Scholars Unravel Middle East
Adel Aali, History Behind News Program
183 scholars (and counting) distill decades of research into an hour conversation, to unravel the misperceptions that divide East and West and clarify our common misconceptions about the Middle East - from its ancient past to its present developments.
I am Adel Aali, your host. This program is a production of History Behind News podcast (now in its 5th season). Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@ScholarsUnravelMiddleEast?sub_confirmation=1
I am Adel Aali, your host. This program is a production of History Behind News podcast (now in its 5th season). Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@ScholarsUnravelMiddleEast?sub_confirmation=1
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 27, 2024 • 54min
S1E38: Is It Strange That Armenian Feminism Flourished After Armenian Genocide and In Capital of Perpetrator?
►What is Armenian feminism?
►Was there such a thing as Armenian feminism without Armenian nationalism?
►Why did Armenian feminism flourish in Istanbul? And why after the Armenian genocide?
►Were Armenians more educated than their Muslim counterparts?
►Was the Armenian feminist movement similar to its Western counterparts?
►Why does the denial of the Armenian genocide persist in Türkiye?
►How was the past, with all its dark chapters, empowering for Armenian feminists?
🚩About my guest:
Dr. Lerna Ekmekcioglu is a professor of history at MIT and the Director of the Women and Gender Studies Program there.
She has published extensively, including the following:
A Cry for Justice: Five Armenian Feminist Writers from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic, and
Recovering Armenia: The Limits of Belonging in Post-Genocide Turkey .
🚩Dr. Sinan Ciddi:
Is Turkiye still a democracy - given its transformation from Atatürk's Secularism to Erdoğan Islamism? Click to listen.
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program, for any amount you like. And thank you.
Adel Aali
Host, Unravelling the Middle East
Host, History Behind News Podcast
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🎶Music attributions:
1. Opening and closing music of the program:
Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.
Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.
2. Background music:
The Desert | The Grand Score
https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html
The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
3. Background music:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
Sep 26, 2024 • 57min
S1E37: Why Elimination of Armenians Was Not Like the Holocaust! And Why Wilsonian Armenia Did Not Materialize?
►Fear - fabricated and real fear, nd how it caused the Armenian genocide
►Was the Armenian genocide a Holocaust?
►Why didn't the Ottomans kill all Armenians?
►What are the three ways to "eliminate" a people?
►Would the Armenian genocide have happened without WWI?
►Why does the denial of the Armenian genocide persist in Türkiye?
►What is a Greater Armenia? What is the Wilsonian Armenia?
►Is it legal in Türkiye to study the Armenian genocide?
🚩About my guest:
Dr. Lerna Ekmekcioglu is a professor of history at MIT and the Director of the Women and Gender Studies Program there.
She has published extensively, including the following:
A Cry for Justice: Five Armenian Feminist Writers from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic, and
Recovering Armenia: The Limits of Belonging in Post-Genocide Turkey .
🚩Dr. Alan Mikhail:
Sultan Selim I and the transformation of the Ottomans into a global empire and the guardians of Isalm.
📽️Watch my interview with Dr. Mikhail: Part I & Part II.
🎧Listen to my interview with him: Part I & Part II.
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program, for any amount you like. And thank you.
Adel Aali
Host, Unravelling the Middle East
Host, History Behind News Podcast
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🎶Music attributions:
1. Opening and closing music of the program:
Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.
Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.
2. Background music:
The Desert | The Grand Score
https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html
The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
3. Background music:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
Sep 13, 2024 • 43min
S1E36: Why Is Kurdish Nationalism Unique? Consider This: Realization of A Kurdish Country May Require the Simultaneous Collapse of Three Other Countries!
►What is Kurdish nationalism? ►What is Ottoman nationalism with Kurdish colors? ►Were Kurdish people expose to European ideas of freedom, independence and nationalism? ►What is one major obstacle to Kurdish independence? 🚩About my guest: Dr. Djene Bajalan is a professor at Missouri State University. He is a historian of the Middle East specializing in the rise of nationalism and the evolution of the Kurdish question.He is the author and/or editor of the following: The Young Kurds: The Kurdish movement before the First World War, and Studies in Kurdish History: Empire, Ethnic and Islam. Dr. Schultz and American politicsStudies in Kurdish History: Empire, Ethnic and IslamDr. Schultz and politics of 2024 election: Are Young American Men Ready For Madam President? Trump's Masculine Politics📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel🖱️Support Our Program: We appreciate your financial support of our program, for any amount you like. And thank you. Adel AaliHost, Unravelling the Middle EastHost, History Behind News Podcast 🎶Music attributions: 1. Opening and closing music of the program: Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011. Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program. 2. Background music: The Desert | The Grand Scorehttps://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.htmlThe Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified. 3. Background music: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Musicpromoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
Sep 12, 2024 • 48min
S1E35: Have Kurds Ever Had Their Own Country? Do They All Speak the Same Language? Practice the Same Religion?
