The Take

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can manifest itself in different ways, but for many, it includes unshakeable fears about contamination or germs. Add a global pandemic to the mix, and life gets much more difficult for the estimated two percent of the population with OCD. So how are they coping?

In this episode:

Jason Adam Katzenstein (@JasonAdamK and @j.a.k._), contributor to The New Yorker and Current Affairs, editor at The Brick House Cooperative; Dr. Christine Purdon (@Freudulant), Professor of Psychology, University of Waterloo; guest host Mohammed Jamjoom (@MIJamjoom,@mohammedjamjoom)

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

It's been three years since Myanmar’s military launched a brutal crackdown on the Rohingya ethnic minority in Rakhine State. Close to 800,000 Rohingya fled to southern Bangladesh to escape the mass killing, rape and arson. As refugees, they've continued to suffer — especially the women among them. But now many are demanding justice.

In this episode:

Rohingya activist Yasmin Ullah (@YasminJUllah)

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

The Lebanese are having to marshal the strength it takes to rebuild — again. No one could have prepared the country for the August 4 explosion at Beirut's port, which killed 190 people, injured thousands, and left some 300,000 homeless. The city is coming together to get through it, but many say they're tired of being called upon to be a resilient nation.

In this episode:

Guest host Mohammed Jamjoom (@MIJamjoom, @mohammedjamjoom); Kamal Mouzawak (@kamalmouzawak); Rana Salam (@ranasalam); Emilie Madi (@emilimadiphotographer).

Here are some places to donate to help people in Beirut: The Lebanese Red Cross, INARA, World Central Kitchen, and the fundraiser for Kamal Mouzawak's restaurant.

For more:

Beirut explosion multiplies Lebanon’s crises

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

The plane has landed. The first flight from Tel Aviv touched ground in Dubai, and US President Donald Trump declared a deal for peace and prosperity between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

But many have expressed anger and disappointment, with some saying Arab nations and Israel are uniting against Palestinians, leaving many disappointed.

In this episode:

Ali Harb, (@Harbpeace), Washington, DC-based writer of US foreign policy and Arab-American issues.

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

If the latest trailer is any indication, next year’s “The Batman” movie will be the most brutal and gritty film in the franchise’s history. At a time when people around the world are protesting against police brutality and advocating for criminal justice reform, we’re debating — when the people take on the police, whose side would Batman take?

In this episode:

Casey Michel (@cjcmichel) writer, analyst, and investigative journalist; Sean Kelly (@StorySlug), a freelance writer in St. Louis, Missouri

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

If there were to be an armed showdown between NATO and Russia, one of the most likely locations would be Lithuania. It’s something many Lithuanians dread, particularly those who remember the days when the country was under Russian control. 

Now with unrest in neighboring Belarus, this geopolitical tinderbox is heating up. If Russia were to invade the Baltics, NATO would have to respond — and the repercussions would shake the world.

In this episode:

Colonel Éric LaForest; Valdas Rakutis, a Lithuanian historian; and Casey Michel (@cjcmichel) writer, analyst, and investigative journalist.

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a young mother from Belarus, is hoping to take control of the country after 26 years of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s rule. Hundreds of thousands are supporting her — but Lukashenko, the “Father of Belarus,” is backed by Russian tanks.

The ripple effects of this historic battle for Belarus have the potential to reverberate around the world.

In this episode:

Step Vaessen (@stepvaessen), Al Jazeera journalist in Moscow.

For more:

Belarus: Europe's last dictatorship

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

Emmett Till was beaten, shot, and drowned in a river in Mississippi on August 28, 1955. His killing spurred the civil rights movement and inspired events like the historic 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of his "Dream" for the country. At the tail end of a summer that’s been dominated by conversations about white supremacy and police brutality, we’re looking back at Emmett’s life and death, and the unresolved investigation into his killing.

In this episode:

Deborah Watts, Emmett Till’s cousin, and co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation.

For more:

The American police shooting you haven’t heard about

The US movement to abolish the police

Voices from the US protests

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

The 2020 election is expected to be the biggest vote by mail in US history, and concerns over changes at the US Postal Service are mounting at a time when many people are seeing delays in their mail for the first time ever. As President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden make their case for the presidency, Americans are trying to figure out how to vote on November 3. So what does this mean for voters’ ballots?

In this episode:

Christopher Shaw (@chris_w_shaw), historian and author.

For more:

Check out Christopher's book, "Preserving the People's Post Office."

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

The military draft evokes fear in almost every young man in Thailand, but some say they fear their military training more than war. Amnesty International has documented acts of physical, mental and sexual abuse during Thailand's military hazing. We hear about one family whose son died during a hazing incident, and why they're demanding justice.

In this episode:

Scott Heidler (@ScottHeidler), Al Jazeera journalist in Bangkok; Ming Yu Hah, Deputy Director, Amnesty International

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@ajthetake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)