Reading the World
A bilingual English–Arabic podcast and editorial platform exploring how people make sense of the worlds they inhabit through language, culture, and intellectual inquiry.
Reading the World is a bilingual podcast in English and Arabic that explores the many ways people make sense of the worlds they inhabit. The project brings literature, culture, and intellectual inquiry into a public-facing format shaped by reflection, interpretation, and context.
Purpose
I created the project to build an audience around serious cultural and intellectual questions, and to create a space where those questions could be explored with clarity and depth.
Audience
The project is intended for intellectually curious listeners, including students, academics, serious readers, and others interested in literature, culture, interpretation, and the ways meaning is made.
Role
I led the project end to end, from concept development and episode planning to studio setup, guest interviews, and overall editorial direction.
Concept development
Episode planning
Studio setup
Guest research and interviews
Editorial direction
Production oversight
Process
Reading the World was developed as a bilingual project in English and Arabic to reach a wider audience and speak across different linguistic and cultural contexts. Podcasting was chosen as the medium because it offered an accessible, public-facing format for serious conversation. The title reflects the central idea of the project: each episode focuses on one way of understanding the world, treating reading as interpretation rather than summary. The editorial tone was intended to feel intellectually serious and academically grounded while remaining clear, alive, and at times provocative.
Outcome
The project is still growing, but it has already established a clear public form and audience. So far, Reading the World has reached approximately 427 downloads across 9 episodes, building an early listenership around its bilingual, intellectually focused approach.
Creating Reading the World reinforced for me that there are many ways to read and interpret the world. The project deepened my interest in how language, culture, and form shape understanding, and in how intellectual work can be made public without losing complexity.
