معبر | Maabar
Maabar is a documentary podcast that explores Lebanon's complicated history, focusing on the Civil War (1975-1990). The title, meaning both barrier and crossing in Arabic, captures the tension between a fractured past and a wary present. Since 2022, three seasons have covered wartime life, frontline journalism, and first responders, uncovering untold stories of survival and loss.
Episodes
Maabar معبر | S3 EP6 - خشخاشة Khéshkhashé. Season 3 Finale.
When saving lives becomes routine, death is no longer a stranger. First responders face unclaimed bodies, mass graves, and makeshift morgues – negotiating prisoner exchanges, testing the limits of international law. And what happens at war's end, how do you return to life, after knowing only the rhythm and urgency of war?If you enjoy Maabar, please like, subscribe and support us on Patreon: https:
Maabar معبر | S3 EP5 - معموديّة النار Baptism of Fire.
Outside the hospital, thousands triaged on the pavement, inside they sleep on their side to make room. War is the ultimate teacher for surgeons, who never go home – learning on the go, treating everything from vascular trauma to burn, finding life in death. But if you let someone die, is it the same as killing them?If you enjoy Maabar, please like, subscribe and support us on Patreon:https:/
S3 EP4 - كدشنا الأرض | Hit The Deck.
Under relentless bombardment – ambulances hit, hospitals overflowing, shrapnel raining from 32,000 shells – blood is everywhere. Amid the chaos, the cry of an abandoned newborn in the maternity ward becomes a ray of light, reminding first responders of their calling, their duty, and their purpose as unknown fighters from every walk of life. تحت قصف ما بيوقف – سيارات إسعاف بتنضرب، ومستشفيات ب
S3 EP3 - يا بتقيمه، يا بتموت أنت | Treat him, or die.
Operating under the gun, doctors were threatened by drugged militants, forced to treat fighters, even kidnapped to treat a warlord’s mother. With other first responders, they protected identities, changed names, stole fuel to keep hospitals and clinics running, they even sedated fighters to prevent a bloodbath. Silent guardian angels, they cheated death, for the sake of life.تحت تهديد السلاح، الأط
S3 EP2 - Dr. Man'oucheh | د. منقوشة
In the midst of their emergency response, medics and doctors sometimes had to scramble to tend to their own needs, with even food being scarce and not easy to secure. Yet their dedication and selflessness never wavered in the face of the tragedies they had to tend to and improvise their way out of.
S3 EP1 - How It Started | هيك قلّعنا
Driven only by duty, first responders leap into the cauldron of war. Barely prepared and minimally trained, but always resourceful, they are stripped of politics and religion. On the ground, from mopping blood to building field hospitals, they save lives, confront horrors, and hold onto hope in humanity. If you enjoy Maabar, support us on Patreon:patreon.com/maabarmaabarpodcast.com
Season 3 - Trailer
New Season. April 24.#newseason #season3 #april24 #podcast #civilwar #lebanon
S2 EP9 - Inside Job | نحنا منّا و فينا
In our final episode, we close the series with the Lebanese journalists who tell of their struggles to balance between their job of documenting, in words or in photographs, their own country’s destruction, and of their vulnerabilities, living with the aftershock of war, carrying the weight of their trauma through the years, over generations.بالحلقة الأخيرة، منختم السلسة مع صحفيين لبنانيين بخبروا ع
S2 EP8 - Si Tu Ne Vois Plus Le Soleil | بس تِسوَدّ الدني
