The afikra Podcast

The pervasive exhaustion resulting from witnessing modern global atrocities often creates a paralyzing "hopeRot," yet the cultivation of an radical "HopeCore" remains an essential engine for systemic transformation. Writer and curator, Shumon Basar, analyzes the rewiring of the global psyche through the rise of Gulf Futurism and the eventual arrival of a post-Western reality. His critique centers on the provincialization of the West, a phenomenon where a minority population disproportionately dictates universal narratives and conceptual models. The discussion further traverses the evolution of Dubai from a startup city to a global urban paradigm, alongside a sobering exploration of the war on amnesia", as Basar describes it, through alternative institutions and magical historical thinking. Ultimately, the conversation confronts the unmasking of power and the abandonment of institutional shame, reinforcing the vital necessity of counter-histories in an increasingly ahistorical digital age.

 

00:00 Introduction

04:36 The Rewiring of the Global Psyche

07:30 Spectral Enemies and the Geography of Time

10:08 Provincializing the West and Cognitive Mapping

16:13 The Foundational Myths of Unification

27:31 The Paradox of HopeRot and HopeCore

34:39 Absolute Impunity and the Narrative Battle

44:02 The Reckoning of Liberal Fascism

53:48 Alternative Institutions and the War on Amnesia

01:00:10 Magical Historical Thinking in the Extreme Present

 

Shumon Basar is a British-Bangladeshi writer, editor, and curator born in 1974. He attended Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University (1993–1996) and studied at the AA School, London (1998–2000). In 2005 he joined Goldsmiths, University of London's doctoral program in Visual Cultures. He is co-author with Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist of The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present (Penguin, 2015) and The Extreme Self: Age of You (Walther & Franz König, 2021), and co-curated the large-scale exhibition Age of You at MOCA Toronto and Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai. Since 2010, Basar has been Commissioner of the Global Art Forum, Art Dubai's annual transdisciplinary summit. He became a founding member of Fondazione Prada's Thought Council in 2015. He is Adjunct Curator at Art Jameel and holds editorial and advisory positions at Tank, Bidoun, 032c, and Flash Art. He has lived in Dubai, Vancouver, Berlin, Beirut, and Istanbul.

 

Connect with Shumon Basar 👉 https://www.instagram.com/shumonbasar/

Hosted by:
Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/?hl=en-gb

FOLLOW & RATE THE AFIKRA PODCAST:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/lb/podcast/the-afikra-podcast/id1529437743
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5nafoF1Zs7F48mGZjlhrze
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014643869

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK
Explore all episodes in this series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5xaTkBDrUKLCulvoCE8ubX&feature=shared

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The scientific achievements of the medieval Islamic world provided the forgotten foundations for much of the modern world's mathematics and physics. Dr. Huseyin Sen, historical map specialist at The Heritage Library, Qatar National Library, explores the critical necessity of reclaiming this heritage to combat cultural prejudice and build self-esteem in new generations. This discussion highlights the monumental contributions of scholars like Al-Khwarizmi and Ibn al-Haytham, whose work on algebra and optics remains foundational to global scientific knowledge. The conversation reveals the urgent need for digitizing, translating, and integrating these historical texts into modern education to bridge the gap between past innovations and current understanding. From the intricate chemistry of medieval perfumery to the advanced engineering behind historical maps, these insights showcase a sophisticated intellectual tradition that once spanned the globe.

 

00:00 Introduction

01:10 The Legacy of Arabic Sciences

01:48 Modern Efforts in Manuscript Digitization

03:26 The Multidisciplinary Skills of a Science Historian

05:54 Reconnecting with a Forgotten Heritage

08:37 Integrating History into Modern Science Education

10:50 Cultural Role Models and Global Contributions

15:25 Reconstructing Original Texts from Manuscripts

19:40 The Sophisticated Chemistry of Medieval Perfumery

27:24 Tracing the Evolution of Personal Care Products

34:30 Algebraic Roots and Algorithmic Foundations

35:44 Paradigm Shifts in the Science of Optics

42:04 Cartographic Rarities and Engineering Marvels

 

Dr. Huseyin Sen is an aerospace engineer and a historian of science, specializing in the history of medieval Arabic science & technology. His engineering background has enabled him to engage with the history of science and technology in a profound way (numerical and hands-on) and at the same time has allowed him to build bridges between the education of history of science on one hand and education of science on the other. He is particularly interested in combining history of science with STEM/STEAM education, and in introducing and engaging students with technologies of the future such as 3D printing via history of science like by developing working replicas of ancient inventions by 3d printing.

