Redmix - UNRAVEL

In this episode Dr. Venkatanaryanan - who is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of International Studies, Political Science, and History at the Christ University in Bangalore - is in dialogue with Redmix's team member Francesco Dragone (UNITO).
Dr. Venkatanaryanan started his scholarly engagement by studying the impact of the economic liberalization on the education system in India.
He later on became increasingly interested in the Indian Diaspora in Eritea where he started collaborating with Prof. Valentina Fusari (PI of the Redmix project).
He is now developing another line of research on the people who migrated to Sri Lanka during the colonial period and then after 200 years have been repatriated and settled back in India.
During the episode, he shares with us the huge impact of the cast system which is still have large repercussions on Indian society.
Hit the play button and listen to yet another insightful conversation of UNRAVEL.

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Literature works and scholars cited:

Jayawardena, K. Ethnic and Class Conflicts in Sri Lanka : Some Aspects of Sinhala Buddhist Consciousness over the Past 100 Years, 1987.

Prabhat Patnaik

Gopal Guru

Rodney, W. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications, 1972.

UNRAVEL is made possible by the ERC-2023-COG Grant Agreement 101124725  “REDMIX: Unpacking Mixedness for an Inclusive History of the Red Sea, 1800s-2000s” whose Principal Investigator is Professor Valentina Fusari at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin, Italy. 

UNRAVEL
is written and presented by Francesco Dragone
the sound designed is curated by Lorenzo Crippa
the main theme of this podcast is the cover of the Björk's song "Unravel"
generously made available to us by the talented Wes Swing  
the other music and sounds of UNRAVEL are taken by Creative Commons Library or have been regularly purchased from the platform Audiio.com in accordance with their copyright rules.

UNRAVEL is a Podcast Series launched in 2026
by the Redmix project in collaboration with the
Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin Italy

In this episode Dr. Daly, Associate Professor in Italian Studies at UCL London is in dialogue with Redmix's team member Francesco Dragone (UNITO).
She is an expert of Italian studies and historian of modern Italy with a focus on the history of Italian migration. Her academic monograph,"Emigrant Soldiers: Mobilizing Italians Abroad in the First War" was published by Cambridge University Press in 2025.
In this interview she shares the challenges encountered while writing her new book (to be published in 2028), she explains in details how her writing technique has shifted over the years and we learn about how to use micro hisory in an engaging way while also lisening to tips and tricks she has for perspective students and aspirant writers in general.
A new season of UNRAVEL is out, and we couldn't be more excited to start a new semester and with such inspiring words!

Literature and other works cited:

Daly, S. Emigrant Soldiers: Mobilising Italians Abroad in the First World War. Cambridge University Press, 2025

Daly, S. Italian Futurism and the First World War. University of Toronto Press, 2016


"Families Like Ours", written by Thomas Vinterberg e Bo Hr. Hansen, directed by Thomas Vinterberg, Zentropa Entertainments and StudioCanal+ and TV 2 Denmark, (2024)


UNRAVEL is made possible by the ERC-2023-COG Grant Agreement 101124725  “REDMIX: Unpacking Mixedness for an Inclusive History of the Red Sea, 1800s-2000s” whose Principal Investigator is Professor Valentina Fusari at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin, Italy. 

UNRAVEL
is written and presented by Francesco Dragone
the sound designed is curated by Lorenzo Crippa
the main theme of this podcast is the cover of the Björk's song "Unravel"
generously made available to us by the talented Wes Swing  
the other music and sounds of UNRAVEL are taken by Creative Commons Library or have been regularly purchased from the platform Audiio.com in accordance with their copyright rules.

UNRAVEL is a Podcast Series launched in 2026
by the Redmix project in collaboration with the
Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin Italy

In this episode Prof. Fruzzetti, cultural anthropologist and documentary filmmaker (Brown University, Providence RI) is in dialogue with Redmix's team member Francesco Dragone (UNITO).
She is an expert on relationship between kinship, marriage, and rituals and the meaning of the construction of gender in India. She worked on two world regions, India and North East Africa covering Muslim and Hindu based societies. In this interview from March 2025 she retraces her life long trajectory, reflecting on her career and the importance of creating a world that allows you to be different.
This interview exposes one of the main aspects of the REDMIX Project's research.
A great way to close S1 of UNRAVEL.

UNRAVEL is made possible by the ERC-2023-COG Grant Agreement 101124725  “REDMIX: Unpacking Mixedness for an Inclusive History of the Red Sea, 1800s-2000s” whose Principal Investigator is Professor Valentina Fusari at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin, Italy. 

UNRAVEL
is written and presented by Francesco Dragone
the sound designed is curated by Lorenzo Crippa
the main theme of this podcast is the cover of the Björk's song "Unravel"
generously made available to us by the talented Wes Swing  
the other music and sounds of UNRAVEL are taken by Creative Commons Library or have been regularly purchased from the platform Audiio.com in accordance with their copyright rules.

UNRAVEL is a Podcast Series launched in 2026
by the Redmix project in collaboration with the
Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin Italy

In this episode Prof. Bang (University of Bergen) is in dialogue with Redmix's team member Francesco Dragone (UNITO).

Anne K. Bang is a Professor of History at the University of Bergen (UiB) specializing in Islamic history in East Africa and the Indian Ocean rim during the 19th and 20th centuries. Her expertise focuses on religious change, intellectual discourse, manuscript conservation, and transnational networks.
Professor Bang is currently working with the collections of Arabic manuscripts from Sudan.
She is the author of "Zanzibari Muslim Moderns Islamic Paths to Progress in the Interwar Period" (2024).
During this interview, she shares her tendency of working in team and by project.
To her "research is a team work, even if you are doing it individualy, you aways consullt, you always discuss". 
She generously shared with us her fieldwork practice, organizational and annallytical skills as well as her love for reading out loud.
Dive into this episode to get a better undersatnding on how her work bridges with some of the areas annd methods of the REDMIX Project.


