Ammar Kalia

On a scorching Saturday in May, close to 100 people are packed into a cosy room in Brighton community venue The Rose Hill . Sitting...

“Women are second-class citizens in Iran and in prison they are oppressed even more,” Maziar Bahari says.  The Iranian journalist and...

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...

Among the bustling market stalls in 1980s Shepherd’s Bush in west London, there was a small group of teenage boys breakdancing and...

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....

Few online radio stations command the airwaves with as much curiosity and free-wheeling passion as Radio Alhara . Since March 2020, a...

In 1980s Mogadishu a golden era of musical experimentation was under way. Following the proclamation of an independent Somalia in 1960, a...

‘C an you own a rhythm?” asks British-Egyptian historian Dr Hannah Elsisi. She points out that pop charts around the world are infused...

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]

In the 1980s, Uzbekistan was a unique cultural meeting place. During the second world war, the Central Asian country became home for many...

“Raga is emotion. It’s music that can transform you from feeling happiness to feeling despair or vice versa,” says Ali Riaz Baqar. “And...

On a hot Friday night in July, 120 people are gathered in the dark basement of a central London hotel, laughing raucously. They are...

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...

Mdou Moctar isn’t one to sit still. Over the past decade, the Niger-born guitarist has been gigging almost constantly, honing his...

2023 has been another bumper year for TV costume departments. From the silk-lined luxury of Succession to the haute couture return of And...

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...

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,...

Not much comes close to the experience of watching BCUC live. The South African seven-piece have spent the past 20 years honing their...

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...

Seventy hours into the birth of his first child, Lewis was told that his wife needed to be rushed into surgery for an emergency...