Imagining Turkey

In this episode, hosts Sertaç Sehlikoglu and Meryem Zişan Köker are joined by Maureen Freely, the novelist, journalist, and translator who has brought Orhan Pamuk, Sabahattin Ali, and many other Turkish writers to English-speaking readers. Freely reflects on growing up in 1960s Istanbul, where she first learned Turkish by listening rather than studying, and on how translation has entered in to her life. The conversation moves between fiction and ethnography, the histories that are erased or told differently in Turkish, Greek, and Armenian accounts, and the difficulty of carrying Turkish emotion, sound, and rhythm into English. She also speaks about the women writers she has recently translated, including Sevgi Soysal, Tezer Özlü, and Suat Derviş, the unexpected success of her translation of Madonna in a Fur Coat, and why she still finds reason for optimism in the work of Turkey's intellectual diaspora.

 Date of episode recording: 2026-01-14
 Language of episode: English
 Presenter:Sertaç Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zisan Koker
 Guests: Maureen Freely
 Producer: Hazal Aydin, Sertaç Sehlikoglu, Meryem Zisan Koker
 

In this episode, we welcome Eugene Rogan, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Oxford, Director of the Middle East Centre at St. Anthony's College, and a Fellow of the British Academy. Author of internationally bestselling books including The Arabs: A History, The Fall of the Ottomans, and most recently The Damascus Events, Rogan has spent over three decades recovering Ottoman and Arab perspectives long marginalised by European historiography. We discuss how Turkey and the Arab remember the Ottoman imperial past in divergent ways, whether the Empire's collapse was inevitable or a consequence of fateful choices, and what the Ottoman reconstruction of Damascus after the violence of 1860 might teach us about imagining political futures in the region today.

In this episode, the Takhayyul Project welcomes Adnan Khan, an acclaimed Canadian writer, editor, photographer, and visual storyteller. We discuss Adnan's recent work chronicling how the global trade in plastic waste has exploited some of the most vulnerable communities, such as refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Istanbul, and of the importance in bringing empathy and depth to similar stories that often go untold.

 Date of episode recording: 2025-11-09
 Language of episode: English
 Presenters: Meryem Zișan Köker; Hazal Aydın.
 Guests: Adnan Khan
 Producer: Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zișan Köker; Hazal Aydın; edited by Alexander Pymm
 

In this episode, we welcome acclaimed writer, psychologist, and intellectual Gündüz Vassaf, whose work spans 17 published books blending literature, philosophy, and psychology. Author of the bestselling "Prisoners of Ourselves: Totalitarianism in Everyday Life" and his more recent novel "The Painter's Rebellion," Vassaf explores with us what it means to imagine Turkey, to be ‘Turkish’ and to be part of a community in the context of some of the world’s greatest challenges, such as global warming, Artificial Intelligence and an increasingly polarised political landscape.

Transcription link:

https://www.takhayyulproject.com/takhayyul-podcast-youtube

Date of episode recording: 2025-05-19T00:00:00Z
Duration: 00:35:58
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zișan Köker; Hazal Aydın
Guests: Gündüz Vassaf
Producer: Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zișan Köker; Hazal Aydın. Edited by Alexander Pymm

In this episode, we are hosting Professor Ioanna Sitaridou, Professor of Spanish and Historical Linguistics at the University of Cambridge and co director of the Cambridge Centre for Greek Studies. Professor Sitaridou is widely known for her pioneering work in the study and preservation of languages, including her ongoing with the Romeyka Project, which aims to document and spread awareness of the now-endangered Greek dialect, spoken in Northern Anatolia.

www.takhayyulproject.com/takhayyul-podcast-youtube

Date of episode recording: 2024-11-08T00:00:00Z
Duration: 00:40:09
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zișan Köker; Hazal Aydın
Guests: Professor Ioanna Sitaridou
Producer: Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zișan Köker; Hazal Aydın. Edited by Alexander Pymm

In this episode, we host Dr Elise Burton, an historian of science, race and nationalism in the modern Middle East and an Assistant Professor at the Institute of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto. As part of a wide-ranging conversation, we discuss some of Dr Burton's findings from her recent book, “Genetic Crossroads: The Middle East and the Science of Human Heredity”, within which she draws on archival research across the Middle East, Europe, and the United States using sources in Turkish, Persian, Arabic, and Hebrew, to explore how Middle Eastern peoples—both as scientific actors and research subjects—have played an important role in the history of human genetics.

