Culture Bites

This week on Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and guest host Faisal Al Zaabi, The National's culture reporter, reflect on a new Netflix documentary revisiting the hit 2000s reality show America’s Next Top Model.

The docuseries, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, features interviews with former contestants, judges and host Tyra Banks. It has reignited debate about the fashion industry's standards at the time and the treatment...

In this episode of Culture Bites, The National’s music and culture journalist Saeed Saeed is back, this time joining Enas Refaei to discuss Ramadan TV.

Every year during the holy month, households across the Arab world tune in to watch the most popular comedies, dramas and talk shows of the season. Over time, networks – and now streaming platforms – have invested bigger budgets into Ramadan specials, as audiences spend more time wa...

This week on Culture Bites, Farah Andrews is joined by guest host Saeed Saeed, The National’s music and culture journalist.

After much acclaim and debate over Bad Bunny’s half-time Super Bowl show, the hosts reflect on its massive worldwide appeal. They discuss the powerful cultural messages layered through the Puerto Rican artist’s viral performance, described as a celebration of Latin American culture. But they also question whet...

In this week’s episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews talk about a new initiative in Abu Dhabi to attract art collectors.

The scheme announced by the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi will waive customs duties for artworks brought in for at least three years. Designed to be more than a financial incentive, the programme prioritises cultural investment in the emirate, building on its reputation as a hub fo...

This week on Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews sit down with chef and author Asma Khan during the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai.

Born and raised in India, Asma later moved to th...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews explore Abu Dhabi’s heritage through Al Hosn Festival, which runs until February 1.

They are joined by Farah Al Bakoush, acting director of Intangible Cultural Heritage at Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism, to discuss the highlights of this year’s event.

She provides a sneak peek of the interactive activations not to be missed, including a heritage escape r...

This week on Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews host contemporary artist Werner Bronkhorst ahead of his first exhibition in Dubai.

The 24-year-old South Africa-born Australian painter talks about the global premiere of his new collection, Crack, which will be on display at Concrete in Alserkal Avenue from January 16 to 18. Even at his young age, Bronkorst’s work has become massively popular, appealing to people all over t...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei is joined by UAE-based musician Ghazi Al Mulaifi to talk about the traditions of Kuwaiti pearl-diving music that inspired his band, Boom.Diwan.

Ghazi tells Enas about his own family history of pearl diving and the intrigue it sparked in him. The rich cultural practice was also an arduous one, marked by long perilous journeys and hardship. Music was an important component to boost morale...

In this season finale of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews reflect on the culture-defining moments that had the biggest impact on them in 2025.

The hosts share their favourite movies, TV series and books from the past year, with a look back at both fiction and non-fiction titles. They also highlight their most memorable art institution visits. Enas describes what it was like stepping into the Grand Egyptian Museum ahead ...

In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews explore how cultural heritage is preserved, celebrated and carried forward, from one of the UAE’s newly opened museums to the living traditions recognised by Unesco.

The episode opens at the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi, where Farah records from inside the new landmark on Saadiyat Island.

In that segment, Moaza Matar, director of the curatorial and collecti...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews reveal their Spotify Wrapped summaries, each with their own listening age plot twist.

The end-of-year stats delivered by Spotify and other similar audio streaming platforms have become popular among users over the years. Enas and Farah dig through their listening habits to understand why people love to learn about their own personalities. While the over-mining of user ...

This week, Culture Bites celebrates its 100th episode from the newly-opened Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi.

Hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews tour the sprawling space in Saadiyat Cultural District and explore the 13.8-billion-year story of the universe. They speak to the museum’s director Peter Kjaergaard about the emotional connection to the natural world that he wants visitors to experience. He tells them about the hidden gem...

This week on Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews visit the Abu Dhabi Art fair and speak to some of the artists whose work caught their eye.

The Beyond Emerging Artists programme features up-and-coming UAE-based talents, and this year it is curated by renowned Syrian artist Issam Kourbaj. He speaks to Enas about working with the participants to bring their installations to life, and he gives a preview of his own showcase wi...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews preview Abu Dhabi Art before its opening on November 19.

Dyala Nusseibeh, director of Abu Dhabi Art, speaks about what visitors can expect to see this year, as a record number of galleries from around the world take part. The fair’s growth over time reflects Abu Dhabi’s efforts to become a centre for culture enthusiasts, especially as it brings more focus to art from t...

In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews speak to executive creative director at Expo City Dubai, Amna Abulhoul, about curating the upcoming Dhai Dubai festival.

Celebrating heritage through light, seven Emirati artists are showcasing their installations at the second edition of the event, taking place at Expo City Dubai's Al Wasl Plaza from November 12 to 18. Amna talks about the inspiration behind the...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews are joined by The National’s in-house pop culture expert Faisal Al Zaabi to talk about his experience of the Art in Scents tour at Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The museum has collaborated with Swiss fragrance maker Givaudan to interpret the aromas of nine artworks in its permanent collection. Visitors receive a book, which they can scratch the pages of to release a scent for each...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews explore the world of art heists in the aftermath of the break-in at the Louvre in Paris.

It took only seven minutes for thieves to break into the museum’s Apollo Gallery and steal several pieces of precious jewellery, all of which have significant historical value. This is not the first time the Louvre has been the target of thieves. In 1911, the Mona Lisa was taken by...

This week on Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews bring attention to an often neglected but worthy force of nature − the mushroom.

Their guest in this episode, Georgina Pereira, is the species survival manager at Terra, Expo City Dubai where she works as a mushroom scientist. On the occasion of World Mushroom Day, she talks to Enas and Farah about the infinite ways that fungi shape our world: from cooking and medicinal prop...

In this episode of Culture Bites, Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews give the scoop on the production of Dune: Part Three in Abu Dhabi.

Filming for the third instalment of the sci-fi blockbuster is expected to start this month in the emirate’s Liwa desert. Leading cast members, including Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, are expected to be arriving in the UAE soon. Jason Momoa was already spotted in Dubai last weekend. Farah reveals some b...