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The Middle East, or South-West Asia, is closer than you think.
Every two weeks, Nearer East pulls up a chair and invites you into conversations with the journalists, thinkers, and activists shaping the region today. Beyond the noise of the 24-hour news cycle, the podcast dives into the stories that last: from cultural preservation under fire in Gaza, to Iranian journalists in the diaspora, to the uneasy realities of rebuilding Syria.
Hosted by Francesca Maria Lorenzini, an on-the-ground journalist in the region, Nearer East is made for curious minds. It cuts through jargon, challenges clichés and replaces headlines with human stories, grounded in lived experience and sharp analysis.
If you want to understand South-West Asia not as a monolith, but as a place of people, ideas and contradictions, this is where you start.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
Syria’s Shifting Media Landscape with Natacha Danon
|
May 06, 2026 |
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Challenging Colonial Narratives in Refugee Representation with Yafa El Masri
|
Apr 15, 2026 |
|
Telling Assyrian Stories from Iraq with Joe Snell
|
Apr 01, 2026 |
|
Half Foreign, Half Local: Life in Yemen with Laura Silvia Battaglia
|
Mar 18, 2026 |
|
The Question About Gaza That Cost a Journalist His Job with Gabriele Nunziati
|
Mar 04, 2026 |
|
Power, Politics and the Kurdish Future in Syria with Simone Gavazzi
|
Feb 18, 2026 |
|
Why Everything You Know About Iran Might Be Wrong with Kourosh Ziabari
|
Feb 04, 2026 |
|
Why We Kill History to Erase a People with Sophie Constantin
|
Jan 21, 2026 |