Turkey Book Talk episode #87 – Şevket Pamuk, Professor of Economics at Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University, on “Uneven Centuries: Economic Development of Turkey Since 1820” (Princeton University Press).
The book examines institutions and economic development in the Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey over the past two centuries, looking at both ruptures and continuities.
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Join as a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get a load of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 400 books in IB Tauris/Bloomsbury‘s excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of 80+ episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
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Ceren Lord on religious politics in Turkey
March 26, 2019
Turkey Book Talk episode #86 – Ceren Lord, Research Fellow at Oxford University’s School of Global and Area Studies, on “Religious Politics in Turkey: From the Birth of the Republic to the AKP” (Cambridge University Press).
The book argues against the popular binary understanding of modern Turkish history, which pits a monolithic secular state against an authentic religious society. As Lord shows, the reality is much more complicated.
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Here is the episode mentioned in the conversation – Halil Karaveli on his book “Why Turkey is Authoritarian: From Atatürk to Erdoğan” (Pluto Press).
Join as a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get a load of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 400 books in IB Tauris/Bloomsbury‘s excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of 80+ episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
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Turkey Book Talk episode #85 – Doğus Şimşek of Koç University and photographer Yusuf Sayman on “Çabuk Çabuk: Africans in Istanbul” (Pencere Yayınları).
The book features text by Şimşek and over 100 photos by Sayman, giving a glimpse into the lives of migrants from a range of African countries living in Istanbul.
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For more of a historical look at African migrants in Istanbul, check out an episode we published back in October 2016 – Professor George Junne on black eunuchs and slavery in the Ottoman Empire.
Join as a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get a load of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 400 books in IB Tauris/Bloomsbury‘s excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of 80+ episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
Sign up as a member to support Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Selda Tuncer on women and public space in Ankara, 1950 to 1980
February 26, 2019
Turkey Book Talk episode #84 – Selda Tuncer, assistant professor at Yüzüncü Yıl University in Van, on “Women and Public Space in Turkey: Gender, Modernity and the Urban Experience” (IB Tauris).
The book is based on dozens of interviews with mostly middle-class women who lived in Ankara between 1950 and 1980, comparing their experiences of the Turkish capital in the middle of the 20th century.
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If you enjoyed this episode, you may also be interested in episode #69 from July 2018: Amy Spangler on the late author Sevgi Soysal and her great novel Noontime in Yenişehir.
Join as a member to support Turkey Book Talk and get a load of extras: A 35% discount on any of over 400 books in IB Tauris/Bloomsbury‘s excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire archive of 80+ episodes, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
Sign up as a member to support Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Selim Koru on Turkey, Russia and the power of political resentment
February 12, 2019
Turkey Book Talk episode #83 – Selim Koru, fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, on his paper: “The Resiliency of Turkey-Russia Relations.”
Despite being historic rivals and at odds on many issues, Koru argues that Ankara-Moscow ties are becoming increasingly warm due to a shared underlying worldview, spurred by resentment of the West.
Download the episode or listen below.
Here’s the paper we are discussing.
And here’s a link to Selim’s other writing.
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If you enjoyed this episode, you may also be interested in episode #70 from August 2018: Dimitar Bechev on Turkey-Russia relations, past and present.
Don’t forget: IB Tauris/Bloomsbury have agreed to renew the exclusive discount for Turkey Book Talk members. Join as a member to get access to a 35% discount on any of over 400 books in IB Tauris’ excellent Turkey/Ottoman history category.
Members also get (English and Turkish) transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the entire archive, and an archive of 231 reviews written by myself covering Turkish and international fiction, history, journalism and politics.
Sign up as a member to support Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Dogu Eroğlu on investigating ISIS networks in Turkey
October 16, 2018
Turkey Book Talk episode #75 – Doğu Eroğlu on “ISIS Networks: Radicalisation, Organisation, Logistics in Turkey,” published in Turkish by İletişim as “İŞİD Ağları: Türkiye’de Radikalleşme, Örgütleme, Lojistik.”
Eroğlu’s book is a forensic and unsensational account of ISIS operations in Turkey and grassroots radicalisation, based on years of on-the-ground reporting.
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Don’t forget the new addition to Turkey Book Talk’s membership system : Members now get access to an archive of 231 book reviews originally written for the Hurriyet Daily News. That archive was still standing for a few months but it now seems to have been deleted from the HDN website.
The reviews cover a pretty diverse spread of subjects: Turkish and international fiction and poetry, history, journalism, politics, the Middle East and Europe.
Members also get full transcripts in English and Turkish of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (over 70 conversations so far), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman History titles published by IB Tauris.
Sign up as a member to support Turkey Book Talk via Patreon.
Turkey Book Talk episode #74 – Sinan Yıldırmaz on his book “Politics and the Peasantry in Post-War Turkey: Social History, Culture and Modernization” (IB Tauris). The book examines the transition to the multi-party system after the Second World War and the crucial importance of migration from rural to urban areas in shaping politics in the country up to today.
Download the episode or listen below.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
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Consider joining as a member to support Turkey Book Talk. Membership gives you full transcripts in English and Turkish of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (over 60 conversations so far), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman History titles published by IB Tauris (again, including Yıldırmaz’s book).
Turkey Book Talk episode #69 – Amy Spangler on the life and work of Sevgi Soysal, whose classic 1973 novel “Noontime in Yenişehir” she translated into English. She also discusses co-founding the literary agency AnatoliaLit and her work on “Seher,” a collection of stories penned in jail by former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş.
Download the episode or listen below.
