Status/الوضع

We discuss green energy and its relationship to colonialism in North Africa with Hamza Hamouchene. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA). --- Hamza Hamouchene is a London-based Algerian researcher-activist, commentator and a founding member of Algeria Solidarity Campaign (ASC), and Environmental Justice North Africa (EJNA). He previously worked for War on Want, Global Justice Now and Platform London on issues of extractivism, resources, land and food sovereignty as well as climate, environmental, and trade justice. He is the author/editor of two books: "The Struggle for Energy Democracy in the Maghreb" (2017) and "The Coming Revolution to North Africa: The Struggle for Climate Justice" (2015). He also contributed book chapters to "Voices of Liberation: Frantz Fanon" (2014) and "The Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism" (2016). His other writings have appeared in the Guardian, Middle East Eye, Counterpunch, New Internationalist, Jadaliyya, openDemocracy, ROAR magazine, Pambazuka, Nawaat, El Watan and the Huffington Post.

From 2011 on, Professor Natasha Iskandar documented labor practices on Qatari construction sites. In her new book, "Does Skill Make Us Human? Migrant Workers in 21st Century Qatar and Beyond," Prof. Iskandar explores how migrants are recruited, trained and used. Listen to the second part of her conversation with VOMENA host Malihe Razazan. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA)

From 2011 on, Professor Natasha Iskandar documented labor practices on Qatari construction sites. In her new book, "Does Skill Make Us Human? Migrant Workers in 21st Century Qatar and Beyond," Prof. Iskandar explores how migrants are recruited, trained and used. Listen to the first part of her conversation with VOMENA host Malihe Razazan. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

A conversation with well-known South African peace and justice activist Na'eem Jeenah about the erasure of Desmond Tutu's support for Palestinian rights from obituaries in mainstream media. In the second part of this episode, we speak with Tara Sepehri Far, Senior Iran Researcher at HRW about the death of jailed Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

Khaled Barakat is a Palestinian-Canadian activist and writer, currently based in Vancouver, who was recently subjected to a media and political campaign aimed at silencing him and those fighting for Palestinian rights in Canada. Attempts to criminalize Barakat originated in an article published in the right-wing newspaper The National Post, and quickly became subject of debate in the Canadian Senate, with a conservative senator going so far as to asking the government to expel Barakat, a Canadian citizen, from the country. The campaign against Khaled Barakat is one of many smear campaigns being launched against pro-Palestinian voices, a phenomenon that seems to be increasing nowadays. Security in Context is a podcast project from the research network of the same name, aimed at promoting new thinking on security from a global perspective. The Security in Context podcast features discussions about key questions on peace and conflict, the political economy of security and insecurity, militarism, and geopolitics particularly as they intersect with the processes of climate change, population movement, and the reorganization of global powers. In order to delve into these topics, we interview writers, researchers, activists and professionals from inside and outside the Security in Context network. Our ultimate goal is to provide a critical representation of security related issues, paying special attention to the Global South, often misrepresented in mainstream media coverage.

In early April 2022, president Kais Saied dissolved the parliament after parliament members challenged the autocratic powers he exercised since his self-coup last July. Lawmakers held an online meeting, defying Saied's warning that the session was illegal, and a majority voted against his power grab, which they said violated the country's Constitution. Elected in a landslide in 2019, the president has been ruling by decree since July, jailing opponents, suspending parts of the Constitution, dismissing the Supreme Judicial Council and restricting press freedom. Khalil Bendib spoke with Tunisian correspondent Mohammed-Dhia Hemmami about the current political situation in Tunis. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

At the end of March 2022, in a bold and historic step backwards for the cause of peace in the Middle East, Morocco was one of four Arab countries meeting in a special summit with Israel and the US. Although distant Iran was central to the discussions held during this meeting, the central issue of Palestine never broached during this summit, which took place in the heart of historic Palestine. Khalil Bendib spoke with Samia Errazouki, a journalist formerly based in Morocco and a PhD candidate in early modern Northwest African history at UC Davis, about Morocco's participation in this summit and what might be motivating the Moroccan regime to go against the wishes of its own people. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa (VOMENA).

