Episode 57: Is a Roman coin about to break auction records?

This week on Culture Bites, Enas Refaei, Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal take a moment to appreciate the Emirati and Arab traditions being considered for Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage lists this year.

Established in 2008, the lists aim to preserve and promote cultural heritage, including practices that may be in urgent need of safeguarding. Several rituals from the region have been added to the list including henna and Palestinian Nabulsi soap-making. Another contender submitted by the UAE and other Arab countries is coffee, with all the social customs that surround it.

The hosts then look at the way Gen-Z pop culture has shaped how we speak, and the slang vocabulary that has become part of mainstream language. Terms like “brat” and “brain rot” have even been crowned words of the year by the Collins Dictionary and Oxford University Press respectively, while “holding space” has become a buzz term in the Wicked promotional campaign.

Finally, the three hosts discuss a significant coin auction taking place this month. Two rare, ancient minted coins being auctioned by Numismatica Genevensis SA in Geneva, highlighting significant moments in Roman and Islamic history. One is a memento of the assassination of Julius Caesar and is expected to break a world record at auction. The other is a gold dinar that pays tribute to Medinah during the Umayyad era. The hosts tell the captivating stories behind them and the power they held in their times.