I think you could probably go back and track the stages of grief, probably that is what I went through. But I think if you do it right, you end up at acceptance. And that's where I ended up. And that's not to say that I've fully accepted the idea that the golden toad is extinct. Personally, I do still hold out hope that it could still be out there in those forests." - Trevor Ritland This conversation is with Trevor Ritland, who—along with his twin brother Kyle—authored The Golden Toad . The book chronicles their remarkable journey into Costa Rica’s cloud forest, once home to hundreds of brilliant golden toads that would emerge for just a few weeks each year—until, one day, they vanished without a trace. What began as a search for a lost species soon became something much more profound: a confrontation with ecological grief, a meditation on hope, and a powerful call to protect the natural world while we still can. Links: SpeciesUnite.com Kyle and Trevor: https://kyleandtrevor.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adventureterm/ Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222249677-the-golden-toad Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Toad-Ecological-Mystery-Species/dp/163576996…
Buckle Up is a series of interviews with musicians, artists, and entertainers about their work and creative process. Hosted by Hass “Big Hass” Dennaoui, these conversations take place "On The Go" so, Buckle Up & join the convo. It started out in 2018 as a series shot in the car, and now it has shifted to the studio format.
…
continue reading
A weekly podcast focused on long-form interviews on history, pop culture and society affecting the MENA region and diaspora communities. It aims to inform and illuminate the region through a non-newsy lens, exploring the MENA region's past, present and future and its people. Each episode begins with a question and an introduction to an expert who will attempt to answer it.
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Just two days after we sat down with Francesca Albanese, the Trump Administration placed her under sanctions. They accuse the UN Special Rapporteur of waging “economic warfare” on the United States. She says the sanctions are “mafia style intimidation techniques” and vows to continue her work to remind states of their obligations to “stop and punis…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Silicon Valley, Israel and the new AI arms race | Antony Loewenstein
1:06:07
1:06:07
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:06:07What does the war look like in the age of AI? This week on the Big Picture Podcast, we’re joined by author and investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein. We spoke to Loewenstein early in 2024 about his best-selling book ‘The Palestine Laboratory’ - which chronicled how Israel tests high tech weapons in Gaza before exporting them to the world. Sin…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Norman Finkelstein on Israel, Zohran Mamdani and the coming class war
1:48:29
1:48:29
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:48:29In a fiery and deeply personal return to The Big Picture Podcast, professor Norman Finkelstein explains why Israel and its allies in the West have destroyed the international order, and how the election of a Muslim socialist in New York threatens their grip on power. Finkelstein is a political scientist and one of the world’s foremost scholars on I…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
The Israel-Iran war is more dangerous than we imagine | David Hearst
1:06:10
1:06:10
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:06:10This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with Middle East Eye’s Editor in Chief David Hearst to talk about the rapidly unfolding war between Israel and Iran, why the West supports it and what it threatens to unleash on the global order. So what does Israel really want to achieve, what options does Iran have to deescalate, and will the Unit…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
How the Military Industrial Complex really works | William Hartung
1:17:05
1:17:05
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:17:05NOTE: This conversation was recorded in November 2024, which is why you'll hear references to the elections and the Biden Administration. This week on The Big Picture, we sit down with military analyst and author William Hartung. Hartung is a senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and in 2010 published Prophets of War: Lo…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Trump and Zionists want to scare us into silence. We won’t let them | Linda Sarsour
1:11:08
1:11:08
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:11:08Why haven’t there been mass protests against Trump like there were in 2017? Part of the reason is the climate of fear and uncertainty that now proliferates throughout many communities, from student activists on IV league campuses to undocumented migrants. The arrests of pro-Palestine students Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi and Rumeysa Ozturk among …
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

The catholic world is grieving the loss of Pope Francis, but so is much of the Muslim one. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, Pope Francis spent much of his life reaching out across religious lines, forming monumental friendships with Muslims, from refugee families to Islamic scholars to Palestinians. In his final Easter Sunday sermon just ho…
…
continue reading
This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we speak to Momodou Taal, a Cornell Unveristy scholar forced to flee from US immigration officers. The crackdown by the Trump administration on pro-Palestine activists has continued to intensify despite legal challenges. Undercover agents belonging to the department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE f…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

A trauma surgeon stationed at one of Gaza’s largest hospitals says the carnage this week is beyond anything he has seen in Ukraine or anywhere. More than 500 have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since Tuesday, when Israel’s government broke a two-month ceasefire with Hamas and has escalated attacks since. Hospitals continue to be overwhelmed with…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