Episode content and literature mentioned:
In this episode Prof. Bang suggested a podcast series called "Akbar's Chamber - Experts Talk Islam", hosted by Nile Green.

UNRAVEL is made possible by the ERC-2023-COG Grant Agreement 101124725  “REDMIX: Unpacking Mixedness for an Inclusive History of the Red Sea, 1800s-2000s” whose Principal Investigator is Professor Valentina Fusari at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin, Italy. 

UNRAVEL
is written and presented by Francesco Dragone
the sound designed is curated by Lorenzo Crippa
the main theme of this podcast is the cover of the Björk's song "Unravel"
generously made available to us by the talented Wes Swing  
the other music and sounds of UNRAVEL are taken by Creative Commons Library or have been regularly purchased from the platform Audiio.com in accordance with their copyright rules.

UNRAVEL is a Podcast Series launched in 2026
by the Redmix project in collaboration with the
Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin Italy

In this episode Prof. Zaccaria (University of Pavia) is in dialogue with Redmix's team member Sara Zanotta (UNITO).
Professor Zaccaria is Full Professor in African History at the Department of Politica and Social Sciences at the University of Pavia. His area of expertise spans from Modern and Contemporary History of the Horn of Africa to Islam in Africa as well as Photography as a Sources for African History and Histories of the Book and Print Culture in Africa to Italian Colonialism. During the recording of this interview he shared his view on the importance of fieldwork and the ties a researcher needs to create to deepen his or her knowledge as well as to secure a fruitful collaborationn with gate keepers. Once again, dive in and get a better sense on how his research is intervowen with the REDMIX Project.


Episode content and literature mentioned:
In this episode Prof. Zaccaria doesn't insist much on literature, but he indulges in sharing his favorite dish from the region: Ful, a stewed on fava beans. To him one access angle is definetely through food. Find your favorite locale restaurant and share it with us!

UNRAVEL is made possible by the ERC-2023-COG Grant Agreement 101124725  “REDMIX: Unpacking Mixedness for an Inclusive History of the Red Sea, 1800s-2000s” whose Principal Investigator is Professor Valentina Fusari at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin, Italy. 

UNRAVEL
is written and presented by Francesco Dragone
the sound designed is curated by Lorenzo Crippa
the main theme of this podcast is the cover of the Björk's song "Unravel"
generously made available to us by the talented Wes Swing  
the other music and sounds of UNRAVEL are taken by Creative Commons Library or have been regularly purchased from the platform Audiio.com in accordance with their copyright rules.

UNRAVEL is a Podcast Series launched in 2026
by the Redmix project in collaboration with the
Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin Italy

In this episode Prof. de Regt (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) is in dialogue with Redmix's team member Francesco Dragone (UNITO).
Professor de Regt is Associate Professor and Programme Director of the Master at the Dept. of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She specializes in gender, labour, migration and development in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, in particular in Yemen and Ethiopia. In this interview from March 2025 she shares her insight on conducting research at a distance involving young Muwalladeen as well as taking us behind the scenes of her career and pointing at the common areas of interest with the REDMIX Project.


Episode content and literature mentioned:
https://sanaacenter.org/authors/marina-de-regt
https://sanaacenter.org/authors/aisha-al-jaedy
https://adelbenharhara.com/

UNRAVEL is made possible by the ERC-2023-COG Grant Agreement 101124725  “REDMIX: Unpacking Mixedness for an Inclusive History of the Red Sea, 1800s-2000s” whose Principal Investigator is Professor Valentina Fusari at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin, Italy. 

UNRAVEL
is written and presented by Francesco Dragone
the sound designed is curated by Lorenzo Crippa
the main theme of this podcast is the cover of the Björk's song "Unravel"
generously made available to us by the talented Wes Swing  
the other music and sounds of UNRAVEL are taken by Creative Commons Library or have been regularly purchased from the platform Audiio.com in accordance with their copyright rules.

UNRAVEL is a Podcast Series launched in 2026
by the Redmix project in collaboration with the
Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin Italy

In this episode Dr. Bezabeh (Hong Kong University) is in dialogue with Redmix's team member Sara Zanotta (UNITO).
Prof. Bezabeh is the author of “Subjects of Empires /Citizens of States” (AUC Press, 2016), which examines the presence of Yemenis diasporas in the Horn of Africa and “Djibouti: A Political History“ (Lynne Rienner, 2023) which documents the history of Djibouti since its independence from France in 1977. In this interview from March 2025 he shares useful tips for researchers as well as talking us through the turning point of his career and the overlap with the REDMIX Project.


Literature mentioned in this episode:
Elena Ferrante - My Brilliant Friend
James Clavell - Shogun
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/best-books-21st-century.html
Yeshitela Kokeb - no specific title mentioned

UNRAVEL is made possible by the ERC-2023-COG Grant Agreement 101124725  “REDMIX: Unpacking Mixedness for an Inclusive History of the Red Sea, 1800s-2000s” whose Principal Investigator is Professor Valentina Fusari at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin, Italy. 

UNRAVEL
is written and presented by Francesco Dragone
the sound designed is curated by Lorenzo Crippa
the main theme of this podcast is the cover of the Björk's song "Unravel"
generously made available to us by the talented Wes Swing  
the other music and sounds of UNRAVEL are taken by Creative Commons Library or have been regularly purchased from the platform Audiio.com in accordance with their copyright rules.

UNRAVEL is a Podcast Series launched in 2026
by the Redmix project in collaboration with the
Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin Italy