Leila is joined by US-based academic Dr. Noor Ghazal Aswad to talk about her recent book ‘Searching for Solidarity: Revolutionary Dreams and Radical Social Movements’.

This episode explores the erasure of Syrians from their own story during the revolution, and the implications and lessons for building transnational solidarity with radical movements in the future.

STIR is part of the From The Periphery Media Collective. To support all of our projects please head out to ⁠Patreon.com/fromtheperiphery⁠

STIR is also on ⁠Bluesky⁠!

Credits and More:

• Leila Al Shami (Host, Lead Researcher, Producer). More: ⁠Bluesky⁠, ⁠Mastodon⁠ and her ⁠Blog⁠

• Aydin Yildiz (Producer)

• Hisham Rifai (Illustration)

• Omar Offendum and Sami Matar (Music)

Date of recording: 6 February 2026

Leila and Justin are joined by Razan Rashidi, Executive Director of The Syria Campaign, to talk about Transitional Justice.

Tens of thousands of Syrians were forcibly disappeared at the hands of the Assad regime, as well as other actors. Only a small number were released from prison, mass graves were discovered and many families still have no news about the fate of their loved ones. In this episode we discuss what is being done to hold perpetrators to account, achieve justice for the victims and end the ongoing culture of impunity.

STIR is part of the From The Periphery Media Collective. To support all of our projects please head out to ⁠Patreon.com/fromtheperiphery⁠

STIR is also on ⁠Bluesky⁠!

Credits and More:

• Leila Al Shami (Host, Lead Researcher, Producer). More: ⁠Bluesky⁠, ⁠Mastodon⁠ and her ⁠Blog⁠

• Justin Salhani (Co-Host)

• Aydin Yildiz (Producer)

• Hisham Rifai (Illustration)

• Omar Offendum and Sami Matar (Music)

Date of recording: 29 January 2026

Khuzama and Cedric from the Interstices-Fajawat grassroots initiative return to STIR to talk to Leila about the July unrest in Sweida province, which included massacres against members of the Druze community. Our guests were in Sweida during the unrest, so share their moving first-hand testimony as well as provide analysis on implications for the future of Syria as a whole.

STIR is part of the From The Periphery Media Collective. To support all of our projects please head out to ⁠Patreon.com/fromtheperiphery⁠

STIR is also on ⁠Bluesky⁠!

Credits and More:

• Leila Al Shami (Host, Lead Researcher). More: ⁠Bluesky⁠, ⁠Mastodon⁠ and her ⁠Blog⁠

• Aydin Yildiz (Producer)

• Elia Ayoub (Producer). More: ⁠Bluesky⁠, ⁠Mastodon⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠ and his ⁠Newsletter⁠

• Hisham Rifai (Illustration)

• Omar Offendum and Sami Matar (Music)

Date of recording: 5 September 2025