Episodes
Episodes



Wednesday May 17, 2023
S8E8 - Scholar Activism
Wednesday May 17, 2023
Wednesday May 17, 2023
Thanks everyone for joining us this season! We have really enjoyed speaking with our incredible guests who taught us about solidarity from so many angles. This is our penultimate episode, and we are super excited to spend it with our season 4 co-host, Darien Alexander Williams!
Since he was last on the podcast, Darien completed his doctorate and is an incoming Assistant Prof. at Boston University. As many of you know, he is an urban planner who studies Blackness, Islam and disaster. Being an active part of community in Boston is a priority for him, and we are so glad he joined us to discuss the complicated space of scholar activism.
Thanks for listening!
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @DisastersDecon
Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Further information:
Queer Muslims of Boston
Our guests:
Darien Alexander Williams (@nigreaux)
Music this week from "chimera soldiers" by Max H.



Monday May 01, 2023
S8E7 - Solidarity through music
Monday May 01, 2023
Monday May 01, 2023
Today we welcome indie singer/songwriter David Rovics to Disasters: Deconstructed! David has produced an incredible body of anti-capitalist and community-grounded work, emerging as a prominent social critic on issues that we care about on DD, militarism, globalisation, environmental crisis, consumerism and gentrification. In this episode we talk about how music can bring people together in struggle! Thanks for listening.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @DisastersDecon
Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Further information:
David's website
Our guests:
David Rovics (@drovics)
Music this week from "6 feet under" by John Isaac.



Tuesday Apr 18, 2023
S8E6 - Vulnerability and Mutual Aid
Tuesday Apr 18, 2023
Tuesday Apr 18, 2023
Welcome back to Disasters: Deconstructed! Today A.J. Faas is joining us to discuss his new book, In the Shadow of Tungurahua, and how some of its key themes link to our season on solidarity. We consider minga, deservingness, and vulnerability - thanks for joining us!
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @DisastersDecon
Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Further information:
In the Shadow of Tungurahua: Disaster Politics in Highland Ecuador
Our guests:
A.J. Faas (@ajfaas)
Music this week from "Lioness" by Kevin Graham.



Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Special Episode: Turkey-Syria Earthquake Revisited (Arabic language)
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
Wednesday Apr 12, 2023
في هذه الحلقة نواصل مناقشتنا (بالعربية) حول الزلزال المدمر الذي ضرب تركيا وسوريا في فبراير 2023. نتحدث عن آخر الإحصائيات والتحديثات حول الكارثة ، ونناقش مواضيع مهمة مثل انتشار المعلومات كاذبة في أوقات الكوارث. بالإضافة إلى ذلك ، نشرح كيف يمكن للناس معرفة ما إذا كانت منازلهم مصممةضد مثل هذه المخاطر الطبيعية ، ونقدم المشورة للأشخاص الذين يرغبون في بناء أو شراء منازل جديدة في هذا الصدد.
In this episode, we continue our discussion (in Arabic) about the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria in February 2023. We talk about the latest statistics and updates on the disaster, and we discuss critical topics such as the spread of false information in times of disaster. Additionally, we explain how people can know if their houses are designed to survive such natural hazards, and we give advice to people who want to build or buy new houses in that regard.
عامر حمد عيسى أبو خلف مرشح دكتوراه و باحث مساعد في معهد فلوريدا لمرونة البيئة المبنية. عامر مهندس إنشائي ويبحث في إدارة المخاطر وتصميم السلامة مع التركيز على المخاطر الطبيعية ، والبيئة المبنية ، وإدارة الأزمات ، والتخطيط للطوارئ. عامر أيضًا مؤلف في أهم المجلات العلمية في هذا المجال ، بما في ذلك المجلة الدولية للحد من مخاطر الكوارث ، والوقاية من الكوارث وإدارتها ، والمخاطر الطبيعية
مجد برقاش مهندس مدني وطالب دراسات عليا في كلية الأمير حسين بن عبد الله الثاني للدراسات الدولية ، الجامعة الأردنية ، متخصص في حل النزاعات. مجد حاصل على شهادة معهد إدارة المشاريع ولديه أكثر من 12 عامًا من الخبرة في صناعة البناء. عمل مجد في العديد من مشاريع الطاقة النظيفة والنفط والغاز بين الشرق الأوسط وأمريكا الجنوبية
Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf is a Ph.D. candidate and research assistant at the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience. Amer is a structural engineer and he researches risk management and safety design with a focus on natural hazards, built environment, crisis management, and emergency planning. Amer is also a published author in top journals in the field, including the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster Prevention and Management, and Natural Hazards.
Majd Bargash is a civil engineer and a grad student at Prince Hussein Bin Abdulla II College of International Studies, University of Jordan, majoring in Conflict Resolution. Majd is a Project Management Institute (PMI) Certified practitioner and has over 12 years of experience in the construction industry. Majd worked in several clean energy and oil and gas projects between the Middle East and South America
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @DisastersDecon
Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Our guests:
Amer Abukhalaf (@AbukhalafAmer)
Majd Bargash (@majdbargash89)
Music this week from "Falling Forward" by Kevin Graham.



Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
S8E5 - Art for Solidarity
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Welcome back to Disasters: Deconstructed!
As we continue our exploration of solidarity in season 8, we are really happy to share this conversation we had with Dr Areum Jeong. Areum holds a PhD in Theater and Performance Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her training consists of a thorough grounding in the history of theater and performance, and her work takes a transnational approach to twentieth and twenty-first-century Asian and Asian American cinema, theater and performance. Areum is currently working on an upcoming book on the aftermath of the Sewol ferry disaster.
Listen in to this conversation about the Sewol Ferry Disaster and how the victims' families - particularly mothers - have organized and agitated politically using artistic expression.
Thanks to Dr. Jeong for spending time with us!
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @DisastersDecon
Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Further information:
Beyond the Sewol: Performing acts of activism in South Korea
Representing the Unrepresentable in South Korean Activist Performances
Dr. Jeong webpage
Our guests:
Dr. Areum Jeong (@DrAreumJeong)
Music this week from "Stand Down" by Luminar.



Tuesday Mar 07, 2023
S8E4 - Comrades
Tuesday Mar 07, 2023
Tuesday Mar 07, 2023
Welcome back to Disasters: Deconstructed. We have a really special episode for you today, which we hope will highlight International Women's Day tomorrow, March 8th!
Joining us is Dr Charisse Burden-Stelly. Charrise is an Associate Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University and a critical Black Studies scholar of political theory, political economy, intellectual history, and historical sociology. Charisse’s work focuses on the transnational entanglements of U.S. racial capitalism, anticommunism, and antiblack structural racism. Charisse is the co-author, with Dr. Gerald Horne, of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History and the co-editor of the recent book Organise, Fight, Win: Black Communist Women’s political writings, with Jodi Dean.
Listen in as we discuss what it is to be a comrade, and how to push back on liberal notions that might equate it with allyship. We learn more about Black Communist Women in the U.S. and unpack tensions around political education and organizing.
Thanks to Dr. CBS for spending time with us!
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @DisastersDecon
Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Further information:
Organize, Fight, Win: Black Communist Women’s Political Writing
W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History
Reproducing Domination: On the Caribbean Postcolonial State
Dr. CBS webpage
Our guests:
Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly (@blackleftaf)
Music this week from "Lioness" by Kevin Graham.



Monday Feb 13, 2023
Special Episode: Turkey-Syria Earthquake Discussion (Arabic language)
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Monday Feb 13, 2023
في هذه الحلقة ، ولأول مرة باللغة العربية ، نتحدث عن الزلزال المدمر الذي ضرب تركيا وسوريا يوم الاثنين 6 فبراير 2023 ، مخلفًا وراءه أكثر من 28000 حالة وفاة. نناقش تأثير الزلازل على البيئة المبنية في الشرق الأوسط ، وفي بلاد الشام على وجه الخصوص ، ونتحدث عن العوامل المختلفة التي تساهم في تحويل هذه الأخطار الطبيعية إلى كوارث واسعة النطاق
In this episode, and for the first time in Arabic, we talk about the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, February the 6th, 2023, leaving behind more than 28,000 deaths. We discuss the impact of earthquakes on the built environment in the Middle East, and in the Levant particularly, and we talk about the different factors that contribute to turning such natural hazards into large-scale disasters.
عامر حمد عيسى أبو خلف مرشح دكتوراه و باحث مساعد في معهد فلوريدا لمرونة البيئة المبنية. عامر مهندس إنشائي ويبحث في إدارة المخاطر وتصميم السلامة مع التركيز على المخاطر الطبيعية ، والبيئة المبنية ، وإدارة الأزمات ، والتخطيط للطوارئ. عامر أيضًا مؤلف في أهم المجلات العلمية في هذا المجال ، بما في ذلك المجلة الدولية للحد من مخاطر الكوارث ، والوقاية من الكوارث وإدارتها ، والمخاطر الطبيعية
مجد برقاش مهندس مدني وطالب دراسات عليا في كلية الأمير حسين بن عبد الله الثاني للدراسات الدولية ، الجامعة الأردنية ، متخصص في حل النزاعات. مجد حاصل على شهادة معهد إدارة المشاريع ولديه أكثر من 12 عامًا من الخبرة في صناعة البناء. عمل مجد في العديد من مشاريع الطاقة النظيفة والنفط والغاز بين الشرق الأوسط وأمريكا الجنوبية
Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf is a Ph.D. candidate and research assistant at the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience. Amer is a structural engineer and he researches risk management and safety design with a focus on natural hazards, built environment, crisis management, and emergency planning. Amer is also a published author in top journals in the field, including the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster Prevention and Management, and Natural Hazards.
Majd Bargash is a civil engineer and a grad student at Prince Hussein Bin Abdulla II College of International Studies, University of Jordan, majoring in Conflict Resolution. Majd is a Project Management Institute (PMI) Certified practitioner and has over 12 years of experience in the construction industry. Majd worked in several clean energy and oil and gas projects between the Middle East and South America.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @DisastersDecon
Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Our guests:
Amer Abukhalaf (@AbukhalafAmer)
Majd Bargash (@majdbargash89)
Music this week from "Falling Forward" by Kevin Graham.