This penultimate episode of our 9-part special focuses on the reflection of the francophone journalists and their role during the war, the savagery of what the civil war entailed, its futility, lives lost in vain, and the living horror of those who fought and are left to confront the harsh reality of “normal” life afterward.الحلقة ما قبل الأخيرة من السلسلة المؤلفة من تسع أجزاء بتركّز على تأملات ال
S2 EP7 - It Catches Up With You | بتِرجَع بطِلْقَتك
In this episode, journalists burst the “rock and roll” image of war to expose its harsh and brutal reality where people act like vicious monsters. Packed with gripping tales and profound reflections on what this “war” meant in the grand scheme of things, the anglophones close in on their experience of the war.بهيدي الحلقة، بيكسر الصحفيين صورة الحرب يلّي كلا "عنتريات"، ليكشفوا واقعها القاسي والعنيف
S2 EP6 - Les Yeux Masqués | مْغَطّيلْنا عيوننا
French audio. For subtitles in Arabic and in English please listen to the episode on YouTube.In this episode, we hear first hand what it was like to be held hostage in another country, another war; from being first lured by the exotic, exciting prospect of covering war in Lebanon, in Beirut (the Paris of the ME), French journalists find their position changed overnight, from suave and sophisticate
S2 EP5 - Fragmented | مْقَطّعة أَوصالُه
In this chapter, we learn how a city severed and a country truncated becomes a maze that journalists must learn to navigate, to cross lines from one sector to the next, from East to West and West to East, to do their job and get their story out, all the while risking their life.------------------------------------------------------All images are property of their owners and are used with permissio
S2 EP4 - Addicted | بس تعشقها… مشكلة
In this episode, we hear about how addictive war becomes for the journalists covering it as they describe the smell of fear and the thrill of existing on the fine line between life and death. For some, the only way to survive was to lose their mind and their senses while simultaneously being completely sane, 100% alert.All images are property of their owners and are used with permission. If you en
S2 EP1 - And The War Erupted حرب ... و بلّشت
In the first episode of our special 9 part-series on journalism during the Lebanese Civil War, we hear how Lebanese reporters and photographers suddenly found themselves covering a war, while gradually learning on the go and realizing how important their roles were in documenting what was happening.All images are property of their owners and are used with permission. If you enjoy our content pleas
S2 EP2 - Je Suis Où Là? | وين أنا؟
This episode shares the insights of foreign correspondents, mainly the francophones, and how they found themselves lured to Beirut on assignments to cover the war, while experiencing the upside of privileged life compared to their Lebanese colleagues.Subscribe to our Channel:https://bit.ly/3w81FMyFollow us on Instagram:@maabarpodcastHotels turned into beehives of foreign journalists; glamorous bas
S2 EP3 - Do It For The Picture | كرمال الصورة
We continue with foreign correspondents, this episode focusing on Anglophones, telling of their experience of coming to grips with the particularities of life during the Lebanese Civil War, and in the process, building bonds with a place that never seems to kneel.All images are property of their owners and are used with permission.For the list of credits:https://www.maabarpodcast.comIf you enjoy o
Trailer - Journalism During The War.
New episodes out January 18, 2024.
