After finally reaching Europe, Aizen was back in jail. He had calculated that the journey from Afghanistan to France would take three months. But more than two years later, he was somewhere completely different. Then, finally, his luck started to turn.

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.

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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.

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‘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.

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‘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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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We’re thrilled to share another podcast from Kerning Cultures Network with you: “Beyond the Raging Sea: State of Mind”.

In 2016, Omar Samra called Omar Nour with a life-changing idea: “How about we row across the Atlantic Ocean?” Within a matter of hours, the two were registered to compete in the world’s toughest race: a 3,000-mile unsupported row across the mighty Atlantic Ocean, in a seven-meter rowing boat. However, nine days into their journey, when their boat capsized in a severe storm and the life raft didn't open, they came face-to-face with death.

State of Mind is produced by Kerning Cultures Network. 

Lobna Monieb is the host of State of Mind. This episode was produced by Lobna, and edited by Heba El-Sherif. Fact-checking by Deena Sabry and sound design by Monzer El-Hachem. Special thanks to Dr. Anna Lembke for speaking to us for this episode.