0:00 Intro

2:40 Storyteller

10:59 School Years

18:06 Instagram

27:57 Liberating

32:52 Modern Beirut

42:12 Focus of Beirut

49:07 Diaspora

1:02:54 'Lebanese'

1:10:20 Nahda

1:18:46 National Narrative

1:44:20 Phoenicia

1:57:35 Collateral

1:59:55 Saydet el Bzez

We're with Charles al-Hayek for Episode 270 of The Beirut Banyan.

Click to watch:

https://youtu.be/4Io4GQGssdY

We discuss the importance of storytelling, history education and the 'liberation' that comes with learning from our collective past.

Our conversation includes all that is modern Beirut, from rapid economic growth in the late 19th and early 20th century and the cosmopolitanism that defined us, to an exploration of Lebanese identity, national narrative and myth.

We also talk about the Nahda's impact on Beirut, why certain words bring out particular sensitivities and a brief discussion on fertility cults including 'Saydet el Bzez'.

Charles al-Hayek is a history instructor.

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Music by Marc Codsi. Animation & illustration by Sana Chaaban.