In conversation with Malihe Razazan, Gianfranco Rosi discusses his film "Notturno" (2020) which was shot over a 3 year period along the borders between Syria, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Lebanon, giving voice to a human drama that transcends geographical divisions and time.

Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa (VOMENA).

In this interview, Noah Black sat down with Issam Eido to discuss his work, key questions he approaches, and how he approaches them in his study of the epistemology of testimony and hadith studies.

In this interview, Noah Black sat down with Dr. Evren Altinkas to discuss his work, what brought him to it, and how he approaches key questions in the study of the intellectual history of Turkey.

Huma Gupta and Camille Cole speak with Dr. Caterina Scaramelli about Turkey’s wetland ecosystems, which range from alluvial forests to fishing lagoons, salt marshes, and volcanic crater lakes. Scaramelli unpacks how these shallow water ecosystems are materially and discursively produced into a flattened category called 'wetlands' by conservationists, ornithologists, and government agencies engaged in swamp reclamation.

Huma Gupta speaks with Todd Reisz about the transformation of the marshy estuary known as Dubai Creek (خور دبي‎) into infrastructure – a process which was central to the city’s architectural and urban development projects in the twentieth century. Reisz discusses the spatial, architectural, ecological and economic relationships between the creek, its inhabitants, and the city. These relationships were forever transformed in the mid-twentieth century through the 1955 Halcrow Plan for Dubai Creek and John Harris' 1959 Master Plan for Dubai, which necessitated the use of concrete and steel to harden the creek's fluid landscape in order to engender an expectation of predictability, economic growth, and real estate speculation.

In part 2, Chanelle and Isabella are joined by Jose Hamza Saldaña, the Director of Release Aging People in Prison, or RAPP. Mr. Saldana describes the unique health challenges of the aging incarcerated population, who often suffer from multiple chronic conditions that cannot be properly managed in prison. He challenges the racist and vengeful system of prolonged incarceration and advocates for compassionate release to allow for rehabilitation and re-entry into society. Chanelle and Isabella reflect on the accounts they heard of the inadequacies and injustices of prison health care and discuss some systemic changes to mediate these injustices. They end with recommendations to health care providers to ensure they are best meeting the needs of individuals with criminal justice involvement.

To learn more about RAPP: https://rappcampaign.com/about/