Aizen – Part 3: King of Serbia

Through smugglers, barbed wire fences and forests, Aizen arrives in Europe. But the sense of relief he feels at making it this far is short-lived: the physical and mental toll of travelling so far from home begins to weigh heavy.
This episode was produced by Al Shaibani and edited by Alex Atack and Dana Ballout, with editorial support from Heba El-Sherif. Fact checking was by Eman Elsherif and Deena Sabry, and sound design was by Monzer El Hachem and Paul Alouf. Artwork by Ahmad Salhab. Our team also includes Zeina Dowidar, Nadeen Shaker and Finbar Anderson.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.

Aizen – Part 2: The Game

-A game- is what smugglers and migrants call attempting to cross illegally from one country to another. As Aizen leaves his childhood behind in Afghanistan, his only way to get to Europe is to play the game, travelling through this dangerous network of human traffickers.
This episode was produced by Al Shaibani and edited by Alex Atack and Dana Ballout, with editorial support from Heba El-Sherif. Fact checking was by Eman Elsherif and Deena Sabry, and sound design was by Monzer El Hachem and Paul Alouf. Artwork by Ahmad Salhab. Our team also includes Zeina Dowidar, Nadeen Shaker and Finbar Anderson.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.

Aizen – Part 1: I Hate Wednesdays

-Aizen- says he-s the most unlucky person in the world. This football-obsessed teenager from Afghanistan grew up in the chaos of Kabul, and at 15, was imprisoned in one of the worst adult prisons in the world. All for a crime he didn-t commit. In this four part series, we-re following Aizen-s journey as he leaves his childhood in Afghanistan behind for what he hopes will be a better life in Europe.
This episode was produced by Al Shaibani and edited by Alex Atack and Dana Ballout, with editorial support from Heba El-Sherif. Fact checking was by Eman Elsherif and Deena Sabry, and sound design was by Monzer El Hachem and Paul Alouf. Artwork by Ahmad Salhab. Our team also includes Zeina Dowidar, Nadeen Shaker and Finbar Anderson.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.

Tunisia’s Liquid Gold

When you think of good quality olive oil, which countries first come to mind? This week, we-re travelling to the heart of the world-s largest exporter of organic olive oil to learn all about the liquid gold that graces dinner tables around the globe. And it-s not where you-d expect.
This episode was produced by Zeina Dowidar and edited by Dana Ballout. Fact checking by Deena Sabry and sound design by Youssef Douazou. Our team also includes Alex Atack, Nadeen Shaker and Finbar Anderson.
Kaia Olive Oil is on Instagram at @worldofkaia and at worldofkaia.com.
You can find a transcript for this episode at our website: kerningcultures.com/kerningcultures.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.

Armenian Pilgrimages: A Journey to the Homeland

A father and daughter journey to their ancestral homeland, looking to track down the place their family had lived before being forced to flee the Armenian genocide.
They-re among hundreds of Armenian families who, over the last three decades, have returned to their ancestors- home on a search for answers, in a country that that still denies the genocide ever took place.
This episode was produced by Alex Atack and Deena Sabry, and edited by Dana Ballout. Fact checking was by Deena Sabry and sound design by Monzer El Hachem. Our team also includes Nadeen Shaker, Zeina Dowidar and Finbar Anderson.
A special thank you to Syuzanna Petrosyan and Salpi Ghazarian at the University of Southern California-s Institute of Armenian Studies.
Find out more about Nubar-s upcoming documentary here: scarsofsilence.com.
Carel-s book is called A House in the Homeland, and you can find it at Stanford University Press.-
Find out more about Annie-s tours and see pictures and videos of previous trips at her Facebook page, @historicarmenia.
Find a transcript for this episode at our website.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.

