Ottoman History Podcast

Epizódy

• Film Diplomacy in Turkey-US Relations 04.06.2026

  with Ayşehan Jülide Etem hosted by Chris Gratien and Sıla Önder | During the Cold War period, Turkish cinema flourished, as American films entered local theaters, television sets, and the studios of Yeşilçam. Yet as Jülide Etem argues in her new book, Film Diplomacy, the cinematic story of Turkey-US relations begins not with entertaining Hollywood movies that circled the globe but rather educational film productions that simultaneously furthered the interests of American overseas power and Turkish domestic policy. In this episode, we explore how film became a ubiquitous technology and tool of the nation-state in Turkey through informational movies, educational material designed for the classroom, and place-based documentaries that performed the dual role of promoting tourism and cultivating knowledge of the country's different provinces among its citizens. As Etem explains, these ambivalent co-productions shaped an image of Turkey's inclusion in the international order, making film an arena in which visions of Turkey could be used to reify notions of American supremacy, as the Turkish national elite claimed their own place among the white Euro-American civilizations that became as models for values like development and progress in the modern world.    « Click for More »
• The Ottoman Genizah 23.05.2026

  with Jane Hathaway hosted by Maryam Patton | What can a single, discarded scrap of paper reveal about life in Ottoman-era Cairo? In this episode, Jane Hathaway discusses her open-access book Ottoman-Era Documents from the Cairo Genizah. A genizah is a storeroom or repository where Jewish communities preserved worn-out texts and papers, especially those containing the name of God. Long famous for its medieval Jewish materials, the Cairo Genizah also preserves a rich and still understudied corpus of later Arabic- and Ottoman Turkish-script documents. The conversation explores some of this archive’s unexpected Ottoman afterlife, from Sharia court summaries and commercial records to petition letters, Sufi poetry, and an ilm-i hal primer on Islamic practice. The book, which presents the documents fully transcribed and translated with a scholarly commentary, sheds light on Jewish merchants and bankers, Ottoman officials, port customs in Damietta and Alexandria, sugar supplies bound for Istanbul, and the dense networks linking Cairo to the wider empire, and much more. The conversation also invites us to reflect on archives themselves: how documents survive, how scholars decipher them, and how collaborative reading can open new windows onto Ottoman and Jewish history.    « Click for More »
• Soykırımın Bürokrasisi 16.05.2026

  Ümit Kurt Sunucu: Can Gümüş | Bu bölümde Ümit Kurt’un Aras Yayıncılık’tan çıkan kitabı Kanun ve Nizam Dairesinde: Soykırım Teknokratı Mustafa Reşat Mimaroğlu’nun İzinde Osmanlı’dan Cumhuriyet’e Devlet Mekanizması temelinde 1915’in idari ve bürokratik boyutuna odaklanıyoruz. Mustafa Reşat Mimaroğlu örneğinde olduğu gibi “kanun ve nizam dairesinde” hareket eden bürokratlara odaklandığımız sohbetimizde, kolektif şiddet olaylarını olağanüstü kırılma anları olarak okumaktan ziyade bürokratik faillik biçimlerinin görünür hâle geldiği bir tarihsel bağlam içinde değerlendiriyoruz. Osmanlı’nın son döneminden Cumhuriyet’in ilk yıllarına orta-üst ölçekli bir bürokratın merkezî kararlarla saha arasındaki rolü nasıl şekillenmiştir? Devlet hizmeti, görev bilinci ve düzen söylemi bu dönemde nasıl bir anlam kazanmıştır? Faillik, yalnızca doğrudan eylemle değil, idari kararlar ve rutin pratikler üzerinden nasıl kurulmuştır? Podcast, bu sorular ekseninde 1915’i bürokrasi, faillik ve devlet işleyişi ekseninde yeniden düşünmeye davet ediyor. « Click for More »
• Architecture and Environment in the Medieval Maghreb 24.04.2026

