The Lede

On June 8, 1924, two climbers set off for what they hoped would be the first-ever summit of Mount Everest. As the mist closed in around them high up the mountain, they would never be seen alive again. A century later, the mystery of whether they reached the top continues to inspire fascination and debate, but is perhaps not the most interesting thing about the doomed expedition, anthropologist and...

In the two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian influence in Africa was at a low ebb. But that’s all changed, New Lines Global News Editor Amie Ferris-Rotman tells Kwangu Liwewe on this week’s Global Insights on The Lede. Ferris-Rotman and Liwewe discuss Russia’s past in Africa and its more recent neocolonialist enterprises on the continent, as well as the private military compa...

Veteran Mexican correspondent Alma Guillermoprieto joins New Lines’ Danny Postel on The Lede for a discussion about how the upcoming election in Mexico is actually not about the two leading candidates, her sadness about the current situation in Nicaragua, and her secret — the celebrated journalist is not interested in politics. Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this week’s episode of The Lede, New Lines' Lydia Wilson sits down with extremism researcher Elizabeth Pearson, whose book “Extreme Britain: Gender, Masculinity and Radicalisation,” was published in December 2023. Pearson explains how her research challenged established thinking around extremism, and how she came to the understanding that misogyny and masculinity play a much bigger role in the...

On this week’s episode of The Lede, New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai sits down with Jasmin Mujanović for a discussion on nationhood in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the genocide of the 1990s, its current political challenges and Mujanović’s argument for a liberal democratic future in Bosnia. Mujanović dissects his new book, “The Bosniaks, Nationhood After Genocide,” which explores the evolution of Bosnia...

Ruby Lal’s new biography of the Mughal Princess Gulbadan brings to life the princess’s remarkable seven-year pilgrimage, from her home in the harem of her nephew Emperor Akbar in India to the holy city of Mecca. Surviving shipwrecks and expulsion orders from the Ottoman Sultan, Gulbadan eventually returned to India where she would go on to write groundbreaking works.  Lal joins New Lines’ Rasha El...

New Lines Contributing Editor Lisa Goldman has spent much of her life living and working in Israel, but her most recent reporting trip revealed a side of the country she had not seen before. “It’s unprecedented,” she tells New Lines Africa Editor Kwangu Liwewe on Global Insights.  “Israelis feel for the very first time that their army couldn’t protect them, it didn’t protect them. They had been li...

“Going into Gaza, that pit of fear was more like a web that sat on my chest and never settled.” Arwa Damon has been in plenty of war zones, but going into Gaza was unlike anything she’s yet experienced. The veteran CNN correspondent joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai on The Lede for a conversation about her recent humanitarian mission into the Palestinian territory. They discuss the moving and heart...

Early Arabic hunting poetry showcases a fascinating overlap between the pre-Islamic world, which was dominated by the concepts of fate and time, and the post-Islamic world, in which the standout theme was an omniscient or omnipotent god. “The wise thing about the poetry is it doesn’t seek to reconcile the two, it allows both to coexist,” says Montgomery, Sir Thomas Adams's professor of Arabic at t...

For Alex Rowell, the need to reassess the legacy of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser has only increased in the decades since the death of the hugely influential figure, and especially recently. “If you just take a moment to look at the Arab Spring and the countries in which the largest protests occurred, and the regimes against which millions so courageously rose up … they were precise...

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 first episode of Global Insights on The Lede.  Gupta and Liwewe discuss the various key issues in the upcoming elections, such a...

“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,” Joumana Haddad tells New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai. “I’ve always thought about that ever since I can remember. And it’s not easy to live while thinking you can die any minute.” The author and activist explains how growing up during the Lebanese Civil War...

After the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7 last year that sparked the current war in Gaza, Laliv Melamed watched as Israeli society came together to mourn its victims — and also closed itself off. It was a phenomenon she recognized from previous conflicts.  “The entire public sphere becomes like a collective body that is orchestrating around this war effort. I remember in later wars, or operations in G...

In September 2022, the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement broke out in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. On this week’s episode Arash Azizi, the author of a new book on the movement, “What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom,” and New Lines’ Danny Postel discuss its immense popularity, how it was different to other protest movements in Iran and why it ultimately failed. Azizi and...

One hundred years ago this week, the Ottoman Caliphate was formally abolished by a decree of the nascent Republic of Turkey’s National Assembly. In this week’s episode of The Lede, New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai talks to Professor Ryan Gingeras of the Naval Postgraduate School in California, whose book “The Last Days of the Ottoman Empire” tells the story of the caliphate’s final years. Further listen...

The recent decision by South Africa, a longtime ally of Palestine, to take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on accusations of genocide sent shock waves through the global community. The unprecedented move served as a wake-up call to Israel’s Western allies, who might not have predicted the drive of a seemingly less powerful nation to take such an action on the world stage. “The U...

“There’s more to eyeliner than meets the eye,” Zahra Hankir, author of “Eyeliner: A Cultural History,” tells New Lines’ Ola Salem. “This is not just a makeup product. It carries within it so much meaning that goes far beyond beauty. … Historically and through the centuries, eyeliner has been used as a form of conveying a person’s spirituality or their religiosity. It can be a way to repel the evil...

India’s media ecosystem has a long and proud history. It was in Kolkata, after all, that the first newspaper in Asia was published. But journalists and observers inside the country are speaking with increasing alarm about a climate of repression and self-censorship, in which outlets that challenge the official government line expose themselves to sanctions. “There’s a complete and near total captu...

When it gained independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan emerged as the world’s newest nation. However, two years later the country descended into a civil war sparked by a political difference between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, which escalated into a protracted ethnic conflict. The internal struggle for power ignited political unrest, interethnic tensions and communal...

With so many wars across the world, a new one supplants the previous on our TV screens and front pages. As conflicts drag on, the attention of the public moves on too.  When Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, that war began to dominate the news cycle, displacing coverage of Myanmar, Sudan and Syria. But, as the months wore on, the Ukraine war, too, slipped from our screens. Now the war in Gaza...

Every conflict is different, as Pierre Hazan knows all too well. The veteran negotiator and senior adviser on transitional justice with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue has witnessed many wars, including those in the former Yugoslavia and the Central African Republic. And while no two are the same, more often than not they start from the same place.   “Very often you start by what we call ‘Tra...

In the era of social media, women worldwide have harnessed its power to build strong feminist movements and activist networks to raise awareness about sexual harassment and violence. Social media has provided a platform for women to share their experiences and speak out against gender-based violence. Hashtags such as #MeToo, #BelieveWomen and #ImWithHer have gained global popularity and given wome...

The small town of Ayodhya in northern India has long been a major flashpoint for communal tensions in the country. Believed by Hindus to be the birthplace of Rama, one of the most revered gods in Hinduism, it was also the site of the 16th century Babri Mosque. Enmity between Hindus and Muslims over the site grew through the 20th century before reaching its climax in 1992, when leaders of Hindu nat...

Ian Mortimer is frustrated. The historian and author of “Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter” says the problem is that most people seem to think they don’t.    “You realize how little people know about the world around them,” Mortimer tells New Lines magazine’s Lydia Wilson. “They tend to make judgments based on the world as it is today.”   But that tells you only half the story. “If you...

South Africa’s recent filing of a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide has sparked worldwide attention. The case, which accuses Israel of committing genocide and war crimes in Gaza, has reignited discussions about South Africa’s post-apartheid history and its evolving position in the global political landscape. Despite being celebrated for overcoming...