Sarde After Dinner (سردة بعد العشاء) is a Lebanese social commentary podcast. The term, “sarde” is a colloquialism used to describe the act of kicking back and telling a rambling narrative, a fitting name for a long-form discussion podcast. French-Lebanese journalist Médéa Azouri and Lebanese podcast producer Mouin Jaber started Sarde After Dinner following Lebanon’s October 17 Revolution as a space to openly discuss political and social issues.

Azouri and Jaber began inviting social, cultural, and political figures to Azouri’s house for recorded conversations about the guests’ area of expertise. The talks are about an hour long and are almost entirely in Arabic. They have welcomed both prominent and lesser known (though equally inspiring) guests from around the region and the diaspora. Sarde After Dinner is famously where Hamed Sinno from Mashrou’ Leila announced that the band was going their separate professional ways.

The simple format and captivating conversations have made Sarde After Dinner a superb Levantine Arabic listening resource for me. The casual, conversational format of the episodes and clear audio quality make it easy to follow. There isn’t much background music or chatter to distract from the narrative and the hosts are expressive, which helps add context to new words, topics, and phrases. Each episode also includes a summary and list of main topics in both Arabic and English, which can serve as a study guide. The hosts speak in the Lebanese dialect, as do many of their guests but there are some Jordanian, Egyptian, and other dialects mixed in too.

Sarde After Dinner covers a broad range of topics and has a robust episode library so you are bound to find something that interests you. Below are a few episodes we recommend starting with.

Munther Younes: The Myths and Hidden Meanings of The Arabic Language

A chat about the history and evolution of the Arabic language, including the popular formal versus colloquial Arabic debate. This topic is particularly relevant for this website and one that is of interest to many of our visitors.

Wedding(s) Season

The main vocabulary used in this episode is pretty basic, making it a good option for earlier intermediate learners. For a quick vocabulary refresher, review our wedding vocab list.

Khateera: Amanda Abou Abdallah & Maria Elayan

Abou Abdallah and Elayan talk about Khateera, an electronic magazine about women and the diversity of experiences and issues they encounter. Learn how they decided on the name for the project and what motivated them to launch it. The vocabulary in this episode is more advanced than the episodes above.