The afikra Podcast

With a vast discography featuring both emerging artists and some of the biggest names in Arabic music, Sleiman Damien is completely tapped into the region’s pop genre. We asked him what he thinks of the phrase “Arab pop fusion”, which metrics actually matter to him, and why he thinks legacy superstars have more sticking power in today’s fickle industry.  We reflect on the role of ego in the region...

Bill Bragin – executive artistic director of the NYUAD Arts Center – talks to us about the center’s upcoming season, how it's impacted the city of Abu Dhabi so far, and what he envisions for the future of both the center and its ripple effect on the country as a whole.  Bill shares his approach to curatorial work and practice, as well as the importance of responding to a space/venue when programmi...

Learn about Arab Marxism, radical patriarchal politics, and Lebanon’s political economy over the last century in this conversation with professor Fadi Bardawil from Duke University. Starting with his book “Revolution and Disenchantment: Arab Marxism and the Binds of Emancipation”, Professor Bardawil maps out the history of the Political Left in Lebanon and more broadly in the region, pointing us t...

P-Thugg, one half of music duo Chromeo, shares the secrets to a successful and long-term musical collaboration. On set with us in Beirut, he talks about the experiences that led to his discovering funk and hip hop, growing up between Lebanon and Canada and his changing relationship with the former, and what it’s like attending the VMAs. He tells us of Chromeo’s early days when he and David “Dave 1...

Did “Arabness” die in 1973? How meaningful is the word Arab now anyway? And what role does the internet play in visual culture and civic imagination? In this multifaceted conversation with Dr Omar Kholeif, we explore many strands of thought, venturing from Arab culture as a “creole culture” to looking at the internet as a “pesky medium”. We share afikra’s core tenets and philosophy and reflect on...

What is Syria’s business model? How will the current political constriction, brain and human drain, and regional geo-politics affect the country moving forward? In this fascinating conversation with Bassam Haddad, we consider money as a mentality, Syria’s political economy, and reflect on the growing drug trade and rentierism. He also shares his experience founding (and naming) Jadaliyya and being...

Studying Yemen, al-Shawkani, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, and football. In this fascinating conversation with Professor Bernard Haykel, he offers deep insight into contemporary Saudi Arabia, the realities of pivoting an entire economy away from oil, and what MBS’ vision 2030 actually looks like for the country.  We talk about why Haykel started out studying Yemen before moving onto Saudi Arabia, co...

DJ Nooriyah’s iconic Boiler room set with her Baba on the oud, growing up between Saudi, Japan and London, and her beloved CDJ 2000s Pioneer decks. We sat down with Nooriyah Qais to talk about everything DJing, her guide to safeguarding yourself in the club industry, and how she transforms a sample into an infectious dance track.  We also touch on the community she’s built with her curated event a...

What was it like curating the biggest exhibition of Arab art happening right now? Why is “Kawkaba: Highlights from the Barjeel Art Foundation” such a landmark exhibition? We sat down with the exhibition’s curator and deputy chair of Christie’s MENA, Dr Ridha Moumni, and the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation to go behind the scenes of the curation process.  They share the logistical challenges...

What impact did the 2011 Arab Uprisings have on our use of technology? How should we approach, regulate and manage technologies as they emerge? And is it really possible to make political predictions by analysing tweets?  We talk about cross-cultural communication, her book ‘Arabic Glitch: Techno Culture, Data Bodies and Archives’ and using machine learning to predict the fall of Qaddafi. She expl...

Writing Between Two Moons: An Arab-American coming of age story set in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn during the “War on Terror”. Author Aisha Abdel Gawad sheds light on her experience writing the novel while balancing her work as a high-school teacher, capturing Bay Ridge’s unique community in her book, and her creative process.  Together, Mikey and Aisha reflect on the post-9/11 War on Terror, age of surve...

The early days of Palestinian hip-hop group DAM, growing up in Lydda, and working with artists across the region and from the diaspora: Suhel Nafar joins us on QuarterTones to discuss his colorful and accomplished musical career to date. We talk about his family’s ‘Bootleg Jackson 5’ group, Palestinian hip hop and his departure from DAM.  Suhel Nafar is the co-founder of Palestinian hip-hop group...

