The Lede

Writer Zaina Arafat joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss belonging to multiple cultures, how New York became “Habibi City,” and her new book “Our Arab: On Longing, Belonging and Hope.”

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this month’s episode of Global Insights on The Lede, author and Caine Prize winner Tope Folarin and AI researcher Tuhin Chakrabarty join Kwangu Liwewe Agyei to discuss the AI accusations that have hit major literary prizes this year, why African writers feel pressure to tell the stories their editors in London and New York expect, and whether detection software can conclusively tell human writing from machine-made text.

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this week’s episode of the podcast, author Anand Giridharadas joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss the divisive death of Jordan Neely on a New York subway train in 2023, why Americans across the political divide feel abandoned by the institutions meant to protect them, and what it would take to address the polarization felt across the country, as set out in his new book “Man in the Mirror.”

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On the podcast this week, journalist and author Kim Ghattas joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss how the Beirut of the 1980s offers a prism through which to understand today’s regional rivalries, as set out in her new book, “The Best Kind of American: A True Story of Murder, War, and America's Undoing in the Middle East.”

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this week's episode of the podcast, historian Rashid Khalidi joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss why Western public opinion on Israel has shifted faster than at any point in a century, whether that shift will reach Washington, and what his conversations with the writer Tariq Ali reveal about the story of Palestine, as set out in their new book, “The Neck and the Sword: Palestine's Unfinished Struggle.”

Produced by Finbar Anderson

Jalale Getachew Birru, East Africa regional expert for Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), and Alan Boswell of the International Crisis Group join Kwangu Liwewe Agyei to discuss the return of war to Ethiopia, the armed groups uniting against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the regional rivalries fueling the conflict for this month's edition of Global Insights on The Lede.

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On the podcast this week, journalist and author Jason Burke joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss the wave of leftist violence that swept Europe and the Middle East in the 1970s, why its defeat cleared the ground for Islamist movements, and what the West got wrong about political violence in the decade that followed, as set out in his book, "The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s."

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this week's episode of the podcast, journalist and author Sally Hayden joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss reporting on the artificial families formed by Rwandan genocide survivors, secret weddings under Islamic State rule in Iraq, reporting on the ongoing war in Lebanon — and why she believes journalism loses sight of the people at the center of every crisis, as set out in her recent book, “This Is Also a Love Story.”

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this week's episode of the podcast, political scientist Shadi Hamid joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss why Osama bin Laden got exactly the overreaction he wanted from 9/11, how 25 years of the war on terror reshaped America and the Middle East, and why he believes a more secular America has become a more polarized one, as set out in his new book with Matthew Kaemingk, “Can Religion Save Democracy?”

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this week's episode of the podcast, Guardian senior international correspondent Luke Harding joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss the war Europe is already fighting but won't admit to, the North Korean soldiers dying in the fields of western Russia, and why Trump's second term marks a breach with what America once claimed to be, as set out in his new book "Betrayal."

Produced by Finbar Anderson

With the podcast team away until the end of the month, listen again to this episode from earlier in the year.

On this week's episode of the podcast, journalist and author Suzy Hansen joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss how ordinary people experience authoritarianism in the 21st century, what a decade spent in one Istanbul neighborhood reveals about Turkey under Erdoğan, and why the West so often misreads the Middle East, as set out in her new book, "From Life Itself."

Produced by Finbar Anderson

With the podcast team away until the end of the month, listen again to this episode from earlier in the year.

Loubna Mrie joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss how the Syrian state’s authoritarianism seeped into her early home life, her role in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad and the painful memories brought up in the writing of her new memoir, “Defiance.”

Produced by Finbar Anderson

As the war in Iran drags on with no end in sight, journalist and humanitarian Arwa Damon joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss the human cost of the Iran wars, the neglected conflicts in Sudan and Afghanistan, and why we no longer feel affected by atrocity.

On this week's episode of the podcast, the historian and writer Ryan Gingeras joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss the making of mafias from New York to Lebanon and Tokyo, how gangsters shaped the modern state, and his new book, "Mafia: A Global History."

Produced by Finbar Anderson

Israel goes to the polls in October with a clear majority of voters opposed to Benjamin Netanyahu — and no obvious way to translate that into a government. On this month's episode of Global Insights on The Lede, pollster Dahlia Scheindlin and political analyst Rida Abu Rass join Kwangu Liwewe Agyei to consider the arithmetic of the election, the taboo against governing with Arab parties, and the tension that has defined Israeli politics for seven years.

Produced by Finbar Anderson

Journalists Chloe Hadjimatheou and Sarah Dadouch join Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast to discuss what the story of former Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad reveals about power and the people who wield it, and their new podcast series “We Call Her Emma.”

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this week's episode of the podcast, constitutional law scholar Marcus Gadson joins Faisal Al Yafai to discuss the Declaration of Independence at 250, why Americans have never agreed on what liberty means, and how the country's oldest arguments — over religion, race and citizenship — continue to resurface.

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On the podcast this week, Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper, author of “World Cup Fever” and co-author of “Soccernomics,” joins Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast to discuss the politics of the 2026 World Cup, why he says America "isn't just Trump," and how soccer became a vehicle for money and power.

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On the podcast this week, journalist Patrick Gathara and public health expert Tolbert Nyenswah join Kwangu Liwewe Agyei on Global Insights to discuss Kenya's decision to host an Ebola quarantine facility, the geopolitics of disease, and the deadly outbreak spreading across the DRC.

Produced by Finbar Anderson

On the podcast this week, journalist Negar Mortazavi and New Lines’ Danny Postel join Faisal Al Yafai to discuss the chances that the Iran peace deal will hold, the unresolved fault lines from Hormuz to Lebanon and how the conflict leaves Donald Trump exposed.

Produced by Finbar Anderson