A brief history of eyeliner (Rebroadcast)

WAMU 88.5 | By Haili Blassingame

Published February 20, 2024 at 3:39 PM EST

MALAGA, SPAIN - MARCH 23: Actress Carolina Yuste attends the Malaga Film Festival 2019 closing day gala at Cervantes Theater on March 23, 2019 in Malaga, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

William Shakespeare once said that the eyes are the window to the soul.We make eye contact with others to show that we’re listening, to connect, or simply as a way of saying, “I see you.”

Cultures around the world have understood the power of eyes for centuries. If you travel to India, Chad, Japan, Iran, or just around the corner from your house, you’ll probably see the same thing around the eyes of the people who live there: eyeliner.

In her new book, “Eyeliner: A Cultural History,” Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir explores beauty, power, identity, and resistance through the lens of the iconic cosmetic.

We talk about all this and more.

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