The Beirut Banyan

A conversation with Albert Moukheiber - neuroscientist and clinical psychologist. An episode co-hosted by Wael Taleb - journalist at L'Orient Today. A discussion covering mental health, political agency, maladaptation to uncertainty and a wider understanding of narrative and identity. Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut Or donating through ou...

A quick take on Saad Hariri's current visit, Rafik Hariri's legacy 19 years following his assassination and assuming positions of power under Hezbollah-led paralysis. Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut Or donating through our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/thebeirutbanyan Subscribe to our podcast from your preferred platform. Follow u...

A conversation with Mohanad Hage Ali - deputy director for research at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center. An episode co-hosted by Wael Taleb - journalist at L'Orient Today. A discussion on Hezbollah's calculations in the South, regional diplomacy underway and Lebanon's position vis-a-vis the ongoing Hamas-Israel war. Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal: https://...

Welcoming Wael Taleb to The Beirut Banyan. Wael will co-host upcoming episodes covering ongoing Hezbollah-Israel clashes, constraints rubbing against free expression, and topics that range from a determined stand-up comedy scene to mental health awareness. Find Wael on Instagram: [at]wael.ramzi.taleb & Twitter/X: [at]waeltaleb23 Wael Taleb is a journalist at L'Orient Today. Help support The Beirut...

A quick take on words shared and promises made during commemorations of political assassinations, and the stark reality that no local solutions are available to hold Hezbollah's hitmen to account. Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut Or donating through our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/thebeirutbanyan Subscribe to our podcast from you...

On the third commemoration of Lokman Slim's assassination... What stability means when looking back on the port blast aftermath and political assassinations. A word that implies improvement while doing the opposite - accepting a country's security fate tied to Iran's regime survivability. Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut Or donating throug...

Reflections on Mohamad Chatah with former UK Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher. Make sure to watch 'TEN YEARS' that includes conversations with family, friends and colleagues that reflect on Mohamad Chatah's life and career, a decade after his assassination: https://youtu.be/_jAM77Vz7bk?si=69WFPNc6MDKIY-yT Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:02 Business of diplomacy 2:13 Fellow diplomat 3:17 Showing off vs...

Reflections on Mohamad Chatah with former US Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman. Make sure to watch 'TEN YEARS' that includes conversations with family, friends and colleagues that reflect on Mohamad Chatah's life and career, a decade after his assassination: https://youtu.be/_jAM77Vz7bk?si=69WFPNc6MDKIY-yT Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:02 Looking back 3:04 Stopping by 5:08 July 2006 War 7:15 Bigger...

Reflections on Mohamad Chatah with former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Make sure to watch 'TEN YEARS' that includes conversations with family, friends and colleagues that reflect on Mohamad Chatah's life and career, a decade after his assassination: https://youtu.be/_jAM77Vz7bk?si=69WFPNc6MDKIY-yT Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:45 Central Bank Vice Governor & Lebanese Ambassador to U.S. 6:10 Senior Adv...

Reflections on Mohamad Chatah with Malek Mrowa, member of the Democratic Renewal Movement (Tajaddod). Make sure to watch 'TEN YEARS' that includes conversations with family, friends and colleagues that reflect on Mohamad Chatah's life and career, a decade after his assassination: https://youtu.be/_jAM77Vz7bk?si=69WFPNc6MDKIY-yT Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:02 Nassib Lahoud 2:45 Common cause 5:00 Civil...

Reflections on Mohamad Chatah with former President Michel Sleiman. Make sure to watch 'TEN YEARS' that includes conversations with family, friends and colleagues that reflect on Mohamad Chatah's life and career, a decade after his assassination: https://youtu.be/_jAM77Vz7bk?si=69WFPNc6MDKIY-yT Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:02 Looking back 3:53 Problem-solving 9:04 Buildup to Baabda Declaration 12:24 P...

Reflections on Mohamad Chatah with Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel. Make sure to watch 'TEN YEARS' that includes conversations with family, friends and colleagues that reflect on Mohamad Chatah's life and career, a decade after his assassination: https://youtu.be/_jAM77Vz7bk?si=69WFPNc6MDKIY-yT Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:02 Looking back 3:26 Role within March 14 5:48 Problem-solving 8:24 Aligned po...

