Best AUB Student Podcasts (2026)

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Teaching young students science, nature…and civil argumentation 23:35

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3+ y ago23:35

23:35

Education Department Associate Professor Rola Khishfe has been training K-12 grade teachers how to teach students to argue, debate, and interact with one another on topics related to science and nature – in a way that allows them to disagree, but always in a civil manner. Evidence-based discussions on science and nature issues – like climate change…

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Cancer detection and protection…from the lab to the world 19:38

3+ y ago19:38

19:38

Dr Rihab Nasr, Tenured professor at the department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiological Sciences and director of cancer prevention and control program at the Naef K Basile Cancer Institute at the AUB Medical Center, has been internationally recognized for her breakthroughs in detecting leukemia and breast cancer at an early stage. She and her…

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The magical effect of writing and reading poetry 27:41

3+ y ago27:41

27:41

Internationally renowned Lebanese poet Zeina Hashem Beck’s new collection is published this week by Penguin Poets – the first Arab poet they publish. She graduated from AUB with BA and MA degrees, and has been recognized and published across the world. In this discussion, she explains how the title of this book, ‘O’, captures the ’o’ in body, love,…

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The Ukraine war’s real impact on food security in the ME and globally 27:13

3+ y ago27:13

27:13

Food Security Program Director at the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences Rami Zurayk analyzes the many dimensions of food security and insecurity, and how the Ukraine war has worsened stresses for many people around the world. Alongside Ukraine, he mentioned other factors that impact food availability, like climate change, sanctions, the Covi…

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An AUB literary & arts journal “touches the human condition” 28:58

3+ y ago28:58

28:58

Ten years ago, English Department Lecturer in Creative Writing Rima Rantisi and some colleagues in a Hamra pub came up with the idea of launching a new student literary journal. Today, Rusted Radishes is published once a year in Arabic and English, and is open to AUB students and faculty and others across the Arab region. It has expanded beyond lit…

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From the English Department…resisting to escape the legacy of imperialism 27:37

3+ y ago27:37

27:37

Associate Professor of English Tariq Mehmood creates and teaches across a wide spectrum of original work, including poetry, novels for adolescents, films, documentaries, archival research, teaching and advising students, and analyzing, and now creating, video games. The new minor in video gaming at AUB aims to counter the gaming world’s prevalent g…

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A philosopher wrestles with how we alleviate harm 27:15

3+ y ago27:15

27:15

Who is responsible for alleviating or reducing the harm done to millions of people due to racism, colonialism, climate change, poverty and wars? AUB Philosophy professor and Mohammad Atallah Chair in Ethics Bashshar Haydar explains his research into this question and others, such as: what do we do about “innocent beneficiaries” of harmful conduct w…

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“Proximate politics”, where Arab citizens and state interact locally 21:33

3+ y ago21:33

21:33

Dr Lana Salman, with her BA and MSc degrees from AUB, recently completed her PhD at University of California-Berkeley and is now a post-doctoral research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she is preparing a book on her research into local politics and citizen-state interactions in Tunisia. In this chat she retraces her journey in academia…

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“I can’t breathe!” Racism, colonialism, and corrupt governance as global public health threats 25:33

3+ y ago25:33

25:33

Iman Nuwayhid’s decades of experience as professor of environmental health, dean of the AUB Faculty of Public Health, and this year a visiting professor at Yale University, prompt him to call for a new way to address public health issues. In this interview he links three pivotal historical events in the USA and Arab lands – George Floy’s killing in…

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Lebanon the weak, cannibalized state whose citizens still hope 22:49

3+ y ago22:49

22:49

Dr. Jamil Mouawad, lecturer in the Political Studies and Public Administration Dept at AUB, has studied Lebanese politics for decades; he is publishing a new book on the nature of the state in Lebanon and how its citizens interact with the state. He explains his theory of Lebanon as a deliberately weakened and cannibalized state whose political eli…

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Journalism’s best practices – across cultures, eras, and media 22:50

3+ y ago22:50

22:50

AUB Photojournalist-in-Residence George Azar in the Media Studies Program has covered the Middle Eats for the past 40 years for top Western and Middle Eastern media, including the New York Times, AP, Al Jazeera, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He explains how his ‘observational documentaries’ strive to tell human stories that also shed light on larg…

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Can evidence-based policy analysis fix Lebanon’s electricity collapse? 25:47

3+ y ago25:47

25:47

Marc Ayoub coordinated the energy policy and security program at AUB’s Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, where he and colleagues worked on critical issues in the energy sector – which mostly remain unresolved. Now he’s an Associate Fellow at IFI while mainly researching energy issues at the University of Limerick in…

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Impossible friendships in pre-1948 Jerusalem 21:48

3+ y ago21:48

21:48

Dr. Sonja Mejcher-Atassi, Associate Professor of English, has spent years documenting the story of an extraordinary group of young men and women, Christians, Muslims and Jews from Palestine, Lebanon, and Germany, who met weekly at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in the period immediately before the Nakba of 1948. Some of them went on to become in…

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Analyzing crisis impact and response in Lebanon 22:07

4y ago22:07

22:07

Dr. Hiba Khodr, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Public Management, and a visiting scholar this year at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, is systematically analyzing how the four simultaneous crises in Lebanon have impacted society and how civil society has responded. She is exploring how three local organizations in thefields of hea…

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The World Cup's impact on Qatar and its relations 22:44

4y ago22:44

22:44

Danyel Reiche, tenured associate professor of comparative politics at AUB, has studied for many years the relationship of sports to culture, religion, identity and other issues. He is on leave this year at Georgetown University-Qatar, where he directs the research initiative “Building a Legacy: Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022." He explains how the World …