At least 400 people have been killed after a surprise Israeli attack on Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday. Israel’s government vows to continue escalating these military attacks, saying it’s in response to Hamas’ refusal to extend the ceasefire, which has been in place since January. But is this the real reason for this morning’s attack? Or is the…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Is Judaism itself an anti-Zionist religion? According to Rabbi and organiser Alissa Wise, it's precisely the teachings of her faith that informs her stance against Israel, and her advocacy for a free Palestine. Rabbi Wise is a former organiser with Jewish Voice for Peace, and in December 2023 founded the group Rabbis for Ceasefire, calling for an e…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
A Hamas official speaks on Gaza ceasefire & the next war with Israel | Basem Naim
1:04:05
1:04:05
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:04:05What has Hamas achieved after 15 months of war with Israel? With the assassination of two of its most senior leaders, and the devastating human toll in Gaza, the future of Hamas appears uncertain. But the scenes of its militia re-emerging hours after the ceasefire sent a message of defiance. The scenes outraged an Israeli public, who were told that…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Netanyahu’s total victory narrative collapsed, and Israelis are in shock | Daniel Levy | The Big Picture
1:09:55
1:09:55
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:09:55Netanyahu’s social contract has collapsed, and Israelis are in a state of shock. That is how former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy sees the outcome of 15 months of war in Gaza, after a ceasefire was brokered without Hamas conceding defeat. Instead, Israelis watch the scenes of Hamas militants celebrating in fresh uniforms and wonder what exactly di…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

When Fatima Payman was first elected to Australia’s senate - she didn’t imagine she’d go to war with the Prime Minister two years later. Back in May, the country’s first ever hijabi lawmaker broke ranks with the governing Labor Party and accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. Despite attempts by her party to rein her in, she refused to stay quiet abou…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Piers Morgan, CNN and the fight for Palestinian dignity | Mohammed el-Kurd
1:00:05
1:00:05
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:00:05What makes a perfect victim? For Palestinians fighting to keep their stories alive in the media, it often feels that they must audition for the sympathies of their Western audiences. If they don’t fit the mould - then their voices are ignored. In 2021, Mohammed al-Kurd was catapulted into the spotlight when his family’s home in the East Jerusalem n…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Two years after our conversation with Waad al-Kateab about the desperate plight of Syrian refugees, we return to have a very different conversation. Less than a week after the dramatic and unexpected collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal reign, Syrians are beginning to dream once again of a future they believed had died. Waad al-Kateab and her famil…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Trump’s intrusive demons and Israel’s ‘enlightened cause’ | Norman Finkelstein
1:41:22
1:41:22
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:41:22Has Donald Trump peeled back the veil on the toxicity of America? What will his second term mean for Israel, Palestine and the pursuit of justice? This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we welcome back Norman Finkelstein, political scientist, author and legal scholar, to talk about the aftermath of the US elections, Israel’s war in Gaza and shifting…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

What is the link between Zionism, capitalism and the American empire? Fresh off the back of a deeply toxic, all consuming US election - one in which the issue of Palestine and the war in Gaza was largely ignored - we examine what it means to survive a system intent on silencing and marginalising dissenting voices. Despite the key role the Biden Adm…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
The birth of Israel and the death of Zionism | Ilan Pappé
1:16:25
1:16:25
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:16:25Can Zionism survive the current war in Gaza? Israeli historian Ilan Pappé believes it can’t. In fact, he argues that the liberation of Palestine is an inevitability. Pappé is the author of 24 books on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and most recently published two books: ‘Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic’ and ‘A Very Short History …
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Before the formation of the Israeli Defence Forces in 1948, there were three underground Zionist militias - The Haganah, the Irgun and the Lehi. They differed in tactics and beliefs, and at times fought with each other - but together they terrorised Palestinian villages and executed bombings and assassinations against the British to force them to g…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Will Kamal Harris lose the election because of the Gaza vote | Abbas Alawieh
1:10:37
1:10:37
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:10:37Can Kamala Harris defeat Donald Trump without ending the war in Gaza? That could be up to a handful of key swing states, including Michigan, home to 150,000 Arab-American voters. This is a community that has never had a political voice in Washington, that is, until now. A group of activists, community organisers and political insiders have come tog…
…
continue reading
Does Elon Musk have too much power over how we communicate online? Is he using that power to fuel dangerous far-right conspiracies? This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we’re joined by Marc Owen Jones, social media analyst, author and assistant professor at Northwestern University in Doha. Over the last few weeks, he’s been documenting the Southpo…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Israel, Iran, Hezbollah and the tightrope of regional war | Trita Parsi
1:02:32
1:02:32
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:02:32What is the price tag for convincing Iran to back down? The US is desperately trying to keep a lid on the heightened tensions in the Middle East, following Israel’s assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Hanieyeh in Iran’s capital, and the airstrike on a Beirut suburb that killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. Benjamin Netanyahu, the gambler a…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Two assassinations. Two capital cities. Less than 24 hours. One struck an apartment in downtown Beirut, killing a woman and two children - targeting a Hezbollah senior commander. Then just hours later, a strike in the heart of Tehran, assassinating Hamas’ most high profile figure, and its political chief - Ismail Hanieyah. Israel has claimed the fi…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Why real change for Palestine can't come from the fringes | Naz Shah
1:05:27
1:05:27
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:05:27Just days out from a historic general election expected to usher in a Labour government for the first time in 14 years - we speak to one of its most vocal and fiery MPs - Naz Shah. Shah has been the MP for Bradford West since 2015 - after beginning her career as a carer with the NHS and a community advocate - campaigning among other things for the …
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Can a lone 24 year old Palestinian take on the Labour Party? That’s what Leanne Mohamad is determined to do, campaigning as an independent candidate in the safe Labour seat of Ilford North at the upcoming general elections. It’s no small feat - she’s up against Wes Streeting, a senior party heavyweight and a man tapped by many as Keir Starmer’s suc…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Jeremy Corbyn was the Labour MP for North Islington for 40 years - his entire political career. But not anymore. Now, he’s campaigning against his former party, trying to convince his lifelong voters to abandon the party that abandoned him. After he was suspended from the Labour Party by his former shadow minister Keir Starmer, Corbyn chose to stan…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

