Tahrir Podcast - بودكاست التحرير

Hind Khoudary is a Palestinian journalist based in Gaza. One of the only people in Gaza with a connection to the outside world, Khoudary joins me in this episode to talk about how things are looking on the ground as the Israeli ground invasion commences, the communication blackout, Israel's carpet-bombing of Gaza, and her message to the people of the world. Episode on YouTube: ⁠https://youtu.be/_n...

In this episode, I share some thoughts on the Egyptian state's war on reality. I go into depth about how the state tricked, bribed, and blackmailed thousands of Egyptians into 'endorsing' the president (which I witnessed in real time by going to one of these rallies in Cairo), how media is manipulated, and ultimately the Orwellian nature of the Egyptian regime. Tune in for a light and unedited epi...

On the 25th of September 2023, Egypt's National Election Authority announced the dates for the presidential election. Set to take place in December and with a tight schedule, the self-explanatory title "Egypt's Microwave Election" perfectly captures that image. In this episode of Tahrir Podcast, joined by Mahmoud Salem, an award-winning writer and commentator on Egyptian politics, we analyze the c...

Dr. Jean-Loup Samaan is a senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore, as well as a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative. He is also an associate research fellow with the French Institute of International Relations. In episode 29 of Tahrir Podcast, we discussed his book, "New Military Strategie...

Dr. Sharan Grewal is an Assistant Professor of Government at the College of William & Mary, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Project on Middle East Democracy.  In episode 28 of Tahrir Podcast, we discussed his book, "Soldiers of Democracy? Military Legacies and the Arab Spring." Analyzing the conduct of the Egyptian and Tunisia...

Dr. Arash Azizi is an Iranian journalist, author, and adjunct instructor at NYU. In episode 27 of Tahrir Podcast, we discussed his book "The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the U.S, and Iran's Global Ambitions." The book looks at the life and influence of General Qassem Soleimani. Assassinated by a U.S drone strike in 2020, Soleimani was almost the second most powerful person in Iran and lead militia...

Cameron Hudson is a senior associate at the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). An analyst and consultant on African peace, security, and governance issues, Hudson has held various positions such as Intelligence analyst in the Africa Directorate at the Central Intelligence Agency, Chief of Staff to successive presidential special envoys for Sudan and Direct...

 المؤرخ الدكتور خالد فهمي أستاذ التاريخ ينضم إلي التحرير بودكاست من بوسطن لتناول العديد من الموضوعات ومنها أهمية كتابة ودراسة الماضي، الديمقراطية، المعوقات التي تواجه الباحثين المصريين وال٢٠١١ This episode is in Arabic. English subtitles are available on YouTube.  In episode 25 of Tahrir Podcast, I flew out to Boston to record in-person with renowned Egyptian historian Dr. Khaled Fahmy about the i...

Dr. Aaron Salzberg is a distinguished Holzworth professor in the department of environmental sciences and engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), and is the director of the Water Institute. He was previously the U.S State Department's First Special Coordinator for Water where he led the development and implementation of U.S foreign policy on water and sanitation, w...

Dr. Elizabeth R. Nugent is an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University. Her research focuses on the politics of authoritarianism and religion in the Middle East.   Dr. Nugent's first and award-winning book, After Repression: How Polarization Derails Democratic Transition, documents repression and polarization among the opposition in Egypt and Tunisia. She presents a t...

Dr. Kyle J. Anderson is an assistant professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) Old Westbury.  Anderson's most recent book, "The Egyptian Labor Corps: Race, Space, and Place in the First World War," (University of Texas Press 2021) tells the history of Egypt's involvement in World War I (WWI) by telling the story of the Egyptian Labor Corps (ELC) and how the treatment of these prima...

On the 27th of April 2022, Egypt's incumbent president reactivated the presidential pardon committee and called for a national dialogue. At least one person has been documented to have been arrested as a result of criticizing the president's call for dialogue. As of the 30th of June 2022, only 236 political prisoners have been released, most of whom are already widely known within the Egyptian pol...

Dr. Zaynab El Bernoussi is an assistant professor of International Politics at Sciences Po Rabat, International University of Rabat.  El Bernoussi’s most recent publication and first book, “Dignity in the Egyptian Revolution: Protest and Demand During the Arab Uprisings,” (Cambridge University Press 2021) explores the concept of Dignity (or Karama in Arabic) in the context of the Egyptian Rev...

