Podcasts about ottomans

Le rêve américain existait déjà avant l'Amérique ! Impossible ? Et pourtant dès le Moyen Âge, donc bien avant la colonisation atlantique, il y a déjà une lointaine cité, garnie de hautes tours, où tout devient possible ! C'est là que Sinbad le Marin, un héritier ruiné, devient richissime. Quant au vizir Iznogoud, il ne rêve que d'une chose : devenir calife à la place du calife. Pas de chance pour lui, c'est Aladdin, un mendiant orphelin, qui décroche le poste en épousant la princesse Jasmine d'Agrabah. Parce que oui, Agrabah c'est juste la version “Disney” de cette même ville : Bagdad ! La capitale de l'ambition et de l'ascension sociale, où tout devient possible ! Et c'est pas étonnant, vu que c'est son histoire incroyable mais bien réelle que nous allons découvrir !Bonne écoute !

In this episode we move away from the collapse of Constantinople, and the rise of the Ottomans, and see exactly why France and England were nowhere to be seen. For centuries, the French and English were championed crusaders, and now they were fighting each other in a war that would turn so gruesome and bloody it would drain over a century of the best fighting men and fertile land in a shrinking world engulfed by cold winters and short summers. This is an episode about why France and England never came to rescue Constantinople. This is a story about the 100 Years War.The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the events from Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the fall of Constantinople in 1453, to the years under the Ottoman Empire, and 1821 when the Greeks fought for independence... all the way to the modern-day.EMAIL US: historyofmoderngreece@gmail.comWebsite: www.moderngreecepodcast.comSOCIAL MEDIA: Go here to chat with us. https://www.instagram.com/historyofmodern%20greece/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578023316172Music by Mark Jungerman: www.marcjungermann.com

In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we examine the opening moves of the Ottoman Empire's war against Britain – a desperate, audacious campaign to seize the Suez Canal that has been largely forgotten but which revealed the fragility of the British Empire and the resilience of the Ottoman army.At the outbreak of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire saw itself surrounded by enemies: the British in Egypt, the Russians to the north, a hostile Habsburg Empire to the west, and a recently hostile Italy in the Mediterranean. The Young Turk government initially hoped to stay out of the war. But when they looked at Britain, France, and Russia, they saw voraciously hungry powers intent on dismembering their empire. Germany offered a security guarantee – unreliable, but the best available.The German High Command placed a high priority on cutting the Suez Canal. Between August and December 1914, 376 transport ships carried nearly 164,000 Allied troops through the canal. It was the vital artery connecting the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean – the lifeline of Britain's Asian empire. If the Ottomans could pinch it off, they could deal Britain a mortal blow and perhaps inspire a pan‑Islamic jihad against British rule.The man chosen to lead the attack was Cemal Pasha. In November 1914, he stood in Istanbul's central train station and publicly proclaimed his intention to conquer Egypt. The British dismissed his pledge as empty rhetoric. They did not believe he could raise an army large enough or cross the waterless, hostile Sinai desert.But Cemal assembled a heterogeneous, multi‑ethnic force – regular soldiers from the Arab provinces, volunteers from Bedouin, Druze, Circassian, Kurdish, Albanian, and even Jewish communities. He wrote to the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein ibn Ali, asking for troops under one of his sons. Hussein's son Ali went no further than Medina – a warning sign Cemal chose to ignore.Against all odds, Cemal's force marched across the Sinai in 12 days, losing neither a man nor a beast. They carried light rations of dates, biscuit, and olives, water carefully rationed, marching through the freezing nights and resting by day. British aerial surveillance initially failed to detect them – early aircraft lacked the range to reach central Sinai.By late January 1915, the British realised the impossible was happening. They withdrew all troops to the western shore of the canal, chained guard dogs on the east bank, and waited. The odds were stacked against the Ottomans – 25,000 attackers against 50,000 dug‑in defenders, backed by warships, armoured trains, and the canal itself. But Cemal had achieved surprise. What happened next would shape the course of the war in the Middle East.Drawing on Eugene Rogan's *The Fall of the Ottomans*, this episode explores the political context of the Ottoman decision to enter the war, the challenges of mobilising a multi‑ethnic army, the incredible logistics of the Sinai crossing, and the early use of aerial reconnaissance in desert warfare.