KPBS Midday Edition

An American Finds Understanding After Travels In The Middle East

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Michael Lipkin / News Producer, KPBS Midday Edition

Published January 9, 2018 at 8:35 AM PST

This story was published more than 6 years ago.

The book cover for "The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah" by Adam Valen Levinson.

An American Finds Understanding After Travels In The Middle East

An American Finds Understanding After Travels In The Middle East GUEST: Adam Valen Levinson, author, "The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah"

Was it adventurous, fool-hardy or offensive ... or a bit of all three? After the attacks on 9/11, American student Adam Levinson decided to study Arabic and eventually embark on a journey of discovery across the Arab world.

While working at New York University Abu Dhabi, Levinson hopscotched across the Middle East, visiting Kuwait, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. Many of those trips took place in the midst of the Arab Spring.

“The whole point of coming here was to find an alternative to the way I saw this other place—an alternative to easy dismissal or intentional ignorance, so often those face-saving masks for fear,” Levinson wrote in his new book, "The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the Modern Middle East."

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Levinson joined KPBS Midday Edition on Tuesday with stories from his travels.

KPBS Midday Edition

Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Michael Lipkin

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Michael Lipkin is a producer for KPBS Midday Edition. Before joining KPBS, he covered finance for the San Diego Business Journal and legal affairs for newswire Law360. He was also a producer for Chicago Tonight, a nightly news magazine on PBS member station WTTW. His work has appeared in The New York Times and The Boston Globe, and on the PBS NewsHour. Michael is originally from Brooklyn. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Law, Letters and Society.

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