I had the pleasure of interviewing the first female rock band in Bahrain, Scarlet Tear, run by two young women who are transforming the music scene in the country. Scarlet Tear is an excellent addition to some of the existing bands here, and you can definitely expect big things from them!
Some details about the band:
The [...]
Pakistan has blocked access to hundreds of websites including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, all of which apparently contain “blasphemous” material. The ban is a response to the Facebook page “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!” but it’s looking like that this is being used as an excuse for widespread censorship that might be politically inspired.
Today we speak [...]
For our latest podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nuha Serrac, an active defender of Kurdish human rights. Nuha has been with us at the Alliance for Kurdish Rights for more than a year exposing human rights violations of the Kurdish people throughout the Middle East and urging people to take action.
We are [...]
It all started when Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, a senior Iranian cleric, made the outrageous comment that “immodest clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes.”
Blag Hag blogger Jen McCreight responded by saying women should show off their cleavage as a playful sign of protest.
Golbarg Bashi and Negar Mottahedeh had a different reaction. Listen to [...]
Negar Mottahedeh is Associate Professor of Literature and Women’s Studies at Duke University. In 2008, Duke University Press published her book on Post-Revolutionary Iranian Cinema entitled: Displaced Allegories. Her first book “Representing the Unpresentable” on visual history and reform in Iran from the 19th Century to the present was published in 2008 by Syracuse University [...]
Podcast conducted by Reem Shawkat (Sudan).
This is the first podcast in a long series on homosexuality in Sudan. Mideast Youth talks to Ali, a single gay Sudanese man living and working in the Gulf. When Ali started his blog, black-gay-Arab, he was only trying to find himself. Three years later, Ali has a lot of [...]
We’re starting off the year with a new podcast, and this time with Marwan Kamel, lead singer of the punk Middle Eastern band “Al Thawra.” I could try my luck writing my own introduction of this awesome band, but I wouldn’t be able to top my friend Daniela who wrote about them on Mideast Youth [...]
United4Iran is a nonprofit startup whose mission is to “promote fundamental human and civil rights in Iran.” In this podcast, I speak with the organization’s founder, Firuzeh Mahmoudi, and 2 of the organization’s volunteers, Tori Egherman and Kamran Ashtary. We first talk generally about United4Iran as an initiative, and then move on to how they’re [...]
Pakistan has been making the news lately. Unfortunately, it’s nothing positive. Here’s a sample of the latest headlines: 15 injured in explosion in Pakistan, Blasts strike across Pakistan, Blast kills 17 on bus in Pakistan, Explosion Kills Six in Peshawar, Pakistan, Bomb Blast Hits UN Agency in Islamabad. It’s hard to be shocked by any [...]
Sex, relationships, and independence in the Arab world [47:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (710)In this podcast, I speak with Nadia from Tunisia about relationships and the perception of sex in the Arab world. What is accepted, what isn’t, and what’s hypocritical about our current societies. This is an important discussion but still surprisingly a taboo in the MENA region. Amongst the things we discuss are: virginity, independence (specifically [...]
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