The Take

Last week, 19 children and two teachers died during a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. But since then, at least another 17 mass shootings have already happened in the United States. In the aftermath of these incidents, the narrative always goes around gun control, mental health, and lots of thoughts and prayers from politicians, but little to no action. So, why is it so hard for the US government to put an end to this?

In this episode: 

• Dr James Densley, professor of criminal justice, and co-founder of The Violence Project (@theviolencepro)

Credits:

This episode was produced by Ney Alvarez, with Negin Owliaei, Ruby Zaman, Amy Walters, Alexandra Locke, and Halla Mohieddeen in for Malika Bilal. Alex Roldan is the sound designer. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are the engagement producers.

Connect with us at:

@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

What does ‘Prevent’ prevent? The UK government says the program is key to counterterrorism and protecting vulnerable people. Human rights organizations and Muslim groups say it’s surveillance and counterproductive. After years, the government will release an independent review of Prevent – but it's been boycotted by hundreds of organizations. Instead, many participated in a ‘people’s review’ of Prevent. So what does a tale of two reviews tell us about the future of Prevent?

In this episode: 

• Layla Aitlhadj, Director of Prevent Watch
• John Holmwood, author, “Countering Extremism in British Schools?: The Truth about the Birmingham Trojan Horse Affair”

Credits:

This episode was produced by Alexandra Locke and Negin Owliaei, with Ney Alvarez, Ruby Zaman, Amy Walters, and Halla Mohieddeen, in for Malika Bilal. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan and our engagement producers are Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad. 

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Julian Assange has waged a long fight against extradition from the UK to the US, and after years, a final decision is imminent. But when UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer was asked to look into his case in 2018, he found himself surprisingly uninterested. One allegation after another had come to cloud the narrative of Assange, liberator of state secrets. But Melzer has since investigated them all – and he discovered that the level of deception is staggering.

In this episode: 

Nils Melzer (@NilsMelzer), author of “The Trial of Julian Assange”

This episode first ran in January 2022 and was updated by Alexandra Locke. The original production team was Alexandra Locke, Amy Walters, Negin Owliaei, Priyanka Tilve, Ruby Zaman, Ney Alvarez, Tom Fenton, Stacey Samuel, and Malika Bilal. Alex Roldan is our sound designer. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Connect with us @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

The Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, calls itself the “largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world.” In recent years, the US-based conference has gone global, holding meetings in several countries, including Japan and Australia. Last week, it held its first European gathering in Hungary. The keynote speaker was the country’s controversial Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who recently secured his fourth consecutive term in office. In this episode, we look at why the group of American conservatives went to Budapest. 

In this episode:

Flora Garamvolgyi (@floragaramvolgy), journalist

This episode was produced by Negin Owliaei with Ruby Zaman, Alexandra Locke, Amy Walters, Ney Alvarez, and Malika Bilal. Alex Roldan is our sound designer. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Connect with us at @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 

Away from the battlefield, the world is grappling with the war in Ukraine. In 90 days, the conflict has boosted inflation, spiking food and oil prices. Western alliances have provided billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid to the country, but will the tap keep flowing, or are we getting close to an end?

In this episode: 

James Bays (@baysontheroad), Al Jazeera Diplomatic Editor

Credits:

This episode was produced by Ney Alvarez, with Alexandra Locke, Negin Owliaei, Amy Walters, Ruby Zaman, and Malika Bilal. Alex Roldan is our sound designer. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Connect with us at:

@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

In Mexico, American guns are a fact of life. The Mexican government estimates nearly 70% of guns trafficked into the country come from the US. Meanwhile, in the US, the same patchwork of weak gun laws affects Mexico: gun trafficking is not a federal crime. The Mexican government is taking an unusual tack to try to stop the flow of arms: they’ve filed a lawsuit. With no sign of the cartel violence slowing, can a lawsuit stem the flow of guns to Mexico?

In this episode: 

John Holman, Al Jazeera correspondent (@johnholman100) 

Eugenio Weigend Vargas, Center for American Progress (@eugenioweigend) 

This episode was updated by Ney Alvarez. The original production team was Alexandra Locke, Ney Alvarez, Negin Owliaei, Dina Kesbeh, Amy Walters, Priyanka Tilve, Tom Fenton, Stacey Samuel, and Malika Bilal. Alex Roldan is our sound designer. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. 

Connect with us at @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 

In Northern Ireland, it's gotten very complicated very quickly, after a historic election. The top party was Sinn Fein, a party that wants Northern Ireland out of the UK. Brexit has left the territory on a knife edge for years, and it all comes down to the Irish border. The election brought those issues to the forefront, and then paralyzed the Northern Irish government. As the UK tries to break the deadlock, it risks unraveling two decades of peace.

In this episode:

Leona O’Neill, Journalism Lecturer at Ulster University (@LeonaONeill1)

Damian McGenity, Border Communities Against Brexit (@damian_mcgenity)

This episode was produced by Alexandra Locke with Ney Alvarez, Ruby Zaman, Negin Owliaei, Amy Walters and Malika Bilal. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our engagement producers are Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad. 

Connect with us at @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

For decades, the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was a mainstay on the TV screens of Arabic-speaking households around the world. Shireen worked for Al Jazeera for 26 years, as one of the network’s first field reporters. And she was a pioneer – she set a path for women journalists in Arab media. She was killed by Israeli forces on May 11, and in the days since, there’s been an outpouring of grief. In this episode, we hear from people who loved Shireen about her life and legacy.

In this episode: 

Dalia Hatuqa, independent journalist specializing in Palestinian-Israeli affairs (@DaliaHatuqa)

This episode was produced by Negin Owliaei, Ney Alvarez, Amy Walters, Alexandra Locke, Ruby Zaman, and Malika Bilal. Alex Roldan is our sound designer. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Connect with us at @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 

 

When Al Jazeera's I-Unit released its investigation into sexual misconduct against women at British Universities in late 2021, it created a storm on social media. But after the revelations, has anything changed?

In the last episode of the series, we find out what’s happened to the four male academics accused of abuse. We also hear from women in each case about how it felt to finally hear the names made public and what kind of response they've received.

*Please note some listeners may find these accounts upsetting. 

Connect with us at @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Last week, the world got a glimpse of what is likely the end of Roe v Wade, the United States Supreme Court decision that's protected women's right to an abortion across the country for almost half a century.

What will it all mean for women and democracy in the US? That’s this episode of The Take.

In this episode: 

Amanda Becker (@AmandaBecker), Washington Correspondent for @The19thNews

Amber Gavin, VP of Advocacy and Operations at A Woman's Choice, Inc. (@womanschoiceinc)

This episode was produced by Amy Walters with Negin Owliaei, Ruby Zaman, Ney Alvarez, Alexandra Locke, and Halla Mohieddeen. Alex Roldan is our sound designer. Ben Swire helped with this episode. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Connect with us at @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.