Tell Me More

Tell Me More is a podcast for kids and adults. Join us as we time travel through Dubai with an 8 year old, to uncover what the city looked like in the beginning, told by the people who made and experienced some of it.

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Episodes

Sabkhas: The UAE’s Carbon Sinks

Our latest episode looks at sabkhas – seemingly uninhabitable salt flats that might help us fight climate change. These salty ecosystems can sequester four times more carbon (per square meter) than rainforests can. This episode is really timely given that the UAE is gearing up to host COP28—the 28th UN Climate Conference, also known as the Conference of Parties, where negotiators from countries around the world will meet and have to find a way to agree on how we’re going to limit global warming ...

Nov 20, 2023•22 min•Ep. 6

Keeping Cool in Old Dubai

Summer in Dubai is intense with relentless humidity and temperatures soaring close to 50°C (122°F). How did people stay cool before air conditioning? We had heard about barjeels – traditional wind towers – but we didn’t quite know how they worked, or if they were still used today. So, we went to Al Bastakiya, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, to find out more. There we discovered the barjeels were just one architectural element – there are more! – that kept the houses and streets cool. Lis...

Jan 13, 2022•24 min•Ep. 5

The Ghaf Tree

What’s a forest of ghaf trees called? Are ghaf leaves and pods edible? What do ghaf trees have to do with tree huggers? What might you find if you dig around ghaf trees? This episode is dedicated to the ghaf tree, the national tree of the UAE and a symbol of tolerance. This amazingly resilient, drought-tolerant plant survives in the harshest of desert environments. Bedouins depended on all parts of the tree for their survival -- for shade, food, and medicinals. Many animals would not survive in ...

Oct 04, 2021•21 min•Ep. 4

Diving for Pearls

For hundreds, maybe thousands of years, pearls and the sea were a very big part of people’s lives in the Gulf region. The pearl shaped the economy and the identity of the people. Language, songs, clothing and travel were all part of the culture of diving for pearls. Some people got very rich off pearl diving, while others did hard and dangerous work for little or no pay. By the early 20th century, the Gulf region supplied up to 80% of the world’s pearls. But then a lot happened in the world, inc...

Aug 18, 2021•24 min•Ep. 3

Sindbad’s Wonderland

As summer approaches in Dubai, all we can think about is staying indoors and having fun. So, during this episode we look at Sindbad’s Wonderland—an indoor arcade paradise at Al Ghurair Centre for Dubai kids in the 1980s and 1990s. Spatika and Liz never had the chance to visit Sindbad’s—it closed its doors in 1997—so they tracked down key people who were in Dubai in the 80s to share their memories of what it was like. Listen as Sindbad’s first and only manager Ishwar Chugani, and two former Sindb...

Jun 27, 2021•20 min•Ep. 2

Dubai’s First Skyscraper

Dubai’s First Skyscraper Our first episode looks at Dubai’s first skyscraper -- Dubai World Trade Center. This 33-story building might seem tiny today compared to the more than 160-story Burj Khalifa and other super tall buildings. But, when DWTC opened in 1979, it was the tallest tower in the Middle East and it sent a signal to the rest of the world that Dubai was open for business. Spatika and Liz had a lot of questions about DWTC so they talked to some experts to find out the answers. Listen ...

May 17, 2021•21 min•Ep. 1

Introducing: Tell me more!

May 12, 2021•1 min

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