Flagged and Stamped

Over the last half century, as many nations around our region have gained independence or been through regime change, they-ve have had to ask themselves big questions. Like, what makes our country, our country? What are the symbols that define us? And, who gets to decide the answer to those questions? In our episode today, two stories about the complicated paths two countries took to arrive at those decisions.
This episode was produced by Alex Atack and Abde Amr, and edited by Dana Ballout with additional support from Zeina Dowidar and Nadeen Shaker. Fact checking by Percia Verlin, and sound design by Mohamad Khreizat and Alex Atack.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month.

No Victor But God

The graceful courtyards of Mexico and Puerto Rico aren-t the first places you-d go looking for a secret Islamic history. But a closer look at the tiles and teacups reveals a bloody, beautiful and largely forgotten past.
This episode was produced by Alice Fordham and edited by Dana Ballout, with additional support from Alex Atack. Fact checking by Percia Verlin, and sound design and mixing by Mohamad Khreizat.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month.

In Case of Death

What happens when somebody dies in a country that-s not their home? In the UAE, the answer to that is complicated. This week on Kerning Cultures, stories about the families who-ve had to go through the experience, and the group of volunteers who help repatriate the bodies of foreigners after they-ve died in the UAE.
This episode originally aired in September 2019.
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. Kerning Cultures is a Kerning Cultures Network production.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month.

Whose Genizah?

In 2015, our producer Nadeen Shaker visited the Cairo Genizah in one of Egypt-s oldest synagogues. It was the place where, thousands of years ago, the Jews of Egypt literally stored any papers with God-s name on them instead of throwing them away.
After a prominent Egyptian Jew, Jack Mosseri, discovered the Genizah manuscripts almost a century ago, and his untimely death afterwards, the manuscripts disappeared from view for decades.
When they were- finally rediscovered, the question of where the collection of manuscripts would eventually go - Egypt, Israel, or the UK - became a thorny and still unanswered debate.
Today on Kerning Cultures, the story of the Genizah- manuscripts and the question of where Egyptian Jewish history should be kept.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month.
This episode was produced by Nadeen Shaker and edited by Dana Ballout, with additional support from Alex Atack, Zeina Dowidar, Shraddha Joshi, and Abde Amr. Fact checking by Alex Atack and sound design and mixing by Mohamad Khreizat.

Evacuate Kuwait

On August 2nd 1990, the Iraqi military invaded Kuwait City overnight, and its residents woke up to a city under occupation. The only airport was put on lockdown, and the Iraqi military set up checkpoints on the city-s streets. The US, UK and Russia condemned the invasion, and some British and American citizens were taken as hostages. But the Indian government had no stake in the conflict, and around 165,000 Indian citizens living in Kuwait were caught up in a situation that didn-t involve their country.
Which left the Indian government with a question they-d never had to face before: how do we evacuate tens of thousands of our citizens from a foreign country, all at once?
Today on Kerning Cultures, the story of one family-s escape from Kuwait during one of the largest government evacuations in history.
This episode was written and produced by Alex Atack and Shraddha Joshi, and edited by Dana Ballout with support from Nadeen Shaker, Zeina Dowidar and Abde Amr. Fact checking by Shraddha Joshi, sound design by Alex Atack and mixing by Mohamed Khreizat. Bella Ibrahim is our marketing manager, and Kerning Cultures is a Kerning Cultures Network production.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month.

The A-Word

Ahmed Twaij explores an often-overlooked issue in the Arab world; racism towards Black Arabs. In this episode, he looks at racism in his own community, taking us from his Iraqi roots, through to modern day slurs still commonly used in many Arab communities around the world.
This episode was produced by Ahmed Twaij, with editorial support from Dana Ballout, Nadeen Shaker, Zeina Dowidar and Alex Atack. Fact checking by Shraddha Joshi, sound design by Alex Atack, and mixing by Mohamad Khreizat. Music in this episode was by Ahmed Moneka and Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Noon Salih and Sara Elhassan. Our marketing director is Bella Ibrahim, and Kerning Cultures is a Kerning Cultures Network production.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month.

Word on the Street

As 2020 brought us countless examples of injustice and pain, it brought remembrances that we live in a world in need of more - well, work. And that means scrutinising the cities we live in, the homes we rest in, and- the streets we live on.-
Today on Kerning Cultures, we-re bringing you two stories about two streets - and the justices and injustices hidden in their names. Follow us to Tehran and Khartoum as we uncover two histories brought together by one common denominator.
This episode was produced by Zeina Dowidar, with editorial support from Alex Atack, Nadeen Shaker, Dana Ballout, Shraddha Joshi and Abde Amr. Editing by Dana Ballout, and fact checking by Shraddha Joshi. Sound design by Zeina Dowidar and Alex Atack, and mixing by Mohamed Khreizat. The article Zeina reads throughout this episode is -How to Rename a Street- by Malia Wollan from the New York Times.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month.

Operation Nemesis

After the Armenian Genocide, in which over 1.5 million Christians from the Ottoman Empire were killed by the Ottoman government, the main group of Ottoman leaders behind the atrocities were never made to face justice.-They escaped Constantinople in the middle of the night and began new lives undercover in Europe. So, a small group of regular Armenians decided to take justice into their own hands.
This week on Kerning Cultures, the secretive operation to avenge the Armenian Genocide, and how it changed our relationship with the idea of justice in the modern world.
Images courtesy of Marian Mesrobian MacCurdy. Her book is called Sacred Justice: The Voices and Legacy of the Armenian Operation Nemesis. Eric Bogosian-s book is Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month.

The K-Pop Wave

Since 2012, Korean pop culture has captured the imagination of people across the Middle East: from K-pop and K-dramas to Korean language classes and even to Korean fried chicken. It-s everywhere!
But how did we become so obsessed with a culture so different from our own? And how much do we actually know about how it spread to our region?
This week on Kerning Cultures, we dive into the highly calculated forces behind the K-pop craze.
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This season on Kerning Cultures...

We-re excited to announce that season 2 of Kerning Cultures starts next week. Each Thursday, we-ll be bringing you new stories from around the Middle East and North Africa. Here-s a taste of what-s to come...
Episode 1 drops on January 28th. Be sure to subscribe to this feed so that you never miss an episode.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $1 a month.