 

الدكتور حسين شِن هو مهندس طيران ومؤرخ علمي متخصص في تاريخ العلوم والتكنولوجيا العربية في العصور الوسطى. وقد مكنته خلفيته الهندسية من التعمق أكثر في تاريخ العلوم والتكنولوجيا، كما أتاحت له الربط بين تعليم تاريخ العلوم من جهة وتعليم العلوم من جهة أخرى. يركز د. شِن على الدمج بين تاريخ العلوم وتعليم العلوم والتكنولوجيا والهندسة والرياضيات، مع تعريف الطلاب بتقنيات المستقبل، مثل الطباعة ثلاثية الأبعاد، من خلال تاريخ العلوم، وذلك عبر تطوير نسخ مطابقة من الاختراعات القديمة باستخدام الطباعة ثلاثية الأبعاد. من أحدث مشاريعه لمكتبة الرئاسة التركية معرض بعنوان "تاريخ العلوم الإسلامية في 100 قطعة"، والذي يضم 100 قطعة، منها 87 نسخة طبق الأصل و13 مخطوطة علمية أصلية من العصور الوسطى. افتتح المعرض في أبريل 2021، وهو مستمر كمعرض متنقل منذ ذلك الحين. يتلقى د. شِن طلبات منتظمة لتحليل ووصف وتقييم الأدوات والمخطوطات العلمية العربية/الإسلامية من العصور الوسطى

 

Connect with Professor Hüseyin Şen  👉 https://instagram.com/takiyuddinrasid

Hosted by:
Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/?hl=en-gb

FOLLOW & RATE THE AFIKRA PODCAST:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/lb/podcast/the-afikra-podcast/id1529437743
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5nafoF1Zs7F48mGZjlhrze
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014643869

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK
Explore all episodes in this series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5xaTkBDrUKLCulvoCE8ubX&feature=shared

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Language serves as the vital intersection of cultural identity and technological innovation, yet the rapid rise of AI reveals a significant representation gap for the nearly many million ways the Arab world communicates. Professor Nizar Habash, a computer science professor and director of the CAMEL Lab at NYU Abu Dhabi, explores the historical anxieties surrounding technological shifts, drawing a direct parallel between the 150-year delay of the Arabic printing press and contemporary concerns regarding data bias in large language models. The conversation navigates the inherent challenges of modeling a language characterized by immense dialectal variety and non-standardized orthography, shifting the focus from perceived linguistic complexity to the practical need for bespoke, regional data sets. As the field transitions from rigid, rule-based systems to sophisticated neural models capable of abstract meaning through embeddings, the dialogue underscores the urgency of building localized, open-source tools like JAIS and FAMAR to ensure the Arab world's history and diverse voices are accurately represented in the digital age.

 

00:00 Introduction

02:15 How AI Models Understand Diverse Arabic Dialects

05:48 Debunking Myths About Arabic’s Linguistic Complexity

08:21 The Historical Construction of Modern Standard Arabic

11:00 Impact of Technology on Arabic Script and Printing

15:19 The Journey into Computational Linguistics

17:35 The Evolution of Machine Translation and LLMs

23:51 Explaining Hallucinations in Statistical Language Models

31:14 Cultural Representation and Bias in Image Generation

38:13 Dialect Support and Limitations in Translation Tools

50:02 Camel Lab's Mission for Open-Source Arabic NLP

01:03:42 Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Views of Arabic

 

Nizar Habash is a Professor of Computer Science at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), and the director of the Computational Approaches to Modeling Language (CAMeL) Lab. Professor Habash specializes in natural language processing and computational linguistics.  He received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Maryland College Park in 2003. He has two bachelors degrees, one in Computer Engineering and one in Linguistics and Languages from Old Dominion University. His research includes extensive work on machine translation, morphological analysis, and computational modeling of Arabic and its dialects. Professor Habash has been a principal investigator or co-investigator on over 25 research grants. And he has over 250 publications including a book entitled "Introduction to Arabic Natural Language Processing". Professor Habash is one of the recipients of the King Salman Academy for Arabic Language Award (2022); and he is the recipient of the Antonio Zampolli Prize (2024). His website is www.nizarhabash.com.

 

Connect with Nizar Habash 👉 https://www.instagram.com/nizarhabash/

Hosted by:
Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/?hl=en-gb

FOLLOW & RATE THE AFIKRA PODCAST:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/lb/podcast/the-afikra-podcast/id1529437743
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5nafoF1Zs7F48mGZjlhrze
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014643869

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK
Explore all episodes in this series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5xaTkBDrUKLCulvoCE8ubX&feature=shared

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Imperialism was a masterclass in maintaining the fiction of autonomy while quietly acquiring the assets of an empire. Professor James Onley, chair of Gulf and Arab Studies at the American University of Sharjah, dissects the sophisticated loopholes used by colonial powers to exert influence without the liabilities of formal control. This conversation highlights the deep-seated socioeconomic connections between India and the Gulf, a relationship far older than the modern state system. Dr. Onley provides a nuanced look at the collaborative nature of empire on the cheap, where local elites often navigated British protection to secure their own regional interests. From the arrival of Arab nationalism to the digital preservation of over two million archival pages in the Qatar Digital Library, this dialogue reveals the shifting layers of identity and power that have shaped the Arabian Peninsula.

