Deja Vu
Deja Vu
DEJA VU strips away the myth of modern exceptionalism. Through intimate, fireside conversations with the world's most provocative historians, philosophers, and public intellectuals, we excavate the buried parallels between today's crises and history's most pivotal moments. Each episode asks: What can we learn from the last time this happened?
Was ancient India the world's forgotten superpower? | William Dalrymple
Long before Europe ruled the seas, India’s vast ocean trade linked it to the world. Thinkers like Brahmagupta and Aryabhata spread mathematical ideas that shaped the Renaissance and the modern age. Then colonialism shifted the balance of power. As global power shifts back towards Asia, was the colo…
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Why does Europe want to erase its Muslim history? | Tariq Ali
From Spain to Sicily, Muslims helped shape Europe for centuries. Why do they still seem to be cast as outsiders? In this episode of Deja Vu, author Tariq Ali traces the rise of Al-Andalus to its fall amid the burning of books and the loss of a shared past. How does that history still shape Europe’s…
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Jews and Muslims lived together for centuries. Did Zionism tear them apart?
Can Judaism exist without Zionism? Rabbi Haim Sofer traces Jewish identity through exile and persecution to centuries of life alongside Muslims, from al-Andalus to Morocco and Iraq. How did the dream of a Jewish state and plans for a Third Temple reshape those ties – and why does Neturei Karta, an …
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How the West’s promise of freedom created a world of anger | Pankaj Mishra
Why does anger seem to rule the world today? Pankaj Mishra traces our age of anger to the collision of Enlightenment promises of liberty and equality with empire, nationalism and capitalism. He asks what happens when those promises are broken – and when the Global South turns Western ideals back on…
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Will the Iran War bring down the American empire? | Laleh Khalili
What happens when a revolutionary movement takes control of the world’s most vital waterway, bringing global oil shipping to a halt and sparking war with an empire? It’s not the Strait of Hormuz, but the Suez Crisis of 70 years earlier. In 1956, Egypt shut the Suez Canal and took on three armies al…
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Empires fought over Iran. Now Iran is fighting back | Mehran Kamrava
Why does every empire want Iran – and how has Iran outlasted attempts to control it? Long before the CIA-backed coup, there were wars with Russia and British control over oil and tobacco. Iran learned from its history of invasions, wars, and revolution – why do great powers keep making the same mis…
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Is Israel repeating the Crusaders' fatal mistake? | Roy Casagranda
A European settler state in the heart of Palestine, ruled by religious zealots, fueled by Western arms. A divided Muslim world fights back. Sound familiar? We’re in 1099, when the First Crusade conquered Jerusalem and subjugated its native population. Just 88 years later, it was lost to Saladin’s n…
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Deja Vu: New podcast from Al Jazeera
Explore how past moments have shaped the crises we face today. Join host Mohamed Hassan for in-depth conversations with historians and public thinkers who reveal the patterns behind the headlines. Listen now for a preview; first full episode drops July 2026. Subscribe for updates.
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