In this week’s episode, Enas Refaei, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal start the show on a celebratory note after Culture Bites won a bronze prize for best co-hosts at this year’s Signal Awards. The annual awards honour the world’s most impactful podcasts in several categories, with winners selected either by a jury or by public votes.

Only weeks after Love is Blind Habibi started streaming, the show’s cast gathered for a highly anticipated reunion, in which fans finally found out which pairs stayed together and which unions fell apart. The Culture Bites hosts highlight the show’s success not just across the region, but around the world, where audiences learnt more about Arab marriage customs and the role families play. They discuss the tensions that unfold at the reunion, as well as the participants’ stereotype-busting personas.

Last week, the home of the late Lebanese artist Abdul-Hamid Baalbaki was destroyed by Israeli forces amid the continuing war in Lebanon. The house had doubled as an arts centre, which remained open to the public even after Baalbaki’s death in 2013. Not only was he an artist, but he was also a collector of precious pieces, some that date back to the first millennium BCE. Enas, Farah and Maan reflect on the tragic erasure of art during conflict and the challenging efforts to collect and archive it.

On the theme of cultural preservation, the hosts highlight notable Palestinian documentaries to watch, on the heels of Palestine Cinema Days which took place last weekend. The team discuss The Wanted 18, a partly-animated story about a Palestinian village that buys cows to stop relying on Israeli milk. Another is Aida Returns, a story about director Carol Mansour’s mother who struggles with Alzheimer’s but vividly remembers the hometown of her youth, Jaffa, up until her final return to it.

This week on Culture Bites, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal step back to a prehistoric era of the UAE’s story. The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi will recreate models of landscapes and wildlife as they once existed millions of years ago.

Visitors will be able to discover a natural world that’s unique to the country and the Arab region at large. This includes galleries that showcase the topography of Abu Dhabi before there was an Arabian Gulf, with its winding rivers, crocodiles and hippopotamuses. The hosts share their enthusiasm about being able to witness an important part of the region’s history that’s often overlooked. Construction of the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi is expected to be completed next year.

Two big cultural events are coinciding this year, bringing colour and festivity to the UAE. Diwali and Halloween events will see masses turn out to celebrate across the Emirates. The BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi is expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors for one of the biggest festivals in the Hindu calendar. Meanwhile, in Dubai, fireworks will light up the sky at the waterfront promenade in Al Seef and Global Village. Maan talks about his plans to celebrate Diwali this year and Farah shares her creative Halloween costume idea.

Earlier this month, The National compiled a list of the 50 most influential Arabic novels of the 20th century, highlighting works that have significantly impacted Arabic literature and culture. The hosts discuss the process of shortlisting the titles to capture the diversity of the region at a critical time in Arabic storytelling that grapples with issues of identity, colonisation, politics and social change. Maan recommends to Farah his top picks to read, including Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy and Ghassan Kanafani's Men in the Sun.

On Culture Bites this week, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews round up their favourite Halloween films to binge before October 31. From the classically frightening to the unsettling and gory, they share suggestions across several horror genres.

From Jordan Peele’s chilling alien mystery Nope to the grotesque body horror The Substance starring Demi Moore, there’s something for everyone. The hosts also compare the remakes of family-friendly spooky classics like Beetlejuice and Roald Dahl’s The Witches.

The ecology-focused Al Sidr Environmental Film Festival takes place this week at NYUAD’s Arts Centre under the theme All Living Beings. Enas and Farah highlight some of the most compelling features at the event, including two local short films developed by the UAE platform Climate Tribe. They discuss the festival’s mission for audiences to develop a greater appreciation for the interconnectedness of our worldly creatures.

After the tragic early death of former One Director star Liam Payne at the age of 31, fans around the world showed an overwhelming outpouring of emotions as they grieved. The singer was only 14 when he was thrust into the limelight, eventually spending more than half his life in the public eye. As his struggles with addiction and untimely death raise questions over the welfare of child stars, the hosts discuss the pressures of growing up within the entertainment industry.

In this episode of Culture Bites, chef Salam Dakkak joins Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews to talk about her award-winning Levantine cuisine and the "nafas", or soul, that she shares through her cooking. The Palestinian-Jordanian owner of Bait Maryam and Sufret Maryam, named in honour of her mother, revives the tastes and traditions of home in her kitchen, inviting guests from all over the world to discover her culture through the universal language of food.

Dakkak, who has been lauded with a Michelin Bib Gourmand commendation and ranked in the Mena’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2024, discusses her new elevated Levantine restaurant, Sufret Maryam, and her vision for preserving authentic flavours of Palestine for the next generation.

