When we first meet Don Quixote, Cervantes does something curious. He insists that he is not the real author of the book at all. Instead, he tells us he merely translated an Arabic manuscript. And here is the fascinating story of a stand-up comedian 👇 open.substack.com/pub/islamandth…

While discussing Kimmel’s cancellation and politics of satire, I invite you to reflect on the fascinating story of Roman Ramirez. My new piece 👇 open.substack.com/pub/islamand...

My students at American University know how I love to unpack the symbolism behind the Temperance Movement & the women’s campaigns.But recently, I stumbled across a far earlier—and far stranger—example of women’s mobilization to save their men from…coffee! open.substack.com/pub/islamandth…

It’s a storytelling podcast and here is why I tell these stories 👇 open.substack.com/pub/islamand...

1652 Londra. Kralın kellesi gitmiş, cumhuriyetçiler gelmiş. Kuran’ın ilk İngilizce çevirisi dolaşıyor & ilk kahve evi açılıyor. “Kahve geldi, Kur’an da hemen arkasından!” diyor “Muhammedan Berry” dedikleri bu içecekle Cumhuriyet devrimini ilişkilendirenler youtu.be/ACkf6ren4Yk?...

Who is Leonard Leo? He's a lawyer, but he's never argued a case in court. He's never held elected office. But for years he rebuilt the American legal system, resulting in the Supreme Court's right-wing supermajority. By @andykroll.bsky.social‬ (Published Oct. 2023)

SEZON FİNALİ 🙌 Son 5 dakika sizi şaşırtacak #DoğuBatıMasalı youtu.be/fQ8yv6migpQ?...

"Within minutes after DOGE accessed the NLRB's systems, someone with an IP address in Russia started trying to log in. The attempts were 'near real-time'... "Whoever was attempting to log in was using one of the newly created DOGE accounts..." www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...

As the death toll from Myanmar's worst earthquake in more than a century rose past 2,000, many people have taken to social media to plead with foreign governments to redirect aid into Sagaing, a rebel stronghold where residents say that over 80% of the town has been destroyed. nyti.ms/4iJ43wR

Can you please circulate? PhD Scholarship: The Effectiveness of Authoritarian Sharp Power Online in Influencing Diaspora Groups www.deakin.edu.au/study/fees-a...

Why is Pete Hegseth bringing his wife to top security meetings and hiring his brother at the Pentagon? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

So good! Deeply moving and cathartic to be in community. Go watch the #Encampment at the Angelika!

"The question is, what can happen? The judiciary isn’t working anymore. People come out on the street, but we know that they can be put down. It’s very dangerous. Turkey will end up being a lesson in some way," @whitejenny.bsky.social told @ichotiner.bsky.social.

In arresting his political enemies, Erdoğan counted on the support of Turks who hated the PKK and Fetullah Gulen more than they cared about the rule of law. Trump too is counting on the support of Americans who hate Hamas more than they respect the Constitution. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

This is Yale Professor Timothy Snyder, who studies authoritarians and tyranny, with a warning. He and another Yale professor, Jason Stanley, who studies similar topics at Yale, are moving to Canadian universities, a result of the political and academic climate here.

Kseniia Petrova, a Russian scientist at Harvard Medical School, was detained at Logan Airport after returning from France and sent to an ICE detention in Louisiana, The Insider reports. A big critic of Putin and the war in Ukraine, she may now be deported to Russia.

BREAKING: Newly obtained footage of the abduction of Tufts student Runeysa Ozturk which includes audio of her kidnappers.

Over a thousand protesters gathered in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Wednesday to demand the freedom of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts PhD student and Fulbright scholar abducted by ICE agents. Ozturk is believed to have been targeted for co-authoring an opinion piece for her student newspaper about Gaza.

So Rumeysa Ozturk is arrested in MA on Tuesday. Her lawyers rush to federal court on Tuesday night and obtain an order—ON TUESDAY NIGHT—not to move her out of MA. All day yesterday, ICE won’t say where she is. And now, on Thursday, they say she’s in Louisiana.

The widely circulated video of Turkish doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk’s arrest in the Boston area has sent shock waves through the academic community as thousands turned out on Wednesday, demanding her release.

