logo
episode-header-image
May 2023
27m 47s

Beirut: Life in the unliveable city

Bbc World Service
About this episode

What is it like to live through the collapse of your country, in a city you love and cannot bear to leave? Lina Mounzer is a writer and translator living in Beirut, and this is a question she wrestles with, both in her writing and her daily life. Lebanon has been in crisis since 2019 when the country’s financial system started to collapse - many people lost their life savings overnight. The 2020 Beirut port explosion then only increased people’s suffering. Lina speaks to friends, family and neighbours to hear how they are coping and trying to keep the spirit of the city alive.

Up next
Today
Leaving Isis: Is redemption possible?
In 2014, Tareena Shakil, then 24, made a decision that would change her life forever. She secretly left the UK, telling her family she was on holiday, and travelled with her young son to Syria to join the Islamic State group. Within months she found herself in the heart of the ex ... Show More
26m 29s
Yesterday
Forty-eight hours in Isfahan
*** This episode contains scenes of violence and descriptions you may find upsetting *** Eyewitnesses from a city in Iran describe how armed forces loyal to the Islamic regime killed countless protesters in a lethal crackdown on demonstrations earlier this year. Seen through the ... Show More
29m 33s
Mar 4
Namibia’s hydrogen superpower dream
A near-pristine desert wilderness on southern Africa’s remote Atlantic coast in Namibia could host a huge green hydrogen development, raising hope for wealth and desperately needed jobs. Supporters say it could help tackle youth unemployment, which is among the highest in the wor ... Show More
26m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2020
Beirut - August 2020
On August 4 2020 at 6:07 PM Beirut was rocked with an explosion that shattered the entire city. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this is the 3rd biggest explosion in a city in recorded history. Countless lives were lost, hundreds of homes were brought to the ground, and 300,000 peop ... Show More
43m 43s
Jul 2023
Women in Beirut: Rebuilding our city
<p>In August 2020, a devastating explosion destroyed the port of Beirut. More than 200 people lost their lives and thousands of small and medium women-owned businesses were destroyed. Kim Chakanetsa meets two entrepreneurs who are now working to rebuild their city and keep the ec ... Show More
27m 22s
Jun 2023
How Lebanon’s economy collapsed
Protests, power cuts and bank hold-ups – Lebanon was already struggling before the 2020 port explosion that devasted its capital, Beirut, but now it’s in a desperate economic collapse. The Lebanese people are struggling to buy basic food and medicine. And the country also hosts t ... Show More
18m 56s
Jul 2022
Lebanon’s silent crisis
<p>For nearly three years, Lebanon has been steadily collapsing under the weight of a financial crisis that is one of the worst in the modern world. But what is life like for those who have to live through the situation on the ground?   To be Lebanese is to navigate a slew of dai ... Show More
20m 27s
Aug 2020
The Day That Shook Beirut
<p>A mangled yellow door. Shattered glass. Blood.</p><p>A devastating explosion of ammonium nitrate stored at the port in Beirut killed at least 135 people and razed entire neighborhoods on Tuesday. This is what our correspondent in the Lebanese capital saw when the blast turned ... Show More
22m 29s
Oct 2020
Leaving Lebanon
Lebanon has suffered not just a catastrophic blast that cost around two hundred lives, but also a devastating economic crisis. The value of the currency has plunged and the pandemic lockdown forced nearly a third of businesses to close, leaving thousands jobless. Is Lebanon now a ... Show More
28m 37s
Jul 2023
#70 — Seule à travers le Liban, avec Apolline Convain
Les Baladeurs existent aussi en BD, rendez-vous sur lesbaladeurs.fr pour les découvrir.Fascinée par le monde arabe, Apolline Convain décide de réaliser son année de césure à Beyrouth, la capitale du Liban. Elle veut ressentir de l’intérieur ce pays en proie à de nombreuses crises ... Show More
45m 15s