Proximities

In this week's episode, we are joined from Mogadishu by Somali journalist Mohamed Gabobe to talk about his recent investigation into a U.S. drone strike on Somalia that killed 12 civilians, including eight children - something the U.S military has never admitted. Mohamed also discussed the background to Washington's decades-long war in the Horn of Africa, why it has stepped it up over the last yea...

In this week's episode, we talk to British-Palestinian commentator and political economist Kieran Andrieu about the occupied West Bank – and archaeology. With the Israeli government moving ahead with a bill to bring archaeological sites in the West Bank under its control, we discuss how archaeology has been weaponised as a tool of occupation, how it is used to erase the Palestinian people and thei...

In this week's episode, we talk to acclaimed foreign correspondent and author Sally Hayden about her latest book "This is Also a Love Story". Struck by the good she saw in people as they went through the worst moments of their lives, Sally set out to document the love she saw all around her in her work as an international journalist. In dispatches from Uganda to Syria, from Ukraine to Lebanon, we...

In this week's episode, we talk to writer and professor Michelle Kuo about Taiwan. We discuss the country's complex history, consider the question of Taiwanese identity and analyse the impact of the erratic foreign policies of U.S. President Donald Trump and a China quickly growing in power. The Proximities newsletter: https://www.proximities.news/   Subscribe to Michelle's excellent Substack news...

In this week's episode, we talk to Zecharias Zelalem, one of Ethiopia's best young journalists, about the fractious nature of the country's politics. We discuss this month's election that is expected to return Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to power, geopolitics and the influence of the UAE, and Abiy's journey from a Nobel Peace Prize winning hero to a leader accused of authoritarianism.  The Proximiti...

In this week's episode, we talk to Negar Mortazavi in an effort to go deeper than the usual international headlines about Iran. What is life in the country like? Where do people really stand on internal politics and the U.S.-Israeli war on the country? What does western media sometimes get wrong? And how can you get more accurate information on Iran? Negar explains all of that and more.  Negar Mor...

In this week's episode, we talk to Hiba Morgan. Hiba is the Al Jazeera English correspondent in Sudan and has spent the last three years covering a civil war in her own country, even as much of the world remained indifferent. Hiba began by explaining the background to the conflict and where it might be headed. Later, she spoke movingly about her experiences covering the war as a Sudanese journalis...

Barry Malone, a former foreign correspondent and editor who has worked with organisations including Al Jazeera and Reuters, introduces the Proximities podcast. The show focuses on underreported global stories, particularly from outside the West, and features conversations with journalists reporting from the ground. Each episode covers conflicts, humanitarian crises, protest movements and political...