The Lede

Arab History Through Medieval Spanish Eyes — with Aymenn Al-Tamimi and Lydia Wilson

The bishop of Toledo, Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada, wrote “Historia Arabum” in the 13th century. The book is one of the earliest accounts of Arabic history written by a Western author. It was translated from the original Latin into Arabic by Aymenn Al-Tamimi, a nonresident fellow at the New Lines Institute and a Ph.D. student at the University of Swansea in Wales. In this podcast, he joins New Lines Magazine's Lydia Wilson to discuss why he decided to take on such a difficult translation, what the text says about Christian-Muslim relations in medieval Spain and why it remains relevant today. Produced by Joshua Martin

America’s Great Experiment — with Yascha Mounk and Faisal Al Yafai

At a moment when it seems as if Americans can’t agree on anything — when political divisions seem to run deeper than they have since the Civil Rights Movement — political scientist, professor and pundit Yascha Mounk of Johns Hopkins University remains optimistic that an answer can be found. His latest book, “The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure,” combs through history, psychology and personal experience in search of that answer. In this podcast with New Lines Magazine's Faisal Al Yafai, he shares his thoughts on how to make a diverse, democratic America work. They discuss whether diverse democracies pose unique challenges, what the United States can learn from Lebanon and whether U.S. government reparations for slavery could ever work. Produced by Joshua Martin

Catfishing a Killer — with Uğur Ümit Üngör, Annsar Shahhoud and Rasha Elass

When Amjad Youssef met “Anna,” a young Alawite Syrian who was studying abroad, the military man was skeptical at first. But as the months unfolded, he began to open up to his fellow pro-regime partisan over Facebook. What he didn't know was that Anna had been created by genocide researchers Annsar Shahhoud and Uğur Ümit Üngör. In this podcast with New Lines Magazine's Rasha Elass, they talk about how they used Anna to expose Amjad’s participation in the 2013 Tadamon massacre, carried out by the Syrian regime. They explain how they set about luring Amjad through social media, dark humor as a coping mechanism in a line of work which few can relate to, and what to do with the knowledge of such atrocities when facing the families of the victims. Produced by Joshua Martin and Christin El Kholy

Bedouin Poetry and Culture Through the Ages — with Marcel Kurpershoek and Kevin Blankinship

Marcel Kurpershoek is a former Dutch ambassador and accomplished scholar at NYU Abu Dhabi. His most recent work is “Love, Death, Fame,” a translation of poems by al-Mayidi ibn Zahir, a 17th-century poet from what is now the United Arab Emirates. In this podcast, he catches up with New Lines Magazine's Kevin Blankinship to talk about Nabati poetry, the thousand-year-old oral poetic tradition of the Arabian Peninsula. They discuss Marcel’s decades of fieldwork in Central Arabia recording oral poems among Bedouin tribes, why the ancient tradition continues to be such a central part of Khaleeji culture and identity, and how it has found a worldwide audience through the United Arab Emirates’ answer to “American Idol”: the smash-hit competitive poetry show “Million’s Poet.” Produced by Joshua Martin

The Last Days of the Ottomans — with Eugene Rogan and Faisal Al Yafai

For six centuries, the Ottoman Sultans held dominion across most of the Middle East, North Africa and Southern Europe. But by the eve of the First World War in 1914, the empire was already in steep decline. It is at this moment of crisis that the preeminent historian Eugene Rogan begins his bestselling book “The Fall of the Ottomans.” In this podcast, he talks to NNew Lines Magazine's Faisal Al Yafai about those decisive final years. They discuss the Ottoman experience of the Great War, whether the empire’s ultimate collapse was inevitable and how the Middle East of today emerged from the ashes of its defeat. Produced by Joshua Martin

A Life in Translation — with William Hutchins and Kevin Blankinship

William Maynard Hutchins is a professor emeritus at Appalachian State University and an award-winning translator of Arabic literature, most famous for his work on “The Cairo Trilogy” by Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. In this podcast, he joins New Lines Magazine's Kevin Blankinship to discuss his long and storied career. They discuss how he began his career, what it was like working with figures like Mahfouz and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and why, even after retirement, he continues to translate new novels. Produced by Joshua Martin

An Arab Renaissance in the Age of Print — with Ahmed El Shamsy and Lydia Wilson

Ahmed El Shamsy is an associate professor of Islamic thought at the University of Chicago. As part of a new series from New Lines Magazine big ideas from history, El Shamsy joins culture editor Lydia Wilson to talk about how the Middle East changed in the age of printing. They discuss how the “European book drain” induced the Arab world’s adoption of the printing press, why printing enabled a revival of Islamic classical tradition, and how that revival led to the creation of the modern Middle East. Produced by Joshua Martin

One Man’s Quest for Quiet — with Gordon Hempton and Rasha Elass

Acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton has circled the globe three times in pursuit of the Earth’s rarest sounds. His sound portraits record quickly vanishing natural soundscapes. In this episode he joins New Lines Magazine's Rasha Elass to talk about the quiet he found during the pandemic, when human noise pollution subsided, and what that brief but profound period of respite can teach us about our world. Produced by Joshua Martin

Orientalism, Salafism and Sci-Fi in the World of ‘Dune’ — with Haris Durrani and Faisal Al Yafai

Author and historian Haris Durrani speaks to New Lines Magazine's Faisal Al Yafai about representation and religion in the classic sci-fi novel “Dune” and its recent film adaptation. They discuss how the book’s Islamic themes are ignored or missed by non-Muslim audiences, why Hollywood fails at representing the Middle East on screen and how a new generation of Muslim authors is changing science fiction. Produced by Joshua Martin

The Politics of Storytelling — with Fatima Bhutto and Faisal Al Yafai

Pakistani writer and novelist Fatima Bhutto speaks to New Lines Magazine's Faisal Al Yafai for this podcast about what we mean when we talk about political fiction — and how the stories we are most attracted to reflect not just the world we live in but what we think that world should be. They discuss why she decided to be a writer, rather than a politician like her aunt Benazir Bhutto, why the CIA has a department for script writers and why people increasingly identify more with stories from outside the West like “Squid Game” than with “Friends.” Produced by Joshua Martin. Photo courtesy of Allegra Donn.