Lebanon: Should I stay or should I go?

In this episode, we explore the deep religious fractures that have long been exploited by Lebanon's political elites to further their own power. Our guests tackle the notion that competing religious sects are doomed to clash, arguing instead that these divisions are often manufactured and mask a wider sense of unity. We hear from farmer Ahmad Jaafar, architect and activist Nahida Al Khalil, and hi...

In this episode we tackle education, and find out how the economic crisis is affecting students. We speak to Michelle and Fatima, students at the Lebanese University. We also hear from Hassan Jaafar, the headmaster of a public school in the Bekaa Valley, who tells us why he feels he failed his students. And philosophy teacher Boushra Saab talks about the mental health crisis she has witnessed in L...

In this episode, we put Lebanon’s healthcare sector under the microscope and find out how corruption and mismanagement made the effects of the wider economic collapse even worse and left the sector on its deathbed. Our guests are Dr. Anis Germany, a public health expert, and Nibal Dahouk, a health sector activist. We also hear from 46- year-old Wissam al-Nahhas who works at a grocery store and liv...

In this episode, we take listeners to Tripoli, Lebanon's second city and one of the poorest urban areas on the Mediterranean coast. We visit the slums of Hayy al Tanak in Tripoli and then head to Hermel, a poor district where crime is rife and tribal vendettas are common. People here let us into their lives and share what it is like to be cast aside and forgotten by the very people who are suppose...

For years, Lebanon was seen as a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people from the region, but that is changing. Religious leaders and conservative politicians are fanning the flames of intolerance, and queer people say they are being scapegoated and blamed for the country's economic and social failings. In episode 1 of "Lebanon: should I stay or should I go?" we hear from Adam, Joe and Karim who tell us how...

We started producing this podcast in August 2023. Then came the seismic events that have shaken the Middle East since October 7th, and we thought we would hold back our launch until things calmed down a bit. Obviously, things haven’t calmed down. But we’ve released our podcast because the people we met and interviewed are still there, and their stories are still important. We think, however, that...

"Lebanon: Should I stay or should I go?" is a new podcast is produced by Sowt for Context, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s digital news platform. In this series, people living on the margins of Lebanese society share their stories of living through one of the most turbulent periods of their nation’s history – from deep sectarian divisions to chronic corruption to a crippling economic meltdown. As...