An Arabic Evening with Bassem Youssef

Bassem Youssef

Originally a 5-minute show on YouTube, Al Bernameg became the first online-to-TV conversion in the Middle East and the most-watched show across the region with 30 million viewers every week, and over a million subscribers to its YouTube channel. Throughout its three seasons, Al Bernameg remained controversial through its humorous yet bold criticism of the region's ruling powers, which led to multiple lawsuits being filed against the show and its host, cardiac surgeon Bassem Youssef. In June 2014, Youssef announced the termination of the show due to overwhelming pressures on both the show and the airing channel. Shortly after, Youssef moved to the United States and served as a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Since then, he has appeared as a senior Middle East correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, hosted a digital series, The Democracy Handbook, and starred in Tickling Giants, a documentary by Sara Taksler featuring Youssef's story with Al Bernameg.

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