Gino's Podcast

<p>I was asked recently what my politics are, and it unexpectedly made me pause.</p><p>Like many of you, I assume my beliefs, hopes, and dreams are second nature. No need to restate them. No need to explain. It is...

<p>I remember the day like it was yesterday. I had landed in New York City’s JFK just a few months before, after being forced to leave Lebanon after four illegal detentions, multiple assaults in the streets of Beirut...

<p>This is my endorsement for the Beirut Madinati coalition running in the 2025 Beirut Municipality elections this Sunday, May 18.</p><p>Let me take you back to 2016. That was long before the Thawra and probably the...

<p>The saddest thing about the failed smear campaign against change MPs and independent media outlets like Megaphone and Daraj is how lazy it was. For the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around why the...

<p>I will be diving deeper into the smear campaigns and why they failed so spectacularly on Monday’s episode!</p><p>In the meantime, Dr Mohamad Farida, from the Depositors Union, took a break from advocating for the...

<p>This has been my longest running topic on this blog. The OG readers will remember. I started in 2011, and a lot of us feel it is gonna happen, it’s just a matter of time. We’ve done the hard part. The taboo is gone...

<p>Lebanon’s greatest weakness has always been our attachment to problematic leaders who promise much but deliver chaos, sectarian division, and stagnation. These leaders—each idolized by some but despised by...

<p>A conversation with Makram Rabah, Assistant Professor of History at the American University of Beirut.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with historian and AUB professor Makram Rabah to discuss the slow, generational...

<p>Sometimes, it feels like nothing happens for a very long time. But Lebanon is not in one of those times. Right now, events are unfolding so quickly, and the sheer volume of noise from all sides them makes it easy to...

<p>Power in Lebanon isn’t about track records, courageous leadership, or bold vision. It’s about leverage—the ability to obstruct, disrupt, or threaten effectively. If you can halt parliamentary sessions, shut down the...

<p>Let’s start with the obvious: a lot of people attended Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral, nearly five months after he was killed in a massive Israeli airstrike on Dahieh. But the funeral was more than just a farewell—it was...

<p>Maybe you’re not exactly like me, but when I fall in love with something, I tend to get a little obsessed. Whether it’s a book, a movie, a series, a music genre, or a niche area of expertise, I want to know...

<p>One of the most memorable books I read last year was Barbara F. Walter’s How Civil Wars Start. She identifies eight key factors that often trigger civil conflicts. Lately, I’ve noticed many of these factors surfacing...

<p>You can watch the full 90+ minute interview above. I also cut a few clips that resonated with me the most—whether it’s his immediate promise to do everything possible to regain the trust of young Lebanese, most of...

<p>Mabrook! I want to start today’s article and episode by thanking everyone who has worked tirelessly over the past six weeks to achieve what many Lebanese thought was impossible: a president, a prime minister, and a...