Race and Rights Podcast

This episode explores how colonial states and nation-states have been mutually constructed through the deliberate politicization of religious or ethnic majorities at the expense of manufactured minorities. The discussion traces this destructive pattern from its American origins—where genocide and reservation systems created permanent native minorities—to its adoption by both Nazi Germany and Allie...

In this episode, Professor Sahar Aziz is in conversation with award winning journalist Isma’il Kuskush about the complex origins, multiple domestic and foreign actors, and human rights crisis of Sudan’s war. The ongoing power struggle between rival military elites is rooted in decades of militarization, failed democratic transition, and unresolved ethnic conflict. Its humanitarian consequences—mas...

African Islamic modernity is a complex and ongoing historical project—our guest’s scholarship illuminates the intricate entanglements between African racial identities, Islamic ways of living, and modernity as the dominant global framework for social, economic, and political organization. Using Senegal as a focal point, Professor Wendell Marsh explores how a society with a millennium of Islamic pr...

How has international law been strategically deployed to shape the Palestinian struggle for freedom across a century-long arc, from the Balfour Declaration in 1917 to present-day wars in Gaza.  Join host Sahar Aziz in conversation with Noura Erakat about the promise and risk of international law in the pursuit of Palestinian freedom and the broader relationship between law and liberation.  Our dis...

In this episode, Professor Vernellia Randall presents a groundbreaking analysis of how centuries of systemic racism have created and perpetuated devastating health disparities within African American communities. Drawing from extensive research, she traces the direct lineage from the "slave health deficit" established during slavery through Jim Crow segregation to today's persistent...

The complex history of slavery within Islamic legal traditions spans from pre-Islamic times through the nineteenth century, revealing how religious law intersected with economic and social systems that perpetuated human bondage across centuries and cultures. This comprehensive examination of Islamic jurisprudence demonstrates how Western abolitionist efforts, while well-intentioned, ultimately fai...

Opportunity hoarding occurs when advantaged groups secure and monopolize valuable resources—such as high-quality education, exclusive networks, or prime housing—to benefit their own members while restricting access for others. This behavior creates and sustains categorical inequality, often manifesting through exclusionary zoning, preferential hiring, or hoarding educational opportunities.  Advant...

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel coordinated an unprovoked military attack on the sovereign state of Iran without any credible evidence of an imminent threat posed by Iran or a United Nations Security Council Resolution. On that first day of the war, the Israelis killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials, immediately transforming their...

Join host Professor Sahar Aziz in her conversation with Professor Maryam Jamshid i about the political and legal implications of Israel and the United States' unprovoked military attacks against Iran on February 28, 2026. As Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu publicly admitted, the Israeli government has been preparing for a war to topple the Iranian regime for over 30 years. Knowing they do not poss...

There is a dire need for an interdisciplinary examination of the human cost of occupation through the lens of daily Palestinian experience in the West Bank. This episode explores the critically acclaimed work of Nathan Thrall, whose immersive narrative provides rare insight into the lived reality of Palestinians navigating Israeli systems of control that define life under occupation. There are pre...

A central paradox has plagued and continues to plague the American right to vote: the American republic has always conditioned participation in the democratic process on an antidemocratic ideology of worthiness needed to exercise the rights of citizenship. This reality has shaped debates around the right to vote in the past and in the present and has made it more difficult for the law to embrace t...

In today’s episode, guest host Nermin Allam, director of Women’s and Gender Studies and associate professor of political science at Rutgers University – Newark, speaks with Rusha Latif, author of Tahrir’s Youth: Leaders of a Leaderless Revolution , to reflect on remembering and commemorating the January 25th uprising. The January 25th uprising, which led to the ousting of former Egyptian President...

The true test of a democracy is the extent to which civil rights in law are enforced in practice for the most vulnerable groups in society. As members of Congress demanded mass arrest and expulsion of college students exercising their free speech right to dissent against U.S. foreign policy in Gaza and the West Bank, the racial fault lines in American democracy were yet again laid bare. Similarly,...

