This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a former Jordanian diplomat, and the current president and CEO of the International Peace Institute. They discuss the pursuit of human rights in a multipolar world and the role that the United Nations can play in Gaza. Then, Jon continues the ... 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
Jun 2024
Human Rights When There Are None: with Volker Türk, UN
What's it like to be the world leader of human rights at a time when it looks like they've been abandoned? Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, sits down for an eye-opening talk about "human rights economies" that value human dignity over ... Show More
39m 42s
Dec 2024
Francesca Albanese: ICC Warrant, Canada's UN Vote, Her Canada Visit & More!
Francesca Albanese joins the Palestine Debrief podcast to discuss a variety of important topics: the people who inspire her, her interview with Piers Morgan, her recent tour of Canada, the ICC arrest warrants against Israeli officials Netanyahu and Gallant, the hostility she face ... Show More
46m 51s
Jan 2024
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim, "Decolonizing Human Rights" (Cambridge UP, 2021)
In his extensive body of work, Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim challenges both historical interpretations of Islamic Sharia and neo-colonial understanding of human rights. To advance the rationale of scholarship for social change, An-Naim proposes advancing the universality of ... Show More
1h 1m
Mar 2025
Human Rights in the Trump Era: A Conversation with Kenneth Roth
In this episode of International Horizons, Kenneth Roth, former longtime executive director of Human Rights Watch, joins RBI director John Torpey to discuss Roth’s recent book, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abuse of Governments (Knopf, 2025), which re ... Show More
32m 47s
Oct 2024
An Engaging Dilemma: The Taliban’s Afghanistan, women’s rights and international diplomacy
Women in Afghanistan continue to be suppressed and marginalised by the Taliban government, with a steady stream of new laws and edicts, dictating what they can and can't do.This has alarmed and shocked human rights defenders in Afghanistan, and across the world. Also expressing t ... Show More
33m 53s
Oct 2024
A Triptych of Gaza: 365 days of tragedy and an uncertain future
It has been one year since the start of the war in Gaza. What started with an appalling crime was repaid with further crimes and relentless tragedy. This week on The New Arab Voice podcast, on the anniversary of the start of the war in Gaza, we look at three aspects: health, just ... Show More
48m 33s
Apr 30
Justice for Mahmoud Khalil: A Conversation with Dr. Noor Abdalla, wife of Mr. Khalil
In this episode, we hear from Dr. Noor Abdalla, a Syrian-American dentist and the wife of Mr. Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian student activist and legal U.S. resident who has been illegally detained by ICE since March 8, 2025, for speaking out about Palestinian rights. Mr ... Show More
23m 49s
Aug 2024
Gaza Palestine Hearing: International People's Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism
The International People’s Tribunal on US Imperialism: Sanctions, Blockades and Economic Coercive Measures condemns the Israeli assassination of Yasser Adnan Ibrahim al-Derawi, 31 year old attorney from Gaza, Palestine. He served as an expert witness in our Gaza hearing on May 13 ... Show More
1h 55m