"The biggest social problem in Syria is that there is blood between us." @qunfuz.bsky.social, one of the most astute writers on modern Syria, joins me on The Lede to talk revolution, justice and anger. Listen @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/podcast/when...

How to Lose a Prime Minister in Two Years newlinesmag.com/running-note... @newlinesmag.bsky.social

NEW: "In Silicon Valley, the adage is that technology doubles in power every two years. Britain has managed to find its own version, a new prime minister every couple of years, each somehow less powerful than the last." My latest in @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/running-note...

The Iran war will change the #Gulf, in ways that are only now becoming clear. Next week I'll be at Frontline with a stellar panel - Sanam Vakil, Dina Esfandiary, Randa Ghazy and Michael Stephens. We'll talk security, strategy and life. Tickets here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/panel-disc...

I like these photos Louis James took of me. But I rather worry he's caught me in my auctioneer era. Anyway Tara Kangarlou and I will be there tomorrow with @khalidabdalla.bsky.social @jomanak.bsky.social and Farah Nabulsi. Last few tickets, so, going once... www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/panel-disc...

🎧 Why is the far right—from Russia to Serbia to the US—so titillated by the Eastern Orthodox Church's aura of medieval-ish darkness, its crusader fantasies fueled by the iconography of “Christendom”? @jasminmuj.bsky.social & @faisalalyafai.bsky.social discuss on the @newlinesmag.bsky.social podcast

The Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s cast a long shadow that looms over the current conflict. @dannypostel.bsky.social  and @faisalalyafai.bsky.social  explain how it gave rise to ideas and slogans like “sacred defense” that continue to shape Tehran's strategies.

NEW @qunfuz.bsky.social reviews five recent books on the Syrian revolution for @newlinesmag.bsky.social. Books by: Rime Allaf, Loubna Mrie, Anand Gopal, Nour Ghazal Aswad, and Patrick Haenni and Jerome Drevon newlinesmag.com/review/how-s...

As the ceasefire begins, Lebanese around the world are thinking of home. On this week's podcast Nada Bakri and Zahra Hankir reflected on what it means to be, as Nada put it in her essay for @newlinesmag.bsky.social, "far from the land of good news". Listen here: newlinesmag.com/podcast/why-...

"The Trump paradox was always that he could be taken seriously without being taken literally. But that may no longer hold." Christin El Kholy and I in @newlinesmag.bsky.social today, on how Slopaganda came of age: newlinesmag.com/spotlight/sl...

This week on the Lede Rana Dasgupta joined me to discuss war, oligarchy, his new book After Nations and "the end of American hegemony". Listen to the full episode @newlinesmag.bsky.social: newlinesmag.com/podcast/how-...

#Bitcoin and #Satoshi are back in the news after @nytimes.com offered a new name. But NYT doesn't explain the central human question: why has $100bn remained untouched for years? And I think only Gabriel Gatehouse has offered a good answer. We discuss it here: newlinesmag.com/podcast/how-...

The Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s cast a long shadow that looms over the current conflict. @dannypostel.bsky.social & @faisalalyafai.bsky.social  explain how it gave rise to ideas that continue to shape Tehran's strategies

"War and oligarchy are not alien to the nation state." Rana Dasgupta joins me on The Lede for a wide ranging conversation about 'After Nations'; why the nation-state is failing its citizens; and a world in crisis from China to Iran. @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/podcast/how-...

We had a sold out audience at Frontline Club for a discussion about Rime Allaf's new book "It Started in Damascus: How the Long Syrian Revolution Reshaped Our World". The brilliant @halagorani.bsky.social joined us, offering insights on her trip back to Syria 👏 @hurstpublishers.bsky.social

Article on the Iran-Iraq War's long shadow w/ my @newlinesmag.bsky.social colleague @faisalalyafai.bsky.social drawing on insights from @amir-moosavi.bsky.social, Mehran Kamrava, @hbanai.bsky.social, Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Annie Tracy Samuel & @keshavarziana.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/the-l...

"There are contrasting definitions of freedom." Anand Gopal joins @faisalalyafai.bsky.social on The Lede to discuss two decades of war in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, and his new book, "Days of Love and Rage." newlinesmag.com/podcast/less...

NEW: Largely forgotten in the West, the "Sacred Defense" (Defa-e-Muqaddas) of the Iran-Iraq war shaped the ideas, people and institutions now fighting the #Iranwar. @dannypostel.bsky.social and I on the long shadow of a defining conflict. In @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/the-l...

NEW: The Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s cast a long shadow that looms over the current conflict. @dannypostel.bsky.social and @faisalalyafai.bsky.social explain how it gave rise to ideas and slogans like “sacred defense” that continue to shape Tehran's strategies. newlinesmag.com/essays/the-l...

"What does freedom mean? There are contrasting definitions of freedom." My convo with Anand Gopal was interesting because it's so broad - it starts in Manbij, Syria, but ranges across Iraq, Afghanistan and even modern America. Listen @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/podcast/less...

On March 22, 1945, Arab states met in Cairo to form the Arab League —an effort at regional unity whose legacies still shape Mideast politics today. Recently, @faisalalyafai.bsky.social & @chriselkholy.bsky.social explored how pan‑Arab ties shape debates over the Iran war

A packed audience at Frontline Club last night to hear @rallaf.bsky.social @halagorani.bsky.social discuss the Syrian revolution and life under the Assads. Especially pleased to have so many unfamiliar with Syria there - as Rime writes, what happened in Syria impacts the world 👏(Photo: Louis James)

Sold out! Tonight, I'll be at Frontline Club with @rallaf.bsky.social @halagorani.bsky.social on Syria's first Revolution Day to discuss It Started in Damascus. We'll talk the new govt, the rise of Bashar, life under the Assad regime. All tickets are sold but the event will be online after👏

"What's revealed in the Epstein files is this tissue of exchanges and gifts." Sarah Chayes on the gift economy that held the Epstein class together. Listen to our fascinating conversation with Emran Feroz in @newlinesmag.bsky.social - out today: newlinesmag.com/podcast/what...

'How the Iran War Came to the Gulf', w/ @faisalalyafai.bsky.social, Dina Esfandiary & @alamer.bsky.social, for @newlinesmag.bsky.social's The Lede podcast.

Very happy to have won Best Interview at this year's NYC Podcast Awards - and especially for this conversation with Omar El Akkad - it was an important, sometimes difficult, podcast about a vital subject: Gaza. Listen @newlinesmag.bsky.social: newlinesmag.com/podcast/coul...

Scenes from our sold-out event at the Frontline Club in London last night on the Iran war and its implications for the Middle East. With Tara Kangarlou @renadmansour.bsky.social @lizsly.bsky.social, Tarek Ali Ahmad and a fantastically informed audience 👏

As the Iran war intensifies, Gulf leaders and Arab commentators are beginning to openly question America’s role in the region, write @faisalalyafai.bsky.social  and @chriselkholy.bsky.social .

"Those Who Wrap Themselves in America Are Naked." How the behind the scenes conversations in the Gulf over the Iran war have burst into the open. An important read to understand Gulf thinking. By me and @chriselkholy.bsky.social in @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/spotlight/th...

NEW: Ten days into this war, the Gulf Arab states are already asking what their neighborhood will look like after it ends: Khamenei 2.0, Iraq 2.0, or Pahlavi 2.0. None of them are favourable 👇@newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/running-note...

We had a full house at the Frontline Club for Victor Mallet's new book. With Anna Gross and Matthew Holehouse. This week, we'll be back for an emergency sitrep event on the war in #Iran. We're expecting another sold-out event. Last few tickets available: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sitrep-war...

Tomorrow @newlinesmag.bsky.social podcast, we'll be looking at the current war in Iran and the war on the Gulf. In the meantime, listen again to this fascinating conversation with @arashtehran.bsky.social and Negar Mortazavi. Full ep: newlinesmag.com/podcast/in-t...

"You won't see 1979-style revolution. But the revolutionary regime built out of 1979 will be gone." Almost a week into the war, what might a new #Iran look like? @arashtehran.bsky.social tells me and Negar Mortazavi on the @newlinesmag.bsky.social podcast. Full ep: newlinesmag.com/podcast/in-t...

"Not everyone who is happy about the killing of Khamenei is also welcoming the entirety of this foreign intervention." Negar Mortazavi on the mixed feelings of Iranians about the war. With @arashtehran.bsky.social. Full ep @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/podcast/in-t...