Here’s my review of the (great) novel from a few weeks ago.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Membership gives you full transcripts in English and Turkish of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (over 60 conversations so far), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman History titles published by IB Tauris.
Turkey Book Talk episode #67 – Jonathan Varjabedian on “My Dear Son Garabed: Kojaian Family Letters from Efkere/Kayseri to America (1912-1919)” (Histor Press).
The book is a collection of 88 letters written from the Anatolian village of Efkere to America between 1912 and 1919. They were sent to Garabed Kojaian and his father Harutian, who were among the many Ottoman Armenians migrating to America in the early 20th century.
Download the episode or listen below.
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Here’s my review of the book from a few of weeks ago.
As mentioned in the episode, check out the website efkere.com, where Jonathan, the grandson of the late Garabed Kojaian, pieces together the lost history of the village.
Purchase the book (highly recommended) from Histor. Details on their Facebook page.
Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Membership gives you full transcripts in English and Turkish of every interview upon publication, transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (over 60 conversations so far), and access to an exclusive 30% discount on over 200 Turkey/Ottoman History titles published by IB Tauris.
Turkey Book Talk episode #59 – Ceren Baysan of University of California, 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.
Baysan measured Turkish voters’ opinions about various issues as well as the major parties’ own polling operations: How much they know about voters’ preferences and how they adapt their work in light of that information.
The report is full of interesting insights about the state of Turkish parties and the deep polarization that is only getting worse in the country.
Download the episode or listen below
Here’s a link to download/read the report itself.
The Kayhan Delibaş book mentioned in the episode is called “The Rise of Political Islam in Turkey: Urban Poverty, Grassroots Activism and Islamic Fundamentalism.” Here’s an interview with Delibaş on his research.
Subscribe to Turkey Book Talk : iTunes / PodBean / Stitcher / Acast / RSS
Consider supporting Turkey Book Talk and get extra content by becoming a member. Members get 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.
Introducing Turkey Book Talk’s new membership system
February 7, 2018
[Read this introduction on Medium]
Hello Turkey Book Talk listeners. Let me start by thanking you for continuing to divert your attention to the podcast — most importantly to our guests and their work.
This week I published our 57th episode – many more than I expected when I started the podcast over two years ago based on my HDN book reviews. I think we have made big strides: From sound quality to editing, from questioning to general presentation. I hope you find that the listening experience has improved.
I want to keep making the podcast better, so I’m pleased to unveil a new membership system for Turkey Book Talk listeners.
The original podcast will still be free to listen for everyone. But I’ve decided to adapt our Patreon account for a special membership scheme.
What does that mean?
Basically from now on you will be able to both support the podcast and get access to more content and benefits as a paying member. Membership perks include:
Full transcripts – in both English and Turkish – of every future interview published on Turkey Book Talk in PDF form, when the episode is published.
Full transcripts of the entire Turkey Book Talk archive (in English) – over 50 conversations so far. Many of these interviews were previously published at Hurriyet Daily News but from now on membership will be the only way to access them. The archive also includes a number of interviews not previously published on the podcast.
Access to an exclusive 30% discount on Turkey/Ottoman History books published by the great IB Tauris. They have a fantastic archive of titles and over 200 books from their Turkey/Ottoman History series are available at cut price through a special discount code exclusive to Turkey Book Talk members. We have featured a number of IB Tauris authors on the podcast, so becoming a member is a great way to get more acquainted with their work.
Signing up as a member will help further develop the podcast going forward, giving you a warm fuzzy feeling. If we get memberships up to a certain level I’ll be able to start publishing episodes weekly (up from the current one episode every two weeks), providing a bigger platform for even more authors, academics, researchers and journalists to get the word out about their work.
In order to access these benefits and to support Turkey Book Talk going forward, all you have to do is pledge a minimum of $3 per episode via Turkey Book Talk’s official Patreon account. Here’s a link to it.
That Patreon account was previously used as a general “donation” page. The new membership scheme simply adapts it. Already existing donors contributing at least $3 per episode have automatically become members. At present I publish new episodes biweekly, so the monthly membership price is no more than $6. If ultimately I become able to publish a new episode every week then that maximum will go up to $12 monthly. It’s basically less than the price of a cup of coffee per episode.
If you’re feeling particularly generous and want to pledge more, of course everything helps and you are more than welcome. However much you pledge, membership is entirely at your own discretion. Members are only charged when a new episode is published so there is no prior commitment or strings attached: All members are free to sign off whenever they want.
Please do also share the podcast – and news of the membership system – with friends, colleagues and basically anyone you think may be interested. Word of mouth is crucial for initiatives like Turkey Book Talk. The aim is to turn it into a self-sustainable, reliable and wide-reaching source. We also want to develop the website and listener network and potentially branch out further into Turkish-language content in the medium to long-term.
It’s no secret that the country is currently going through a difficult period of wrenching changes – often depressing, sometimes surprising. At such a confusing time when news sources are proliferating but ever more difficult to rely on, many Turkey professionals and interested amateurs say they are hungry for dependable, informed and independent insights from voices on the ground.
Turkey Book Talk will not be able to exist without listeners, contributors and paying members. I hope you can join us, helping to strengthen the platform for our guests at a time when their work is more important than ever.
Many thanks
William Armstrong
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Turkey Book Talk episode #57 – 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.
Listen out for details of our brand new Turkey Book Talk membership system – giving members a range of exciting extra perks.
Download the episode or listen below:
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Please spread the word about Turkey Book Talk and the new membership scheme.
Turkey Book Talk 