  with Abbey Stockstill hosted by Chris Gratien | What is Islamic architecture? In this follow-up to our ten-part seires on The Making of the Islamic World, we explore that question with Prof. Abbey Stockstill, author of Marrakesh and the Mountains: Landscape, Urban Planning, and Identity in the Medieval Maghrib. Our conversation centers on the imperial city of Marrakesh, which was shaped by two successive dynasties — the Almoravids and the Almohads — with two competing visions of Muslim religious and political life that left an indelible imprint on the Maghreb region from the Sahara to al-Andalus. As Prof. Stockstill explains, understanding the architectural legacy of these dynasties extends far beyond the confines of monumental features of mosques and minarets. Natural landscapes and agricultural spaces played an equally vital role in the built environment of medieval Morocco, which in turn influenced the development of architecture in what is now southern Spain during the last centuries of Islamic rule.    « Click for More »
• Osmanlı ve Türkiye Sanayileşme Tarihi 15.04.2026

  Görkem Akgöz Sunucu: Can Gümüş | Bu bölümde Dr. Görkem Akgöz’ün 2025 Hagley Prize in Business History ödülünü alan “In the Shadow of War and Empire Industrialisation, Nation-Building, and Working-Class Politics in Turkey” başlıklı kitabı üzerine konuşuyoruz. Akgöz’ün “Türk Manchester”ı olarak bilinen Bakırköy Bez Fabrikası’nı Osmanlı döneminde kuruluşundan itibaren odağa alan araştırması devletçiliği yalnızca bir kalkınma modeli değil, emek ve sınıf ilişkilerini yeniden kuran bir siyasal proje olarak düşünmeye davet ediyor. Erken Cumhuriyet Türkiye’sinde fabrika işçisi olmanın ne anlama geldiğini tartıştığımız bu sohbette, dilekçeler ve talepler üzerinden şekillenen aktif emek siyasetinin, devletin idealize ettiği düzen ile fabrikanın gerçekliği arasındaki gerilimleri nasıl açığa çıkardığını ele alıyoruz. Bu bağlamda, nostaljik anlatıların ötesine geçip erken Cumhuriyet sanayileşmesini disiplin, kontrol ve müzakere ekseninde sorgularken, Osmanlı ve Türkiye sanayi kapitalizminin gelişimi hakkında yeni sorular soruyoruz. Bölümün sonunda ise Akgöz’ün arşiv ve yazıyla kurduğu ilişkinin tarihsel düşünme ve anlatımını nasıl dönüştürdüğüne değiniyoruz. « Click for More »
• The Turkishness Contract 16.03.2026

  with Barış Ünlü hosted by Chris Gratien and Kubra Sagir | What does it mean to be Turkish? In this episode, we examine that question with sociologist Barış Ünlü. In The Turkishness Contract, Ünlü studies the historical process by which Turkishness developed through a contractual relationship between the state and its citizens. In our conversation, we explore the late Ottoman roots of this process, as well as how the experiences of non-Turkish religious and ethnolinguistic groups shed light onto the often unspoken and unconscious behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs that govern Turkishness. We also discuss the book's wide reception in Turkish and how in its new English translation, Ünlü connects the Turkish experience to global perspectives on race and belonging in the modern world.    « Click for More »
• A Confederate General in the Ottoman Capital 03.03.2026

  with Elizabeth Varon hosted by Chris Gratien | After the US Civil War, some leaders of the defeated Confederacy followed unusual trajectories, perhaps none more so than James Longstreet, who joined the Republican party to become a proponent of Southern Reconstruction and for a brief period, the Minister Resident to the Ottoman Empire. In this episode, we talk to Elizabeth Varon, author of a new biography of Longstreet, about the rebel-turned-diplomat's brief tenure in the Ottoman capital during the early years of Sultan Abdul Hamid II's reign, and we discuss what Longstreet's experiences reveal about America on the world stage in the shadow of the Civil War and Reconstruction. We also discuss Prof. Varon's personal connection to post-Ottoman Istanbul, as well as her new research about Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, who followed in Longstreet's footsteps some years later on a humanitarian mission to the Ottoman Armenians in Anatolia.    « Click for More »
• Palestine and India at the Dawn of Decolonization 11.02.2026

