S1E6: MAGA, Reclaiming History and the Need for Intellectual Communities - Lessons From the Middle East

Middle East reclaims the glories of its past - real and imagined. As you'll note in this episode, colonialism derailed the history of Middle East. And now its despots, representatives, clerics, and the masses reach for history to continue what they believe should be their paths. Interestingly, despite the repression of most Middle East countries, vibrant intellectual communities have flourished there in which they discuss history, philosophy and other subjects. Unfortunately, such communities are lacking in the United States. Do you think we can create intellectual communities in America outside the university environment? If so, how? Or do you think they are not necessary? Click here to answer this question⁠. This question form expires on Wed., Feb. 14, 2024. My guest for this episode is Dr. Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi of Princeton University. He is professor and chair of Near Eastern Studies. He is the Director of Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies. He has written many books, including Islam and Dissent in Post-Revolutionary Iran. He has coedited a special issue of Radical History Review, and has written extensively on the topics of social theory and Islamist political thought in different journals and book chapters. Currently, he is working on a project on Mystical Modernity, a comparative study of philosophy of history and political theory of Walter Benjamin and Ali Shariati. To learn more about Dr. Ghamari-Tabrizi, you can visit his ⁠academic homepage⁠. Thanksgiving: You can listen to our episode about Thanksgiving here: https://bit.ly/HbN-S3E46 25% Monthly inflation: You can listen to our episode about Argentina's soring inflation, new president (who wields a chainsaw) and economic crisis here: https://bit.ly/HbN-S4E6 I hope you enjoy these episodes. Adel Aali Host, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Unravelling the Middle East⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host, ⁠⁠⁠⁠History Behind News Podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Unravelling the Middle East podcast is a production of the History Behind News program. Image: 2500 year celebration of the Persian Empire. Iran, Oct. 1971. (Public Domain). Music attributions: 1. Opening and closing music of the program: Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011. Music available on at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program. 2. Background music to guest introduction: The Desert | The Grand Score ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.free-stock-music.com/alexander-nakarada-the-desert.html⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creatorchords.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music promoted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.free-stock-music.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠⁠⁠⁠ The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified. 3. Background music to promoting History Behind News episodes: The Success by Keys of Moon | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music promoted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.free-stock-music.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.