You might remember Kingman, Arizona after it became notorious as the location for a Sacha Baron-Cohen prank, which portrayed the town's residents as racists and provoked a wave of condemnation.

Watch our short video to find out what happened when Tarek decided that someone needed to reach out to the people of Kingman. Were these people really as prone to division as Sacha made out?

In the final guest installment in our Inspiration series, Robert Strock — psychotherapist, author of Awareness That Heals, and Co-President of The Global Bridge Foundation — responds to themes in Free Trip to Egypt by drawing on his professional experience to explore how we can overcome fear and prejudice to achieve unity.

In the latest guest post as part of our Inspiration series, which explores the key themes behind #PledgeToListen, we present an excerpt from 'Simple Truths' by award-winning American author Kent Nerburn. Kent has written extensively about nature, place, and spirituality. Here, he hones in on the immense power of one of the most commonplace acts that make us human.  

Steve Bhaerman is an author and comedian who has spent the past 30 years performing cosmic comedy in the guise of Swami Beyondananda. He also coaches and consults with others to help them add humorous wisdom to their content. Here, he offers us a unique perspective on the power of laughter to bridge divides — an inspiring contribution as part of our ongoing series to inspire everyone to #PledgeToListen.

Continuing our series developing the ideas behind the #PledgeToListen campaign, we’re delighted to include a guest contribution from acclaimed author, teacher and speaker Rabbi Rami Shapiro on how Free Trip to Egypt reflects some core concepts within theology.

In the final introductory article on the core ideas behind #PledgeToListen, Tarek Mounib examines the place of authentic compassionate conversation in the project he founded as a response to the experience of making Free Trip to Egypt.

In part two of our series that aims to assist you in engaging with #PledgeToListen, Tarek Mounib asks us to consider the significance of deep listening. Many of us are guilty of fixating on how we come across: how we broadcast information through our speech or appearance. But in a world packed with so many words and images that we have created, it’s perhaps unsurprising that we often overlook the importance of how we receive and process information. Deep Listening is absolutely vital to developing meaningful human connection.

Want to know more about the three pillars of #PledgeToListen? In this series of articles by the creator of Free Trip to Egypt, Tarek Mounib, we break down the fundamental ideas behind the pledge, and how we think it can best be fulfilled. First up, Tarek outlines the core tenets of Civility: a value that is easy to espouse, but that many of us struggle to live up to in our own interactions.

Free Trip to Egypt is just the start of a wider project to foster shared understanding between people of different cultures and to celebrate the value of human connection. With this goal in mind, we’ve created a comprehensive discussion guide to accompany the film, and provide a framework for the dialogue that we aim to inspire.