►Who are the Kurdish people? ►Is Kurdish related to any other Middle Eastern language? ►What religions do Kurdish people practice? ►Did Kurdish people ever have their own polity? 🚩About my guest: Dr. Djene Bajalan is a professor at Missouri State University. He is a historian of the Middle East specializing in the rise of nationalism and the evolution of the Kurdish question.He is the author and/or editor of the following: The Young Kurds: The Kurdish movement before the First World War, and Studies in Kurdish History: Empire, Ethnic and Islam. Dr. Schultz and politics of 2024 election: Are Young American Men Ready For Madam President? Trump's Masculine Politics📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel🖱️Support Our Program: We appreciate your financial support of our program, for any amount you like. And thank you. Adel AaliHost, Unravelling the Middle EastHost, History Behind News Podcast 🎶Music attributions: 1. Opening and closing music of the program: Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011. Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program. 2. Background music: The Desert | The Grand Scorehttps://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.htmlThe Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified. 3. Background music: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Musicpromoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
Aug 30, 2024 • 25min
S1E34: Religious tolerance in Middle East? Ancient polytheism is the answer, not monotheism!
►Ancient theology vs. mythology
►How drunken gods created incapicitated people
►Humans were created to toil for gods
►Polytheism set the stage for monotheism
►Unlike monotheism, polytheism was tolerant
🚩About my guest:
Dr. Jillian Schwedler is a professor of political science at the City University of New York’s Hunter College and the Graduate Center, and also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Crown Center at Brandeis University.
She is the author of many books, including the following:
Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen
Understanding the Contemporary Middle East, and
Protesting Jordan: Geographies of Power and Dissent.
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program, for any amount you like. And thank you.
Adel Aali
Host, Unravelling the Middle East
Host, History Behind News Podcast
🎶Music attributions:
1. Opening and closing music of the program:
Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.
Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.
2. Background music:
The Desert | The Grand Score
https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html
The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
3. Background music:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
Aug 29, 2024 • 1h 16min
S1E33: How Middle East empires ushered in monotheism and ended polytheism.
►Before Monotheism, what were the big religions of the ancient Middle East?
►What are the 4 constitutive elements of religion?
►In polytheism, there is no individual choice or belief. Regardless, polytheism is tolerant.
►Does the term 'religion' make sense in the context of Ancient Middle East?
►Does the term God make sense in the context of Ancient Middle East?
►Monotheism is very much tide to the rise of empires - particularly the first major empire: the Persians!
►How did polytheism die out? What happened to all the gods?
🚩About my guest:
Dr. Beate Pongratz-Leisten is a professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the Institute For the Study of the Ancient World at New York University - NYU.
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program, for any amount you like. And thank you.
Adel Aali
Host, Unravelling the Middle East
Host, History Behind News Podcast
🎶Music attributions:
1. Opening and closing music of the program:
Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.
Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.
2. Background music:
The Desert | The Grand Score
https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html
The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
3. Background music:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
Aug 9, 2024 • 41min
S1E32: Is Jordan forever on the brink of a revolution? Is Jordan essentially a U.S. protectorate?
►Why do Jordanians protest about water?
►Does Jordan coordinate its budget with the U.S.?
►How do protests in Jordan compare to other countries, such as protests in Iran or the U.S.?
►Why does the government of Jordan promote images of stability and instability?
►Why are cartoonists getting arrests in Jordan for alleged terrorism?
►Is Jordan essentially a U.S. protectorate?
►Is Jordan forever on the brink of a revolution?
🚩About my guest:
Dr. Jillian Schwedler is a professor of political science at the City University of New York’s Hunter College and the Graduate Center, and also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Crown Center at Brandeis University.
She is the author of many books, including the following:
Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen
Understanding the Contemporary Middle East, and
Protesting Jordan: Geographies of Power and Dissent.
