James Ryan
@jdryan08.bsky.social
Executive Director, Middle East Research and Information Project (www.merip.org | @merip.bsky.social). Adjuncting at Rowan University. Historian interested in Turkey, Prodigal Son of Philadelphia. Usual caveats.
Folks, we don’t have open calls for issue pieces very often. We’re doing an issue on Art and Cultural Production in MENA this summer and want to hear from you. Give us your best shot!
PITCH US: MERIP's editors are inviting open pitches for our Summer 2026 issue on Visual Art and Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa!
Read more and pitch at the link below.
Read more and pitch at the link below.
Call for Pitches—Visual Art & Cultural Production in the Middle East and North Africa
MERIP is seeking pitches for our Summer 2026 issue exploring visual art and cultural production in the Middle East and North Africa. We invite submissions that center artistic practices and cultural…
buff.ly
February 2, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Folks, we don’t have open calls for issue pieces very often. We’re doing an issue on Art and Cultural Production in MENA this summer and want to hear from you. Give us your best shot!
Reposted by James Ryan
The photos from a UN fact finding mission to northern Gaza which were part of a diplomatic cable suppressed by the US Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, have been released by Drop Site News. These are the genocidal conditions in Gaza that Lew specifically tried to hide from the White House and public.
Look at the photos. The thing I heard often working on the USAID Gaza response from our partners in Gaza was the field of dead bodies - men, women, children - that fanned out around IDF checkpoints in the Netzarim corridor. Shot by IDF soldiers for no reason (unless "for fun" counts as a reason).
U.S. Envoys Refused to Report "Apocalyptic" Conditions in Gaza. Exclusive Photos Show the Reality They Suppressed
The U.S. embassy in Jerusalem suppressed a February 2024 report on northern Gaza because it “lacked balance.” These photos from the UN fact finding trip are visual evidence of the conditions.
www.dropsitenews.com
February 2, 2026 at 7:34 PM
The photos from a UN fact finding mission to northern Gaza which were part of a diplomatic cable suppressed by the US Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, have been released by Drop Site News. These are the genocidal conditions in Gaza that Lew specifically tried to hide from the White House and public.
I too admire much of Chomsky’s politics and the way he moved through the world. But, it’s just simply poor thinking to have rushed to his defense knowing what we do about how large the files are. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
What the Noam Chomsky–Jeffrey Epstein E-mails Tell Us
Chomsky has often suffered fools, knaves, and criminals too lightly. Epstein was one of them. But that doesn’t mean Chomsky was part of the “Epstein class.”
www.thenation.com
January 31, 2026 at 4:13 PM
I too admire much of Chomsky’s politics and the way he moved through the world. But, it’s just simply poor thinking to have rushed to his defense knowing what we do about how large the files are. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
I hope the people who rushed to defend this are having second thoughts.
January 31, 2026 at 3:59 PM
I hope the people who rushed to defend this are having second thoughts.
Anyway, check us out: www.merip.org/tag/the-meri...
The MERIP Podcast - Middle East Research and Information Project
The MERIP Podcast features interviews and roundtables with MERIP authors and editors, and recordings from events. You can listen to all episodes here, or on your preferred podcast service.
www.merip.org
January 31, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Anyway, check us out: www.merip.org/tag/the-meri...
Also, there is just something special about the (parasocial) relationship you build with someone you hear but don’t see. Our bet is you’ll actually pay closer attention.
January 31, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Also, there is just something special about the (parasocial) relationship you build with someone you hear but don’t see. Our bet is you’ll actually pay closer attention.
Why when we started the MERIP pod we committed to no video.
Video podcasts are talk shows. Just admit it!
January 31, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Why when we started the MERIP pod we committed to no video.
The two genders or something like that.
January 31, 2026 at 2:21 PM
The two genders or something like that.
This makes too much sense.
January 31, 2026 at 3:50 AM
This makes too much sense.
1 remains really the best class I could have possibly taken as a freshman. 2 was a science elective, I learned a lot about grass. 3 The guy who wrote the book is there. 4 Had to take one phys ed, it would come in handy. 5 well that one is obvious if you know me.
January 31, 2026 at 3:39 AM
1 remains really the best class I could have possibly taken as a freshman. 2 was a science elective, I learned a lot about grass. 3 The guy who wrote the book is there. 4 Had to take one phys ed, it would come in handy. 5 well that one is obvious if you know me.
I have complicated feelings about my alma mater as an institution, but dammit they had someone there who could teach a class on anything.
January 31, 2026 at 3:35 AM
I have complicated feelings about my alma mater as an institution, but dammit they had someone there who could teach a class on anything.
