Mstdfr | مستدفر

Today we host Sarah Taibah, book illustrator and actress. Building on our previous episode with Fatma Banawi, we talk about the book industry in the Middle East, her work on the movie “Zaina’s Cake”, Arabic TV shows, and a lot more. Show Links David Habchy Zaina’s Cake on ET Arabic أفراح القبة | Afrah AlQobba جراند أوتيل | Grand Hotel From Cairo, ‘It’s Saturday Night Live!’ — without politics, sex...

Today we host Fatima Banawi, actress and writer. We talk about the importance about writing on a personal development level, storytelling and it’s impact on culture, and her recent role in the Saudi movie Barakah Meets Barakah. Show Notes Ghostbusters filmed in Columbia University Is the Chicken Local? (Portlandia Scene) Saudi Arabia man arrested for giving out free hugs  The Other Story project B...

After a long Eid break, we are back refreshed and ready to rock! This episode we try something different, we get our wives and talk about our marital problems. We air it all out! 80% Arabic – 20% English

Just some Eid greetings from the Mstdfr family.

In this episode we host Ali Kamakhi, former Geologist at Aramco turned consultant. We talk about the history of oil in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, exploration, and drilling. Check out Ali’s new podcast mentioned in the episode at Business Box ! 80% Arabic – 20% English

In this episode we host Abdulhakeem Jomah and discuss his new movie ‘Madaen’ and the concept of ‘marriagibility’ in Arabic societies. 40% Arabic – 60% English

Ramadhan Kareem mstdfrs! Today we host Rayan Karkadan , physician and fitness educator. This week we talk about Ramadhan culture and traditions and how to be healthy during the holy month. Show Links Anthrax: Separating Fear from Fact Kefir Drink Leptin Hormone Preservatives in Foods Experiment Karen Hanrahan’s McDonald’s burger that doesn’t go bad  (since 1996!) Here’s Why McDonald’s Burgers Don’...

In this episode we talk about super powers that actually suck due to the ever real laws of physics. Show Links Cookie Monster Apple commercial Hijazi is the most intelligible Arabic dialect. Paper | Reddit Comments How quickly do different cells in the body replace themselves? Radio Lab’s segment about organ age. Sex Criminals comic Face blindness ( Prosopagnosia ) 40% Arabic – 60% English

In this episode, Ammar Skypes in from Abudhabi and we have Widad Hammidadin in the studio. We talk comic books, the Civil War movie,and whether learning language grammar is important or not. 20% Arabic – 80% English

This week Faisal, our studious fact checker is out of town, so Ammar takes a crack at fact checking. In fact he turns the whole episode into him googling myths and trying to dispel them. Fingers crossed. 50% Arabic – 50% English

In this episode we host Yaser Bakr , comedian and founder of The Comedy Club. We talk about Comedy in the Middle East and Saudi, local Jeddawi food, and Al-Ahli winning the Saudi League! Show Links Yaser Bakr’s blog Mahmoud Sabbagh hijazi history blog Al Comedy Club Twitter account Black comedy Slapstick comedy Dinner At When ? An article from Saudi Aramco’s archives about the different timing sys...

The boys bring in Mai Hakeem to ponder the new ways of things thanks to the Internet. Privacy, knowledge sharing, cultural boundaries, influence, and coping come up. A saucy challenge also awaits listeners at the end. Can you answer the question? Answer via Twitter . 60% Arabic – 40% English

This show we host nobody; just The Mstdfr Show gang. We bask in the glory of our brand new studio (for real now!) We talk about our favorite sitcoms over the past two decades, we then goes down a list of shows that you probably never heard of, our first online communities we actively participated in eons ago, and more. 30% Arabic – 70% English  

In this episode we host Omair Taibah to talk about the latest breakthrough in astrophysics and the detection of gravitational waves resulting from two black holes colliding billions of light years away. Show Links Loot Crate Interferometry  Eliminating terrestrial noise sources to improve the LIGO gravity wave detectors  LIGO Gravitational Wave Chirp The Perfect Theory A Short History of Nearly Ev...

