This podcast takes you to several cities/countries affected by Covid-19 to discuss social, economic, and political challenges facing their societies, with emphasis on the most vulnerable groups and on what this pandemic reveals about the human condition (wow, big phrase). Based on personal and incisive conversations with various interlocutors on location, we hope both to learn from others and to provide some solace as we address how we are collectively experiencing and dealing with similar challenges.

We will be speaking with our guests, one or several at a time, via Skype, and will try to have brief, informative, and non-draining calls within 20-30 minutes.

Hosted by Noura Erakat and Bassam Haddad
Research by Naim Mousa
Production Set by Khalid Namez 
Edited by Alicia Rodriguez

Politics in the Time of Corona

This issue of Status Hour Audio Magazine is brought to you by The Arab Studies Institute.

For more information, please visit our official website - www.statushour.com

Status Audio Magazine - Issue 4.2 - Winter 2017

These program episodes were featured in Issue 4.2 of Status Audio Magazine, a production of the Arab Studies Institute.

For more information, please visit our official website - www.statushour.com

Status Hour Audio Magazine - Issue 4.2, Programs - Winter 2017

Issue 5.1 of Status Audio Magazine is brought to you by the Arab Studies Institute. 

For more information, visit our official website - www.statushour.com

Status Audio Magazine - Issue 5.1 - April 2018

In this episode, Huma Gupta speaks with Rawan Maki about fast fashion and the question of sustainability in Bahrain and beyond. They explore the past, present, and speculative futures of the fashion industry. Maki traces the life-cycle of the clothing we wear everyday, mapping its geographies from the crops and petroleum necessary to produce organic and synthetic fibers, the individuals who farm, weave, and sew the garments to shipping, distribution, tailoring and purchasing networks. Since fast fashion is a leading contributor to pollution, resource depletion, and climate change, this episode evaluates the promise of alternative frameworks like "slow fashion" and the social, psychological, and artistic shifts that it requires.

Fast Fashion & Sustainability in Bahrain

A year after the blast in the port of Beirut, Lebanon sinks into a severe economic crisis which the World Bank ranks in the top 10, and possibly top 3, most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century. Electricity, gas and even medicine are in short supply in the country. Angry residents wait in line for hours to fill their car tanks while others lucky enough to be able to connect to the internet run online campaigns asking Lebanese expats visiting the country for the summer, to bring with them the much needed medicines for loved ones. 

How did the blast from the Beirut port exacerbate the current economic and political crisis in the country and what's life like today for millions of Lebanese people and for the victims of the port blast and their families?

VOMENA Host Mira Nabulsi speaks with Lara Bitar, the editor in chief of The Public Source, a Beirut-based independent media organization dedicated to long-form and in-depth journalism in the public interest.

Lebanon, A Year After the Port Explosion

Host Osama Esber speaks to the Syrian poet Akram Alkatreb from Salamiah, Syria, about his poetry collections and life in the USA.

Akram Alkatreb was born and raised in Salamiah, Syria;a city renowned for its poets. He attended the University of Damascus, graduating with a degree in law. Alkatreb has worked as an art critic and journalist since1996 ,contributing to many major Arabic publications. He has published six poetry collections, and one in Spanish. He has participated in many poetry festivals in USA and around the world. He lives in America since 2001.

حول الأمكنة والذاكرة والقصيدة  - حديث مع الشاعر السوري المقيم في أمريكا أكرم قطريب

In this episode our host, Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer talks with Siddeeqah Sharif Fichman an Afro-Native Muslim and community advocate and Hazel Gómez, a faith-based community organizer, about Being Muslim on Turtle Island. This deep discussion digs into questions such as What would make a Muslim a settler or indigenous to North America? How might settler thinking shape how we live as Muslims today? What are the responsibilities of Muslims, as a whole, to the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas?

During the conversation, Hazel reads the poem “Child of the Americas” by Aurora Levins Morales (shared below) and Siddeqah introduces us to the song “Bilalian Man” by Sister Khalifah Abdul Rahman.* To the question, if Black Islam had a theme song what would it be? Hazel chose “Allah” by Khalil Ismail and Siddeeqah chose “Bilalian Man” as her Black Muslim theme song. The song excerpt in the episode is sung by Siddeeqah’s mother, Sister Sabreen Sharif and full lyrics are below. Not sure what Bilalian means? Check out this article by Precious Rasheeda Muhammad. Also be sure to check out the music of Afro-Native Muslim performing artist Maimouna Youseff (Mumu Fresh).

*Siddeeqah misspoke in the episode and this particular song is by Sister Khalifah Abdul Rahman.
Bilalian Man
By Khalifah Abdur Rahman

Bilalian Man
You were a man without a name
but your God loved you just the same
as other men.
You stood for many nations tall
your perseverance proves it all
you’ll live again.
How could you, after all you’ve been through, want to give up right now?
Just submit, give your will to Allah, and let him show you how
to live right now.

Bilalian Man
So take the blinders from your eyes
the truth is better than a lie
the way is clear.
This is a light of our new day
I want to help you find your way
I’ll be right here.
You’re a king, Oh Bilalian man
This is your day to shine.
And I am your Queen, Oh Bilalian man
leave that old world behind.
Free your mind!

