I’m continuing my conversation with Thuraya Ismail, CEO of Mentor Arabia, an organisation dedicated to improving the well-being of the Arab youth. On this episode, Thuraya shares her insights on drug prevention, overcoming stigma and how this work intersects with her other passion for arts & film.

This episode is brought to you by:⁠

Chapters:

0:00 Coming up

3:27 Tackling drug prevention

12:12 Impact of Saudi Vision 2030

14:14 Supporting youth through arts

16:13 Expanding Mentor Arabia

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I’m delighted to welcome Thuraya Ismail. She's the CEO of Mentor Arabia, an organisation dedicated to improving the well-being of young Arabs in general, and towards drug prevention in particular. Since its launch in 2006, the organisation has reached more than 1.5 million beneficiaries and now operates across 12 countries. Stay tuned for more on that in Part 2 of our conversation next week.

I’m really impressed with Thuraya’s work, and I was happy to sit down and get a real in-depth look at her personal journey, including losing her father last year, and her work to mentor the youth of our region.

This episode is brought to you by:

Chapters

0:00 Coming up...

7:36 Career Beginnings at UNDP

13:53 Love for youth development

18:40 Transition to Mentor Arabia

21:52 Personal loss

29:00 Lightning Round

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I‘m joined today by a legend of from the world of architecture, Abdel Wahed El Wakil. I sat down with him a couple of weeks ago in Doha, where he now lives, to document his incredible journey, his vision for architecture as an industry, and Islamic architecture in particular.

Abdel Wahed has designed buildings around the world, including in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Paris and London. He also studied and worked under his mentor, Hassan Fathy, an architecture legend in his own right.

We’ll be continuing our conversation next week, where Abdel Wahed tells me about the evolution of architecture and materials, so stay tuned!

This episode is brought to you by:

Chapters:

0:00 Coming up

10:42 Architecture's Purpose

19:10 Materialism vs Spirituality

23:21 Cultural Revolution

26:34 Designing for the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies

37:58 Reviving Community Spaces

41:40 Lightning Round

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On this episode, you'll hear about the incredible message through art with designer Nada Debs and entrepreneur Sarah Beydoun, and the importance of preservation from Omniya Abdel Barr and artist Louis Barthelemy.

This episode is brought to you by Azza Fahmy Jewellery⁠

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I'm re-connecting today with award-winning film producer Mo Hefzy. Since I first spoke to him in 2022, Mo has had a series of successful releases, including 'Flight 404', 'Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo', 'Darwish', and many more.

0:00 Welcome to a new Encore

0:44 Growth of Saudi cinema

2:50 Challenges in Egyptian cinema

8:00 The impact of streaming

23:34 The Lightning Round

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We’re continuing my conversation with legendary architecture Abdel Wahed El Wakil. Today, we’re diving deep into the world of architecture and materials. This episode is a crash-course whether you're in the field, an enthusiast like me, or just want a better understanding of the world around us. Abdel Wahed also tells me about the spiritual connection that traditional architecture fosters with nature and our experience as humans.

You can watch the first part of our conversation here:

This episode is brought to you by:

Chapters

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I'm re-connecting today with celebrity chef & author Bobby Chinn. I first spoke to Bobby during the summer of 2021 in preparation for Season 2. That feels like such a long time ago, we were just 8 episodes in at the time, and we're now in our 6th year with more than a 100 episodes!

You can listen to that episode in your podcast app or our website: https://www.at-media-group.com/what-i-did-next/bobby-chinn/

This episode is part of Encore, where I check-in with some of your favourite WIDN alumni. We’ll continue this segment with more of the show’s alumni next month, so stay tuned.

Chapters

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We’re continuing my conversation with luxury travel journalist and editor Maria Shollenbarger. Today, we’re delving into the travel industry—how and why certain destinations trend over others, how preferences have changed since COVID, and the future of travel in the age of AI.

This episode is brought to you by:⁠

Chapters

0:00 Coming up...

2:30 Travel in a post-COVID world

5:56 The Impact of Social Media

7:22 The role of Airbnb

9:03 Life as a Travel Journalist

11:47 The evolution of luxury travel

16:37 Travel in the age of AI

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I’m excited to be kicking off the year with Maria Shollenbarger, travel editor at the Financial Times’ HTSI magazine. I got to know Maria last year at The Narrative Summit, where she was on a panel that I moderated.

Maria has been with the FT now for 17 years and had always dreamed about working as a travel journalist. On Part 1 of our conversation, we unpack her journey traveling and living around the world.

Maria has a sophisticated eye, an instinct for what travellers need and want, and we’ll her industry in a lot of depth on Part 2 next week, so stay tuned.

This episode is brought to you by:

Chapters:

0:00 Coming up

3:53 Early Career in Magazines

14:56 Moving to Europe

21:37 Life in Singapore

25:22 Reflections on an itinerant life

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We all know the value of looking back to understand our path. But as the world becomes increasingly uncertain, I wanted to open a new chapter on the show.
In 2026, in addition to reflecting on the past, we’re also tackling the big questions about our future. I’ll be asking my guests how they're navigating the same anxieties and opportunities we all face, from AI to climate change to the changing world around us.

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