What makes the ordinary extraordinary — or the extraordinary ordinary? Have you ever come across a poem about a tomato? A seamstress? A bowl of broth? In this episode, Annabelle engages Ahlam and Andrea in a conversation about poetry, and her reading is one of the most enthralling aspects of the podcast! And while it is difficult to pick just one poem to read to your audience, Andrea’s selection from Dorothy Parker’s collection is the perfect steppingstone to a larger conversation about feminism and how it can relate to poetry. This episode urges you to think about certain phases in your life and how they can affect your choices and love of poetry. If you go back in time, would you read a different genre of poetry than the one you are currently reading? And would you approach the lines of poetry differently?

Some books make you want to book a ticket right away and hop on the first plane elsewhere. Others evoke the smell of suntan lotion and the breeze of the ocean as you are lying down in bed... This episode celebrates books that do the travelling for us, or better yet, become the reason we travel! People read books as a form of escapism, as well as to be transported to a new and exciting location. But when it comes to books, travelling can take several forms, so Annabelle wonders if people ever have the desire to travel not to a new country, but to a specific scene in a book so they can be amidst the characters. Meanwhile, Ahlam brings along a different form of travelling: time-travelling through oral tales told throughout generations stretching into the past, while Andrea and Sarah Hamdan discuss the effect of age and motherhood on the decisions made when travelling and how fast their tastes have changed from adventurous and audacious to cozy and comfortable.

Are all Emiratis born with a golden spoon in their mouths? And are all the English bad at music? This episode of the Boundless Book Club is exclusively dedicated to blowing all the stereotypes out of the water! Andrea, Annabelle, and the one and only Khalid Al Ameri smash all the common stereotypes and cultural perceptions, before Khalid talks about his personal experience with stereotypes about Pakistan and how he did not let them stop him from following his natural curiosity and discovering the truth for himself. But Andrea also contends that stereotypes, to some extent, serve a function in society by helping people make sense of the world, which leads us to the million-dollar question: Is there a positive side to stereotypes, or must they all be offensive, hurtful, and incorrect? Listen on and find out!