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Recipes from an Iranian prison: ‘If there is one book that shows the power of words, it’s this one’
“Women are second-class citizens in Iran and in prison they are oppressed even more,” Maziar Bahari says. The Iranian journalist and...
Apr 10
When we lose parents and grandparents, it’s up to us to continue their stories
Before I knew who I was, I knew I was an immigrant. As long as I can remember, before I had a solid sense of self, passions, even...
Apr 10
‘New artists need to take up the mantle now’: inside the west London scene that pioneered British Muslim hip-hop
Among the bustling market stalls in 1980s Shepherd’s Bush in west London, there was a small group of teenage boys breakdancing and...
Apr 10
The one change that worked: I committed to therapy – and began to chip away at my grief and depression
I used to think I was great at therapy. From 17 to 23, I saw a total of four therapists for anywhere between two weeks and three months....
Mar 24
Radio Alhara on the Galvanising Power of Broadcasting
Few online radio stations command the airwaves with as much curiosity and free-wheeling passion as Radio Alhara . Since March 2020, a...
Dec 11, 2024
The unstoppable story of the Dur-Dur Band
In 1980s Mogadishu a golden era of musical experimentation was under way. Following the proclamation of an independent Somalia in 1960, a...
Dec 2, 2024
‘It’s shocking no-one’s done this before’: the 13-hour gig digging up the African roots of global pop
‘C an you own a rhythm?” asks British-Egyptian historian Dr Hannah Elsisi. She points out that pop charts around the world are infused...
Nov 6, 2024
A Person Is A Prayer w/Ammar Kalia – NTS
Listen to my NTS guest show celebrating the release of A Person Is A Prayer here . [The show was broadcast live on 28/09/24]
Oct 2, 2024
The surprising sounds of the Silk Roads
In the 1980s, Uzbekistan was a unique cultural meeting place. During the second world war, the Central Asian country became home for many...
Sep 17, 2024
Jaubi: a transcendent fusion of raga and jazz
“Raga is emotion. It’s music that can transform you from feeling happiness to feeling despair or vice versa,” says Ali Riaz Baqar. “And...
Sep 12, 2024
‘It’s too raw’: comedians feel conflicted over using their routines to criticise Israel’s war on Gaza
On a hot Friday night in July, 120 people are gathered in the dark basement of a central London hotel, laughing raucously. They are...
Aug 13, 2024
A moment that changed me: Should I laugh or cry? When I scattered my grandmother’s ashes, I did both
In October 2019, I was in India, standing by the dusty banks of the Ganges on a quest to spread my grandmother’s ashes. She hadn’t lived...
May 22, 2024
Speed of Sound: Modu Moctar
Mdou Moctar isn’t one to sit still. Over the past decade, the Niger-born guitarist has been gigging almost constantly, honing his...
May 2, 2024
From leather harnesses to sparkly lab coats: the best TV style of 2023
2023 has been another bumper year for TV costume departments. From the silk-lined luxury of Succession to the haute couture return of And...
Dec 29, 2023
‘I’ve picked up 1.2m cigarette butts!’: five litter loathers who refuse to let it lie
On every street in Britain, you’re likely to find a piece of litter. It is estimated that 2m pieces of rubbish are dropped in the UK...
Oct 2, 2023
Speakers Corner Quartet Step Into the Spotlight
In a corner of suburban South London, four musicians are hunkered in a dark room, sinking deep into a groove. On Moog synth and violin,...
Sep 22, 2023
BCUC are finding strength in numbers
Not much comes close to the experience of watching BCUC live. The South African seven-piece have spent the past 20 years honing their...
Sep 19, 2023
“Indo-Caribbeans are underrepresented”: How Windrush migration inspired a global club music movement
At 17, Riaz Bacchus was DJing on pirate radio stations in London when he stumbled on a genre of music that seemed to perfectly express...
Jul 13, 2023
‘I didn’t even know men could get it’: the hidden impact of male postnatal depression
Seventy hours into the birth of his first child, Lewis was told that his wife needed to be rushed into surgery for an emergency...
May 22, 2023
‘John Travolta was sizzling hot!’: an oral history of Grease
Forty-five years ago, audiences first glimpsed the sun-kissed, palm-lined campus of Rydell High, the school setting for the movie musical...
Apr 5, 2023
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