Espresso Hour

Drums, music, flowers, and pure joy — welcome to the Zaffa! One of Egypt's most beloved and iconic wedding traditions, the Zaffa is a procession that celebrates love in the most spectacular way.  In this episode, Alya Al-Nuaimi takes you deep into Egyptian culture to explore the origins, the rituals, and how the Zaffa has evolved through the generations. Get ready to celebrate! == Listen to #Pulse...

The lights are on, the runway is set, and the fashion world is watching. London Fashion Week 2027 has delivered some of the boldest, most breathtaking collections the industry has ever seen. In this episode, Alya Al-Nuaimi takes you front row — breaking down the standout looks, the designers making waves, and the trends that are about to take over your wardrobe. Fashion forward, always. == Listen...

Villain or victim? Powerful or ruthless? Tamora, Queen of the Goths, is one of Shakespeare's most electrifying characters — and she refuses to be ignored. In this episode, Alya Al-Nuaimi dives into the dark world of Titus Andronicus to explore the woman behind the crown, her fury, her brilliance, and why she still captivates audiences centuries later. The queen has arrived. == Listen to #Pulse95Ra...

We breathe over 20,000 times a day — but are we doing it right? In this episode , Alya Al-Nuaimi explores the powerful connection between fresh air and lung health. From pollution and indoor air quality to breathing techniques that can transform your wellbeing, we unpack everything your lungs wish you knew. Take a deep breath — this one's for you. == Listen to #Pulse95Radio in the UAE by tuning in...

Finland takes centre stage at SINF 2026 as the forum's Guest of Honour country — and there's no better guide into the Finnish storytelling tradition than Linda Perttula , an Edinburgh-based Finnish storyteller who has dedicated her craft to bringing the myths, folklore and oral heritage of the North to audiences around the world. In this conversation recorded at the 26th Sharjah International Narr...

Some storytellers visit Sharjah.  And then there's Zoumba — who keeps coming back, because Sharjah keeps calling. In this special episode of Al-Rawi, we sit with Pape Samba Sow, known to the world as Zoumba , Storyteller from Senegal , on the occasion of his seventh consecutive appearance at the Sharjah International Narrator Forum — this time for SINF 2026 , under the theme "Stories of Friends."...

How does a young man balance school, a dual identity, and a six-book literary career — all before adulthood? We find out in this conversation with Sanith Santhasa Piyadigamage, Writer, Storyteller and Speaker, representing both Sri Lanka and the UAE, recorded at the 26th Sharjah International Narrator Forum (SINF 2026) in Sharjah. Sanith is no stranger to SINF — this is a return visit to the forum...

What happens when your childhood village becomes the seed of every story you'll ever tell? In this episode of Al-Rawi, we sit down with Denis, Author and Storyteller from Russia, on the sidelines of the 26th Sharjah International Narrator Forum (SINF 2026) — held under the theme "Stories of Friends." Denis takes us back to the rural landscapes of his mother upbringing, sharing how her village chil...

To close Day One of Espresso Hour's live broadcast from the Sharjah International Narrator Forum — Al-Rawi — host Alya Al-Nuaimi sits down with one of the most vibrant storytelling voices at this year's festival. Fabio Lisboa is a professional storyteller from Brazil, who has performed and taught the art of oral storytelling across Brazil, Canada and the United States — taking the stories of his c...

Alya Al-Nuaimi continues her live broadcast from the Sharjah International Narrator Forum — Al-Rawi — with a guest who has dedicated her career to making sure Arabic stories find a home in Finnish hearts. Maria Pakkala is a researcher and literary translator from Finland, specialising in translating Arabic literature into Finnish. She holds a PhD, has taught Arabic, and has written extensively on...

In this special live episode of Espresso Hour on Pulse 95, host Alya Al-Nuaimi broadcasts from the Sharjah International Narrator Forum — Al-Rawi — where over 120 participants from 28 countries have gathered to celebrate the art of storytelling and oral tradition. Joining Alya live at the festival is Dr. Niina Hämäläinen, a researcher at the University of Helsinki and a specialist at the Kalevala...

Every night, she told a story. And every story ended just before dawn — unfinished, unresolved, suspended in the air like a question the king couldn't resist answering. Because if the story ended, so did she. In today's The Thinking Room on Espresso Hour, we sit with one of the most extraordinary acts of human intelligence ever written into myth: Scheherazade. The woman at the heart of One Thousan...

