Makdisi Street

The brothers welcome the journalist and Green Party congressional candidate Sam Husseini (@samhusseini) to the show to discuss his electoral run in Maryland's 4th congressional district, changing attitudes on Palestine in the US, the stubborn gap between public opinion and official policy in Washington, the role of journalists and activists in challenging those in power, and the relationship between domestic and foreign affairs, summed up in his campaign slogan, "more peace, cheaper gas."

Check out Sam's website
www.samhusseini.com

Date of recording: Oct 27, 2026

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The brothers host author Assal Rad (@AssalRad) to discuss her new book, Don't Say Palestine: How the Media Manufactured Consent for Genocide (2026).

Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel
https://youtu.be/WThjVoeoJRw

Date of recording: Oct 20, 2026

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Music by Hadiiiiii

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The brothers gather to discuss the third anniversary of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the dissonance arising from witnessing genocide on the one hand and seeing stubborn denial by committed Zionists on the other hand, as well as the internal contradictions in Lebanon as the Israeli devastation of southern Lebanon also enters its third year.

The brothers will be hosting Assal Rad on the next livestream edition of Makdisi Street Reviews. Join the Patreon for live access and to submit your questions and comments.
https://www.patreon.com/MakdisiStreet/posts/makdisi-street-w-172251274

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The brothers host a livestream discussion with Akbar Shahid Ahmed on his new book Crossing the Red Line: Biden, his Advisors, and Israel's War in Gaza (2026), published by WW Norton 

Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9xcED2AYPw

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The brothers welcome Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) of Drop Site News to the show to discuss shifts in the American political landscape, the growing disillusionment with Israel and how AIPAC has become an index of political corruption, the contradiction between donors and electoral base in Democratic Party politics, Abdul el-Sayed's political maneuvering ahead of the Michigan senate vote, and Trump's embrace of the legacy of early modern piracy.

Date of recording: Sept 29, 2026

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The brothers host the award-winning Palestinian-American poet Fady Joudah to discuss his newest work, Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza (2026).

Watch the livestream on our YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnUPf7gMDSs

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The brothers welcome Chris Doyle, Director of the Council for British-Arab Understanding (CAABU) and leading expert on British policy to the Middle East. We discuss the context behind British complicity in the Gaza genocide under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer and why he thinks the apparent shift in policy under new Foreign Minister Ed Milliband is genuine. We also talk about the power of the Israel lobby in the UK and the unprecedented crackdown on free speech and Palestine solidarity protests.

Date of recording: Sept 15, 2026

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The brothers regroup to discuss israel's ongoing campaigns of genocidal destruction in southern Lebanon and Gaza; the regional consequences of the apparent stalemate in the US war on Iran; continuing shifts in Western public attitudes toward the question of Palestine and the gap between public or voter sentiment on the one hand and actual policy making on the other, as well as an illustrative contrast between the consolidation of pro-Israel establishment politicians in the US (witness the recent bill to protect Israel by muzzling US universities) and possible signs of change in Europe, including the recent move to recognize...

Two of the three brothers reflect on summer travels and discuss Ussama's recent visit to Australia, the extraordinary repression across the Western world intended to shield Israel from criticism or even analysis, the provenance of the so-called IHRA misdefinition of "antisemitism," and the replacement of a culture of denial by a culture of suppression.

Date of recording: August 25, 2026

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https://youtu.be/9pDWjlgUs40

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The brothers reunite in a special, in-person episode at their parents' mountain house in Dhour Choueir, Lebanon, to discuss their recent trip to southern Lebanon, what they saw on the ground, the wider regional implications, and where U.S. politics stands today.

Produced by Layla Makdisi

Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEd2P3lOkN8

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Music by Hadiiiiii

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The brothers welcome journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates back to the show to discuss Kamala Harris's ill-fated 2024 presidential campaign and the debacle of the Democratic Convention's exclusion of Palestinian-American voices (about which he's written recently for Vanity Fair), the betrayal of the radical Black tradition, tensions in the civil rights movement over the question of Palestine and the significance of the emerging break with Zionism on the American right.  

Check out his article: 

https://www.vanityfair.com/story/the-next-black-president?srsltid=AfmBOorwIn31nJd05iOQ99YVlFQ7ldQCrcpGKRpwpda8EBI4DZctwE7j

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Come and join the brothers for another patron-only livestream discussion of the situation in Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza.
We look forward to your questions and comments!

