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About Maggie Freeman

Maggie Freeman is a PhD candidate in History, Theory, and Criticism of Art and Architecture and the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research interests encompass the histories and material cultures of nomadism, the uses of architecture by nomadic peoples, and historical interactions of empires and nomadic populations. Her primary focus is on how the built environment of the Middle East is experienced and shaped by nomadic peoples.

Maggie Freeman is a PhD candidate in the School of Architecture at MIT. She researches uses of architecture by nomadic peoples and historical interactions of nomads and empires, with a focus on the modern Middle East.

Maggie's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Maggie:

Nomads, Past and Present September 24, 2023

The Secret History of the Mongols

An interview with Chris Atwood

Chris Atwood

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
The Secret History of the Mongols is one of the literary wonders of the world. Writing in the thirteenth century, the Secret Historian - whose identity remains unknown - combines …
Nomads, Past and Present July 29, 2023

Archaeology and Nomadism in the Russian Empire

An interview with Ismael Biyashev

Ismael Biyashev

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
In the second half of the 19th century, both professional and amateur archaeologists, surveyors, and explorers of the “periphery” of the Russian Empire became increasingly interested in the perceived ancient …
Nomads, Past and Present June 25, 2023

Mongol Nomadism, Mongol Identity, and the Fall of the Mongol Empire

A Discussion with Nicholas Morton

Nicholas Morton

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Listen:
In part two of our conversation about his book The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East (Basic Books, 2022), Nicholas Morton, Associate Professor of History …
Nomads, Past and Present June 21, 2023

Constant’s “New Babylon"

An Interview with Jérémie McGowan

Jérémie McGowan

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Listen:
“New Babylon” is an architectural and urban planning project designed by the Dutch artist Constant Nieuwenhuys between 1959 and 1974 in response to certain economic and social conditions he perceived …
Nomads, Past and Present June 16, 2023

Bedouin Bureaucrats

Mobility and Property in the Ottoman Empire

Nora Barakat

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Listen:
In the late 19th century, the Ottoman government sought to fill landscapes they legally defined as "empty." Both land and people were incorporated into territorially bounded grids of administrative law …
Nomads, Past and Present June 7, 2023

Hiking Trails, Sustainable Tourism, and Bedouin Heritage

An Discussion with Ben Hoffler

Ben Hoffler

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Listen:
Ben Hoffler is the co-founder of several hiking trails in the Middle East, including the Sinai Trail, the Red Sea Mountain Trail, the Wadi Rum Trail, and the Bedouin Trail …
Nomads, Past and Present May 22, 2023

Embracing Landscape

Living with Reindeer and Hunting among Spirits in South Siberia

Selcen Küçüküstel

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Examining human-animal relations among the reindeer hunting and herding Dukha community in northern Mongolia, Embracing Landscape: Living with Reindeer and Hunting among Spirits in South Siberia (Berghahn Books, 2021), focuses …
Nomads, Past and Present April 3, 2023

Nomad, Nomad

Jonan Pilet

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
In his debut short story collection, Nomad, Nomad (Bound to Brew, 2021), Jonan Pilet explores the lives of Mongols and expats looking for a sense of home within the nomadic …
Nomads, Past and Present March 31, 2023

The Transformation of Livestock Herding in Socialist Mongolia

Kenny Linden

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Between 1956 and 1960, leaders in the Mongolian People’s Republic embarked on a collectivization campaign to change the way in which Mongolians interacted with animals and the environment. Collectivization in …
Nomads, Past and Present February 13, 2023

Jangar: The Heroic Epic of the Kalmyk Nomads

An interview with Dr. Saga Bougdaeva

Saga Bougdaeva

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Saga Bougdaeva is the translator of the first English version of Jangar (University of California Press, 2023), the heroic epic of the Kalmyk nomads. The Kalmyks are the Western Mongols …
Nomads, Past and Present February 10, 2023

Star Wars: Andor’s Aldhani and its Real-World Parallels

An interview with Kenneth E. Linden

Kenneth E. Linden

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
In this episode, Dr. Kenny Linden, an environmental and animal historian of Mongolia and Inner Asia, joins me to discuss the Disney+ Star Wars prequel series Andor and its real-world …
Nomads, Past and Present January 27, 2023