It's all over your feed. People dunking their faces into bowls of ice water, rubbing ice cubes across their cheekbones, and swearing by it as their secret to glowing, tighter, healthier skin. But is the ice facial actually doing what everyone claims — or is it just another trend that looks better on camera than it works in real life? In today's Vital Spark segment on Espresso Hour, we get into the...

It sits on children's bookshelves. It has hand-drawn illustrations of a boy on a tiny planet and a fox in the grass. It takes less than two hours to read. And yet — The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry might be the most quietly devastating book ever written. In today's The Thinking Room on Espresso Hour, we open up this deceptively simple story and look at what's really hiding beneath the...

You're fast asleep — and then, out of nowhere, your eyes open. It's 3AM. No alarm, no noise, nothing obvious. So why does this keep happening? In today's Vital Spark segment on Espresso Hour, we break down exactly what's going on inside your body during those mysterious middle-of-the-night wake-ups. From the science of sleep cycles and REM stages to cortisol spikes, blood sugar dips, and the role...

In this episode of The Thinking Room on Espresso Hour, we sit down with the greatest writer who ever lived. A man born in a small English town in 1564 who somehow — in the space of one extraordinary lifetime — managed to understand the human heart so completely, so precisely and so devastatingly that four hundred years after his death, every single word he wrote still feels like it was finished th...

In this episode of The Thinking Room on Espresso Hour, we walk into a drawing room in 19th century England. The candles are lit. The piano is playing softly in the corner. And somewhere in that room — a woman is watching everything around her with the sharpest, most quietly dangerous eyes in all of English literature. Her name is Elizabeth Bennet. And the woman who created her — Jane Austen — is a...

In this episode of Within Cultures on Espresso Hour, we pack our bags and travel very, very far north. To a country that is dark for most of the year. Cold for most of the year. Where temperatures drop to minus thirty degrees and the sun barely shows its face for months at a time. And yet — Finland has been officially voted the happiest country on earth. Eight consecutive years running. The same c...

In this episode of The Thinking Room on Espresso Hour, we step into one of the most heartbreaking and breathtakingly human stories in all of literary history. Not a novel. Not a short story. But the real, raw, deeply personal love letters of one of the greatest writers who ever lived — Franz Kafka. Most people know Kafka for his darkness. For The Metamorphosis — the story of a man who wakes up tra...

In this episode of The Thinking Room on Espresso Hour, we open one of the greatest novels ever written. A story so extraordinary, so perfectly constructed, so deeply human — that nearly two hundred years after it was first published, it still stops people completely in their tracks. The Count of Monte Cristo by the French author Alexandre Dumas. This is the story of Edmond Dantès. A young man of n...

In this episode of Style Signal on Espresso Hour, we are letting you in on one of the most talked about beauty secrets to go viral in recent years — and it has been sitting in kitchens across Asia for over a thousand years. Rice water. The cloudy, milky water left behind after washing or cooking rice that most of us have been casually pouring down the drain without a second thought. Turns out — th...

In this episode of The Thinking Room on Espresso Hour, we descend into the dark, twisted and utterly theatrical world of Sweeney Todd — The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. One of the most iconic and haunting musicals ever written, brought to life by the legendary American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. On the surface, Sweeney Todd is the story of a barber. A man with a razor, a chair, and a...

In this episode of The Thinking Room on Espresso Hour, we step into the dark, brilliant and utterly fascinating world of Edgar Allan Poe — the American writer who single-handedly transformed mystery from simple folklore and ghost stories into a serious, analytical literary genre. Before Poe, mystery was superstition. It was passed around campfires and whispered in village squares. It had no struct...

Pearl diving in the Arabian Gulf represents collective memory, identity, and survival. From anthropological perspective, it was a floating society with strict roles. Women, though not in the boat, they played vital roles in managing household and waited for months; the waiting itself became a cultural act translated into poetry and songs. Pear Diving is not practices anymore, but people of the Ara...

We highlight here 5 different types of magnesium and their benefits; for example, Magnesium glycinate helps with anxiety and sleep and Magnesium Citrate helps with constipation and support relaxed muscles. ALWAYS check with your healthcare provider before taking any supplement, especially if you have any health conditions or you are on medication. Listen to #Pulse95Radio in the UAE by tuning in on...