Kalam

Since its inauguration in 1869 the Suez Canal has played an immensely important part in the history, politics and economics of the Middle East and the World. In this episode Sam and Edgar discuss its role in both the occupation of Egypt by the British and its liberation from imperialist domination, as well as the latest developments since October 7th, with the Houthis of Yemen establishing a de fa...

The renowned Israeli-British historian Avi Shlaim speaks to Edgar about the Jews of Iraq and the Arab-Jews in general - an identity that was largely destroyed in the wake of the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. Avi Shlaim, Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford, speaks to Edgar about the Jews of Iraq, who numbered 130,000 in 1948, and what led to every single one...

We are delighted to announce the first instalment of our series, Munadama. For the full length episode, sign up at patreon.com/kalampodcast In Arabic, the meaning of Munadama is akin to a hearty discussion session with accompanied drinks. In these episodes, the team behind Kalam Podcast, Edgar Mannheimer (host), Sam Carlshamre (research & production) and Arthur Mannheimer (sound design) sit do...

Germany has descended into madness as its security apparatus violently attacks peaceful Palestinian protesters, accusing them of anti-Semitism. This happening in parallell to the far right and not-so-subtly anti-Semitic political party AfD is surging in the polls. In this episode, Edgar speaks with Palestinian activist from Germany, Salah Said about the conditions for pro-Palestinian activism in t...

On this video recorded episode of Kalam, Edgar sits with the Gazan poet and very much a friend of the podcast, Mosab Abu Toha, for a discussion about, among other things, the history of Arabic poetry. Why are poets so venerated in the Arab world, and what did poetry sound like before Islam? As always, follow us on Instagram for continuous updates @kalampodcast If you want to support independent jo...

Why aren't we seeing massive pro-Palest!ne demonstrations in Egypt, when we know an overwhelming majority of its people support the liberation of Palest!ne? Dr. Aida Seif El-Dawla, a retired psychiatrist and human rights defender conveys the sense of defeat and tragedy many progressives in Egypt feel. The revolution of 2011 came so close to achieving the change Egypt so desperately needs - and it...

In this Kalam Podcast special, Edgar speaks with the journalist and author Bernt Hermele, who recently opened an exhibition on the Nakba at Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm, Sweden. Bernt Hermele is Jewish, and his mother was killed in a terrorist attack in Israel during the Second Intifada in 2002. This tragic moment changed Bernt's life. He left the world of business reporting and began documenting...

Why are Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims so often portrayed as violent and stupid savages in American film, and how can we change that? Munir Atalla is the head of production and acquisition at Watermelon Pictures , the newly founded film production and distribution company rooted in Palestinian culture and creativity. An old friend of Edgar's, Munir speaks about the limits of representation in cin...

Zionism, the political movement to create a Jewish state in Palestine, has had an immense impact on the modern history of the Middle East. But what were its theoretical foundations, and in what political context did it take shape? In this new episode of Kalam Shorts, Sam and Edgar discuss the roots of Zionism, starting from Theodor Herzl’s (1860-1904) The Jewish State (Der Judenstaat) from 1896 —...

What is Settler Colonialism, and can it be applied to Israel? In this instalment of Kalam Shorts, Sam and Edgar explore this terminology and talk about the French Jewish scholar, Maxime Rodinson, and his seminal 1967 work, "Israel: A Settler Colonial State?" To gain access to the full episode, join the Kalam Community at patreon.com/kalampodcast for just $3 a month. For continuous updates on the p...

The death and destruction, wrought by Israel's bloody war in Gaza has been highly publicised and discussed, rightly so. But what about the day to day lives of those who survive? How do women manage menstrual cycles when fleeing bombardment and living in refugee camps with tens of thousands of strangers? In today's episode, Edgar speaks with 23 year old Donia Ashour, a translator from Gaza who had...

