This episode explores war and resilience through sound, memory, and lived experience. As of January 2026, war continues to structure everyday life across the world. War reorganizes time, memory, kinship, and soundscapes. Resilience is not optimism. It is continuity under pressure — the ability to sing, record, teach, archive, and sometimes laugh quietly while power insists it is eternal.
The episode features an interview with Yamen Mekdad of the Syrian Cassette Archives on music as survival and documentation; a conversation with Yousef Khoury (a music teacher from the Edward Said Conservatory of Music) on intergenerational cultural resistance and music education; and reflections from a SWANA-focused workshop at Oslo World Festival 2025, with contributions from cultural consultant Rania Elias and Amani Samaan (co-founder of Beirut and Beyond).
Contributed By
Dragoș Rusu
Co-founder and co-editor in chief of The Attic, sound researcher, DJ, and allround music adventurer, with a keen interest in the anthropology of sound.
@dragos_rusu_