

Centre Stage
Al Jazeera Media Network
Centre Stage is an interview podcast where influential thought leaders share their perspectives on pressing world issues.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 27, 2025 • 18min
The White House vs US universities
Harvard fights back against the administration’s cuts — will it succeed? Andrew Manuel Crespo, lead counsel for Harvard’s faculty, discusses the administration’s assault on US higher education Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

Apr 16, 2025 • 24min
Ralph Wilde on the ICJ & why Israeli occupation must end
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 the international community must do to comply with the ICJ ruling and the UN resolution that endorsed the court’s decision. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

Feb 18, 2025 • 21min
Nathan Thrall confronts Israel’s occupation
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 for the future. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

Jan 24, 2025 • 25min
World order at a 'tipping point'
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 considered a relic of the past. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

Jan 7, 2025 • 22min
Syria: The rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
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, Threads and YouTube

Nov 28, 2024 • 19min
The difficulty of working as a medic in Gaza
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. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Nov 5, 2024 • 18min
Why protests are a manifestation of power
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 faculty on university campuses in the US, and how protest and resistance can help marginalised groups empower themselves. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Nov 4, 2024 • 29min
Politics, policies & power: John Mearsheimer’s blunt analysis
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 the minefield that is US foreign policy. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Oct 31, 2024 • 19min
Adversarial journalism: Gaza, The US vote and the future of news
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 journalism may look like. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Oct 29, 2024 • 16min
Presidential candidate Chase Oliver wants to disrupt US politics
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. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook


