Podcast
Makdisi Street
Hosted by Makdisi Bros. · EN
A podcast co-hosted by Saree Makdisi, Ussama Makdisi, and Karim Makdisi.
Follow us on X: @MakdisiStreet
Follow us on YouTube: @MakdisiStreet
23episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
"We cannot negotiate without national consensus" w/ Michael Young
May 201:34:13Tap to summarizeThe brothers welcome to the show Michael Young, journalist and editor of the Carnegie Middle East Center's Diwan blog, to discuss the vexed and controversial question of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations against the background of the continued Israeli bombardment and occupation of Lebanese territory and the deliberate destruction of entire towns along Lebanon's southern border. Date of recording: April 28, 2026 Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest brothers-only conversation.
Transcribe →"It hasn't worked": Lebanese defiance of Zionist oppression w/ Karim, Ussama and Saree Makdisi
Apr 2901:03:12Tap to summarize**Producer's note: This is a special co-published episode with Psychic Militancy, hosted by Makdisi Street guest Lara Sheehi. Make sure to subscribe to her channel if you haven't already!!** In this episode, I sit down with Makdisi Street podcast hosts and brothers, Karim, Ussama and Saree Makdisi to discuss the current situation in Lebanon. We get into a lot, as you can imagine, including the US and Zionist interventionism in Lebanon, their attempt to foment sectarian hate and violence, internalized Arabophobia (and other potential explanations) and, importantly, how we believe they have not succeeded in whittling away solidarity or resistance. Date of recording: Apr 7, 2026 Watch the video edition on the Psychic Militancy YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest brothers-only conversation.
Transcribe →"Palestine does matter" w/ Yousef Munayyer
Apr 1801:16:27Tap to summarizeThe brothers welcome Yousef Munayyer of the Arab Center in Washington, DC to the show to discuss the US-Israeli war on Iran and Lebanon, the role of the Zionist lobby and the nature of the relationship between the US and Israel, rapidly shifting attitudes on Israel and the Palestinians among the American public, the ferocious crackdown on dissent and protest against Israeli apartheid and genocide, and prospects for the urgent renewal of the anti-apartheid campaign for boycotts, divestments and sanctions. Date of recording: Apr 14, 2026 Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest brothers-only conversation.
Transcribe →"Energy is at the heart of it" w/ Laleh Khalili
Apr 1101:28:17Tap to summarizeThe brothers welcome University of Exeter Professor Laleh Khalili to the show to discuss the geopolitical and geoeconomic contexts of the US-Israeli war of aggression on Iran, including the role of Iran and the Gulf in global energy and trade markets and circuits; shifts in international trade and finance away from circuits controlled by the US and its coercive mechanisms of financial and trade sanctions; the gradual dismantling of US sanctions regime; Iran's destruction of US bases, radar systems and other military infrastructure in and around the Gulf; the role of the Arab Gulf states; the reshaping of Gulf and regional politics; strategic waterways such as Bab el Mandan and the Straits of Hormuz, the prospect of Iran generating income from tolls on ships passing through Hormuz and, at that, insisting on payment in renminbi rather than dollars, and, finally, the quest for energy sources driving various Israeli projects of war and occupation. Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/2maPDsQ0quo Date of recording: April 2, 2026 Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A
Transcribe →"Locking in the ethnic cleansing of 1948" w/ Omar Shakir
Mar 2301:23:42Tap to summarizeThe brothers welcome the human rights advocate Omar Shakir to the show to discuss the legal basis for the Palestinian right of return, Israel's crime against humanity for denying the right of return, the ongoing attempt to recuperate a "good Israel" of 1948 from a "bad Israel" of 1967, the approaches and limitations of human rights work, and his recent resignation from Human Rights Watch as a result of the decision to withhold a new report on the right of return. Date of recording: Feb 11, 2026 Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A
Transcribe →"Now or never"
