? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

(all times CLT)

Race and assimilation are powerfully explored with Passing. This adaptation of a 1929 novel of the same name tells the story of two light-skinned black women in the 1920s, one of whom has been living a double life and “passing” as white. After a chance encounter reunites the childhood friends, the white-passing woman begins to ingratiate herself in her Black friend’s social circle, upending both women’s carefully constructed personas. The mellow and somber film is shot, aptly, in black and white, flattening out difference in skin tone, and offering an aesthetic reflection of the film’s tagline; that nothing — whether a person’s motives, their virtue, or their personal truth — is ever really either black or white.

⚽World Cup qualifiers are heating up tonight, with Greece and Spain going head to head and the Republic of Ireland facing off with Portugal, while Germany faces Liechtenstein. All three matches are at 9:45pm.

Tomorrow, keep an eye on Egypt’s World Cup qualifier against Angola at 9pm. Over in the South American qualifiers, there’s Uruguay v. Argentina at 1am and Brazil v. Colombia at 2:30am — way past our bedtimes, but definitely worth staying up for.

? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

You haven’t had a complete culinary experience if you haven’t dined in a botanical haven like Blooms and Beans. This little nook in Sheikh Zayed’s Arkan Plaza has founders who are equal parts plant enthusiasts and fast-food lovers (as their Instagram bio claims), meaning it offers breakfast, brunch and dinner, with a variety of Italian dishes, occasionally infused with Mediterranean flavors. We loved their Pasta E Broccoli, the mushroom fillet, and the chocolate pistachio tart — not to mention their freshly brewed coffee — and their collection of unique, luscious plants really stole our heart.

? OUT AND ABOUT-

(all times CLT)

It’s Arkan Art Week: Artwork from more than 50 artists are on display at Arkan Art Week, which brings together fine art pieces from galleries such as ZagPick Gallery and ArtsHub with a photography exhibition from Gyptian. The art week runs until next Wednesday, 17 November every day until midnight.

Electronic night at Cairo Jazz Sheikh Zayed: Dutch DJ Colyn and Copenhagen-based DJ Denis Horvat are hitting the decks at Cairo Jazz Club 610 tonight in the latest edition of the club’s Impulse nights. Homegrown talent Aly Goede will perform the opening set. The event is scheduled to start at 8pm, but make sure you get a reservation ahead of time.

? EARS TO THE GROUND-

History nerds, this one’s for you: Paul Cooper’s Fall of Civilizations will take you on a deep-dive into what made great civilizations rise to power … then collapse into ruin. From China’s Han Dynasty to Africa’s Songhai Empire, from the end of the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean to the crumbling of the ancient Angkor civilization in modern-day Cambodia, this podcast series spans geographical settings and time periods. What interests writer, producer and narrator Paul Cooper is how the world’s most sophisticated and powerful civilizations used their technological expertise, trade prospects, courage or good fortune to build thriving, culturally-rich societies — and how the tide then turned to bring them crashing down.

In many ways, each episode is an epic poem in itself — often over three hours long, usually recorded in one take, and peppered with music and recitations of ancient poetry. Cooper deliberately avoids a sensationalist approach to his storytelling. You’ll find no lingering on the exploits of lascivious kings or details of gruesome rituals (this is not The Tudors). Instead, Cooper draws on his PhD in the cultural and literary significance of ruins to help listeners enter the lives of citizens of these great civilizations — what mattered to them, and how they lived. What brings these empires to their knees often begins as a combination of bad luck and isolated poor judgements by powerful individuals, the podcast shows.

? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller: Diwan’s origin story. Many of us might struggle to remember a time before Diwan was a household name and our go-to for books in English, French and German, as well as Arabic. Nadia Wassef’s recently-released memoir, Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller, takes us through the bookstore’s 2002 founding and subsequent growth — a process spearheaded by three women with no prior experience of running a business, or bookselling: Wassef, her sister Hind, and their friend Nihal.

A tale of modern Egypt: Wassef’s writing is lighthearted and anecdotal in tone — particularly as she recounts some of the more comical incidents the trio encountered trying to get “Egypt’s first modern bookstore” off the ground, including disgruntled customers and a countrywide lack of ISBN numbers. But threaded through it all is astute social commentary on the class and gender-based, religious, cultural, and political fissures that would become so instrumental in the events of 2011 and beyond. Simultaneously a love letter to reading, a run-down of recent historical and cultural trends, and a humorous take on the challenges of starting a business, this is an engaging read for anyone interested in the origins of a homegrown Egyptian company that’s become a national icon.

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