Bilalian Man
I’m trying hard to make you see
the truth will only set you free
to come alive.
Whenever you become aware
you’ll find your heaven waiting there
right by your side
You’re a king, O Bilalian man
This is your day to shine.
And I am your Queen, Oh Bilalian man
Leave that old world behind
Free your mind!
Free your mind!
Free your mind!
Free your mind!

Child of the Americas
by Aurora Levins Morales

I am a child of the Americas,
a light-skinned mestiza of the Caribbean,
a child of many diaspora, born into this continent at a crossroads.
I am a U.S. Puerto Rican Jew,
a product of the ghettos of New York I have never known.
An immigrant and the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants.
I speak English with passion: it’s the tongue of my consciousness,
a flashing knife blade of crystal, my tool, my craft.

I am Caribeña, island grown. Spanish is my flesh,
Ripples from my tongue, lodges in my hips:
the language of garlic and mangoes,
the singing of poetry, the flying gestures of my hands.
I am of Latinoamerica, rooted in the history of my continent:
I speak from that body.

I am not African. Africa is in me, but I cannot return.
I am not taína. Taíno is in me, but there is no way back.
I am not European. Europe lives in me, but I have no home there.
I am new. History made me. My first language was spanglish.
I was born at the crossroads and I am whole.

On the Square theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats.

Artwork was created by Scheme of Things Graphics.

---

Courtesy of Maydan Podcast.

On The Square EP1 - Being Muslim on Turtle Island

In October 2021, a military coup took place in the Sudan, barely two years after a popular uprising forced the removal of dictator, Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled the country for 30 years with an iron grip with the support of the military and Sudanese Islamists.

The 2019 protest movement was not able to exclude the military from national politics entirely. In August of that year, a power sharing arrangement was reached among the military leaders, a coalition of groups and organizations called the Forces for Freedom and Change and a joint ruling body, named the sovereign Council, which was established to govern the Sudan for a little over three years until elections could be held.

Following October's overthrow, coup leader Gen Burhan declared the dissolution of the Sovereign Council as well as that of the transitional government of Prime Minister Hamdok. Meanwhile, across the Sudan, millions of people have engaged in protests, acts of civil disobedience and strikes to denounce the military’s power grab at the peril of their lives.

GUESTS
Khalid Medani is an associate professor of political science and Islamic studies at McGill University and author of the new book Black Markets and Militants: Informal Networks in the Middle East and Africa. In this book, Khalid Mustafa Medani explains why youth are attracted to militant organizations, examining the specific role economic globalization, in the form of outmigration and expatriate remittance inflows, plays in determining how and why militant activists emerge. The study challenges existing accounts that rely primarily on ideology to explain militant recruitment. Based on extensive fieldwork, Medani offers an in-depth analysis of the impact of globalization, neoliberal reforms and informal economic networks as a conduit for the rise and evolution of moderate and militant Islamist movement

Elsadig Elsheikh is the Director of the Global Justice Program at the Othering & Belonging Institute, where he oversees the program’s projects on corporate power, food systems, forced migration, inclusiveness index, Islamophobia, and human rights mechanisms; and manages the Shahidi Project, and the Nile Project.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

The Military Coup in Sudan - Part 2

نستضيف في هذه الحلقة الفنانة والكاتبة المصرية دينا محمد، لنتحدث باستفاضة عن روايتها المصوّرة «شبّيك لبيك»، بالإضافة إلى سوق إنتاج الكومكس والقصص المصوّرة في الوطن العربي، وأهمّ تيّارات هذا المجال.

بودكاست «رفوف» يُعنى بالإنتاج الأدبي والفكري باللغة العربية، إذ نستضيف في كل حلقة كتّابًا ومترجمين قدّموا أعمالًا جديدة لنتناقش حولها، بالإضافة إلى الحديث عن مسيرتهم الإبداعية عمومًا.

بودكاست «رفوف» من إنتاج جدلية.

تابعوا جدلية على:

تويتر: https://twitter.com/jadaliyya

انستغرام: https://www.instagram.com/jadaliyya

الموقع: https://www.jadaliyya.com/

بودكاست «رفوف»: لقاء مع دينا محمد

يحدثنا كاتب الأغاني ومغني الراب وعازف الإيقاع والمنتج الفلسطيني / الأردني المعروف باسم فرعي المداخل عن موجة الانتفاضات العربية في عام 2011  وكيف خلقت أصواتًا جديدة وألحان موسيقية أصبحت أنواعًا موسيقية كانت غير مألوفة وصارت مرغوبة ثابتة. في هذه المقابلة المكونة من جزأين ، تحدثنا مع الفرعي حول العوامل التي جعلت هذه الأعمال الموسيقية الجديدة تجارب فردية وجماعية تشمل العالم العربي بأسره وما وراءه.

Palestinian/Jordanian songwriter, rapper, drummer, and producer known as Far3i talks about how the wave of Arab uprisings in 2011 brought with it new sounds and musical novelties that became fixed music genres. In this two part interview we talk with Far3i about how these new musical acts became individual and collective experiences encompassing the whole Arab world and beyond.

عنوان الجزء الثاني: 47 سول, شام ستيب, والفكر العربي الإسلامي

يحدثنا كاتب الأغاني ومغني الراب وعازف الإيقاع والمنتج الفلسطيني / الأردني المعروف باسم فرعي المداخل عن موجة الانتفاضات العربية في عام 2011  وكيف خلقت أصواتًا جديدة وألحان موسيقية أصبحت أنواعًا موسيقية كانت غير مألوفة وصارت مرغوبة ثابتة. في هذه المقابلة المكونة من جزأين ، تحدثنا مع الفرعي حول العوامل التي جعلت هذه الأعمال الموسيقية الجديدة تجارب فردية وجماعية تشمل العالم العربي بأسره وما وراءه.


Palestinian/Jordanian songwriter, rapper, drummer, and producer known as Far3i talks about how the wave of Arab uprisings in 2011 brought with it new sounds and musical novelties that became fixed music genres. In this two part interview we talk with Far3i about how these new musical acts became individual and collective experiences encompassing the whole Arab world and beyond.

عنوان الجزء الأول: الانتفاضات العربية: أنواع موسيقية جديدة

Georgetown University graduate student Nooran Alhamdan speaks with three Palestinian American students - Omar Zahzah, Rasha Anayah, and Yasmeen Mashayekh - who have been targets of rightwing Zionists blacklists and their affiliated websites to discuss this growing problem of free speech, digital rights, and academic freedom.

Decolonizing the Digital: Weaponization and Reclamation of Online Spaces in the Palestinian Context

In this podcast, Georgetown University graduate student Aisha Jitan speaks with Palestinian psychiatrist, psychotherapist and writer Dr. Samah Jabr on the subject of mental health in Gaza while challenging Western ideas of how trauma is held and carried in one's body. By drawing upon her experiences as a health care practitioner, the director of the mental health unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and a trainer of mental health professionals in Gaza, Dr. Jabr sheds light upon the deep-rooted effects of living under Israeli occupation and in the case of Gaza, siege. Dr. Jabr's insights are useful for application beyond the case of Palestine, as she radically challenges notions of how mental health ought to be treated under conditions of injustice and oppression and how healing work can be used toward the liberation of a people.

Guest Bio
Dr. Samah Jabr is a Palestinian Jerusalemite psychiatrist, psychotherapist and writer. Since 2016, she has been Chair of the Mental Health Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and has written columns about the psychological consequences of the Israeli occupation in Palestine since the 2000s. Inspired by anticolonial psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, her areas of interest include mental health, colonialism and universal human rights.

Siha wa Sumoud (Health and steadfastness): Reconceptualizing Mental Health in the Context of Gaza

شاعر من العراق، فاز بجائزة يوسف الخال للشعر سنة ١٩٨٨ وأصدر أكثر من عشر مجموعات شعرية كان آخرها سادن الحبر، كما أطلق وحرر مجلة ملامح للشعر والنقد، وكتب في النقد الأدبي والمقالة الصحفية وشعر الأطفال.

حوار مع الشاعر العراقي باسم المرعبي

VOMENA host Malihe Razazan speaks with Haideh Moghissi, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at York University in Toronto, about the ongoing protests in Iran.

--

Professor Haideh Moghissi's publications include articles in refereed journals and chapters in edited volumes and following books: Muslim Diaspora, Gender, Culture and Identity (ed.) London: Routledge (2006) Three volume Women and Islam:Critical Concepts in Sociology (ed.) London: Routledge (2005); Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism: The Limits of Postmodern Analysis, London: Oxford University Press 2000 (Zed Press, 1999, winner of Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award) and Populism and Feminism in Iran :Women's Struggle in a Male-Defined Revolutionary Movement, London: Macmillan Press; New York: St.Martin's Press (1994.). She has served as Coordinator, Certificate for Anti-Racist Research and Practice (CARRP) and Chair of the Executive Committee of Centre for Feminist Research at York University and also as a member of the executive committee of the Centre for Refugee Studies. She has served as a commentator on Iran and women in the Middle East on BBC World Service, CBC, Radio France, and Voice of America, and on the Editorial/Advisory Boards of Journal of Comparative Public Policy, the Rutledge Women and Politics Series, Resources for Feminist Research , and Women in Struggle and Equality (Tehran). Presently she is the director of an international comparative research project, “Diaspora, Islam and Gender”, that is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) and the co-principle investigator of a Ford Foundation research project, “Muslim diasporas: Heightened Islamic identity, gender, and cultural resistance.”

Women, Life, Freedom: Women lead protests in Iran

رقصة الهلع (Raksat Al-Hala)

كله بيعرف (Kilo Byarif)

Shahram Aghamir speaks with Nima Tootkaboni, who led an organization called Students for Equality and Freedom in Iran during the 2000s, about the current situation in Iran and how it compares to his experiences in the past. Nima Tootkaboni is a former student activist and a Ph.D. student in sociology at the Johns Hopkins University. 

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

Examining the current protest movement in Iran

The 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq resulted in massive death and destruction, and fueled sectarian tensions, which culminated in a violent civil war. More than 300,000 Iraqis have died from direct war violence and 9.2 million people have been internally displaced, according to Brown University's Costs of War Project.

The brutal invasion and occupation of Iraq entrenched the country in a cycle of sectarian violence and impacted every aspect of life in Iraq, from governance to health care, infrastructure, economy and the environment and long term trauma

In a recent piece in the Guardian, one of today’s guests Professor Sinan Antoon writes, “I had always hoped to see the end of Saddam’s dictatorship at the hands of the Iraqi people, not courtesy of a neocolonial project that would dismantle what had remained of the Iraqi state and replace it with a regime based on ethno-sectarian dynamics, plunging the country into violent chaos and civil wars."

