Turkey Book Talk

Diana Darke on Abu Chaker and the modern history of Syria

Diana Darke on “The Merchant of Syria: A History of Survival” (Hurst). The book traces the life of Abu Chaker, a textile merchant from Homs who lived from 1921 to 2013, in parallel with the story of the modern history of Syria - examining the social, cultural and political context that shaped him. It also touches on the emergence of the ongoing war, which Darke herself witnessed as she was living in a historical courtyard house in Damascus’ old town until a few years ago.

Become a Turkey Book Talk member to support the podcast, getting full transcripts (in English and Turkish) of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (in English), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman history titles published by IB Tauris.

Max Hoffman on Turkey's latest nationalist wave

Max Hoffman of the Center for American Progress on the major recent study “Is Turkey Experiencing a New Nationalism?” based on focus groups and polling with the Metropoll research company.

The report finds that Turkey remains a deeply nationalist, conservative country, where the national mood is prickly, defensive and conspiratorial. But it also contains some perhaps surprising details about attitudes to President Erdoğan, levels of religiosity in young people, and the political opinions of Turkish women.

Become a Turkey Book Talk member to support the podcast, getting full transcripts (in English and Turkish) of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (in English), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman history titles published by IB Tauris.

Ceren Baysan on voters, parties and polarization in Turkey

Ceren Baysan of UC Berkeley on her paper "Can More Information Lead to More Voter Polarization? Experimental Evidence from Turkey." The study was based on voter surveys in the months before the April 2017 referendum on granting President Erdoğan more powers and also measured Turkish parties' own polling operations.

Become a Turkey Book Talk member to support the podcast, getting full transcripts (in English and Turkish) of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (in English), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman history titles published by IB Tauris.

Mehmet Kentel on the world of Ottoman caricaturist Yusuf Franko

Mehmet Kentel on the life and work of Yusuf Franko, an obscure Ottoman bureaucrat who lived a remarkable double life as a caricaturist depicting Istanbul's cosmopolitan late 19th century high society. Kentel is a PhD Candidate in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Washington, and was adviser to the exhibition “The Characters of Yusuf Franko: An Ottoman Bureaucrat’s Caricatures” at the Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations. 

Become a Turkey Book Talk member to support the podcast, getting full transcripts (in English and Turkish) of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (in English), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman history titles published by IB Tauris.

Karabekir Akkoyunlu on the 'exit from democracy' in Turkey and beyond

Karabekir Akkoyunlu, research associate at the University of Graz, on "Exit from Democracy: Illiberal Governance in Turkey and Beyond" (Routledge), a collection of 10 essays he co-edited with Professor Kerem Öktem.

Become a Turkey Book Talk member to help develop the podcast and get full transcripts (in English and Turkish) of every interview when it is published, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (in English), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman history titles published by IB Tauris.

Edhem Eldem on Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II between fantasy and reality

Professor Edhem Eldem on "A Transnational History of the Attempt on Abdülhamid II" (Palgrave Macmillan), co-edited with Houssine Alloul and Henk de Smaele. The book explores a deadly assassination attempt targeting the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul in 1905, and appears at a time when Abdülhamid II is the subject of a growing popular obsession among religious conservatives in Turkey.

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Cathy Otten on Yezidi women and Iraq after the Islamic State

Arbil-based journalist Cathy Otten discusses "With Ash on their Faces: Yezidi Women and the Islamic State" (OR Books), a deeply reported account of the suffering of the Yezidi religious minority over the border in Iraq.

Support Turkey Book Talk by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman, Andrew MacDowall, Paul Levin, Ayla Jean Yackley and Tan Tunalı.

Ezgi Başaran on ‘frontline Turkey,’ Gülenists and the Kurdish peace process

Journalist Ezgi Başaran on "Frontline Turkey: The Conflict at the Heart of the Middle East" (IB Tauris), a 200-page account of the collapse of the Kurdish peace process, the rise and fall of the Gülen movement, and deepening authoritarianism.

