Lina Attalah
Deep listening – speaking nearby
17 April 2026
In 2013, a group of jobless journalists in Cairo found themselves on the skirmish line between two forces; the military and the islamists. Intent on not taking sides, they entertained the rising discourse of third wayism, but abandoned it soon, at the first moment of danger. In this seminar, we explore what is the position of a journalist, a thought maker with a task of mediation, in a moment of danger. We think through the different shades and spectrums of taking a position, including acts of presence, deep listening, speaking nearby and journalism as an epistemology of uncertainty. We conjure that moment in history, and its lessons on taking a position, to the present as we wrestle with sense making in rising global crises.
Suggested readings: 3 conversations
Nancy Chen, Speaking Nearby, A Conversation with Trinh Minh-Ha, Situated Ecologies.
https://www.situatedecologies.net/wp-content/uploads/Trinh-Speaking-Nearby-1983.pdf
Pauline Oliveros on Deep Listening, Sound American
archive.soundamerican.org/sa_archive/sa7/sa7-pauline-oliveros-on-deep-listening.html
Iran Under Attack: Steadfastness, Nostalgia and Human Shields, Mada Masr
Lina Attalah is the publisher and founding editor of Mada Masr, an independent media organization in Egypt. She has been a journalist for the last two decades.