The First World War is over. There is unrest across Anatolia, exacerbated by the Greek invasion coming through Smyrna. Turkish forces are swelling to fight back against the Greeks, and at their head... Mustafa Kemal. Otherwise known as Ataturk. Join William and Anita this week as they are twice joined by Giles Milton to discuss the events of Smyrna in 1922 a ... Show More
Feb 3
330. The Iranian Revolution: 1979 vs. 2026 (Ep 1)
In recent weeks, protestors have swarmed the streets in Iran in defiance of the regime, and it feels as if the country is on the precipice of a transformative change. Yet these scenes feel familiar. In the 1970s, mass protests led to a religious revolution which replaced a monarc ... Show More
33m 11s
Feb 2024
Atatürk: Fall of the Ottoman Empire
<p>On the 19th of May, 1919, an Ottoman general stepped ashore at the Black Sea port city of Samsun. This marked the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence, and ultimately the end of the Ottoman Empire. The man's name was Mustafa Kemal, the soldier, statesman and reformer w ... Show More
33m 56s
Aug 2021
Soner Çaǧaptay, "A Sultan in Autumn: Erdogan Faces Turkey's Uncontainable Forces" (I. B. Tauris, 2021)
A Sultan in Autumn: Erdogan Faces Turkey's Uncontainable Forces (I. B. Tauris, 2021) is a primer for anybody who wants to understand modern Turkish politics and its central player Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who, for better or worse, has shaped Turkish politics and society for the last ... Show More
52m 35s
Jun 2024
460. The Empress of the Apocalypse
In 972AD a princess of the Byzantine Empire was sent by her uncle, the Roman emperor in Constantinople, to marry the son of Otto the Great - Emperor of the Latin West. A tantalising and formidable figure, Theophanu became a major player in one of the most tumultuous and mysteriou ... Show More
53m 26s
Aug 2023
Attila the Hun: Terror of Rome
<p>Returning to one of the most infamous names in history, what happened to Attila the Hun after the devastation he caused in the Balkans - and where did he turn his attention to next? One of the most powerful, and feared, leaders of history, Attila turned his sights on the West ... Show More
44m 58s
Jun 2021
Richard Antaramian, "Brokers of Faith, Brokers of Empire: Armenians and the Politics of Reform in the Ottoman Empire" (Stanford UP, 2020)
In today's program, I speak with Richard E. Antaramian about his recent monograph, Brokers of Faith, Brokers of Empire: Armenians and the Politics of Reform in the Ottoman Empire (Stanford University Press, 2020).
In Brokers of Faith, Brokers of Empire, Antaramian shows that the ... Show More
1 h