**Topics covered:**- The Ottoman Empire's strategic dilemma in 1914- The alliance with Germany and the promise of jihad- The importance of the Suez Canal to the British war effort- Cemal Pasha and his public proclamation- The composition of the Ottoman expeditionary force- Sharif Hussein's reluctant cooperation- The 12‑day march across the Sinai- British aerial reconnaissance and its limitations- The defence of the canal: warships, armoured trains, and guard dogs- The moment of surprise before the attack---*If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.*Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nous sommes le 30 novembre 1718, devant la forteresse de Fredriksten en Norvège. La nuit est glaciale. Aux alentours de vingt-deux heures, une balle traverse la tempe de Charles XII, le roi de Suède. Cette balle met fin à la vie du dernier roi guerrier d'Europe, à seulement trente-six ans. L'événement sonne le glas de la première puissance de la Baltique. Sacré monarque absolu à quinze ans, Charles XII n'aura connu que trois années de paix avant de se jeter dans la Grande Guerre du Nord, dès 1700. A dix-huit ans, il quitte Stockholm pour ne jamais y revenir. Durant dix-huit autres années, il va mener ses armées sur le front de combats incessants. De la victoire éclatante de Narva, en Estonie, au désastre de Poltava, en Ukraine. Le souverain a vécu au rythme des camps militaires, refusant le faste pour l'uniforme bleu des simples soldats. A la fois combattant au cœur de la mêlée, capitaine encadrant ses troupes, et stratège décidant du sort des nations. Après avoir traversé l'Europe, il connait l'exil chez les Ottomans après la déroute en Russie. Admiré pour sa simplicité quasi ascétique et sa piété sans faille, il fut surnommé l'« Alexandre du Nord ». Pourtant, son mépris du danger et son refus obstiné de négocier ont conduit son royaume au bord de l'abîme et il demeure, aujourd'hui, l'un des personnages les plus controversés de l'histoire suédoise. Son règne marque la fin d'une époque pour l'ensemble du monde nordique. Avec Éric Schnakenbourg, professeur d'histoire moderne à Nantes Université. « CHARLES XII - Roi de Suède et homme de guerre » ; Perrin. sujets traités : Charles XII, roi, guerrier, empire, Suède, Nord, Stockholm, Ottomans Merci pour votre écoute Un Jour dans l'Histoire, c'est également en direct tous les jours de la semaine de 13h15 à 14h30 sur www.rtbf.be/lapremiere Retrouvez tous les épisodes d'Un Jour dans l'Histoire sur notre plateforme Auvio.be :https://auvio.rtbf.be/emission/5936 Intéressés par l'histoire ? Vous pourriez également aimer nos autres podcasts : L'Histoire Continue: https://audmns.com/kSbpELwL'heure H : https://audmns.com/YagLLiKEt sa version à écouter en famille : La Mini Heure H https://audmns.com/YagLLiKAinsi que nos séries historiques :Chili, le Pays de mes Histoires : https://audmns.com/XHbnevhD-Day : https://audmns.com/JWRdPYIJoséphine Baker : https://audmns.com/wCfhoEwLa folle histoire de l'aviation : https://audmns.com/xAWjyWCLes Jeux Olympiques, l'étonnant miroir de notre Histoire : https://audmns.com/ZEIihzZMarguerite, la Voix d'une Résistante : https://audmns.com/zFDehnENapoléon, le crépuscule de l'Aigle : https://audmns.com/DcdnIUnUn Jour dans le Sport : https://audmns.com/xXlkHMHSous le sable des Pyramides : https://audmns.com/rXfVppvN'oubliez pas de vous y abonner pour ne rien manquer.Et si vous avez apprécié ce podcast, n'hésitez pas à nous donner des étoiles ou des commentaires, cela nous aide à le faire connaître plus largement. Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Venice was the impossible city that rose from mudflats to become a medieval superpower. Venice dominated Mediterranean trade through its vast navy, revolutionary shipyards, and strategic position between East and West. From the glass furnaces of Murano to the spice-laden ships crowding its ports, Dan is joined by historian and author Roger Crowley to explore how Venice became the commercial powerhouse of medieval Europe and why this extraordinary city-state was pushed into decline by the Ottomans, before finally falling to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797.Roger's book is called 'City of Fortune'.Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.We need your help! Let us know what you want from Dan Snow's History Hit by filling in our anonymous survey here: https://forms.gle/PvgayWLkWGjYT4St6Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcastSign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Savoyard Crusade of 1366 was a late-medieval military expedition led by Amadeus VI, known as the "Green Count," to assist his cousin, the Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos. Amadeus successfully recaptured the strategic fortress of Gallipoli from the Ottoman Turks and later campaigned against the Bulgarian Empire to secure the Emperor's release from captivity. Although the expedition achieved notable short-term victories and briefly bolstered Byzantine defenses, the gains were largely reversed within a few years as the Ottomans consolidated their control over the Balkans.The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the events from Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the fall of Constantinople in 1453, to the years under the Ottoman Empire, and 1821 when the Greeks fought for independence... all the way to the modern-day.EMAIL US: historyofmoderngreece@gmail.comWebsite: www.moderngreecepodcast.comSOCIAL MEDIA: Go here to chat with us. https://www.instagram.com/historyofmodern%20greece/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578023316172Music by Mark Jungerman: www.marcjungermann.com