S1 EP12 - Maabar | معبر
Support "Maabar" on Patreon.What happens when war ends? How do you pick up your life, plan for the next day, the next week, the next month? What role do you play when your last fifteen years were all-encompassingly defined by the context of war? Who are you now?How do you make sense of all that is lost, all those lives, all those faces framed in families' living rooms regardless of where they migh
S1 EP11 - One After The Other | واحد ورا الثاني
Support "Maabar" on Patreon.Disclaimer: This episode contains heavy language and strong depictions of violence that may be triggering to some. Please be advised.When all is said and done, war is ugly. War kills, maims, and destroys life. Its pain lives on buried inside, in the hearts, minds, and souls of those it afflicts; escaping death, not getting killed, becomes unbearable, cursed by the despa
S1 EP10 - Folie | جنون
Support "Maabar" on Patreon.How do you live a life shaped by sporadic destruction and fatal randomness? What happens when you adapt, start living instead of only surviving? When the absurdity of war becomes your new normal, sometimes even without you realizing it, something shifts.When instead of stars, you trace exploding bombs in the night sky, or grow fond of the sound of shelling, something ha
S1 EP9 - Survival | البقاء
Support "Maabar" on Patreon.How do you survive a war? How do you cope with violence surrounding you from all sides? What if you find yourself in front of the barrel of the gun, the target itself?Or what if you find yourself aiming your gun, being the one pulling the trigger? What happens if that line between life and death becomes narrower and narrower?How many times can you walk that line, escape
S1 EP8 - Branch 235 | فرع ٢٣٥
Support "Maabar" on Patreon.“People either live or die...but disappear?” When your loved ones leave the house one day or are taken right in front of your eyes not knowing whether they'll return or not, how does one cope?The panic of trying to find traces of where they might be, whom to call to get them back, trying not to imagine what they must be going through, all the while hoping against hope t
S1 EP7 - Bow or Leave | يا برضخ، يا بفلّ
Support "Maabar" on Patreon.When we hear about war, we think of battles and gunfire. But war never remains on the frontlines. It spills over into all aspects of every day life.So how do you deal with the precariousness of the situation? When militias start rounding people up in the streets; possibly being snatched up on the way to see friends; or being beaten up, just because a group of guys, high
S1 EP6 - Folding Stock | أخمص حديدي
Support "Maabar" on Patreon.War is an abstract concept until the moment your neighbours start amassing weapons and sandbagging their buildings and checkpoints line the streets. Tensions are high, divides are deep and anxieties spread far across. Clashes are no longer isolated incidents. Strategies come up on how to best defend your territory against the enemy - who was the enemy again?The fear of
S1 EP5 - Where from, where to? | من وين, لوين؟
Support "Maabar" on Patreon.When regions are cut off from one another, and checkpoints and snipers slice the country into hundreds of little pieces, how do you get from one place to another?How do you get to work, see your family, go about your life? What if, after dinner, you get a craving for ice cream from that one shop that is three checkpoints and two sniper crossings away?How do you keep goi
S1 EP4 - Citizen Band | سيتيزن باند
Support "Maabar" on Patreon.With telephone lines down, roads blocked and snipers monitoring all movement, how did our parents stay in touch -- with friends, family and each other? How did they update and reassure each other about the situation and their whereabouts?For many, the walkie talkie was the only means of communication, a thread people clung on to for sanity through the long hours of the
S1 EP3 - A Fragrant Welcome | تحية عطرة
All day people are gathered in front of the radio, the jingle starts, the news comes on.The relief to finally have news of what is happening today. There are also people gathered behind the radio, living for the news, trying not do die while making the news. The relief to manage to air one more flash, after the all the absurdity of making it happen.The radio, the TV, the news, a lifeline to the ne
S1 EP2 - Mère Gabrielle | مير غبريال
“Can the fighting start already so school can close?”For children, school is meant to serve as a safe space, like a second home, where they go to learn, play and nurture friendships. A space that builds towards their future. But war changes everything. What was once a safe space, can no longer protect them. With education disrupted and their playgrounds destroyed, what does it mean to be a student
S1 EP1 - Cops & Robbers | عسكر وحرامية
Support "Maabar" on Patreon."A child hears about death and destruction, of course that instills fear”.How does a child understand war? How do they comprehend the gravity of the situation? From the deafening sounds of bombs and bullets to the sight of someone pulling a gun on your father at a checkpoint. At an age where children are supposed to learn and play, our parents were children raised in a
Prologue | مقدمة
Maabar is a 12-part podcast series on the Lebanese Civil War, cutting across two genres – Oral History and Documentary – it dives into the layers of what was experienced, what is remembered and what therefore still exists. Following no particular chronology, the podcast traces themes and shared experiences, as by removing time and space, we have room to open a different conversation about the war.
Season Trailer | A Podcast Series on the Lebanese Civil War
Tapping into the memory of a country, Maabar is a podcast series retracing the Lebanese Civil War through the memories and stories of the people who lived it. 1st Episode airs on May 5, 2022.
