Mohammad Rabie is an Egyptian author and co-owner of the bookshop Khan Aljanub in Berlin. His latest novel “Otared” (2014) was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arab fiction and is a dystopian vision of Egypt’s future after the failed revolution in 2011. Actually it is set in these days, in the year 2025 – so it is time to review his vision and the actual status quo. In Rabie’s novel, Egypt has been overtaken by a scary Colonial Rule of the “Maltese Knights” and Ahmed Otared, a former police officer joins the resistance and becomes a perfect sniper. “Otared” is brutal and beautiful all at once, a dark and lucid dream, breathtaking and at the same time painful to read. In this episode, we speak about what is painful to speak about: The memory of a failed revolution in Egypt and a lost future for many. “For us, it's just a memory right now. It affects us mentally, psychologically, but we cannot see the effect of what happened in 2011 on the country itself.” Mohammad Rabie gives insights about what it means to write under an authoritarian regime. In his words it becomes tangible how constant self-censorship works. And if you read between the lines, hear all the leftouts and do the math you can sense it in this episode as well. But of course there is and must be life after a revolution – for Mohamed it has taken the shape of his co-owned bookshop in Berlin: “Khan Aljanub”. He tells stories from behind the shelves and we talk about the exclusions of German bureaucracy. And Mohammad Rabie is not afraid to analyze where cultural centers are currently located. Spoiler: It’s not Europe…