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L'byessa

L’byessa is an audio account of the raw and unfiltered modern-day life of two “Zatla” dealers in a neighbourhood of the Tunisian capital.Those who tune in will follow the epic and genuine adventures of two timeless characters, dealing drugs and daydreams to their fellow citizens, in a country where people no longer dare to dream big.
26 October 2021
docusonores L'byessa, le quotidien de deux dealers de Zatla à Tunis | Documentaire sonore - لْبياسة La série "L’byessa” est un conte sonore des temps modernes, qui met en ondes le quotidien sans filtre de deux dealers de “zatla” dans un quartier du Grand Tunis. L’auditeur·trice suivra les aventures épiques et réelles de deux personnages hors du temps, qui vendent du rêve à leurs concitoyen·nes, dans un pays où l’on ne songe plus.  "لْبياسة" خرافة صوتيّة تحكي وبلاش "فيلتر" عالحياة اليومية لزوز لحّامة في حومة في تونس الكبرى.الثمانية حلقات متاع البودكاست يتبّعو المغامرات الملحمية والواقع التي يعيشوهم شخصيتين فالتين يبيعو في الأحلام لمواطنين في بلاد تبرطع فيها الكوابيس. 60591 [{"user_id":"1544"}]

Latest episode

What is L'byessa?

L'byessa exists everywhere, and everything exists in L'byessa. You will find all kinds of problems, lives are lost, you will witness blood and death in L'byessa. L'byessa brings together the wise and the foolish, the criminals, the murderers, and the saints.

ALL EPISODES
EPISODE 7

Each person is responsible for their own actions

"Each person is responsible for the joint he rolls and smokes; ban the circulation of psychotropic drugs and make the zatla trade a pillar of the Tunisian economy..." These are the commandments of our protagonists.
EPISODE 6

Escape from reality

With this episode, we can conclude that fishing is a universal escape.
EPISODE 4

"16 hours at sea"

"Harga", Gabs romanticising, and chemical ecstasy.
EPISODE 5

Dreaming of a snake

Gabs attempts to interpret his own dreams, and deals with the daily anguish of being a drug dealer in Tunisia.
EPISODE 3

"If I had to work in a factory, I would die."

I'll deal, but no factories.
EPISODE 2

"If I stopped smoking, my wires would short-circuit"

Between credit loans, drug squads and family disapproval, this second episode follows the perilous and fraught paths that our "zatla" (cannabis) dealers have to take in order to keep their business going.
EPISODE 1

I'm Gabs!

This first episode of "L'byessa" propels the listener, without warning, into the daily lives of the protagonists, two "zatla" (cannabis) dealers. As we enter their story, the cloud of mystery that hovers over this obscure world begins to dissipate.

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| EPISODE 3

Eating in my dreams, starving in prison

This episode presents a direct testimony about the experience of hunger inside prisons after October 7, and about how food became the central element of daily life in the cells. Omar recounts the impact of the starvation policy imposed on the prisoners, and how it shaped their dreams, their behavior, and their internal organization. From dreaming about food, to storing bread, to a rudimentary barter system, and finally to the tensions and solidarity among prisoners, a documentation of a life governed by severe scarcity, and of hunger turned into a tool of control and punishment.

| EPISODE 2

Humiliation hurts most

Omar recounts how shock and helplessness intertwined in his early days of detention, and how systematic insults became a tool to subdue inmates and silence them through the threat of collective punishment. This is not merely an account of violations, but an attempt to understand how language itself becomes a precise weapon used to erode dignity and restrict any space for resistance within a system designed to strip away humanity.

| EPISODE 1

Interrupted Call

Omar tells us, that during his first days in detention, he repeatedly told prisoners he had been traveling for ten days and hadn’t followed the news, a statement that became a recurring disappointment in every cell he entered. He explains how the circulation of news inside prison resembled an “interrupted call” shaped by fear, survival, and the hunger for hope.

ABOUT

Inkyfada Podcast is the first platform entirely dedicated to original Tunisian podcasts, and was conceived by Inkyfada media in collaboration with the in-house research and development laboratory, InkyLab.
Inkyfada joined the global podcast boom in 2017, when the team produced the first Tunisian audio documentary, diving deep into the belly of the El Kamour struggle taking place in the desert.
Since then, Inkyfada Podcast has produced a wide variety of documentaries, investigations, and podcast series, as well as articles accompanied by music; covering a multitude of contemporary issues in order to offer an immersive and alternative podcast experience.
Whilst exclusively offering audio content, the Inkyfada Podcast team upholds the same core values and principles of inkyfada.com, and is committed to producing high quality content though a dynamic and meticulous production process.
In addition to the permanent team, Inkyfada podcast works closely with various journalists, artists, illustrators, musicians and other content creators in order to diversify the platform and support artistic creativity.
These podcasts differ from traditional radiophonic content in that the applied production and editing process is more akin to cinematographic techniques, in addition to being web-based, downloadable and accessible on demand.
Additionally, Inkyfada Podcast uniquely offers subtitles in French, Arabic and English for all audio content, the majority of which is recorded in Tunisian or in the preferred language of the speaker in question.

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