Geographic labels are sometimes misnomers. The Dead Sea’s name is not, for the most part. Its high salinity levels kill most forms of life, barring a couple hardy microbes and algae—and even these are threatened by environmental change.
Except the Dead Sea has been part of human history for millennia. Jericho, the world’s oldest city, sits nearby. It feature ... Show More
Nov 22
Faisal Devji, "Waning Crescent: The Rise and Fall of Global Islam" (Yale UP, 2025)
Faisal Devji's Waning Crescent: The Rise and Fall of Global Islam (Yale UP, 2025) is a compelling examination of the rise of Islam as a global historical actor. Until the nineteenth century, Islam was variously understood as a set of beliefs and practices. But after Muslims began ... Show More
1h 4m
Nov 21
Killian Clarke, "Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
Why do some revolutions fail and succumb to counterrevolutions, whereas others go on to establish durable rule?
Marshalling original data on counterrevolutions worldwide since 1900 and new evidence from the reversal of Egypt's 2011 revolution, in Return of Tyranny: Why Counterre ... Show More
1h 5m
Nov 14
Basit Kareem Iqbal, "The Dread Heights: Tribulation and Refuge after the Syrian Revolution" (Fordham UP, 2025)
Basit Kareem Iqbal's new book The Dread Heights: Tribulation and Refuge after the Syrian Revolution (Fordham UP, 2025) uses ethnographic scenes from Jordan and Canada to contextualize the role of Muslim charities and community organizations that support displaced refugees from t ... Show More
1h 16m
Jun 2025
The New Arab Events: Palestine in a World on Fire
What does it mean to stand with Palestine in a world on fire?In this special live episode, recorded at Reference Point in London, Benjamin Ashraf of The New Arab chairs a powerful conversation with historian Ilan Pappé, scholar Katherine Natanel, and legal academic Nadine El-Enan ... Show More
1h 26m
Oct 2024
Mahmoud Muna and Matthew Teller, "Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture" (Saqi Books, 2024)
This is Gaza – a place of humanity and creativity, rich in culture and industry. A place now utterly devastated, its entire population displaced by a seemingly endless onslaught, its heritage destroyed.
Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture (Saqi Books, 2024) ... Show More
1h 19m
Aug 19
It's One of the Most Ancient Cities on the Planet, Gaza (Conversation Re-Air, w/ Dr Chance Bonar)
The Western World is ready to sit back and watch as one of the oldest cities, in one of the most historical rich countries on the planet, is wiped off the face of the earth. The people of Gaza, and Palestine, are stewards of their land and have been since long, long before the 'W ... Show More
1h 46m
Sep 2024
Ghada Karmi | I Returned to My Stolen Home in Palestine
Palestinian doctor, scholar and research fellow Ghada Karmi offers powerful, truthful and hard-hitting words on Palestine's past, present and future. She sheds light on a common experience amongst Palestinian diaspora: that of blocked memories, suppressed as a result of trauma. S ... Show More
52m 7s
Feb 2025
Season 4, Episode 5: Eugene Rogan, The Arabs: A History
Send us a textJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Eugene Rogan, professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at Oxford, as they delve into the complex history of the Arab world, from the Ottoman conquest in 1516 to today’s geopolitical crises of the modern Middle East. Throu ... Show More
52m 39s
Oct 21
Bonus: The Global Story - A Gazan journalist's diary
Reporting on the war in Gaza has only been possible because of the work of Palestinian journalists, because the Israeli government will not let foreign broadcasters – including the BBC – inside the territory to report freely, even now a ceasefire is in place. One month ago, freel ... Show More
27m 18s