In the month since Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by a coalition of rebel forces, thousands of political prisoners have been released while many more remain missing, assumed lost to the regime. The most powerful group among the rebels, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has moved to take control of the country while Israel has seized the opportuni ... Show More
Aug 16
Travel with Close Readings: Byron’s ‘Don Juan’
Few poets have had the courage (or inclination) to rhyme ‘Plato’ with ‘potato’, ‘intellectual’ with ‘hen-peck’d you all’ or ‘Acropolis’ with ‘Constantinople is’. Byron does all of these in Don Juan, his 16,000-line unfinished mock epic that presents itself as a grand satire on hu ... Show More
1h 53m
Aug 12
Amia Srinivasan: The Impossible Patient
Not for the first time, theorists of politics are turning to the unconscious and its strange workings – repression and fantasy, libido and death drive, disavowal and displacement – to understand the present conjuncture: a conjuncture of authoritarian strongmen, anti-democratic po ... Show More
1h 2m
Dec 2024
The Middle East After Assad
After rebels took Syria’s capital, President Bashar Al-Assad fled Damascus for Russia, ending his brutal 24-year reign. His ouster marks the beginning of a new, uncertain phase for a country that’s been ravaged by 13 years of civil war. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s ... Show More
15m 28s
Dec 2024
After al-Assad falls, what’s ahead for Syria?
In an 11-day offensive, Syrian opposition fighters have ended more than 50 years of Assad family rule. President Bashar al-Assad has fled to Moscow. As the Syrian people celebrate the fall of the regime, where will their country go from here? In this episode: Arwa Damon (@IamArwa ... Show More
24m 43s
Dec 2024
The Fall of Assad & What it Means for The Mid East (w/ Alastair Crooke) | The Chris Hedges Report
<p>The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, ending a 55-year dynasty begun by his father, dramatically shifts the pieces on the chessboard of the Middle East. The rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is armed and backed by Turkey and was onc ... Show More
1h 10m
Dec 2024
The End of Assad and a New Era for Syria — with Kareem Shaheen, Rasha Elass and Faisal Al Yafai
<p>In a momentous week in the history of Syria, New Lines’ Middle East Editor Kareem Shaheen and Editorial Director Rasha Elass join Faisal Al Yafai on The Lede to discuss how the Assad regime’s collapse happened so quickly, the terrible symbolism of the Sednaya prison complex an ... Show More
51m 30s
Dec 2024
Special: Syria's Post-Assad Scramble
This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Will Todman and Natasha Hall, senior fellows at the CSIS Middle East Program, for a special episode on the sudden collapse of the Assad regime and what will replace it. Together, they discuss the promise and peril of this historic mome ... Show More
27m 55s