Hindsight

Season 2 dives into the lives of famed writers and entertainers who did what others thought impossible.

How many entertainers can hold an audience’s attention for hours with a single song? Egypt’s Umm Kulthum could, but she was extraordinary - conservative, strategic and positively revered by the masses. This is the rags-to-riches story of the Star of the East. Umm Kulthum at the height of her fame was a magnet for Egypt’s upper class, preeminent poets, composers and politicians. But her rise to superstardom came with its stumbles.

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Few are born with as much natural charm and talent as Omar Sharif. The Egyptian actor, with his gap-toothed grin, catapulted to international fame with leading roles in epic Hollywood films such as Dr Zhivago. But a gambling addiction and temper would leave its mark on his third act in life. Still, as dramatic as his opening scene in Lawrence of Arabia, listening to the story of Omar Sharif’s life is also worth the wait.

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In a single move, Huda Shaarawi cemented her legacy in Egypt's women's movement. She stepped down from a train in Cairo and before a crowd, pulled back her veil. For an upper-class woman in 1923, revealing her face was a daring and decisive act. But Huda wasn't afraid of pushing the social norms. 

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Without knowing it, you have probably heard of or read Rumi’s words before. Perhaps you were between pain and letting go or wanting and finding love. Wherever you are, the story and words of this great 13th-century Persian poet still expresses what we feel today.

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there”.

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As an Iranian woman, writing poetry about her own love and lust launched Forough Farrokhzad into infamy. She broke the barriers of sex and society in her poetry, but would suffer for it during her short life. Sin would get her in trouble but it would also be her ultimate salvation. So too for those desperate to read about it. 

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When Gibran Khalil Gibran was 12 years old, he boarded a ship from Lebanon to the United States with his mother and three siblings. Within a few years only two of them would be alive. Shaped by loss and a distrust of religious and political powers, Gibran's insatiable rebellious soul would go on to create his seminal work, The Prophet. But it didn’t come without sacrifice. 

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