On this week's episode of the podcast, Toby Matthiesen of the University of Bristol joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, The Caliph and the Imam: The Making of Sunnism and Shiism. This book is an authoritative account of Islam's schism that for centuries has shaped events in the Middle East and the Islamic world. This dispute over who should guide Musli ... Show More
Jun 11
Iran and the Bomb (S. 15, Ep. 14)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Sina Azodi of the George Washington University joins Marc Lynch to discuss his book, Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran, and the Nuclear Question. The book shows that because the strategic logic of the nuclear program transcends the ... Show More
43m 59s
Jun 4
Ba‘thist Iraq through Archives (S. 15, Ep. 13)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Samuel Helfont of the Naval War College at the Naval Postgraduate School joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new edited volume, Ba‘thist Iraq through Archives: Reflections, Explorations, and Opportunities (co-edited with Lisa Blaydes). This volu ... Show More
44m 21s
May 28
Outlasting the War on Terror in Iraq (S. 15, Ep. 12)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Kali Rubaii of Purdue University joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Resurgency: Outlasting the War on Terror in Iraq. The book expands the temporal and descriptive categories of what war is—and what resistance looks like. By asking wh ... Show More
42m 27s
Feb 2019
Ahmad Atif Ahmad, "Pitfalls of Scholarship: Lessons from Islamic Studies" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)
Ahmad Atif Ahmad’s Pitfalls of Scholarship: Lessons from Islamic Studies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) is a unique reflection on the field of Islamic studies. It is not quite a memoir, although it is reflective of Islamic studies, academia, and higher education in general. It is al ... Show More
1h 8m
Jul 2018
In Memoriam: Faleh A. Jabar (1946–2018)
Speakers: Deniz Kandiyoti, SOAS; Renad Mansour, Chatham House; Charles Tripp, SOAS
Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE Middle East Centre Director
This memorial honoured the late Faleh A. Jabar and his notable contribution to the study of Iraq and the wider Middle East. This event also marked ... Show More
51m 52s
Jul 2023
Liana Saif et al., "Islamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice" (Brill, 2020)
Islamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice (Brill, 2020) brings together the latest research on Islamic occult sciences from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, namely intellectual history, manuscript studies, and material culture. Its aim is not only to showcase the r ... Show More
1h 2m
Oct 2023
Youcef L. Soufi, "The Rise of Critical Islam: 10th-13th Century Legal Debate" (Oxford UP, 2023)
Youcef Soufi's book The Rise of Critical Islam: 10th-13th Century Legal Debate (Oxford University Press, 2023) is a fascinating and engaging exploration of the history of critique in Islamic legal and intellectual history. It does this specifically through a case study of dispens ... Show More
1h 14m
Oct 2014
Mariam al-Attar, “Islamic Ethics: Divine Command Theory in Arabo-Islamic Thought” (Routledge, 2010)
Mariam al-Attar, Islamic Ethics: Divine Command Theory in Arabo-Islamic Thought (Routledge, 2010) explores the meaning, origin and development of “Divine Command Theory” in Islamic thought. In the process, al-Attar underscores the philosophical bases of religious fundamentalism ... Show More
49m 41s
Sep 2020
Majid Daneshgar, "Studying the Qur’an in the Muslim Academy" (Oxford UP, 2019)
“Consider the works of the renowned Nobel-prize-winning African American writer, literary and social critic, and activist Toni Morrison (b. 1931),” writes Majid Daneshgar. “Hers—like Said’s—are popular in the West and cover most of the principal themes covered by Orientalism, inc ... Show More
40m 34s