Date of episode recording: 2025-01-29T00:00:00Z
Duration: 00:35:26
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zișan Köker; Hazal Aydın
Guests: Dr Elise Burton
Producer: Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zișan Köker; Hazal Aydın. Edited by Alexander Pymm.

In this episode, we host Dr. Özge Samanci from Northwestern University - School of Communication. We talk about her latest work "Evil Eyes Sea", as well as how she started her career and what her future projects are.

Transcription link: 

https://web.descript.com/eba89e5c-6cc5-46b5-97fa-de5bb84c6c47/db319?editorVariant=default

 Date of episode recording: 2024-06-28T00:00:00Z
 Duration: 00:34:05
 Language of episode: English
 Presenter:Dr. Sertac Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zisan Koker; Hazal Aydin
 Guests: Dr. Ozge Samanci
 Producer: Meryem Zişan Köker, Hazal Aydin 

In this episode, we host Prof Ayse Zarakol from University of Cambridge and talk about her fascinating book "Before The West".

 Date of episode recording: 2024-01-22T00:00:00Z
 Duration: 00:29:38
 Language of episode: English
 Guests: Prof. Ayse Zarakol
 Producer: ERC, UCL, IGP, Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu, Meryem Zisan Koker, Hazal Aydin.
 

In this episode, we are hosting Professor Maria Todorova from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to revisit her illuminating book 'Imagining The Balkans.' Professor Todorova specializes in Eastern Europe, particularly the Balkans in the modern period, focusing on historical demography, nationalism, socialism, and post-communism. Her work has had a major influence on the study of the Balkans and Orientalism as interconnected subjects and project.

 Date of episode recording: 2023-07-18T00:00:00Z
 Duration: 00:42:25
 Language of episode: English
 Presenter: Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zișan Köker; Hazal Aydın.
 Guests: Professor Maria Todorova
 Producer: Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu; Meryem Zișan Köker; Hazal Aydın. 
 

In this first episode, we are having Prof. Cemil Aydin from UNC. Join us in our inaugural episode as we delve into the rich tapestry of Turkey's history, its current dynamics, and the prospects for its future with the esteemed Professor Cemil Aydin from the University of North Carolina. In this engaging conversation, we center our discussion around Prof. Aydin's illuminating book, "The Idea of the Muslim World: A Global Intellectual History." "The Idea of the Muslim World" serves as a guiding thread throughout our conversation, unraveling the intricate intellectual history that has influenced Turkey's perceptions and interactions with the broader Muslim world. Prof. Aydin takes us on a captivating journey through Turkey's past, offering insights into the diverse cultural, intellectual, and historical dimensions that have shaped the nation. this episode promises a thought-provoking exploration guided by one of the foremost scholars in the field. Tune in as we uncover the layers of Turkey's past, assess its present, and contemplate the potential trajectories that may shape its future.

Link to transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/igp/podcasts/imagining-turkey-podcast 

 Date of episode recording: 2023-05-09
 Duration: 00:44:10
 Language of episode: English
 TAGS: #Imagination, #Turkey, #Takhayyul, #IGP, #History, #Ottoman, #Muslim
 Presenters:  Dr. Sertac Sehlikoglu, Meryem Zișan Köker, Hazal Aydın 
 Guests: Prof. Cemil Aydın 
 Producer and Editor: Meryem Zișan Köker, Hazal Aydın 

Imagination, as an analytical angle, deserves our attention as a political and social force that informs and connects masses, crosses borders, and manifests new socialities. The podcast series will host influential scholars, intellectuals, and artists who study and shape the imagination of Turkey on a global scale from various critical directions. The topics in the following months will include discussions on democracy in Turkey, the politics of religious differences at the border, and the limits of ethnographic research methods. 'Imagining Turkey' is co-hosted by the PI Dr. Sertaç Sehlikoglu (UCL), M. Zișan Köker (LUC), and Hazal Aydın (BU). This series is sponsored by the European Research Council, and hosted in collaboration with the UCL’s Institute for Global Prosperity and the Middle East Centre.