Culture Bites: What we’ve watched, read, listened to and enjoyed this year so far



It’s a special summer edition of Culture Bites this week. To mark the halfway point of the year, hosts Farah Andrews and Maan Jalal take the opportunity to look back at their favourite cultural experiences so far.

From books and movies to art exhibitions and music concerts, the hosts share their top picks in a moment to celebrate all the year has had to offer. They discuss some of the biggest pop culture hits, including The Bear and House of the Dragon, and all things Taylor Swift. They also highlight their most memorable visits to galleries and performances in the UAE.

Looking forward, the hosts cast their sights on entertainment they are anticipating later this year. Maan is looking forward to the release of the Wicked movie later in November, and Farah awaits Laura Marling’s music album, Patterns in Repeat which will be out in October. Catch more of their cultural forecasts in this summer special episode.

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Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Where to apply

Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020

Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.

The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020. 

The biog

Name: Abeer Al Bah

Born: 1972

Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992

Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old

Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school

 

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The drill

Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.

Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”

Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”

Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.” 

Updated: August 01, 2024, 2:00 AM