This episode is different. For the first time, I'm sharing my personal story—the journey that explains everything about who I am and why I'm making a big change.

I've always been a private person on the podcast, but to explain this new chapter, I want to share the full context. I talk about being forced to leave school at 14, finding English as my lifeline, and building a career in Educational Technology.

I also get transparent about the realities of operating a global brand from Lebanon, and how that has led me to a new, exciting, and more sustainable direction.

In this episode, you will hear about:

My personal journey and why "English" has always had a "Plus."

My decision to return to my professional field of Educational Technology.

The great consolidation: English Plus is becoming my single, unified passion project for all my writing, music, and creative ideas.

My core identity as a writer and how this new structure will honor it.

An honest look at the challenges for creators in Lebanon and why your support is so crucial.

As I explained in the episode, I'm committed to keeping all this content free. However, because I live in Lebanon, I have no access to PayPal or Stripe.

My Patreon page is the single, only possible way you can support this show and my work as a creator.

If you find value in my work and want to help me build this new chapter, please consider becoming a patron.

Join the Patreon Community: https://patreon.com/dannyballan

We're all familiar with the "Scramble for Africa" and the Sykes-Picot agreement—arbitrary lines drawn by colonial powers that have caused a century of conflict and division. But focusing only on that problem is getting stuck in the past. This article, "Beyond the Scramble," acknowledges that pernicious legacy but pivots to the future. It's a deep dive into the ingenious solutions being built right now to make those borders irrelevant. We're exploring massive economic "corridors," powerful political bodies like the African Union, and vibrant local cultural festivals that prove a shared history is stronger than a line on a map. This is the new story, the one of 21st-century cooperation. Read the full, in-depth article here: https://englishpluspodcast.com/beyond-the-scramble-overcoming-artificial-borders-through-21st-century-cooperation/

Support English Plus Podcast to keep the show going on Patreon

How do you pull off the biggest, most violent smash-and-grab in human history? You can't just say that's what you're doing. You need a story. You need a justification.

This episode is a three-part journey into the long, dark, and ridiculously complicated shadow of empires, framed as "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".

Part 1: The "Good"

We dissect the official PR campaign for global domination. This is the "civilizing mission", the "divine mandate", and the "enlightened" philosophy of men like John Locke and John Stuart Mill. We explore how scientific racism and cultural projects like Orientalism created "The Other" , culminating in the infamous "White Man's Burden".

Part 2: The "Bad"

This is the reckoning. We watch as the colonized turn the master's own tools—"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"—against him, exposing the empire's glaring hypocrisy. We cover the earth-shattering Haitian Revolution, Gandhi's brilliant moral theater with the Salt March, and the groundbreaking philosophy of liberation. We dive deep into Frantz Fanon's devastating diagnosis of colonialism as a mental illness and Edward Said's unmasking of Orientalism.

Part 3: The "Ugly"

The story doesn't end when the flags come down. We confront the world we live in now: Neo-Colonialism. We trace how the system mutated, swapping soldiers for bankers. This is the story of the IMF and World Bank, "Structural Adjustment Programs" that crippled new nations, and the creation of a new "comprador" elite. Finally, we explore the new liberation movements, from "decolonizing the mind" to the urgent fights for debt forgiveness and climate justice.

This isn't just a history lesson; it's a look at the code that still runs our world.

Support me to keep the show going on Patreon

https://patreon.com/dannyballan