Centre Stage

Apr 16 2025 35 ep. 19 mins 55

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Centre Stage is an interview podcast where influential thought leaders share their perspectives on pressing world issues.

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Ralph Wilde on the ICJ & why Israeli occupation must end

Apr 16 2025 23 mins

International lawyer Ralph Wilde joins Centre Stage to talk about the 2024 landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice that deems Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal — and why it must cease immediately. Wilde provides detailed analysis, which he presented to the court, and tells Al Jazeera principal presenter Cyril Vanier what Israel and

Nathan Thrall confronts Israel’s occupation

Feb 18 2025 20 mins

Pulitzer Prize winning author Nathan Thrall joins Centre Stage to talk about how his experiences, working and living in Israel, Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, drove him to write, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama. Witnessing the discrimination and subjugation of Palestinians, Thrall speaks about Israel’s decades-long system of apartheid and why he still has hope f

World order at a 'tipping point'

Jan 23 2025 24 mins

In this episode of Centre Stage, our guest is Humza Yousaf, the former first minister of Scotland who made history as the first Muslim to lead a Western country. Yousaf talks about the challenges of being an ethnic-minority leader in an often hostile political climate, the rise of the far-right in Europe and how five countries holding a veto at the UN Security Council ought to be c

Syria: The rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham

Jan 07 2025 22 mins

Patrick Haenni, an author and researcher specialising in Syria, shares his expertise on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Haenni discusses HTS’s origins and ideological transformation and reveals how the armed group played a key role in achieving what no other faction could — ending the Assad regime. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook,

The difficulty of working as a medic in Gaza

Nov 27 2024 19 mins

British plastic surgeon, Dr Victoria Rose, travelled to Gaza twice this year to provide life-saving medical care to children wounded by the genocide in Gaza. Rose talks about her difficult experiences of working in the Gaza Strip despite the continued attacks on healthcare facilities and medics by the Israeli military, and what the medical community is doing to try to affect change

Why protests are a manifestation of power

Nov 04 2024 18 mins

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 f

Politics, policies & power: John Mearsheimer’s blunt analysis

Nov 04 2024 29 mins

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

Adversarial journalism: Gaza, The US vote and the future of news

Oct 31 2024 19 mins

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

Presidential candidate Chase Oliver wants to disrupt US politics

Oct 28 2024 16 mins

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.

US election 2024: The Arab American reality

Oct 28 2024 23 mins

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 dire