Getting High at the Gates of Felicity | Stefano Taglia

E391 | The use of stimulants, what we now refer to as recreational drugs (marijuana and hashish – esrar and haşiş), in the late Ottoman world constitutes a lens through which one can observe multiple aspects of both the history of the Ottoman Empire and its historiography in its broader sense. The life and social dynamics of those involved in drug consumption contributes to sketching a picture of the social life of the Ottoman Empire and its capital and, in this sense, helps expand a field that is somewhat limited. See more at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2018/11/gettinghigh.html Stefano Taglia is a Research Fellow at the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He received his PhD in Ottoman History from SOAS, University of London in 2012. He is the author of Intellectuals and Reform in the Ottoman Empire, published by Routledge in 2015, and guest editor and contributor to the special issue of Die Welt des Islams vol. 56, number 3/4, “Ottomanism Then and Now: Historical and Contemporary Meanings.” Taylan Güngör is a doctoral candidate at SOAS in London. His interests are in Medieval and Pre-Modern Eastern Mediterranean trading circles and his research is on trade in Istanbul after 1453. CREDITS Episode No. 391 Release Date: 1 December 2018 Recording Location: SOAS Radio Studios, London. SOAS Radio is an outlet for creative media and talent housed by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Run by alumni, current students and staff at the School, including volunteers from like-minded communities, SOAS Radio is dedicated to varied and original programming on world music, culture and current affairs.
Audio editing by Taylan Güngör Music:"Ta paidia & Lamma Bada" by Muhtelif Images and bibliography courtesy of Stefano Taglia, available at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2018/11/gettinghigh.html