VOMENA host Shahram Aghamir speaks with writer and journalist Neda Toloui-Semnani about her memoir "They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents" and the journey of writing her family's story before and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA)

According to the late Pakistani writer and revolutionary activist Eqbal Ahmad, the Palestinian struggle for self-determination stirs the emotions of the entire world, particularly the nations and societies of the formerly colonized world. In this episode we explore the Palestinian struggle for liberation from the perspective of solidarity movements. Our guests include: Mouin Rabbani, an independent analyst specialized in Palestinian affairs and the Arab-Israeli conflict; Noura Erakat, a human rights attorney and associate professor at Rutgers University; Lina Meruane, an author and professor at the Madrid branch of the New York University; and Yara Hawari, an academic, writer, and senior policy analyst at Al-Shabaka.

دردشة مع المغنية والمؤلفة الموسيقية ديمة أورشو عن فنها وحياتها و تجربة التعليم العالي التي خاضتها في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية.

شاعر من العراق، فاز بجائزة يوسف الخال للشعر سنة ١٩٨٨ وأصدر أكثر من عشر مجموعات شعرية كان آخرها سادن الحبر، كما أطلق وحرر مجلة ملامح للشعر والنقد، وكتب في النقد الأدبي والمقالة الصحفية وشعر الأطفال.

Host Katty Alhayek speaks with Farah Atoui about her work in relation to questions of migration, solidarity, and decolonial creative processes and practices. -- Farah Atoui is a Ph.D. Candidate in Communication Studies at McGill University, Montreal. Her doctoral research investigates the visual culture of the current so- called migration/refugee crisis. She is also an independent programmer/curator, and a member of the Regards Palestiniens and Regards Syriens screening collectives.

Host MK Smith speaks with Syrian actress Raghad Al Makhlouf about her experiences both professionally and personally after the revolution and events of 2011 in Syria. Raghad Al Makhlouf is a theater and TV actress who has participated in over 18 plays and appeared in over 300 hours of television drama series in Syria. She acted in three short films, and one feature film. She received bachelor's degree in acting from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus, Syria. Between 2005 and 2011, Raghad was a teaching assistant at the Acting Department at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts. She believes in the power of theater as a healing and therapy medium for oppressed populations. She was a member of an interactive theater group in Syria that toured towns and villages and engaged local residents trying to address local problems and challenges through theater. She also led and designed acting workshops that provided psychosocial support for young Syrian refugees in Lebanon to help them overcome trauma. In 2021, Raghad earned Master of Fine Arts in classical acting from the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy of Classical Acting at The George Washington University. When she is not performing, Raghad enjoys to eat, sing, dance, and explore the unknown.

Georgetown University graduate student Aisha Jitan speaks with Palestinian psychiatrist, psychotherapist and writer Dr. Samah Jabr on the subject of mental health in Gaza while challenging Western ideas of how trauma is held and carried in one's body. By drawing upon her experiences as a health care practitioner, the director of the mental health unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and a trainer of mental health professionals in Gaza, Dr. Jabr sheds light upon the deep-rooted effects of living under Israeli occupation and in the case of Gaza, siege. Dr. Jabr's insights are useful for application beyond the case of Palestine, as she radically challenges notions of how mental health ought to be treated under conditions of injustice and oppression and how healing work can be used toward the liberation of a people. Guest Bio Dr. Samah Jabr is a Palestinian Jerusalemite psychiatrist, psychotherapist and writer. Since 2016, she has been Chair of the Mental Health Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and has written columns about the psychological consequences of the Israeli occupation in Palestine since the 2000s. Inspired by anticolonial psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, her areas of interest include mental health, colonialism and universal human rights.

