Episode #202: De-Exotifying The Arab World, Teaching The Most Dangerous Book, and Founding Left Turn Magazine with Zein El-Amine

Episode Summary

Zein El-Amine starts off talking about the study abroad program he designed to take his students to Egypt for a range of immersive experiences, including meeting Egyptian author Nawal el Saadawi at her home. He then talks about his deep personal connection with James Joyce’s book “Ulysses”. Matt and Zein discuss “Bloomsday” celebrations around the world, as well as the history of the U.S. government’s censorship of Ulysses. Zein then talks about the study abroad program he designed to take his students to Ireland to study Ulysses and celebrate Bloomsday in Dublin. He shares the impact that his first trip to Ireland had on him and why he now feels like Dublin is his second home. Matt and Zein discuss Ireland-Palestine solidarity and Zein shares how he first toured Belfast as part of a Palestinian delegation. He then talks about the study abroad program he designed to take his students to Morocco and explains the importance of understanding “Orientalism” as a framework for de-exotifying the Arab World. Zein then reflects on his experience being exiled, talks about his poetry collection “A Travel Guide for the Exiled”, and reads his poem “On Embassy Row”. He then reflects on his activist trajectory in the U.S., getting kicked out of the International Socialist Organization, and founding Left Turn Magazine. Matt and Zein reflect on why Left Turn attracted extraordinary political activists, the importance to connecting the local with the global, and the impact of Palestine solidarity work over the last 25 years. Zein also talks about hosting the Shay Wah Nana Show and discusses his recent episode highlighting the Tanzanian government’s violent evictions of the Maasai people from their ancestral lands. FULL SHOW NOTES AVIALABLE AT: www.TheMaerickShow.com

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About the Guest

Zein El-Amine

Zein El-Amine is a Lebanese-born poet and writer who teaches Arab language and film at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He is also an adjunct professor of Arabic literature and history at American University, and he teaches Arabic Media and International Affairs at George Washington University. After growing up in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Zein moved to the U.S. in 1987 and now lives in the Ella Jo Baker Intentional Community Cooperative in Washington DC. He has facilitated many study abroad programs and taken his classes to have immersive experiences in Morocco, Egypt and Ireland. Zein’s poems have appeared in Wild River Review, Folio, Beltway Quarterly, Foreign Policy In Focus, CityLit, and many others. His latest poetry manuscript “A Travel Guide for the Exiled” was recently shortlisted for the Bergman Prize. His short stories have appeared in Uno Mas, Jadaliyya, Middle East Report, Wild River Review, About Place Journal, Bound Off and many others. He was recently awarded The Megaphone Prize for his latest collection of short stories entitled “Is This How You Eat A Watermelon?” which will be published in October 2022. Zein has also been a long-time political activist around causes ranging from Palestinian liberation to local community organizing campaigns in Washington, DC. Shortly after the 1999 uprising at the WTO Meeting in Seattle, he co-founded Left Turn magazine—a pivotal activist publication that ran for 10 years in the 2000s and had significant impact in helping to advance struggles for justice around the world. He currently hosts the weekly show, Shay Wah Nana, which airs locally on DC public radio and is also syndicated worldwide on Apple podcasts.

What You'll Learn

The history of “Orientalism” and the importance of de-exotifying the Arab world
Why James Joyce’s “Ulysses” was considered “The Most Dangerous Book”
Zein’s activist work connecting local and global struggles for justice

Links From the Episode

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