In 2004, Les Roberts smuggled himself into Iraq as his own government was in the midst of bombing and occupying the country. His mission was to find out how many civilians had been killed in the devastating US-led invasion, because Western media was refusing to cover it. When he published his findings in the Lancet Report, that between 100,000 and …
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
We can never trust these instruments of power | Norman Finkelstein
1:25:40
1:25:40
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:25:40We are living through a moment of social and political upheaval - one that has somehow aligned the Houthi rebels in Yemen, South Africa’s greatest legal minds and students across the wealthiest campuses in the world. They’re all fighting for Gaza, and against an increasingly isolated Israeli government and its Western backers. So are we witnessing …
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Fiona Lali wants to bring down the British government, as well as capitalism. The marxist organiser turned independent candidate in the upcoming UK general elections says there’s a link between the powerful protest movement for Palestine and the widespread anger felt by young people and workers alike. Lali went viral in May when she confronted form…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Will Benjamin Netanyahu face justice at the Hague? The International Criminal Court on Monday issued arrest warrants for both Israeli and Hamas leaders over their actions in Gaza and on 7 October, accusing them both of committing war crimes. It’s an unprecedented move, the first time a US-ally has been pursued by the ICC. Prosecutor Karim Khan says…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Winston Churchill is one of the most biographed figures in modern history, and held up as an orator and wartime strategist that turned the tide against Hitler and Nazi Germany. But how accurate is this image? And is it hiding a darker reality? This week on The Big Picture, we sit down with British-Pakistani writer, political activist and public int…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

“I was definitely raised to be a Jewish leader of some kind.” With college campuses all over the US gripped by intense battles around free speech, antisemitism and Palestinian rights - the voices of young Jewish Americans have led the way. One of the boldest and most prominent voices is that of Simone Zimmerman. Zimmerman was raised in a conservati…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Did Iran fall into Israel’s trap when it attacked on Saturday, or did it outmanoeuvre Netanyahu? Are we on the brink of regional war, or can the US contain the spill? When Israel bombed an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus on 1 April, killing top Iranian commanders, many saw it as bait laid out by Benjamin Netanyahu to force a direct confrontati…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Is Europe ‘nostalgic for a racist past’ when it didn’t have to apologise for its colonialism? In this week’s episode of The Big Picture, we sit down with renowned Australian anthropologist Ghassan Hage. Hage is currently fighting against the prestigious Max Planck Society in Germany over accusations of ‘antisemitism’ over his critiques of Israel. T…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

In this episode of The Big Picture, we sit down with Sadiq Khan for a wide ranging conversation about Labour’s election hopes, his political regrets and his vision for the future of London. Sadiq Khan wants to make history by winning a third term as London’s mayor - but his confidence is shaky. A winter of mass protests, a smear campaign in the med…
…
continue reading
How do you humanise people facing unimaginable odds? That was the task Plestia Alaqad gave herself when she first put on her press vest on October 7. Freshly graduated from journalism school and dreaming of a bright future, she suddenly found herself in the middle of a war zone, with the eyes of the world watching. Armed with her phone and internet…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
How Israel tests its weapons in Gaza then sells them to the world | Antony Loewenstein
1:05:12
1:05:12
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:05:12In this episode of The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein to talk about how for decades, Israel used its occupation of Palestinians as a testing ground for new weaponry, which it then packages and sells to governments around the world. In fact, Loewenstein argues that since its inception, Israel built …
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