Today we've got something for you that we don't often get to talk about, a badass Polish pipe hitter. John III Sobieski started off life from very humble beginnings. Just kidding, dude was born in a goddamn castle. His family's castle. So he had a bit of a leg up, but we won't hold that against him because he did some dope shit in his life doing what he loved. Just running around in the 1600s making things hard on the Ottomans. Enjoy!

On his return as a lieutenant in a fancy military jacket laced with silver as well as possessing a St. George's Cross for bravery, Nicholas is treated magnificently. Nicholas gets used to it and develops an ego that leaves him open to being taken advantage of. The finances of his aristocratic family are brought out, noting how his affable father, Ilya, was bestowing a trove on his Prodigal son, as well as other celebratory events after remortgaging his estates. Illya purchased his son a fine horse that could enter races and also the most fashionable outfits. With his new look and demeanor, Nicholas would be seen at the elite social events. He also visited a woman on the boulevard…a fairly clear reference to a prostitute. He relished being home as a young man aware of the world.  He left behind childish things, such as once feeling disconcerted about sneaking around his mansion kissing Sonya. He also visited the historical English Club – a social institution started by English merchants around 1770 that gathered at various stately houses. Men used the Club to socialize, drink, gamble and make connections. Tolstoy, Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol were members. Gogol is a writer with Ukrainian roots, from a Cossack family, which both Ukraine & Russia claim as theirs. Like much of Moscow, Rostov's passion for the Czar cooled but he still expressed that there was something in his feelings for Alexandr that could not be understood by others. Rostov drifted even away further from Sonya, as Tolstoy expertly catches the nature of a young man who must have his freedom. He knew there were more women to know and Love would come later. It was now early March, and Ilya is arranging a dinner in honor of General Bagration at the aforementioned English Club. Ilya is presented as a long-time member.    This celebration for actually happened and it is important to recognize why. The reason was that Bagration was viewed as the saving grace of the recent war. Tolsoty reveals how the news of Austerlitz traveled. High Society had generally been accustomed to victories, especially from era of Catherine the Great & General Suvorov, where the triumphs were common over the Ottomans and Poles. On receiving news of the absolute defeat at Austerlitz – much of Moscow did not believe it or chose not to.  However, the truth could not be contained. When it spread, it had to be dealt with. Blame was cast on many, including Kutuzov. Many felt it was the general's age, health, and lack of ingenuity that led to defeat. More quietly blame was cast the Czar, by way of his youth, inexperience and trust in worthless advisors. Still, a good portion considered Alexandr as the “angel incarnate.” Most vocally, the Austrians were blamed.The public felt compelled to throw their support behind the army.  Some were singled out for having performed miracles of valor. The chief hero of was General Bagration, hailed for his effort at Schön Grabern and command of the rear-guard. It also helped that Moscow's new hero was a stranger to the City. Tolstoy has Shinshin (a quick wit and relative of the Rostovs) parody the master of satire, Voltaire by voicing, “Had there been no Bagration, it would have been necessary to invent him.” The original quote was “Had there been no God, it would have been necessary to invent him.” The Frenchman reached something profound in few words.   Tales of valor of numerous men were embellished and spread and characters like Rostov, Boris and Berg symbolized that wave. One may have saved a standard, another had reportedly killed five Frenchmen, while another was said to fight valiantly with an injury.There is a reference that nobody spoke of Andrei. Reports were that he was killed, leaving a pregnant wife with his eccentric father. Tolstoy references Andrei to symbolize the many, with such promise, who were wasted.This chapter plays up the elaborateness of the preparation for the event at the English Club, going through the choice of cook, food and entertainment. Nicholas jokes with his father that Bagration prepared less for battle at Schön Grabern. Ilya tells his son to go to Pierre's, invite him and obtain the best fruit – strawberries and pineapples, as they are not available anywhere else.  Anna Drubetskaya shows up and introduces the sordid affair that Pierre is affected by. There is a rumor that Dolokhov, who survived Austerlitz, is having an affair with Helene, Pierre's wife.  Helene, has always been presented as the type of woman who is a snare -- something of Delilah to the Biblical Sampson. She reveals that Pierre gave Dolokhov a place to stay upon his return and was betrayed. This has filled Pierre with a rage of biblical proportions.

