The Walrus Podcasts

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Channel • 18 Shows

Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Monthly
Technology

Technology

Updated weekly
History

History

Updated weekly
Education

Education

Updated fortnightly
Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Twice monthly
Hobbies

Hobbies

Updated fortnightly
History

History

Updated fortnightly

09/08/2024

Nasir Sirikhan’s Philosophy of Dance

Nasir Sirikhan and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss Nasir's viral wedding dance video and the joy and connection it brought to millions of viewers. They talk about the origins of QuickStyle and how Nasir, Suleiman, and Bilal met and formed their dance crew. Nasir shares the emotional journey of performing and the camaraderie among the group. They also discuss the influence of hip-hop and their love for music in their dance style. Nasir Sirikhan, a member of the dance crew Quick Style, discusses his background growing up in Oslo as a Thai Pakistani kid and the diverse cultural influences he experienced. He explains how Quick Style Studio was born and how they decided to build community by teaching dance to young students. Nasir Sirikhan discusses the power of dance to connect people and break down barriers. He shares his experiences of witnessing love and unity in different cultures and how it has shaped his perspective. Nasir also reflects on his personal growth as a dancer and artist, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and finding his own unique style. He describes dance as a spiritual practice that allows him to connect with his emotions and find strength and hope in difficult times. Nasir and Abdul-Rehman Malik discuss the significance of movement in human expression and the role of dance in bringing joy and inspiration to the world. The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

09/08/2024

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34 min
10/02/2025

Episode 4: Unrequited Love

Having traced his grandparents’ and mother’s journeys from Germany to Ecuador, Timothy considers the German-Jewish family history that gave rise to both the Kuppenheims’ success and to their persecution. He begins with the archive’s oldest record, dating from 1813. This document allows him to unpack the groundbreaking career of his great-great-great-grandfather, and also to situate his ancestor in a moment of profound change for German Jews. Continuing in this vein, Timothy visits a collector of the work of his great-great-grandfather, a legendary jeweller. He then considers the tragedy of his great grandparents, visiting the sites of their successes and learning how it all came crashing down. A trip to Heidelberg to learn about his great uncle’s experience of antisemitism gives Timothy an idea for bringing his family’s story full circle. The voice of Ursula Kuppenheim is provided by Hanna Feldhaus Kent. The Hidden Holocaust Papers: Survival. Exile. Return. is a production of The Walrus Lab in partnership with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. It's presented by Timothy Taylor. The Executive Producers are Anthony Cantor and Timothy Taylor. Anthony Cantor is the showrunner. Written by Timothy Taylor and Anthony Cantor. Co-produced and edited by Eric Anderson and Sean Prpick. Technical Production, Sound Engineering and Design, and Music Supervision by Rob Julius Janson. Research and translation by Joel Pinsker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

10/02/2025

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1hr 12min
03/02/2025

Episode 3: Going Underground

Ursula’s situation grows much more dangerous in 1944, when the Nazis move to round up Mischlinge like her. Timothy learns that his mother went into hiding on rural farms and scours the archive for clues to the exact locations. Through photographs, he identifies a man who seems to have played a role in protecting Ursula. Tracking down this man’s granddaughter provides an emotional breakthrough, and, remarkably, her family’s photo albums contain pictures of Ursula from 1944. Timothy pieces together clues that lead to the town of Delbrück, where he speaks with a local historian, standing on the very spot where the 1944 photographs of his mother were taken. Through these discussions, another local man is identified who helped Jews hide from Nazis. In a second shock discovery, Timothy learns that that man’s grandson still runs the family jewellery store, and that he has some tantalizing information for Timothy. Timothy has traced his mother’s survival to the very moment she went into hiding. But at this point, the trail seems to have gone cold. Timothy speaks to a survivor who can shed light on his mother’s time underground. Following the story to the immediate post-war period, Timothy learns that Ursula’s experience of liberation was accompanied by its own tribulations. The voices of Ursula Kuppenheim and Charlotte Knobloch are provided by Hanna Feldhaus Kent. The Hidden Holocaust Papers: Survival. Exile. Return. is a production of The Walrus Lab in partnership with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. It's presented by Timothy Taylor. The Executive Producers are Anthony Cantor and Timothy Taylor. Anthony Cantor is the showrunner. Written by Timothy Taylor and Anthony Cantor. Co-produced and edited by Eric Anderson and Sean Prpick. Technical Production, Sound Engineering and Design, and Music Supervision by Rob Julius Janson. Research and translation by Joel Pinsker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

