Centre Stage

In this episode of Centre Stage, our guest is Palestinian American activist and adjunct professor Amin Husain. New York University suspended Husain indefinitely for statements he made off campus about Palestine. Husain is also the founder of Decolonize This Place, an art collective that promotes social justice.

He talks about why Israel’s war on Gaza resonates with students and faculty on university campuses in the US, and how protest and resistance can help marginalised groups empower themselves.

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John Mearsheimer is a political scientist and influential scholar in international relations who is best known for his theory of offensive realism.

Mearsheimer talks to Al Jazeera’s Rawaa Auge about the wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Lebanon and how global and regional powers support and arm the belligerent parties. Mearsheimer also weighs in on the 2024 US presidential election, and the minefield that is US foreign policy.

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Jeremy Scahill is an American investigative journalist and author. He co-founded Drop Site News, a non-partisan organisation dedicated to reporting on major stories while focused on accountability and accuracy.

Scahill joins Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle, to dissect the 2024 US presidential election, American interests in the Middle East, Israel’s war on Gaza and what the future of journalism may look like.

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Chase Oliver is the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate in the 2024 US election. He joins Centre Stage to talk to Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle about why having more voting options is important, and what the US would be like under Libertarian governance. Oliver also offers his take on US foreign policy, how he’d tackle diplomacy with allies and addresses current conflicts.

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Arab Americans are expected to play a critical role in the upcoming US presidential election. And, while they’ve traditionally voted Democrat, that seems to be changing, leading some to talk about a political chasm within the Arab American community in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza, and American support for that war.

In this episode:

• Maya Berry (@iMayaBerry), executive director of the Arab American Institute

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In part 2 of this episode of Centre Stage, we conclude our interview with Clive Stafford Smith, a civil rights lawyer who represents Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani American woman serving an 86-year prison sentence — a victim, says Stafford Smith, of the United States’s so-called “war on terror”.

In this episode:

• Clive Stafford Smith (@CliveSSmith), civil rights lawyer and legal counsel for many of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay
• Maryam Nemazee (@MaryamNemazee), presenter at  Al Jazeera

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In part 1 of this episode of Centre Stage, our guest is Clive Stafford Smith, a civil rights lawyer and legal counsel for many of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. His best-known client is Aafia Siddiqui, who he says is a victim of circumstance, and should never have ended up on the FBI’s Most Wanted list after the 9/11 attacks in the US. 

In this episode:

• Clive Stafford Smith (@CliveSSmith), civil rights lawyer and legal counsel for many of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay
• Maryam Nemazee (@MaryamNemazee), presenter at  Al Jazeera

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Refik Hodzic is a journalist, filmmaker and an expert in transitional justice who has also worked as a spokesperson for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Hodzic joins us on Centre Stage, where he draws parallels between the Bosnian genocide and the war in Gaza, discusses the role of Western governments in achieving justice, and explains why young people are his only hope. 

In this episode:

• Refik Hodzic (@davidahearst), journalist, filmmaker and an expert in transitional justice 
• Rawaa Auge (@Rawaak), presenter at Al Jazeera Digital

This episode is produced in partnership with the Islam and Muslims Initiative, an international platform that connects Muslims and non-Muslims in the realms of religion, politics, business, media, academia and civil society.

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In this episode of Centre Stage, our guest is veteran journalist and editor-in-chief of The Middle East Eye, David Hearst. His career spans decades of reporting on Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Hearst talks about why he thinks we’re currently witnessing the collapse of the Western governance model, and how the mistakes of the West are linked to the war on Gaza. 

In this episode:

• David Hearst (@davidahearst), veteran journalist and editor-in-chief of The Middle East Eye
• Rawaa Auge (@Rawaak), presenter at Al Jazeera Digital

This episode is produced in partnership with the Islam and Muslims Initiative, an international platform that connects Muslims and non-Muslims in the realms of religion, politics, business, media, academia and civil society.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

The trailblazing leader of Slovenia who became the country’s first female president did it without the backing of a political party. President Natasa Pirc Musar had a diverse career as an attorney, journalist and former information commissioner. A staunch advocate for human rights, President Musar talks about Slovenia’s recent recognition of Palestine, and why a reform of the UN Security Council is needed. 

In this episode:

• Natasa Pirc Musar (@nmusar), President of Slovenia
• Rawaa Auge (@Rawaak), presenter at Al Jazeera Digital

This episode is produced in partnership with the Islam and Muslims Initiative, an international platform that connects Muslims and non-Muslims in the realms of religion, politics, business, media, academia and civil society.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook