In this episode, Kamyar is joined by Murat Keyder, a New York City-based musician and composer, to talk about his recent album, *[Rüya](https://open.spotify.com/album/1UgDWDZVXJRKhyhH7FjBVm?highlight=spotify:track:5OqTvH0D8t0vZBnMDR7rCd)* (2019). He is also the author of *[Learning Balkan and Middle Eastern Music on Guitar](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N6M5YYE/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0)* (2016). Originally from Turkey, Keyder is a guitarist and oud player, whose music is influenced by many different types of contemporary and classical music from Turkey, the Balkans, Southwest Asia, and other parts of the world. Keyder discusses the importance of improvisation in the creation of the album, and how he was able to incorporate Turkish maqams and other formal traditions into his songs. To listen to the album, [click here](https://open.spotify.com/album/1UgDWDZVXJRKhyhH7FjBVm?highlight=spotify:track:5OqTvH0D8t0vZBnMDR7rCd). ...
In this episode, Lindsey and Ali interview Dr. Jyoti Gulati Balachandran, Assistant Professor of History at Penn State, about her book [Narrative Pasts: The Making of a Muslim Community in Gujarat, c. 1400-1650](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/narrative-pasts-9780190123994?cc=us&lang=en&#) (Oxford University Press, July 2020) The Gujarat region of western India has a long role as a maritime and commercial center in the Indian Ocean, but the rich history of its Muslim community - and the important role of Sufis in developing Gujarat’s identity as a distinct region - has been overlooked. Dr. Balachandran argues that Arabic and Persian literary production among learned Muslim men was crucial to the development of Gujarat as a coherent region between the 15th and 17th centuries, plugging it in to developments across South Asia and beyond. Sufis were particularly important in this endeavor, and she urges us to seriously consider why and how different genres such as taẓkira or manāqib were chosen by these writers instead of dismissing them all under the imposed category of hagiography. Balachandran shows how textual histories and the tomb complexes of Sufi scholars contribute another source for history beyond that of the court, serving as two poles that reinforced one another’s place in time as well as a specific region. Sufis allowed Sultans to ensure that the Muslim community expanded and prospered, and just as the Sultans militarily defined their kingdoms, Sufis sketched out realms of spiritual rule through these institutions and narratives about the past. One important example that Dr. Balachandran touches on is the figure of Shaykh Ahmad Khattu, a 15th century Sufi who became the Shaykh of Ahmad Shah I of the Muzaffarids of Gujarat. While there is little contemporary writing about ...
In this episode, Rustin is joined by Neda Maghbouleh, Assistant Professor of Sociology at University of Toronto. She is the author of [The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian Americans and the Everyday Politics of Race (Stanford University Press, 2017).](https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=24756) Neda is a long-time friend of Ajam and an early guest of the first iteration of the Ajam podcast back in 2014. Since our first conversation, she has published her book, which explores the history of ethnic and racial classification in the United States and how Iranians and other Middle Eastern Americans have moved across the color line from "white" to "brown." After discussing the major themes and reception of her book, Dr. Maghbouleh talks about her latest project focusing on the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Canada since 2015. The five-year study follows newcomer mothers and their teenage children as they adjust to their new environment and deal with a wide variety of stressors Rustin closes out the episode with "Chiftetelli," a 1949 Armenian song by the Nore Ike Orchestra. ...