Words Like Daggers: The Political Poetry of the Negev Bedouin

Kobi Peled

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
For generations, the composition and recitation of poetry has been a key mode of expression among Bedouin populations in the Middle East, reflecting social norms, religious practices, relationships with the …
Nomads, Past and Present January 27, 2023

Words Like Daggers: The Political Poetry of the Negev Bedouin

Kobi Peled

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
For generations, the composition and recitation of poetry has been a key mode of expression among Bedouin populations in the Middle East, reflecting social norms, religious practices, relationships with the …
Nomads, Past and Present January 24, 2023

Pastures of Change

Contemporary Adaptations and Transformations among Nomadic Pastoralists of Eastern Tibet

Gillian G. Tan

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Tibetan nomads have developed a way of life that is dependent in multiple ways on their animals and shaped by the phenomenological experience of mobility. These pastoralists have adapted to …
Nomads, Past and Present January 12, 2023

The Sámi in "Frozen" (Part 2)

An interview with Niina Niskanen

Niina Niskanen

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
The traditional folklore and animistic beliefs of the Sámi, the Indigenous nomadic peoples of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia, are under-studied and their cultural significance rarely acknowledged, even in …
Nomads, Past and Present January 11, 2023

The Sámi in "Frozen" (Part 1)

An interview with Aili Keskitalo

Aili Keskitalo

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Despite the box-office and critical success of Walt Disney Animation Studios' 2013 film Frozen, it also drew criticism and backlash for how it incorporated elements of the culture and heritage …
Nomads, Past and Present January 10, 2023

The Fremen in "Dune"

An interview with Kara Kennedy

Kara Kennedy

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Despite being set in the distant future on a remote desert planet, the story of resource extraction, power, politics, ecology, and religion told in Frank Herbert's sci-fi series Dune bears …
Nomads, Past and Present January 9, 2023

Romani Representation in Pop Culture

An interview with Vicente Rodriguez Fernandez

Vicente Rodriguez Fernandez

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Roma figures have been an essential part of European folklore, myths, and literary traditions for centuries, with writers from Cervantes to Shakespeare to Victor Hugo drawing on the stereotype of …
Nomads, Past and Present January 8, 2023

Roma in the Medieval Islamic World

An interview with Kristina Richardson

Kristina Richardson

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Medieval Arabic sources are full of references to the Banu Sasan (Sons of Sasan) and the Ghuraba' (Strangers), an enigmatic but captivating group who begged, told fortunes, trained animals, and …
Nomads, Past and Present January 7, 2023

Bordering the Bedouin

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Contemporary issues like the refugee crisis, climate refugees, and global restrictions on movement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have brought into stark relief the extent to which our movements, lives …
Nomads, Past and Present January 6, 2023

Pastoralism and French Environmental Policy in the Mediterranean

An interview with Andrea Duffy

Andrea Duffy

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
For most of human history, the Mediterranean was home to a significant number of pastoralists, who herded livestock along seasonal migratory routes. Today, traces of this pastoralist presence have all …
Nomads, Past and Present January 5, 2023

The Bedouin and the Formation of Iraq's National Borders

An interview with Carl Shook

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
The British occupation of Iraq after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire led to the creation of Iraq's national boundaries, a process with profound and long-lasting implications for the inhabitants …
Nomads, Past and Present January 4, 2023

Rock Art in the Nomadic Landscape of the Black Desert

An interview with Nathalie Brusgaard

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
The "Black Desert" in the northern Arabian Peninsula is home to thousands of pieces of rock art - both written inscriptions and figural images - left there by the region's …
Nomads, Past and Present January 3, 2023

The 'Queens of the Arabs' during the Neo-Assyrian Period

An interview with Ellie Bennett

Ellie Bennett

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
Eight women appear in Neo-Assyrian sources from the 7th and 8th centuries BCE with the ambiguous but intriguing title 'queen of the Arabs.' Despite providing a rare glimpse of power …