The Eurovision finals were held in Malmö on May 11 2024, and because of Israel's participation huge demonstrations were organised. Tens of thousands are estimated to have marched in Malmö on the days preceding the finals. An alternative song contest was also organised, Falastinvision: "The genocide free song contest". Edgar travelled to Malmö and attended Falastinvision, where the Palestinian pop...

A democratic Egypt is impossible without a liberated Palestine and vice versa. This is the argument put forth by the Egyptian writer, researcher and DJ, Nihal El Aasar. Nihal is a member of the London branch of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), where she lives. In today's episode, Nihal speaks to Edgar about why the West has a vested interest in keeping Egypt's government authoritarian and ant...

Are Edgar and Sam, the two white men behind Kalam, actually orientalists? Listen to find out! In this first instalment of Kalam Shorts, Middle Eastern scholar Samuel Carlshamre discusses Edward Said's seminal book Orientalism. What is it about, and what do his critics say? Kalam Shorts are 10-15 minute explainers of terminology important to understand when studying and learning about the Middle Ea...

Across the United States and increasingly in Western Europe, students are establishing encampments on university campuses. Encampments in solidarity with Palestine. Students want to protest against the ongoing war on Gaza and to demand that their institutions divest from Israel. In today's episode Iraqi writer, poet and literary scholar, Sinan Antoon, speaks to Edgar about this movement and its im...

The Palestinian-Egyptian journalist Youmna El Sayed was for many people the media face of the war on Gaza. Soon she found herself in the surreal position of reporting on the same calamities she was facing herself. She and her husband and children have been displaced several times and at times did not have enough food or water. She has since chosen to evacuate Gaza for the sake of her kids. At the...

What if all the Palestinians would disappear? Not in a figurative sense, or even through ethnic cleansing or genocide. What if they simply vanished out of thin air? What would that do to israeli society? This is the premise of the Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem’s Book of Disappearance, first published in Arabic in 2014.  It’s a truly fascinating read, and Ibtisam Azem, who grew up as a Pales...

It's been six months since the October 7 attack. Since then, over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel's bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza, nearly 14,000 of whom are children. The renowned Gazan poet Mosab Abu Toha joins Edgar today for a discussion about what it means to grow up in what Masha Gessen likens to a Nazi concentration camp. We would like to dedicate th...

The Second Intifada (~2000-2008) came out of the failure of the Oslo Accords, the failure of the PLO to create a Palestinian state, the crippling of the Palestinian economy through Israeli restrictions and Israel’s increasingly aggressive and violent settler expansion and colonial oppression. In contrast to the First Intifada, the Second Intifada was marked by a series of bloody terrorist bombings...

In Late 1987 Palestine erupted. The Israeli occupation was closing in on 20 years and getting comfortable. But seemingly out of nowhere, a mass movement of protests, strikes and boycotts shook Israel and the world. For the first time, the West gained sympathy for Palestine, as images of heavily armed Israeli soldiers brutalising Palestinian women and children were broadcast on TV screens around th...

In June of 1967 Israel launched an attack against its immediate neighbours, the combined Arab armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. In a flash it managed to dismantle Egypt's entire air force, and defeated the Arab forces in just six days. This led to the occupation of Egypt's Sinai peninsula, Syria's Golan Heights and the occupation of all Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza. This is w...

In 1948 an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were displaced as Zionist militias paved the way for the establishment of the state of Israel. Many historians refer to this ethnic cleansing. For Palestinians, it is known as the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe. In this episode, the renowned Palestinian author and architect, Suad Amiry , speaks to host Edgar Mannheimer about what the Nakba means to the Pale...

In the previous episode of the Kalam Podcast, Suad Amiry walked us through the horrors of the 1948 Nakba. In this episode we try to answer the question of who those early Zionists who carried out the Nakba were, and they were motivated by. And what exactly Israelis celebrate when they commemorate the Nakba as their Independence Day. The Israeli journalist and political dissident Gideon Levy joins...