Essam EL-Haggar - Cairo

Today we travel to the city of Cairo, Egypt to speak with Arabic music scholar Essam El Haggar.  In a previous episode, Edinburghs’ Billy Liar talked about how his travels to the United States made him understand how much  shorter America’s historical timeline was compared to the United Kingdom’s.  As we look back on Cairo’s past, its ancient and epic timeline makes the aforementioned countries look like newborn babies. Founded in 2000 BC, it's known for wonders of the world like the pyramids and The Sphinx, but Cairo now is a bustling and culturally rich city, boasting a population of over 30 million people.  Today, Essam tells us about Egyptian history and discusses Arabic music and instruments.  The artists we play today are Umm Kulthum and Cairokee, from Egypt, and Paul McCartney, originally from England.