032 - Witnessing the Baghdad Bombing, Reclaiming Iraqi Narratives (Ahmed Twaij)

Ahmed Twaij zealously tells stories as a means to promote equality, as well as holding those in power to account. An independent freelance journalist, his work has been published in numerous outlets including The Independent, The Guardian, New York Times, Vice, BBC and many more. His work focuses on US politics, social justice issues and the Middle East. Ahmed is also a manager of everydayiraq, an online social media platform dedicated to shedding light on the daily life of Iraqis and providing a new narrative for the nation. We speak to Ahmed about his journey, his ventures into journalism and filmmaking, and reclaiming Iraqi narratives. 1:22 – Nouri forgets to turn off the soundtrack but asks Ahmed about his journey within Journalism without actually going to school for Journalism 3:32 – Shifting from being a medical doctor to Journalism  7:18 – Where do you find the motivation to want to help people?  10:02 – Everyday Iraq (Instagram) platform  15:01 – Changing (humanize/normalize) the Iraqi narrative  19:28 – Hasnain goes off on his random thoughts – asks Ahmed how he deals with normalization of target killings towards specific people  24:01 – Ahmed shares his experience during the mall bombing in Baghdad  29:04 – Nouri asks how he feels to see his country in a tough situation  31:55 – Post 2003 Iraq, how has art suffered?  39:25 – Hasnain ponders again, resistance art  43:06 – Ahmed’s venture into filmmaking  47:15 – What role does your craft mix with your spirituality?