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1) Greek Thought and Literature
2) Prairies
3) The Fatimids
4) Archery
5) Cold War Turkey
1) Greek Thought and Literature
2) Prairies
3) The Fatimids
4) Archery
5) Cold War Turkey
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1) Zen Buddhism
2) Russian Literature
3) New Testament
4) French North Africa
5) Mythology
1) Zen Buddhism
2) Russian Literature
3) New Testament
4) French North Africa
5) Mythology
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1) Epistemology
2) Euripides
3) History of Rock Music
4) Dead Sea Scrolls & Apocrypha
5) Twentieth Century US Political History with @rauchway.bsky.social
1) Epistemology
2) Euripides
3) History of Rock Music
4) Dead Sea Scrolls & Apocrypha
5) Twentieth Century US Political History with @rauchway.bsky.social
January 31, 2026 at 3:33 AM
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1) Greek Thought and Literature
2) Prairies
3) The Fatimids
4) Archery
5) Cold War Turkey
1) Greek Thought and Literature
2) Prairies
3) The Fatimids
4) Archery
5) Cold War Turkey
Sir, at the risk of sounding like a kiss ass, American voters have always been dumb enough to elect Trump twice. Our elites got stupid enough to give them the opportunity. Twice.
January 31, 2026 at 1:35 AM
Sir, at the risk of sounding like a kiss ass, American voters have always been dumb enough to elect Trump twice. Our elites got stupid enough to give them the opportunity. Twice.
Or rather, if you do see it, it looks very different because it doesn’t insist on the state between the river and the sea being Jewish in character.
January 30, 2026 at 9:44 PM
Or rather, if you do see it, it looks very different because it doesn’t insist on the state between the river and the sea being Jewish in character.
And it should be noted also that there is a small but not insignificant minority in the political elite in Turkey that has argued for non-ethnic national identity (Türk vs. Türkiyeli) going back to pretty much the beginning of the Republic. I don’t think you see that in Zionist thinking.
January 30, 2026 at 9:43 PM
And it should be noted also that there is a small but not insignificant minority in the political elite in Turkey that has argued for non-ethnic national identity (Türk vs. Türkiyeli) going back to pretty much the beginning of the Republic. I don’t think you see that in Zionist thinking.
Reposted by James Ryan
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SUPPORT MERIP'S CRITICAL WORK BY DONATING For 50 years, MERIP has published critical analysis of Middle Eastern politics, history, and social justice not available in other publications. Our articles…
buff.ly
January 30, 2026 at 5:00 PM
If you like our work, please consider making a monthly or one-time donation today! All of our work is free for the world to read, we rely on donations to help us keep going!
Reposted by James Ryan
And check out the MERIP Roundtable from earlier this week with Asma Abdi, Kaveh Ehsani and Maziyar Ghiabi on the regional and geopolitical aspects of the protests!
buff.ly/bwcmw4O
buff.ly/bwcmw4O
January 30, 2026 at 3:30 PM
And check out the MERIP Roundtable from earlier this week with Asma Abdi, Kaveh Ehsani and Maziyar Ghiabi on the regional and geopolitical aspects of the protests!
buff.ly/bwcmw4O
buff.ly/bwcmw4O
Reposted by James Ryan
ICYMI: We've had some in-depth coverage of the crisis in Iran this week.
Yesterday we published Ida Nikou's overview of the sanctions economy as a drive of the protests.
buff.ly/DyNLcvM
Yesterday we published Ida Nikou's overview of the sanctions economy as a drive of the protests.
buff.ly/DyNLcvM
Governing Crisis – Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran
Recent protests triggered by currency collapse and price shocks expose how sanctions have reconfigured state power, enabling austerity and insider accumulation rather than relief.
www.merip.org
January 30, 2026 at 3:30 PM
ICYMI: We've had some in-depth coverage of the crisis in Iran this week.
Yesterday we published Ida Nikou's overview of the sanctions economy as a drive of the protests.
buff.ly/DyNLcvM
Yesterday we published Ida Nikou's overview of the sanctions economy as a drive of the protests.
buff.ly/DyNLcvM
Reposted by James Ryan
Miriam* fled enslavement in Mauritania in a heroic middle of the night escape - she found out she was pregnant with her enslaver’s 5th child here. Denied schooling she is illiterate. Today she lives in fear of being targeted by ICE. I’m raising money for her. Venmo is @Heba-gowayed.
January 30, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Miriam* fled enslavement in Mauritania in a heroic middle of the night escape - she found out she was pregnant with her enslaver’s 5th child here. Denied schooling she is illiterate. Today she lives in fear of being targeted by ICE. I’m raising money for her. Venmo is @Heba-gowayed.
Reposted by James Ryan
Genuinely the funniest possible panel line-up of all time and it's for a real estate conference in Riyadh
January 26, 2026 at 4:26 AM
Genuinely the funniest possible panel line-up of all time and it's for a real estate conference in Riyadh
Reposted by James Ryan
This story about David Brooks is one of the most brutal takedowns I’ve ever read.
By the late Tony Judt
By the late Tony Judt
February 23, 2025 at 12:30 PM
This story about David Brooks is one of the most brutal takedowns I’ve ever read.
By the late Tony Judt
By the late Tony Judt
