Cairo Tower

This guide to Cairo Tower traces it back to the 1950s, when CIA officer Kermit Roosevelt sat down with President Gamal Abdel Nasser and quietly offered him millions of dollars in exchange for easing off Algeria and Israel. It follows what Nasser did with that money instead, ordering a lotus-shaped tower built on the Nile close enough for its shadow to fall near the American embassy. Listen for the nickname Cairenes and embassy staff gave the tower once it went up.