  with Esmat Elhalaby hosted by Susanna Ferguson | How did Palestine become central to anti-imperial movements and thought in the global south? In this episode, Esmat Elhalaby asks how Arabs and South Asians contended with the “parting gifts of empire” in the long twentieth century, often by turning to Palestine. He talks about how Arab writers in conversation with India reinvented Orientalism as a critique of empire and reinterpreted the political possibilities and limitations of Islam as a political force. We close with a discussion of Esmat’s new work on the intellectual history of Gaza, the importance of talking about “bad Palestinians,” and what it means to write history at a time of genocide.    « Click for More »
• Refugees, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Kinship 22.01.2026

  with Sophia Balakian hosted by Brittany White and Chris Gratien | The word "refugee" might conjure images of families devastated by war fleeing their homeland. But what happens when those who seek asylum abroad do not conform to that image? As Sophia Balakian argues in her new book Unsettled Families: Refugees, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Kinship, the question is one that shapes the case of every refugee seeking a new home abroad in the United States. The Somali and Congolese migrants in her study face an intense vetting process that includes DNA testing to confirm that a refugee family forms a biological unit, creating numerous reasons by which people who have survived war and displacement may be judged "fraudulent" families. In this episode, Balakian is back on the podcast to share an anthropologist's perspective on the history of migration and the politics of kinship in refugee resettlement.    « Click for More »
• A British Burlesque Artist in Belle Époque Cairo 09.01.2026

  featuring Gwendolyn Collaço with Andras Riedlmayer and Paul Drummond | While killing time at the Booksellers' Row in Westminster, historian and curator Gwendolyn Collaço stumbled on a collection of postcards from early 20th-century Egypt, some featuring the British burlesque artist Miss Kitty Lord. When she realized that the postcards were a set belonging to a single person — none other than Kitty Lord herself — the chance discovery became a research quest that culminated in an exhibition at Harvard Fine Arts Library, presenting a visual time capsule of Belle Époque Cairo that mapped the social and romantic life of a fascinating and little-known figure. In this episode from the Ottoman History Podcast vault, Collaço discusses what she uncovered about Kitty Lord through collaborations with the historian and bibliographer András Riedlmayer and memorobilia shop owner Paul Drummond, who appear in the podcast to share their side of the story.    « Click for More »
• Osmanlı’nın Bağdat’taki Son Yılları 25.12.2025

  Emine Şahin Sunucu: Can Gümüş | Bağdat, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu için coğrafi uzaklığına rağmen merkezî idarenin vazgeçilmez vilayetlerinden biriydi. Tanzimat’tan itibaren bu önem, yalnızca askerî güvenlik veya sınır politikalarıyla sınırlı kalmadı; idarî modernleşme, ekonomik düzenlemeler ve toplumsal kontrol mekanizmalarının uygulandığı başlıca laboratuvarlardan biri haline geldi. II. Meşrutiyet’in ilanı ise bu denemeleri daha iddialı, daha sert ve daha merkezî bir siyasi programa dönüştürdü. Bu bölümde, Dr. Emine Şahin’le birlikte 1908–1917 arasında Bağdat’ta Osmanlı idaresinin dönüşümünü inceliyoruz. Merkezileşme politikalarının sahada nasıl uygulandığını, hangi aktörler aracılığıyla yürütüldüğünü ve yerel toplum tarafından nasıl karşılandığını tartışıyoruz. « Click for More »
• Pamphlets and Polemics in the 17th-Century Ottoman Empire 06.12.2025

  with Nir Shafir hosted by Maryam Patton | The seventeenth century has often been characterized as a period of disorder and religious polemics in the Ottoman Empire. In this podcast, Nir Shafir takes us inside his award-winning new book, which argues that the polemics of the early modern Ottoman world were fueled in part by changes in communication, namely the rise of short pamphlets that circulated easily in handwritten copies. Pamphlets created a new arena largely independent from the institutional centers of knowledge production where people debated everyday questions of the time about what it meant to be Muslim. In exploring the world of Ottoman pamphlets, Shafir also offers a new introduction to the nature of Ottoman education, book production, and reading practices prior to the rise of print and modern state institutions.    « Click for More »
• A Sea of Sorcery: Roundtable with Shannon Chakraborty 19.11.2025