Anzac Day services have been held around the country, with thousands attending dawn services, parades, and commemorations. More than 8000 Kiwis arrived on the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, 1915, as the Allies unsuccessfully attempted to capture the Strait of Gallipoli from the Ottomans. By the campaign's end in January 1916, 2779 had been killed – close to a sixth of those who had landed there. Today marks the 111th anniversary of the land invasion, commemorating the first significant military campaign involving Australian and New Zealand armed services. Commodore Shane Arndell told Jack Tame that thousands attended the service at the National War Memorial in Wellington, showing that today's generation has taken custodian of the remembrance of those that have passed. He says that our forebears gave the ultimate sacrifice to give us the lives we lead, and on days like today he thinks about them and how important it is for us to ensure that we still have the freedom and access to global markets to keep us both prosperous and secure. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 As Emperor John V sits atop a crumbling Byzantine world, the once-mighty Roman Empire has been reduced to scattered fragments surrounded by enemies on all sides. While plague ravages Constantinople and internal divisions weaken any hope of recovery, a new and unstoppable force rises in the east. Under Murad I, the Ottomans transform from raiders into rulers, capturing Adrianople and establishing their first true European capital. With no army to resist and no allies to call upon, the Byzantines face devastation both beyond their walls and at their gates, as the fall of Adrianople marks the moment Constantinople becomes an isolated island in a hostile world. In this episode, we witness not just a conquest, but a turning point—where Rome does not fall in a single blow, but begins to quietly, inevitably, collapse from within. The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the events from Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the fall of Constantinople in 1453, to the years under the Ottoman Empire, and 1821 when the Greeks fought for independence... all the way to the modern-day.EMAIL US: historyofmoderngreece@gmail.comWebsite: www.moderngreecepodcast.comSOCIAL MEDIA: Go here to chat with us. https://www.instagram.com/historyofmodern%20greece/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578023316172Music by Mark Jungerman: www.marcjungermann.com

Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, the small nation of Georgia established its independence in May 1918. Its leaders surprised the world by creating the first social democratic state. Based on a combination of parliamentarianism and direct democracy, it was a representative government of the peasants and workers themselves, with ballots in their hands. The First Social Democracy: The Democratic Republic of Georgia, 1918–1921 (Harvard University Press, 2026) is the definitive history of a government that should inspire social democrats today. Professor Stephen F. Jones chronicles how the founders of the new state navigated myriad challenges, including territorial threats from abroad, internal ethnic conflicts, and geopolitical rivalries between the imperial Ottomans, the British, and the Germans. In the midst of these existential challenges, Georgia's social democrats set about writing a constitution to put the country on a distinctive path of genuine self-government—protecting democratic rights, promoting political pluralism, and championing equality. Professor Jones brings to life the passionate debates that shaped Georgia's democracy during a moment of acute global instability. The Democratic Republic of Georgia was strangled in its crib. Just four days after the constitution was ratified, the capital fell to the Red Army. Under Soviet rule, the republic was lost to history. Soviet scholars were forbidden to research this Georgian story, and Western scholars had little interest in a small and peripheral state that was independent for only three years. Recovering a forgotten experiment in democratic citizenship and statecraft, Dr. Jones reminds us of those audacious times when Georgians created and defended political freedom against the rise of Soviet communism. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, the small nation of Georgia established its independence in May 1918. Its leaders surprised the world by creating the first social democratic state. Based on a combination of parliamentarianism and direct democracy, it was a representative government of the peasants and workers themselves, with ballots in their hands. The First Social Democracy: The Democratic Republic of Georgia, 1918–1921 (Harvard University Press, 2026) is the definitive history of a government that should inspire social democrats today. Professor Stephen F. Jones chronicles how the founders of the new state navigated myriad challenges, including territorial threats from abroad, internal ethnic conflicts, and geopolitical rivalries between the imperial Ottomans, the British, and the Germans. In the midst of these existential challenges, Georgia's social democrats set about writing a constitution to put the country on a distinctive path of genuine self-government—protecting democratic rights, promoting political pluralism, and championing equality. Professor Jones brings to life the passionate debates that shaped Georgia's democracy during a moment of acute global instability. The Democratic Republic of Georgia was strangled in its crib. Just four days after the constitution was ratified, the capital fell to the Red Army. Under Soviet rule, the republic was lost to history. Soviet scholars were forbidden to research this Georgian story, and Western scholars had little interest in a small and peripheral state that was independent for only three years. Recovering a forgotten experiment in democratic citizenship and statecraft, Dr. Jones reminds us of those audacious times when Georgians created and defended political freedom against the rise of Soviet communism. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, the small nation of Georgia established its independence in May 1918. Its leaders surprised the world by creating the first social democratic state. Based on a combination of parliamentarianism and direct democracy, it was a representative government of the peasants and workers themselves, with ballots in their hands. The First Social Democracy: The Democratic Republic of Georgia, 1918–1921 (Harvard University Press, 2026) is the definitive history of a government that should inspire social democrats today. Professor Stephen F. Jones chronicles how the founders of the new state navigated myriad challenges, including territorial threats from abroad, internal ethnic conflicts, and geopolitical rivalries between the imperial Ottomans, the British, and the Germans. In the midst of these existential challenges, Georgia's social democrats set about writing a constitution to put the country on a distinctive path of genuine self-government—protecting democratic rights, promoting political pluralism, and championing equality. Professor Jones brings to life the passionate debates that shaped Georgia's democracy during a moment of acute global instability. The Democratic Republic of Georgia was strangled in its crib. Just four days after the constitution was ratified, the capital fell to the Red Army. Under Soviet rule, the republic was lost to history. Soviet scholars were forbidden to research this Georgian story, and Western scholars had little interest in a small and peripheral state that was independent for only three years. Recovering a forgotten experiment in democratic citizenship and statecraft, Dr. Jones reminds us of those audacious times when Georgians created and defended political freedom against the rise of Soviet communism. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, the small nation of Georgia established its independence in May 1918. Its leaders surprised the world by creating the first social democratic state. Based on a combination of parliamentarianism and direct democracy, it was a representative government of the peasants and workers themselves, with ballots in their hands. The First Social Democracy: The Democratic Republic of Georgia, 1918–1921 (Harvard University Press, 2026) is the definitive history of a government that should inspire social democrats today. Professor Stephen F. Jones chronicles how the founders of the new state navigated myriad challenges, including territorial threats from abroad, internal ethnic conflicts, and geopolitical rivalries between the imperial Ottomans, the British, and the Germans. In the midst of these existential challenges, Georgia's social democrats set about writing a constitution to put the country on a distinctive path of genuine self-government—protecting democratic rights, promoting political pluralism, and championing equality. Professor Jones brings to life the passionate debates that shaped Georgia's democracy during a moment of acute global instability. The Democratic Republic of Georgia was strangled in its crib. Just four days after the constitution was ratified, the capital fell to the Red Army. Under Soviet rule, the republic was lost to history. Soviet scholars were forbidden to research this Georgian story, and Western scholars had little interest in a small and peripheral state that was independent for only three years. Recovering a forgotten experiment in democratic citizenship and statecraft, Dr. Jones reminds us of those audacious times when Georgians created and defended political freedom against the rise of Soviet communism. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/central-asian-studies

Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, the small nation of Georgia established its independence in May 1918. Its leaders surprised the world by creating the first social democratic state. Based on a combination of parliamentarianism and direct democracy, it was a representative government of the peasants and workers themselves, with ballots in their hands. The First Social Democracy: The Democratic Republic of Georgia, 1918–1921 (Harvard University Press, 2026) is the definitive history of a government that should inspire social democrats today. Professor Stephen F. Jones chronicles how the founders of the new state navigated myriad challenges, including territorial threats from abroad, internal ethnic conflicts, and geopolitical rivalries between the imperial Ottomans, the British, and the Germans. In the midst of these existential challenges, Georgia's social democrats set about writing a constitution to put the country on a distinctive path of genuine self-government—protecting democratic rights, promoting political pluralism, and championing equality. Professor Jones brings to life the passionate debates that shaped Georgia's democracy during a moment of acute global instability. The Democratic Republic of Georgia was strangled in its crib. Just four days after the constitution was ratified, the capital fell to the Red Army. Under Soviet rule, the republic was lost to history. Soviet scholars were forbidden to research this Georgian story, and Western scholars had little interest in a small and peripheral state that was independent for only three years. Recovering a forgotten experiment in democratic citizenship and statecraft, Dr. Jones reminds us of those audacious times when Georgians created and defended political freedom against the rise of Soviet communism. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/russian-studies

Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, the small nation of Georgia established its independence in May 1918. Its leaders surprised the world by creating the first social democratic state. Based on a combination of parliamentarianism and direct democracy, it was a representative government of the peasants and workers themselves, with ballots in their hands. The First Social Democracy: The Democratic Republic of Georgia, 1918–1921 (Harvard University Press, 2026) is the definitive history of a government that should inspire social democrats today. Professor Stephen F. Jones chronicles how the founders of the new state navigated myriad challenges, including territorial threats from abroad, internal ethnic conflicts, and geopolitical rivalries between the imperial Ottomans, the British, and the Germans. In the midst of these existential challenges, Georgia's social democrats set about writing a constitution to put the country on a distinctive path of genuine self-government—protecting democratic rights, promoting political pluralism, and championing equality. Professor Jones brings to life the passionate debates that shaped Georgia's democracy during a moment of acute global instability. The Democratic Republic of Georgia was strangled in its crib. Just four days after the constitution was ratified, the capital fell to the Red Army. Under Soviet rule, the republic was lost to history. Soviet scholars were forbidden to research this Georgian story, and Western scholars had little interest in a small and peripheral state that was independent for only three years. Recovering a forgotten experiment in democratic citizenship and statecraft, Dr. Jones reminds us of those audacious times when Georgians created and defended political freedom against the rise of Soviet communism. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/eastern-european-studies

What does it really mean to lead without power but still make an impact? I had the chance to speak with Prince Gharios el Chemor, whose life blends royal history, humanitarian work, and a deep commitment to compassion and critical thinking. From his family's legacy in the Middle East to his upbringing in Brazil, Gharios shares how identity, purpose, and service shaped his path. As our conversation unfolds, you will hear how sovereignty today is less about ruling and more about responsibility. We explore education reform, the dangers of social division, and why compassion and critical thinking matter more than ever. Gharios also introduces his vision for the future through Logos One, a new education model designed to help people live with purpose. I believe you will find this episode both thought provoking and inspiring as you consider what it means to truly live with an Unstoppable Mindset. Highlights: 00:01:15 – Hear why titles mean nothing without purpose and service00:08:26 – Learn how identity and adversity shape a global perspective00:24:43 – Understand what sovereignty means in today's world beyond power00:36:43 – Discover how small acts of service can deeply impact lives00:43:31 – Learn why compassion and critical thinking are missing today01:02:04 – Understand what it truly means to live with an unstoppable mindset Bottom of Form About the Guest: HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor of Ghassan is a diplomat, author, artist, and leader recognized internationally as the heir of the Ghassanid Dynasty, the Christian Arab royal house that once ruled much of the Levant. He's a multi-awarded humanitarian on four continents for his work in cultural preservation and minority rights. He played a central role in restoring the House's historical continuity and securing its recognition under international law, including The special consultative status at the United Nations. He was knighted under the authority of the late Pope Francis, holds the U.S. Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, multiple Congressional honors, and has been welcomed by heads of state, religious leaders, and academic institutions across four continents for his advocacy on behalf of persecuted Christian communities in the Middle East. Beyond diplomacy, Prince Gharios is an award-winning best-selling author of thirty-seven books spanning philosophy, international law, spirituality, governance systems, and martial arts. In 2014, he published the peer-reviewed Middle East: The Secret History, a groundbreaking work that earned him the 21st International Cultural Award Trentino–Abruzzo–Alto Adige (awarded by the Italian government) in the History category. Seven of his works reached number one on Amazon's bestseller list.   Since several of his titles achieved #1 across multiple categories, this actually represents thirteen #1 Best-Seller achievements overall.   His intellectual work includes the development of Skeptical Mysticism, the Law of the Triple Accord, and Neo-Holism, a framework that integrates reason, compassion, and systemic balance to address political and social crises. His works — including The Sovereign Perspective, Essentia, Sapientia, and Unitas — propose an integrated understanding of consciousness, ethics, and identity, bridging ancient wisdom traditions with contemporary science. Trained in acting and filmmaking, as well as holding a master certification in Aikido from the Aikikai Foundation in Japan, Prince Gharios embodies a rare synthesis of scholarship and lived experience. His humanitarian initiatives have provided food, education, and stability to thousands of displaced families throughout the Middle East. Whether in academic forums, interfaith dialogues, or grassroots relief missions, his message remains consistent: the future of humanity depends on restoring proportion, dignity, and truth — both within individuals and the societies they shape. Ways to connect with Prince Gharios: Website: www.PrinceGharios.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gharioselchemor/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialprincegharios/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theroyalherald/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hrhprincegharios X: https://www.x.com/princegharios?lang=en TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialprincegharios Documentaries: The Christian Kings of the Middle East https://youtu.be/Xt5NBNGa0q8 The Royal Legacy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUAS2rq8Bt0&t=150s The Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TFkZk3qd3c&t=416s About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:04 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe Welcome to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. I'm your host. Michael hingson, speaker, author and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head on and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear, together, we focus on mindset resilience and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Greetings everyone and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. It is fall in Victorville, California, and I guess in the whole northern hemisphere for that matter. So here we are once again, and we're going to have, I think, an interesting and a fun and a very thought provoking episode today, we get to chat with someone whom I never thought I would meet, but I got to meet him on LinkedIn, and then we've met in person, and now we're chatting. And he is a Prince, Prince Gharios el Chemor Chemor. And garrios lives in Los Angeles now, and that's an interesting story in of itself. He has written 37 books more than I've written, I can tell you. And he is involved with a lot of different kinds of activities, and I'm sure that he's going to talk about a lot of those and give us some interesting things to think about. So I'm just going to say, Gharios, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. Unless you want me to call you Prince, I'm either, either way. Prince