Shows / Makdisi Street
Makdisi Street
A podcast co-hosted by Saree Makdisi, Ussama Makdisi, and Karim Makdisi. Follow us on X: @MakdisiStreet Follow us on YouTube: @MakdisiStreet
Episodes
Makdisi Street"The Uniparty is a scam" / Sam Husseini
The brothers welcome the journalist and Green Party congressional candidate Sam Husseini (@samhusseini) to the show to discuss his electoral run in Maryland's…
Makdisi StreetMakdisi Street Reviews w/ Assal Rad
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…
Makdisi Street"The loudest denialists"
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…
Makdisi StreetMakdisi Street Reviews w/ Akbar Shahid Ahmed
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)…
Makdisi Street"The bottom is falling out in the US" w/ Ryan Grim
The brothers welcome Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) of Drop Site News to the show to discuss shifts in the American political landscape, the growing disillusionment…
Makdisi StreetMakdisi Street Reviews w/ Fady Joudah
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)…
Makdisi Street"The UK government was definitely complicit" w/ Chris Doyle
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…
Makdisi Street"Uncontained Malice"
The brothers regroup to discuss israel's ongoing campaigns of genocidal destruction in southern Lebanon and Gaza; the regional consequences of the apparent…
Makdisi Street"They've lost all the arguments"
Two of the three brothers reflect on summer travels and discuss Ussama's recent visit to Australia, the extraordinary repression across the Western world…
Makdisi Street"Surrender is not an option"
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…
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"Palestinians are wholly excluded from the room" w/ Ta-Nehisi Coates
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…
- Makdisi Street
Patron-only livestream: Latest on Iran, Lebanon and US policy
**Please join our Patreon for access to our next livestream and to submit your questions/comments** Come and join the brothers for another patron-only…
- Makdisi Street
"Their appetite grows with every war" w/ Aslı Ü. Bâli
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…
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"FIFA is a racket" w/ Abdullah Al-Arian
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…
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Makdisi Street Reviews w/ Eyal Weizman
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…
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"We should not become our own worst enemy"
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…
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"Every war ends at the negotiating table" w/ Trita Parsi
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…
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"Only proper deterrence works"
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…
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"No peace and prosperity with apartheid" w/ As`ad Abukhalil
The brothers welcome Lebanese scholar and original "Angry Arab" Asad AbuKhalil, author, columnist, professor, and public intellectual. The discuss the…
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"The Zionist project is what it has always been" w/ Jehad Abusalim
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…
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"We cannot negotiate without national consensus" w/ Michael Young
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…
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"It hasn't worked": Lebanese defiance of Zionist oppression w/ Karim, Ussama and Saree Makdisi
**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…
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"Palestine does matter" w/ Yousef Munayyer
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…
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"Energy is at the heart of it" w/ Laleh Khalili
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…
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"Locking in the ethnic cleansing of 1948" w/ Omar Shakir
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…
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"Now or never"
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…
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"The war in Lebanon is existential" w/ Hala Jaber
The brothers are joined by the award-winning Lebanese investigative journalist Hala Jaber (@HalaJaber) to discuss the ongoing Israeli war on Lebanon in the…
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"The Israelis are not interested in peace" w/ Jad Ghosn
***Note: This was recorded on the eve of Israel's expansion of its ongoing bombardment and destruction of Lebanon*** The brothers welcome the Lebanese…
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"Turning West Asia into a wasteland"" w/ Ali Alizadeh
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…
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"Everyone was bombing Yemen" w/ Farea Al Muslimi
**Note: This was recorded before the US-Israeli aggression on Iran** The brothers welcome Farea Al Muslimi, founder of Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies…
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"Trump isn't just President, he is a gangster and a businessman" w/ Jeremy Scahill
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…
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"Justice or Annihilation" w/ Sharif Abdel Kouddous
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,"…
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"My disenchantment with Zionism was a very gradual process" w/ Avi Shlaim
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…
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"Trump, Venezuela and an empire in crisis" w/ Greg Grandin
The brothers welcome Professor Greg Grandin to the show to discuss the US kidnapping of the Venezuelan president against the historical context of other…
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"We are not defeated" w/ Mustafa Barghouti
The brothers talk with the prominent Palestinian politician, activist and medical doctor Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National…
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From Jerusalem to Cairo and Beirut w/ Jean Said Makdisi
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…
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[ARCHIVE] Christmas—and Christians—in Palestine w/ Dr. Mitri Raheb
***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…
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"Pressuring schools to crack down" w/ Darryl Li
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…
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"Anti-imperialism with solidarity at home" w/ Ali Abunimah
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…
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"What did it take for so many Americans to not see" w/ Melani McAlister
**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…
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"Public opinion is vastly different than the elites" w/ Mandy Turner
The brothers welcome Mandy Turner, a senior researcher with Security in Context, to discuss the world of think tanks, how they operate as hegemony factories…
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"At the Threshold of Genocide"
The brothers discuss the "ceasefire" in Gaza, the Trump plan, and the potential contradictions between Israel and its partners and enablers. Date of recording…
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"My fear is that this is a repackaging of the genocide" w/ Diana Buttu
**Producer's note: This episode was marred by technical problems and connection issues. Apologies for the sound quality** The brothers welcome the…
- Makdisi Street
Return to Makdisi Street w/ Samir Makdisi
The brothers welcome their father, Samir Makdisi, Professor Emeritus at the American University of Beirut, to the show. They discuss the significance of…
- Makdisi Street
Bonus episode - To proxy or not to proxy?
***Producer's note: This is a preview of the latest bonus episode. Sign up on Patreon for as little as $5 a month to access this and other great bonus…
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"A little more than nothing is better than nothing" w/ Michael Barenboim
The brothers welcome the prominent violinist, classical musician and Professor at the Barenboim-Said Akademie Michael Barenboim to have a heart-felt discussion…
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"This is the moment of accountability" w/ Michael Fakhri
The brothers welcome back to the show Michael Fakhri (@michaelfakhri), United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, to discuss the open war of…
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"Is God Listening?" w/ Munther Isaac
The brothers welcome to the show the Palestinian theologian and pastor Munther Isaac to discuss Palestinian Christianity in the context of the depravity of the…
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"Palestine is getting relegated to an impermissible viewpoint" w/Christine Hong and Theresa Montano
We welcome two brave California educators, Dr. Theresa Montano of Cal State Northridge and Dr. Christine Hong of UC Santa Cruz, who have been at the forefront…
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"A free press is supposed to challenge the government" w/ Assal Rad
The brothers welcome historian and headline fixer Assal Rad to discuss the mainstream media's role in manufacturing consent and perpetuating Islamophobia and…
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"The rot is very, very deep" w/ Ilan Pappé
The brothers welcome back historian Ilan Pappé to the show to discuss whether he still believes that the Gaza genocide marks "the beginning of the end of the…
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Bonus Episode - Live at Socialism 2025
**Producer's Note: This is a preview of the latest bonus episode. You can listen to the entire episode by becoming a member of the Makdisi Street patreon…
- Makdisi Street
"They don't see Arabs as human" w/ Alon Mizrahi
The brothers welcome the writer and podcaster Alon Mizrahi (@alon_mizrahi) to discuss the Israeli state's institutionalized and systematic dehumanization of…
- Makdisi Street
"There was no attack by the Iranians" w/ Trita Parsi
**Producer's note: This was recorded before the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities** The brothers welcome returning guest Trita Parsi to discuss the…
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"They literally built a concentration camp on a football stadium" w/ Bassil Mikdadi
Ahead of the most important football match in the history of Palestine's national team, on the cusp of potential qualification for the 2026 World Cup, the…
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"Israel is a dependent empire"
**Producer's note: The brothers are hosting their first livestream this coming TUESDAY (O6/03) at 10 am EST! It will be a Patreon-exclusive Q&A so only…
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"Israel is synonymous with the end of the rules-based order" w/ Noura Erakat
**Producer's note: The brothers are hosting their first livestream! It will be a Patreon-exclusive Q&A so only supporters of the show can submit questions or…
- Makdisi Street
"Zionism is an anachronism"
The brothers discuss the extent to which Trump represents a possible shift in US policy in the Middle East, contrasting the possibility of new deal-making in…
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"We were conscripted into the Zionist project" w/ Avi Shlaim
The brothers welcome preeminent British Israeli historian Avi Shlaim to the show to discuss the richness of Arab Jewish identity, and how the ideology of…
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"Law as a cudgel that you deploy selectively" w/ Sarah Leah Whitson
The brothers welcome Sarah Leah Whitson, the Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and former director of the Middle East and North…