This week on Babel, Jon Alterman talks with Khaled Dawoud, who was arrested amidst rising political tensions in Egypt in September 2019 and was released from prison two weeks ago. Upon his release, Khaled returned to his jobs as assistant editor of Al-Ahram Weekly and a professor of journalism at the American University in Cairo. Khaled talks about his time ... Show More
May 22
Babel Special: Jon Alterman's Next Chapter
This week on a special edition of Babel, Will Todman speaks with Jon Alterman, the creator of Babel and the show’s host since it began in 2019. They discuss Jon’s reflections on 22 years directing the CSIS Middle East Program, his analysis of how the Middle East policy ecosystem ... Show More
34m 59s
May 15
Mohanad Hage Ali: Hezbollah and the Captagon Trade
This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Dr. Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for research at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Mohanad's latest paper for Carnegie investigates the rise of a new form of drug smuggling in Lebanon. Together, they discuss Hezbollah’s i ... Show More
50m 16s
May 8
Analysis: Will Trump’s Houthi Deal Stick?
On Tuesday, May 6, President Trump declared that the United States would immediately halt its bombing of Houthi targets, bringing an end to months of intensified U.S. strikes across Yemen. The president linked the policy reversal to what he described as the Iran-backed Houthis’ c ... Show More
6m 13s
Jul 2023
The Political Prisoners Dilemma: The pardoning of Patrick Zaki and Egypt's National Dialogue
The release of Patrick Zaki was some rare good human rights news from Egypt. After being sentenced to three years in jail, he was then pardoned the next day by President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi, and was able to return to Italy. Patrick had been hanging in legal limbo since 2020, when ... Show More
30m 35s
May 2024
On Journalism, Activism and Hope with Nicholas Kristof
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has been reporting on protests, wars and conflicts for more than 40 years, and he’s used his platform to highlight human rights issues at home and abroad. But despite being a proponent of "ethical journalism", he flinches at being called ... Show More
55m 13s
Nov 2022
COP27: Climate summit shines spotlight on Egypt's political prisoners
Urgent questions are being asked about one of Egypt's most high-profile prisoners, the civil rights activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who has just escalated his months-long hunger strike, so that he is, according to his family, no longer even drinking water. We hear from the UN High C ... Show More
47m 7s
Mar 2024
Where Media in the Arab World Stands Today | Marwan Kraidy
Marwan Kraidy, CEO and Dean of Northwestern Qatar and leading scholar of global communication and media, joins us on the afikra podcast to discuss media, truth, and journalism in the Arab world.This episode dives into the impact of mobile phones, reflects on whether social media ... Show More
54m 5s
Apr 2020
10/Syria, Journalism and the Cost of Indifference (with Kareem Shaheen)
This is a conversation with Kareem Shaheen, former Beirut- and Istanbul-based The Guardian correspondent for Turkey and the Middle East, current analyst on the region as well as a writer for satirical Arabic news publication Al-Hudood. He is currently based in Montreal, Canada.
W ... Show More
57m 45s
May 2024
What the Media Get Wrong About Campus Protests
In reports about pro-Palestinian college encampments, comparisons to the anti-war demonstrations of 1968 abound. On this week’s On the Media, hear how historical analogies distract us from what makes today’s protests unique. Plus, a reporter debunks a theory that Bill Gates is so ... Show More
50m 47s
May 2024
Egypt and Gaza: Cairo Talks, Sinai Fears
In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard is joined by Crisis Group’s North Africa director Riccardo Fabiani, U.S. director Michael Hanna and Dareen Khalifa, Crisis Group’s senior dialogue adviser, to talk about the Gaza war’s impact on Egypt. They assess the latest round of ce ... Show More
43m 58s