CAIRO — Egypt’s most popular satirist Bassem Youssef has joined Harvard’s Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government as a resident fellow for the spring semester, almost a year after his program was taken off the air for lambasting Egyptian presidents and military men.
Youssef was often described as the Jon Stewart of Egypt. His political satire was the first of its kind in Egypt and started during the 2011 uprising that forced longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak to step down.
His program developed a following at a time when Egyptians were aspiring to hold their politicians accountable. But in April 2014, his program was taken off the air as space for criticism of authorities shrank. On Thursday, Youssef tweeted he was “proud” to join Harvard for a semester.