Kerning Cultures

Our producer Nadeen Shaker takes us on her own personal journey in trying to discover why she felt excluded because of her hijab. In Egypt, things are more complex than they seem; history, politics, class, and money all played a hand in changing how people perceive veiled women. This week on Kerning Cultures, a story about what it's like to feel like an outcast in your own country. This episode wa...

Last year, our producer Darah Ghanem stumbled upon an obscure blog on a nearly forgotten corner of the internet. On it were hundreds of historic photographs of a Christian missionary school in Khartoum called Unity High School. But as she looked closer, she started to see something else: the blog's writers were trying to tell the world about an alleged corruption scandal that they thought had take...

Last year, our producer Darah Ghanem stumbled upon an obscure blog on a nearly forgotten corner of the internet. On it were hundreds of historic photographs of a Christian missionary school in Khartoum called Unity High School. But as she looked closer, she started to see something else: the blog's writers were trying to tell the world about an alleged corruption scandal that they thought had take...

We're back! We'll be here with a new episode of Kerning Cultures every Friday this summer. Here's a quick taste of what's to come. Kerning Cultures is a Kerning Cultures Network production. Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All of our lives have changed. In this unprecedented time, we wanted to make something to reflect this moment. So today, our Kerning Cultures quarantine special: stories of staying at home, lockdowns from history, creative ways of escaping boredom... and for everybody's sanity, a few things that have nothing to do with the coronavirus. You can hear Majd's radio show, Radio Al Hay, at yamakan.place...

While we're working on our summer season, we're going to be dropping some bonus episodes into your feed over the next few months. Starting with this one: a special conversation featuring producer Alex Atack, who you've heard telling you all these stories, but you probably don't know much about him . So this his backstory, and a sneak peek into what's coming up in Kerning Cultures' summer season. I...

This year, we'll be switching to a seasonal release schedule, rather than one episode every two weeks. Hebah explains why. Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures  for as little as $1 a month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, an update on a story from the Kerning Cultures vault. The little-known, intertwining of history between Yemen and Vietnam, told through the lens of a single family. Then, a story of modern Arab migration. This story originally aired in December 2018. Thank you to Faraj and his family for being so open and warm with us despite us poking around in their family history. To Adam Sjoberg who dir...

In 1942, Lebanon's National Museum opened in Beirut, celebrating the country's golden age and inside, it housed some of the region's most important artifacts. So when the Lebanese war started in 1975, the museum staff came up with a risky and elaborate scheme to save everything inside the museum. This week on Kerning Cultures, the story of how a small team of museum employees protected thousands o...

Today, an update on a story from the Kerning Cultures vault. Elie was a journalist looking for her next story when she met Ziad at a party in Istanbul. Ziad was a Syrian refugee hoping to travel to Europe and apply for asylum. Elie asked Ziad if she could follow him to Norway, his final destination, and document the journey. He said yes. So commences their odyssey together... and the beginning of...

Asmaa al-Ghoul was an ambitious young journalist when she started reporting on Gaza – her hometown – for the newspaper she'd dreamed of working for in high school. But through the trauma of uprisings, wars, and a failed marriage, she began to question how much journalism really matters. This week on Kerning Cultures, a special collaboration with Zahra Hankir as she reads Asmaa's essay...

On October 17, people in Lebanon hit the streets to call for a new government. The revolution's slogan, “all of them means all of them”, spares no political party that has been a part of the sectarian-based government. This week on Kerning Cultures: how the revolution is changing people's relationship with their country. This episode was produced by Tamara Rasamny and Alex Atack, with...

His whole life, Walid Waked had been told that his great grandfather invented the Arabic typewriter. And then, one day, he learned that another family - the Haddads - believed they invented it. This week on Kerning Cultures: the contested history of the Arabic typewriter. Thank you to everybody we spoke to for this story: Ahmed Ellaithy - for everything, and taking us down the rabbit hole with you...

