• Ep.29 Lebanon Lives - Lana: Dealing with the Damage
    Jun 7 2026

    Clinical psychologist and GBV case worker talks about her experiences in both psychiatric hospitals and refugee camps, dealing with traumas that - as she puts it- "don't repeat - because they never end." Another episode in the mini series listening to voices from Lebanon.

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    You know as well as I do that stories about migrants don’t attract big sponsors.
    Governments are hostile, corporations stay cautious, and even NGOs hang on to their tightening budgets.

    That's why we need your help. Migrant Odyssey exists — to make sure those voices are still heard.

    If you’ve ever felt that empathy without action isn’t enough, this is one real way to make a difference. Even a small monthly contribution — one you’ll hardly notice — helps keep these voices alive.

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    58 mins
  • Ep. 28 Lebanon Lives: There's no time to stay down
    May 24 2026


    If you want to know a little more about Lebanon than the usual clichés, this is the episode for you.

    "You have to get back up. There's no time to stay down"

    This the personal story of Mohammed - why he calls Lebanon his heart's safe space

    AND

    "Building the national state prevents violence"

    This is the story of his work for an extraordinary organization -The Hariri Foundation For Sustainable Human Development.

    https://hariri-foundation.org/



    Send us Fan Mail

    Support the show

    You know as well as I do that stories about migrants don’t attract big sponsors.
    Governments are hostile, corporations stay cautious, and even NGOs hang on to their tightening budgets.

    That's why we need your help. Migrant Odyssey exists — to make sure those voices are still heard.

    If you’ve ever felt that empathy without action isn’t enough, this is one real way to make a difference. Even a small monthly contribution — one you’ll hardly notice — helps keep these voices alive.

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    48 mins
  • Ep. 27 Lebanon Lives - The Longing
    May 7 2026

    Time and distance never quite heal the pain of war and disruption. And neither do they soothe the longing to return.

    Souad has been away from her beloved Lebanon for 20 years but both its joys and traumas are ever present. In this third episode in the mini series on Lebanon, she talks, - with both bluntness and much humour - about her homeland.

    Here's the link to a map of Beirut

    https://www.worldmap1.com/map/beirut-map


    Send us Fan Mail

    Support the show

    You know as well as I do that stories about migrants don’t attract big sponsors.
    Governments are hostile, corporations stay cautious, and even NGOs hang on to their tightening budgets.

    That's why we need your help. Migrant Odyssey exists — to make sure those voices are still heard.

    If you’ve ever felt that empathy without action isn’t enough, this is one real way to make a difference. Even a small monthly contribution — one you’ll hardly notice — helps keep these voices alive.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Ep 26. Lebanon Lives - the voice of Areej
    Apr 21 2026

    Some people have poetry in their voice - whether they know it or not. Their words, and the silence in-between, stop you in your tracks. Which is what fine poetry does.

    Areej has that gift. Whether she talks about teaching children, or coming home to her beloved city or her faith, there is always that moment when you have to pause and look at your world anew.

    This is the second episode in this mini series on extraordinary ordinary people in Lebanon today.



    Send us Fan Mail

    Support the show

    You know as well as I do that stories about migrants don’t attract big sponsors.
    Governments are hostile, corporations stay cautious, and even NGOs hang on to their tightening budgets.

    That's why we need your help. Migrant Odyssey exists — to make sure those voices are still heard.

    If you’ve ever felt that empathy without action isn’t enough, this is one real way to make a difference. Even a small monthly contribution — one you’ll hardly notice — helps keep these voices alive.

    Show More Show Less
    39 mins
  • EP. 25 LEBANON LIVES - Mona's Story.
    Apr 13 2026

    Lebanon Lives: the first of a mini series featuring extraordinary, ordinary people in Lebanon - trying to live their lives while their towns, villages and cities are bombed around them.

    As host Stephen Barden says, " These people are us." or as Joan Baez put it, in her song, "There but for fortune - go you or I".

    Stephen's first guest in this series is Mona - half Ukrainian, half Palestinian, lover of extreme sports and in love with a profession she cannot pursue.