This week, we bring you the first part of our conversation about the reasons behind the catastrophic invasion of Iraq.

Host: Shahram Aghamir

Guests:
Sinan Antoon is an award winning Iraqi poet and novelist, and an Associate Professor at New York University's Gallatin School and co-founder and co-editor of Jadaliyya. His most recent novel is The Book of Collateral Damage

Dr. Omar Sirri is a research associate in the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS, University of London. His doctoral dissertation, Scarecrows of the State: An Ethnography of Security Checkpoints in Contemporary Baghdad, was named co-winner of the 2022 Malcolm H. Kerr Dissertation Award in the Social Sciences from the Middle East Studies Association.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa.

Why did the U.S. invade Iraq twenty years ago? A conversation with Sinan Antoon & Omar Sirri

Even by Israel’s abysmal standards, provocations against the people of Palestine have seen a dramatic escalation since the arrival of Bibi Netanyahu’s new government three months ago: hundreds of innocent civilians murdered, including many children, an outright anti-Palestinian pogrom in the West Bank that was cheered on by the minister of interior, a brutal attack on worshippers inside one of Islam’s holy sites in the middle of Ramadan, as well as statements by a key government official declaring that the Palestinian people simply does not exist.

At the same time, a historic wave of protests contesting the new government’s attempts to temper with the role of the judiciary claims to defend democracy in the holy land without a single mention of the central question of Palestinian civil and human rights. We asked asked prominent Israeli historian Ilan Pappé for his take on these recent developments.

Host: Malihe Razazan & Khalil Bendib

Guest: 
Professor Pappé obtained his BA degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1979 and the D. Phil from the University of Oxford in 1984.
He founded and directed the Academic Institute for Peace in Givat Haviva, Israel between 1992 to 2000 and was the Chair of the Emil Tuma Institute for Palestine Studies in Haifa between 2000 and 2006.
Professor Pappé was a senior lecturer in the department of Middle Eastern History and the Department of Political Science in Haifa University, Israel between 1984 and 2006.

He was appointed as chair in the department of History in the Cornwall Campus, 2007-2009 and became a fellow of the IAIS in 2010.
His research focuses on the modern Middle East and in particular the history of Israel and Palestine. He has also written on multiculturalism, Critical Discourse Analysis and on Power and Knowledge in general.

 

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa.

Ilan Pappé on the Latest Developments in Israel

In recent months, Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia-based Almarai dairy company has been getting renewed attention for growing alfalfa in drought-prone Arizona, and sending it to Saudi Arabia to feed the country’s cows.

Despite a worsening drought, several factors including political influence and lack of regulations have allowed the company to draw an unlimited amount of groundwater from the wells it operates in the area.

According to the Associated Press, the two new wells would have pumped in just three minutes what a family of four uses in a month.
Why did Saudi Arabia choose Arizona for its crop production?

In her new book "Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arabia and Arizona" (University of Syracuse), political geographer Professor Natalie Koch explores the exchange of colonial technologies between the Arabian Peninsula and the United States over the last two centuries. She spoke with Malihe Razazan.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).

Prof. Natalie Koch explores the relationship between Arizona and Saudi Arabia in "Arid Empire"

We are announcing the launch of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular program available on video or audio that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments. 
 
The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem `Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program will address key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

We will present the analysis component during the last 5 minutes of the program. It will take stock of the developments presented both for the immediate moment and the broader trajectory of the struggle for Palestinian liberation. 

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

The War on Palestine - Episode 1

This is Episode 2 (dated 31 October 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments. 
 
The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

The War on Palestine - Episode 2

This is Episode 3 (dated 3 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

The War on Palestine - Episode 3

This is Episode 4 (dated 7 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

The War on Palestine - Episode 4

This is Episode 5 (dated 12 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

The War on Palestine - Episode 5

This is Episode 6 (dated 16 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

The War on Palestine - Episode 6

This is Episode 7 (dated 21 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

The War on Palestine - Episode 7

This is Episode 8 (dated 26 November 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

The War on Palestine - Episode 8

This is Episode 9 (dated 3 December 2023) of The War on Palestine Podcast, an approximately 20-minute regular audio program that comprises updates on what is happening on the ground in Palestine as well as some focused analysis on how to make sense of those developments.

The podcast features Noura Erakat, Ziad Abu-Rish, and Bassam Haddad. Research for this program was conducted by Mayss al-Alami, Sarah al-Yahya, Anas Alkhatib, Raneem Ayyad, and Alaa Attiah Mitwali.

The update component of the program addresses key developments in a combination of the following areas:

Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
The United Nations and legal advocacy.
Regional state’s policies and statements
The US media landscape
Grassroots reverberations and mobilizations

This program is meant to be a resource for educators, activists, researchers, and laypersons wanting to follow closely as the catastrophic situation continues to unfold.

The War on Palestine - Episode 9

Interviewed by Moe Ali Nayel
27 August 2015 | English
Hana Slieman takes Status deep below the American University in Beirut building where a vast archive is housed, keeping Palestinian memory alive. 

