TELL ME MORE! PODCAST
Time travels through Dubai with an 8 year old to uncover what the city looked like in the past. Join us as we track down experts and people who shaped the city.
Barjeels: Keeping Cool in Old Dubai. Summer in Dubai is intense with relentless humidity and temperatures soaring close to 50°C (122°F). How did people stay cool before air conditioning? We had heard about barjeels – traditional wind towers – but we didn’t quite know how they worked, or if they were still used today. So, we went to Al Bastakiya, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, to find out more. There we discovered the barjeels were just one architectural element – there are more! – that kept the houses and streets cool. Featuring Rashad Bukhash, Chairman of the Architectural Heritage Society for the UAE, and Dalia Hamati, professor of architecture at American University of Sharjah.
Sabkhas: The UAE’s Carbon Sinks. This episode looks at sabkhas – seemingly uninhabitable salt flats that might help us fight climate change. These salty ecosystems can sequester four times more carbon (per square meter) than rainforests can. This episode is really timely given that the UAE is gearing up to host COP28—the 28th UN Climate Conference, also known as the Conference of Parties, where negotiators from countries around the world will meet and have to find a way to agree on how we’re going to limit global warming to 1.5C by 2050. Featuring architect and curator Wael Al Awar and sustainability expert Mai Shalaby.
The Ghaf Tree. This episode is dedicated to the ghaf tree, the national tree of the UAE and a symbol of tolerance. This amazingly resilient, drought-tolerant plant survives in the harshest of desert environments. Bedouins depended on all parts of the tree for their survival -- for shade, food, and medicinals. Many animals would not survive in the desert without the ghaf, and the tree is the home to the world's largest beetle outside the Brazilian rainforest. The ghaf is so important to life in the UAE that it is the subject of many poems and stories, some a bit scary. Today the tree is endangered, but luckily there are some amazing people who share a love of the ghaf and who are each in their own way working to protect it for the future. Featuring landscape architect Will Bennett; Give-A-Ghaf Tree Planting Initiative founder Tatiana Antonelli Abella; and journalist and artist Rym Ghazal.
Diving For Pearls. For hundreds, maybe thousands of years, pearls and the sea were a very big part of people’s lives in the Gulf region. The pearl shaped the economy and the identity of the people. Language, songs, clothing and travel were all part of the culture of diving for pearls.Some people got very rich off pearl diving, while others did hard and dangerous work for little or no pay. By the early 20th century, the Gulf region supplied up to 80% of the world’s pearls. But then a lot happened in the world, including the Japanese invention of cultured pearls, and the discovery of oil in the Middle East. This brought the pearl diving days to an end. Luckily there are still people who hold the secrets and carry on the traditions of the Gulf pearl. Featuring Salem Al Roum, a poet and former pearl diver; Hasan Hujairi, a composer, historian and expert on pearl diving music; and Abdullah Al Suwaidi, a modern day pearl diver committed to continuing the pearling tradition.
Dubai’s First Skyscraper. Our first episode looks at Dubai’s first skyscraper -- Dubai World Trade Center. This 33-story building might seem tiny today compared to the more than 160-story Burj Khalifa and other super tall buildings. But, when DWTC opened in 1979, it was the tallest tower in the Middle East and it sent a signal to the rest of the world that Dubai was open for business. Featuring architect and writer Todd Reisz, photographer Hind Mezaina, and DWTC’s first employee Guy Guillmard.
Sindbad’s Wonderland. As summer approaches in Dubai, all we can think about is staying indoors and having fun. So, during this episode we look at Sindbad’s Wonderland -- an indoor arcade paradise at Al Ghurair Centre for Dubai kids in the 1980s and 1990s. Spatika and Liz never had the chance to visit Sindbad’s—it closed its doors in 1997—so they tracked down key people who were in Dubai in the 80s to share their memories of what it was like. Featuring Sindbad’s first and only manager Ishwar Chugani, and two former Sindbad gamer players Sonali Kolhatkar and Suraj Mulani.