 

0:00 Introduction

5:11 Distinctive Traits of British Presence in the Gulf

9:05 Millennia of Deep-seated Indo-Gulf Ties

13:17 Divergent Theories on Imperial Motivations

15:40 Indigenous Collaboration and the Native Agent Network

18:49 Transitioning from Formal Control to Security Guarantees

19:57 The Enduring Economic Gravity of India

23:01 Navigating the Administrative Hierarchies of Empire

24:45 Legal Fictions and the Optics ofinfluence

28:04 Shared sovereignty and empire on the Cheap

32:55 Friction and Resistance Across the Regional Map

36:40 Shifting Layers of Identity Before Nationalism

41:40 Reorienting from the Indian Ocean to the Arab World

54:36 Digital Preservation and the Democratizing of Archives

 

James Onley is the Ahmed Seddiqi Chair in Gulf & Arab Studies and Professor of History. He specializes in the history and heritage of the Gulf region, the Gulf's historical connections with South Asia, archives and archival digitization, and digital humanities. He is Founding Editor of the Journal of Arabian Studies (est. 2011). Before joining AUS, he was Director of Historical Research at Qatar National Library, responsible for digitizing historical records for the Qatar Digital Library (www.QDL.qa), and Director of the Centre for Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter.

 

Connect with James Onley 👉 https://instagram.com/@james_onley

Hosted by:
Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/?hl=en-gb

FOLLOW & RATE THE AFIKRA PODCAST:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/lb/podcast/the-afikra-podcast/id1529437743
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5nafoF1Zs7F48mGZjlhrze
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014643869

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK
Explore all episodes in this series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5xaTkBDrUKLCulvoCE8ubX&feature=shared

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Theatrical stages often mirror the intricate evolution of the societies that build them. Professor Carmen Gitre explores the burgeoning performance culture of Cairo between 1867 and 1930. This era witnessed a shift from street storytelling and shadow plays to formal theater houses designed for an emerging class of Western-educated intellectuals. The discussion traverses the grand spectacle of the Suez Canal’s opening to the subversive nationalist songs of performers like Mounira al-Mahdiyya. Through this historical lens, the stage appears as a critical site for negotiating modernity, colonial influence, and Egyptian identity.

 

00:00 Introduction

01:28 The Evolution of Performance

03:56 Commissioning an Operatic Staple for a Global Stage

07:35 Street Storytelling & the Shadows of Earlier Traditions

12:02 Urban Redesign Mirroring a Parisian Vision of Modernity

18:46 Defensive Developmentalism & the Weight of Sovereign Debt

27:21 Syrian Practitioners & the Burgeoning Role of the Press

32:31 Efendi vs. Basha

39:01 Vernacular Choices for an Elevated Public Education

44:31 Satirical Observations through a Modernist Lens

51:14 The nuances of the women's movement

57:04 Disembodied Voices in the Era of Early Recording

58:00 Performances Spilling into the Nationalist Fervor of 1919

01:03:02 Cinematic Transitions and Legacies for the Everyman

 

Carmen Gitre is an Associate Professor of Middle East History and Associate Chair of History at Virginia Tech University. She earned her Ph.D. at Rutgers University in 2011. From 2011 to 2014, she taught in the International Studies and History Departments at Seattle University. Her academic interests include cultural history, imperialism, and the relationship between performance, identity, and modernity in Egypt. Her book, Acting Egyptian: Theater, Identity, and Political Culture in Cairo, 1867-1930, was published by the University of Texas Press in 2019. Other publications include 'The Dramatic Middle East: Performance as History in Egypt and Beyond,' and 'Nonsense and Morality: Comedy in Interwar Egypt.' Her current work delves more deeply into interwar art, performance, and cultural influence in Egypt.

 

Connect with Carmen Gitre 👉 https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-history/faculty/carmen-gitre.html

Hosted by:
Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/?hl=en-gb

FOLLOW & RATE THE AFIKRA PODCAST:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/lb/podcast/the-afikra-podcast/id1529437743
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5nafoF1Zs7F48mGZjlhrze
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014643869

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK
Explore all episodes in this series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5xaTkBDrUKLCulvoCE8ubX&feature=shared

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.