logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
2h 39m

Thawra Ep. 5 – The Struggle for Syria

Daniel Denvir
About this episode

Featuring Abdel Razzaq Takriti, this is the FIFTH episode of Thawra (Revolution), our rolling mini-series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century. Today’s installment lays out the early years of a struggle for Syria that would decisively shape the Arab world: the fight for independence from France, the first (CIA-backed) coup of 1949, and the rise of the Ba’ath and Communist movements.

Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Check out our newsletter and vast archives at thedigradio.com

Buy The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Wont Save the Planet at versobooks.com

Buy Care: The Highest Stage of Capitalism at haymarketbooks.org

Up next
Oct 5
Confronting Labor’s Crisis w/ Chris Brooks
Featuring Chris Brooks on labor’s crisis and the strategic, militant class struggle that can turn it all around. Brooks, former chief of staff to UAW President Shawn Fain, urges organizers to be flexible in their methodology, explains the federal monitor’s anti-left lawfare again ... Show More
2h 29m
Sep 26
Muskism w/ Ben Tarnoff & Quinn Slobodian
Featuring Ben Tarnoff and Quinn Slobodian on their book Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed. What the world’s bizarre richest man reveals about our financially fabulist, hard tech, far-right political-economic era. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Find Against Tech Oligarchy ... Show More
2h 46m
Sep 19
Winning Providence w/ Ben Shanahan
Featuring Ben Shanahan, the architect of socialist David Morales’ victorious campaign to be the Democratic nominee for mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. The Providence left ran a slate of left-wing candidates that not only elected Morales but also swept every single contested ci ... Show More
2h 26m
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2024
The Dig: Thawra Ep. 7 - United Arab Republic Against Eisenhower
<p>Featuring Abdel Razzaq Takriti, this is the SEVENTH episode of <em>Thawra</em> (Revolution), our rolling mini-series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century. Today’s installment lays out the the US’s Eisenhower Doctrine, which in 1957 inaugurated a new era of imperialism in the ... Show More
1h 25m
Dec 2023
Teaser: Episode 110 - GDF vs IDF (Ft. GDF)
<p>Insurgencies, rebel groups, terrorist attacks, and general anti-imperial warfare through the last half a century. </p><p><br/><b>This episode is already available early for Patrons over at: https://www.patreon.com/TheDeprogram</b></p><p><b>Support the Podcast and get early as ... Show More
7m 22s
Mar 2019
Syria
This episode brings us to one of the most complicated conflicts raging in the Middle East. Thomas and Aimen both know the country well and walk us through the actors and their motives. They’ll also explain how Syria became such a killing field as a result of the Arab Spring and h ... Show More
1h 6m
Mar 2022
Nasser: The Arab Strongman Cometh
Following on from our last episode, another CIA adventure in the Middle East kicks off this episode on Egypt. King Farouk’s removal from power is the starting pistol for the Egyptian Revolution—a landmark event in modern middle eastern history. The figure of Nasser reigns supreme ... Show More
1h 8m
Mar 2025
What is behind the clashes in Syria?
<p>With hundreds dead after days of fighting between armed supporters of former leader Bashar al-Assad and government forces, the worst violence since al-Assad's fall, Syrians are grappling with how to move forward. Days ahead of the 14th anniversary of Syria's uprising, the coun ... Show More
24m 2s
Aug 2025
Rule and divide: opposition grows in Syria
Less than nine months after Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled, the honeymoon is over. How is the new regime responding to rising dissent? Introducing Britain’s revolutionary retirees: why pensioners increasingly dominate political protest. And celebrating the life of o ... Show More
23m 38s
Dec 2024
Reigniting Syria's civil war
A rebel group changed the course of Syria's long civil war when it seized Aleppo this past weekend. The Syria Report's Jihad Yazigi tells us what motivates the group's canny and mysterious leader. This episode was produced by Peter Balonon Rosen and Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Co ... Show More
25m 39s
Dec 2024
Syrian Rebels Take Aleppo: Kalam Digest 16
The ripple effects of Israel's wars in the Middle East are spinning out of control. Just last week, the Islamist Syrian rebel group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) retook the city of Aleppo, the second-largest city in Syria. How did they manage to do so, and how does the severe weake ... Show More
23m 41s