EP 18 - Mahmoud Salem: Egyptian Award-Winning Blogger and Former Politician Shares Insights

Mahmoud Salem is an award-winning blogger, government toppler, former politician, political campaignist, and death list survivor.    Salem, under his online nom de guerre 'Sandmonkey' rose to fame amid his blog,  'Rantings of a Sandmonkey'  claiming him various awards including best Middle East and Africa blog in 2006 and 2007, best English blog in the Deutsche Welle Best of Blogs award in 2011. Salem was one of the leading voices of the Egyptian revolution. In 2011, he ran for parliament. In 2013, he was put on an Ansar Al Sharia death list. He is known online as Sandmonkey.   In this episode, Salem talks to me about his experience being politically active starting from the mid-2000s, the Egyptian blogosphere, how Egyptian activists mobilized before social media, Alaa Abd El Fattah, his political campaigning experience in Suez and Sinai (spoiler alert: it was quite hostile), how he deals with death threats, how he ended up on Ansar Al Sharia's death list, and much more. Tune in for a lively (and humor-packed) conversation.   Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/b61e7hIA03o Reach out! [email protected]    Streaming everywhere! https://linktr.ee/TahrirPodcast    Support us on Patreon for as low as $2 per month ($20 per year)! https://www.patreon.com/TahrirPodcast