Georgetown University graduate student Nisrine Hilizah speaks to guests Houda Mzioudet and Amuna Ali about the ways in which social media is being used to call attention to anti-black racism in the Arab world. Guest Bios Houda Mzioudet is a Tunisian researcher, journalist, and anti-racist activist. She co-founded ADAM, the first black Tunisian association, and the Voice of Tunisian Black Women collective. Between 2011 and 2018, Mzioudet covered the uprisings and their aftermaths in Tunisia and Libya for international outlets, including Al Jazeera English, CBC, and BBC. Houda is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Toronto. Amuna Ali is a Somali-Yemeni Anti-racist activist. Born and raised in the United Arab Emirates, Amuna is the founder of the social media page BlackArabsCollective, an Instagram page that serves as "a platform to share the stories and amplify the voices of Black Arabs." Amuna holds two master's degrees, one in Innovation and Change Management and another in Sports Management.

Georgetown University graduate student Nooran Alhamdan speaks with three Palestinian American students - Omar Zahzah, Rasha Anayah, and Yasmeen Mashayekh - who have been targets of rightwing Zionists blacklists and their affiliated websites to discuss this growing problem of free speech, digital rights, and academic freedom.

يحدثنا كاتب الأغاني ومغني الراب وعازف الإيقاع والمنتج الفلسطيني / الأردني المعروف باسم فرع المداخل عن موجة الانتفاضات العربية في عام 2011 وكيف خلقت أصواتًا جديدة وألحان موسيقية أصبحت أنواعًا موسيقية كانت غير مألوفة وصارت مرغوبة ثابتة. في هذه المقابلة المكونة من جزأين ، تحدثنا مع الفرعي حول العوامل التي جعلت هذه الأعمال الموسيقية الجديدة تجارب فردية وجماعية تشمل العالم العربي بأسره وما وراءه. Palestinian/Jordanian songwriter, rapper, drummer, and producer known as Far3i talks about how the wave of Arab uprisings in 2011 brought with it new sounds and musical novelties that became fixed music genres. In this two part interview we talk with Far3i about how these new musical acts became individual and collective experiences encompassing the whole Arab world and beyond.

يحدثنا كاتب الأغاني ومغني الراب وعازف الإيقاع والمنتج الفلسطيني / الأردني المعروف باسم فرع المداخل عن موجة الانتفاضات العربية في عام 2011 وكيف خلقت أصواتًا جديدة وألحان موسيقية أصبحت أنواعًا موسيقية كانت غير مألوفة وصارت مرغوبة ثابتة. في هذه المقابلة المكونة من جزأين ، تحدثنا مع الفرعي حول العوامل التي جعلت هذه الأعمال الموسيقية الجديدة تجارب فردية وجماعية تشمل العالم العربي بأسره وما وراءه. Palestinian/Jordanian songwriter, rapper, drummer, and producer known as Far3i talks about how the wave of Arab uprisings in 2011 brought with it new sounds and musical novelties that became fixed music genres. In this two part interview we talk with Far3i about how these new musical acts became individual and collective experiences encompassing the whole Arab world and beyond.

In this episode of "Security in Context," we explore how the impacts of climate change will be unequally felt around the world, and the negative side of the politics of the climate movement in the global North. It includes interviews with Betsy Hartmann (professor emeritus at Hampshire College and author of "The America Syndrome: Apocalypse, War, and Our Call to Greatness"), Anne Hendrixson (senior policy analyst at Challenging Population Control / Collective Power for Reproductive Justice), Max Ajl (author of "A People's Green New Deal" and associated researcher with the Tunisian Observatory for Food Sovereignty and the Environment), Fikret Adaman (professor of economics at Boğaziçi University and IPC Mercator Senior Fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center), and Kasia Paprocki (author of "Threatening Dystopias: The Global Politics of Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh" and associate professor at the London School of Economics). Security in Context is a podcast project from the research network of the same name, aimed at promoting new thinking on security from a global perspective. It features discussions about key questions on peace and conflict, the political economy of security and insecurity, militarism, and geopolitics, as they intersect with the processes of climate change, population movement, and the reorganization of global powers. In order to delve into these topics, we interview writers, researchers, activists and professionals from inside and outside the Security in Context network.