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program, for any amount you like. And thank you.
Adel Aali
Host, Unravelling the Middle East
Host, History Behind News Podcast
🎶Music attributions:
1. Opening and closing music of the program:
Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.
Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.
2. Background music:
The Desert | The Grand Score
https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html
The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
3. Background music:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
Aug 8, 2024 • 49min
S1E31: Are Jordan's royal family foreigners in Jordan? Why make fun of the King's Arabic? Protests in Jordan and Jordan's Identity.
►Were the Hashemite royal family foreigners in Jordan?
►Did Jordan’s Hashemites belong to a larger, transnational royal family?
►How does the Hashemite royal family’s history impact Jordan’s national identity and nation-building efforts now?
►Why Jordanian protesters and cartoonists poke fun of King Abdullah II’s Arabic
►How were tribal protests in Jordan during Ottoman and British rules different than now?
►If Jordan is not a democractic country, then how are protests routine in Jordan?
►Do Jordanians experience politics in streets as opposed to in parliament and during elections?
►Dose criticizing the King of Jordan cross a red line?
►What does it mean that Jordan's protesting places are disappearing?
🚩About my guest:
Dr. Jillian Schwedler is a professor of political science at the City University of New York’s Hunter College and the Graduate Center, and also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Crown Center at Brandeis University.
She is the author of many books, including the following:
Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen
Understanding the Contemporary Middle East, and
Protesting Jordan: Geographies of Power and Dissent.
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program, for any amount you like. And thank you.
Adel Aali
Host, Unravelling the Middle East
Host, History Behind News Podcast
🎶Music attributions:
1. Opening and closing music of the program:
Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.
Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.
2. Background music:
The Desert | The Grand Score
https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html
The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
3. Background music:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
Jul 26, 2024 • 38min
S1E30: Sexual Politics in Iran. An implicit deal about women's rights between Iran's intellectuals and its conservative clergies.
►Iranian women before the 1979 Revolution: rights in marriage, education and the right to vote
►Iran's society of two cultures before the Revolution
►The Shah's White Revolution and clergy's protest
►How everyone is having sex in contemporary Iran.
🚩About my guest:
Dr. Janet Afary is a professor of Religious Studies in UC Santa Barbara. She is the Mellichamp Chair of Religion and Modernity and the Director of the Iranian Studies Initiative.
She is the author of many books, including the following:
The Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906-1911, Grassroots Democracy, Social Democracy, and the Origins of Feminism,
Sexual Politics in Modern Iran, and
Iranian Romance in the Digital Age: From Arranged Marriage to White Marriage (Sex, Family and Culture in the Middle East).
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program, for any amount you like. And thank you.
Adel Aali
Host, Unravelling the Middle East
Host, History Behind News Podcast
🎶Music attributions:
1. Opening and closing music of the program:
Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.
Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.
2. Background music:
The Desert | The Grand Score
https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html
The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
3. Background music:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
Jul 25, 2024 • 41min
S1E29: Did the Hijab come from Islam? Also, history of Iranian women's rights in marriage & society.
►pre-Islam hijab was a status symbol
►Islam adopted the norms of the civilized world - including the hijab
►Reza Shah of Iran forceably unveiled women
►Khomeini was against women's right to vote, until he realized their voice may help his revolution.
►Iranian love poetry was homoerotic, not heterosexual love.
►Iranian love poetry was homoerotic, not heterosexual love.
🚩About my guest:
Dr. Janet Afary is a professor of Religious Studies in UC Santa Barbara. She is the Mellichamp Chair of Religion and Modernity and the Director of the Iranian Studies Initiative.
She is the author of many books, including the following:
The Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906-1911, Grassroots Democracy, Social Democracy, and the Origins of Feminism,
Sexual Politics in Modern Iran, and
Iranian Romance in the Digital Age: From Arranged Marriage to White Marriage (Sex, Family and Culture in the Middle East).
📽️Subscribe to our YouTube channel
🖱️Support Our Program:
We appreciate your financial support of our program, for any amount you like. And thank you.
Adel Aali
Host, Unravelling the Middle East
Host, History Behind News Podcast
🎶Music attributions:
1. Opening and closing music of the program:
Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.
Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.
2. Background music:
The Desert | The Grand Score
https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html
The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
3. Background music:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Music
promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
