The Lede

On this week’s episode, Sonja Mejcher-Atassi joins New Lines’ Rasha Elass to discuss her new book, “An Impossible Friendship,” which describes a transformative friendship in the early years of the conflict in Palestine and Israel. Mejcher-Atassi and Elass consider what that relationship can tell us about Palestine today. Produced by Finbar Anderson

After a long career at the forefront of the struggle for human rights, Kenneth Roth has plenty of insight into the complex strategic and moral issues involved in building the movement. The former executive director of Human Rights Watch debates those issues on The Lede with New Lines’ Finbar Anderson in a discussion of Roth’s new book, “Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Ab...

On this episode of the podcast, Faisal Al Yafai considers whether terms like “oligarchy” can fully describe Donald Trump’s presidency or drive resistance to it. Featuring on the episode are the writer Sarah Chayes and New Lines’ Politics Editor Danny Postel. Produced by Finbar Anderson

New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai wonders whether making AI models that are truly fair for all users and uses can be possible. Hilke Schellmann joins to offer insights from her book “The Algorithm.” Further listening: AI Is Transforming Geopolitics — with Bruno Maçães and Faisal Al Yafai America’s Era of the Entrepreneur — with Erik Baker and Faisal Al Yafai Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this week’s episode of Global Insights on The Lede, editor and researcher Raga Makawi and former nonresident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy Hamid Murtada discuss the situation in Sudan two years after the outbreak of the civil war, with New Lines’ Kwangu Liwewe.   Produced by Finbar Anderson

Journalist Gabriel Gatehouse, host of The Coming Storm and the new documentary “Seeking Satoshi,” joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast to discuss how exploring America’s fringe movements is the key to understanding the modern United States.   Produced by Finbar Anderson

Journalist and humanitarian Arwa Damon returns to the podcast to discuss with New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai why she was recently denied entry into Gaza, why wars vanish from the public eye, and the personal cost of her years witnessing conflict.   Produced by Finbar Anderson

Historian Selena Wisnom and New Lines’ Lydia Wilson discuss how the legacy of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal, as set out in Wisnom’s book “The Library of Ancient Wisdom,” might be an integral part of the West’s cultural heritage, and consider why Mesopotamian history is almost completely overlooked in the modern world. Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this episode of Global Insights on The Lede, economist James Shikwati and New Lines’ North Africa Editor Erin Brown consider the impact of drastic cuts to American aid in Africa with host Kwangu Liwewe, and wonder what the continent’s future might look like without such aid. Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this week’s episode of The Lede, the acclaimed writer and journalist Omar El Akkad joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai for a frank, difficult and moving discussion about the personal impact and wider implications of the war in Gaza.   Produced by Finbar Anderson

Historian Alex Hobson, the Financial Times’ Laura Pitel and New Lines’ Danny Postel join Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast to explore the optics and impact of Donald Trump’s political showmanship. Further reading: “ The Humiliation Is the Point ” by Alex Hobson Produced by Finbar Anderson

One of the most pressing questions facing communities from Ukraine to Syria concerns the roles accountability and justice should play in the transition out of periods of conflict. Janine di Giovanni, executive director of The Reckoning Project, joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast after returning from a trip to Syria, as does New Lines’ Middle East Editor Kareem Shaheen. Produced by Fin...

On this episode of Global Insights on The Lede, Ukrainian journalist Mykhaylo Shtekel and New Lines’ Amie Ferris-Rotman join host Kwangu Liwewe to discuss how U.S. President Donald Trump’s upending of established alliances has presented Ukraine with a dilemma that may change the course of its future. Produced by Finbar Anderson

The global geopolitical landscape is changing, but not in the way you might think. In place of traditional armies facing off on the battlefield, or nuclear-backed superpowers, there's a new force: AI. On this week’s episode of The Lede, politician and New Statesman columnist Bruno Maçães, author of “World Builders: Technology and the New Geopolitics,” tells New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai how the battl...

On this week’s episode, writer Raphael Cormack tells New Lines’ Finbar Anderson about the mystics who fused elements of the spiritual and the modern to build huge followings from Beirut to New York in the early 20th century, as described in his new book “Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age: A Forgotten History of the Occult.” Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this episode, Erik Baker, author of “Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America,” tells New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai how the culture of entrepreneurialism came to dominate modern America. Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this episode of the podcast, New Lines’ Kwangu Liwewe discusses the poorly understood BRICS group with Gustavo de Carvalho, a senior researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of heavy sanctions against the group should they pursue a rumored policy of moving away from the U.S. dollar. Produced by Finbar Anders...

Following the dramatic recent political developments in Syria, Ammar Azzouz, author of “Domicide: Architecture, War and the Destruction of Home in Syria,” and Wendy Pearlman, author of “The Home I Worked To Make: Voices From the New Syrian Diaspora,” join New Lines’ Lydia Wilson on The Lede to discuss how conflict and exile have shaped Syrians’ idea of home, and how that might change in an uncerta...

On this week’s episode, acclaimed journalist and author Robert Kaplan joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai on The Lede for a discussion on Donald Trump, the Iraq War and his new book “Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis.” Further listening: The American Experiment From Outside and Within — with Hari Kunzru and Faisal Al Yafai Produced by Finbar Anderson

Will 2025 bring resolutions to the many news stories of the previous year? Four of New Lines’ editors consider the upcoming second Donald Trump presidency, the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, possible turbulence in Europe and the future for Syria. Further listening: Survival and Statehood in Ukraine — with Yaroslav Trofimov Produced by Finbar Anderson

Returning to the podcast, Mary Kaldor, professor emeritus of global governance at the London School of Economics, joins New Lines’ Lydia Wilson for a discussion on how to end the various intractable wars still raging in 2025, from Gaza to Ukraine. Produced by Finbar Anderson

On this rerun episode of Global Insights on The Lede, originally aired in July, host Kwangu Liwewe discusses the inexorable rise of soccer stars of African origin with former Nigeria star player Segun “The Mathematical” Odegbami and soccer journalist Ponga Liwewe. Produced by Finbar Anderson

In this special Christmas episode of The Lede, New Lines’ most culinary-minded discuss the mysterious, thrilling and sometimes bloody origin stories of their favorite dishes, and go head-to-head in the annual Christmas quiz. Produced by Finbar Anderson

In a momentous week in the history of Syria, New Lines’ Middle East Editor Kareem Shaheen and Editorial Director Rasha Elass join Faisal Al Yafai on The Lede to discuss how the Assad regime’s collapse happened so quickly, the terrible symbolism of the Sednaya prison complex and what’s next for Syria’s future. Further reading: The Backstory Behind the Fall of Aleppo by Hassan Hassan and Michael Wei...

Bestselling historian Katja Hoyer joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai on The Lede to discuss her history of East Germany, reunification and the former state’s most famous living politician, Angela Merkel, who has just published a major new memoir. Produced by Finbar Anderson