"Many ordinary people have a joke view of the world in which Trump comes in, takes out Khamenei - and whatever they want will occur." @arashtehran.bsky.social speaks to me and Negar Mortazavi about the aftermath of the #IranWar | Full ep @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/podcast/in-t...

NEW: "No to the Islamic republic, no to Israel and no to the United States" — many Iranians are weighing contradictory truths as war hits their country. @negarmortazavi.bsky.social and @arashtehran.bsky.social join @faisalalyafai.bsky.social on The Lede. newlinesmag.com/podcast/in-t...

🧵"He isn't the president of peace, but he's also not the president of war." Just finished recording an emergency podcast with Negar Mortazavi and @arashtehran.bsky.social Full episode coming @newlinesmag.bsky.social but here are three things worth noting. 1, this is likely to be a short war 👇1/4

"The gulf continues to grow wider between India and Pakistan. Yet they were one country within living memory." A second clip from my conversation with Sam Dalrymple on The Lede. Listen to the full ep @newlinesmag.bsky.social: newlinesmag.com/podcast/the-...

"We're moving out of an era of mass globalization where it seemed like all these borders were gonna disappear and that we were all gonna have freedom of movement and freedom of trade, etc." Sam Dalrymple joins @faisalalyafai.bsky.social on The Lede. newlinesmag.com/podcast/the-...

Tonight! I'll be at the Frontline Club in conversation about the global far right - Le Pen, Farage, MAGA (and Trump, of course Trump), and the rise of a new generation of far-right leaders in Europe. With Victor Mallet, Anna Gross @matthewholehouse.bsky.social 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/panel-disc...

🎧 Listen now: Loubna Mrie speaks with @faisalalyafai.bsky.social  about her early family life in Syria, her role in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad and the painful memories revisited in her new memoir, "Defiance."

"He's dead, Faisal, he's not going to take you to court." This is a funny clip from my latest podcast, with Loubna Mrie, but it shows something about Mrie's character, that she's able to take lightly some astonishing incidents. Full ep @newlinesmag.bsky.social: newlinesmag.com/podcast/how-...

🎧"When I went to that first protest, I realized how brutal the government was, how they used fear in order to oppress people, it helped me see the parallels between patriarchy and authoritarianism." From my interview w @Loubna Mrie. Full ep @newlinesmag.bsky.social: newlinesmag.com/podcast/how-...

In this powerful conversation loubnamrie.bsky.social joins @faisalalyafai.bsky.social on this podcast to discuss her experience of authoritarianism at home, obedience to the Assad regime and joining the revolution, as detailed in her new memoir, ‘Defiance’ newlinesmag.com/podcast/how-...

On The Lede this week, Loubna Mrie tells @faisalalyafai.bsky.social  about the violence of her early family life in Syria, her role in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad & the painful memories brought up in her new memoir

Today's pod with Loubna Mrie and her new book Defiance is powerful, moving, and at times hard to listen to. #Syria watchers will remember her story from the early days of the uprising; here she speaks at length about what happened. Full ep @newlinesmag.bsky.social 👉 newlinesmag.com/podcast/how-...

We dropped this episode Monday with the talented @ntabrizy.bsky.social; today she was one of those affected by #washingtonpost cuts. So much talent from the foreign desk, investigations and overseas bureaus gutted. If you can, support, commission, hire 👇

NEW: With deadly protests ongoing and a U.S. armada sailing to the Persian Gulf, @ntabrizy.bsky.social y joins @faisalalyafai.bsky.social on The Lede to discuss what gets lost in Western coverage of Iran and her new book, “For the Sun After Long Nights.” newlinesmag.com/podcast/what...

#Iranprotests is a huge story right now, and it affects even those who report on it from abroad. In this extract from our conversation @ntabrizy.bsky.social talks about the difficulty of reporting from the diaspora. Full ep @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/podcast/what...

The MAGA Movement, an anti-capitalist rebellion that, paradoxically, came out of the Right? Very interesting episode of "The Lede" (the podcast hosted by @faisalalyafai.bsky.social): newlinesmagazine.podbean.com/e/listen-aga...