Andrew Simon
Andrew Simon is a historian of media, popular culture and the Middle East at Dartmouth College. He is the author of “Media of the Masses: Cassette Culture in Modern Egypt” (2022), which was made available in Arabic by Dar El Shorouk in 2025. He is presently writing a biography of Shaykh Imam, a blind Egyptian performer turned political dissident.
Latest from Andrew Simon
The Making and Mourning of Ahmad Adawiya, a Musical Legend
In 1975, when Egyptian radio commentators ranked the best singers of their time, Ahmad Adawiya’s name did not even feature. Yet a new medium, the humble cassette, would allow his popular shaabi songs, often scorned by critics, to reach an audience beyond the gatekeepers and change the country’s musical landscape.