#13 Can we talk about Egypt’s revolution? Mahmoud Salem

From Cairo Podcast

Mahmoud Salem is best known for his irreverent blog, Rantings of a Sandmonkey. His cynical takes made him a prominent voice during Egypt's 2011 revolution. In the podcast, he compares the Mubarak-era state, and all its abuses, to the Egypt of today. Mahmoud reflects on life growing up in a family with strong ruling party (NDP) ties, how the blogosphere of the 2000s compares to the self-censored social media of today, how political correctness since the revolution has further fragmented a broken society, and whether all this collective trauma has taught us anything. In the end, it may all just come down to mommy issues.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7-uP0e38I4

CHAPTERS

(00:00) - Intro

(01:20) - Why did you start your blog?

(10:15) - NDP family/Mommy issues

(17:30) - General intelligence vs state security

(22:15) - Why Sandmonkey revealed his identity

(31:39) - A brief history of the NDP

(35:49) - Why did you stop writing?

(41:30) - Jan 25 trauma

(48:24) - PC censorship

(57:30) - Women's rights & sexual harassment in Egypt

(01:02:02) - Should Egypt adopt western rights rhetoric?

(01:04:25) - Jan 25 reflections

(01:10:04) - Fairmont case/Can we trust the state?

(01:14:51) - What did you learn from a decade of blogging?

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