A discussion on Beirut's municipal elections and Beirut Madinati 2025's platform.

With Lama Wazzan, Lina Jarrous, Kristy Asseily & George Kyriakos.

Co-hosted with Charbel Al Khoury.

The podcast is only made possible through listener and viewer donations.

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Kristy Asseily joins The Beirut Banyan to discuss her candidacy for Beirut's 2025 municipal elections.

Our discussion covers her recent return to Lebanon and passion for grassroots politics, Beirut Madinati's efforts in retrospect, and the short and long-term platform the list is advocating.

We also talk about voter engagement, communal concerns, municipal relations with the Muhafez, digitization efforts, learning from NGOs and why the municipality matters.

Kristy Asseily is a member of the National Bloc.

The podcast is only made possible through listener and viewer donations.

Please help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:32 Professional background

3:13 Return to Lebanon

5:30 Municipal vs national politics

6:38 Decision to join National Bloc

8:26 Beirut Madinati in retrospect

13:23 Coalition disadvantage

15:03 Voter engagement

17:21 Sectarian concerns vs numbers

20:03 Striking names

23:22 Platform & financial audit

27:14 Starting small

30:45 Relations with the Muhafez

35:13 Collecting taxes

37:42 Digitization

40:59 Ghost projects

42:21 Accusations & false assumptions

44:17 Mobile app

47:53 Citizen forums

49:05 Bygone urban planning

53:17 Learning from NGOs

54:14 Reinvigorating the port

58:13 Vacancies & rent rates

1:01:26 Commute & accessibility

1:02:40 Political void & communal votes

1:08:15 Why the Municipality matters

Please make sure to check out the video version: https://youtu.be/rKUnhF4hXU4

On displacement and refuge on both sides of the Green Line, the diversity we retain and a tribute to the city we call home fifty years after April 13, 1975.

With special thanks to Ali Hamed.

Videography by Alexy Chidiac. Soundtrack by Marc Codsi.

The podcast is made possible through donations. Please help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:

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George Wardini returns to The Beirut Banyan.

We look back to 1983 and discuss similarities in the relative calm Lebanon experienced following Israel's siege of Beirut and expulsion of Arafat from Lebanon.

We also examine post-2024 war developments and security risks related to attempts at disarmament, what the potential of a wider Arab-Israeli peace deal under the Trump administration could mean for Lebanon, the need for the government to make Lebanon's case against Iran's inclinations to hold onto Hezbollah as a proxy militia, and why caution over confrontation remains the preferred mode of governance.

George Wardini is the founder and director of PolyBlog.

The podcast is only made possible through listener and viewer donations.

Please help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:59 What changed

6:17 Caution vs Confrontation

11:37 Question of disarmament

14:50 Trump & Iran

22:15 “Peace”

28:59 Conflicting message

35:11 Measuring success

38:47 Lebanon’s case

42:27 Current govt support

47:21 Abnormal state

51:09 Network of interests

53:04 Personal evolution

البير كوستانيان: وحدها المحاسبة وإعادة الهيكلة تسترجع الودائع، لا بيع الأوهام

Nadim Shehadi returns to The Beirut Banyan.

In this episode we discuss the 2020 Eurobond default and the controversy surrounding that decision. We also look at fault lines formed between the banking sector and restructuring-advocacy groups and the wider story of the economic direction of the country.

Nadim Shehadi is an economist and regular contributor to Arab News.

The podcast is only made possible through listener and viewer donations.

Please help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:47 The bigger story

2:58 Any banking sector

5:39 Individual action

12:45 Default

18:49 Fault line

24:08 The banks

33:11 A clear dichotomy

36:04 The Central Bank

43:23 The real question

Albert Kostanian returns to The Beirut Banyan.

In this short episode he candidly discusses a campaign to discredit his economic views and media reputation, debunks accusations of shadow funding and behind-the-scenes government orchestration regarding Kulluna Irada, dispels smear tactics increasingly used to sideline reform-minded advocates in government and civil society, and conveys a firmly held belief in solution-based policies - in particular the ongoing debate surrounding banking restructuring plans and fiscal policy.

Albert Kostanian is an economist and journalist, and hosts LBCI's Vision 2030.

The podcast is only made possible through listener and viewer donations.

Please help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:12 Why are you here?

1:59 Why is there an increased discrediting campaign happening now?

5:23 Conspiracy theories & Kulluna Irada

8:42 Orchestrated attacks & social media misinformation

10:42 Reform-minded credibility

On a wedding, a commemoration & a funeral.

And holding Nawaf Salam’s incoming government to a higher standard.

POINT COUNTERPOINT - Episode 3

An exchange on political affairs impacting Lebanon and the Middle East, with a unique vantage point from Beirut.

Co-hosted by Michael Young (senior editor at Carnegie’s Middle East Center and editor of Diwan) and Bashshar Haydar (professor of philosophy at AUB) - both Beirut-based analysts sharing their nuanced perspectives while honing in on disagreements.

Episode 3 covers three topics: (1) Nawaf Salam's cabinet formation process, a perception dilemma that has left his allies frustrated and Amal Movement's continued insistence on the Ministry of Finance; (2) the presidency so far, Joseph Aoun's mandate and the security reality dictated by the Israelis with international support that has allowed for the enforcement of 1701; and (3) the upcoming twenty year commemoration of Rafic Hariri's assassination, and how 'Sunni' and 'Shia' politics will play out with a diminished Iranian sphere of influence.

Michael Young's article discussed during this episode:

"Hezbollah Tries Making a Comeback":

https://carnegieendowment.org/middle-east/diwan/2025/01/hezbollah-tries-making-a-comeback?lang=en

Bashshar Haydar's articles referred to can be accessed via his new column in Nidaa al Watan:

https://www.nidaalwatan.com/author/1883-بشار-حيدر

Stay tuned for more episodes.

The podcast is only made possible through listener and viewer donations.

Please help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:38 Cabinet formation process

15:48 Presidency, security & ceasefire

42:14 Twenty year Rafic Hariri commemoration

An episode on a new and unexpected duo: President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam.

Covering the dramatically shifting security climate that brought about rapid political change, Joseph Aoun's leadership and the consensus that ushered in his presidency, Nawaf Salam's clean slate and the majority vote that guaranteed his prime minister-designation, and freeing local governance from the Doha Agreement's forced national unity paralysis.

With Sarah Yassine, architect and political activist.

The podcast is only made possible through listener and viewer donations.

Please help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal:

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

2:45 Joseph Aoun

6:58 Nawaf Salam

10:33 Current climate

17:03 Clean outsider

22:11 Constant pressure

28:25 Majority coalition

32:58 Unlocking the stranglehold

38:05 Dismantling the ‘Blocking Third’

40:58 Freeing the Ministry of Finance

43:01 Continued violence in the South

48:20 Independent voters & the South

57:15 A different Hezbollah