A Yemeni Maestro’s Mission To Reinvent His Country’s Music
A Yemeni maestro is giving his country’s music a second life, blending folk songs from Hadramawt province with Western orchestras to create something entirely new.
The Cooperative in Tartus Bridging Syria’s Divides
A cluster of abandoned military barracks outside Tartus, Syria, has become an unlikely experiment in communal survival and coexistence. Led by veteran Marxist organizer Suleiman “Kastro” Dakdouk, the Solidarity Fields co-op helps displaced families produce food, earn an income and live side by side across sectarian lines.
How Power Hides Itself
Murtaza Hussain and Lynzy Billing join Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast for a discussion on power and accountability.
Syria’s New Order Is Not As Fragile As It Seems
The people now running Syria didn’t just replace Assad — they inherited the revolutionary energy that toppled him. That’s what makes the country’s new order both resilient and paranoid.
The Unruly History That Weighs on the New Syria
The challenges facing Syria today are connected to three previous beginnings: the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, independence in 1946 after World War II and the fall of European colonial empires, and the birth of Hafez al-Assad’s regime in 1970.