In Part II of this two-part series, guest host Esaa Mohammad Sabti Samarah, PhD, LMSW reunites with Dr. Siham Elkassem , Dr. Bryn King , Dr. Nuha Dwaikat-Shaer , and doctoral candidate Amilah Baksh to move beyond naming harm and toward a deeper examination of responsibility. This episode turns a critical lens on how the social work profession responds, or fails to respond, to anti-Palestinian, ant...

In this first episode of a two-part series, guest host Esaa Mohammad Sabti Samarah, PhD, LMSW leads a powerful conversation examining how anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim racisms function as distinct yet interconnected systems of harm. Together with scholars and practitioners Dr. Siham Elkassem , Dr. Bryn King , Dr. Nuha Dwaikat-Shaer , and Doctoral Candidate Amilah Baksh , the discuss...

There has been an alarming surge of anti-Muslim sentiment across the European continent. As Islamophobia continues to gain momentum throughout Europe—home to tens of millions of Muslim citizens—Professor Hafez offers listeners a comprehensive analysis of this troubling phenomenon. His work examines the multifaceted causes of this rise in Muslim prejudice, from historical legacies and media represe...

In this episode, we welcome Professor Jonathan Hafetz for an insightful discussion on the complex legal challenges involved in prosecuting individuals accused of mass crimes. Our conversation traces the development of international justice mechanisms from the foundational Nuremberg trials through to contemporary approaches in the age of global terrorism. Professor Hafetz examines how nations have...

There is a critical need for a comprehensive examination of the historical forces that have shaped the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from its colonial origins to the present day. Professor Joseph Massad has meticulously analyzed Western imperial involvement in Palestine, tracing the pivotal events that preceded and followed Israel's establishment. European colonial ambitions and policies have...

"Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine" examines the profound concept of sumud—psychological resilience and defiance—within the context of Palestinian life under occupation and settler colonialism. This episode explores psychoanalytic frameworks that illuminate the complex psychological expressions of both individual and collective endurance in circumstances...

Islamophobia functions as a transnational political strategy weaponized by both democratic and authoritarian regimes worldwide. The American War on Terror has served as a crucial catalyst, amplifying and connecting anti-Muslim campaigns across continents—from Europe and Asia to the Middle East and beyond. There are striking parallels between seemingly disparate anti-Muslim policies in different co...

Muhammad Ali is widely recognized as one of the greatest athletes of all-time and one of the most important figures of the 20th century. In addition to his long and celebrated career as a boxer and three-time heavyweight champion of the world, Ali changed the conversation about race, religion, and politics in America. Ali’s refusal to be inducted into the U.S. military during the Vietnam War on re...

In this episode, we speak with award-winning investigative journalist Azad Essa about his research on the evolving relationship between India and Israel. Our conversation explores the historical development and contemporary significance of this alliance, particularly in light of recent events in Gaza. Essa discusses how, despite growing grassroots pressure for India to implement an arms embargo ag...

In this episode, Sahar Aziz is in dicussion with Dr. Audrey Truschke and Dr. Dheepa Sundaram about the new groundbreaking report published by CSRR entitled Hindutva in America: A Threat to Equality and Religious Pluralism , which is available for download at csrr.rutgers.edu Audrey Truschke is a Professor of History and Director of Asian Studies at Rutgers University-Newark.  She is the author of...

In this episode, Professors Nathan J. Brown and Shibley Telhami, leading experts on the region and U.S. foreign policy toward Israel, offer a thoughtful examination of the current situation in Israel-Palestine. Our guests provide nuanced analysis of how decades of unsuccessful peace negotiations have transformed the political landscape. The conversation explores the increasingly apparent "one...

In this episode, regional experts of the Middle East share their knowledge about Syria's healthcare system and how it has been affected by years of conflict.  Based on research from the book " Everybody's War: Politics of Aid in the Syria Crisis ," (published by Oxford University Press), our guests provide thoughtful analysis of several important issues: The connection between...