list of lecturas

The Abbasid and British Empires are the nexus through which our two guests, Dr Ahmed Ragab and Dr Katayoun Shafiee explore technology, knowledge production and power. This episode charts medieval paper production and Abbasid-era hospitals to the "discovery" of oil by foreign entrepreneurs in southern Iran, exploring the different ways technological knowledge production developed across empire.

Ahmed Ragab is Associate Professor of the History of Medicine and the Chair of the Medicine, Science and Humanities Programme at Johns Hopkins University. Ahmed works primarily on the history of medieval and early modern medicine in the islamic world and questions of medicine in colonial and post colonial contexts.

Katayoun Shafiee is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Warwick. Katayoun focuses on modern Middle Eastern history and politics, and she teaches on empire and energy.

Knowledge Production Across Empires

How can art complicate claims of progress, innovation and the use of rapidly developing emerging technologies in MENA? In this episode, Cima Chehab speaks to visual artist Nadim Choufi about how he incorporates technology into his artwork both as subject matter and as medium.

In the conversation, they discuss Nadim’s own artistic practice, his use of “lecture performances” and the question of whether life is truly enhanced by progress and technology, which is one of the main questions that underpins his work. Nadim also explores emerging art in the Middle East and how technology has transformed a new generation of artists – from digital illustrations to meme accounts.

Nadim is a visual artist living in Beirut. He primarily focuses on the material histories and futures of innovation and desire, their social and political driving forces, and the visual and literary practices that surround them. He is a 2024 resident at the Jan van Eyck Academy. Currently he is the curator of the film programme of the 2024 festival edition of transmediale and a researcher at Haven For Artists. Previously he was co-Programs Director at Beirut Art Center.

https://nadimchoufi.com/

Art Meaning and Art Making with Nadim Choufi

The epic struggle of parents versus kids. Yummy versus gross. Humans versus broccoli!

The Facts
Surprisingly Awesome’s theme music is “How We Do” by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. This episode was edited by Alex Blumberg and produced by Travis Larchuk and Rachel Ward, with help from Emma Jacobs and Caitlin Kenney. Andrew Dunn mixed the episode.

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#6 Broccoli

This week: It's awesome in the sacred sense - but stressful in the practical sense.

The Facts

Surprisingly Awesome’s theme music is by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings.

Additional music came from Kyle Morton, Sex Life, and Xolo

We were edited this week by Annie-Rose Strasser, and produced by Rachel Ward, Christine Driscoll and Rikki Novetsky.  Our field producers were Sylvie Douglis and Nick Fountain.  

Production Assistance came from Jacob Cruz, Emily Kennedy, Melanie Kruvelis, Jessica Langley,  Sarah Melton, and Sarah Stodder.

Thank you to Meg Keene at A Practical Wedding, Erin Boll, proprietrix of the Instagram account Pisces Bride, Stevie Lane who designed our wedding invitation, and for helping us find Sue and Austin. 

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Surprisingly Awesome

#22 Wedding Planning

Something borrowed, something blue, something that explains why weddings look the way they do.

The Facts

Our theme music is by Nicholas Britell and our ad music is by Build Buildings. We were edited this week by Annie-Rose Strasser, and produced by Christine Driscoll, Elizabeth Kulas, and Rikki Novetsky.  Sylvie Douglis and Nick Fountain field produced at the wedding.

Thank you to Sue and Austin’s friends and family for letting us ask so many questions and bother you during the whole wedding.

Thanks to Jorge Just -- and sorry we forgot to thank you last time, and to our beloved mix engineer Andrew Dunn. ANDREW DUNN MIXED THIS EPISODE, he always mixes our episodes, and we have not been great about remembering to tell you that!

Additional production assistance came from Jacob Cruz, Emily Kennedy, Melanie Kruvelis, Sarah Melton and Sarah Stoddard.

Thank you to Karen Klaiber Hersch, Gayle Strege, Patrick O’Neil, Jennifer Gellmann and Sharon Boulani.

And finally, stay posted with us as we report the next season. You can follow us on Twitter, subscribe to the newsletter, or subscribe to us on your podcatcher for all our cool updates!

See you in 2017!

#23 The Wedding

By now, we all know out Olympic bronze medalist Adam Rippon is witty, smart, inspirational, and utterly sassy. He is, after all, 'America's sweetheart.'

As the oldest rookie to qualify for the Olympics at 28-years-old, and the first openly gay American figure skater to compete at the Olympics, his path to success has been groundbreaking, although it hasn’t been without setbacks.

In his new memoir, 'Beautiful On The Outside,' Rippon hilariously reveals what it’s like to be an elite figure skater - from the glitz of sequined costumes to the unglamorous act of cleaning bugs off the ice at a competition, and all the hours of practice that led him to a spot on the Olympic team in Pyeongchang.

Your mom probably told you it's what on the inside that counts. Well, then she was never a competitive figure skater.

Rippon has been making it pretty for the judges even when, just below the surface, everything was an absolute mess. Traveling to practices on a Greyhound bus next to ex-convicts, being so poor he could only afford to eat the free apples at his gym, Rippon got through the toughest times with a smile on his face, a glint in his eye, and quip ready for anyone listening.

'Beautiful On The Outside' looks at his journey from a homeschooled kid in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to a self-professed American sweetheart on the world stage and all the disasters and self-delusions it took to get him there.

Sure, it may be what's on the inside that counts, but life is so much better when it's beautiful on the outside.

Click here to order 'Beautiful On The Outside' online - https://amzn.to/2MKamTa

The Randy Report

Interview - Olympian Adam Rippon talks on his new memoir 'Beautiful On The Outside'

LGBTQ+ news from the writer/editor of TheRandyReport.com, a daily blog reporting on politics, pop culture, and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ+ community. GLAAD Media Award nominee for Outstanding Blog.

Interview - Olympian Adam Rippon talks on his new memoir 'Beautiful On The Outside'

The Randy Report - LGBTQ News