Talk show aimed at Arab women to broadcast on TLC

Zainab Salbi. Antonie Robertson/The National

TLC has announced its first local production since the channel’s launch in the Middle East in March last year.

Presented by human rights activist and author Zainab Salbi, Nida'a (The Calling) is a talk show targeted at Arab women. Programming will include debates on everything from women's issues and news to food and fashion, and interviews with A-list guests such as Bill Clinton and the Palestinian Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf.

“When I talk to women around the region they say ‘We will not be silent anymore. Please, help us to find our voice so the pressure is lifted,’” says Salbi, who has conceived the show and also acts as producer. “There’s a need for a space to talk about these things in a relaxed way. We want to present these issues in a way that is digestible.”

• Nida’a will be broadcast on TLC on OSN as a 10-part series from October