The Queer Arabs

Salon Al-Mahjar in NYC is a safe space for artists to collaborate and share their work.  On December 8, the 7th salon was held at Brooklyn Arts Exchange!  While the last salon (6) focused on music, this one focused on dance and theater.  Hear from the artists who showed work, along with some of the attendees! This salon was organized by Nadia Khayrallah, Hilal a.k.a. thelebanesemafia, and Mariam B...

Ellie talks about her surgery and how recovery has been going!  Please note that there is some graphic content – listen at your discretion. Feel free to directly reach out to Ellie with questions/comments on IG @elliewantstoshitpost or on Twitter @EllieQueerArabs.

Meet Ashley & Edgar, the co-hosts of La Gente Podcast!  Their podcast is a social and lifestyle podcast for POC by POC.  In this half hour, we covered a wide range of subjects.  We talked about unexpected aspects of podcasting that we’ve encountered (and the learning and unlearning that has come with that).  We touched on immigration-related policies and the damaging effects of separatin...

حلقه ٢٦ بالعربي: الحلقه “الغريبه”. مقابله من جاد تانك عن تجربته مع الثوره في #لبنان Arabic Episode 26: The “Weird” episode. We talked to our returning guest Jadd Tank about his experience with the ongoing Lebanese Revolution. Listen to Jadd’s other episodes: Episode 12 in Arabic:  https://thequeerarabs.com/podcast/episode-12-in-arabic-conversation-with-artist-jadd-tank/  Episode...

LebMASH, the Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health, works to increase knowledge and resources surrounding sexual health and LGBTQI+ health.  Its board of directors are located in Lebanon, Canada, and the United States. On Oct. 26, 2019, we (Nadia Khayrallah, Adam Elsayigh, and Alia) attended the LebMASH Halloween benefit party in NYC!  The three of us co-hosted what turned out to be a fun...

Times like these make us glad we aren’t on a network – we can title our episodes however the fuck we want. This is a very short episode but it’s packed with information; Ellie shares what it has been like preparing for surgery.  She speaks very honestly on this episode, and anyone wishing to learn a bit about the process can do so with this episode.  You can reach out directly to...

Salon Al-Mahjar in NYC is a safe space for artists to collaborate and share their work.  This recording is from the sixth salon; artists who consented to being recorded are included on this.  The episode consists of clips of what the artists brought to this open mic, as well as a few conversations with people during the intermission. The artists featured are as follows; while crediting is importan...

Our featured guest of this episode is a mover in every sense of the word!  Anthony Nakhle, a professional dancer from Beirut and a world traveler, came on to talk to us.  It was an incredible honor; we (fellow dancer/choreographer, Nadia Khayrallah + Alia) got to discuss what makes Anthony most excited about his work, the training and dedication that has led him to this stage of his life, and more...

Shamir, fellow introvert, exceptional singer-songwriter, and actor, joined Ellie, Alia, and guest co-host Miriam Hakim!  He also started his own record label.  After a brief Twitter exchange, Shamir was kind enough to sacrifice sleep (more than he already does) to talk with us!  The connection during the recording was instant – talking to Shamir felt like talking to someone we’ve known...

On this episode, we (Aminah Mae Safi and Alia) talked about the importance of seeing oneself in fiction, with an especially specific importance when it comes to people at a formative age.  Aminah, author of the young adult fiction books Not The Girls You’re Looking For and Tell Me How You Really Feel, is helping make that happen.  Both of us are mixed (with one Arab parent), and Aminah bring...

This episode features guest Malika who researches violent extremism.  Malika discusses some of the various contexts in which people may gravitate toward extremist ideologies.  Spoiler alert: white supremacy is the biggest threat to the U.S. and is global in many aspects.

In this episode, Ellie and Alia discuss the impact Sept. 11 has had on them as Americans with ties to the SWANA region.

Arabic Episode 25: An interview with Alaa Taha. Alaa is a Baghdad-based Iraqi Asexual activist who co-authored a book about asexuality and started a number of social media accounts bringing awareness to the topic. حلقه ٢٥ بالعربي: مقابله مع الناشطة العراقية آلاء ياسين طه. تكلمنا عن مفهوم #اللاجنسيه و إوضاع #اللاجنسيين في العالم العربي. أيضا تكلمنا مع آلاء حول الكتاب الي تم تأليفه عن الموضوع و حساب...

