Inside Afikra: born in New York, cultivating curiosity for a decade

Traces founder Mikey Muhanna's path from a personal search for connection to his Arab roots in New York, to steward of a movement that now fills venues like Lincoln Center.

"We were this small community of 15 people."

Afikra at 10: using culture to reclaim Arab narratives

Marks afikra's tenth anniversary with the team's week of sold-out talks in New York at venues including Joe's Pub and the Lincoln Center, and traces how the platform pushes back on flattened, outside framings of the region.

The Arab World's Star Student

Names afikra among a wave of grassroots initiatives started by young Arabs, describing its salon-style gatherings in Brooklyn as a way to question accepted truths without the noise of politics.

Podcasting in the Middle East has grown up

Places afikra's podcast network alongside the region's other independent audio outfits, in a survey of how Arabic-language podcasting moved from side project to a serious part of regional media.

AI is learning Arab culture from the wrong sources

Argues that the fix for thin, second-hand training data starts with archives and platforms built in the region itself — with afikra's decade of recorded conversations cited as the kind of primary material that's missing.

On redefining how we teach curiosity

A long conversation with Mikey Muhanna on why afikra starts from questions rather than answers, and what it takes to build an audience for Arab history outside a classroom.