Censorship, Book Burning and Abu Dhabi Orientalism
Abu Dhabi-based professor Deborah Williams contrasts the new American censorship of "Maus" and Harry Potter book burning with her own potentially inflammatory syllabus.
Columns
The Conspiracy to Conceal Conspiracies
Every warm-blooded Arab loves a good conspiracy theory — so, it turns out, do many Americans, observes cultural critic Mike Booth.
Getting to the Other Side: a Kurdish Migrant Story
Iason Athanasiadis paints the portrait of Bahoz, a stateless Kurd who will keep fighting to become accepted for asylum in Europe.
America’s Freedom Hinges on the Survival of its Democracy
I. Rida Mahmood calls out the double standards of Republicans and Supreme Court conservatives who argued that no president is above the law.
January 6th and the Free Fall of Democracy.
An American expat demonstrates how distance helps one see one's country more clearly, as he laments how far traditional US democracy has fallen.
The US Democracy Crisis is a Media Crisis and the Mainstream Press is Losing
Columnist Lorraine Ali remembers 2021 as the year of the January 6 insurrection, the Covid-19 pandemic and the debacle of Omicron and the Republicans.
Sudden Journeys: From Munich with Love and Realpolitik
A family tragedy (we all have them), powerful forms of devotion and love, and a common political approach to “defeated peoples” in the world—all revisited over a weekend in Munich.
Music in the Middle East: Business can’t Buy Authenticity
180,000 electronic music aficionados attended the SOUNDSTORM festival in Riyadh this month, but as columnist Melissa Chemam writes, "it is impossible not to see these events as a part of the country’s soft power and policy to whitewash its terrible human rights record."
My Lebanese Landlord, Lebanese Bankdits, and German Racism
Racism props up its ugly head from every quarter, but Tariq Mehmood refuses to be deterred.
An Arab and a Jew Walk into a Bar…
Our columnist compares Arab/Muslim and Jewish humor and finds more in common than one might expect.
Reflections on Abu Dhabi and the U.A.E. at 50
The powerhouse United Arab Emirates has just fêted 50 years as a country, and 10-year resident Deborah Williams takes stock.
The (Afghan) Writer Who Sold His Book Collection to Pay the Rent
Selling off your beloved book collection to pay the rent hurts, but it beats starving or being out on the street.
Burning Forests, Burning Nations
Columnist Hadani Ditmars recounts meeting strangers at the beach during fire season in British Columbia and finds Syria and Turkey are shared homelands.
FIRE: An Abbreviated Reading List
Here are a few staff picks in a very short list that could benefit from having us add your own fire-related titles. Come on, light our fire.
Alchemy and the Deaf Blacksmith of Amman
Munir Atalla, the Brooklyn-based writer-director, recounts the story of a rather unusually happy, earnest man with a handicap and a skill.