It’s that time of year again!  This episode is from the Yallapunk festival (year 3).  The episode features some of this year’s Yallapunk participants/attendees: Phil and Nadim, the Lebanese-Canadian electronic duo Wake Island http://www.wakeislandmusic.com/ IG: wakeislandmusic Phil and Nadim talk about the tour they’re currently on, the set they had for Yallapunk, and the importa...

I (Alia) have some friends (Adam and Matt) visiting, and they graciously said yes to being on the podcast with about 5 minutes of notice!  We ended up talking about ghosts, Karens/Chads we have encountered, and even fresh air (listen to the end of the episode to understand why the episode is called what it is).  On a much more serious note, Matt and Adam also touched on topics such as authoritaria...

We (Ellie and Alia) talk about upcoming Yallapunk, all the changes going down in our lives this year, and more.  This is a relatively short episode but we touch on quite a bit.  Thank you all for listening; stay tuned soon for more on Yallapunk! The article we talked about in part of the episode is here: https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-the-mideast-s-stonewall-fight-for-lgbtq-righ...

We (Nadia & Alia) got to talk to Lebanese vogue dancer Hoedy Saad!  You may remember hearing from Hoedy for a bit during Emma Gration’s podcast episode; we were excited to get to talk more.  On this episode, Hoedy talks about the steadily increasingly visible vogue scene in Lebanon, the background of vogue, and the impact vogue (and also drag, as the two arts often overlap at events) has...

الحلقه ٢٤ بالعربي: مقابله مع الفنان نيكولاس شلهوب. تكلمنا عن تجربه نيكولاس مع الفن، الخروج من الخزانه، زواجه، والمقابلة الشهيرة مع نيشان على تلفزيون الجديد. Arabic Episode 24: An interview with Nicolas Chalhoub. We talked about Nicolas’ songs, coming out, marriage, and appearance on NewTV. Facebook: www.facebook.com/nicolas.chalhoub.official Twitter @nicolaschalhoub Instagram @nicolaschalhoub &#16...

Leslie Gray joined us for this episode to discuss many enlightening topics (we’re shameless about our light puns).  The reason for the light puns is because Leslie is involved in theater, and he operates the lighting equipment during productions.  We talked about that during this episode, along with the time he spent at NYU Abu Dhabi as a student.  He also discussed his research and the mixe...

We got to talk to Tim Murphy, author of the novels Correspondents & Christodora!  This episode focuses on his latest novel (Correspondents).  The book is incredible and we recommend it to everyone.  Elements of the novel’s plot include the US invasion of Iraq, migration, and blended families (in this case, a mixed Irish & Lebanese family in the US).  This is a powerful novel which co...

Ellie and Alia discuss Alia’s upcoming move, thoughts from Pride, Ellie’s upcoming surgery, Haaretz (more to come on another episode), and more!

This episode contains various clips from conversations and experiences during World Pride in NYC this year!  ENJOY! Some of the folks you’ll hear from this episode can be followed at these IG handles: @nadiainherownworld @flexedfeet @adamelsayigh @sumsumneela @lesliethegray Also follow: @tarabnycorg

الحلقه ٢٣ بالعربي: مقابله من اليوتوبر شريفه فداج المعروفة ب شي. تكلمنا عن حياه المثليين العرب، الصحه الجنسيه، الدين، اليوتوب و أمور أخرى. Arabic Episode 23: An interview with Shay, an Algerian-born lesbian YouTuber We talked about life as Queer Arabs, sexual education, YouTube, religion, and many other things. See the YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=shayishere

Photo credit: Tarek Moukaddem Contact: tarekmoukaddem@gmail.com @tarekmoukaddem on Instagram It’s hard to know where to begin with this episode description aside from the fact that this is an utter gem.  “Don’t Be Chai, She Brought the Tea” is the title Hilal (@thelebanesemafia on IG) came up with.  He got us together with the amazing Lebanese drag queen Emma Gration, and O...

Ellia visited Houston for the Pride parade, so we talked about our impressions of it: what was good and what has gone bad.  We discussed the corporate focus of the parade and how that affects the essence of what Pride should be about.   Ellia also gave some information about the limits in Arabic that exist when talking about inclusive queer terminology. This episode was done in 2 parts (one on Jun...