This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Tamar Hermann, a senior fellow with the Israel Democracy Institute who has been analyzing Israeli polling data for decades. They talk about the rightward shift of young Jewish Israelis, changing attitudes toward Arab citizens of Israel, and the rising politics of grievances there. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Natasha Hall and Danny Sharp about the link between public opinion and decision-making around the region. 

Increasingly, a range of dialects have appeared on television and in movies. Arab children’s television, however, has proven surprisingly immune to the trend. A new Mezze from the CSIS Middle East Program.

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Helen Lackner, the author of the new book, Yemen: Poverty and Conflict, who has spent five decades covering Yemen. ​​​​​​​ They talk about how conflict has been endemic in Yemen for hundreds of years, how the current conflict fits into that history, and what a post-conflict Yemen could look like. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Natasha Hall and Caleb Harper about U.S. goals in Yemen and other conflict-affected countries in the Middle East. 

Amid a worsening economic crisis, Lebanon is facing yet another shortage: a lack of foreign workers to work as maids and nannies in Lebanese homes. Despite a high unemployment rate among Syrians living in Lebanon, they aren't likely to be part of the solution. A New Mezze from the CSIS Middle East Program.

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Ali al-Saffar, the Middle East and North Africa program manager at the International Energy Agency (IEA). They talk about the state of electric grids in the Middle East; renewable electricity and the energy transition; and why some Middle Eastern countries have too little electricity, why some have too much, and why that matters. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Will Todman and Lubna Yousef about subsidies and reform in the region.

Many countries have large trade deficits with oil producers in the Middle East, but Brazil is deep in surplus: it isn’t hungry for oil imports, but the region's consumers are hungry for its meat. A New Mezze from the CSIS Middle East Program.

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Mahsa Alimardani, a scholar at the University of Oxford and a senior researcher with Article19. They talk about the recent protests in Iran and how both protestors and the regime have used social media, the cat and mouse game of online access and censorship in Iran, and what Western social media companies can be doing to better moderate their platforms. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Will Todman and Lubna Yousef about the intersection of protest movements and social media around the Middle East.

Israel's generous subsidies for in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) have earned it the highest per capita rate of IVF procedures in the world, but that generosity may soon literally overflow with a decades-long buildup of frozen embryos.

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Sami Atallah, the founding director of The Policy Initiative in Beirut. They talk about Lebanon's three year old financial crisis, its struggle with political accountability, and where change might come from. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Will Todman and Caleb Harper about how donors and the international community are thinking about Lebanon.

Tunisia’s revolution in 2011 improved many things, but the odors of Tunis was not one of them. This Mezze was adapted from the Middle East Program's report, "Sustainable States: Environment, Governance, and the Future of the Middle East."