Watch the video edition on our YouTube channel

Date of recording: July 16, 2026

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Music by Hadiiiiii

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The brothers welcome back Aslı Ü. Bâli, Professor of Law at Yale Law School, for an intense and wide-ranging discussion of the state of the Middle East in the aftermath of the failed US-Israeli war on Iran.  They discuss the potential geopolitical outcomes the apparent US strategic defeat, examine the nature and assumptions of what had been American primacy over the Gulf, the liability and costs to the US and the Middle East of the decades-long American political embrace of an Israel drunk on borrowed power and impunity, Turkey's role in the regional realignment, the question of pipelines and reso...

With the 2026 World Cup having started in the USA, the brothers welcome Abdullah Al-Arian, Chair of History at Georgetown University Qatar and editor of Football in the Middle East: State, Society, and the Beautiful Game. We talk about how football shapes Arab identity, including the role of diaspora, and how it is instrumentalized by Arab states. We also talk about the controversies and politics of the World Cup, including the journey of Team Palestine during a genocide, and discrimination against Iran's team and fans from across the global south. We wrap by discussing the question of FIFA Eurocentrism, corruption, an...

In anticipation of the publication of Eyal Weizman's new book, Ungrounding: The Architecture of Genocide, which will be released in the US next month, the brothers hosted a livestream with Eyal to which our Patreon supporters had access, including the opportunity to ask questions of Eyal either via the livestream chat (which we will moderate) or in advance via email.

Watch the livestream edition
https://youtu.be/EInAD1Utpgw

Date of recording: June 16, 2026

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The brothers discuss the latest developments in the regional war, with a special focus on Lebanon and the nature of Israeli bombardment of civilian homes, which is tied to the destruction of homes on different scales across historical Palestine since 1948. The brothers also discuss co-existence in the Mashriq region and the Zionist challenge to that.

Check out Ussama's article
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/03/opinion/lebanon-israel-iran-war.html

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Date of recording: June 8, 2026

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The brothers welcome Trita Parsi back to the show to discuss the status of US-Iran negotiations, the pressures of the ongoing stalemate on both sides, the prospects of an agreement given Israel's continued disruption in Lebanon and the vagaries of Trump's egotism, whether Iran can coerce a stop to Israeli aggression in Lebanon & Germany's experience of schadenfreude in the UN.

Check out Trita's Substack
https://tritaparsi.substack.com/

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Date of recording: June 4, 2026

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The brothers get together for a conversation about the ongoing Israeli war on Lebanon, the meaning of deterrence, the role of Iran in Lebanon, the question of Lebanon's sovereignty, and the divisions within Lebanon about how best to defend the country and its people.

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Date of recording: May 28, 2026

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The brothers welcome Lebanese scholar and original "Angry Arab" Asad AbuKhalil, author, columnist, professor, and public intellectual.  The discuss the increasing depravity of a long history of Israeli wars on Lebanon going back to 1948; why so many in Lebanon continue to put their faith in the pipe-dream of peace with a state that is actively committing genocide, the neglect of the South during the decades of alleged Lebanese prosperity in the run up to the civil war, the origins of the Dahiye, why the current Lebanese government has turned its back on resistance, and the extent to which Lebanese l...

The brothers welcome to the show Jehad Abusalim, who grew up in the city of Deir el Balah in the Gaza Strip and now heads the Gaza Genocide Center.  They discuss what it was like to grow up under occupation in Gaza, what normal life was like for a generation under siege, isolated and cut off from the world.  They discuss the ongoing Gaza genocide, still being perpetrated by Israel (though it is no longer being covered in Western media), the conditions for yet again displaced Palestinians living in the aftermath of Israel's destruction of Gaza and in the de...

The 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

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**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 soli...

The 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

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The 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...

The 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 

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The 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

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The 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

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***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 no...

The 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

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**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 S...

The brothers welcome the investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News back to the show to discuss the looming threat of a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran, the various forces driving US foreign policy, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the capacity of Palestinian steadfastness to withstand either the plan for the dystopian reduction of Gaza to a wasteland of biometric concentration camps and foreign privatization and profiteering or the ongoing Israeli drive for total annihilation.