Scoring the World Cup

This is the final week of the first World Cup hosted in the Middle East. And it-s been a tournament like no other: We-ve seen Morocco advance further than any Middle East or African team has before, making the whole region proud. And we-ve seen many joyous moments go viral as fans from across the world descend on Doha.
But it-s also a World Cup shrouded in controversy, that has left many of us with mixed feelings.
So, over the last couple of weeks, we-ve been going out to speak with fans around the world to get a sense of what people make of it all, from the highs and lows of the tournament itself, to everything happening off the pitch.
This episode was produced by Ban Barkawi, Alex Atack and Ahmed Ashour, with help from Sarah Risheq, Al Shaibani, Shahd Bani-Odeh, Maher Ali, Soumaya Bouabdellah, Youssef Douazou, Sara Kaddouri and Zeina Dowidar. It was edited by Sarah Risheq and Dana Ballout. Sound design was by Paul Alouf. Our team also includes Nadeen Shaker and Finbar Anderson.
Our sister podcast - Masafat - has also released an episode about the Qatar world cup in Arabic. To hear that, search Masafat in your podcast app.
Find a transcript for this episode at our website, kerningcultures.com/kerningcultures.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.

The Assassination of Alex Odeh

Alex Odeh was well known in the Arab community in Santa Ana, California. He was often on TV or writing into newspapers, talking about discrimination against Arabs in the US or about his beloved homeland, Palestine. But on the morning of October 11th 1985, he stepped through his office door and a pipe bomb exploded. He died hours later. From the beginning, the FBI had strong leads and a list of suspects. But decades later, Alex Odeh-s murder is still unsolved.
This episode was produced by Alex Atack and edited by Dana Ballout. Fact checking by Deena Sabry and sound design by Mohamad Khreizat. Our team also includes Zeina Dowidar, Nadeen Shaker and Finbar Anderson.
You can read David Sheen-s story for The Intercept here.
Find a transcript for this episode at our website, kerningcultures.com/kerningcultures.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.

Coming up on season 4 of Kerning Cultures...

Kerning Cultures season 4 launches next week, December 8th. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts so you don-t miss an episode.
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.

The Secret Somali Tapes

It-s 1988, and Somalis are fleeing the city of Hargeisa. People are trying to get out, trying to save their families. But in the city-s radio station, staff are packing cassettes and reel to reel recordings into a secret underground bunker. On them: A slice of their country-s musical heritage, to remain for years in an underground room-until now.
This episode was produced in collaboration with Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala, from the TED Audio Collective. To listen to other episodes that travel all over the world to explore ideas, follow Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala wherever you-re listening to this.
This episode was produced by Sawsan Abdillahi, Hiwote Getaneh, Alex Atack and Saleem Reshamwala. Production support in Hargeisa by Ismaaciil C. Ubax. Fact checking by Nicole Bode and Paul Durban, and sound design by Kristin Mueller. The executive producer was Eric Nuzum.
Special thanks to Vik Sahonie at Ostinato Records for letting us use the music from the Sweet As Broken Dates album.
You can hear songs from the buried tapes on this Spotify playlist.
Find a transcript for this episode on our website: kerningcultures.com/kerningcultures.-
Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.

Sheikh Imam: Voice of Dissent

A blind oud player from humble beginnings, Sheikh Imam-s destiny changed drastically when he met a dissident poet called Ahmed Fouad Negm, and they formed a duo. Together, they would go on start a new era in Egyptian popular music. Their songs would shake regimes, travel the world on cassette tapes, and transcend their own time to become part of the soundtrack to Egypt-s revolution decades later.
Today, the story of Sheikh Imam: the Egyptian singer who became an icon of dissent.
This episode was produced by Nadeen Shaker, Heba El-Sherif and Alex Atack, and edited by Dana Ballout. Fact checking was by Deena Sabry and sound design, music and mixing by Monzer El Hachem. Voice over by Eihab Seoudi, and translation help from Maha El Kady. Cover art by Ahmad Salhab.
The songs you heard on this episode were composed and performed by Sheikh Imam and written by Ahmed Fouad Negm and Zein Alabidin Fouad. Lyric translations were by Ahmed Hassan and Elliott Colla.
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Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.
You can find a transcript for this episode at our website, kerningcultures.com/kerningcultures.