This is a conversation with Norman Finkelstein hosted by Jadaliyya co-editor Mouin Rabbani about Israeli apartheid. This episode of Connections Podcast features a discussion of the recent Human Rights Watch Report A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution, its political context, and potential implications. This interview is the third episode of Connections Podcast. Connections offers timely and informative interviews on current events and broader policy questions, as well as themes relevant to knowledge production. It combines journalism, analysis, and scholarship. Connections will focus primarily but not exclusively on the Middle East. For more from Connections, visit: https://www.statushour.com

For most of a century, the region including north Africa and large swaths of west Africa all came under one and the same flag: the red white and blue of the French colonial empire. Following the loss of Louisiana in the early nineteenth century, which at the time encompassed about one third of what we know today as the United States of America, and partly to compensate for that tremendous loss, France began colonizing large swaths of North and West and central Africa, bringing under its rule close to a third of the continent's total area. Two hundred years later, and more than half a century after its former colonies regained their independence, France is struggling to deal with its problematic legacy in that part of the world, finding itself embroiled once again in a bloody conflict six thousand kilometers from home that shows no signs of resolving itself. Operation Barkhane, launched in 2014 by then-president Francois Hollande ostensibly to restore order in Mali and protect France from the consequences of out-of-control terrorism south of the border has become a major strategic embarrassment for the once undisputed master of that land and is proving a costly challenge to a now mid-size world power that is no longer able to spread its wings as far as it once did. Against that backdrop, locally, the Malian state has to date proven incapable of asserting its authority over large areas of its own territory and this power vacuum has caused serious problems for Mali's neighbors, including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, and turning the area known as the Sahel into an incubator for terrorist and insurrectionist movements of all stripes. Prof. Bruno Charbonneau at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean talks about the recent developments in Mali and how this thorny situation is affecting the Maghreb, France and neighboring areas of West Africa. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

نستضيف في هذه الحلقة الفنانة والكاتبة المصرية دينا محمد، لنتحدث باستفاضة عن روايتها المصوّرة «شبّيك لبيك»، بالإضافة إلى سوق إنتاج الكومكس والقصص المصوّرة في الوطن العربي، وأهمّ تيّارات هذا المجال. بودكاست «رفوف» من إنتاج جدلية.

Host Katty Alhayek speaks with Dr. Sahar Mohamed Khamis about her research interests and current projects. The interview focuses on Khamis's work on gender activism, the gender digital gap, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Arab women. -- Dr. Sahar Khamis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Women's Studies and the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an expert on Arab and Muslim media, and the former Head of the Mass Communication Department at Qatar University. Dr. Khamis holds a Ph.D. in Mass Media and Cultural Studies from the University of Manchester in England. She is a former Mellon Islamic Studies Initiative Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago. She is the co-author of the books: Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and Egyptian Revolution 2.0: Political Blogging, Civic Engagement and Citizen Journalism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). She is the co-editor of the book: Arab Women's Activism and Socio-Political Transformation: Unfinished Gendered Revolutions (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

