logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2016
41m 45s

Alaa Al Aswany on Egypt

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode
On Start the Week Tom Sutcliffe talks to the Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswany about his latest novel which charts the country's social upheaval through the prism of Cairo's elite Automobile Club of Egypt. The foreign correspondent Wendell Steavenson looks back at the Egyptian revolution as the crowds gathered in Tahrir Square in 2011. The political economist T ... Show More
Up next
Jun 23
Sanctuary, refuge and exile
Sanctuary is an ancient idea of a place of refuge or freedom from harm. It has deep roots in the history, literature and myths of many cultures. Marina Warner’s new book Sanctuary explores travelling tales and concepts of hospitality and home - suggesting that myths, stories and ... Show More
41m 57s
Jun 16
The Idea of Genius
We think we know what a genius is: a tortured poet; rebellious scientist; monstrous artist; or a tech disruptor. You can tell what a society values by who it labels as a genius says Helen Lewis in her new book, The Genius Myth: The Dangerous Allure of Rebels, Monsters and Rule-Br ... Show More
41m 35s
Jun 9
Hidden spaces and dangerous places
There is a parallel world which operates under different rules and benefits those with money and power. That’s the argument made by the journalist Atossa Araxia Abrahamian in her new book The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the world. She traces the rise of a freeports, charter ci ... Show More
41m 43s
Recommended Episodes
May 2024
Yasmine Ramadan, "Space in Modern Egyptian Fiction" (Edinburgh UP, 2021)
In 1960s Egypt, a group of writers exploded onto the literary scene, transforming the aesthetic landscape. Yasmine Ramadan’s Space in Modern Egyptian Fiction (Edinburgh University Press, 2021) explores how this literary generation presents a marked shift in the representation of ... Show More
40m 50s
May 2024
Yasmine Ramadan, "Space in Modern Egyptian Fiction" (Edinburgh UP, 2021)
In 1960s Egypt, a group of writers exploded onto the literary scene, transforming the aesthetic landscape. Yasmine Ramadan’s Space in Modern Egyptian Fiction (Edinburgh University Press, 2021) explores how this literary generation presents a marked shift in the representation of ... Show More
40m 50s
Feb 2022
Alaa Al Aswany: The Republic of False Truths
Alaa Al Aswany is one of Egypt’s most important authors. While his work is banned in his country, including his latest novel about a fictionalized account of the failed Egyptian revolution of 2011, the writer believes it’s only a matter of time before the revolution prevails. 
54m 7s
Feb 2023
From Tahrir to Tehran - The Arab Spring and Iran Uprisings
What can we learn about the current era of youth-led radical uprisings when we look across the Middle East? Massive protests—captured on social media—have spilled forth on the streets of major countries in the region for over a decade. Join us for a conversation with renowned soc ... Show More
1h 1m
Nov 2009
World Book Club: Alaa Al Aswany
Harriett Gilbert talks to acclaimed Egyptian writer Alaa Al-Aswany about his bestselling novel The Yacoubian Building. It was the Arab world’s number-one bestseller for five years running after it was published in 2002. The Yacoubian Building interweaves the stories of a group of ... Show More
53 m
Jun 2023
KHALED FAHMY | Mehmed Ali Part 1 | Conversations
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 1, ... Show More
58m 18s
Nov 2012
Green Shoots from the Arab Spring
With the downfall of the former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, political change has already happened in Egypt. But how has such a revolution affected the mindset of ordinary people in the region?In this edition of Analysis, the writer, Christopher de Bellaigue, considers the ... Show More
28m 3s
Jun 2023
KHALED FAHMY | Mehmed Ali Part 2 | Conversations
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, ... Show More
49m 19s
Feb 2021
Sara Salem, "Anticolonial Afterlives in Egypt: The Politics of Hegemony" (Cambridge UP, 2020)
In this conversation, Sara Salem, author of Anticolonial Afterlives in Egypt: The Politics of Hegemony (Cambridge University Press, 2020), talks to host Yi Ning Chang about temporality, capitalism, and hegemony in her history of Egypt’s two revolutions. From Gamal Abdel Nasser to ... Show More
1h 2m