they say that the visual era is receding, and the audio era is predominating. Today, we’re trying to squeeze out the most of the day, so we seek the audio that allows us to multi-task. For example, we listen to audiobooks on our long drives, or to a podcast while running or doing the dishes. In the last two years, I came across very cool podcasts from different parts of the world- from Chile to Lebanon. I hope you like them and give them a listen!
First, my all time favorite podcast is Sarde After Dinner. It’s a Beirut-based podcast founded by Medea Azouri and Mouin Jaber, who come from differenet worlds: different religions, different sexes and different backgrounds. They discuss many taboo topics and invite very interesting figures from the Arab world like Bassem Youssef, Ibrahim Maalouf and Nadin Labaki. I love this podcast and I highly recommend it! This power-couple tackles very important topics in Lebanon especially and in the Middle East and the world generally. I also love these episodes for two more reasons: first, they have a youtube channel where they include subtitles for the episodes and this helped me improve my French a bit (for example when they invited Ibrahim Maalouf, the whole interview was in French with Arabic and English subtitles.) I can imagine it can help Arabic-students to improve their listening and speaking skills. Second, Lebanon is a very complicated country, and since I’m not allowed to visit Lebanon (because I’m a Palestinian with an Israeli passport), I have always longed to have an insight to its reality and to listen to what people who live there have to say, especially after the October 2019 revolution. During this revolution, we felt so near and so far at the same time (if you think about it, Beirut is two hours drive from my house but I can’t go there). Also if you’re wandering what does Sardeh mean? It means a gathering where people come together to chat, talk and enjoy their time (it comes from the root s.r.d that means to narrate or to recount). It’s mostly used in Lebanon because I never heard this word used in this context in Palestine.
I recommend watching the episode with Albert Mukheibar about Neuroscience and psychology and the episode with Carlos Ghosson.
This is my all time favorite Spanish podcast. It opened my eyes and mind to Latin America and its richness. I’ve always been fascinated by the Americas and been drawn to the realities of the Hispanic countries in the Americas. However, since I live so far away with very few contacts from there, this podcast helped me with two things: learn about Latin America and improve my Spanish! Each episode includes Spanish and English transcription (and sometimes Portuguese too). What I love the most about this podcast is that it’s a very good story-teller! It’s not “reporting” what happened, but it’s weaving a story It was founded by Carolina Guerrero and Daniel Alarcon who is an acclaimed Peruvian-American author and professor of Journalism at Columbia university in New York. If you want to know how was this podcast founded listen to the following episode: https://radioambulante.org/audio/hagamos-esa-vaina-de-la-radio
In addition, if you are not sure which episode to begin with I would recommend the following two episodes:
1- Mais Médicos: Cuba is known to train the best doctors in the world. And despite being a small country, isolated from the world by a ruthless blockade from the US, Cuba sends its doctors to any country suffering from a natural disaster (like what happened in Northern Italy during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020). This episode tells the story of one of these doctors- Dr. Alioski Ramírez- who goes on one of these missions with the inspiration to help, but soon things go out of hands.
2- La Flor del Diablo: the flower of the devil- that’s how the mother of the protagonist Rosa called the plant that her whole village in Guerrero, Mexico collected as part of the narcotrafficking business that invaded the country in the last 4 decades.
Are you interesed in knowing the Middle East? Are you interested stories spanning from the Arab world to the US and to all the worlds in between? This podcast is for you.
Kerning Cultures is a podcast company producing other podcasts like Jasadi, el Empire and many more. But today I want to talk about their storytelling podcast: Kerning cultures. It features stories from the Middle East or about Arab and middle eastern immigrants in the US. I would recommend starting with my favorite episode: Jerusalem Calling.
According to their website, “Kerning” is a process in typography: the sizing of spaces between letters in a font, so that the font can be easily read and aesthetically pleasing. We love the metaphor of cultures kerning through our stories. Poetic, no?
4- On Being with Krista Tippett
This is one of the first podcasts that I listened to. Krista Tippett is such a good listener and interviewer, and she knows how to discuss spiritual and deep matters in the most sensitive and heart-warming manner. I usually listen to this podcast when I’m in the mood to get inspired, to connect and to reflect. One of my favorite episodes is Go to the Limits of Your Longing, in which Tippett converses with Joanna Macy, the translsator of one of the greatest poets of the 20th century- Rainer Maria Rilke.
Since 4th of August, 2020, I have been more attached to what is happening in Lebanon. I discovered another great podcast called the Beirut Banyan, which features conversations and stories from Lebanon. I highly recommend it.
A great podcast focusing on the versatile and multi-faceted history of the Ottoman Empire by interviewing historians, researchers and storytellers.
Neuroscience.
I’m obsessed with poetry, and this podcast is just perfect to listen to different poems from all over the world, accompanied with a short reflection and analysis by the Irish Pádraig Ó Tuama. This podcast is part of the On Being project, and one can feel the spirit of transcendence, magic and love.
Do you like wine? I know I do. This podcast, hosted by the lebanese Farrah Berrou, brings interesting stories from the fertile crescent. I listened to the Arak episode that explains how the Arak production has been created and shaped in the last years. I highly recommend it!
Are you interested in philosophy? in ideas that shaped the world? this podcast is just for you! It’s a great introduction to philosophy and theory. I have been listening to this podcast for the past three years, and it helped me during my English literature degree by giving me insights as well as a historical context of ideas and movements.
AICHA BINT YUSIF 