{"podcast":{"title":"The afikra Podcast","slug":"the-afikra-podcast-1800518","podcast_index_feed_id":1800518,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/mQeVlZL1","website_url":"https://afikra.simplecast.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/1ce0a58c-3e05-4d4b-a2e7-f3ffb869b215/29decdd8-9ed2-413f-87ee-5362994ea4a1/3000x3000/the_afikra_podcast.jpg?aid=rss_feed","author":"afikra","episode_count":485,"summary":"The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media, urban planning and beyond, who are helping document and shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their ‎work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community walks away with a new‎found curiosity, and recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into head first. ‎","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518"},"episode":{"title":"The Weirdest Items in the Library of Congress | Muhannad Salhi","slug":"the-weirdest-items-in-the-library-of-congress-muhannad-salhi","published_at":"2026-05-18T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518/the-weirdest-items-in-the-library-of-congress-muhannad-salhi","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518","url":"https://afikra.simplecast.com/episodes/muhannad-salhi-v0SDhw6n","audio_url":"https://afp-922695-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/96f7a68b-b919-40fb-9d0c-366fc6f2d79c/episodes/a190fe07-f73a-4109-aee1-37f6d2046b1a/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=96f7a68b-b919-40fb-9d0c-366fc6f2d79c&awEpisodeId=a190fe07-f73a-4109-aee1-37f6d2046b1a&feed=mQeVlZL1","summary":"Rare artifacts within the vast archives of the Library of Congress (LOC) represent a shift in how our region's history is fundamentally understood. Moving beyond traditional nationalist timelines, Arab World specialist in the African and Middle East division at the LOC, Dr. Muhannad Salhi, explores the transition of diverse items in the library's \"Near East\" collection, from 3000-year-old economic receipts to unique cultural fragments, into autonomous objects of study that define a global narrative. Reclaiming these stories serves as a resistance against regional erasure and the invisibility often felt in the global cultural landscape.","meta_description":"Rare artifacts within the vast archives of the Library of Congress (LOC) represent a shift in how our region's history is fundamentally understood. Moving…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4149,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-afikra-podcast-1800518/episodes/the-weirdest-items-in-the-library-of-congress-muhannad-salhi/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518/the-weirdest-items-in-the-library-of-congress-muhannad-salhi.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}