Culture Bites

In this season finale of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews reflect on the culture-defining moments that had the biggest impact on them in 2025.

The hosts share their favourite movies, TV series and books from the past year, with a look back at both fiction and non-fiction titles. They also highlight their most memorable art institution visits. Enas describes what it was like stepping into the Grand Egyptian Museum ahead ...

In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews explore how cultural heritage is preserved, celebrated and carried forward, from one of the UAE’s newly opened museums to the living traditions recognised by Unesco.

The episode opens at the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi, where Farah records from inside the new landmark on Saadiyat Island.

In that segment, Moaza Matar, director of the curatorial and collecti...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews reveal their Spotify Wrapped summaries, each with their own listening age plot twist.

The end-of-year stats delivered by Spotify and other similar audio streaming platforms have become popular among users over the years. Enas and Farah dig through their listening habits to understand why people love to learn about their own personalities. While the over-mining of user ...

This week, Culture Bites celebrates its 100th episode from the newly-opened Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi.

Hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews tour the sprawling space in Saadiyat Cultural District and explore the 13.8-billion-year story of the universe. They speak to the museum’s director Peter Kjaergaard about the emotional connection to the natural world that he wants visitors to experience. He tells them about the hidden gem...

This week on Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews visit the Abu Dhabi Art fair and speak to some of the artists whose work caught their eye.

The Beyond Emerging Artists programme features up-and-coming UAE-based talents, and this year it is curated by renowned Syrian artist Issam Kourbaj. He speaks to Enas about working with the participants to bring their installations to life, and he gives a preview of his own showcase wi...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews preview Abu Dhabi Art before its opening on November 19.

Dyala Nusseibeh, director of Abu Dhabi Art, speaks about what visitors can expect to see this year, as a record number of galleries from around the world take part. The fair’s growth over time reflects Abu Dhabi’s efforts to become a centre for culture enthusiasts, especially as it brings more focus to art from t...

In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews speak to executive creative director at Expo City Dubai, Amna Abulhoul, about curating the upcoming Dhai Dubai festival.

Celebrating heritage through light, seven Emirati artists are showcasing their installations at the second edition of the event, taking place at Expo City Dubai's Al Wasl Plaza from November 12 to 18. Amna talks about the inspiration behind the...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews are joined by The National’s in-house pop culture expert Faisal Al Zaabi to talk about his experience of the Art in Scents tour at Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The museum has collaborated with Swiss fragrance maker Givaudan to interpret the aromas of nine artworks in its permanent collection. Visitors receive a book, which they can scratch the pages of to release a scent for each...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews explore the world of art heists in the aftermath of the break-in at the Louvre in Paris.

It took only seven minutes for thieves to break into the museum’s Apollo Gallery and steal several pieces of precious jewellery, all of which have significant historical value. This is not the first time the Louvre has been the target of thieves. In 1911, the Mona Lisa was taken by...

This week on Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews bring attention to an often neglected but worthy force of nature − the mushroom.

Their guest in this episode, Georgina Pereira, is the species survival manager at Terra, Expo City Dubai where she works as a mushroom scientist. On the occasion of World Mushroom Day, she talks to Enas and Farah about the infinite ways that fungi shape our world: from cooking and medicinal prop...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews give the scoop on the production of Dune: Part Three in Abu Dhabi.

Filming for the third instalment of the sci-fi blockbuster is expected to start this month in the emirate’s Liwa desert. Leading cast members, including Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, are expected to be arriving in the UAE soon. Jason Momoa was already spotted in Dubai last weekend. Farah reveals some b...

This week on Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews tell the story of the famous Hejaz railway, as Turkey, Syria and Jordan prepare to bring a section of it back to life.

Back in the 1900s, Sultan Abdulhamid II of the Ottoman Empire envisioned a rail line that stretched from Istanbul all the way to Makkah, making pilgrimage easier. While it was never completed entirely, the railway did connect Damascus to Madinah, cutti...

In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews react to Drake’s new track, which samples a song from the Lebanese icon Fairuz.

During a live stream to promote his upcoming album, Iceman, the Canadian hip-hop artist played a song that featured vocals from Fariuz’s 1979 hit Wahdon.

It sparked concern among Arab audiences over whether the Lebanese singer would be credited and compensated.

Enas and Farah reflect ...

In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews take a closer look at the reactions to The Voice of Hind Rajab at the Venice Film Festival.

The film uses real audio from the harrowing distress call of a five-year-old girl trapped in a car in Gaza as she came under Israeli fire. It won a Silver Lion and received a record-breaking standing ovation, but some critics called it out for using “tear-jerking tactics”.

In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews follow the story of Mosul’s historical landmarks from construction to destruction and finally restoration.

This week, The National’s team visited the 2,500-year-old Iraqi city to observe the completion of a seven-year UAE-led project to rebuild Al Nuri Mosque with its famous leaning minaret, as well as the churches of Our Lady of the Hour Convent and Al Tahera. A...

In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews trace back the origins of the seven emirates, and how they got their names.

Drawing from both official records and local narratives, they look at the connection between human activity and geography that shaped each emirate. Abu Dhabi for example derives its meaning from accounts of early settlers following a gazelle to fresh water. As for Dubai, popular theories ...

This week on Culture Bites, host Farah Andrews chats with her colleagues at The National about the UAE’s cultural representation in Japan, and the regional music scene.

Gaming and Culture Reporter Faisal Al Zaabi joins Farah to talk about exploring the UAE pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka. The exhibit invites visitors to appreciate the country’s past, present and future and is designed to evoke their senses through scent, sound and touc...

In this episode of Culture Bites, host Farah Andrews explores the intersection of cities and street art through No Trespassing, an exhibition at the Ishara Art Foundation in Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue, running until August 30.

Curated by Priyanka Mehra, the show presents six site-specific interventions that brought street materials into the gallery space.

Priyanka joins Farah in the studio to share her insights on what street art mean...

On Culture Bites this week, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews offer some inspiration for a richer summer with their recommendations of what to read, watch and see during the holidays.

For long flights, the hosts suggest skipping cinematic spectacles and opting instead for breezy, entertaining films that are more suitable for smaller screens. If video is not an option, Enas and Farah also share some ideas for podcasts and audiobooks to ...