Advertise on podcast: Let's Talk Peace!

          This week, our guest is Charles al-Hayek, a historian, consultant, and educator.  Charles is sharing his passion and historical expertise with the public through his initiative Heritage and Roots, a platform promoting understanding and appreciation of Lebanese and Middle Eastern history and heritage. In times of crisis, we look for answers. We often look to history for these answers. History, when taught as a subject, is seldom neutral.  The way it is framed and taught influences a population tremendously. Luckily, the way history is taught can hold  enormous peace building potential, and in my opinion Charles is tapping into this powerful potential. 

This week, our guest is Yousra Mshmsh, a Jordanian artist and a youth activist. Yousra is the  Regional Manager of the Global Organization Peace First in the MENA region.  Through Peace First, she is working with youth from all around the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) - her job is to help young motivated individuals launch peace building projects in their communities.  She has also worked with Ruwwad al Tanmiya in Jordan, an organization that focuses on youth development and capacity building in underprivileged communities. Using the tools of social entrepreneurship, technology, and dialogue, Yousra is dedicated to making positive change wherever she goes.      She holds a  B.Eng. degree in Computer Engineering from Jordan University, and has a diploma in conflict management from Fryshuset-Sweden. 

This week, our guest is Mohamed Hassan. Mohamed is a journalist, writer, and poet from Auckland and Cairo. He was the winner of the 2015 NZ National Poetry Slam, is a TEDx fellow and recipient of the Gold Trophy at the 2017 New York Radio Awards. His poetry has been watched and shared widely online and taught in schools internationally. His 2020 poetry collection National Anthem was shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards. A lot of Mohamed's work focuses on the Middle East and he has gotten the chance several times to report live from Palestine. In this podcast, we talk about the media’s portrayal of the Middle East, what it’s like being a third culture kid, and Mohamed gives us his insights from his work in Palestine.