Today on the MERIP Podcast James Ryan talks with Arran Walshe, a journalist and researcher based in Amman. Walshe is the author of “Alternative Amman–Making Counterculture in the Jordanian Capital,” which appeared in our summer issue of Middle East Report, Art at Work–People, Power and Cultural Production. This issue digs into the forces that shape art making across the region in a time of social and political upheaval. Walshe’s article explains how heavy metal and hip hop musicians, and other performance artists, have grappled with regional and domestic political shifts over the last several decades. Walshe interviewed musicians and participants in Amman’s countercultural scene about the changing pressures they face amid the ebbs and flows of support for the arts. He also investigates how they have struggled with Jordan’s unique place in recent regional catastrophes. In their discussion, Ryan and Walshe get into what “politics” has meant for Jordan’s countercultural music scene and how its artists have positioned themselves vis-a-vis the Jordanian state, geopolitics and the Arab diaspora. 

Further reading: 

Arran Walshe, “Alternative Amman–Making Counterculture in the Jordanian Capital” in Middle East Report Issue 319 “Art at Work–People, Power and Cultural Production” (Summer 2026)

Rolling Stone MENA

Ebrazus (Instagram)