The Queer Arabs

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…

It’s that time of year again!  This episode is from the Yallapunk festival (year 3).  The episode features some of this year’s Yallapunk participants/attendees: Phil and Nadim, the Lebanese-Canadian electronic duo Wake Island http://www.wakeislandmusic.com/ IG: wakeislandmusic Phil and Nadim talk about the tour they’re currently on, the set they had for Yallapunk, and the importance of touring in regions of the world that are often overlooked. Miriam Hakim, solo singer/guitarist, and singer of the punk band Giant Kitty Listen on: Bandcamp iTunes Spotify IG: giantkittyband, kuzbaramusic Miriam brought up Giant Kitty’s part in the upcoming film “Acid Test”, talked about…

I (Alia) have some friends (Adam and Matt) visiting, and they graciously said yes to being on the podcast with about 5 minutes of notice!  We ended up talking about ghosts, Karens/Chads we have encountered, and even fresh air (listen to the end of the episode to understand why the episode is called what it is).  On a much more serious note, Matt and Adam also touched on topics such as authoritarianism, white privilege, and intolerance.  The study of political psychology is, of course, always crucially relevant to our everyday lives.  Enjoy what turned out to be a pretty amazing…

We (Ellie and Alia) talk about upcoming Yallapunk, all the changes going down in our lives this year, and more.  This is a relatively short episode but we touch on quite a bit.  Thank you all for listening; stay tuned soon for more on Yallapunk! The article we talked about in part of the episode is here: https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-the-mideast-s-stonewall-fight-for-lgbtq-rights-rages-on-1.7423556

We (Nadia & 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…

الحلقه ٢٤ بالعربي: مقابله مع الفنان نيكولاس شلهوب. تكلمنا عن تجربه نيكولاس مع الفن، الخروج من الخزانه، زواجه، والمقابلة الشهيرة مع نيشان على تلفزيون الجديد. Arabic Episode 24: An interview with Nicolas Chalhoub. We talked about Nicolas’ songs, coming out, marriage, and appearance on NewTV. Facebook: www.facebook.com/nicolas.chalhoub.official Twitter @nicolaschalhoub Instagram @nicolaschalhoub    

Leslie Gray joined us for this episode to discuss many enlightening topics (we’re shameless about our light puns).  The reason for the light puns is because Leslie is involved in theater, and he operates the lighting equipment during productions.  We talked about that during this episode, along with the time he spent at NYU Abu Dhabi as a student.  He also discussed his research and the mixed implications of visibility in the context of Pride or other externally accessible queer spaces.  Leslie talked about the privilege that comes with the ability to be visible, and discusses how the model of…

We got to talk to Tim Murphy, author of the novels Correspondents & Christodora!  This episode focuses on his latest novel (Correspondents).  The book is incredible and we recommend it to everyone.  Elements of the novel’s plot include the US invasion of Iraq, migration, and blended families (in this case, a mixed Irish & Lebanese family in the US).  This is a powerful novel which conveys some of the most complex human feelings that are not often put into words (such as some of the darkest, hard-to-talk-about moral dilemmas).  Enjoy the book and enjoy this wonderful convo!  We think you’ll…

Ellie and Alia discuss Alia’s upcoming move, thoughts from Pride, Ellie’s upcoming surgery, Haaretz (more to come on another episode), and more!

This episode contains various clips from conversations and experiences during World Pride in NYC this year!  ENJOY! Some of the folks you’ll hear from this episode can be followed at these IG handles: @nadiainherownworld @flexedfeet @adamelsayigh @sumsumneela @lesliethegray Also follow: @tarabnycorg