Rana Sweis

Digital Digest

Saving Lives With Tech

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On the Morning of April 11, Abu al-Nour was lounging at home in a small town in Syria’s Idlib Province. It was a pleasant day, and his seven children—ages 2 to 23—were playing outside or studying inside. The house was small, but al-Nour was proud of it. He had built it himself and enjoyed having family and friends over to spend time in the big yard. His wife was cooking lunch in the kitchen.

Al-Nour is a farmer, as were many of the town’s residents, but since the Syrian civil war started in 2011, fuel and fertilizer prices had shot up well beyond his means. Al-Nour had been getting by with the odd construction job or harvest work here and there. The area had fallen to rebel forces in 2012, and though his village was too tiny for the rebels to bother with much, he’d noticed fighters from the Free Idlib Army and Jaysh al-Izza groups passing through on occasion.

Being in rebel-held territory meant government air strikes. The bombings began in 2012 and got worse in 2014. Many villagers fled out of fear. Others fell deeper into poverty, their businesses ruined by the relentless conflict. When the first air strike hit al-Nour’s neighborhood, he says, it killed eight people from one family. Al-Nour tried to help with rescue efforts, but instead was overcome with grief, unable to move. Afterward, he couldn’t stop imagining what could happen to his family. Finally, five long years into this reality, he heard about a service called Sentry from a friend. If he signed up, it would send him a Facebook or Telegram message to let him know a government warplane was heading his way.

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Rana Sweis Articles

Digital Digest

The 50 Best Podcasts to Listen to

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In March of 2017, we recommended 50 of the best podcasts for your listening pleasure. Many of those shows continue to do great work, including Heavyweight, Still Processing, The Read, Dear Sugars and Reply All. And two popular pods from last year’s list, 2 Dope Queens and Pod Save America, snagged HBO TV show deals.

But since that list dropped, the medium has continued to evolve. The internet devoured S-Town, and The Daily became mandatory listening during the morning commute. Shows like Ear Hustle, recorded inside a prison, and the musical 36 Questions pushed the bounds of podcasting. Documentary series like Making Obama and Slow Burn began examining history to understand the current political landscape. Just this March, Marvel made its first foray into the podcasting genre with Wolverine: The Long Night.

Between the newcomers and the old stalwarts we missed last year (sorry!),we found another 50 best podcasts you should be listening to right now. Whether you’re a royals obsessive, a true crime detective or a politics nerd, we have a pod for you, listed from A to Z.

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