  produced by Shireen Hamza and featuring Fahad Bishara, KD Thompson, Liana Saif, Mahmood Kooria, Rebecca Hankins, and Samantha Pellegrino | What could historians have to say about a fantasy novel? The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, published in 2023, follows an aging mother and captain on magical adventures across the twelfth-century Indian Ocean world with her crew. It has been read widely, hitting bestseller lists in the US and being translated into eight languages. In this episode, a group of historians discusses the novel with its author, Shannon Chakraborty. Our conversation covers gender and geography, language and literature, piety and piracy, and of course, magic.    « Click for More »
• Osmanlı'dan Cumhuriyet’e İstanbul’da Elektrikli Yaşam 10.11.2025

  Nurçin İleri, Emine Öztaner ve Meltem Kocaman Sunucu: Can Gümüş | Bu bölümde, Nurçin İleri, Emine Öztaner ve Meltem Kocaman ile elektriğin Osmanlı’dan Cumhuriyet’e uzanan süreçte gündelik yaşamı ve toplumsal ilişkileri nasıl dönüştürdüğünü tartışıyoruz. İstanbul’un ilk aydınlatma girişimlerinden sanayi tesislerine, tramvay hatlarından ev içi teknolojilere uzanan örneklerle, teknolojik yeniliklerin yalnızca kent altyapılarını değil, aynı zamanda kentlilerin yaşam tahayyüllerini de nasıl şekillendirdiğini inceliyoruz. İleri’nin derlediği Bir Cereyan Hasıl Oldu: Osmanlı’dan Cumhuriyet’e İstanbul’da Elektrikli Yaşam (Tarih Vakfı, 2024) başlıklı kitabı temel alan sohbetimizde, elektriğin, bir teknik yenilik olmanın ötesinde, modernleşme, emek, toplumsal cinsiyet ve kamusal alan gibi kesişen temalar etrafında yeni bir toplumsal düzenin ve kültürel dönüşümün parçası hâline gelişini konuşuyoruz. « Click for More »
• Türkiye, Iran, and the Politics of Comparison 31.10.2025

  with Perin Gürel hosted by Chris Gratien | Comparisons are everywhere in American discussions of Middle East politics. As our guest, Perin Gürel, argues in a new book, this cultural impulse has political roots in the Cold War period. In this episode, we explore the origins of comparitivism through the lens of America's evolving relationship with Turkey and Iran over the course of the 20th century, focusing on how gender and race shaped the terms of the assymetrical relations between the US and other countries in the region. We discuss the "daddy issues" reflected in comparisons between the founding figures of the Republic of Turkey and Iran's monarchy, the changing image of Iran's empress on the global stage, and the ambivalent claims to whiteness and anti-imperialism that took shape in both countries. Throughout the conversation, we return to a critique of comparison as a placeholder for knowledge and a political instrument wielded with varying degrees of success to further American foreign policy goals, and we reflect on how this American project has shaped how all of us conceptualize the region's major social and political questions today.    « Click for More »
• Martin Crusius and the Discovery of Ottoman Greece 24.10.2025

  with Richard Calis hosted by Maryam Patton | In the late sixteenth century, a German Lutheran scholar named Martin Crusius compiled a remarkable ethnographic and scholarly account of Greek life under Ottoman rule in his seminal Turcograecia. Though he never left his home in Tübingen, Crusius spent decades corresponding with a far-flung network of intermediaries, including the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Istanbul. He annotated books and manuscripts, and even interviewed Greek Orthodox alms-seekers who passed through Germany. In this episode, Richard Calis explores how Crusius’s fascination with the so-called Ottoman Greeks sheds light on broader early modern debates about cultural and religious difference and how Greek identity became entangled with orientalist perceptions of the Ottoman world. The Ottoman Turks, both omnipresent and strangely absent in Crusius’s research, emerge in unexpected places, including in his dreams.    « Click for More »
• Arapların 1915’i: Soykırım, Kimlik, Coğrafya 13.03.2025

