The Take

Forty million Afghans still in the country live under the fear of their hospitals and healthcare system falling apart. Without international aid, medical supplies are running short. Since the Taliban took control of the country, the United States has led the way for many other countries, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to stop necessary assistance from flowing into Afghanistan. As a result, doctors are left in the heartbreaking situation of doing their best to keep patients alive without proper resources. In this episode, we hear from those doctors who implore the international community to help heal Afghans rather than leaving them to die.

In this episode: 

• Dr Najmussama Shefajo: Ob/Gyn specialist, founder of Shefajo Group of Laboratories, and president of the Afghanistan Society of Obstetricians & Gynecologists
• Dr Tankred Stoebe, MSF doctor
• Dr Ashuq Urrahman, physician in Kabul
• Dr Muhammad Mustafa Sahibzada, physician in Kabul

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This is the final episode of a three-part series looking at the past, present, and future of the so-called ‘war on terror’. 

For an idea of the next phase of the US’s war on terror, we look to East Africa, where a different version of the war has been unfolding for the past 20 years. American soldiers may not patrolling the streets of Kenya, but the US’s counterterrorism presence is very much there.

In this episode:

• Fauziya Hussein (@diamamyn4zi1), Sister of disappeared Kenyan man
• Samar Al-Bulushi (@samar42), Political Anthropologist at University of California Irvine

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This is the second episode of a three-part series looking at the past, present, and future of the so-called ‘war on terror’. 

Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison was once a front-page headline in the "war on terror". Today, public knowledge of the torture that made it infamous is starting to fade – but 17 years later, one US lawsuit for its victims is still going on. It centers on private contractors: companies that became an integral part of the US military efforts post-9/11 attacks, which changed the way war is fought – and accountability is sought.

In this episode: 

• Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov), human rights activist 
• Katherine Gallagher (@katherga1), Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights 
• Majid, Abu Ghraib plaintiffs' legal team member in Iraq

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September 11, 2001, marked a milestone in a new chapter of warfare: after the 9/11 attacks, the US began not only the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but a so-called “global war on terror". That meant building a new war infrastructure that is fully global in nature, massively profitable in scale, and now, after 20 years, part of the fabric of our lives. So how did we get here?

In the first episode of our three-part series looking at the past, present, and future of the so-called 'war on terror'  - we look at the US political climate after 9/11 and walk through the sweeping policy changes that would come to define the forever wars.

In this episode: 

• Kevin Harrington, former MTA train operator
• Hina Shamsi (@HinaShamsi), Director of the National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (@ACLU)

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For most people, climate change boils down to the simple fact that it’s just a lot hotter than it used to be. And for people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), those temperatures have been rising too fast.

Today, the Levant allows us to take a look at what the future might look like with global warming. In the Jordan Valley, farmers struggle with water scarcity. While in other parts of MENA outdoor air conditioner is the new normal.

In this episode: 

• Karim Elgendy (@NomadandSettler), Associate Fellow at Chatham House and Founder of Carboun Cities (@CarbounCities)
• Anwar AlAdwan, farmer in the Jordan Valley

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As the world tries to keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5 or even 2 degrees celsius, one of the biggest resources to slow global warming may be changing sides.  The Amazon rainforest has always been hailed for its ability to absorb the world’s carbon. Now, a new study is showing fires and deforestation are causing parts of the rainforest to expel more carbon than they absorb. This is changing the global warming equation and making it that much easier for the planet to heat up.

In this episode:

Dr John Miller, Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

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In August, the UN climate panel issued a “code red for humanity”. The latest IPCC report warned of a catastrophic planetary future if global emissions don’t reach net-zero within the next few decades. But in Bangladesh, there’s no code red needed. The country’s residents have been watching the seas rise and the glaciers melt, right in front of their eyes. And they have lessons - and warnings - for the rest of the world.

In this episode: 

Saleemul Huq (@SaleemulHuq), Director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development (@ICCCAD)

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Chicago community organiser and artist Rami Nashashibi started writing the song Mama Please in tribute to the memory of George Floyd. Over time, and with the help of musicians Drea d’Nur and Jecorey Arthur it evolved into a song about injustice in the United States and abroad. This song is dedicated to a former New York State police officer who was fired when she intervened to stop another officer’s chokehold. We're bringing you an update on that former officer, Cariol Horne, and her fight for justice.

In this episode:

Singer and music producer, Drea d’Nur; artist and executive director of Inner-City Muslim Action Network, Rami Nashashibi; and former police officer and current activist, Cariol Horne.

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The number of cases from the Delta variant of COVID-19 continue to rise, even in countries like Israel that vaccinated most of their populations. In the US, more children are coming down with the virus and the number of cases for adults under 50 is the highest it’s ever been. Now, the US is announcing it plans to offer booster shots, but the World Health Organization (WHO) is arguing the rest of the world needs those vaccines first. In this episode, we’re bringing you an update and a reminder of what the Delta variant is and why it’s so concerning, particularly for the unvaccinated.

In this episode: 

• Dr Syra Madad (@syramadad), Epidemiologist, Senior Director for Special Pathogens with the New York City Health System and a member of the Federation of American Scientists COVID task force
• Dr Salam Gueye (@SalamGueye), Director of Regional Emergencies in Africa for the World Health Organization

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Chile is in the midst of rewriting its constitution, a process that will affect every aspect of Chilean life - even down to its water. The country has been battling a mega drought for over a decade, and rivers and reservoirs in Chile have dried to dust. This year could match 2019 for the driest year on record. With the current constitution, access to water goes to the highest bidder. But all that could be changing this year. In this episode, we’re updating a story from May 2020, about the man-made roots of Chile’s water crisis.

In this episode:

Lucia Newman (@lucianewman), Al Jazeera correspondent for Latin America

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