We were joined by the wonderful Bijhan Agha, a Persian-American author and creator living in Uruguay. Bijhan talked about her wonderful creation, Kobra Olympus.  Kobra is a trans, lesbian hijabi superhero with adventures that can be accessed and followed by you all if you get the comic when it comes out!  In this episode, Bijhan and Ellie dive in to some comic book history and discuss some of the nods to some older work by Kobra, as well as the many factors that make the Kobra comic so unique. We also talk about what led Bijhan and her partner to…

Episode 207 [in English]:  Bijhan on Kobra Olympus!

We start off this episode by asking an AI to write a script for our podcast and doing a reading (did the AI get it right?) Then we talk about our actual lives. We discuss the legal attacks on trans rights in several Southern US states, plus some random transphobes at Waffle House. We commiserate about the challenges and doubts we’ve been encountering surrounding our respective careers. We also talk about how (queer) bar culture and etiquette have shifted due to dating apps, Buc-ees, squirrels, and the new Zelda game.

Episode 206 [in English]:  The Artificially Intelligent Queer Arabs

( See a walkthrough of Noor’s exhibit here! Hayati – My Life/My Love ) Noor Aldayeh is a visual artist from Los Angeles, California. She is an Honors Film and Media student at Emory University minoring in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality studies, and acts as a student photographer for the Office of Belonging Community and Justice at the university. Our conversation centered around Noor’s thesis project ​​”Hayati (حياتي) – My Life / My Love,” an archive of queer, Middle Eastern and North African women and gender non-conforming-individuals across the US photographed alongside their personal safe spaces.  Noor discusses what drew…

Episode 205 [in English]:  Hayati

Alma Doumani is the bassist for Slave to Sirens, an all-women thrash metal band from Lebanon that gained international attention through the documentary Sirens, which depicts the lives of the band members over three years. Outside of music, Alma is also a photographer and video producer.  In the episode, Alma talks us through her love for the complexity of metal music, how she got connected to the band, and how the documentary process started with a Facebook message from Rita Baghdadi. She also describes what it was like to have such pivotal moments in her and her bandmates’ lives thoroughly…

Episode 204: Alma of Slave to Sirens!

Rayan Afif is a multi-media artist and theater maker of Egyptian and Lebanese descent making work that envisions queer SWANA futures. Rayan discussed some of their visual art which depicts dream physical spaces—including a mana’eesh cafe and queer SWANA drag race—and the importance of online community spaces when physical ones are not available. They also described their journey into playwriting and some of their theater projects, including a play exploring the effects of the Beirut explosion on two sisters, a historical fiction piece about a queer Egyptian in the 1950s (researched by interviewing their grandmother and great-grandmother), and an interactive…

Episode 203 [in English]:  Rayan Afif

Rana Fayez

In this episode, we caught up with Rana Fayez, an Arab, non-binary, arts producer, musician/sound artist, DJ, archivist, and founder of YallaPunk. Rana told us how they started YallaPunk in 2016 in response to political attacks on the SWANA community and how the organization has evolved since then, including the festivals, language practice groups, pandemic-era community kitchen, residencies, and pop-up events. They also talked about the mental health tolls of being in a quasi-community-organizer role, the unrealistic expectations placed on individuals with a moderately-sized public platform, and how they’ve learned to set boundaries around their time, energy, and social media…

Episode 202 [in English]:  Rana Fayez

Tarik Zahr is a Lebanese PhD candidate in New York City; his focus is the study of NASH and Atherosclerosis. We were excited to have this episode dedicated to science, to learn about some of the ways metabolic diseases can manifest, and to discuss how his research may be able to benefit individuals of Middle Eastern descent.  We also discussed queer Arab science, the importance of archiving, and the need for diverse representation within the medical research field. (Science!) Twitter: tarik_zahr

Episode 201 [in English]:  Tarik Zahr

It’s our 200th episode! Alia, Ellie, and Nadia celebrate with a deep and messy group chat. We recall the early days of the podcast and some tough lessons about trust learned along the way. Then we discuss the World Cup, the brief resurgence of pan-Arabism surrounding the Moroccan team, and what we think of discourse on migrant workers’ rights, LGBTQ rights, and alcohol in Qatar. We talk about how frustrating our mental healthcare system can be when it comes to seeking non-emergency support, and what’s missing from the “check on your friends” memos. We also vague-cast (the podcast equivalent of…

Episode 200 [in English]!

Sarah Bitar is an actor, writer, and teaching artist from Lebanon. Since graduating from the Stella Adler School of Acting, she has been living and creating in NYC. Sarah joined us to talk about her experiences in both the Lebanese and New York theater scenes, and the relative challenges of finding space, funding, community, and consistency in each.  Sarah mentions her recent/upcoming projects including: Stockade, a thriller film directed by Eric McGinty, in which Sarah plays a Lebanese painter in NYC–amidst her artist visa application process–who takes on a job delivering a mysterious parcel. Diss Oriental, a play co-written with…

Episode 199 [in English]:  Sarah Bitar

Elias Jahshan is a Palestinian/Lebanese-Australian journalist, writer and editor. He most recently edited the anthology This Arab Is Queer, which features eighteen queer Arab writers (including a good handful of former podcast guests) sharing stories across a variety of locations, experiences, and aesthetic styles. Elias joined us to talk about growing up in Western Sydney, breaking into the journalism field in Australia and England, and the assumptions he encountered while writing for both Arab and LGBTQ centered publications. He also discussed the process of putting this memoir together, the particular care involved in editing personal work, the quandaries involved in…

Episode 198 [in English]:  This Arab Is Queer

I don&#39;t typically listen to podcasts but I am now a devoted listener of The Queer Arabs. Hosts Alia, Ellie, Ahmed and Kilian lead thoughtful discussions on queer Arab identity in America and abroad. Guest speakers are common and come from a range of professional backgrounds, from artists and journalists to activists and doctors. Highly recommended!

Excellent podcast

Pretty good queer arabs. Would be better in space.

Good, but not a space musical

The Queer Arabs

On this episode, we talk about listener feedback we’ve gotten and how we intend to implement the suggestions we’ve received! Then, Ellie starts explaining the complexity that is Lebanon, and Alia explores the factors that have led Saudi Arabia to be such a closed society.  Both of us are reminded just how daunting these topics are, which makes it clear how important it is to keep learning and talking about these topics over many episodes in the future. During this episode, we point to a wonderful Facebook post that our friend brought to our attention; with the permission of the…

Episode 3: Feeling Overwhelmed

Abdullah Al Busaidi

معكم الحلقه ٤ من برنامج الميم العربي. الجزء الثاني من اللقاء مع ضيف البرنامج عبدالله البوسعيدي من عمان

Episode 3 in Arabic, part 2: Abdullah Al Busaidi

We are so excited for this episode!  We guarantee you’ll love getting to know Andrea through this.  We’ll give you all a heads up when their book is available (set to come out Jan. 2019)! Andrea Abi-Karam is an arab-american genderqueer punk poet-performer cyborg, writing on the art of killing bros, the intricacies of cyborg bodies, trauma &amp; delayed healing. Their chapbook, THE AFTERMATH (Commune Editions, 2016), attempts to queer Fanon’s vision of how poetry fails to inspire revolution. Simone White selected Andrea’s second assemblage Villainy for forthcoming publication with Les Figues. They toured with Sister Spit March 2018 &amp;…

Episode 34 in English: Punk Poet-Performer Cyborg Andrea!

(معكم الحلقه ٧ من برنامج الميم العربي – الجزء الاول من اللقاء مع أنس (شاب مثلي سوري يسكن في كندا

Episode 7 in Arabic: A Chat with Anas, pt. 1

Saleem Haddad

We are so incredibly grateful and excited that we have writer Saleem Haddad on our podcast!  This was an excellent discussion during which we talked about Saleem’s novel Guapa, some of his essays, and his latest work.  “Marco” is a short film that Saleem wrote and directed; it just premiered recently in Tunisia and the UK.  It’s a 20-minute film that carried the intellectual &amp; emotional weight of a full-length film.  It’s powerful and will stay in your mind longterm.  Follow @marcoshortfilm on Instagram to stay updated on when and where you can see it. During this episode, we also…

Episode 61:  Saleem Haddad!

حلقه ٢٦ بالعربي: الحلقه “الغريبه”. مقابله من جاد تانك عن تجربته مع الثوره في #لبنان Arabic Episode 26: The “Weird” episode. We talked to our returning guest Jadd Tank about his experience with the ongoing Lebanese Revolution. Listen to Jadd’s other episodes: Episode 12 in Arabic:  https://thequeerarabs.com/podcast/episode-12-in-arabic-conversation-with-artist-jadd-tank/  Episode 42 in English:  https://thequeerarabs.com/podcast/episode-42-jadd-tank-dancer-choreographer/  Outro audio is from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IBbqEPGsUk&amp;feature=share&amp;fbclid=IwAR3DxER8NWjH5vF0tQgi4DhMZO-LfoOqHqkBKKCkFq49mi76DiClJRJWaT8

حلقه ٢٦ بالعربي: الحلقه “الغريبه”. مقابله من جاد تانك عن تجربته مع الثوره في #لبنان Arabic Episode 26: The “Weird” episode. We talked to our returning guest Jadd Tank about his experience with the ongoing Lebanese Revolution. Listen to Jadd’s other episodes: Episode 12 in Arabic:  <a href="https://thequeerarabs.com/podcast/episode-12-in-arabic-conversation-with-artist-jadd-tank/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://thequeerarabs.com/podcast/episode-12-in-arabic-conversation-with-artist-jadd-tank/</a>  Episode 42 in English:  <a href="https://thequeerarabs.com/podcast/episode-42-jadd-tank-dancer-choreographer/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://thequeerarabs.com/podcast/episode-42-jadd-tank-dancer-choreographer/</a>  Outro audio is from: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IBbqEPGsUk&amp;feature=share&amp;fbclid=IwAR3DxER8NWjH5vF0tQgi4DhMZO-LfoOqHqkBKKCkFq49mi76DiClJRJWaT8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IBbqEPGsUk&amp;feature=share&amp;fbclid=IwAR3DxER8NWjH5vF0tQgi4DhMZO-LfoOqHqkBKKCkFq49mi76DiClJRJWaT8</a>

Episode 26 in Arabic: The “Weird” Episode

(This photo is a screenshot of our hangout with each other and our cats during the recording of this episode.) We had an incredible guest named Nadia Khayrallah on; she is Lebanese-American and based in NYC.  Nadia is a freelance dancer, choreographer, and writer; she also sometimes works on filmmaking.  We had a great conversation with her about representation of queer MENA folks in media (spoiler alert: there needs to be more of it)!  We are excited to have gotten connected with her.  You can check out her work and connect with her here: http://nadiak.tk/https://nadiainherownworld.wordpress.com/https://www.instagram.com/nadiainherownworld/ She also shared…

(This photo is a screenshot of our hangout with each other and our cats during the recording of this episode.) We had an incredible guest named Nadia Khayrallah on; she is Lebanese-American and based in NYC.  Nadia is a freelance dancer, choreographer, and writer; she also sometimes works on filmmaking.  We had a great conversation with her about representation of queer MENA folks in media (spoiler alert: there needs to be more of it)!  We are excited to have gotten connected with her.  You can check out her work and connect with her here: <a href="http://nadiak.tk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://nadiak.tk/</a><a href="https://nadiainherownworld.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://nadiainherownworld.wordpress.com/</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nadiainherownworld/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/nadiainherownworld/</a> She also shared…

Episode 28 in English: Talking with Nadia on Queer MENA Representation in the Media

On this episode, we talk with our wonderful friend Sadie.  Sadie talks about the dynamics of being queer, Muslim, and black, and the compartmentalization that society tends to impose on a person who has multiple parts of their identity that are marginalized.  It is always vital to ask oneself: What is unconditional acceptance?  Full acceptance of a person’s identity means just that: accepting a person fully.  We loved our conversation with Sadie.  Our one regret is the sound quality (we had some acoustics problems while being “on the road”/mobile as a podcast crew).  However, we think you all will love…

Episode 23: Let’s Talk About Unconditional Acceptance

الحلقه ١٨ بالعربي: لقاء مع الكاتب و الناقد الكويري العربي موسى الشديدي. مؤسس و مدير موقع سينمجي و مؤلف كتاب “جنسانيه ام كلثوم” Episode 18 in Arabic: an interview with Musa Shadeedi, a queer Arab author and critic, founder and director of Cinamji, &amp; author of “Um Kalthom’s Sexuality” and other books. Painting credit: Lena Kassicieh الصورهً من عمل الفنانة لينا قساوسة Get the book: https://booksatcafe.com/products/product-355?variant=18560567378017 https://jamalon.com/en/1033322.html?fbclid=IwAR3–9T3AykRoIV3hkg_rIlq-fGWjgERNzL5056PYjII5IB9XkQEHaOXpNc

