New Books Network Podcast

Asian Review of Books September 28, 2023

Sovereigns of the Sea

Omani Ambition in the Age of Empire

Seema Alavi

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

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It’s one of the strange artifacts of history that Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, was once controlled by the Sultanate of Oman. In 1832, then Sultan Sayyid Saïd bin …

Indian Ocean World September 27, 2023

The Medieval Persian Gulf

Brian Ulrich

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

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The Persian Gulf today is home to multiple cosmopolitan urban hubs of globalization. This did not start with the discovery of oil. The Medieval Persian Gulf (ARC Humanities Press, 2023) …

Indian Ocean World September 16, 2023

A Book of Waves

Stefan Helmreich

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

In A Book of Waves (Duke UP, 2023), Stefan Helmreich examines ocean waves as forms of media that carry ecological, geopolitical, and climatological news about our planet. Drawing on ethnographic …

Middle Eastern Studies September 12, 2023

Inventing the Middle East

Britain and the Persian Gulf in the Age of Global Imperialism

Guillemette Crouzet

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh

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The “Middle East” has long been an indispensable and ubiquitous term in discussing world affairs, yet its history remains curiously underexplored. Few question the origin of the term or the …

Middle Eastern Studies September 10, 2023

The East India Company in Persia

Trade and Cultural Exchange in the Eighteenth Century

Peter Good

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh

In 1747, the city of Kerman in Persia burned amidst chaos, destruction and death perpetrated by the city's own overlord, Nader Shah. After the violent overthrow of the Safavid dynasty …

Indian Ocean World September 9, 2023

The Owl and the Occult

Popular Politics and Social Liminality in Early Modern South Asia

Divya Cherian

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

Today I talked to Divya Cherian about her article "The Owl and the Occult: Popular Politics and Social Liminality in Early Modern South Asia" published in Comparative Studies in Society and History (June …

Indian Ocean World August 27, 2023

Boats in a Storm

Law, Migration, and Decolonization in South and Southeast Asia, 1942-1962

Kalyani Ramnath

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

For more than a century before World War II, traders, merchants, financiers, and laborers steadily moved between places on the Indian Ocean, trading goods, supplying credit, and seeking work. This …

African Studies August 27, 2023

Djibouti

A Political History

Samson A. Bezabeh

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Wedged between Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, at the intersection of the world’s busiest shipping routes, Djibouti has long been a global geostrategic hub. In Djibouti: A Political History (Lynne Rienner …

Middle Eastern Studies August 26, 2023

Afterlives of Revolution

Everyday Counterhistories in Southern Oman

Alice Wilson

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The Dhufar Revolution was fought between 1965–1976, in an attempt to depose Oman's British-backed Sultan and advance social ideals of egalitarianism and gender equality. Dhufar, the southernmost governorate in today's …

Indian Ocean World August 24, 2023

Seeking Bread and Fortune in Port Said

Labor Migration and the Making of the Suez Canal, 1859-1906

Lucia Carminati

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

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Lucia Carminati's book Seeking Bread and Fortune in Port Said: Labor Migration and the Making of the Suez Canal, 1859-1906 (U California Press, 2023) probes migrant labor's role in shaping the …

Indian Ocean World August 16, 2023

Scribal Practice and the Global Cultures of Colophons, 1400–1800

Christopher D. Bahl and Stefan Hanß

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

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Scribal Practice and the Global Cultures of Colophons, 1400–1800 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) is the first to chart the global diversity of colophons between 1400 and 1800. The volume presents a …

Nordic Asia Podcast July 28, 2023

India's Development Diplomacy and Soft Power in Africa

A Discussion with Kenneth King and Meera Venkatachalam

Kenneth King and Meera Venkatachalam

Hosted by Kenneth Bo Nielsen

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In this episode, Kenneth King (University of Edinburgh) & Meera Venkatachalam (University of Mumbai), discuss their recently co-edited volume, India's Development Diplomacy and Soft Power in Africa, published by Boydell …

Indian Ocean World July 27, 2023

An Introduction to the Blue Humanities

Steve Mentz

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

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An Introduction to the Blue Humanities (Routledge, 2023) is the first textbook to explore the many ways humans engage with water, utilizing literary, cultural, historical, and theoretical connections and ecologies …

Indian Ocean World July 12, 2023

Islamic Law of the Sea

Freedom of Navigation and Passage Rights in Islamic Thought

Hassan S. Khalilieh

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

The doctrine of the modern law of the sea is commonly believed to have developed in Renaissance Europe. The role of Islamic law of the sea and customary practices is …

General History July 8, 2023

How Asia Found Herself

A Story of Intercultural Understanding

Nile Green

Hosted by Shatrunjay Mall

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The nineteenth century saw European empires build vast transport networks to maximize their profits from trade, and it saw Christian missionaries spread printing across Asia to bring Bibles to the …

Indian Ocean World July 2, 2023

Connecting the Indian Ocean World

Across Sea and Land

Radhika Seshan and Ryuto Shimada

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

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The Indian Ocean world has a rich history of socio-economic and cultural exchanges across time and space. Connecting the Indian Ocean World Across Sea and Land (Routledge, 2023) and its companion, Merchants …

Anthropology June 28, 2023

Between Somaliland and Puntland

Marginalization, Militarization and Conflicting Political Vision

Markus Virgil Höhne

Hosted by Anthony Kao

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On February 6, 2023, fighting erupted around Las Anod, a city in the eastern parts of the de facto independent state of Somaliland. This still-ongoing conflict has been subject to recent …

Indian Ocean World June 15, 2023

Houseways in Southern Oman

Marielle Risse

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

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Houseways in Southern Oman (Routledge, 2022) explores how houses are created, maintained and conceptualized in southern Oman. Based on long-term research in the Dhofar region, it draws on anthropology, sociology, urban studies …

Middle Eastern Studies June 12, 2023

Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea

Nicholas W. S. Smith

Hosted by Drora Arussy

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Today, the countries bordering the Red Sea are riven with instability. Why are the region's contemporary problems so persistent and interlinked? Through the stories of three compelling characters, Colonial Chaos …

Indian Ocean World June 6, 2023

East Africa’s Human Environment Interactions

Historical Perspectives for a Sustainable Future

Rob Marchant

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

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East Africa’s Human Environment Interactions: Historical Perspectives for a Sustainable Future (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) is an ambitious integration of ecological, archaeological, anthropological land use sciences, drawing on human geography, demography and economics …