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Sam Werberg

Sam Werberg

Diplomat | Communicator

Sam’s Arabic Podcast Guide

Podcast NameDescription
Arabic News – NHK World JapanFrom Japanese state broadcaster NHK, a daily 14 minute news roundup.  Clear Arabic, focused mostly on Japan and Asia issues.
BBC ExtraFrom BBC, a daily 45 minute roundup of political, cultural, social and economic topics from their Arabic service.
PaperSamwichA cultural and literary podcast, no specific length to episodes, can be a bit meandering, but good for something different.
Daily News Roundup by Radio Sweden ArabicA daily 2-minute news roundup in Arabic from state broadcaster Radio Sweden.  Mostly news about Sweden but usually also mentions an international story or two.
RCI – Radio CanadaA “series of miniseries” of podcasts from Radio Canada in Arabic, about cultural, social, and political issues.
SBS Arabic24 – AustraliaShort episodes on news and other topics, in Arabic, from Australian state broadcaster.  Lots of episodes every day.
Sciware with Mohamed QasemA great, long-running podcast focused on science, technology, space, and other related issues.  Great guests and great conversations.  Episodes are pretty long, from 45 to 90 minutes.  Good for learning sci-tech vocabulary.
UN Arabic PodcastA sporadic podcast from the UN’s Arabic language team.  Usually short episodes featuring Arabic speakers who either work on or benefit from UN programs.  During UNGA time, they use this podcast to put out all of the major world leader speeches in Arabic.
أرباع مع الوليد العيسىA “thinker’s” podcast. New 20-30 minute episodes weekly on a variety of intellectual, cultural, and societal topics.
“Maqamat” by Sky News ArabiaShort weekly episodes discussing the background of different types of music from around the world, along with selections of the music. 
Al-Kown PodcastA weekly-ish podcast on science and planetary exploration topics, usually about an hour long.
Baad Ams – with Khadijah Ben Qena – Al JazeeraIn terms of a beautiful sounding podcast with some of the best Arabic you will hear, this almost-daily podcast from Al-Jazeera presenter Khadija Ben Qena is one of my favorites.  Really interesting topics, mostly political and regional/international affairs, with very knowledgable guests.  Episodes are about 20 minutes long.
“The Butterfly Effect” by Al-JazeeraLaunched in September 2021, the roughly hour-long weekly episodes feature host Khaled Majzoub having in-depth, honest conversations with one guest on each episode on successes and challenges in that person’s life.  Khaled, speaks mostly in modern standard or media Arabic, while letting each of his guests speak freely in their dialect, providing great exposure to a variety of regional dialects and expressions.
“Moment” by Al-JazeeraA historical podcast that sheds light on pivotal moments in history.  Each episode runs between 20 and 40 minutes, is well-produced, and takes you deep inside a pivotal moment in time either in the Arab world or general history. 
“Business Wars” by Al-JazeeraThis well-produced series looks at classic business rivalries, and covers each competition in-depth over six half-hour episodes. 
Dubai Future PodcastNew episodes every two weeks of this roughly 20-minute podcast on science, tech, and space exploration.
Podcast FloosFrom Independent Arabia, this weekly podcast features focuses on financial topics in compelling episodes of usually less than 20 minutes.
Daqeqa L-Alm – A Minute of Science, by Scientific AmericanAlmost daily episodes of less than 10 minutes focusing on scientific topics and personalities.
Shakhseeya B’DaqeqaTwo-minute episodes providing short biographies of famous people, including mix of Arab and international personalities.
“French Media Report” by Radio Monte CarloDaily short episodes featuring summaries in Arabic of reporting from French newspapers, on French and international topics.
“News and Analysis” by Radio Monte CarloA three-minute daily podcast covering the top news stories of the day being covered by RMC.
WijdanA weekly podcast on mental health issues, episodes range from 30-60 minutes usually.
“The News in 2 Minutes” by Al-ArabiyaA short daily news roundup from Al-Arabiya.
“Political Memory” by Al-ArabiyaThis podcast is the audio file of host Taher Baraka’s TV show of the same name on the Al-Arabiya TV channel.  Taher interviews decision-makers from across the Arab world who generally have held high public office or who have had a front row seat to historical events. The conversations are generally broken up into three or four episodes, each just under a half hour. 
“A Book a Day” by Al-ArabiyaA short daily podcast featuring one book per day.
“Say this not that” by Al-ArabiyaA good short daily podcast on simple Arabic grammar lessons for more advanced speakers.
“Direct Question” by Al-ArabiyaGood, quality half-hour conversations in weekly episodes.  The podcast is actually just the audio track of the TV show of the same name, hosted by Khaled Al-Madhkhali.  Many of the guests are Saudi political, economic, and cultural figures, commenting on the latest issues of the day.
“Scientists who changed history” by Al-ArabiyaThe show introduces the most prominent thinkers and inventors in Arab and Islamic history and recalls their stories, achievements, and inventions. The show narrates interesting stories behind famous inventions, and sometimes criticism and even accusations of madness those scientists faced. Episodes range from 2 – 5 minutes long.
Al-Mayadeen PodcastsPro-Hezbollah and anti-Israel / anti-US Al-Mayadeen launched its podcast series in early 2021 and currently is releasing a new episode every few days.  The well-produced episodes range from roughly 8 to 20 minutes and cover a variety of topics, mostly political, but some social and cultural topics as well.
“Soul of a Place” by Independent ArabiaBeautifully produced series, each episode looks at a famous place or landmark and tells its story through a mix of documentary and dramatization, including voice actors, sound effects, and music.
“Hikawi” by Independent ArabiaA podcast about stories of travel and struggle.  New espisodes every few days, about 10 minutes each episode.
“Mutaha” by Independent ArabiaA psychological and self-help podcast, with new episodes every few weeks, between 10-15 minutes each.
“Echo” by CNBC ArabiaGood weekly podcast looking at economic aspects of global events, 10 minutes or less each episode.
“From A to Z” by CNBC ArabiaCNBC’s oldest Arabic podcast, launched in October 2020, with sporadic episodes taking up an eclectic range of economic and business topics. Episodes around 10 minutes each.
“Sound of the Markets” by CNBC ArabiaA daily weekday show running between 30 and 40 minutes and offering a roundup of the important business news from the Arab stock markets at each day’s market closing. 
“Under the Light” by CNBC Arabia20-minute long episodes weekly looking at humanitarian issues related to the global economy and world events.
“Things that Changed Us” by Thaminiya (Saudi)New episodes every few days, roughly 15 minutes each, discussing the way things used to be in Saudi Arabia and the memories of youth.
“Joha stories” by Finyal MediaJoha is an Arabic folktale character who usually represents the “wise fool” and first appeared in Arabic folk tales over one thousand years ago, by himself but also often with his donkey.  Each of the roughly 15-minute long episodes of this podcast recounts one of the Joha tales, complete with character voice actors. 
“Qehwa wa Khabariya” by the Rising Giants NetworkHost Maya Hojeij, Senior Business Anchor at Asharq News launched the Coffee & News podcast in October 2020 in order to shine a spotlight on women’s success stories in business and entrepreneurship.  In each weekly episode, she looks at a historical female pioneer, and then talks with women who are active in business today and were influenced by these historical figures.
“In 20 Minutes” by Radio Al-AanThe daily weekday episodes from this UAE-based media outlet are always exactly 20 minutes long and feature great conversations about political, economic, social, and cultural topics.  Lots of content on Iraq.
“Foosool” by Al-HurraA good weekly show that looks at a current issue in-depth, exploring the “news behind the news.”  The weekly podcast releases new episodes every Monday, roughly 20 minutes each.
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