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On this week’s history podcast a look at the archaeology and history of Yemen. First we hear from University of Chicago archaeologist McGuire Gibson. He’s worked in Yemen since the 1970’s. Then Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton, fills us in on Yemen’s recent history. Thomas Kuehn of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver tells us about Yemen under the Ottomans and how it might be relevant today. Among other things these folks emphasize Yemen’s strategic location and geography, its stunning beauty and its continuous and unbroken history going way back. Download MP3
Here are some useful links as well:
Daily Life in Yemen: A Photo Essay by Sandy Choi at foreignpolicy.com
Yemen for Dummies at foreignpolicy.com
Waq al-Waq blog about Yemen
Listened to your Yemen show a few days ago, and it’s easily my favorite one that you’ve done. If every show were 40 minutes of experts dealing with some little-understood corner of the world in great depth, I would go from being an almost-regular listener to a devotee. thanks for the good work. Take care.
-Scott
Thanks Scott, that’s good to know. I’ve heard from others that they prefer going in-depth on one topic as well. Will keep it in mind!
This was a fantastic show. I want to share it with some Yemeni friends whose English is not quite so advanced– How can I get the transcript? I clicked on ‘transcript’ and only got a description.
Glad you liked it. I’m afraid that transcript button is a bit misleading as we don’t currently provide transcripts for the podcasts (as opposed to the radio show where you can find transcripts for individual items). But the desire for transcripts is duly noted!