Part 3, Inside the Operations Room with the Team Digitizing Archives - Hana Slieman [English]

Independent Iraqi musician and singer 
Interviewed by Dima Yassine
30 January 2016| Arabic
Independent Iraqi musician and singer Nova Emad talking about how she's using her fusion music as a power to transcend social fragmentation.

"Iraqi Underground Music, Part 2: From Nostalgia to the Reality of War" - Nova Emad [Arabic]

History Dept. Chair at the American University in Cairo and Visiting Professor at Harvard University 
Interviewed by Ali El Raggal
4 December 2015 | Arabic
On revolutions in Egypt

"Counterrevolution in Egypt: The Role of Fear & Predominance of Security Forces" - Khalid Fahmy

Internationally Syndicated Political Columnist and Author
Interviewed by Moe Ali Nayel
30 October 2015 |  Arabic
Exploring an initiative that aims to enable human contributes to the process of the advancement of society.
This interview is part of the Refugees and Migrants Project: Lebanon Workshop.

"Why Bombing ISIS is not a Solution" with Rami Khouri [English]

Musician and Vocalist
Hosted by Paola Messina  
22 March 2017| English
The night before kicking off the tour for her latest album, the Lebanese singer shared glimpses of her past, news of the present, and hopes for the future

Interviews

"Music, Memory, Home: Yasmine Hamdan’s Journey to Al-Jamilat" with Yasmine Hamdan [English]

Lecturer, Birzeit University
Interviewed by Diaa Ali
22 September 2016 | Arabic
On Silmi’s PhD dissertation on writing as liberatory action
in the writings of Ghassan Kanafani and Aime Cesaire.

"Writing as an Act of Liberation (الكتابة فعلاً تحررياً)" with Amira Silmi [Arabic]

Dr.  Hussam Jefee-Bahloul is a Syrian poet and psychiatrist currently working in the United States.  He has published two poetry collections, "The Opener of Canned Hope" (Damascus, 2008) and "Birds that Smoke Marijuana" (Milan, 2017).

Interviewed by Osama Esber

May 1, 2017 | Arabic

In this episode of "In Their Own Voices", Status host Osama Esber speaks with Dr. Hussam Jefee-Bahloul about his work as a poet and how his experiences in psychiatry inform his art.

Poetry in the Face of Disintegration and the Absurd [Arabic]

Dr. Hussam Jefee-Bahloul is a Syrian psychiatrist and poet currently working in the United States. 

Interviewed by Osama Esber

September 23, 2017 | Arabic

Status host Osama Esber speaks with Dr. Hussam Jefee-Bahloul about the psychological effects of the Syrian war on women and children.

The Psychological Effects of the Syrian War [Arabic]

Sabiha Allouche is a PhD candidate in Gender Studies and a Senior/Teaching Fellow in Gender in the Middle East, and Gender and Sexuality in the Middle East at SOAS University of London.

Interviewed by Katty Alhayek
October 17, 2017 | English

Status host Katty Alhayek speaks with Sabiha Allouche about her article "(Dis)-Intersecting Intersectionality in the Time of Queer Syrian Refugee-ness in Lebanon" that was published in the Summer issue of Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research.

Intersectionality & Queer Syrian Refugee-ness in Lebanon [English]

Helena Jonsdottir and Jinane Saad are the Mental Health Activity Manager and Field Communications Manager for Médecins Sans Frontières in Lebanon, respectively. 

Interviewed by Mohamad-Ali Nayel 
September 29th, 2017 | English

Status host Mohamad-Ali Nayel speaks with Helena Jonsdottir and Jinane Saad about the initiatives, challenges and successes of MSF's mental health assistance to Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Status 4.2

On the Mental Health Situation of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

Yerevan Hassan is the Learning Center Manager at Basmeh & Zeitooneh, a Lebanese NGO for relief and development. 

Basmeh and Zeitooneh has established a Learning Center in Shatila refugee camp for Syrian students between the ages of five and fifteen. It was designed specifically for those students whose education was disrupted by the conflict, and who are not able to enroll in Lebanese public schools. The Learning Center is serving now over 700 students and is the only educational program of its scale available for Syrian children in Shatila refugee camp.

Interviewed by Mohamad-Ali Nayel
September 26th, 2017 | Arabic

Status host Mohamad-Ali Nayel speaks with Yerevan Hassan about Basmeh and Zeitooneh's educational initiatives in the Shatila refugee camp.

Status

التعليم غير الرسمي للتلاميذ السوريين في لبنان

Diya Azzony is a Saudi Arabian jazz and rock fusion guitarist and founder of record label Libra Productions.

Abdullah Filfilan is a saxophonist and collaborator of Azzony's in the band Hejazz.

Interviewed by Paola Messina
April 5th, 2017| English

In this episode of Status's "The Indie and Alt-Music Scene in the Arab World", Diya Azzony and Abdullah Filfilan share their thoughts on the current state of the independent music scene in Saudi Arabia.

The Fusion Factor and Other Developments in Saudi's Indie Music Scene

In this lecture, Mouin Rabbani examines the present crisis of the Palestinian national movement in terms of its various domestic dimensions as well as external challenges. Rabbani offers a discussion of the prospects for Palestinian national reconciliation, the potential for renewed conflict with Israel, and analysis of President Trump's declared objective of pursuing "the ultimate deal.” The crises of both Fatah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority will be examined, particularly in light of recent initiatives to achieve agreements between rival Palestinian factions.

