <div class="mb2"><p><em>Epilogue Part 3: Genocide and Resistance</em></p></div> 191 <div class="mb2 description"><p>This episode takes us from Hamasâs victory in the 2006 legislative elections, through the siege on Gaza, to October 7, the Gaza genocide, the Axis of Resistance, and Israelâs attempt to draw Iran into a massive regional war with the US.</p></div> 192 </div> 193 </a> 194 195</div> 196 197 <footer> 198 <div class="footer-inner"> 199 <div class="footer-top"> 200 <div class="footer-brand"> 201 <a href="/">THAWRA</a> 202 </div> 203 <div class="footer-about"> 204 <h4>About Abdel Razzaq Takriti</h4> 205 <p>Dr. Abdel Razzaq Takriti is an Associate Professor of History and the Arab-American Educational Foundation chair at Rice University. He is the author of <em>Monsoon Revolution: Republicans, Sultans, and Empires in Oman, 1965-1976</em> and the coauthor (with Karma Nabulsi) of the digital humanities project <a href="https://learnpalestine.qeh.ox.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Palestinian Revolution</a>.</p> 206 </div> 207 <div class="footer-about"> 208 <h4>About Daniel Denvir</h4> 209 <p>Daniel Denvir is the host of <a href="https://thedigradio.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dig</a>, a Jacobin podcast on politics, history, and economics everywhere. He is the author of <em>All-American Nativism</em> (Verso Books). He is a former staff writer at Salon and the Philadelphia City Paper, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, The Washington Post, n+1, The Guardian, The New Republic, and more.</p> 210 </div> 211 <div class="footer-credits"> 212 <h4>Credits</h4> 213 <p>This study guide was assembled by Ben Mabie, Katy Montoya, Nihal El Asasar, and Walaa Ghussein, with support from Sylvia Atwood. Website designed and developed by <a href="mailto:[email protected]">Caleb Stone</a>.</p> 214 <p>© 2026 The Dig</p> 215 </div> 216 <div class="footer-links"> 217 <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0e0eE7aKt5EQdg07CzeVoI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a> 218 <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thawra/id1761860819" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a> 219 </div> 220 </div> 221 </div> 222</footer> 223 224 </div> 225 226</body> 227</html>
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