This week in the MERIP Podcast feed we have the audio recording of our launch event for the latest issue of Middle East Report, New Gender Frontlines. Hosted by MERIP Executive Director, James Ryan, and featuring a panel with MERIP Editorial Committee member and issue editor Sabiha Allouche (University of Exeter), Rahaf Aldoughli (University of Lancaster), Paniz Musawi Natanzi (University of Pennsylvania, and Hala Shoman (University of Newcastle). The event was originally recorded on June 26, 2025. The conversation covers gender dynamics in Syria after the fall of Bashar al Asad, Afghan workers in Iranian tennis clubs, and the struggle of ordinary Gazans to conceive and bear children in the midst of Israel's genocidal war. Links to the relevant articles below:

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Amazon Music

New Gender Frontlines: https://merip.org/magazine/314/

Rahaf Aldoughli, "Syria's New Men": https://merip.org/2025/06/syrias-new-men-2/

Paniz Musawi Natanzi: "Courts of Exclusion: Working Class Masculinity and Anti-Afghan Racism in Iran" https://merip.org/2025/06/banned-from-the-game-working-class-masculinity-and-anti-afghan-racism-in-iran/

Hala Shoman: "Israel's War on Reproduction in Gaza": https://merip.org/2025/06/israels-war-on-reproduction-in-gaza-2/

The MERIP Podcast features exclusive interviews with contributors to the Middle East Research and Information Project from the present and past about their work for MERIP, as well as audio from events we've conducted online and in-person that examine contemporary issues in the politics, economy, society and culture of the Middle East. Hosted by James Ryan, MERIP's Executive Director. Visit our website, www.merip.org, to read all of our work without paywalls.

Share this post

Written by

James Ryan
James Ryan is the Executive Director of the Middle East Research and Information Project

The Limits of Protection and Profits—Five Years into the Abraham Accords

Arang Keshavarzian 11 min read

On the Road to Rafah—The Sumud Convoy and New Maghrebi Geographies of Resistance

Raouf Farrah 12 min read

Refusing the New Normal—An Interview with the Gulf Coalition Against Normalisation

Gulf CAN 8 min read

Identity and Cultural Diplomacy of the Abraham Accords

Shir Alon 14 min read