In this episode On The Square commemorates Black August. Sapelo Square Senior Editor Su'ad Abdul Khabeer speaks with community activist, playwright, freedom fighter, and chairperson of the National Jericho Movement, Jihad Abdulmumit, about Freedom and Self-Determination. In this wide-reaching conversation Abdulmumit tells the story of the direct role he played in the Black freedom struggles of the 1960s/1970s and the heavy price he paid for his involvement in the Black Liberation Movement. Abdulmumit served 23 years of his life in prison as a domestic political prisoner and in this discussion he sheds light on the plight of political prisoners and how Islam shapes his commitment to the Black Liberation struggle. Abdulmumit also speaks to the role the arts play in the quest for freedom and self-determination and shares his thoughts on how the struggle for freedom and self-determination has changed since the 1970s. To the question, "What is your Black Muslim theme song?," Abdulmumit chose Nina Simone's "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" – with lyrics added by his artist children to include the Muslim experience. See these resources to learn more about: Black August Domestic political prisoners and the Jericho Movement The Black Panther Party The Black Liberation Army The Spirit of Mandela October Tribunal This episode includes excerpts from archival clips of the Black Panther Party preserved in the National Archives. It also includes a clip from an interview with Nina Simone. On The Square's theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats. Artwork for On The Square was created by Scheme of Things Graphics. --- Courtest of Maydan podcast.

In this episode of On The Square, Sapelo Square History Editor Zaheer Ali speaks with Tulani Salahu-Din, museum specialist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), about Muslim artifacts at the museum. Salahu-Din provides the backstory for some of the objects at the museum, including those featured as part of Sapelo Square's Black History Month 2021 special: an egg carton from the Nation of Islam's Muslim Farms, a tape recorder used by Malcolm X at Mosque No. 7, and a pendant the Honorable Elijah Muhammad gave to his wife Sister Clara Muhammad as described by their grand-daughter Amirah Muhammad in an oral history. They also talk about the importance of preserving Muslim material culture, and steps everyone can take in collecting and recording their family histories. To the question, "If Black Islam had a theme song, what would it be?," Salahu-Din chose Quincy Jones's "What Good Is a Song?" To learn more about some of the Muslim artifacts featured at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), visit Sapelo Square's Black History Month 2021 feature, or search the online collections at NMAAHC. To find out more information about the museum's artifacts and public programming around themes of religion and spirituality, visit the Center for Study of African American Religious Life. Theme music by Fanatik OnBeats. Artwork was created by Scheme of Things Graphics. --- Courtesy of Maydan Podcast.

In this episode, Sapelo Square Arts and Culture Editor Ambata Kazi-Nance speaks with author and educator Amani-Nzinga Jabbar about her book, I Bear Witness, the craft of writing, writing about difficult subject matter, and her experiences as a Black Muslim woman writer. Amani's book, I Bear Witness, is available for purchase on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3u70XZz. You can connect with Amani and get updates on her writing on Instagram @authoramani and Twitter @Author_Amani and on Facebook. On the Square theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats. Artwork was created by Scheme of Things Graphics. --- Courtesy of Maydan podcast.

In this episode of On The Square, Sapelo Square History Editor Zaheer Ali speaks with Sapelo Square Senior Editor and On The Square curator Dr. Su'ad Abdul Khabeer about her latest work, Umi's Archive. The multimedia research project digs deep into the life of Dr. Su'ad's mother, Amina Amatul Haqq (neé Audrey Weeks), to explore the meanings of being Black in the world. Dr. Su'ad shares her reasons for assembling and sharing the archive, some of her surprising discoveries, and the importance of archives to telling fuller, more nuanced histories of Black Muslim women and their communities. To learn more about Umi's Archive and view online exhibitions, visit umisarchive.com and follow on Instagram @umisarchive. To the question, "If Black Islam had a theme song, what would it be?," Dr. Su'ad chose Suad El-Amin's "Shahadah." Opening contains audio from a video performance by Dr. Su'ad Abdul Khabeer, featured in "Why Umi's Archive?" This episode includes an excerpt from Suad El-Amin's "Shahadah." On The Square theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats. Artwork for On The Square was created by Scheme of Things Graphics. --- Courtesy of Maydan Podcast.

In this episode of On The Square, Sapelo Square Arts and Culture editor Ambata Kazi-Nance speaks with renowned midwife, birthwork historian, and doula educator Shafia Monroe, founder of the International Center for Traditional Childbearing, the leading birthwork training institute in the United States for Black midwives and doulas and the first nonprofit in the nation to promote home birth in Black communities and elevate Black midwifery. They discuss the history and traditional practices of Black midwifery, the contemporary challenges of Black maternal and infant health disparities, and how birthworkers can and are impacting positive change for Black families. Black Maternal Health Week is April 11–17. Learn more about it and how you can get involved at https://blackmamasmatter.org/bmhw/. More information about the Momnibus Act mentioned in the episode can be found at https://blackmaternalhealthcaucus-underwood.house.gov/Momnibus. On the Square theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats. Artwork was created by Scheme of Things Graphics. --- Courtesy of Maydan Podcast.

In this episode our host, Dr. Su'ad Abdul Khabeer talks with Siddeeqah Sharif Fichman an Afro-Native Muslim and community advocate and Hazel Gómez, a faith-based community organizer, about Being Muslim on Turtle Island. This deep discussion digs into questions such as What would make a Muslim a settler or indigenous to North America? How might settler thinking shape how we live as Muslims today? What are the responsibilities of Muslims, as a whole, to the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas? During the conversation, Hazel reads the poem "Child of the Americas" by Aurora Levins Morales (shared below) and Siddeqah introduces us to the song "Bilalian Man" by Sister Khalifah Abdul Rahman.* To the question, if Black Islam had a theme song what would it be? Hazel chose "Allah" by Khalil Ismail and Siddeeqah chose "Bilalian Man" as her Black Muslim theme song. The song excerpt in the episode is sung by Siddeeqah's mother, Sister Sabreen Sharif and full lyrics are below. Not sure what Bilalian means? Check out this article by Precious Rasheeda Muhammad. Also be sure to check out the music of Afro-Native Muslim performing artist Maimouna Youseff (Mumu Fresh). *Siddeeqah misspoke in the episode and this particular song is by Sister Khalifah Abdul Rahman. On the Square theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats. Artwork was created by Scheme of Things Graphics. --- Courtesy of Maydan Podcast.

In this conversation, Mick Dumper and Maha Samman discuss the politics of holy cities with Connections Podcast host and Jadaliyya co-editor Mouin Rabbani. This episode of Connections Podcast examines the interaction between religion, political power, and conflict through the prism of such cities and other urban environments, in the Middle East and around the globe.

On October 1st, Iraqis took to the streets in Baghdad to mark the second anniversary of the massive protest movement which began in October 2019. They were met with violence by state security forces and militias backed by the Iraqi regime. Almost 600 demonstrators were killed and more than 30,000 were injured. Shahram Aghamir spoke to Nabil Salih, an Iraqi journalist, photographer, and writer, about the October 1st protest which happened just 9 days before Iraq's parliamentary elections. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

In this special episode, Huma Gupta and China Sajadian discuss abolition geographies and environmental movements with renowned geographer and activist Ruth Wilson Gilmore. She is the author of the award-winning Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California and several forthcoming books, including Change Everything, Abolition Geography: Essays Toward Liberation, and Stuart Hall: Selected Writings on Race and Difference, co-edited with Paul Gilroy. In this interview, Gilmore explains her research on carcerality through a global, comparative lens, from the long traditions of emancipation within Black Marxism, to popular struggles against TIAA-CREF land grabs in Brazil, to the contemporary challenges of giant monopsonies like Amazon. If abolition must be green, Gilmore insists, it must also be anti-capitalist and internationalist. Such an approach to abolition not only underscores how different parts of the world are, in Gilmore's words, partitioned and re-partitioned by capitalism -- but also the ways that dispossessed, criminalized, and vulnerable people across seemingly disparate contexts come to recognize their fundamental connections to each other.

محادثة مبهجة مع مخرج الأفلام والمعلق الصوتي يامن عبد النور. اللقاء هو غوص في فيلميه الوثائقيين بالإضافة إلى أعماله كمدبلج ومعلق صوتي. --- Host Raghad Makhlouf has a delightful conversation with the Syrian film director and voice over actor, Yamen Abd Alnour. This interview is a deep dive into his two documentaries about Syria in addition to his work as a voice over actor.

