This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Christoph Reuter of Der Spiegel magazine, an award winning journalist and conflict reporter. They talk about Captagon, criminal networks, and Syria's war economy. Later, Jon continues the conversation with Natasha Hall and Lubna Yousef, and they explore the intersection between criminal networks and war zones.
Tr ... Show More
May 2025
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 2025
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 2025
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
Mar 2022
Putin’s Military Adventures, From Syria to Ukraine — with Anand Gopal and Faisal Al Yafai
<p>As Ukraine braces for a fourth week of war, Syria marks 11 years of brutal fighting. The same Russian bombs pounding Kharkiv have been continually used against Syrian cities like Idlib and Aleppo since Vladimir Putin intervened in 2015. In this podcast, Anand Gopal, award-winn ... Show More
41m 46s
Dec 2024
Jeffrey Sachs On Syria War, Putin & Israel
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, having become a staple of the disruptive discourse that is so valued on Uncensored, joins Piers Morgan yet again for a one-to-one interview on the state of the world. The most shocking development over recent days has been the rapid advance of Syrian rebe ... Show More
30 m
Jan 2025
On the Situation in Syria and its Implications for the Region
Thuraya, Angie, Mohammad, and Edward join Breht to discuss recent events in Syria. Together they discuss what happened, Syria under the Assad government, the hope and concerns of the the Syrian people, the role Syria plays in the axis of resistance, Syria's connections to Palest ... Show More
1h 34m
Apr 2021
A CIA Spy in Syria, and US Responses to Russian, Chinese and Other Adversary Hacking
This week, in the debut edition of the SpyTalk podcast, co-host Jeff Stein talks to the Washington Post’s Joby Warrick about an extraordinary CIA operation in Syria, as told in his new book, Red Line. Jeff and co-host Jeanne Meserve also discuss the Biden administration’s recent ... Show More
54m 16s
Dec 2024
12/2/24: Zelensky Caves On Territory, Syrian Rebels Take Aleppo, Stoller Debunks Andreesen On Debanking, MSNBC Scoffs At Bernie In DNC War
Krystal and Saagar discuss Zelensky caves on Ukraine war, Syrian rebels take Aleppo, Stoller debunks Andreesen on Joe Rogan, MSNBC scoffs at Bernie in DNC Chair war. To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show AD FREE, uncut and 1 hour early visit: w ... Show More
49m 52s
Dec 2024
The fall of Assad in Syria and its impact on the Middle East
Today on the show: after Syrian rebels took Damascus, Fareed is joined by Natasha Hall, senior fellow at the CSIS Middle East Program, and Karim Sadjadpour, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to discuss what the fall of Assad’s regime means for Syria ... Show More
41m 14s