The Philosophical Mindset

Table of contents below.

Reem Saleh is a Lebanese Filmmaker. She is currently Associate Director of External Relations and Partnerships at NYUAD Arts Center. She's chaotic, passionate, and a globetrotter. 

Adopting a dog: Drogo: 00:01:40

Reem's educational and career backgrounds: 00:05:50

"To be on the field gives you a very different perspective.": 00:13:35

A discussion of Reem's movie 'What Comes Around' (death, poverty, community, solidarity, FGM): 00:18:05

Female genital mutilation: 00:32:00

Top-down vs bottom-up awareness campaigns: 00:45:20

An anecdote during filming: 00:47:10

The dire economic situation in Lebanon ("no one is immune to poverty): 00:52:30

Mazen Barbir's question: "why do succeed at an individual level but fail collectively?": 00:56:30

Issues with which university students struggle (multiple jobs, stress, competition, social pressure [what would people say about you?], mental health, struggling to save the appearance): 00:59:00

Solidarity and helping each other out [Kilna Ya3ni Kilna, and other initiatives]: 01:10:05

Meeting Jason Silva: 01:13:00

Future projects [a new documentary about alienation, displacement, identity, what is home]: 01:18:25

What prompted the idea for the documentary: on being vulnerable and feeling helpless: 01:20:30

What is leadership? A sports example; athlete's mental strength: 01:24:00

Relevant links:

Movie: 'What Comes Around', https://journeyman.tv/film/7423

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meemzo

Drogo's Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/drogattitude/

Support the channel: 

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Table of content below.

Elias Bou-Issa, Lebanese poet and author, records and books hunter, born in Ehden in 1984, currently living and working as a telecom engineer in The Netherlands.

Corona-made beards: 00:01:00

Dutch vs Lebanese work-ethic and attitude towards work: 00:04:45

Law and law enforcement in Lebanon: 00:07:45

Moving to France: 00:11:30

French vs Dutch work culture: 00:22:33

The importance of workplace trust: 00:26:00

French revolution: 00:27:15

French syndicate, the de-naturing of 'noble' causes, empty activism, and NGOs: 00:33:35

Lockdown in the Netherlands: 00:47:52

Tai Chi class anecdote, the meaning of life, and cultural appropriation: 00:50:12

NGOs and the bureaucratization of institutions: 00:58:00

French revolution genocide: 01:06:50

US vs Lebanese Social Justice Warriors; victimology narratives : 01:10:10

University dorms in France: 01:17:50

The Bulgarian connection, culture and traditions: 01:23:20

Lebanese stress: 01:39:00

Elias the writer and poet; 1st published book: 01:44:15

Linguists with agendas: 01:49:30

Latin va arabic script to write Lebanese poetry: 01:54:30

We use English and French in Lebanon to fill a linguistic void: 02:11:35

Fairuz and the Rahbanis' contribution to language. Their corpus filled a linguistic void but was brought to a halt during and in the aftermath of the civil war. (Natouret l mfeti7): 02:14:00 

Masra7iyet Loulou: 02:24:07

Where far right and far left meet: a psychoanalytic interpretation of these stances: 02:34:10

Record and book hunting/collecting: 02:39:00

Give me three words, cafe concept: 02:50:53

Relevant links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/encrier

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Table of contents below.

Miled and Melissa are an ex-pat Lebanese married couple based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. They create digital content that focuses on their travel escapes, useful tips and tricks, and their favorite places in the UAE and its surroundings.

Introduction (the name, background, COVID impact and working from home): 00:00:46

Deciding to start a travel vlog and blog page on Instagram and Facebook first and then on YouTube: 00:11:06

Attitude towards tourism and tourists of people in the MENA region: 00:15:22

A discussion about vlogging culture in the MENA region, why does it seem not to be so popular? (Lebanon vs other countries in the region): 00:17:34

The difficulties content creators face in Lebanon because of internet connection: 00:20:33

There are many things you can learn on YouTube than on other social media platforms, and why creating content on it is very demanding: 00:23:19

Youtube algorithm, and video length requirements to make your videos more visible: 00:25:50

Why The Rahal's content is different (spontaneous, informative, interesting, and fun): 00:28:10

Deciding whether or not to record on a trip, whether or not it feels like a burden (the Oman anecdote): 00:31:56

Do The Rahals argue over the idea, content, or editing of their travel videos? 00:38:50