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman, Andrew MacDowall, Paul Levin, Ayla Jean Yackley and Tan Tunalı.

Raja Shehadeh on 'travels with his Ottoman uncle,' Palestine and the First World War

Palestinian author and lawyer Raja Shehadeh on "A Rift in Time: Travels with my Ottoman Uncle" (OR/Basic Books), retracing the journey of his great uncle Najib Nassar, on the run for three years in Greater Syria from 1915.

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman, Andrew MacDowall, Paul Levin, Ayla Jean Yackley and Tan Tunalı.

Lora Sarı on the Istanbul-based Armenian publisher Aras

Editor Lora Sarı on Aras, a publishing house set up in 1993 in Istanbul as a "window onto Armenian literature." We also discuss Migirdic Margosyan's classic "Infidel Quarter," published this year as Aras' first English-language title.

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman, Andrew MacDowall, Paul Levin and Tan Tunalı.

Özlem Madi-Şişman on Muslims, money and democracy in Turkey

Özlem Madi-Şişman on her book "Muslims, Money and Democracy in Turkey: Reluctant Capitalists" (Palgrave Macmillan).

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman, Andrew MacDowall, Paul Levin and Tan Tunalı.

Fikret Adaman on Erdoğan, the environment and economic policy in Turkey

Fikret Adaman of Istanbul's Boğaziçi University on "Neoliberal Turkey and its Discontents: Economic Policy and the Environment under Erdoğan" (IB Tauris).

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman, Andrew MacDowall and Paul Levin.

Alexander Clarkson on Turks and Kurds in Germany

Alexander Clarkson of Kings College London discusses his research on the Turkish and Kurdish diaspora in Germany, the long shadow of Turkey's 1980 military coup, and the bitter state of ties between Turkey and Germany today.

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman, Andrew MacDowall and Paul Levin.

Ekin Oklap on the pleasures and pitfalls of translating Orhan Pamuk

Ekin Oklap on translating Orhan Pamuk into English and the release of "The Red-Haired Woman" (Faber), the second novel she has worked on with Pamuk. 

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman, Andrew MacDowall and Paul Levin.

Cenk Özbay on male prostitution in Istanbul and LGBT rights in Turkey

Cenk Özbay, associate professor at Sabancı University, on his book “Queering Sexualities in Turkey: Gay Men, Male Prostitutes and the City” (IB Tauris) and the troubled state of LGBT rights activism in the country today.

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman, Andrew MacDowall and Paul Levin.

Suzy Hansen on viewing America from Turkey

Journalist Suzy Hansen on "Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), on the delusions of US exceptionalism and reporting from Turkey for 10 years.

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman and Andrew MacDowall.

Douglas Howard on a new history of the Ottoman Empire

Professor Douglas Howard on "A History of the Ottoman Empire” (Cambridge University Press), his new single-volume history covering the empire from its 13th century origins to its protracted, violent dissolution.

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman, Max Hoffman and Andrew MacDowall.

Max Hoffman on Turkish civil society under siege

Max Hoffman discusses the report "Trends in Turkish Civil Society," a joint publication by the Center for American Progress, the Istanbul Policy Center, and the Italian think tank IAI.

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman and Andrew MacDowall.

Soner Çağaptay on Erdoğan and the crisis of modern Turkey

Soner Çağaptay of the Washington Institute discusses his book "The New Sultan: Erdoğan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey" (IB Tauris).

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman and Andrew MacDowall.

Esra Gürakar on crony capitalism in Turkey

Esra Gürakar on "Politics of Favoritism in Public Procurement in Turkey" (Palgrave Macmillan), her book about how the AKP government abandoned early economic reforms in favor of cronyism and favoritism.

Get a 33% discount plus free delivery on any of five books from Hurst Publishers, exclusive to Turkey Book Talk listeners.

Support the podcast by making a donation via Patreon. Many thanks to current supporters Celia Jocelyn Kerslake, Michelle Zimmer, Jan-Markus Vömel, Steve Bryant, Aaron Ataman and Andrew MacDowall.