Episode: 44 · Guest: Farah Al-Nahoum · Full Episode #44
Farah Al-Nahoum, a Libyan-Irish musician, argued that joy is not a state that arrives but a discipline that must be practised — and that for people carrying inherited trauma, it is an act of resistance.
Her mother survived three assassination attempts during the 2011 Libyan revolution. Farah grew up in the shadow of that violence. The danger was not abstract — it was directed at the person closest to her, repeatedly, and it shaped her understanding of safety, permanence, and the fragility of the people she loves. Against this backdrop, the conventional advice to "be happy" is inadequate. Happiness, in Farah's framing, does not happen to people who have experienced what her family experienced. It must be fought for.
The fight is deliberate and daily. Farah described it as a practice, comparable to a musician's practice regimen: something that requires discipline, repetition, and the willingness to continue on days when it feels pointless. Joy, in this framework, is not the absence of sadness. Farah stated directly: "I have a great sadness within me." The sadness is not something to be overcome or cured. It coexists with the capacity for music, laughter, and creative work. The argument is that both can be true simultaneously — that a person can carry deep grief and still choose, actively, to pursue joy.
The framing resonated with the episode's broader context. Farah is not the only Damiri guest who carries trauma from the 2011 revolution. But she is one of the few who articulated a philosophy of response that is neither denial nor surrender. The revolution happened. The assassination attempts happened. The sadness is real. And joy is still worth fighting for.