Podcast
Bedouin Poetry and Culture Through the Ages — with Marcel Kurpershoek
Scholar and translator Marcel Kurpershoek talks to New Lines’ Kevin Blankinship about the Nabati poetry of the Arabian peninsula and its thousand-year history from pre-Islamic oral traditions to the UAE’s smash-hit reality show “Million’s Poet.”
The Last Days of the Ottomans – with Eugene Rogan
Pre-eminent historian Eugene Rogan talks to New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai about the Ottoman Empire’s final years, its still-controversial legacy and how its defeat in World War I created the Middle East of today.
A Life in Translation — with William Hutchins
Award-winning translator of Arabic literature, William Hutchins talks to New Lines’ Kevin Blankinship about how he began his career, why he continues to work in his retirement, and what it was like to translate the beloved Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz.
An Arab Renaissance in the Age of Print — with Ahmed El Shamsy
In the first of a series of podcasts delving into the big questions of history, Ahmed El Shamsy joins New Lines’ Lydia Wilson to discuss how the printing press became the engine that powered the Arab Renaissance.
One Man’s Quest for Quiet — with Gordon Hempton
Acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton speaks to New Lines’ Rasha Elass about the importance of silence to both human health and the health of the planet.
Orientalism, Salafism and Sci-Fi in the World of ‘Dune’ — with Haris Durrani
Author and historian Haris Durrani speaks to New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai about representation and religion in the classic sci-fi novel “Dune” and its recent film adaptation. With the distinctly Islamic far-future setting of the story, the film’s strong performance at last month’s Oscars has reinvigorated long-running debates about how…
The Politics of Storytelling — with Fatima Bhutto
Acclaimed Pakistani novelist Fatima Bhutto joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai for a wide-ranging conversation about the relationship between politics and fiction. They discuss why she decided to be a writer rather than a politician like her aunt Benazir Bhutto, why the CIA has a department for script writers and why people increasingly identify more with stories from outside the West like “Squid Game” than with “Friends.”