Umm Kulthum: Egypt’s singing superstar

Are we entering an era when robots will finally liberate people, and particularly women, from the drudgery of housework? There is certainly a buzz around domestic robots right now and every month seems to bring us a new autonomous machine that can fold your clothes or stack your ...  Show more

One of the first recorded examples of a marriage ceremony is dated more than 4000 years ago in Mesopotamia. And it seems that through the ages, weddings have never lost their appeal. The global wedding industry is today worth billions of dollars, and it is one that keeps on growi ...  Show more

One of the world’s most multicultural cities, twentieth-century Cairo was a magnet for the ambitious and talented. During the 1920s and ’30s, a vibrant music, theater, film, and cabaret scene flourished, defining what it meant to be a “modern” Egyptian. Women came to dominate the ...  Show more

How many entertainers can hold an audience’s attention for hours with a single song? Egypt’s Umm Kulthum could, but she was extraordinary - conservative, strategic and positively revered by the masses. This is the rags-to-riches story of the Star of the East. Umm Kulthum at the h ...  Show more

In this afikra FWD, Hasheemah Afaneh talked about 'Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt's Roaring 20s' by Raphael Cormack. Cormack unveils the rich histories of independent, enterprising women like vaudeville star Rose al-Youssef (who launched one of Cairo’s most important newsp ...  Show more

From singing at school choirs since the age of 7 to directing her first children’s choir at 19 to leading an all-female orchestra, Yasmina Sabbah’s successful music career is a message of empowerment to Arab women everywhere.

Join Marianne and Lynn as they discuss wit ...