Being a director, winning the Angénieux Encouragement Award at Cannes, navigating the film industry, and differences between working on ads, TV and cinema: award-winning Egyptian director Haya Khairat gives us an insider view on life behind the camera.  In conversation with Mikey, Haya shares her experiences grappling with cynicism, being a women director, and keeping her passion for cinema alive....

What was it like curating the 1st Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale? And how do you capture the essence of a place that is in the hearts and minds of Muslims around the world? Sumayya Vally talks to us about her personal relationship with Saudi Arabia, suspended geographies, adding to the Islamic Art canon, and reimagining Jeddah’s Western Hajj Terminal as an exhibition space. She talks us through it...

Dearborn, capturing the diverse voices of Dearborn’s residents, and doing justice to the myriad Arab-American lived experiences post 9/11. We discuss the complexities of faithfully depicting a multi-layered community through short-stories, the history of Arab-American immigration, and more with author and assistant professor of creative writing at Oberlin College Ghassan Zeinnedine. We also explor...

In this episode of Matbakh, we’re joined by Viven Sansour, founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library. This was a really compelling conversation about the politics of environmentalism, her work through the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, and the link between anxiety and agriculture.  We spoke about the importance of indigenous wisdom in farming, changing landscapes in the Middle East, and Viv...

What does it mean to work across textile and digital mediums? Nour Hage, award-winning British-Lebanese designer and artist, delves into her practice, exploring themes of West-Asian Identities, NFTs and Web3. We discuss traversing the physical and digital realms and why she chooses digital art for her personal exploration. We also explore the meaning of the evil eye and misunderstanding/seeking to...

Michelle Keserwany joined us on Movie Night to talk about her and her sister Noel’s short film Les Chenilles. We dive into the 3.5 day filmmaking process, the inspiration behind it and the colonial impact of the silk industry. Michelle also shares her journey into film, why she doesn’t completely consider herself a musician, and her top films of note. And of course, we listen to her and Noel’s vir...

Akher Zapheer’s front-man and longest standing member, Basem Sayej, talks to us about Amman as his muse and a misunderstood city, the Arab rock scene, and his favorite places to perform round the world. We listen to three of Akher Zapheer’s songs from across their albums and get an insight into how Basem approaches song-writing. Finally, Basem shares his personal mixtape for the best alternative b...

In this episode of Matbakh, The VoiceNote Chef tells us about about transforming childhood memories into viral recipes, capturing his mom’s unique voice in voicenote form, and cooking to ease homesick hearts around the world. We discover how the account took off, how its changed his relationship with his mom, and his favourite videos to date. We also discuss the importance of authenticity, the var...

We’ve all heard of the Arab League, but we wanted to know more about its history, intended purpose and its inner workings. Ambassador Hesham Youssef joined us for a fascinating conversation about foreign-affairs, Arab geopolitics, and to help us better understand this key regional institution. In this episode, we cover the history of the Arab League, its activities and impact, and what Ambassador...

In this episode of Quartertones, Thanks Joey takes us on a journey through hip hop, Brooklyn music, and his Syrian grandfather’s old records. We talk about working with Omar Offendum and Narcy, his music making process, and what inspired his Lahme song. He gives us a sneak preview of unreleased tracks, tours us round his sampler, and reflects on infusing his music with his heritage. Thanks Joey is...

In this episode, two-time Pulitzer-prize winning photojournalist, Nariman El-Mofty, sits down with Mikey for a compelling conversation about photojournalism, capturing history and human stories, and the impact of the Orientalist gaze within the news industry. Nariman shares her experiences in producing coverage about HIV in Egypt, Yemen, and the Tigray War. We discover how Nariman came to photojou...

Award-winning director Philippe Aractingi joined us on set for this special episode of Movie Night. We talked about his journey into filmmaking, why he considers himself a ‘storyteller’, and why he shifts between genres: musical comedies to war films, and most recently into theatre. We also reflect on the notable absence of an ‘Arab Cinema Scene’ or ‘Industry’, the Orientalist gaze in cinema, and...

Mehmed Ali is dubbed the ‘Father of Modern Egypt’, so who was he? And how did he rise through the ranks from soldier to Pasha? Mikey sits down with Professor Khaled Fahmy to discuss this enigmatic figure that shaped and formed Egypt into the nation-state we know today. In Part 2, Professor Fahmy walks us through Mehmed Ali's rule, death, and legacy. Professor Khaled Fahmy is a historian of the Mod...