Iason Athanasiadis

is a Mediterranean-focused multimedia journalist based between Athens, Istanbul, and Tunis. He uses all media to recount the story of how we can adapt to the era of climate change, mass migration, and the misapplication of distorted modernities. He studied Arabic and Modern Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford and Persian and Contemporary Iranian Studies in Tehran. He was a Nieman fellow at Harvard before working for the United Nations between 2011 and 2018. He received the Anna Lindh Foundation’s Mediterranean Journalism Award for his coverage of the Arab Spring in 2011 and its 10th-anniversary alumni award for his commitment to using all media to tell stories of intercultural dialogue in 2017. He is a contributing editor of The Markaz Review.

Architectural Biennale Confronts Brutality of Climate Change

Architectural Biennale Confronts Brutality of Climate Change

As planet temperatures rise, architects in the Middle East eschew Western fixes and revitalize local solutions.

1 AUGUST 2025 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Cairo: A Downtown in Search of Lost Global City Status

Cairo: A Downtown in Search of Lost Global City Status

A photo festival backed by a real estate developer puts the spotlight on Cairo's Downtown under transformation.

13 JUNE 2025 • By Iason Athanasiadis
The End of Civilization as We Know It — a Catastrophology

The End of Civilization as We Know It — a Catastrophology

A review of how some of history’s greatest civilizations' collapse presents ominous parallels with our present predicament.

23 MAY 2025 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Gaza, Sudan, Israel/Palestine Documentaries Show in Thessaloniki

Gaza, Sudan, Israel/Palestine Documentaries Show in Thessaloniki

Three documentaries screened in Thessaloniki shed light on conflicts often absent from international media headlines.

28 MARCH 2025 • By Iason Athanasiadis
The Walls Have Eyes—Surveillance in the Algorithm Age

The Walls Have Eyes—Surveillance in the Algorithm Age

Iason Athanasiadis talks to Petra Molnar about her new book on automated decision-making technologies that facilitate institutional violence...

18 OCTOBER 2024 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Hollywoodgate—New Doc Captures the Post-American Taliban

Hollywoodgate—New Doc Captures the Post-American Taliban

Iason Athanasiadis reviews a documentary of an Egyptian's observations of the first year of the Taliban's new regime.

19 APRIL 2024 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Why Isn’t Ghaith Abdul-Ahad a Household Name?

Why Isn’t Ghaith Abdul-Ahad a Household Name?

Iason Athanasiadis reviews the Iraqi correspondent's new memoir on Middle East wars and asks questions.

10 JULY 2023 • By Iason Athanasiadis
The Refugees by the Lake, a Greek Migrant Story

The Refugees by the Lake, a Greek Migrant Story

Iason Athanasiadis reviews the film of a migrant story set in Greece that has just been nominated for...

8 MAY 2023 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Working the News: a Short History of Al Jazeera’s First 30 Years

Working the News: a Short History of Al Jazeera’s First 30 Years

Iason Athanasiadis on how the Arab world’s most famous product went from boisterous matchbox to counter-hegemon with an...

1 MAY 2023 • By Iason Athanasiadis
The Odyssey That Forged a Stronger Athenian

The Odyssey That Forged a Stronger Athenian

An Athens native returns to Greece after a 20-year sojourn across the Mediterranean and Middle East, covering turmoil...

5 MARCH 2023 • By Iason Athanasiadis
The Greek Panopticon, Where Politicians Spy on Democracy

The Greek Panopticon, Where Politicians Spy on Democracy

Senior correspondent Iason Athanasiadis attends a protest and critiques Greek government corruption.

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Al-Koni’s Tuareg Perspective on Islam’s Conquest of North Africa

Al-Koni’s Tuareg Perspective on Islam’s Conquest of North Africa

Iason Athanasiadis reviews the new Ibrahim al-Koni translation of a story that recounts Islam's conquest of North Africa.

5 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Iason Athanasiadis
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