The Take

Forty-four transgender or gender non-conforming people were fatally shot or killed in the US in 2020. Six of those people were killed in Puerto Rico alone. This January, the island's governor Pedro Pierluisi declared a state of emergency and signed an executive order to address the killings. Today we are talking to activists in Puerto Rico and a journalist who has covered the gruesome crimes.

Between anti-vaxxers, Covid-truthers, and QAnon, conspiracy theorists seem to be having a moment. But having productive conversations about these theories is easier said than done. In this episode, social psychologist Jovan Byford explains why conspiracy theories spread during moments of upheaval, and shares his advice for talking to people who believe in them.

For people outside the US, QAnon seemed like a uniquely American threat — up until it wasn’t. The digital cult was born on the corners of the internet in 2017, but its adherents have taken offline action in several countries. So how does a baseless conspiracy theory that says Donald Trump is battling a cabal of child-trafficking elites find its way around the world?

Social media was how many of us consumed the 2011 Arab uprisings. Technology was putting power in the hands of the people. To use social media in 2021, especially in the Middle East, is to navigate a maze of internet laws, surveillance, censorship, fake news, and bots. With Facebook now looking for ways to make political content less visible, we’re asking: what changed?

An explosive investigation reveals how a criminal gang is colluding with the security forces of Bangladesh and has links to the country’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. All the Prime Minister’s Men is a gripping, true-crime podcast series about a high-level cover-up happening right now in Bangladesh. We hear Malika Bilal talk to the host of Al Jazeera Investigates, Kevin Hirten, on how the AJ I-unit exposed the corrupt and ongoing relationship between a criminal gang of brothers and the country’s leader.

In the early hours of Monday morning, Myanmar’s military detained de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and several other members of the National League of Democracy party, taking control of the country’s government. This means Myanmar is under military rule again, just as it was from 1962 until 2011. What might the future look like for the people of Myanmar, many of whom have lived under military rule before? We speak with a Rohingya activist who has seen first-hand what Myanmar’s military is capable of.

As Black History Month kicks off in the US, we’re turning our focus to one subset of the community: black female entrepreneurs. They face some of the highest hurdles when trying to start their own businesses, and when the COVID-19 pandemic derailed thousands of firms around the US, they received some of the least support from the US government. Today, we’re talking about why that was the case, and what some women are doing to change the system.

In the final episode of our series on Operation Desert Storm, we’re telling the story of the war in Baghdad, and where this military operation has left the region 30 years later. Has it all gone to ashes, or are there a few things that have survived? We speak with the people we’ve met through this series to hear what they saw and felt during those tumultuous weeks of war, how it's affected their lives today, and impacted the region and the world.

Operation Desert Storm seemed like a quick victory for the United States. But looking back, it may have had very different consequences. In part one of our three-part series, we told you the story of how Iraq invaded Kuwait. In our second episode, we head to Baghdad and hear from the people who lived through the war, and how they tried to make it to the other side.

Thirty-one years ago, Iraq invaded Kuwait on a hot August morning. A few months later on January 16, 1991, the United States military launched its first major war in the Middle East: Operation Desert Storm. This is the first episode in a three-part series telling the story of that war from the perspective of the people who were there, on the ground. They are people you probably haven’t heard from before: an Iraqi General, a Kuwaiti Naval Commander and the highest ranking US Navy Seal involved in Desert Storm, just to name a few. This war was the start of something — the story of the United States in the Middle East today.

President Joseph Biden has officially assumed the presidency, inheriting a deeply divided nation, a polarized Congress, and an economy severely impacted by COVID-19. While the transfer of power was seemingly peaceful, that doesn't mean supporters of Donald Trump are pledging their allegiance to the 46th President. How might that determine the landscape of politics in the US?

Donald Trump is leaving office today as Joseph Biden assumes the presidency and command over a deeply divided nation. But the transfer of power is taking place under military presence as scores of National Guard troops patrol the U.S. Capitol and Washington, DC. In today's episode, we’ve got a roundup of Al Jazeera journalists seeking answers to the questions that will shape the next chapter of US history.

Members of the Latinx community have perpetually remained underrepresented in front and behind Hollywood’s cameras. This past year, shows centering Latina, Latino and Latinx stories, like One Day at a Time, Vida, and Gentefied, were ignored at major awards shows. Now, creators are demanding more, as 270 producers, writers and show runners signed a letter calling for systematic change in the industry. In today’s episode, we speak to two of the letter’s signees to explore why Latinx shows are undervalued, and why these creators are pushing for diversity in entertainment.

In a milestone win, Argentina’s Senate voted to legalize abortion, granting millions of women access to legal elective abortions until the 14th week of pregnancy. We’re revisiting an episode we first aired in March to take a deep dive into the decades-long fight to secure abortion rights, and to understand how the green wave movement secured the decriminalization of abortion in a majority Roman Catholic country and homeland of Pope Francis.

After years of dispute, there was a breakthrough at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit. In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt announced a blockade on Qatar. The countries released a list of 13 demands to be met for the embargo to end. The dispute remained at a virtual standstill until last week, when the blockade was finally lifted. After more than three years of embargo by land, air, and sea, why is the GCC dispute coming to an end now?