What happens when somebody dies in a country that's not their home? This week on Kerning Cultures, stories about the group of volunteers who help repatriate the bodies of foreigners after they've died in the UAE. Special thanks to Zaki, Max, Ashraf Thamaraserry, Vidhyadharan, Amal Mathew, Ambika and Renji. The people at the Indian Association; CM Bashir, Sajad Saheer, Mohamed Mohideen and Baiju G....

Stories from the Middle East, North Africa, and the spaces in between.  Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you preserve a language when your government is actively trying to erase it? Abduweli Ayup is a Uyghur linguist who was trying to stop the Chinese government from replacing Uyghur with Mandarin. He had been studying the language's history, teaching Uyghur to younger students and writing books in Uyghur. But recently, when the Chinese government began forcibly detaining Uyghurs in Xinjiang,...

Ramchandra Tendel arrived to Abu Dhabi from India in 1989, when he was 20. Since, he's been captain of a fishing boat. Last May, the nets he uses to fish were banned in the UAE; they were causing too much harm to fish stocks. But the ban also means Ramchandra and his crew can't fish anymore. This week on Kerning Cultures, Ramchandra and his crew's last week in the UAE. Special thanks to Vipruta Va...

 ٣ شخصيات تروي كيف تأثرت من انفصال جنوب السودان عن الشمال، وتحدثنا عن المعاناة التي خلقت تساؤلات عن معنى الوطن والانتماء. Three characters share the struggles of living in post-secession Sudan, and how the 2011 split influenced their understandings of identity, nationality, and home. Thanks to Salah Eldeen ElNour, Ahmed Mahjoub Hassan, Alaa Bint Hashim, Moez, Abdel azim, Noon Salih, Mohammad...

Lynn left behind her hometown village in the Philippines for a housekeeping job in Lebanon at the age of 23. It was only meant to be temporary… until she met Butros, her employer's nephew, and they fell in love. But for Lynn, marrying Butros has meant choosing to settle down in a country where she's treated as an outsider. This episode was produced by Dana Ballout, with Nathalie Rosa Bucher...

Kerning Cultures is now the first venture-funded podcast company in the Middle East. Which means we've got more shows coming, in both English and Arabic. Here, Hebah explains some of our future plans, plus a sneak peek of our next podcast show, al empire, which will be out this summer. Support this podcast on Patreon for as little as $1 a month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more info...

نور، ترى العالم بصوتها Support this podcast on Patreon for as little as $1 a month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two bite-sized stories from the Kerning Cultures vault. First, is there really Halal Cart drama in New York? And, we explore an ancient farming practice, modernised in Cairo. This episode was produced by Alex Atack, with reporting for the Halal Food Cart story by Jahd Khalil and production support from Nadine Tadros and Claire Tighe. Editorial by Dana Ballout, Bella Ibrahim, and Hebah Fisher. The...

We asked women to tell us about their first periods and how it set a tone for how they view their bodies today. A tribute to International Women's Day. Produced by Shahd Bani Odeh and Darah Ghanem. With editorial support by Dana Ballout, Hebah Fisher, Bella Ibrahim, and Alex Atack. Sound design by Alex Atack. Kerning Cultures is a Kerning Cultures Network production. Support this podcast on Patreo...

In the 1930s, the architect Nasri Khattar tried to completely overhaul the Arabic script – singlehandedly. For the next 47 years, he worked day and night to implement his writing system, Unified Arabic. Ultimately, he failed. This is his story. Special Thanks to Camille Khattar, Yara Khoury, Kristyan Sarkis, and Samar Mikati at the AUB archives . Produced by Jahd Khalil. With editorial suppo...

In 2016, Fadi Boukaram planned to visit 47 American towns named Lebanon by road. Then, in Lebanon South Dakota, he discovered that all these other Lebanons have more in common with the country than anybody realised. This week on Kerning Cultures, a story about the surprising history that connects Lebanon, with a string of small towns in the USA. Special Thanks to Fadi Boukaram, Bass Samaan from Tr...