Mouin Rabbani is an independent analyst, commentator, and researcher specializing in the contemporary Middle East. He has previously served as Principal Political Affairs Officer with the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Head of Middle East with Crisis Management Initiative/Martti Ahtisaari Centre, Senior Middle East Analyst and Special Advisor on Israel-Palestine with the International Crisis Group. He is Senior Fellow with the Institute for Palestine Studies, Co-Editor of Jadaliyya, Contributing Editor of Middle East Report, Associate Fellow of the European Council on Foreign Relations, and Policy Advisor to Al-Shabaka - The Palestinian Policy Network. A graduate of Tufts University and Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Rabbani has published, presented, and commented widely on Middle East issues, including for a variety of major print, television, and digital media.

Sponsored by Middle East and Islamic Studies and Arab Studies Institute. Co-Sponsored by Schar School of Policy and Government, Center for Global Islamic Studies, Global Affairs, Middle East Policy Group, History Department.

Palestine: Anatomy of an Abyss

Dr. Nahid Siamdoust is the author of “Soundtrack of the Revolution:The Politics of Music in Iran”.

Interviewed by Malihe Razazan
(English)

Status host Malihe spoke with Dr. Siamdoust about her work and some of the most important songs that continue to define modern Iran.

Politics of Music In Iran

Muna Dajani is a Policy member of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy
Network, and a Palestinian environmental researcher.

Climate Change and Water Rights in Palestine

A young filmmaker investigates the legend of 'Manivelle', an automaton gifted to Lebanon in 1945 that still haunts an abandoned mansion in Beirut. After being coaxed back into the limelight, the people who knew him come forward to speak out and the myth that 'Manivelle' has constructed around himself starts to unravel.

This is the synopsis of "The Last Days of the Man of Tomorrow" (آخر أيّام رجل الغَد). Status Host Paola Messina sat down with Fadi Baki in his home in Beirut to talk about the making of the film, its protagonist (Manivelle), and the many meanings his story may present to audiences in Lebanon and around the world.

March 19th, 2018 | English
Interviewed by Paola C. Messina

"The Last Days of the Man of Tomorrow": Lebanon's 'Chaos Fiction' Film

Circa 2012, a refurbished house in the Beiruti neighborhood of Ras El Nabeh became a space for practitioners and lovers of the visual arts. A collective - of those looking to practice, connect and exchange experiences on everything from printmaking to animation - was formed.

David Habchy, one of the founders of the NGO and a Lebanese multimedia artist, describes WARAQ as a space that allows for a deeper experimentation of artistic processes and a challenge to the idea of the artist as an isolated maker.

In this conversation, which took place at the headquarters of WARAQ in Beirut, David also speaks to his own interests as an artist and experiences up to this point in his career as a multimedia artist.

February 20th, 2018 | English
Interviewed by Paola C. Messina

Music in this episode by Ollie North "Arabesque I".

Waraq: A Home for the Arts on Fountain of Yoghurt Street

لقاء مع الفنانة التشكيلية السورية عتاب حريب المقيمة في اميريكا, يتناول اللقاء مجموعة اسئلة عن الوطن والمنفى, عن رحلة البحث عن الحرية داخل وخارج الوطن. تحدثنا عتاب عن تجربتها الخاصة في سوريا واميريكا, عن الاحلام و الخذلان. يتطرق الحوار أيضا الى سياسات ادارة الرئيس الاميريكي ترامب تجاه الاجئين و الاثر الذي تركته هذه السياسيات في حياة عتاب و حياة السوريين بشكل عام.

March 8th, 2018 | Arabic
Interviewed by Raghad Almakhlouf

Music in this episode by Ollie North "Arabesque I".

ٍSyrian Art in American Exile and The Quest for Freedom [AR]

Meet Lebanese composer, producer and guitarist for the band Kinematik, Anthony Sahyoun or Mme Chandelier. Rather, Anthony Sahyoun with Mme Chandelier. The two are interchangeable - the same person, yet two sides to the same coin.

February 22nd, 2018 | English
Interviewed by Paola C. Messina

Skipping Words & Returning Melodies with Mme Chandelier

A well-known figure in the tight-knit Beirut music scene is Fadi Tabbal - a Lebanese-born musician, band manager and engineer who founded Tunefork Recording Studios in Burj Hammoud. In this conversation, Fadi speaks of his decision to return to Beirut after studying in Canada, current projects, and his hopes for the future of the city's music scene. 

February 22nd, 2018 | English
Interviewed by Paola C. Messina

A Jack of All Trades in Beirut's Independent Music Scene

Status host Omar Shanti traces Raï throughout its history from its inception in the 1930’s until the early 2000’s. This podcast episode will analyze Raï not as a strictly musical phenomenon, but as a vehicle for articulating and embodying complex narratives. In the tradition of Schade-Poulsen (1999), it will treat Raï as a total social fact defined by the situated practices of performance and listening - which in the age of records also translate to production and consumption. 

This approach allows one to read history through Raï precisely as one reads Raï through history. To facilitate this reflection, the podcast contextualizes Raï’s history against its relevant social, political, and cultural backdrops. Where appropriate, it theorizes these developments, drawing off of post-colonial, sociological, and anthropological repertoires. It also incorporates musical excerpts and snippets of lyrics to color the analysis.

