
The Lede
This is The Lede, the New Lines Magazine podcast. Each week, we delve into the biggest ideas, events and personalities from around the world. For more stories from New Lines, visit our website, newlinesmag.com
Latest episodes

Apr 25, 2025 • 39min
Sudan in the Spotlight
On this week’s episode of Global Insights on The Lede, editor and researcher Raga Makawi and former nonresident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy Hamid Murtada discuss the situation in Sudan two years after the outbreak of the civil war, with New Lines’ Kwangu Liwewe.
Produced by Finbar Anderson

Apr 18, 2025 • 46min
How America’s Margins Became the Mainstream
Journalist Gabriel Gatehouse, host of The Coming Storm and the new documentary “Seeking Satoshi,” joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast to discuss how exploring America’s fringe movements is the key to understanding the modern United States.
Produced by Finbar Anderson

Apr 11, 2025 • 56min
The War We Don’t See
Journalist and humanitarian Arwa Damon returns to the podcast to discuss with New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai why she was recently denied entry into Gaza, why wars vanish from the public eye, and the personal cost of her years witnessing conflict.
Produced by Finbar Anderson

Apr 4, 2025 • 47min
A Lost Library Holds Secrets to Our Past
Historian Selena Wisnom and New Lines’ Lydia Wilson discuss how the legacy of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal, as set out in Wisnom’s book “The Library of Ancient Wisdom,” might be an integral part of the West’s cultural heritage, and consider why Mesopotamian history is almost completely overlooked in the modern world.
Produced by Finbar Anderson

Mar 28, 2025 • 47min
The Real Impact of USAID Cuts on Africa
On this episode of Global Insights on The Lede, economist James Shikwati and New Lines’ North Africa Editor Erin Brown consider the impact of drastic cuts to American aid in Africa with host Kwangu Liwewe, and wonder what the continent’s future might look like without such aid.
Produced by Finbar Anderson

Mar 21, 2025 • 46min
Could the War in Gaza Change Global Politics?
On this week’s episode of The Lede, the acclaimed writer and journalist Omar El Akkad joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai for a frank, difficult and moving discussion about the personal impact and wider implications of the war in Gaza.
Produced by Finbar Anderson

Mar 14, 2025 • 55min
The Reality Behind the Trump Show
Historian Alex Hobson, the Financial Times’ Laura Pitel and New Lines’ Danny Postel join Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast to explore the optics and impact of Donald Trump’s political showmanship.
Further reading: “The Humiliation Is the Point” by Alex Hobson
Produced by Finbar Anderson

Mar 7, 2025 • 46min
After War, What Does Justice Look Like? — with Janine di Giovanni, Kareem Shaheen and Faisal Al Yafai
One of the most pressing questions facing communities from Ukraine to Syria concerns the roles accountability and justice should play in the transition out of periods of conflict. Janine di Giovanni, executive director of The Reckoning Project, joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai on the podcast after returning from a trip to Syria, as does New Lines’ Middle East Editor Kareem Shaheen.
Produced by Finbar Anderson

Feb 28, 2025 • 35min
Ukraine’s Dilemma — with Mykhaylo Shtekel, Amie Ferris-Rotman and Kwangu Liwewe
On this episode of Global Insights on The Lede, Ukrainian journalist Mykhaylo Shtekel and New Lines’ Amie Ferris-Rotman join host Kwangu Liwewe to discuss how U.S. President Donald Trump’s upending of established alliances has presented Ukraine with a dilemma that may change the course of its future.
Produced by Finbar Anderson

Feb 21, 2025 • 41min
AI Is Transforming Geopolitics — with Bruno Maçães and Faisal Al Yafai
The global geopolitical landscape is changing, but not in the way you might think. In place of traditional armies facing off on the battlefield, or nuclear-backed superpowers, there's a new force: AI. On this week’s episode of The Lede, politician and New Statesman columnist Bruno Maçães, author of “World Builders: Technology and the New Geopolitics,” tells New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai how the battle lines are being drawn in a virtual world — and how the builders of the strongest AI language models will be the true power brokers of the future.
Produced by Finbar Anderson