The Beirut Banyan Ronnie Chatah
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Storytelling and conversations, from Beirut and beyond. Subscribe from your preferred podcast platform. Support us through Paypal or Patreon.
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CHRISTINA ASSI - Behind the Camera (Ep.400)
A conversation with Christina Assi - photojournalist and photo editor at AFP. Taped live at Aaliya's Books.
Made special with the audience that joined.
Covering Christina's lifelong passion for photojournalism, an initial false comfort of wartime coverage along the Lebanese-Israeli border, surviving the October 13 Israeli attack that took Issam Abdallah's life and left Christina with an amputated leg, coping through mental and physical scars and her physical recovery ahead.
In addition to her commitment to her profession, no matter the consequence.
The podcast is only made possible through listener and viewer donations.
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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
5:38 Initial passion
11:06 Photography
13:37 Issam Abdallah
19:23 Persistence
22:02 October 13
24:57 What happened
37:50 Investigation & report
43:36 Mental coping
48:09 Physical recovery
53:06 Message to journalists
1:03:34 Power
1:07:11 Dylan Collins & Elie Brakhia
1:11:27 Commitment
1:14:13 “Don’t do it” -
MICHAEL YOUNG - Over these Walls (Ep.399)
A conversation with Michael Young - senior editor at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut and editor of Diwan, Carnegie's Middle East blog.
Covering latest Iranian and Israeli attacks, symbolism & psychological notions of victory, US policy vis-a-vis Israel and inherent obstacles towards Israeli-Palestinian peace, the lack of good options for Lebanon and an indefinitely stalled Baadba process.
Read his recent pieces for Diwan:
https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/experts/1258
Previously, Michael Young was opinion editor, as well as a columnist, for the Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon. He writes a biweekly commentary for the National (Abu Dhabi) and is author of The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle. The book was selected by the Wall Street Journal as one of its ten notable books of 2010, and won the Silver Prize in the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s book prize competition of 2010.
Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut
Or donating through our Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/thebeirutbanyan
Subscribe to our podcast from your preferred platform.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter:
@thebeirutbanyan
And check out our website:
www.beirutbanyan.com
0:00 Intro
1:12 Latest Iranian strike
5:54 Israel & escalation
8:12 Netanyahu’s positioning
10:32 Significance & symbolism
16:18 US posture vis-a-vis Israel
23:40 Hezbollah-Iranian relations
30:58 A two-front war
32:58 Lebanese front
35:10 Northern Israeli factors
37:20 Defeating Hamas?
38:52 Hezbollah & ‘victory’
43:16 Psychological gains
47:32 ‘Legitimization’
50:00 Drones above Israel
53:18 Machine functionality
55:31 US policy shifts
58:10 Biden & elections
1:04:51 Arab-Israeli ‘peace’
1:12:37 Possible partition
1:16:01 No options for Lebanon
1:18:45 US-led pressure
1:22:17 Lebanese Forces & Baabda
1:27:31 Record your voice -
DAVID SCHENKER - Absent from Diplomacy (Ep.398)
A conversation with David Schenker - Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
Covering ongoing Hezbollah-Israel attacks, diplomacy and deescalation efforts, difficulties surrounding UNSCR 1701's implementation, opposition capabilities and the likelihood of expanded war into Lebanon.
Read his recent piece 'Changing the Israel-Lebanon Status Quo: U.S. Options':
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/changing-israel-lebanon-status-quo-us-options
Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut
Or donating through our Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/thebeirutbanyan
Subscribe to our podcast from your preferred platform.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter:
@thebeirutbanyan
And check out our website:
www.beirutbanyan.com
0:00 Intro
0:39 An asset for Iran
2:27 Vis-a-vis Lebanese authorities
7:15 Gains to the South
10:38 On Lebanon’s behalf
14:38 UNSCR 1701
18:35 Stalling at best
22:21 July 2006 vs October 2023
27:01 Missed opportunities
30:19 Syrian refugees
33:35 Absent from diplomacy
34:58 Through my father -
RALPH BAYDOUN - The Media Monitor (Ep.397)
A conversation with Ralph Baydoun - media monitor and analyst, and founder of Influeanswers. Taped live at Aaliya's Books.
A discussion on the wider role of media monitoring and online data analysis, an explanation of social listening and research on state-sponsored weaponization of social media, different tools to measure online content's 'viral' impact, built-in polarization that contributes to the spread of disinformation, and partial curbing measures that platforms - and countries - are taking.
Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut
Or donating through our Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/thebeirutbanyan
Subscribe to our podcast from your preferred platform.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter:
@thebeirutbanyan
And check out our website:
www.beirutbanyan.com
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:29 Lebanese media
7:05 Cambridge Analytica
12:27 Measuring impact
18:41 Social listening
23:23 Online to mainstream
27:07 Weaponization of social media
34:38 Dead internet theory
41:21 Strategic communication ministry
46:!1 Lebanon
55:46 Built-in polarization
1:00:10 Canada
1:04:19 Q&A -
MAYA GEBEILY - The Clear Picture (Ep.396)
A conversation with Maya Gebeily- Reuters Bureau Chief of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. An episode co-hosted by Wael Taleb - journalist at L'Orient Today.
Covering Issam Abdallah's killing, the investigation process into the October 13 Israeli attack on Lebanese reporters, Reuters' response and special report, along with the wider difficulties matched with fact-finding ethics of reporting from a war zone like South Lebanon.
See Reuters special report released on December 7, 2023:
https://www.reuters.com/graphics/ISRAEL-LEBANON/JOURNALIST/akveabxrzvr/
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/29/un-report-israeli-killing-journalist-lebanon
Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut
Or donating through our Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/thebeirutbanyan
Subscribe to our podcast from your preferred platform.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter:
@thebeirutbanyan
And check out our website:
www.beirutbanyan.com
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:32 Collaborate together
5:20 Coverage of South Lebanon
9:41 October 13
15:34 Pressure vs scrutiny
18:38 Hyper-politicized
20:41 Aftermath of October 13
24:01 The investigation
27:16 Investigation’s findings
29:17 The clear picture
33:01 Calculations of coverage
37:29 A really dark time -
LORENZO TROMBETTA - Discontinuity on a Carpet of Continuity (Ep.395)
A conversation with Lorenzo Trombetta - senior Middle East correspondent and analyst. Taped live at Aaliya's Books.
A look back on Lorenzo's two decades long career as a correspondent for ANSA and LiMes covering Syria and Lebanon, and as a researcher looking at power relations within the Assad regime, the intermediary dynamics that shape modern Syrian history and the geopolitics that have dominated both countries' fate.
His recent publication: 'Negotiation and Power in the Middle East. The roots of conflicts in Syria and the region' will be available in English early 2025.
Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut
Or donating through our Patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/thebeirutbanyan
Subscribe to our podcast from your preferred platform.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter:
@thebeirutbanyan
And check out our website:
www.beirutbanyan.com
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
3:33 What brought you to Beirut?
9:45 The role of a correspondent
19:28 Nuance
25:50 Syria through Lebanon
36:04 The fate of both countries
51:36 The Syrian Mandate
1:04:47 The Syrian system
1:12:57 Into Lebanese affairs
1:18:32 Regional dynamics
1:30:55 Right now
1:39:01 Q&A
Customer Reviews
Super informative, balanced and simple podcast about Lebanon’s history
I just listened to Charles Hayek, a great patriot who is telling the ancient facts and history about Beirut neighborhoods and it’s development through the last 3000 years. The host Rony is also very engaging, respectful, and inclusive! Highly recommended podcast.
Nice podcast
Great podcast! Keep it up. Speaks to us as we just left Lebanon and struggled significantly with the decision.
thank you
thank you