{"podcast":{"title":"Culture Bites","slug":"culture-bites-6616056","podcast_index_feed_id":6616056,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/culturebites/feed.xml","website_url":"https://culturebites.podbean.com","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/17186079/culture_bites_newbq4zo.jpg","author":"The National News","episode_count":100,"summary":"Join hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews as they guide you through the arts and culture scene in the UAE, the Middle East and around the world. Culture Bites — a two-time award winner recognised in New York and London — brings you fresh perspectives every Thursday from The National News in Abu Dhabi.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-09T22:19:16.985365+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/culture-bites-6616056"},"episode":{"title":"Episode 114: What are microdramas and why are they generating billions?","slug":"episode-114-what-are-microdramas-and-why-are-they-generating-billions","published_at":"2026-04-02T01:55:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/culture-bites-6616056/episode-114-what-are-microdramas-and-why-are-they-generating-billions","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/culture-bites-6616056","url":"https://culturebites.podbean.com/e/episode-114-what-are-microdramas-and-why-are-they-generating-billions/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/5kjex53irpjhype9/CB_Ep_114_FINAL_mixdown6ovbw.mp3","summary":"In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews talk about the creative ways the entertainment industry is adapting to disruptions in the events calendar. Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena is hosting a shopping clearance sale this week to keep the venue running. After some of its scheduled concerts were postponed due to the regional war, staff quickly pivoted from live events to retail, offering shoppers free entry and attractive prices. Enas and Farah talk about the increased community support for local brands and businesses in the UAE to help them overcome the uncertainty. The hosts also discuss the microdrama phenomenon taking over social media platforms. These short-form, vertical video series became popular in China before spreading worldwide. Despite being low-budget productions featuring soapy plot lines and stereotypes, they are turning into a multibillion dollar industry. Farah and Enas explore how media creation and consumption trends have evolved as doomscrolling and shorter attention spans influence what and where we watch.","meta_description":"In this episode of Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews talk about the creative ways the entertainment industry is adapting to disruptions i…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1685,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/culture-bites-6616056/episodes/episode-114-what-are-microdramas-and-why-are-they-generating-billions/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/culture-bites-6616056/episode-114-what-are-microdramas-and-why-are-they-generating-billions.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}