By orienting its analysis on a genre, this podcast emphasizes the sociocultural continuities that link time and space. It offers an important counterweight to the historiography that is grounded in formal politics and that draws from its ideological economy of borders and rupture. Moreover, it dismantles the methodological nationalism of these approaches by focusing on social agents rather than reified state actors. In studying Raï specifically, this podcast observes a rich legacy of multifocal transgression that produced alternative conceptions of self-identity and collective imaginaries at important historical junctures. Throughout this history, resident and migrant Algerians alike have turned to Raï to carve out inhabitable spheres within their societies. In Raï music, they had an accessible and inclusive medium through which they could contest the constructed identities that were imposed upon them.

Transgressive Imaginaries: Nation and Identity through Raï

This podcast takes you to several cities/countries affected by Covid-19 to discuss social, economic, and political challenges facing their societies, with emphasis on the most vulnerable groups and on what this pandemic reveals about the human condition (wow, big phrase). Based on personal and incisive conversations with various interlocutors on location, we hope both to learn from others and to provide some solace as we address how we are collectively experiencing and dealing with similar challenges.

We will be speaking with our guests, one or several at a time, via Skype, and will try to have brief, informative, and non-draining calls within 20-30 minutes.

Statistics - as of March 29
- Total confirmed cases: 38,309
- Total confirmed deaths: 2,609
- Total confirmed recoveries: 12,391
- Total active cases: 23,278
- Total open critical or severe cases: 3,206 (14%)
- Average daily number of deaths in past week: 136/day

Some prominent figures who have died from the disease: Mohammad Mirmohammadi (Member of the Expediency Council), Nasser Shabani (Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander), Fatemeh Rahbar (conservative politician and four-time Parliamentarian, died before the start of her fourth term)
Some prominent figures who have contracted the disease: Iraj Harirchi (Deputy Minister of Health), Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani (MP, Qom), Ali Akbar Velayati (Senior Advisor to Supreme Leader Khamenei for International Affairs)

Some important dates:
January 26th: Government claims COVID-19 has not and will not spread to Iran
On February 19, the Ministry of Health announced two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city of Qom, which is a center for religious learning in the country. The Ministry later announced that both individuals died. On February 21, new cases were reported in Tehran and the province of Gilan. Parliamentary elections were held to record low turnout despite the risk of spreading contagion.    
On March 9, approx. 70,000 detainees are released on medical furlough
On March 13th, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei implies that the virus might be a "biological attack"
On March 19th, March 20th, and March 25th, there were revolts of incarcerated people in Tabriz and in two cities in the province of Lorestan in response to COVID-19 fears and to new lockdown measures introduced in wake of the spread of COVID-19. 

Hosted by Noura Erekat and Bassam Haddad
Production Set by Khalid Namez
Edited by Alicia Rodriguez
Directed by Bassam Haddad
Research by Naim Mousa

Politics in the Time of Corona - EP. 5: Beyond Incarceration in Iran

This podcast takes you to several cities/countries affected by Covid-19 to discuss social, economic, and political challenges facing their societies, with emphasis on the most vulnerable groups and on what this pandemic reveals about the human condition (wow, big phrase). Based on personal and incisive conversations with various interlocutors on location, we hope both to learn from others and to provide some solace as we address how we are collectively experiencing and dealing with similar challenges.

We will be speaking with our guests, one or several at a time, via Skype, and will try to have brief, informative, and non-draining calls within 20-30 minutes.

Iran - data shown is as of March 29.
- Total confirmed cases: 38,309
- Total deaths: 2,640
- Total recovered: 12,391
- Total cases per 1 million people: 456
- Total deaths per 1 million people: 31
- First case recorded on February 19.
- About 6,000 people are being tested daily (This data is based on an article written on March 14).
- Estimates put the death toll at around 3.5 million by late May, when the outbreak is expected to peak.

Hosted by Noura Erekat and Bassam Haddad
Production Set by Khalid Namez
Edited by Alicia Rodriguez
Directed by Bassam Haddad
Research by Naim Mousa

Politics in the Time of Corona - EP. 4: Iran

This podcast takes you to several cities/countries affected by Covid-19 to discuss social, economic, and political challenges facing their societies, with emphasis on the most vulnerable groups and on what this pandemic reveals about the human condition (wow, big phrase). Based on personal and incisive conversations with various interlocutors on location, we hope both to learn from others and to provide some solace as we address how we are collectively experiencing and dealing with similar challenges.

We will be speaking with our guests, one or several at a time, via Skype, and will try to have brief, informative, and non-draining calls within 20-30 minutes.

Cairo
- Total confirmed cases: 442
- Total deaths: 21
- Total recovered: 95
- Total cases per 1 million people: 4
- Total deaths per 1 million people: 0.2
- First case recorded on February 14.
- At least 97 foreigners who visited Egypt since mid-February showed symptoms of, or tested positive for the virus.

Hosted by Noura Erekat and Bassam Haddad
Production Set by Khalid Namez
Edited by Alicia Rodriguez
Directed by Bassam Haddad
Research by Naim Mousa

Politics in the Time of Corona - EP. 3: Cairo

This podcast takes you to several cities/countries affected by Covid-19 to discuss social, economic, and political challenges facing their societies, with emphasis on the most vulnerable groups and on what this pandemic reveals about the human condition (wow, big phrase). Based on personal and incisive conversations with various interlocutors on location, we hope both to learn from others and to provide some solace as we address how we are collectively experiencing and dealing with similar challenges.

