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
Ark of the dry lands
Researchers in Morocco are developing dry-land agriculture at ICARDA (the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas). It is home to a gene bank, in which around 150,000 different seed-types are kept in perfectly calibrated cold vaults, and duplicated to prot ... Show More
26m 29s
Yesterday
Bonus. World of Secrets: The Killing Call
Sidhu Moose Wala explodes onto the Canadian music scene. His sound is a fusion of two worlds - hip-hop with the poetic language of rural Punjab, where he is from. After years of struggle he is making it. But with the spotlight comes a dark side. As his fame grows, so do the threa ... Show More
35m 54s
Jul 8
Re-homing France’s immigrant workers
France’s last foyers – housing for immigrant workers – are set for demolition. But some current residents are worried about what they’ll lose. Hundreds of “foyers” - housing units especially for immigrant workers – were built after World War II. The economy was booming and France ... Show More
27m 11s
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
Aug 2020
News Digest: The world scrambles to aid Lebanon in the aftermath of Beirut Explosion
This week, we tackle the aftermath of the massive explosion that shook Lebanon’s capital Beirut on August 4.The cataclysmic blast at Beirut’s port claimed the lives of at least 171 people and injured around 6,500 others. About half the city was left damaged or destroyed, with hun ... Show More
9m 29s
Jul 2023
Women in Beirut: Rebuilding our city
In August 2020, an 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 economy going. I ... Show More
27m 22s
Sep 2020
Testing the limits of Lebanese resilience in Beirut
The Lebanese are having to marshal the strength it takes to rebuild — again. No one could have prepared the country for the August 4 explosion at Beirut's port, which killed 190 people, injured thousands, and left some 300,000 homeless. The city is coming together to get through ... Show More
22m 14s
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
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 daily ... Show More
20m 27s
Aug 2020
The Day That Shook Beirut
A mangled yellow door. Shattered glass. Blood.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 her apartm ... 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
Fascinée par le monde arabe, Apolline Convain décide de réaliser son échange universitaire à Beyrouth, la capitale du Liban. Elle veut ressentir de l’intérieur ce pays en proie à de nombreuses crises sociales, politiques et économiques. Après 6 mois en ville, elle se lance sur le ... Show More
45m 15s