Category Middle East
Are you ready for the Summer Olympics in Paris? I’m particularly excited to watch the swimming and track events, not to mention some tennis, taekwondo, basketball, and other sports. There’s so much to see! This year, over 10,000 people will… Continue Reading →
There’s nothing quite like fresh bread, the way it hits all five senses. First, the smell — warm and earthy, straight from the oven. Then the feel — a dusting of flour on the crust, a little crunch between your… Continue Reading →
Marnia Lazreg, a remarkable scholar and long-time sociology professor at Hunter College, passed away a few weeks ago. With over 40 years of work in academia, she racked up an impressive list of accomplishments. Not only did she have a… Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part Ten of the project “Interviewing Religion,” where I interview scholars of Middle Eastern religions about their research, discuss how their work connects to broader public issues, and ask for suggestions for further reading. [You can read the… Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part Nine of the project “Interviewing Religion,” where I interview scholars of Middle Eastern religions about their research, discuss how their work connects to broader public issues, and ask for suggestions for further reading. [You can read the… Continue Reading →
Want to know more about how I research and write the blog Other Things? I recently sat down with “Against the Grain – The Podcast,” where Matthew Ismail of the Charleston Conference spoke with me about my work as an… Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part Eight of the project “Interviewing Religion,” where I interview scholars of Middle Eastern religions about their research, discuss how their work connects to broader public issues, and ask for suggestions for further reading. [You can read the… Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part Seven of the project “Interviewing Religion,” where I interview scholars of Middle Eastern religions about their research, discuss how their work connects to broader public issues, and ask for suggestions for further reading. [You can read the… Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part Six of the project “Interviewing Religion,” where I interview scholars of Middle Eastern religions about their research, discuss how their work connects to broader public issues, and ask for suggestions for further reading. [You can read the… Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part Five of the project “Interviewing Religion,” where I interview scholars of Middle Eastern religions about their research, discuss how their work connects to broader public issues, and ask for suggestions for further reading. [You can read the… Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part Four of the project “Interviewing Religion,” where I interview scholars of Middle Eastern religions about their research, discuss how their work connects to broader public issues, and ask for suggestions for further reading. [You can read the… Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part Three of the project “Interviewing Religion,” where I interview scholars of Middle Eastern religions about their research, discuss how their work connects to broader public issues, and ask for suggestions for further reading. [You can read the… Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part Two of the project “Interviewing Religion,” where I interview scholars of Middle Eastern religions about their research, discuss how their work connects to broader public issues, and ask for suggestions for further reading. [You can read Part… Continue Reading →
I’m excited to announce a new project, a series of interviews titled “Interviewing Religion: Bringing Scholars of Middle Eastern Religions to New Audiences.” Over the coming months, I’ll be interviewing scholars of religion about their research, discussing how their work… Continue Reading →
Dear Other Things, can you tell me your favorite resources? How do you decide what to write about? And where do you find your information? I get questions like this a lot, people asking where I get the ideas and… Continue Reading →
Danny Hajjar’s weekly newsletter Sa’alouni El Nas is an absolute gem. It’s become my go-to space for music from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Arab diaspora, replacing my old haunts and habits. Why, you ask? When traveling, I… Continue Reading →
You’re here for some delicious Middle Eastern food? Welcome to Part Two of my project, listing every English-language cookbook about Middle Eastern food from 2010 to 2022. As we saw in Part One of this list, these works cover a… Continue Reading →
Reading cookbooks is addictive, isn’t it? I have a bunch of Middle Eastern ones in my collection and can’t resist flipping through new ones. And the number of cookbooks covering the Middle East has soared over the past decade. While… Continue Reading →
Where to start if you want to read good books about World War Two in North Africa? To be frank, history lovers have tons to choose from. Older books and memoirs provide impeccable accounts of British tank divisions, General Rommel… Continue Reading →
Where did I first learn about AramcoWorld… Perhaps in the stacks of a university library? Or later, on visits to the Aramco compound while I lived in Dhahran? No matter the connection, the fact remain the same — the free… Continue Reading →
In my pursuit of new things to read (#booknerd), I can’t resist a good book list. Recommendations from other voracious readers? Yes please! Finalists for the latest literary prizes, or classic works organized by country or era? Bring it on!… Continue Reading →
In the growing genre of Middle Eastern cookbooks, you can’t escape names like Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, and Claudia Roden. Ottolenghi’s 2010 vegetarian cookbook Plenty launched him as an international name, for example. Tamimi’s 2020 work Falastin received numerous accolades… Continue Reading →