Date of recording: Feb 26, 2026

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The brothers welcome Drop Site News journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous to the show to discuss the latest developments in Gaza, as, despite a nominal "ceasefire," Israel's genocide grinds on, and as, meanwhile, dystopian plans to remake Gaza put forward by the likes of Jared Kushner are slowly put into place, which would see Palestinians forced into biometrically controlled concentration camps as parts of the territory are plundered or developed for the enrichment of foreign investors. The conversation shows that we are entering a pivotal moment, in which either Israel's worst and most dystopian desires will be fulfilled or they...

A special edition of the Makdisi Street podcast in which Ussama interviews fellow historian Avi Shlaim in Jaipur, India where both were attending the Jaipur Literature Festival.  Ussama asks Avi about his new book Genocide in Gaza, the history of coexistence devastated by the project of colonial Zionism, and about when and why Avi became an anti-Zionist.  They discuss the importance of archives, ethical history writing, the virulent anti-Palestinian racism of Benny Morris, and the significance about the refusal of the historical profession's leading bodies in the West to take a clear stand against genocide.

Date of re...

The brothers welcome Professor Greg Grandin to the show to discuss the US kidnapping of the Venezuelan president against the historical context of other American imperial interventions in Latin America, the recurring use of Latin America as a stage to reboot US interventions elsewhere around the world, different models of regime change, the collapse of international law and legitimacy and the specificities of Trump as a symptom of American decline and the crisis of empire.

Date of recording: January 7th, 2026

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The brothers talk with the prominent Palestinian politician, activist and medical doctor Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, and presidential candidate during the last elections in Palestine in 2005. We discuss the awful realities of Palestinians living under Israeli genocide and attempted ethnic cleansing despite a "ceasefire," the essence of Palestinian steadfastness and the importance of international solidarity. We also debate the meaning of Palestinian unity as key to the liberation struggle connecting forces, movements and people globally. We end by talking proposed upcoming elections, the importance of democratizing the PLO, and the gap in solidarity between...

Special Christmas/New Year edition with the brothers' mother! The brothers welcome their mother, the author and educator Jean Said Makdisi, to the show, to discuss her books, her memories of growing up between Palestine and Egypt, living in America in the 1950s and 1960s and returning to Lebanon, where she raised her children through the 1975-1990 war while teaching at Beirut University College.

She is the author of "Teta, Mother and Me: An Arab Woman's Memoir" and "Beirut Fragments: A War Memoir." 

This episode was recorded live and produced by Layla Makdisi.

D...

***Producer's note: This is a repost of an episode we released two years ago. Wishing you a Merry Christmas from the Makdisi Street team! Thanks for your support! FREE PALESTINE***
The brothers welcome Dr. Mitri Raheb to the show to talk about the role and visibility of Christians in Palestine's ecumenical culture, so-called Christian Zionism, and how the Bible can be read either as a text authorizing empire and genocide (as with Netanyahu citing the extirpation of the Amalek) or as a text calling for liberation, equality, justice and resistance to empire.   Check out his books, Decolonizing Palestine: The Land...

The brothers welcome Professor Darryl Li of the University of Chicago to the show to discuss the new AAUP/MESA report on federal "antisemitism" investigations on US college campuses, revealing the extent to which US civil rights laws have been distorted and weaponized to suppress the advocacy of Palestinian rights across the United States, to suppress American academic freedom in order to protect the Zionist project in Palestine, as well as the extent to which this process, though taken to a new level by Trump, was actually initiated by liberal and Democratic administrations long before Trump came along.  

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The brothers welcome Ali Abunimah of The Electronic Intifada to the show to discuss mainstream media distortion of Palestine and the rise of alternative media, shifting public opinions on Zionism and solidarity for Palestine in the West, the growing divide between ordinary people and political elites, and the shared sense that we are witnessing the terminal decline of Zionism in the West.

Date of recording: November 3, 2025

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**NOTE: The brothers are hosting a live Q&A on NOVEMBER 18 for patrons only.  Please sign up today and drop your questions!**

The brothers welcome Melani McAlister, professor of American Studies at George Washington University, author of the new book Promises, Then the Storm and scholar of American culture and evangelical culture. They discuss the meaning and nature of Christian Zionism, Melani's own insight after growing up an evangelical in North Carolina, how she learned about Israel before discovering the question of Palestine, the diversity within the evangelical movement, the different ways American evangelicals are Zi...