03/02/2025

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1hr 15min
03/02/2025

Episode 2: Dictatorship 101

While his grandfather managed to flee Nazi Germany in 1940 and make it to safety in Ecuador, Timothy’s half-Jewish mother and his gentile grandmother were unable to escape. Timothy turns to his archive to discover what those years were like for them. His mother, Ursula, who was only ten years old when her father fled, bravely writes of her family’s Jewish history in a school assignment, which Timothy is able to read and discuss with experts. He also learns that when German children were sent to the countryside to avoid Allied bombings, Ursula went along despite having to keep her Mischling status a secret. Timothy learns from experts and from his mother’s own account about the desperate hardships of hiding in plain sight. He also discovers the shocking fallout when his mother’s secret identity is discovered. The voice of Ursula Kuppenheim is provided by Hanna Feldhaus Kent. The Hidden Holocaust Papers: Survival. Exile. Return. is a production of The Walrus Lab in partnership with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. It's presented by Timothy Taylor. The Executive Producers are Anthony Cantor and Timothy Taylor. Anthony Cantor is the showrunner. Written by Timothy Taylor and Anthony Cantor. Co-produced and edited by Eric Anderson and Sean Prpick. Technical Production, Sound Engineering and Design, and Music Supervision by Rob Julius Janson. Research and translation by Joel Pinsker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

03/02/2025

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1hr 6min
27/01/2025

Episode 1: Flight

With the rise of the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler in Germany, destruction comes quickly for a prominent and respected Jewish family, the Kuppenheims. Members of the family are murdered, exiled or chased into hiding. Some eighty years later, Canadian novelist Timothy Taylor inherits a ten thousand page archive of diaries, letters, photographs and other documents kept by his grandfather and begins to piece together the story of his family’s Holocaust legacy. Travelling to Germany to meet with historians and other experts, Timothy unpacks his grandfather Felix’s fate, from the fallout of the antisemitic Nuremberg Laws, to his long and improbable path of escape from Nazi Germany, through the Soviet Union and Japan, and finally to Ecuador. The voice of Felix Kuppenheim is provided by Jonas Osmann. The Hidden Holocaust Papers: Survival. Exile. Return. is a production of The Walrus Lab in partnership with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. It's presented by Timothy Taylor. The Executive Producers are Anthony Cantor and Timothy Taylor. Anthony Cantor is the showrunner. Written by Timothy Taylor and Anthony Cantor. Co-produced and edited by Eric Anderson and Sean Prpick. Technical Production, Sound Engineering and Design, and Music Supervision by Rob Julius Janson. Research and translation by Joel Pinsker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

27/01/2025

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1hr 6min
15/07/2020

Spoken Word Poet Mustafa Ahmed

Maybe it was easier to avoid heated debates before we were all living under pandemic rules. Or maybe this is just the result of our small bubbles of safety, but when we have different opinions.. getting caught up in Twitter arguments or disagreeing with family members, it’s easy to forget about what the other person is going through. In this talk, Mustafa Ahmed reminds us that human rights begin with human and that just because disabilities like mental health are seemingly invisible, they are still very much disabilities we need to be aware of. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15/07/2020

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13 min
Trailer

Introducing: The Hidden Holocaust Papers: Survival. Exile. Return.

When mysterious boxes arrive at his Vancouver home, Timothy Taylor begins a journey to uncover his family’s hidden past—a history of persecution, exile, and survival under the Nazis. Traveling from rural Germany to its cultural centers, Timothy pieces together his once-prominent German-Jewish family’s story, determined to honor their memory and give voice to those silenced. Through letters, diaries, and artifacts, The Hidden Holocaust Papers explores loss, survival, and the enduring impact of history on future generations. This podcast is funded by the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre and produced by The Walrus Lab. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trailer

