On this week's episode of the podcast, Sarah El Kazaz of SOAS, University of London, joins Marc Lynch to discuss her new book, Politics in the Crevices: Urban Design and the Making of Property Markets in Cairo and Istanbul. In this transnational ethnography of neighborhoods undergoing contested rapid transformations, Sarah El Kazaz reveals how the battle for ... Show More
Apr 2025
The Revolution within (S. 14, Ep. 13)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Yasmin Moll of the University of Michigan joins Marc Lynch to discuss her new book, The Revolution Within: Islamic Media and the Struggle for a New Egypt. This book challenges conventional accounts of the 2011 revolution and its aftermath as ... Show More
45m 39s
Apr 2025
Road to October 7 (S. 14, Ep. 12)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Erik Skare of the University of Oslo joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Road to October 7: A Brief History of Palestinian Islamism. In this book, Erik Skare argues that Palestinian Islamism is far more complex and dynamic than general ... Show More
48m 41s
Mar 2025
Decentralization, Local Governance, and Inequality (S. 14, Ep. 10)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Kristen Kao and Ellen Lust of the University of Gothenburg join Marc Lynch to discuss their new book, Decentralization, Local Governance, and Inequality in the Middle East and North Africa. This book directs our attention toward the ways in ... Show More
48m 8s
Aug 2023
BASSAM HADDAD | Syria's Business Model | Conversations
What is Syria’s business model? How will the current political constriction, brain and human drain, and regional geo-politics affect the country moving forward? In this fascinating conversation with Bassam Haddad, we consider money as a mentality, Syria’s political economy, and r ... Show More
1h 1m
Sep 2023
FADI BARDAWIL | Arab Marxism, the New Left & Political Realities | Conversations
Learn about Arab Marxism, radical patriarchal politics, and Lebanon’s political economy over the last century in this conversation with professor Fadi Bardawil from Duke University. Starting with his book “Revolution and Disenchantment: Arab Marxism and the Binds of Emancipation” ... Show More
1h 6m
Dec 2022
Yahia Shawkat, "Egypt's Housing Crisis: The Shaping of Urban Space" (American U in Cairo Press, 2020)
Along with football and religion, housing is a fundamental cornerstone of Egyptian life: it can make or break marriage proposals, invigorate or slow down the economy, and popularize or embarrass a ruler. Housing is political. Almost every Egyptian ruler over the last eighty years ... Show More
30m 42s
Sep 2023
Cruel Summer: Housing, Inequality, & Injustice
Welcome to Season 7 of Pushback Talks! It's been an eventful summer, as nations worldwide grappled with the housing and climate crises, and people took to the streets to protest wealth inequality and the rapidly rising cost of living. In this highly anticipated season premie ... Show More
43m 27s
Jan 2023
Cities for the Many Not the Few
For Doreen Massey, every place poses a challenge, “the challenge of negotiating a here-and-now” – or what she called throwntogetherness. In this episode, we hear about different struggles to make cities more liveable – and more just – for the many, not the few. We discuss various ... Show More
32m 1s
Sep 2019
Elizabeth S. Kassab, "Enlightenment on the Eve of Revolution: The Egyptian and Syrian Debates" (Columbia UP, 2019)
The "Arab Spring" shook the world in 2011, revealing profound dissatisfaction throughout the Middle East and North Africa, as people throughout the region took to the streets demanding dramatic political change. The uprisings have been analyzed by scholars, journalists, and other ... Show More
59m 23s
Feb 2024
Hamza Hamouchene and Katie Sandwell, "Dismantling Green Colonialism: Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region" (Pluto Press, 2023)
Just in Time - the urgent need for a just transition in the Arab region. The newly published book Dismantling Green Colonialism: Energy and Climate justice in the Arab Region (Pluto Press, 2023) edited by Hamza Hamouchene and Katie Sandwell questions the development of sustainabl ... Show More
50m 22s