Mar 1900:58:03Tap to summarizeThe brothers convene to discuss the US-Israeli attack on Iran, Israel's bombardment of Lebanon, the positions and alignments within Lebanon, Iran's objectives in the containing and responding to the attack, and the Israelis' sense that they are losing America and hence face a last chance opportunity to take advantage of American power to try to impose control over the region—a risky project of domination that faces considerable resistance. Date of recording: Mar 17, 2026 Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A
Transcribe →"The war in Lebanon is existential" w/ Hala Jaber
Mar 1401:42:07Tap to summarizeThe brothers are joined by the award-winning Lebanese investigative journalist Hala Jaber (@HalaJaber) to discuss the ongoing Israeli war on Lebanon in the context of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the timing of the unexpectedly strong re-emergence of Hizballah following 15 months of Israeli violations of the Nov 2024 ceasefire, the humanitarian catastrophe and displacement of hundreds of thousands from the south and the suburbs of Beirut, and the reasons for the Lebanese government's unprecedented decision to outlaw Hizbullah military and security parts even as Israel prepared for invasion. Date of recording: Mar 11, 2026 Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A
Transcribe →"The Israelis are not interested in peace" w/ Jad Ghosn
Mar 901:29:01Tap to summarize***Note: This was recorded on the eve of Israel's expansion of its ongoing bombardment and destruction of Lebanon*** The brothers welcome the Lebanese investigative journalist Jad Ghosn to the show to discuss the internal tensions and crises in Lebanon on the eve of Israel's expansion of its ongoing destruction of the country. They discuss the Lebanese sectarian system dominated by oligarchs and warlords, the financial crisis overseen by the country's bankers and politicians, who were never held to account for the ponzi scheme they ran at the expense of ordinary depositors who lost billions of dollars, the normalization of impunity, how tiny Lebanon mirrors a possible U.S. future, Israel's bombing across the country, the current status of Hizbullah, the question of its weapons, the emboldened pro-Western "sovereignty" proponents who take orders from, or see no alternative to, the massive U.S. embassy in the country, and the question of why the U.S. under Trump might wage war on Iran to serve Israel's interests, leading to the further destabilization of the entire Middle East. Date of recording: Feb 24, 2026 Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A
Transcribe →"Turning West Asia into a wasteland"" w/ Ali Alizadeh
Mar 601:45:09Tap to summarizeThe brothers welcome the London-based Iranian analyst and journalist Ali Alizadeh to the show to discuss the history and context of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, internal dynamics within post-revolution Iran, the background of and political framework of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, and the scope and scale of damage being inflicted by US and Israeli forces on Iran as the current war assumes an increasingly attritional character, as well as Iran's capacity to retaliate against Israel and US assets and bases in and around the Gulf. Date of recording: Mar 4, 2026 Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: @MakdisiStreet YouTube: @MakdisiStreet Insta: @Makdisist TikTok: @Makdisistreet Music by Hadiiiiii Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A
Transcribe →"Everyone was bombing Yemen" w/ Farea Al Muslimi
Mar 301:20:24Tap to summarize**Note: This was recorded before the US-Israeli aggression on Iran** The brothers welcome Farea Al Muslimi, founder of Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, research fellow at Chatham House in London, and analyst of Yemen and wider Gulf region. We discuss the implications of the new Yemeni government formation at a time of open Saudi-UAE conflict, contextualize this within the period since the Arab uprisings and ensuing civil war and multiple international interventions that left Yemenis in a catastrophic humanitarian situation, and facing a civil and proxy war. We discuss the strategic positioning of Yemen along the Red Sea, and role of the Houthis/Ansar Allah within the regional axis of resistance and unified popular and military support against the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Date of recording: Feb 11, 2026 Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel Follow us on our socials: X: MakdisiStreet Insta: Makdisist TikTok: Makdisistreet Sign up at Patreon.com/MakdisiStreet to access all the bonus content, including the latest Q&A
Transcribe →