19/Our Women on the Ground (with Zahra Hankir)

This is a conversation with Lebanese-British journalist and editor Zahra Hankir. She's the editor of the award-winning, best-selling anthology Our Women on the Ground which features 19 women reporters from the Middle East and North Africa. The book includes essay by Donna Abu-Nasr, Aida Alami, Hannah Allam,  Jane Arraf, Lina Attalah, Nada Bakri, Shamael Elnoor, Zaina Erhaim,  Asmaa al-Ghoul, Hind Hassan, Eman Helal, Zeina Karam, Roula Khalaf, Nour  Malas, Hwaida Saad, Amira Al-Sharif, Heba Shibani, Lina Sinjab, and  Natacha Yazbeck. Zahra spoke to me about the formation of this book and how she started  following some of these reporters in the context of the 2011 uprisings  throughout the region. I also asked her about how women reporters in the  region navigate gender-based discrimination to get the stories they  want told as well as her reflections on the politics of representation  in the Western world. This advertisement at the beginning of the episode is by the Ethiopian group Egna Legna,  which The Fire These Times supports. Please consider visiting their  website, checking out their crucial work and seeing how you can help  them fight the racist Kafala system and patriarchy in Lebanon. You can follow the podcast on Twitter @FireTheseTimes and Instagram @thefirethesetimes. If you like what I do, please consider supporting this project with only 1$ a month on Patreon or on BuyMeACoffee.com. You can also do so directly on PayPal if you prefer. Patreon is for monthly, PayPal is for one-offs and BuyMeACoffee has both options. Music by Tarabeat.