Reflections on Mohamad Chatah with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. Make sure to watch 'TEN YEARS' that includes conversations with family, friends and colleagues that reflect on Mohamad Chatah's life and career, a decade after his assassination: https://youtu.be/_jAM77Vz7bk?si=69WFPNc6MDKIY-yT Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:09 Looking back 7:12 Friendship 8:55 Shared interpretation 10:55 His role i...

A conversation with co-founders of Poppin’ Pollen Randy Chartouni & Hoda Rizk, taped live at Aaliya's Books. Click to watch: https://youtu.be/mvWP85c-ZAc About bee-hiving tradition, energy boosting & wider benefits of pollen, bringing health awareness through digital marketing, & the difficulties of managing a startup business & relationship at once. Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing...

A conversation with Wissam Kamal - stand-up comedian and filmmaker. Discussing his journey in to stand-up comedy, vulnerability on stage, the power of satire and his upcoming special 'Ashtaf Zoom'. We also talk about state attempts at censorship, battling stage freight, the writing and testing process at hand and encouraging more female comics on stage. Taped live at Aaliya's Books. Help support T...

A conversation with Naila Al Hares - sign language interpreter, instructor and founder of Sign With Naila. Click to watch: https://youtu.be/SqYN2kS-jAM Discussing the passion and pursuit behind Naila's sign language instruction, her mission to bridge communication between the hearing impaired and hearing communities and the personal journey that shaped her career and interpreter profession. We als...

A conversation with Simon Kachar - lecturer in political science at the American University of Beirut, fellow at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs and author of 'Fouad Chehab and the Political Change in a Pluralistic Society'. Click to watch: https://youtu.be/ntj65MQA9tM Discussing the buildup to cross-communal power sharing and the national pact, 1958, the lega...

A conversation with Wael Taleb - journalist at L'Orient Today. Click to watch: https://youtu.be/FyJbW5P4z9M Discussing the journalist's role in news reporting and features writing, built-in differences within fact-based coverage and opinion analysis, a wider meaning of 'Palestine' and sometimes separating a political cause from its people, feelings of liberation over time and how to transition fro...

A conversation with Bashshar Haydar - professor of philosophy and the Mohammad Atallah chair of ethics at the American University of Beirut. Click to watch: https://youtu.be/kBFTpM-J3QY Discussing the wider topic of war ethics in philosophy, difficulties of academic/scholarly debate in times of ongoing and harrowing strife & his views on last week’s canceled AUB event, including the fallout that e...

A conversation with Salam El Zaatari - producer, director & satirist, taped live at Aaliya's Books. Discussing how to properly navigate and eloquently express emotions as they relate to political conflict, the use satire provides in debunking conspiracy, myths and state-propaganda, how misunderstanding of history and false narratives emerge from lack of political agency, a reflection of audience e...

A conversation with Mohamad Faour, Assistant Professor in Finance at The American University of Beirut, taped live at Aaliya's Books. Discussing the ongoing Hamas-Israel war, the de-development of Lebanon's economy, best-case and worst-case economic scenarios given geopolitical constraints, October 17 in retrospect, windows of opportunity and using social media to express principles without shame....

A conversation with Fadi BouKaram, edited from an Instagram Live we shared. Click to watch: https://youtu.be/kJzw2OpuR-M Discussing the channeling of emotions during times of immense crisis, a look at Ireland and that country's own unique perceptions, offering benefit of the doubt when exploring multiple narratives and persuasions, reducing conflict to its basics and honing a certain patience abro...

Episode 373: 'All She Lost' with Dalal Mawad, taped live at Aaliya's Books. A conversation with award-winning journalist and author Dalal Mawad. Click to watch: https://youtu.be/BGjBJdTCNa4 Discussing the ongoing Hamas-Israel war, regional implications for Lebanon, the role of journalists during trying times and crisis, narrative vs truth, and her recently published 'All She Lost' covering the pos...

On Gisele Khoury's passing & October 17's anniversary

Episode 372: 'A Shining Star' with Matteo El Khodr, taped live at Aaliya's Books. A conversation with actor and countertenor Matteo El Khodr. Click to watch: https://youtu.be/4t_bYwpVVG4 Covering the role of artists in defending free expression, persevering as a performer despite all types of difficulties in Lebanon, and a unique voice that merges art with activism. Help support The Beirut Banyan...