الحلقه ١٨ بالعربي: لقاء مع الكاتب و الناقد الكويري العربي موسى الشديدي. مؤسس و مدير موقع سينمجي و مؤلف كتاب “جنسانيه ام كلثوم” Episode 18 in Arabic: an interview with Musa Shadeedi, a queer Arab author and critic, founder and director of Cinamji, &amp; author of “Um Kalthom’s Sexuality” and other books. Painting credit: Lena Kassicieh الصورهً من عمل الفنانة لينا قساوسة Get the book: <a href="https://booksatcafe.com/products/product-355?variant=18560567378017" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://booksatcafe.com/products/product-355?variant=18560567378017</a> <a href="https://jamalon.com/en/1033322.html?fbclid=IwAR3–9T3AykRoIV3hkg_rIlq-fGWjgERNzL5056PYjII5IB9XkQEHaOXpNc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://jamalon.com/en/1033322.html?fbclid=IwAR3–9T3AykRoIV3hkg_rIlq-fGWjgERNzL5056PYjII5IB9XkQEHaOXpNc</a>

Episode 18 in Arabic: Musa Al-Shadeedi!

Photo credit: Tarek Moukaddem Contact: tarekmoukaddem@gmail.com @tarekmoukaddem on Instagram It’s hard to know where to begin with this episode description aside from the fact that this is an utter gem.  “Don’t Be Chai, She Brought the Tea” is the title Hilal (@thelebanesemafia on IG) came up with.  He got us together with the amazing Lebanese drag queen Emma Gration, and Omar Fattal was so kind and hosted us.  If you listened to Tarek Zeidan’s episode recently, you may recall him mentioning Emma Gration; Emma went to NYC for World Pride, and it was such a privilege to spend this time…

Episode 72: Don’t Be Chai, She Brought the Tea

Times like these make us glad we aren’t on a network – we can title our episodes however the fuck we want. This is a very short episode but it’s packed with information; Ellie shares what it has been like preparing for surgery.  She speaks very honestly on this episode, and anyone wishing to learn a bit about the process can do so with this episode.  You can reach out directly to Ellie with further questions or just to chat: Insta – elliewantstoshitpost Twitter – EllieQueerArabs

Episode 87: Suck My Ass, Not My Dick

Photo credit: Trish Badger Join us for this very fun &amp; meaningful conversation with Miriam Hakim, lead singer of the punk band Giant Kitty.  We talk to Miriam about many things: music, her Syrian-American identity, forming our own communities, and so much more.  We had such a blast during this episode and we hope our listeners will enjoy listening to this great discussion. As mentioned at the end of the episode, we made Spotify playlists!  Miriam talked about how she and her friends used to make mixed CDs for each other, and she suggested we each make a playlist for…

Episode 7: Wildly Emoting Arabs

Voguer Hoedy Saad

We (Nadia &amp; Alia) got to talk to Lebanese vogue dancer Hoedy Saad!  You may remember hearing from Hoedy for a bit during Emma Gration’s podcast episode; we were excited to get to talk more.  On this episode, Hoedy talks about the steadily increasingly visible vogue scene in Lebanon, the background of vogue, and the impact vogue (and also drag, as the two arts often overlap at events) has on the queer scene and even outside the queer sphere.  By the way, Hoedy’s other passion is his animals; Hoedy is also now a veterinarian!  We got to talk a little…

Episode 77 in English: Voguer Hoedy Saad!

Hadi Damien

Arabic Episode 16: An update from #Lebanon with Hadi Damien (Beirut Pride’s Coordinator). We talked about the media in #Lebanon, legal updates regarding #Grinder, and the pending bill regarding #HIV. الحلقه ١٦ بالعربي: مستجدات من لبنان من هادي داميان (منسق بيروت برايد). تكلمنا عن مستجدات الإعلام في #لبنان و القضايا القانونية المتعلقة ب #غرايندر والقانون المقترح بصدد فيروس نقص المناعة المكتسب.