We will be speaking with our guests, one or several at a time, via Skype, and will try to have brief, informative, and non-draining calls within 20-30 minutes.

Dublin Statistics - (numbers shown are in for the entirety of Ireland unless stated otherwise)
- Total confirmed cases: 539 (in Dublin)
- Total deaths: 7
- Total recovered: 5
- Total cases per 1 million people: 269
- Total deaths per 1 million people: 1
- First case recorded on February 19.
- 17,992 tests carried out so far, 93% returning as negative.
- Nearly half of all coronavirus cases in Ireland are in Dublin.
- It is estimated that there could be 15,000 cases in Ireland by the end of the month.

Hosted by Noura Erekat and Bassam Haddad
Production Set by Khalid Namez
Edited by Alicia Rodriguez
Directed by Bassam Haddad
Research by Naim Mousa

Politics in the Time of Corona - EP. 2: Dublin

This discussion between Noah Black and Artist Zeinab Saab traces the journey of Zeinab as an artist over the course of shifting through several mediums. They touch on the themes in Zeinab's work as well as how the context of an artist drives their creative process.

Texture, Language, and Diaspora with Artist Zeinab Saab

عربي تحت
Co-editors of Jadaliyya's Environment Page, Huma Gupta and Gabi Kirk, discussed with Kali Rubaii how ecologies of war have produced multiple waves of displacement and have intimately shaped the lives of displaced Iraqis through the materiality of cement.

الاسمنت والحرب والتسمم: الواقع المادي للنزوح في العراق

يتناول هذا اللقاء تأثير بيئة الحرب على موجات النزوح المتعددة التي ساهمت بتشكيل حياة النازحين العراقيين من خلال الواقع المادي للأسمنت.

Cement, War and Toxicity: The Materialities of Displacement in Iraq

عربي تحت
In the second episode of “1979 Generation,” Jadaliyya’s Iran Page co-editor, Manijeh Nasrabadi interviews Shahla Talebi on the liberation of political prisoners, the intersection of gender, class and revolution, and the emergence of “proletarian feminism.”

Shahla Talebi is Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University. Shahla was a student activist who participated in the 1979 Revolution, lived through the Iran-Iraq war, and left Iran for the U.S. in 1994. She is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, "Ghosts of Revolution: Rekindled Memories of Imprisonment in Iran", published by Stanford University Press in 2011.

(Photo by Hengameh Golestan)

غيّر الموجة: الحلقة الثانية

المؤسسة السياسية بين الإصلاح والمصالح

يستضيف نديم القاق في الحلقة الثانية من "غيّر الموجة" سامي زغيب للحديث عن الأزمة المالية في لبنان، المفاوضات مع صندوق النقد، إخفاقات الماضي في تنفيذ إصلاحات، ولماذا السلطة السياسية ترفض القيام بالاصلاح على الرغم من الحاجة الماسة إلى التمويل.

1979 Generation: EP. 2 - Shahla Talebi on Political Prisoners & Proletarian Feminism

Lebanese/American filmmaker Jude Chehab describes her experiences of the August 4th explosion in Beirut, recent protests in the city, and how these events lead her and others to organize grassroots rebuilding and transparent relief efforts in the Lebanese capital. 

Donate now via PayPal to help support those impacted by the explosion in Beirut. paypal.me/judechehab

Interviewed by Paola C. Messina
August 9th, 2020 | English

التعافي في بيروت: تجربة جود شهاب في جهود الإغاثة الشعبية بعد انفجار الميناء

تصف المخرجة اللبنانية\الأمريكية جود شهاب تجربتها مع أحداث انفجار 4 آب/أغسطس في بيروت، والاحتجاجات الأخيرة في المدينة، وكيف دفعتها هذه الأحداث وغيرها إلى تنظيم جهود إعادة بناء شعبية وإغاثة شفافة في العاصمة اللبنانية.

Healing in Beirut: Filmmaker Jude Chehab on Grassroots Relief Efforts Following the Port Explosion

عربي تحت
Aaron Jakes interviewed by Huma Gupta and Camille Cole on September 3, 2020
In this episode, Huma Gupta and Camille Cole discuss Egypt’s occupation and the history of capitalism as both a social and an ecological process with Aaron Jakes.

Guest: Aaron Jakes
Aaron G. Jakes is Assistant Professor of History at The New School, where he teaches on the modern Middle East and South Asia, global environmental history, and the historical geography of capitalism.

بيئات رأس المال في مصر

تتناول هذه الحلقة موضوع احتلال مصر وتاريخ الرأسمالية كعملية اجتماعية وبيئية.

Ecologies of Capital in Egypt

Status/الوضع is an audio-visual magazine (Podcast) that features interviews/conversations, on-the-scene reports, reviews, informed commentary, and lectures held around the world on the Middle East and North Africa. Activists, journalists, scholars, and citizens feature both as guests and hosts on a variety of subjects.  A distinct flavor of this podcast is its attention to cultural production and the various processes of knowledge production and information dissemination for public consumption, via social or traditional media. Status/الوضع has established a large number of regional and global partners who partake in the production of material for our audience, in several languages.

Status/الوضع

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