As the war in Gaza continues to take a toll on hundreds of thousands of Palestinians suffering under bombardment for more than a year, more celebrities are speaking out. Enas and Farah spotlight some of the artists and activists who have sharpened their tone in recent weeks to condemn the brutality in Gaza and advocate for the innocent civilians who are being killed. From John Legend and Javier Bardem to Andrew Garfield and Gustaf Skarsgard, public figures have been using their platforms to raise awareness and call for a ceasefire.

With Israel’s expanding its war into Lebanon, there has been a fear that historic landmarks may be destroyed. This comes after an air strike hit less than one kilometre away from the Unesco World Heritage Site of Baalbek, a Roman complex dating back 11,000 years. The hosts discuss the risks of cultural erasure during war, and the efforts being taken to protect and archive the rich histories of these places.

In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal start the show with exciting news: the podcast has been shortlisted for a Signal Award in the Best Co-host Team category. Fans of the show have until October 17 to cast their votes here. Please get voting!

Maan got the chance to visit NYU Abu Dhabi this week and explore new exhibition Between the Tides: A Gulf Quinquennial, which captures key moments in the Gulf’s arts scene over the past five years. Artists from across the region, including the UAE, Saudi, and Bahrain, featured their works ranging from visual arts to design and video installations. Maan shares a glimpse of the stunning displays and speaks to some of the artists and curators.

With the launch of Love is Blind, Habibi, the Arabic version of the hit dating reality show, the hosts discuss their expectations of how the show may be adapted for its audience. In some ways the format of the series offers a modern twist on courting customs in the region, but in other ways it would have to consider cultural sensitivities of the Arab world. The hosts also highlight the opportunity for global audiences to see the diversity of Middle Eastern marriage and wedding traditions.

Coldplay and Palestinian-Chilean artist Elyanna are making headlines again, after performing together on the Saturday Night Live stage. This is not the first time the young artist has appeared with the band, having done so on stage at Glastonbury in June, and she’s also going to be opening for them when they perform in Abu Dhabi in January. Enas, Maan and Farah spotlight their latest collaboration, where they sang We Pray and All my Love, both from Coldplay’s new album Moon Music.

Culture Bites turns one this week! To celebrate the anniversary, hosts Farah Andrews, Enas Refaei and Maan Jalal look back on their favourite moments, and Farah gives the team a podcast present in the form of a big concert announcement in Abu Dhabi. Listen to catch the exciting news.

Also coming to the UAE is the much-debated Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice, screening in cinemas from October 16. It tells the story of the former US president’s rise as a businessman in 1980s New York. The hosts discuss the trailer and their expectations for the film, especially against the backdrop of the US presidential election campaign.

Following the Primetime Emmys this week, Enas, Farah and Maan chat about bold statements made at the event by stars including actor D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, who appeared with a red hand print painted over his mouth in protest over missing and murdered indigenous women in North America, and Bridgerton actress Nicola Coughlan, who wore an Artists4Ceasefire pin.

Big news from the night included Shogun star Anna Sawai's win, which made her the first performer of Asian descent to be crowned best actress in a drama series. The team also chat about Laura Dern, who wore a unique Sabyasachi necklace that was exhibited in Dubai this year.

For inspiration on what to read next, Maan compiles a list of novels that spotlight the diverse experiences of Arab women. They include In the Eye of the Sun by Ahdaf Soueif, a flashback that tells the story of Asya’s life growing up in 1960s Cairo. Another suggestion, Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa, is about four generations of Palestinian women in Gaza who were expelled from their village, forcing the matriarch to be their breadwinner.

The podcast will be taking a break next week but will be back to its regular schedule the week after.

This week on Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Maan Jalal break down the appeal of Netflix’s new show, The Perfect Couple. The murder mystery follows the lives of the wealthy Winbury family on the day of their son’s wedding, when one of the guests is found dead on the beach.

The Perfect Couple has become Netflix's most popular show in the UAE since its release last week. The Culture Bites hosts dissect binge-worthy shows that centre around seemingly picture-perfect families that are not all they seem behind closed doors. They also discuss Nicole Kidman’s leading role and her more recent small-screen career choices.

With the Emmys around the corner, Enas and Maan share their thoughts on the titles with the most nominations and ask: are award ceremonies still as relevant as they were a decade ago?

The hosts look at how streaming has changed our viewing choices and how the focus on viral moments at awards shows may be pushing away younger viewers.

The infamous Anna Delvey, who posed as a fake heiress to scam people, is competing in Dancing with the Stars after her early release from prison. The news has started a conversation about how the entertainment industry glamourises con artists, making celebrities out of them.

Enas and Maan discuss the public's fascination with Delvey and other scammers turned cultural icons, who have used their notoriety to make even more money.