Podcast
A Portal to Another World: Translating Early Arabic Poetry — With James Montgomery
James Montgomery, Sir Thomas Adams's professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge, tells New Lines’ Lydia Wilson how the early Arabic hunting poetry in his latest book is a portal into another world, on this week’s episode of The Lede.
Rethinking Nasser: A New Look at One of the Arab World’s Most Polarizing Figures — With Alex Rowell
Is the legacy of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser due for a rethink? New Lines’ Online Editor Alex Rowell thinks so. On this week’s episode of The Lede he discusses his new book, “We Are Your Soldiers: How Gamal Abdel Nasser Remade the Arab World.”
Democracy and Controversy in the World’s Largest Elections — With Surbhi Gupta
In a year of elections across the globe, none will be bigger in scale than that in India, where nearly 1 billion people are eligible to vote. “In the seven decades since India got its independence, democracy has been its identity,” Surbhi Gupta tells Kwangu Liwewe on The Lede. But with elections coming up in April, Gupta and Liwewe explore whether that commitment to democracy is as strong as it once was.
In the Firing Line — With Joumana Haddad and Faisal Al Yafai
“War changes you. It doesn’t necessarily make you a tougher person or a better person or a worse person, but it is a training on the art of dying.” Lebanese author Joumana Haddad tells New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai about the events that shaped her insistence on living a political life.
One Day on TV: Israel’s Media War — With Laliv Melamed
Laliv Melamed discusses her book “Sovereign Intimacy” with New Lines’ Lisa Goldman, looking into how home movies about fallen soldiers have helped shape the narrative about Israel’s ongoing occupation and war in Gaza.
Women, Life, Freedom: Iran’s Protest Movement Today — With Arash Azizi
The 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran wasn’t able to change the government, Arash Azizi tells New Lines’ Danny Postel on The Lede, “but I think the movement really opened up questions of political change and the political future of the Islamic Republic in an unprecedented way. … It certainly made a mark on Iranian political history, and it will definitely color all future attempts for change.”
A Century After the End of the Ottoman Caliphate — With Ryan Gingeras
“If you dive deeper into everyday life in various parts of the former Ottoman world, elements of that culture endure. You can see it in the language, you see it in the cuisine. You see it to some degree in communal relations. It’s still very much with us.” Ryan Gingeras talks to New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai about the end of the Ottoman Empire on The Lede.