Dr. Andrew Simon is a lecturer and research associate in Middle Eastern Studies at Dartmouth College.   Simon's most recent publication and first book, "Media of the Masses: Cassette Culture in Modern Egypt," (Stanford University Press 2022) draws on a wide array of audio, visual, and textual sources that exist outside the Egyptian National Archives, and in so doing, provides a new entry...

Mahmoud Salem is an award-winning blogger, government toppler, former politician, political campaignist, and death list survivor.    Salem, under his online nom de guerre 'Sandmonkey' rose to fame amid his blog,  'Rantings of a Sandmonkey'  claiming him various awards including best Middle East and Africa blog in 2006 and 2007, best English blog in the Deutsche Welle Best of Blogs award in 2011. S...

Dr. Dana Moss is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Her research investigates how authoritarian forces repress their critics and how collective actors resist this repression in a globalized world. She is also the founding director of the Yemen Peace Project.  Her most recent publication and first book, “The Arab Spring Abroad: Diaspora Activism Against Authoritari...

Dr. Erin A. Snider is an assistant professor in the Department of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University. Dr. Snider’s most recent book, “ Marketing Democracy: The Political Economy of Democracy Aid in the Middle East ,” (Cambridge University Press, 2022) examines the construction and practice of democracy aid in Washington DC a...

Farah Darwish is a Syrian student activist, founder, and president of the Lebanese International University (LIU)'s Secular club. Darwish took part in Lebanon's 2019 uprising that lead to --then Prime Minister-- Saad Hariri's resignation. In this episode, Darwish gets into what it felt like protesting the government in Beirut, being Syrian in Lebanon (even though her mother is Lebanese), and what...

Charlotte Streinger is a French blogger and tutor. Joining us from Damascus, Syria, in this episode, Streinger, among many things, talks about how she ended up in Damascus, how sanctions are affecting Syrians as of 2021, and the catastrophe that looms.  Streinger's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlota_green_/  Streinger's Blog: http://carlotagreen.com/ Reach out! TahrirPodcast@gmail.com St...

Ghaya Ben Mbarek is a Tunisian journalist and former student activist.    In episode 10 of Tahrir podcast, Ben Mbarek talks about her student activism, Tunisian democracy, Nourredine Bhiri and Fathi Baldi's arrests, Ennahda, Kaes Saed's 25th of July measures, and much more.    Ben Mbarek's Twitter (@Ghaya_BM): https://twitter.com/Ghaya_BM Ben Mbarek's bylines (@Meshkal_TN): https://meshkal.org/  R...

Laura Kasinof was one of the few foreign journalists in Yemen as the Arab Spring started to unfold there. From Yemen, she reported for the New York Times. Kasinof is also the author of "Don't Be Afraid of the Bullets: An Accidental War Correspondent in Yemen."  In this episode of Tahrir Podcast, she talks about how she met Nobel peace prize winner Tawakkol Karman, how Abdurrabuh Mansur Hadi--...

Laura Kasinof was one of the few foreign journalists in Yemen as the Arab Spring started to unfold there. From Yemen, she reported for the New York Times. Kasinof is also the author of "Don't Be Afraid of the Bullets: An Accidental War Correspondent in Yemen." In this episode of Tahrir Podcast, she talks about how she ended up in Yemen, how that was motivated by a conversation she had at a DC part...

Dr. Ronnie Close is a filmmaker, author, and assistant professor of visual media at the American University in Cairo. His most recent publication, "Cairo’s Ultras: Resistance and Revolution in Egypt’s Football Culture," looks at Cairo's football communities, their cultural practices, the role they played in Egypt’s 2011 revolution, and their fan base. Egypt's biggest Ultras groups have been outlaw...

Hollie S. McKay is a foreign policy expert and war crimes investigator. McKay has worked on the frontlines of several major warzones and covered humanitarian and diplomatic crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and other areas. Her most recent work is the Amazon best-seller "Only Cry For the Living: Memos from Inside...

A staunch Egyptian communist, Ahmed Nada speaks on the role Egyptian Anarchists and Communists played during the revolution, showcasing the similarities between what happened in 1952, 1956, 1977, 2011, 2015. Nada has been a member of the Egyptian Communist Party for nearly six consecutive years. He had also participated in the Egyptian Revolution, and for the 7 years to follow, had been getting tr...