Podcasts Culture Survival of the Kindest: Adrian Hartrick - A Place In-between

Survival of the Kindest: Adrian Hartrick - A Place In-between

Published: Dec. 7, 2020, 10:06 p.m.

Adrian has travelled extensively in the Middle East; from his first journey there as a post-school adventurer saw him arrive into Syria on the day they withdrew from Lebanon in 2005. Now a fixture in Beirut he talks about the reality of the influx of refugees from Syria in recent history, and from Palestine before.

Throughout the conversation Adrian explains his understanding of the middle east, and his view of it as the intersection of East and West, where language, racism, and citizenship hold different meanings to how they are understood in the West. He cites Lebanon as the ‘country that has seen it all’ and elucidates its millennia old history to prove the point. 

He sees this turbulent area of the world, which continues to struggle with the impact of colonialism and its aftershocks, as a place which, for westerners ‘breaks our conception of boundaries’. The fluidity of race, religion and language in this area has been the status quo for many hundreds of generations, and there is beauty and empathy throughout. 

Julian Abel can be found on Twitter

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