Dana Al Fardan is Qatar's first internationally renowned female singer-songwriter. She talks about her upcoming projects including a musical based on Rumi, the best selling poet in the US. She explains the importance of reclaiming the lessons of Rumi in our daily lives and how telling his story can help the Middle East reclaim and export its culture.
Jun 2022
Know your wellness. Investigating America’s billion-dollar industry with Fariha Roisin
It’s a highly-lucrative industry, but who really owns it? In her provocative new book, writer Fariha Roisin investigates the origin of wellness from the ancient civilizations of the East and traces it to present-day America. As a Muslim, queer, Bangladeshi-Canadian, Fariha’s own ... Show More
35m 12s
Dec 2022
ReShape Beauty Stereotypes | With Rana Alamuddin, Actress, Founder of Bayneh w Baynek & Leader of #IForgiveMyself Movement
“There’s nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself” - Hannah Gadbsy. With this quote as a life motto, this episode’s guest takes us through her journey redefining beauty while exploring new dimensions of self-expression, and introduces us into the space she’s c ... Show More
1h 6m
May 2021
Alya Mooro: Let's Talk About Shame
Alya Mooro is an Egyptian-born, London-raised freelance journalist and author of the bestselling non-fiction book The Greater Freedom: Life as a Middle Eastern Woman Outside the Stereotypes.
Alya is also the host of a new podcast, Talk of Shame, in which she speaks with guests fr ... Show More
39m 43s
Oct 2020
Farzaneh Hemmasi, "Tehrangeles Dreaming: Intimacy and Imagination in Southern California's Iranian Pop Music" (Duke UP, 2020)
Farzaneh Hemmasi is the author of Tehrangeles Dreaming: Intimacy and Imagination in Southern California's Iranian Pop Music (Duke UP, 2020). The title obviously refers the song "California Dreamin'," but in this case the "Dreaming" refers to the active imagining, or reimagining, ... Show More
1h 2m
Oct 2022
Ep 5 - Narrating the Middle East
Can we understand a culture and a region when we don’t read its authors? And what nuances do we miss when we read them in translation? How are authors and poets from the Middle East reaching new audiences? I speak to poet Zeina Hashem Beck, from Lebanon, living in California, abo ... Show More
43m 13s
Mar 2020
'Never plan' with La Roux, Channy Leaneagh, Elaha Soroor, and Dana Gavanski
Channy Leaneagh, the lead singer and synth player with the Minnesota band Polica, asks La Roux, Elaha Soroor, and Dana Gavanski what makes them want to write more, if they feel satisfied with the way they release music, and about their issues with the media industry. Elly Jackson ... Show More
26m 37s