This week on Culture Bites, hosts Enas Refaei and Farah Andrews look at Beaufort Castle, the Crusader-era fortress in southern Lebanon that has been fought over for nearly 900 years and has once again found itself at the centre of military developments in the region.
They discuss the broader threat to Lebanon's cultural heritage, with archaeologists and NGOs warning of potentially catastrophic losses to unregistered sites including historic graveyards, mosques and ancestral homes across the south. Unesco, the UN cultural agency, has granted enhanced protection to dozens of Lebanese sites in response to the ongoing conflict.
Enas and Farah then turn to the viral AI-generated songs dominating social media. They discuss Her e Gule, a Kurdish-language track made using AI vocals that has spread across TikTok and Instagram, and examine the complex reaction it has brought.
They also look at comedian Bill Stiteler's AI-generated The Puerto Rico Song, which has attracted celebrity attention, and debate what both songs reveal about cultural representation and the value of human craft in the age of AI music tools.
