Love and Despair

My Mother Country

“When I was young, I saw Lebanon as vibrant and vast, a safe land that was full of adventure. I saw my mother, Georgette, as the sun, radiating warmth and light. Her heart was like a river that never runs dry. I loved her, and I loved Lebanon, my mother country…” Elias Demerdjian charts the decline and fall of Lebanon as it ran in parallel with, and influenced, his mother’s declining health. Follow us on Instagram at welebanonpod.com [http://welebanonpod.com], and follow Elias at instagram.com/thespianed_ [https://www.instagram.com/thespianed_/]. Email us at welebanonpod@gmail.com [welebanonpod@gmail.com] with your thoughts on the show or with your own stories of life in Lebanon.

The Eternity of Bread

“The cheese melts softly in the bread, and when I crunch on the first bite, I taste love and the strong musky smell from my grandfather's hands that stuck to the crust as he made it…” This lyrical meditation from Lyne Jradi examines how grief and love echo through the simple acts of making and eating bread… and how displacement and war can distort them. Follow us on Instagram at welebanonpod.com [http://welebanonpod.com], and follow Lyne at instagram.com/solitarywords_ [http://instagram.com/solitarywords_]. Email us at welebanonpod@gmail.com [welebanonpod@gmail.com] with your thoughts on the show or with your own stories of life in Lebanon.

Olive Branch

“Israel now bombs the olive groves, and trees that are a hundred years old and have given us their sustenance and warmth for a hundred years now burn to ash.” Farrah Khatib looks at how generations of one family have seen the ritual of the annual olive harvest change through cycles of Israeli attacks and occupation. Follow us on Instagram at welebanonpod.com [http://welebanonpod.com], and follow Farrah at instagram.com/farrah.khatib [http://instagram.com/farrah.khatib]. Email us at welebanonpod@gmail.com [welebanonpod@gmail.com] with your thoughts on the show or with your own stories of life in Lebanon.

The Truest Form

“Love isn’t constant. It changes with war, with silence, with the weight of memory. It builds and it ruins, and somehow, it still finds a way to return in gentler forms.” Rita Mhanna looks at the intersection of love, mental illness, family and war in this deeply moving essay. Follow us on Instagram at welebanonpod.com [http://welebanonpod.com], and follow Rita at instagram.com/ritamhanna77 [http://instagram.com/ritamhanna77]. Email us at welebanonpod@gmail.com [welebanonpod@gmail.com] with your thoughts on the show or with your own stories of life in Lebanon.

Two Years Later

“Life here has always been relatively absurd. But the absurdity has now heightened and had a manic break, and we’re now living in the strange aftermath.” In our Season 2 premiere, Farrah Khatib, Lyne Jradi and Rana Baghdadi explore why it’s taken us two years longer than we thought it would to make this season and what life has been like for us here. Follow us on Instagram at welebanonpod.com.