A Sufi dervish confronts tyranny— Turkish society has indeed tremendous tolerance for autocratic regimes. But if you manage to make them go rebellious, that’s when you should know you’ve crossed the line too far. Credit: Hüseyin Aldemir for AP, Istanbul, March 23, 2025

A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, pending trial on corruption charges in a move that inflamed the country's biggest protests in more than a decade reut.rs/41TqKHA

Turkish authorities have detained nine journalists who covered overnight protests in several cities against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the Journalists Union of Turkey said reut.rs/41U8rlC

NEW: Erdogan has banned protests in Turkey. He has threatened to arrest anyone attending one. This is the people’s response. Fighting for their democracy with another vast gathering in Istanbul tonight. #Turkey 🇹🇷 (🎥 Credit: Özgür Özel - Chairman, Republican People’s Party)

Author Pankaj Mishra argues Israel operates within a “culture of impunity,” emboldened by global far-right movements that admire Israel’s “brazen cruelty.”

An almost surreal video from Istanbul - watch until the very end. Police harshly attack protestors with plastic bullets and pepper gas. Suddenly, Ankaranin Baglari starts playing in the background. And then two attacked protestors start dancing oyun havası. Resisting with style!

JFC. One anti-government and anti-Erdogan protestor started doing push-ups in front of riot police whilst being pummelled with rubber bullets. #Turkey 🇹🇷 (🎥 Visegrad24)

TIME has a person on the ground in El Salvador to document the deportation planes' arrival. "They entered their cold cells, 80 men per cell, with steel planks for bunks, no mats, no sheets, no pillow. No television. No books. No talking. No phone calls and no visitors." time.com/7269604/el-s...

“The Domino’s pizzas arrived at the homes of federal judges without explanation. The message was clear: We know where you live.” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...

NEW: Elon Musk’s X has suspended accounts of Turkish opposition groups, suppressing footage of anti-government protests. So, best we share all the footage we can here! This was last night’s massive demo against Erdogan’s government, which follows the arrest of his rival Ekrem İmamoğlu. 🇹🇷 #Turkey

Arrested and stripped of degree: Twin moves to bar Istanbul mayor from ballot suggests Turkey’s Erdogan is really worried this time buff.ly/eFfUAAl @ahmetkuru.bsky.social, San Diego State University

Malaysia's Islamic Affairs Council MKI #JAKIM recommended banning my 2 books! -Doesn't this prove my argument that the ulema-state alliance is anti-intellectual & stifles critical thinking? -Their accusations are false. My books don't contradict Sunni Islam. Details: www.facebook.com/dr.ahmettkur...

In Nations in Transit 2020, my then-colleague @zecsaky.bsky.social wrote about how leaders were dropping the democratic facade. This is what’s happened in Turkey now—the final dispensing with even nominal efforts to comply with democratic norms. freedomhouse.org/report/natio...

This is also happening—one of the most senior journalists in Turkey, who has broken huge story after huge story for years even as the whole media collapsed around him, in prison on some nonsense

Valid visa and now gone. BTW, she was here to SAVE LIVES. Doctor and Professor Is Deported to Lebanon Despite a Judge’s Order www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/u...

The White House invokes the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to arrest & deport any foreign alien over the age of 14 considered to be hostile, regardless of their migration status. This Act was used during the Second World War to detain Japanese, Germans & Italians www.connectas.org/us-bound-mig...

Putin's puppet.

A historic shift may be on the horizon, as Turkey and Kurdish militant leader Ocalan engage in unexpected peace talks. After 40 years of insurgency and 40,000 lives lost, Ocalan is expected to call for PKK fighters to lay down their arms. Watch our short explainer www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-rc...

I will be discussing, among other topics, #Syria's new administration's approach for governance at the American University's panel event on Feb 11. I will be joined by General Joseph Votel, Professor Yerevan Saeed, and Sirwan Kajjo, and you can register here:

Doğu-Batı Masalı 8: Newton’ın Sırları ve Gülhaçlıların Gizemi youtu.be/p0u8vXkf5C8?...

Çok güzel tespitler içeren bir yazı, Doğu-Batı Masalı’nda konuştuklarımızla paralel 👇 serbestiyet.com/featured/isl...

“What is to be done? We need to change how we think about our homes and neighborhoods. First, we need to retrofit and harden our homes against fire long before the flames arrive.” wapo.st/3WehTy4

Yeni bir yıl, yeni bir hikaye youtu.be/VDqODkMdbCc?...

Doğu-Batı Masalı dinleyicilerine not: Apple veya Spotify’dan dinliyorsanız bu bölümde sadece YouTube dan görülebilen bir detay var ;) Pope’un Lady ile ilişkisi biraz komplex, detaya girmek istemedim anlatırken, görüntü veriyor o detayı— Sizin için o kısmı bir klip yaptım: youtube.com/clip/UgkxRPw...

The story of an exiled Turkish journalist #Choices youtube.com/shorts/IdyX1...