Déjà Vu

Here’s how conspiracy theories shaped the last 600 years. The printing press helped spread European witch hunts even as it helped usher in the Enlightenment. The Nazis turned radio into a weapon of mass persuasion. Social media promised freedom but gave dictators new tools of control. We trace centuries of conspiracy theories – and ask what AI could bring next.

Aya Labanieh (@ayafrankenstein), Writer and Academic

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Mohamed Hassan, Marcos Bartolomé, Marthe Van der Wolf and Sonia Bhagat. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our engagement producer is Adam Abou-Gad. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan.

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@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Long before Europe ruled the seas, India’s vast ocean trade linked it to the world. Thinkers like Brahmagupta and Aryabhata spread mathematical ideas that shaped the Renaissance and the modern age. Then colonialism shifted the balance of power. As global power shifts back towards Asia, was the colonial era the exception?

In this episode: 

• William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill), Author and Historian and host of the Empire Podcast

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Mohamed Hassan, Marcos Bartolomé, Marthe van der Wolf, and David Enders. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our engagement producer is Adam Abou-Gad. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. 

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@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

From Spain to Sicily, Muslims helped shape Europe for centuries. Why do they still seem to be cast as outsiders? In this episode of Deja Vu, author Tariq Ali traces the rise of Al-Andalus to its fall amid the burning of books and the loss of a shared past. How does that history still shape Europe’s politics today?

In this episode: 

• Tariq Ali (@TariqAli_News), Author and Editor of The New Left Review

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Mohamed Hassan, Marcos Bartolomé and Sonia Bhagat. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our engagement producer is Adam Abou-Gad. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. 

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Can Judaism exist without Zionism? Rabbi Haim Sofer traces Jewish identity through exile and persecution to centuries of life alongside Muslims, from al-Andalus to Morocco and Iraq. How did the dream of a Jewish state and plans for a Third Temple reshape those ties – and why does Neturei Karta, an Orthodox Jewish anti-Zionist movement, oppose a Jewish state?

In this episode: 

• Rabbi Haim Sofer, Religious Scholar

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Mohamed Hassan and Marcos Bartolomé. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our engagement producer is Adam Abou-Gad. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. 

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Why does anger seem to rule the world today? Pankaj Mishra traces our age of anger to the collision of Enlightenment promises of liberty and equality with empire, nationalism and capitalism. He asks what happens when those promises are broken – and when the Global South turns Western ideals back on the West itself.

In this episode: 

• Pankaj Mishra, Author, Age of Anger 

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Mohamed Hassan, Marcos Bartolomé and Sonia Bhagat. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our engagement producer is Adam Abou-Gad. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. 

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

What happens when a revolutionary movement takes control of the world’s most vital waterway, bringing global oil shipping to a halt and sparking war with an empire? It’s not the Strait of Hormuz, but the Suez Crisis of 70 years earlier. In 1956, Egypt shut the Suez Canal and took on three armies alone. When the canal reopened months later, now with Egypt in control, the region and the global economy would change forever.

In this episode: 

• Laleh Khalili (@lalehkhalili), Political Scientist and Author of ‘Sinews of War and Trade’

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Mohamed Hassan, Marcos Bartolomé and Sonia Bhagat. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our engagement producer is Adam Abou-Gad. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Why does every empire want Iran – and how has Iran outlasted attempts to control it? Long before the CIA-backed coup, there were wars with Russia and British control over oil and tobacco. Iran learned from its history of invasions, wars, and revolution – why do great powers keep making the same mistake? Political historian Dr. Mehran Kamrava reveals how great-power rivalry forged modern Iran.

In this episode: 

• Mehran Kamrava (@mehrankamrava), Political Historian, Georgetown University Qatar

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Mohamed Hassan, Marcos Bartolomé, and Sonia Bhagat. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our engagement producer is Adam Abou-Gad. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Jo de Frias is Al Jazeera’s head of podcasts.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

A European settler state in the heart of Palestine, ruled by religious zealots, fueled by Western arms. A divided Muslim world fights back. Sound familiar? We’re in 1099, when the First Crusade conquered Jerusalem and subjugated its native population. Just 88 years later, it was lost to Saladin’s newly united Muslim army. Why did the Crusaders fail to build an everlasting kingdom, and will Zionism meet the same fate?

In this episode: 

• Roy Casagranda (@DrRoyCasagranda), Political Philosopher 

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Mohamed Hassan and Marcos Bartolomé, with Sonia Bhagat. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our engagement producer is Adam Abou-Gad. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Jo de Frias is Al Jazeera's head of podcasts.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Explore how past moments have shaped the crises we face today.

Join host Mohamed Hassan for in-depth conversations with historians and public thinkers who reveal the patterns behind the headlines. 

Listen now for a preview; first full episode drops July 2026. Subscribe for updates.