Dishing Democracy goes behind the scenes at Arab television channel MBC in Cairo and its hit all-female talk show, Kalam Nawa'em.

by Marda Dunsky. The right of citizens to freely elect representative governments is the hallmark of democratic societies. While this right is not widely enjoyed in the Arab world, democratization in Arab societies has nevertheless taken root -- bolstered by media technologies that bypass government control and put the potential for change in the hands of the people.

This is a list of important themes and video segments that can be used in classroom discussions of Dishing Democracy.

This segment introduces the hosts of Kalam Nawaem -- Fawzia Salama, Rania Barghout, Muna AbuSulayman, and Farah Besiso -- and describes the program's history and impact.

Satellite TV reaches nearly 300 million Arabic speakers worldwide. Even though independent commercial media companies like MBC have bipassed direct government control and national borders, it still has to monitor what it broadcasts.

A gay man who was invited to be on Kalam Nawaem feared for his life and was interviewed by phone instead. While a gay man has still not appeared on the program, a famous actor who plays a gay character in the film The Yacoubian Building was a guest in 2007.

Muna AbuSulayman talks about her life as a Muslim feminist and what it's like for her to appear on Kalam Nawaem.

glossary, suggested reading and Web sites