This week, we reunite with a previous guest; author and friend of The Lighthouse, Nadia Wassef. Since our first episode with Nadia, her well received debut memoir Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller has been published in several languages and Nadia is now preparing for her second narrative structure—but in a faster paced, post-lockdown world. Recorded in the Li ... Show More
Sep 8
El Primo’s Jonathan Colin on trading 10 years in fine dining for a taco place & the supper club that paid for it
“I could have opened Mediterranean. Japanese. Anything I already knew how to run. But my heart wasn’t going to be in it.”Jonathan Colin, founder of El Primo, spent seven years at LPM Dubai and two at Zuma Abu Dhabi — long enough to know exactly how to open another one of those. H ... Show More
47m 41s
Jun 2026
“I observe. I document. And more recently, I speak my mind.” Hani AlMalki on Dubai’s F&B reset, credibility over clout, and a restaurant career built without a restaurant.
Hani AlMalki — aka Bedouinfoodie — returns to podcast for a second sit-down, and it lands nothing like the first. When war hit the region, he started writing: a daily diary on his Instagram Stories that became required reading for Dubai’s food community, built on the one thing m ... Show More
56m 43s
Apr 2026
“If you tell me we're not going to build, then probably replace me. There is no need for having me.” Karim Awad on leading EFG Hermes mid-revolution, a decade of building, and why legacy is measured by what remains after you leave
Karim Awad walked into EFG Hermes at one of the most turbulent moments in Egypt's recent history — a company caught mid-revolution, a bruised brand, and a region that wasn't sure it wanted to stabilise. What he did next is what this conversation is about. Karim and Hashem talke ... Show More
53m 4s
Dec 2024
Episode Five - Scripted: Finding Time + Creating Space = Good Sh*t
In this episode of Scripted/Unscripted, Nadia shares her personal journey toward finding balance in a chaotic life. Through candid reflections on work, creativity, and motherhood, she explores the elusive concepts of "time" and "space"—and how they shape our sense of productivity ... Show More
22m 51s
Jul 2021
Space, Fiction and Growing Up in ‘Postwar’ Lebanon w/ Naji Bakhti (E84)
This is a conversation with Naji Bakhti, author of the novel Between Beirut and the Moon (2020), published by Influx Press. He is also Project Manager at SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom at the Samir Kassir Foundation.Topics Discussed:Growing up in a ‘postwar’ context ... Show More
1h 41m
Jan 2022
Nadia Wassef - A Cairo bookseller
When Nadia Wassef, her sister Hind and friend Nihal started their bookshop, Diwan, back in 2002, they had no idea that ten years later they would be running ten bookshops across Egypt meeting a growing demand for books both in Arabic and English, French and German. There were man ... Show More
17m 9s
Aug 2022
Nadifa Mohamed with Derek Owusu
<p>This week on the penguin podcast, Derek Owusu is joined by Booker and Costa shortlisted novelist, Nadifa Mohamed. </p><p> </p><p>Nadifa joins us to discuss her latest novel, The Fortune Men, a fictional account of the life of Mahmood Hussein Mattan, who was wrongly convic ... Show More
30m 32s