Much belated intro of our interview with Dr. Jeffrey Kotyk about his book which builds on the pioneering work of Berthold Laufer by utilising classical Chinese sources to tell the story of Sino-Iran in a new light for both Iranologists & Sinologists.
open.spotify.com/episode/0wUqJq

On the last note, we talked about the nitty-gritty of Reza Shah AtaTürk eras in Iran & Türkiye, their echoes in our contemporary politics, Saudi Arabia's reforms, the quest for contemporary John Lockes in the ummah & beyond.
@ahmetkuru.bsky.social

We also talked about the fetishizing of the Islamic Revolution/Republic as a medieval theocracy that ignores its modern roots like the major influence of Jalal Al-e-Ahmad (👇🏻 with Henry Kissinger) on Khomeini's worldview & it's roots in the Persian Constitutional Revolution.

In the second chapter of THE LOOM OF TIME,
Robert D. Kaplan writes about the legacies of Bernard Lewis & Edward Said with his unique personal insight.
bsky.app/profile/ferd...

I asked about my opinion that scholarships of late Bernard Lewis & Edward Said should be revisited without the sectarian politicization surrounding their debates, Lewis's pioneering work finding consultative governance in Ottoman crafts guilds & his prescience about Khomeinism.

Al-Ghazali aka Algazelus is prominently featured in @ahmetkuru.bsky.social book. We talked about his all-encompassing influence of the ulema, his evolving views, his western counterparts & how he was a product of the Islamic Golden Age.

We talked extensively about @ahmetkuru.bsky.social 's 2019 book, Islam Authoritarianism & Underdevelopment (with many translation recently German Hindi & its ban in Malaysia) on the impediment of ulema state alliance to separation of church & state + its Sasanian roots. @cambridgeup.bsky.social

Dr. Michael Bonner & I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Dr. Ahmet T. Kuru professor of political science & director of Center for Islamic & Arabic Studies at @SDSU for an illuminating conversation about his scholarship. @ahmetkuru.bsky.social

Nowruz 1404 🪻
A new year begins 🌱

Belated Yalda Night appreciation here 🌕
It is one of the most significant feasts in Iranians. We get together to exchange stories of ages‌ past and of legends lost, of the dark and cold days to come, of the Great Forty & to consult Hafez about the future as ancient Greeks consulted the Oracles.