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1 min
24/02/2025

Episode 6: Live from Vancouver

Hannah Marazzi, Executive Director of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, introduces an intimate evening of conversation and reflection hosted by Timothy Taylor and recorded live on February 13th, 2025, at the Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. Timothy speaks about the podcast, his family's experiences and the broader meaning of these stories with three guests: Mariette Doduck, a Holocaust survivor and co-founder of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre; David Bercovici-Artieda, an Ecuadorian-Jewish filmmaker who now calls Vancouver Island home; and Shelagh Genuis, Timothy's sister who first brought him the boxes of family documents that became the source material for The Hidden Holocaust Papers. Then, Timothy and Showrunner/Co-Executive Producer Anthony Cantor share some behind-the-scenes insights into the making of this series. Questions from the live audience round out the evening. This live episode was directed by Eric Anderson. Will Howie served as Technical Producer and Sound Engineer. Justin Brown was the Live Mix Engineer. The Venue Crew Lead and Lighting Operator was Emily Trepanier. The Hidden Holocaust Papers: Survival. Exile. Return. is a production of The Walrus Lab in partnership with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. It's presented by Timothy Taylor. The Executive Producers are Anthony Cantor and Timothy Taylor. Anthony Cantor is the showrunner. Written by Timothy Taylor and Anthony Cantor. Co-produced and edited by Eric Anderson and Sean Prpick. Technical Production, Sound Engineering and Design, and Music Supervision by Rob Julius Janson. Research and translation by Joel Pinsker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

24/02/2025

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1hr 31min
5 days ago

The Shape of Culture: Arabic Typography with Dr. Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès

When Dr. Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès moved from Beirut to study in the United States, she found herself doing something she'd never had to do before: explaining her own visual culture to people who'd never seen it. That challenge changed everything. It sent her deep into the history of Arabic typography—how it grew from calligraphic tradition, was codified by ninth-century philologists in Baghdad, and is now being reimagined through algorithms and animation. And it gave her a lifelong mission: to show the world a side of SWANA creative culture that rarely makes it into the conversation. In this episode, host Mai Habib sits down with Dr. Smitshuijzen AbiFarès to go behind the scenes of her exhibition Inner Structures, Outer Rhythms, explore what makes Arabic letterforms so uniquely expressive, and make the case that contemporary graphic design from the SWANA region is one of the most direct living continuations of Islamic artistic heritage. *The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.* Links & Resources: This was just one example of Muslim art that sparked curiosity and a great conversation. There is so much more to see at the Aga Khan Museum. Support the museum's vision to impact lives and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies. Go to agakhanmuseum.org to plan your visit or make a donation.Can't make it in person? Explore the 3D virtual tour of Inner Structures, Outer Rhythms from anywhere in the world.Check out more episodes in full video. Key Moments 0:00 Introduction to This Being Human and the world of Arabic typography 1:20 Dr. Smitshuijzen AbiFarès' background and how studying abroad sparked her passion for typography 3:07 Defining typography, and how it differs from calligraphy and hand lettering 5:59 How the Arabic script connects cultures across the SWANA region and beyond 8:58 The Quran as connector: Arabic, Islam, and the preservation of a shared script 11:51 What makes Arabic letterforms uniquely readable across wildly different styles 13:36 Behind the scenes of Inner Structures, Outer Rhythms: vision, work, and journey 18:11 How the exhibition adapted to audiences in Qatar, Germany, and Toronto 21:10 Why sparking new conversations—not delivering answers—was the ultimate goal 27:55 The future of Arabic typography: algorithms, animation, and a script that endures Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5 days ago

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31 min
01/05/2023

Episode 3 - Coleman Barks

Coleman Barks is an American poet and translator whose translations brought Jalaluddin Rumi, the 13th-Century Persian mystic, to mass contemporary audiences, turning him into one of the most popular poets in the modern English-speaking world. Barks’ free verse interpretations of Rumi have at times been the top-selling poetry books in America. Now 86 years old, Barks joins AR to talk about how he was given a mission to bring Rumi’s words to the masses, which turned into a lifelong pursuit. He also talks about how his interest lately has shifted from Rumi to Rumi’s teacher, Shams Tabrizi. The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human, and The Hilary and Galen West on Foundation for their generous support of This Being Human Season 3. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

01/05/2023

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29 min

The Walrus Podcasts are an extension of our award-winning storytelling, so whether it’s a look at those moments that change your life forever, an analysis of our unique political system, or a trip to one of the most amazing locations in Canada, The Walrus Podcasts have your ears covered.