Each week Bob is joined by Dan Gediman, the Executive Director of This I Believe, Inc. to discuss one of the original essays from the 1950s radio series. This week’s featured essay is by Ahmad Zaki Abu Shadi who was born in Cairo, studied medicine in London, and returned to Egypt to research bacteriology and teach. Also an accomplished artist, Shadi published several collections of poetry, wrote scripts for operas and painted. He immigrated to the United States in 1946 and in his essay tells how he left his homeland to gain spiritual and intellectual liberty. The artist and scientist believed freedom was a synonym for life itself, and a precious treasure deserved by all. Click here to read a transcript and to hear the audio of his “This I Believe” essay.