In episode 269 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked back in with Antoine Brimbal.
Antoine Brimbal is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Modern Insurgent, a grass-roots independent media organisation which specialises solely on insurgencies, rebellions and political movements from around the globe.
We first checked in with Antoine in JCIP #164 when he was still a puppy at 18 years old but still the owner of his own journalism organisation.
We discussed the origins of the platform, a terrorist attack he witnessed outside his window which he filmed and was interviewed by media outlets about and his French-Serbian upbringing and how its shaped him.
He is now 20 years old and has taken TMI to new heights, with their own podcast, documentaries from the frontline of some very dangerous conflicts and has interviewed some very dangerous men.
In this episode we discuss that continued growth and a deep dive into a few of those documentaries. This includes one which covered the 12th July protests in Northern Ireland in 2023 and the ‘Orange Order’, embedding with a volunteer unit in the Yekîneyên Parastina Gel or YPG, a Kurdish militia based in Syria who have been a bulwark against ISIS or Daesh.
We also discussed some recently published films including one covering a desert blues festival in Morocco and embedding with an autonomous people’s army in Mexico called the Zappatistas who took on the cartels and the Mexican government and won!
Antoine has also produced some films for another news organisation called Atlas News, including one in Transnistria, a separatist region in Moldova.
In addition, Antoine and his crew were the first international journalists to interview a representative of Hezbollah, the heavily armed and powerful militia group currently in conflict with Israel off the back of the October 7th invasion and massacre by Hamas.
For Antoine’s continued mental health journey, we dive into the personal impact of the filming with Hezbollah, interviewing very dangerous men and a couple of life-and-death situations he put himself in.
As always, #itsokaytovent
You can watch ‘Burning Cedars: Lebanon’s Perpetual Crisis’, which contained the interview with the Hezbollah commander here.
You can watch ‘Desert Blues: Saharan Songs of Resistance’ here.
Find out more about The Modern Insurgent here.
You can follow The Modern Insurgent on social media below:
You can listen to Part 1 of Antoine’s journey here.
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