Jordan Elgrably of Levantine Cultural Center interviewed international vocalist Natacha Atlas for Radio Tabbouli. She spoke about her Summer 2010 tour and her upcoming new album, "Mounqaliba" ("State of Reversal"). She spoke to Jordan from her home in London while preparing to return to the U.S. for shows in November in California and Seattle.…

A love story between an Israeli and Palestinian, "Salam Shalom" hits a lot of the hot-button issues of our time—the conflict, homosexuality in Islam and Judaism, and the future of coexistence. Originally produced at the Open Fist Theatre in 1996 and winner of a G.L.A.A.D. award, the play has enjoyed several productions in the U.S. and abroad.…

Jordan Elgrably interviews Mehnaz Afridi, professor at Antioch University, Los Angeles, about her experiences and research surrounding the relations between Jews and Muslims. Professor Afridi is originally from Pakistan but raised in Europe and the Middle East, and teaches Judaism and Islam. Her deep interest in Judaism and Modern Jewish Diaspora h…

This is an excerpt from the Levantine Cultural Center event entitled "Israel, Palestine, Lebanon: A Levantine Conversation on the Future of the Region," which took place on October 28, 2009. The program encouraged intellectual discussion surrounding the history and present political landscape in which Palestinians, Israelis and Lebanese find themse…

This week’s podcast features Alia Malek presenting her new book “A Country Called Amreeka: Arab Roots, American Stories” at Chapman University in Orange County during her West Coast book tour. This tour was organized by Levantine Cultural Center, and cosponsored by Chapman University’s Political Science and Peace Studies departments and the Arab Cl…

This is a podcast from KPFA's "Cover to Cover: Open Book" hosted by Malihe Razazan (who usually hosts KPFA in Berkeley's weekly show "Voices of the Middle East & North Africa"), in which she interviews Levantine Review's film editor, Omid Arabian. Omid wrote a critical review of "The Hurt Locker" published in the January 2010 issue of Levantine Rev…

This week’s podcast features a brief Q&A session with Dr. Nadir Atash upon the presentation of his book “Turbulence: the Tumultuous Journey of One Man’s Quest for Change in Afghanistan” at Levantine Cultural Center on November 6, 2009.

This week's podcast features a Q & A session with directors Nicole Ballivian and Erika Cohn after the L.A. premieres of their two movies “Driving to Zigzigland” and “Where the Voices Fade” on October 18, 2009.

This week’s podcast features a panel discussion and lecture series on Middle Eastern comedy, sponsored by Levantine Cultural Center AND the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania. (The talk took place in the context of “West Meets East: The Inauguration Tour of the Sultans of Satire” on the occasion of President Obama’s first days in …

This week’s podcast features the event “Memorial Reading for Mutanabbi Street” commemorating the March 5, 2007 car bombing on Mutanabbi Street— the lively center of Baghdad bookselling. Poets and writers who participated include Chris Abani, Beau Beausoleil, Laila Lalami, Suzanne Lummis, Majid Naficy, Marisela Norte, Sholeh Wolpé, Terry Wolverton, …