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The invisible sea is a place of floating democratic politics 25:54

4y ago25:54

25:54

Assistant Professor Nikolas Kosmatopoulos, in the Graduate Program in Public Policy and International Affairs and the Department of Political Studies and Public Administration, had led a research and teaching project on the hidden dimensions of the Mediterranean Sea, especially in politics and international relations. He explains how the sea matter…

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The nutritionist advises us: nourish both our body and mind 16:52

4y ago16:52

16:52

Clinical Dietician May Sakr, with 20 years of experience at AUBMC’s Department of Clinical Nutrition, speaks music to our ears when she advises us to “enjoy what makes you happy” – but she simultaneously speaks science when she says that while we eat what pleases us we must also balance among all the food groups and exercise regularly. She explains…

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What we have learned about hiring, promoting and retaining women leaders in business 23:33

4y ago23:33

23:33

What do we know about the status of women in leadership positions in business? We now know quite a lot, thanks to Dr Lama Moussawi, tenured associate professor and associate dean for research and faculty development at the Olayan School of Business, and her colleagues at the Center for Inclusive Business and Leadership for Women. Three years ago th…

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Protecting nature, with Fairuz songs and small wins on urban balconies. 22:02

4y ago22:02

22:02

The career of Professor Salma Talhouk in the Department of Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management, started as a biodiversity conservation ‘lab scientist’, and has transformed her into a ‘people scientist’. She explains her journey as one of understanding that we protect nature by getting people to directly enjoy nature. This requires changing be…

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How to handle the mental health pandemic that follows COVID? 21:44

4y ago21:44

21:44

Associate Professor and Psychiatry Department Chair Dr Fadi Maalouf expects a mental health pandemic to hit Lebanon and the Middle East after the COVID crisis recedes –at a time when just 5 percent of mental health patients receive treatment, compared to 50 percent globally. In this episode he reviews the growing worry and anxiety symptoms among ch…

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What does a virology and immunology professor do when a new virus hits? 23:24

4y ago23:24

23:24

When the COVID-19 virus hit two years ago, AUB Associate Professor of pathology, virology and immunology Hassan Zaraket spiked to a new level of action. He adjusted his lab research -- on the genetic makeup of viruses and their spread, mutations, and vaccine responses -- to develop new diagnostic tests that can be used on the front line of public h…

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Do neighboring countries in the Middle East promote economic growth? 25:39

4y ago25:39

25:39

Professor Sumru Altug, Chair of the AUB Economics Department, explores whether geographical proximity can stimulate economic growth and diversification in nearby countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Her analysis of the impact of trade, physical proximity, and institutions suggests that the spillover effect is limited, other than workers’ …

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Monitoring, modelling, and protecting our precious groundwater 22:18

4y ago22:18

22:18

Associate professor of hydrogeology in the Geology Department, Dr. Joanna Doummar, explains the existing stresses on the limited and erratic quantities of groundwater reserves in Lebanon, which is the main source of fresh water for most countries in the region. By monitoring flows of water into complex underground aquifers, she models the operation…

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Are snake robots in your future? 22:43

4y ago22:43

22:43

Professor Elie Shammas of the mechanical engineering department has investigated and created robotic and bio-robotic “shape controllable structures” that perform duties beyond the abilities of human brings – like remotely controlled snake robots that slide and slither wherever they are needed. He explains the progress he and his colleagues have mad…

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Economic failures rooted in political weakness stymie Lebanon’s future 23:19

4y ago23:19

23:19

Economics professor and former director of the Institute of Financial Economics, Simon Neaime, sees hard times ahead as Lebanon’s problematic political class shows no will to fix the country’s economic decline. He sees added pressures from regional stresses of poverty, inequality, and unemployment, though countries like Jordan and Egypt have taken …

AUB Student Podcasts

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AUB Student Podcast

AUB Podcast Society

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The Art of Living Abundantly: An AUB Student Podcast

The Art of Living Abundantly: An AUB Student Podcast

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Professors at Work

AUB Communications

1
Teaching young students science, nature…and civil argumentation 23:35

1
Cancer detection and protection…from the lab to the world 19:38

1
The magical effect of writing and reading poetry 27:41

1
The Ukraine war’s real impact on food security in the ME and globally 27:13

1
An AUB literary & arts journal “touches the human condition” 28:58

1
From the English Department…resisting to escape the legacy of imperialism 27:37

1
A philosopher wrestles with how we alleviate harm 27:15

1
“Proximate politics”, where Arab citizens and state interact locally 21:33

1
“I can’t breathe!” Racism, colonialism, and corrupt governance as global public health threats 25:33

1
Lebanon the weak, cannibalized state whose citizens still hope 22:49

1
Journalism’s best practices – across cultures, eras, and media 22:50

1
Can evidence-based policy analysis fix Lebanon’s electricity collapse? 25:47

1
Impossible friendships in pre-1948 Jerusalem 21:48

1
Analyzing crisis impact and response in Lebanon 22:07

1
The World Cup's impact on Qatar and its relations 22:44

1
The invisible sea is a place of floating democratic politics 25:54

1
The nutritionist advises us: nourish both our body and mind 16:52

1
What we have learned about hiring, promoting and retaining women leaders in business 23:33

1
Protecting nature, with Fairuz songs and small wins on urban balconies. 22:02

1
How to handle the mental health pandemic that follows COVID? 21:44

1
What does a virology and immunology professor do when a new virus hits? 23:24

1
Do neighboring countries in the Middle East promote economic growth? 25:39

1
Monitoring, modelling, and protecting our precious groundwater 22:18

1
Are snake robots in your future? 22:43

1
Economic failures rooted in political weakness stymie Lebanon’s future 23:19