Hani Shukrallah (June 13, 1950 – May 5, 2019) was an astute political commentator and a champion of revolutionary politics. He belonged to the Egyptian communist student movement of the 1970s, the major Marxist group of the decade. Hani’s political consciousness, which he passed on to successive generations of journalists and activists, was heavily informed by his years in the student movement — its scope, dreams, and eventual demise.

On November 27, 2018, we recorded an interview with Hani at his family home in Giza, where he spent a large part of his life. Hani rummaged through his memory for four hours, bursting into laughter as he spoke about his years as a leading member of the Egyptian Communist Workers Party, and as a journalist at Al-Ahram.

In his (re)reading of the student movement and the 2011 revolution, Hani, an eternal optimist, speaks with a rare kindness for someone refecting on such moments of defeat. He offers poignant insights on a political trajectory that began for him in the 1960s, the moment of his first demonstration.

“In Conversation with Hani” includes the full transcript of our interview, with added excerpts from eulogies published following his death, in addition to an audio episode taken from the original recording. The transcript has been edited for a smoother reading experience while retaining the context and feeling of the interview.

Excerpts of our conversation with Hani were frst published as part of the four-part podcast Mesh Masmou’, the project for which this interview was originally conducted. Hani passed away before he got a chance to listen to the podcast or review the transcript.