In the inaugural episode of Connections, Jadaliyya co-editor Mouin Rabbani interviewed Noam Chomsky on March 17th, 2021 to discuss U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East under Biden. The interview examines the Biden administration's Middle East policies, explores elements of continuity and change in US policy towards the region after the Trump years, and discusses what recent developments regarding Iran, Yemen, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia portend for the coming years.

In this episode, host Anita Fuentes investigates the implications of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan from different angles with the help of guests Rafia Zakaria and Professor Michael Klare. Rafia Zakaria talks about her new book, Against White Feminism (2021), and how it ties into Western media coverage of Afghan women. Fuentes also speaks to Professor Michael Klare, defense correspondent at The Nation magazine, about his take on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan; a very different one to those being portrayed in mainstream media. The episode ends with a September media roundup, a brief section in which news articles, reports, and other materials focusing on (in)security issues are discussed. Security in Context is a podcast project from the research network of the same name, aimed at promoting new thinking on security from a global perspective. It features discussions about key questions on peace and conflict, the political economy of security and insecurity, militarism, and geopolitics, as they intersect with the processes of climate change, population movement, and the reorganization of global powers. In order to delve into these topics, we interview writers, researchers, activists and professionals from inside and outside the Security in Context network.

Khalil Bendib speaks with Samia Errazzouki about the rising tension between Spain and Morocco after thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into the North African enclave of Ceuta, considered Spanish territory. It is believed that Moroccan border guards eased the crossing of the migrants in response to Spain's hosting of Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, which campaigns for the independence of Western Sahara.

مقدم البرنامج يتحدث إلى الشاعر السوري أكرم قطريب من مدينة سلمية السورية عن مجموعاته الشعرية والحياة في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية.

VOMENA's Khalil Bendib speaks with London-based Algerian activist and researcher Hamza Hamouchene about the way these multiple catastrophes are affecting Algeria and how people are coping.

Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley, Cihan Tugal, examines this topic with VOMENA host Shahram Aghamir.

On August 10th 2021, Hamid Nouri, a former prosecutor in Iran, went on trial in Sweden for his alleged role in the executions of thousands of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. The historic trial against Nouri, will hear testimonies from dozens of witnesses and it will be the first time that one of the worst crimes of the past 40 years in Iran will be examined in a court of law. In July 1988, the Islamic Republic of Iran agreed to bring an end to the brutal eight-year war with Iraq. Over the next two months, under the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, political prisoners around the country were secretly brought before a tribunal panel that would later become known as the Death Commission. Thousands of men and women were condemned to death, and many buried in mass graves in Khavaran Cemetery in the vicinity of Tehran. Through eyewitness accounts of survivors, research by scholars and memories of children and spouses of the deceased, Nasser Mohajer's new book "Voices of a Massacre," reconstructs the events of that bloody summer, which has still not officially acknowledged by the Iranian government. VOMENA host Malihe Razazan spoke with Nasser Mohajer about The 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners, the significance of Hamid Nouri and the charges against him.

A year after the blast in the port of Beirut, Lebanon sinks into a severe economic crisis which the World Bank ranks in the top 10, and possibly top 3, most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century. Electricity, gas and even medicine are in short supply in the country. Angry residents wait in line for hours to fill their car tanks while others lucky enough to be able to connect to the internet run online campaigns asking Lebanese expats visiting the country for the summer, to bring with them the much needed medicines for loved ones. How did the blast from the Beirut port exacerbate the current economic and political crisis in the country and what's life like today for millions of Lebanese people and for the victims of the port blast and their families? VOMENA Host Mira Nabulsi speaks with Lara Bitar, the editor in chief of The Public Source, a Beirut-based independent media organization dedicated to long-form and in-depth journalism in the public interest.