Tuesday Feb 07, 2023
S8E3 - Justice
Tuesday Feb 07, 2023
Tuesday Feb 07, 2023
Thanks for joining us again as we explore solidarity!
Today we are joined by Kim Fortun, a Professor in the University of California Irvine’s Department of Anthropology. Her work focuses on environmental risk and disaster, and on experimental ethnographic methods and research design. You may know her from the Disaster-STS Research Network or as past-President of the Society for Social Studies of Science. Kim is also one of the editors of the new Journal of Disaster Studies that we have mentioned on Disasters: Deconstructed!
We hope you enjoy this discussion on justice, research methods and ethics, and how to collaborate better.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @DisastersDecon
Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Further information:
Disaster-STS Research Network
Advocacy After Bhopal Environmentalism, Disaster, New World Orders
Profile @ Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography
Kim's profile page
Our guests:
Kim Fortun (@kim_fortun)
Music this week from "Impavid" by Charlie Ryan.



Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
S8E2 - Anarchism
Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
Tuesday Jan 24, 2023
Today we continue our explorations under the theme of solidarity! We are so pleased to be in conversation with Dr. Alexandre Christoyannopoulos, who is a Reader in Politics and International Relations at Loughborough University. Alex’s research focuses on religious anarchism and increasingly anarcho-pacifism, he is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pacifism and Nonviolence, and he is the author of a recently published book ‘Tolstoy's Political Thought: Christian Anarcho-Pacifist Iconoclasm Then and Now’.
Hope you enjoy our discussion of anarchism, Tolstoy, and non-violence!
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @DisastersDecon
Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Further information:
A pacifist critique of the red poppy
Alex's Tolstoy book and an open access chapter summarising the book
Alex in The Conversation
List of publications broken down by themes
Anarchist academics mailing list
Anarchist Studies Network
Journal of Pacifism and Nonviolence
Our guests:
Alexandre Christoyannopoulos (@alex_christoy)
Music this week from "Still Holding On" by Tristan Barton.



Monday Jan 09, 2023
S8E1 - What is Solidarity?
Monday Jan 09, 2023
Monday Jan 09, 2023
We are so happy to wish you all a Happy New Year and welcome you back for Season 8 of Disasters: Deconstructed!!! We can't wait to spend time with you again - or for the first time - as we explore why disasters really happen.
In season 8 we will be bringing you fresh content all around the theme of solidarity. And to help us get started, we have Dr. Jacob Remes here to help us introduce the season today! Jacob is a historian of urban disasters, working-class organizations, and migration, at Gallatin, New York University.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @DisastersDecon
Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
Further information:
Jacob's website (with links to his work)
Journal of Disaster Studies
Our guests:
Jacob Remes (@jacremes)
Music this week from "Believe the Hype" by Slpstrm.

About Disasters: Deconstructed
Jason and Ksenia bring you regular content reflecting on human society from diverse disciplinary and ideological perspectives to understand why disasters really happen.
There is no other podcast centering the most marginalized in disasters-a “people’s” story; recurring themes are structural violence, inequality, injustice, resistance and organizing.