This episode we host Maram Taibah , travel blogger, writer, screenwriter, and filmmaker. We discuss self-publishing online, blogging, improv, and Maram’s work with the movie Munikeer. Show Links The Road to Elephants Munukeer : A Preview of the Short Film Create Space  Amazon’s self publishing platform The surprising story of how Andy Weir’s self-published book ‘The Martian’ topped best seller lis...

In this episode we host Alaa Balkhy , Saudi fashion blogger and founder of Fyunka. We talk about the origin of the Fyunka brand, fashion blogging, the resilience of the web, the ethics of social media advertising, and a lot more.  Show Links – The Uber Redeisgn – Fyunka   Arabic 80% – English 20%

This episode we host Ussaed Halawani, we talk about video games! In this episode there are 4 generations of gamers: Atari, NES, SNES, N64. We reminisce about our favorite video games over the decades, Ussaed takes us down the weird side of Youtube, we talk about education in Saudi Arabia, and much much more. Show Links Why Harley Quinn Doesn’t Need Her Trademark Accent in Suicide Squad Mac OSX and...

This episode we host Widad Hamidaddin, an educator turned management consultant. Widad tells us how she juggles her hectic job and being a single-mom. We then talk about Netflix going global, genres in Arabic music (or lack thereof) and much more. Show Links Tuareg Society My Two Dads sitcom 1-2-3 Magic The 10/10/10 Rule For Tough Decisions Mrs. Doubtfire Daddy Issues Instagram account Barbas Song...

This episode we host Nawaf Al-Nassar , an interior designer and an art lover. We discuss how we lost our architectural & design identity over the past couple decades, and how we can recaputre what was lost. Show Links Baroque style Ottoman Baroque Meshgas Dhad Graffiti 21 39 Art Gallery Art Dubai 40% Arabic – 60% English

This episode we host Ali Kamakhi and talk about his upcoming business podcast and the motivation behind it. We then explore why the Arab world doesn’t have a lot of business cases compared to the western world. We also talk about TED talks in Saudi Arabia vs. other countries, the lean startup methodology, the consulting business, and a lot more. Check out Ali’s new podcast mentioned in the episode...

Among the usual random conversations, today has emphasis on 3D Printing! You see those two figurines in the episode photo (available on Soundcloud or Instagram)? Those are 3D printed statues created by scanning the subjects in 5 minutes. And that, according to Hashim Al-Zain , is the simplest of things he can make. We talk science, startups, and everything in between and unrelated. Show Links Epis...

This episode we host Hassan Al-Bargi . We talk about police officers in Saudi Arabia, card trading games like Magic The Gathering, World of Warcraft, and Juventus soccer club. Then we try to answer the hypothetical question: How will the world be different if it was a matriarchy? We wrap up with a poem Hassan wrote for Mstdfr. Show Links The corrupted blood incident World of Warcraft Movie Trailer...

Superheroes time! We talk the origin of the Spiderman colors, why we as people relate to super heroes, the Hulk’s/Bruce Banner psychological issues, Vash the Stampede, and much much more. Check it out. Show Links Dry ice cloud video [Uploading soon] Seen wu Sad Youtube show Why is Spiderman red & blue? Polictical Correctness in Comics Superman: Red Son Characters & Stories We Talked About Psyduck...

We geek Star Wars today! We discuss the best order to watch the movies, the infamous Darth Vader misquote, why did Luke kiss his sister, how sci-fi feeds into technological advancement, The Force Awakens Trailer, and much more. Of course: SPOILERS ALERT! Show links Machete Order Darth Vader line is most misquoted Tommy Boy’s misquoting scene Why did Luke kiss his sister Princess Leia? Smart Doors...

We host Majid Al-Reefi a sports fan and an american football die-hard. We discuss what makes sports exciting, the role it played in former Yugoslavia politics, the rules and history of american football, refereeing in soccer, american football, and tennis, injuries and concussions, sports in Saudi Arabia, and a lot more. Show Links Japan beats South Africa in the Rugby World Cup American football...