Monetization of Youtube channel in the MENA region: 00:40:00

Vegetable Conspiracies shoutout: 00:41:36

You work for YouTube, and so you have to adapt accordingly: 00:43:20

Coming up for a storyline of the videos, pre or post-recording? 00:46:40

Recording on a honeymoon? How about maybe? 00:47:50

Organized or plan as you go trips? 00:49:10

Why Medellin? 00:51:30

The Argentina experience (DecafQuest): 00:55:06

The Colombia experience (the.Rahal): 00:57:00

The Guatape experience: 01:01:00

Thoughts on the South America trip and the cultural shock of traveling to new continents: 01:04:36

The more we travel, the more we discover that we all face the same struggles and conflicts: 01:07:20

Japan vs China: 01:09:45

Lebanon as not a cosmopolitan country; we are not that exposed to people from other countries or backgrounds:01:12:20

The importance of seeking to constantly improve oneself, and how travel can help: 01:14:40

The best dish in the world: labneh and sardines? 01:18:00

Deciding to create a YouTube channel: 01:23:06

Melissa talks to plants? What?: 01:24:50

What is your reaction to how people react when they know Mel speaks Chinese? 01:26:30

The philosophical dimension of the Chinese language: 01:31:00

People in the far east seem to be happy, is this true? 01:33:15

Urban vs suburban lifestyle: being chill and whatnot: 01:35:20

The lockdown experience in a frenetic lifestyle: 01:38:45

Social media platform of preference: 01:43:00

Working for YouTube? 01:44:09

Creating quality digital content: 01:47:00

Follow the.Rahal on social media at the below links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.rahal/

Youtube: youtube.com/therahal

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRahhal/

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

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Graham Griffiths is a political risk analyst with a particular focus on the Gulf. He studied philosophy and economics before getting an MA in Middle East studies.

Topics discussed: 

Political risk analysis: 4:48 

Importance of consulting services: 13:34 

Factoring in the unpredictable: 22:06 

Graham's educational background in economics and philosophy: 28:10 

Is 'middle eastern studies' a scam?: 32:56 

A critique of analytic philosophy: 40:00 

Philosophy between theory and practice (philosophy is more about asking questions): 45:00 

Universalism vs relativism in philosophy: 52:50 (Political correctness) 

Reconciling cultural diversity and ethical values within the consulting sphere: 58:20 

Political risk analysis job profile: 1:06:00 

The importance of factoring in geopolitical developments in the analysis before making final recommendations: 1:11:00 

The socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on the region: 1:18:00 

An overview of  Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid: 1:26:00 

Intellectual play: 1:28:47 A discussion of Nassim Taleb's books: 1:31:00 

The feasibility of wanting to be anti-fragile: 1:34:40 

Dislocating experiences COVID vs war: 1:48:00 

Graham's experience learning Arabic, and the difference between fus7a and local languages: 2:00:00

Relevant links: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_graham_rhys

Support the channel:  

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest  

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Also known as ‘Miss Word’, Adriana started her writing career at a very young age, publishing stories in local newspapers and magazines.  With 3 books to her account and a long career with multinationals and local agencies, she creates fun, fresh, attention-grabbing content and copy, working as a freelancer since she "emancipated herself from corporate slavery".

Relevant links: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/adrianaleboss 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adrianalebosswriter

Support the channel:  

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest  

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Nadim Kobeissi is a researcher in applied cryptography and the director of Symbolic Software, a small applied cryptography research office in Paris where Nadim and his team develop new scientific analysis tools and perform security audits for the private sector. Previously, Nadim taught computer security at NYU Paris. Nadim obtained his Ph.D. in December 2018 after doing research at Inria Paris while being accredited by ENS Paris.  

Relevant links: 

Personal website: www.nadim.computer 

An Investigation Into PEPP-PT: https://nadim.computer/posts/2020-04-17-pepppt.html 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaepora  

Support the channel:  Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest  

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Sultan Al-Qassemi is a columnist, art & architecture enthusiast, and currently visiting Instructor, Islamic Civilization & Societies program at Boston College.   

Relevant links: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SultanAlQassemi 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sultanalqassemi 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sultanalqassemi/ 

Barjeel Art Foundation: https://www.barjeelartfoundation.org/  

Support the channel: 

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Wissam Kamal is a Stand up Comedian, Digital Content Creator, and Filmmaker  

#Lebanese #comedy  

Relevant links: https://linktr.ee/WissamKamal  

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Wissam Kamal is a Stand up Comedian, Digital Content Creator, and Filmmaker  

Relevant links: https://linktr.ee/WissamKamal  

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest

Elie is a food Scientist and Geography/Rap/Wrestle Mania Geek  

Relevant Links: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElijahLeb92 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lebanese_culture_history/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LebanonCH  

Support the channel: 

Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest