What is Maabar
Podcast available on
Season 3 Out Now
This season features the Lebanese Civil War’s unsung heroes, the first responders – doctors, firefighters, Red Cross volunteers, and others – who navigated chaos with courage, risking their lives to save others. They tended to war’s soft underbelly, where ideology and militancy fell away in the face of humanity, revealing the often overlooked toll of the war.
Maabar is a documentary podcast exploring lived experiences of Lebanon’s complicated history with a focus on the Civil War (1975-1990). Meaning both barrier and crossing in Arabic, maabar captures the tension between a fractured past and a wary present, yearning for a hopeful future. Since 2022, three seasons have featured wartime life, frontline journalism, and first responders, uncovering untold stories of survival, loss, and the lasting impact of war.
Why is Maabar
Maabar was born from a need to understand the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) and its legacy that shapes daily life, yet is hardly talked about. Maabar confronts Lebanon’s silent past by amplifying untold stories across divides, challenging rigid narratives that fuel cycles of violence.
How is Maabar
Maabar has used oral history methodology to conduct 130+ interviews with narrators selected for geographic, community, and gender diversity. Through editorial storytelling, Maabar transforms these varied testimonies into immersive, multi-vocal narratives centered on the Lebanese Civil War. Each professionally sound-engineered episode combines up to 20 interview extracts, accompanied by rich musical scores that bring the past vividly into the present.
Share your story
Do you – or someone you know – have a powerful personal story from the Lebanese Civil War or the times before and after, that deserves to be heard? If we had unlimited time and resources, we’d speak to all Lebanese, everywhere. Since we can’t, we count on you to get in touch – share your story, or suggest someone we should speak to. Help us find the voices whose experiences are too valuable to be forgotten. We’d love to hear from you and maybe include your story in a future season.
All seasons
Season 1
13 Episodes
Season 1
This inaugural season begins from the ground up, exploring everyday life during the war through childhood memories, first loves, and first jobs. It focuses on how people tried to lead normal lives, only to have them repeatedly shattered by sudden violence, loss, and trauma – including the forcibly disappeared and the tens of thousands killed.
Released On :
05 May 2022
S1 - Prologue
2 mins
Introducing Maabar
S1 EP1 - Cops & Robbers
27 min
Against the backdrop of war, childhood play, laughter, and love.
S1 EP2 - Mère Gabrielle
25 min
War disrupts once-safe schools drawing children into conflict.
S1 EP3 - A Fragrant Welcome
25 min
As people huddle around their TVs, awaiting news, the only certainty is uncertainty.
Season 2
9 Episodes
Season 2
This season features episodes in Arabic, French, and English, capturing the experiences of local and foreign journalists who covered the Lebanese Civil War. Though their perspectives varied, all faced the same blurred line between bearing witness and the struggle to stay alive, between professional duty and survival.
Released On :
18 Jan 2024
S2 EP1 - And The War Erupted
49 min
Learning on the move, journalists bear witness to war.
S2 EP2 - Je Suis Où Là?
37 min
Privileged vantage points blur perception and distance for francophone foreign correspondents
S2 EP3 - Do It For The Picture
40 min
Reporting a war, Anglophone correspondents find resonance in Beirut life.
S2 EP4 - Addicted
31 min
Holding on to sanity in chaos, journalists become addicted to war’s adrenaline
Season 3
6 Episodes
Season 3
This season features the war’s unsung heroes, the first responders – doctors, firefighters, Red Cross volunteers, and others – who navigated chaos with courage, risking their lives to save others. They tended to war’s soft underbelly, where ideology and militancy fell away in the face of humanity, revealing the often overlooked toll of the war.
Released On :
24 Apr 2025
S3 EP1 - How it Started
25 min
How to become a first responder - on the fly.
S3 EP2 - Dr. Man'oucheh
29 min
Their only enemy death, first responders do everything to save lives.
S3 EP3 - Treat him, or die
42 min
Staying alive to save others in war.
S3 EP4 - Hit The Deck
35 min
Over the intensity of bombardment, a sense of purpose prevails.
Future Seasons
Future Seasons
Our journey doesn’t stop here. Future seasons will continue to uncover the voices and moments that shaped Lebanon’s past and present. Stay tuned.
Support Maabar
Producing Maabar takes time and deep commitment. We’re dedicated to keeping it freely accessible– but to do that, we rely on individual support. By becoming a patron, you help sustain this work and allow it to grow – across voices, generations, and stories still wanting to be told. Your support means you recognize the urgency of documenting and engaging with our past to better understand the present. Maabar isn’t just about what happened – it’s about how we live with it now.
