Kerning Cultures | Middle East

Special feature of the Kerning Cultures Network's newest podcast, . Episode 4 features comedian Bassem Youssef. Bassem reflects on the moments that inspired him to leave behind 19 years in medicine for political satire, a show that was watched by 40 million people every week. Now, he tells us about what it’s like reinventing a career for himself in the US, and about the time long ago when he raised baby chicks. Search for Al Empire wherever you get your podcasts to subscribe. A new episode every Thursday. 

His whole life, Walid Waked had been told that his great grandfather invented the Arabic typewriter. And then, one day, he learned that another family - the Haddads - believed they invented it. This week on Kerning Cultures: the contested history of the Arabic typewriter. This episode was produced by Ahmed Ellaithy, Hebah Fisher, Nadeen Shaker, and Alex Atack, with editorial support from Dana Ballout, Tamara Rasamny, and Zeina Dowidar. Sound design by Mohamed Khreizat. Fact-checking by Zeina Dowidar. Bella Ibrahim is our Marketing Manager. Thank you to everybody we spoke to for this story: Ahmed Ellaithy - for everything, and taking us down the rabbit hole with you - Walid Waked, Anis Waked,  Alexandre Cordahi, Nagla Badran, Pascal Zoghbi and Titus Nemeth. To help support Kerning Cultures, visit our

Special feature of the Kerning Cultures Network's newest podcast, . The season kicks off with Hamed Sinno, the lead singer/songwriter of Mashrou' Leila.  Search for Al Empire wherever you get your podcasts to subscribe. A new episode every Thursday. 

What happens when somebody dies in a country that’s not their home? This week on Kerning Cultures, stories about the group of volunteers who help repatriate the bodies of foreigners after they’ve died in the UAE. Special thanks to Zaki, Max, Ashraf Thamaraserry, Vidhyadharan, Amal Mathew, Ambika and Renji. The people at the Indian Association; CM Bashir, Sajad Saheer, Mohamed Mohideen and Baiju G. Sunil at the Hindu Crematorium and Mr. Johnson at Holy Trinity Church. This episode was produced by Noha Fayed and Alex Atack, with editorial support from Dana Ballout, Hebah Fisher, Shahd Bani Odeh and Tamara Rasamny. Translation by Ashfana Hameed. Sound design by Mohamed Khreizat. Fact checking by Zeina Dowidar.  To help support Kerning Cultures, visit our

Stories from the Middle East, and the spaces in between.  Subscribe to get notified of each new radio documentary, released twice monthly.