Emirati Stories

Sultan Al Hajj is the son of a self-taught oil and gas worker - who was also one of the last Emirati employees to strike against  British leadership – and the grandson of a “medicine man” providing psychological relief to fellow villagers. Sultan grew up in the emirate of Sharjah, at a time when the UAE was not yet a country, and made it to the highest positions at the oil and gas company Total in Abu Dhabi. He is currently also th...

Emirati architect Alamira Reem Bani Hashim came back from 12 years in California with a PHD in Urban Planning, becoming the 1st female Emirati with that distinction*. In this episode she explains why she left the UAE at 17 to study abroad on her own. Describing herself as an overachiever and perfectionist, Reem experienced depression, an imposter syndrome, but finally found herself and her own identity.
Her husband Arsalan explains...

Alamira Reem Bani Hashim explains how evolving political priorities and social realities in the UAE have shaped Abu Dhabi's development over decades, before and after the discovery of oil. Reem is an Emirati researcher and PhD holder in Urban Development who recently published "Planning Abu Dhabi", a book on Abu Dhabi’s urban history over the last century. This episode is part 1 of our interview.

Music: "All Together", by CSoul
Ava...

Sara Al Shorouqi, 41, is one of the most senior Emirati female executives in one of the UAE's biggest investment groups. Her father (a teacher and school director) and mother (an artist) played a crucial role in her building self-confidence and managing a career while raising 4 children as a single mother.
In this episode, Sara also speaks about her battles against stereotypes in the workplace - and outside the UAE in general - abo...

Rashed Hassan is a young film actor in Abu Dhabi. His passion for movies and storytelling as a child took a new turn as a young man when national service gave him the opportunity to meet experienced actor Mohammed Ahmed, and audition for a role in one of Humaid Al Suwaidi’s feature films.
In this episode, Rashed speaks about his experience of the UAE's recently introduced national service, his family, his emotions when he is acting...

Thabet Al Qaissiyeh is a 36-year old entrepreneur who runs a family business. Two years ago he decided to build a space observatory on the family farm in the Abu Dhabi desert. He is now working with one of the most prestigious universities in the world on a space program.

In this episode you will hear about: stargazing; Al Sadeem Space Observatory (and how to get there); Emirati women and astronomy; how the loss of a younger brothe...

As a child, Talal Salem Al Sabiri, now a 40-year old poet from the emirate of Sharjah, used to go to the sea with his father for diving and fishing trips. Those moments still inspire him today. His beginnings as a poet started with music, playing oud with his brothers, and later playing with words and rhythms.
In this episode, Talal speaks about Arabic and Gulf poetry, about morning inspiration, level of consciousness, about Sharja...

Hanady Al Hashmi, 31, discovered a passion for mountains and mountaineering five years ago, after starting to hike through... the desert. Since then she has climbed four of the world’s Seven Summits - the highest peaks of each continent, switching between Abu Dhabi's heat and sandstorms, and icy weather on the world's most impressive glaciers. Last year Hanady became the first Emirati woman to make it to the top of Denali, North Am...

Jalal Luqman’s name is known today both locally and internationally. But his journey to becoming the UAE’s first digital artist in the 1990s was not a walk in the park. Although his passion for computers and art showed at a very young age, reality forced him to make other professional choices first. After a dramatic event in his personal life that turned him from wealthy to poor overnight, while he was studying business in the USA,...

Suhaila al Dhaheri, is a law student at Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi. At 21 she already has experience in running elections and holding a mandate to represent the interests of her peers. Suhaila was elected President of her university’s Student Council and at a federal level she has also been a member of the Emirates Youth Council for one year.
In a country that little more than a decade ago has launched the first elections ...

Two years after the loss of her mother, Dubai artist and entrepreneur Leila al Marashi, 35, decided to build on her experience in a creative way with The Power of Pink project, an art installation focused on the colour pink, dedicated to raising awareness about breast cancer in the UAE.

In this episode, Leila speaks about pink in the life of an Emirati girl, teenager and grown-up woman. She tells the story of her mother and her fat...

Emirati personalities from a variety of backgrounds walk us through their life experience, their sources of inspiration, their motivations, sometimes their doubts. In a quiet atmosphere of Abu Dhabi, away from the whirlwind of news, guests speak about themselves at their own pace, going back to the roots and key influences of the past. 

Halfway between journalism and literature, this podcast aims at offering new tools to understand...