In this episode, Huma Gupta speaks with Rawan Maki about fast fashion and the question of sustainability in Bahrain and beyond. They explore the past, present, and speculative futures of the fashion industry. Maki traces the life-cycle of the clothing we wear everyday, mapping its geographies from the crops and petroleum necessary to produce organic and synthetic fibers, the individuals who farm, weave, and sew the garments to shipping, distribution, tailoring and purchasing networks. Since fast fashion is a leading contributor to pollution, resource depletion, and climate change, this episode evaluates the promise of alternative frameworks like "slow fashion" and the social, psychological, and artistic shifts that it requires.

In conversation with Malihe Razazan, Gianfranco Rosi discusses his film "Notturno" (2020) which was shot over a 3 year period along the borders between Syria, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Lebanon, giving voice to a human drama that transcends geographical divisions and time. Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa (VOMENA).

In this interview, Noah Black sat down with Issam Eido to discuss his work, key questions he approaches, and how he approaches them in his study of the epistemology of testimony and hadith studies.

In this interview, Noah Black sat down with Dr. Evren Altinkas to discuss his work, what brought him to it, and how he approaches key questions in the study of the intellectual history of Turkey.

Huma Gupta and Camille Cole speak with Dr. Caterina Scaramelli about Turkey's wetland ecosystems, which range from alluvial forests to fishing lagoons, salt marshes, and volcanic crater lakes. Scaramelli unpacks how these shallow water ecosystems are materially and discursively produced into a flattened category called 'wetlands' by conservationists, ornithologists, and government agencies engaged in swamp reclamation.

Huma Gupta speaks with Todd Reisz about the transformation of the marshy estuary known as Dubai Creek (خور دبي‎) into infrastructure – a process which was central to the city's architectural and urban development projects in the twentieth century. Reisz discusses the spatial, architectural, ecological and economic relationships between the creek, its inhabitants, and the city. These relationships were forever transformed in the mid-twentieth century through the 1955 Halcrow Plan for Dubai Creek and John Harris' 1959 Master Plan for Dubai, which necessitated the use of concrete and steel to harden the creek's fluid landscape in order to engender an expectation of predictability, economic growth, and real estate speculation.

In part 2, Chanelle and Isabella are joined by Jose Hamza Saldaña, the Director of Release Aging People in Prison, or RAPP. Mr. Saldana describes the unique health challenges of the aging incarcerated population, who often suffer from multiple chronic conditions that cannot be properly managed in prison. He challenges the racist and vengeful system of prolonged incarceration and advocates for compassionate release to allow for rehabilitation and re-entry into society. Chanelle and Isabella reflect on the accounts they heard of the inadequacies and injustices of prison health care and discuss some systemic changes to mediate these injustices. They end with recommendations to health care providers to ensure they are best meeting the needs of individuals with criminal justice involvement. To learn more about RAPP: https://rappcampaign.com/about/

In part 1, medical students Chanelle Simmons and Isabella Giunta explore the impact of mass incarceration on the health of individuals and communities. Through collected anecdotes, they illustrate the failures of prisons to provide their inmates with adequate health care, even in life-threatening situations. They also describe the history of racist policies and practices that allow for this inhumane treatment. They are joined by Jarrell E. Daniels, a prison reform activist, mentor to youth emerging from juvenile detention, and research assistant at the Center for Justice at Columbia University. Jarrell shares the obstacles he faced while trying to access health care in prison and discusses the necessary changes to be made to ensure people in prison receive the care they need.

More than two generations after the end of colonization in north Africa, France still suffers from the undigested legacy and aftereffects of a brutal empire that spanned over two centuries and whose perverse reverberations are still felt today. Khalil Bendib speaks with French Algerian Nacira Guenif Souilamas, Professor of sociology and anthropology at University Paris 8 of Vincennes in Saint-Denis about French president Emmanuel Macron's policies to combat home-grown terrorism while simultaneously acknowledging some of his country's legacy of racism and genocide and how the French state is responding to a new wave of terrorism on its soil by increasing repression and surveillance of French Muslims.