    And here's the Instagram link to Mona's Extreme Sports team:

    https://www.instagram.com/wolves.teamm?igsh=NjMwZTRicjJieDR3



    Send us Fan Mail

    Support the show

    You know as well as I do that stories about migrants don’t attract big sponsors.
    Governments are hostile, corporations stay cautious, and even NGOs hang on to their tightening budgets.

    That's why we need your help. Migrant Odyssey exists — to make sure those voices are still heard.

    If you’ve ever felt that empathy without action isn’t enough, this is one real way to make a difference. Even a small monthly contribution — one you’ll hardly notice — helps keep these voices alive.

    Show More Show Less
    55 mins
  • Ep. 24 Gaza Champions - the generosity of friendship.
    Mar 5 2026

    Gaza Champions is a global community that may be solving two huge problems that plague traditional charities: how to make sure support stays long after the media circus has moved on. And how to get past donor fatigue.

    Stephen Barden talks to co-founders Anam Raheem and Matt Davis about how they helped put volunteers from across the world in touch with individual families in Gaza: a network of pen pals - or zoom pals. And the impact that has had - not just on the families in Gaza - but on the volunteers.

    Links referred to in episode:

    Gaza Champions website: https://www.championgaza.xyz/

    Gaza Champions instagram:https://www.instagram.com/p/DPMyhMaDt-v/

    Mahmood fund-raising page:https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/gaza-champions

    Anam Raheem's substack: https://substack.com/@anamraheem?r=2pc66t&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile

    Anam's short story: https://www.wasafiri.org/content/tessellation-by-anam-raheem/




    Send us Fan Mail

    Support the show

    You know as well as I do that stories about migrants don’t attract big sponsors.
    Governments are hostile, corporations stay cautious, and even NGOs hang on to their tightening budgets.

    That's why we need your help. Migrant Odyssey exists — to make sure those voices are still heard.

    If you’ve ever felt that empathy without action isn’t enough, this is one real way to make a difference. Even a small monthly contribution — one you’ll hardly notice — helps keep these voices alive.

    Show More Show Less
    42 mins
  • Ep 23. The Tiny Mighty Organization: the fight against trafficking in women
    Feb 25 2026

    While the media focus on punishing - or protecting - the powerful men who consorted with Jeffrey Epstein, it has completely neglected to ask: how can any man traffic and exploit women and children in plain sight? And why is it that, despite the Epstein revelations, organizations combating trafficking and protecting survivors face more not less governmental delays and significant cuts in funding?

    In this episode Stephen Barden talks to Taina Bien Aimé, who has devoted herself to this cause for over three decades, and heads an organization that punches way above it weight.

    Send us Fan Mail

    Support the show

    You know as well as I do that stories about migrants don’t attract big sponsors.
    Governments are hostile, corporations stay cautious, and even NGOs hang on to their tightening budgets.

    That's why we need your help. Migrant Odyssey exists — to make sure those voices are still heard.

    If you’ve ever felt that empathy without action isn’t enough, this is one real way to make a difference. Even a small monthly contribution — one you’ll hardly notice — helps keep these voices alive.

    Show More Show Less
    53 mins
  • Ep 22. Gaza Voices
    Dec 8 2025

    With Gaza all but obliterated - do the memories and stories of Gazans lie under the rubble as well? If universities, cafes, homes, mosques, churches, hospitals, workplaces and even entire streets have been flattened, what happens to the memories that filled those places? Two organizations have designed ingenious projects to make sure that Gaza voices do not disappear. Stephen Barden talks to Jo Friel and Lina Ayesh from Yalla Labs and Ahmad Jaafil from Waves to Home.

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    Gaza Living Story:

    https://yallalabs.org/resources/healing-through-storytelling-gaza-living-story

    Waves to Gaza

    website: https://www.wavestohome.org/category/palestine/gaza/


    Send us Fan Mail

    Support the show

    You know as well as I do that stories about migrants don’t attract big sponsors.
    Governments are hostile, corporations stay cautious, and even NGOs hang on to their tightening budgets.

    That's why we need your help. Migrant Odyssey exists — to make sure those voices are still heard.

    If you’ve ever felt that empathy without action isn’t enough, this is one real way to make a difference. Even a small monthly contribution — one you’ll hardly notice — helps keep these voices alive.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 5 mins