Makdisi Street

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Latest Episodes:

"Now or never" Mar 19, 2026

Show notes

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 war in Lebanon is existential" w/ Hala Jaber Mar 14, 2026

Show notes

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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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

"The Israelis are not interested in peace" w/ Jad Ghosn Mar 09, 2026

Show notes

***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

"Turning West Asia into a wasteland"" w/ Ali Alizadeh Mar 06, 2026

Show notes

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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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

"Everyone was bombing Yemen" w/ Farea Al Muslimi Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

**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

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"Trump isn't just President, he is a gangster and a businessman" w/ Jeremy Scahill Feb 27, 2026

Show notes

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

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

"Justice or Annihilation" w/ Sharif Abdel Kouddous Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

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 will break apart—in Gaza.

Date of recording: January 27, 2026

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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

"My disenchantment with Zionism was a very gradual process" w/ Avi Shlaim Feb 01, 2026

Show notes

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 recording: January 15, 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

"Trump, Venezuela and an empire in crisis" w/ Greg Grandin Jan 11, 2026

Show notes

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

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

"We are not defeated" w/ Mustafa Barghouti Jan 05, 2026

Show notes

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 Arab peoples and their leaders. Date of recording: December 23, 2025

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

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