Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast

Since April 2023, Sudan has been in a state of conflict driven by a power struggle between two rival military factions that has devastated the country. Over three million people were displaced just in the first 100 days, thousands killed, and many more wounded. But what do we actually know about the conflict in Sudan? Join host Naghmeh Sohrabi as she speaks with Anna Simone Reumert , a postdoctora...

In the United States, Salafism has become synonymous with Islamic fundamentalism or Jihadism. But what do we really know about Salafism? Join host Naghmeh Sohrabi as she speaks with Raihan Ismail, author of Rethinking Salafism: The Transnational Networks of Salafi ‘Ulama in Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia , about misconceptions surrounding Salafi thought, the surprising diversity in Salafi traditio...

Almost as soon as there was an Arab Spring, there was talk of an Arab winter. In Egypt, mass demonstrations in January 2011 led to the end of Hosni Mobarak’s 30-year presidency. But only two years later, the military removed the elected president, Mohammad Morsi, and arrested him and other members of the Muslim Brotherhood. By 2014, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who had led the coup, was elected p...

For over 30 years, Dr. Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah , has been conducting public opinion polls of Palestinian and Israeli views on a wide variety of issues. What do these polls tell us about Palestinian society today and about possibilities for the future? Join host Karen Spira as she and Shikaki discuss some of the misconceptions su...

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan may look like an island of stability in the Middle East. Yet, hundreds of protests take place in the streets of Jordan’s towns and cities every year. What are people protesting? Why does the regime tolerate it? And what is at stake? Join guest host Daniel Neep as he speaks with Dr. Jillian Schwedler about the significance of seemingly mundane popular protests on sta...

In part one of this two-part episode of Counter/Argument , we spoke with Golnar Nikpour, assistant professor of history at Dartmouth College and former Neubauer Junior Research Fellow at the Crown Center, about the expansion of prisons in 20th century Iran and took a closer look at the significance of the notorious Evin prison within Iran’s carceral system. In part two, join host Naghmeh Sohrabi a...

In October 2022, news broke out about a fire in Evin, Iran’s notorious prison, killing several prisoners and injuring many more. This fire became yet another flashpoint in Iran’s autumn of discontent and thrust Iran’s carceral system into the limelight. But what do we actually know about Evin and Iran’s system of crime and punishment? In part one of this two-part episode of Counter/Argument , we s...

Why is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan so enthusiastic about planting trees? In this episode, we speak with Ekin Kurtiç, 2022-2024 Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University and former Neubauer Junior Research Fellow at the Crown Center, who argues that the Turkish government’s interest in greening Turkey is an attempt to monopolize the environmental agenda...

When you think of the Middle East, chances are that modern art is not the first thing that comes to mind. In our first episode of Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast , we speak with the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi , who argues that modern art is a key component of protest movements across the contemporary Middle East. Join host Naghmeh Sohrabi as she and Al Q...

Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast  is produced by the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University . Through conversations with scholars and practitioners encompassing a variety of disciplines and perspectives, each episode will debunk key misconceptions about the contemporary Middle East. Counter/Argument is committed to a balanced and dispassionate approach to the region and...