  Emre Can Dağlıoğlu Sunucu: Can Gümüş & Önder Eren Akgül | Emre Can Dağlıoğlu’nun Arapların 1915’i: Soykırım, Kimlik, Coğrafya başlıklı derlemesine (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2022) odaklanan bu bölüm, 1915’i Osmanlı ve Osmanlı sonrası Arap dünyası bağlamında ele almanın önemine işaret ediyor. Hem soykırımı hem de 1915 sonrasını bölgenin siyasal, toplumsal ve çevresel krizleri içinde konumlandıran çalışma, Arap vilayetlerine sürülen Ermenilerin karşılaştıkları politikaları, hayatta kalma stratejilerini, Arap toplumları ve coğrafyasıyla kurdukları karmaşık ilişkileri inceleyen makalelerden oluşuyor. Bu podcastte, bu çalışmaların soykırımın tarihyazımında açtığı yeni pencereleri detaylandırırken 1915’i sabit bir kırılma anı olarak görmek yerine, farklı yerel dinamikler ve ilişkiler çerçevesinde zamansal ve mekânsal olarak genişleyen bir perspektifle ele almanın imkânları üzerine de sohbet ediyoruz. « Click for More »
• The End of Ottoman Crete 29.12.2024

  with Uğur Z. Peçe hosted by Sam Dolbee | In the 1890s, Ottoman Crete descended into communal violence between its Christian and Muslim inhabitants, abetted by foreign powers and Ottoman officials alike. In this episode, Uğur Z. Peçe explains how this conflict--which he calls a civil war--came about, what it meant in people's intimately connected everyday lives, and how it shaped the end of the Ottoman Empire. In particular, Cretan refugees resettled elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire became a key part of various protest movements including boycotts. Uğur speaks with us about these topics while traveling through present-day Crete, considering, among other things, the unexpected connections between the Eastern Black Sea and Crete, the island's distinctive landscape, and snails.         « Click for More »
• Gender, Capitalism, and Democracy in Modern Arab Thought 30.09.2024

  with Susanna Ferguson hosted by Chris Gratien | What does the history of modern Arab political thought look like from the perspective of women authors? In this podcast, we sit down with longtime Ottoman History Podcast contributor Susanna Ferguson to explore this question, which animates her new book Labors of Love: Gender, Capitalism, and Democracy in Modern Arab Thought. Previous scholarship has focused on the role of women in discussing the roles of women, but as Prof. Ferguson argues, women writers of the 19th and 20th century can also be studied as producers of social theory and commentators on the important matters of their era. In our conversation, we use the lens of public discourse about child-rearing or tarbiyah as a window onto ideas about a wide range of topics, including morality, labor, and democratic governance. In doing so, we consider the importance of seeing the Arab world as a source of portable ideas about modern society, as opposed to a merely passive recipient of Western modernity.    « Click for More »
• Religion, Science, and an Arab Renaissance Man 16.09.2024

  with Peter Hill hosted by Matthew Ghazarian | Across the 19th century Arab East, or Mashriq, there were two simultaneous but seemingly contradictory trends afoot. On the one hand, new ways of understanding religion, science, and community, often associated with the intellectual 'revival' of the Arab Nahda, ushered in new forms of thought and more fluid subjectivities. On the other hand, movements emerged to reinscribe, intensify, and uphold stricter communal boundaries between religious groups. How did these two trends coexist? The life and thought of Mikha'il Mishaqa (1800-1888) offer some answers. Mishaqa was a doctor, merchant, moneylender, and writer who was raised in Greek Catholicism, lost his faith, regained it, and then converted to Protestantism. Through his many-sided life, his voluminous writings, and his obstinate commitment to 'reason', Mishaqa offers an example of how a single life could integrate these seemingly contradictory trends of 19th century Arab East.    « Click for More »