Episode 16 in Arabic: Update from Lebanon with Hadi Damien

It was so good talking with Neda Shaheen, who works for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (https://www.adc.org) in Washington, DC.  We talked about the organization and the role Neda has within it.  We also talked about the asylum process in the United States, the overall justice system, and so much more.  Neda is incredibly brilliant and we are so grateful to her cousin Leila (check out Leila Khoury’s episode, which is episode 57!) got us in touch with Neda.  We learned a lot from talking with her and we hope everyone will support the ADC in any way they can.  Follow…

It was so good talking with Neda Shaheen, who works for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (<a href="https://www.adc.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.adc.org</a>) in Washington, DC.  We talked about the organization and the role Neda has within it.  We also talked about the asylum process in the United States, the overall justice system, and so much more.  Neda is incredibly brilliant and we are so grateful to her cousin Leila (check out Leila Khoury’s episode, which is episode 57!) got us in touch with Neda.  We learned a lot from talking with her and we hope everyone will support the ADC in any way they can.  Follow…

Episode 67 in English: The Game is Rigged

Arabic Episode 25: An interview with Alaa Taha. Alaa is a Baghdad-based Iraqi Asexual activist who co-authored a book about asexuality and started a number of social media accounts bringing awareness to the topic. حلقه ٢٥ بالعربي: مقابله مع الناشطة العراقية آلاء ياسين طه. تكلمنا عن مفهوم #اللاجنسيه و إوضاع #اللاجنسيين في العالم العربي. أيضا تكلمنا مع آلاء حول الكتاب الي تم تأليفه عن الموضوع و حسابات التعريف عن #اللاجنسيه على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي الفديو ادناه تجدون تعريف وشرح مختصر وموجز عن #اللاجنسية ،  بعد مشاهدة الفديو اذا اردتم الاطلاع اكثر عنها فيمكنكم معرفة وقراءة المنشورات بحسب المجال الذي تودون…

Episode 25 in Arabic: AsexArab

We got to talk to an incredible music and visual artist, Amanda Bahia. They’re so creative and talented, and we are grateful to have gotten to talk about their music, drawing, and experience growing up in a Palestinian-American family in the United States. ALSO!! It’s February 15 and today is Amanda Bahia’s EP release party in Cleveland. (If you’re in the area, go to it!!) Listen on Bandcamp: https://almanak.bandcamp.com/releases Connect with Amanda on Instagram @almanakmusic_You can email them at almanak.speaks@gmail.com re: bookings.

We got to talk to an incredible music and visual artist, Amanda Bahia. They’re so creative and talented, and we are grateful to have gotten to talk about their music, drawing, and experience growing up in a Palestinian-American family in the United States. ALSO!! It’s February 15 and today is Amanda Bahia’s EP release party in Cleveland. (If you’re in the area, go to it!!) Listen on Bandcamp: <a href="https://almanak.bandcamp.com/releases" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://almanak.bandcamp.com/releases</a> Connect with Amanda on Instagram @almanakmusic_You can email them at almanak.speaks@gmail.com re: bookings.

Episode 51 in English: Yalla, Meet Amanda Bahia!

Tania Safi

We are incredibly honored and grateful to have talked with Tania Safi! Tania grew up in Sydney, Australia, and has done extensive work in media journalism internationally. Tania is a filmmaker; she was head of video for Buzzfeed Australia and then moved to Los Angeles, where she was the senior video producer for Bring Me and Buzzfeed Entertainment. Nadia Khayrallah co-hosted this episode with us and we had a very fun and meaningful discussion. Tania Safi’s presence in the media has made us feel represented. It is not often that we get to see queer SWANA representation, and Tania has…

Episode 48: We’re Raising a Camel with Tania Safi

What’s that? Belly dancers should have long hair and shave their legs and underarms? Well, not this one! A UN award winner and named by the BBC top 100 influential women worldwide, this Egyptian, hairy, bearded, pierced and tattooed Queer Refugee dancer will give you a very authentic performance with a twist! ♥ We will not conform to your gender roles ♥ In this episode, we talked about belly dancing in the UK context vs. the Egypt context, about family separation relating to immigration (content warning: there is talk about detention and, later in the episode, also about torture.  Listen…

Episode 66 in English: Dancing Queer!

الحلقه ٢٠ بالعربي: مقابله من فاطمه. ناشطه في مجال حقوق مجتمع الميم في #كندا. تكلمنا عن #شهر_الفخر و #احتفال_الفخر_العالمي و الجدل المثار حول موضوع #مسيره_الفخر في مقاطعه #البرتا في #كندا Arabic Episode 20: an interview with Fatima. A #queer activist from #canada. We talked about the #pride month, #worldpride, and the controversy surrounding #pride in #Alberta #canada

Episode 20 in Arabic: Discussion on Pride with Fatima in Canada

The best podcast episodes about true crime. For any thrill seeking podcast listeners who just can't get enough of the captivating stories of murderers and criminals. This topic has all the best episodes from many different true crime podcasts.  Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best True Crime Podcasts

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