What does coverage of Gaza tell us about how the West sees the rest of the world? A recent report into mainstream news coverage found Islamophobic and anti-Arab language was widely used in coverage of the events after 7 October, with Israeli victims described using emotive language 11 times more than Palestinian victims. It also documented how pro-…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Why the West is wrong about Islam | Peter Oborne
1:03:11
1:03:11
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:03:11Why are Western societies so fearful of Islam and Muslims? One can answer this question by examining history, particularly that of European colonial powers, and the ways in which they justified their actions in the Global South by painting its peoples and religions as alien and in need of reformation. Another answer can be found in the murky ties b…
…
continue reading
How deep does racism run within the Labour Party? Since the start of the Gaza war, there's been a growing anger within British Muslim communities at Labour's perceived lack of leadership on the Palestinian issue, and on the calls for a ceasefire. Under Sir Keir Starmer, the opposition party has towed the government line, publicly supporting Israel'…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
How to build a mass movement around Palestine | Chris Nineham
1:01:31
1:01:31
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:01:31This week on the Big Picture, we speak with British political activist, author and deputy chair of the Stop The War Coalition, Chris Nineham. Nineham was instrumental in organising the historic anti-war demonstrations in 2003 against the invasion of Iraq - which saw millions flood the streets in major cities across the globe - and is considered the…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
The 'righteous anger' of Palestinians | Omar Suleiman
1:27:06
1:27:06
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:27:06It is impossible not to feel overwhelmed by the ongoing war in Gaza - the death toll, the horrific footage, the world’s inability to bring it to an end. That is compounded for Palestinians, many with family members directly impacted, who feel they’ve always been seen through a racist and islamophobic lens, and that speaking out is a political act w…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

What does it take to shift the UK’s position on Palestine? One lawmaker, Layla Moran, has a deeply personal drive to fight for change. Her relatives have been trapped in a Gaza Church for days, surrounded by Israeli snipers and tanks and running out of food and water. Moran has been fighting to change the position of her Liberal Democrats Party for…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
The legal team pursuing justice in the Gaza War | Tayab Ali
1:44:22
1:44:22
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:44:22Can Western leaders be held to account for their role in the Gaza war? This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with one lawyer determined to do just that, and who has already put many of them on public notice. Tayab Ali is Solicitor Advocate, a partner at the London Law firm Bindmans LLP and the director of the International Centre of Jus…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Joe Biden has pursued a ‘no red lines’ policy in his support for Israel’s war in Gaza, despite it being deeply unpopular among his own voters. The growing anger in Arab and Muslim American communities in key swing states has pushed many to vow they won’t vote for him in the 2024 Presidential elections. While only making up 1% of the population - it…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Josh Paul created a big stir when he resigned from the US State Department in protest of the sale of weapons to Israel. In a highly publicised letter, he said the rush to arm Israel’s war in Gaza was “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory” The former arms trade expert, who helped the US train the Iraqi police and the Palestinian Autho…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
Israel's fears, its delusions and its future | Daniel Levy
1:00:31
1:00:31
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:00:31Is there a path back from the brink for Israel and Palestine? Under the blinding influence of fury and revenge after the October 7 attack, Israel has waged a relentless war in Gaza which killed more than 11,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 1.5 million people. But beyond its stated aim to eliminate Hamas, there seems to be no plan for what h…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

Are there Hamas tunnels under hospitals? Did Israel give up Gaza in 2005? Did the Palestinians reject their own state? This week on The Big Picture, we examine a widely shared interview with Hillary Clinton, praised as informative and illuminating. Except most of what she says about Gaza isn’t true - so why is she misleading the public? It could be…
…
continue reading
T
The Big Picture with Mohamed Hassan

1
The fall of Western order, the rise of the Global South | Wadah Khanfar
1:06:46
1:06:46
Відтворити Пізніше
Відтворити Пізніше
Списки
Подобається
Подобається
1:06:46Are Western leaders sleepwalking into a disaster in the Middle East? As regional tensions surge amid Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, its allies in the US and Europe have refused calls to de-escalate the conflict and prevent the staggering toll on human life from spiralling further. Western countries vowed to stand by Israel as it responds to the …
…
continue reading