Gharios el Chemor  02:04 Oh, thank you so much. It's my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. And I always say that the only person I demand to call me your highness is my wife. But every time I do, she laughs on my face, so I'm thinking about stopping it. Yeah, and what does she call you? She called me Gary. I became Gary. Michael Hingson  02:23 You became Gary? Prince Gharios el Chemor  02:24 Yeah, because my wife is American, so well. Michael Hingson  02:28 But do you call her princess? No, no, oh, okay, you can Prince Gharios el Chemor  02:34 call me any way you want. I'm like, I'm not special, yeah, and I, you know, as I always like to say, you know, a title in a 21st Century from a deposed dynasty is absolutely useless as a as a person of honor, unless you know, you have, like a work like we do, like my family kept this tradition because we have a humanitarian work with the UN we can talk more about that later. But as I always say, princes are not making even street names these days anymore, so I still have to pay for Netflix like everybody else, Michael Hingson  03:18 yeah, but I'll bet you think of your wife as a princess, whether you call her that or not, because, Speaker 1  03:22 oh, she's, she's a queen. She's not Michael Hingson  03:25 even a prince. There you go. See now we're talking Yeah, as it should be. Well, yeah. So I let's start with this whole issue of a deposed dynasty, and little bit about, maybe your background, where you came from, and all that, and we'll go from there, sure. Prince Gharios el Chemor  03:47 Well, there's a, there's a some people are a little bit, you know, as, as Voltaire used to say, Napoleon, also, Churchill, History is written by the victors. So especially in the United States, people don't are not very aware of world history. So is people don't understand how some things work. And even in the Middle East, whereby my family originated. I'm European, from my mother's side, and I have a little like 3% Jewish. I'm British, French, Italian, and in from my father's side, I'm Christian, Arab, from where today is Lebanon. You're a Michael Hingson  04:40 conglomerate all over the place, Prince Gharios el Chemor  04:43 yeah, so I have all the all the conflicts, all the colonizers, the people that are colonized, all within an only person. I'm the, I'm the living un so, but I. Even in the Middle East, you know, because since we are like a Christian family, a Christian dynasty, even that history was, you know, political propaganda. So you're not going to promote your your enemies. So since the Muslim regimes took over our lands through history, so the story they tell is a very limited history. So in a lot of history books, people think that our rule ended in the seventh century. So people say, Well, how come you are claiming a kingdom that ended 14 centuries ago? And I always say, well, first and foremost, we rule other realms after that, even our cousins ruled until 1921, so the like 100 years ago in what today is hail in Saudi Arabia, is called Jabal shumar, Jabal shmor, which is our last name. So they were our Muslim cousins, because some part of the family was forced to convert and but and the family that escaped and went where today is Lebanon kept being Christian, which is my direct family, and the Christian branch rule until 1747, to the 18th century. So it's not like 14 centuries ago. But even if that was the case, according to international law, we have a president, which is Israel. So Israel revived a state that, you know, they didn't hold sovereignty for over 2000 years. So our claim, even if we considered the last kingdom, we have a whole kingdom, because we rule principalities up to that. We rule the Byzantine Empire too, but that was very briefly, but we had like principalities or Sheik dooms, as we call the very same politically, political unit as you have the UAE, as you have Bahrain, as you have Qatar, Kuwait. So is a is as sovereign as an empire, but is a small principality, so that those are the kinds of realms we ruled after we lost the main kingdom in the seventh century, but we we rule, as I said, my direct, direct family into the 18th century, and my cousins until 1921 so yeah, so it's A our claim. Theoretically, if you consider Israel legitimate, you have to consider our claim legitimate, although we don't actively pursue any kind of political restoration or active, you know, restoration of a territory, kingdom, or anything. On the contrary, we support all the duly established governments, the euro and de facto, because we think that there's a lot of people there wanting power, and we don't want to be another force to try to fight for power or anything like that. On the contrary, we want to help to bring balance. We want to serve. We want to help to bring, you know, a stability and dignity to the people we're not interested in political movements or topple any governments or anything like that, although I've been offered many, many times, and thank God, I'm not at all seduced by power, because I it's something that is an illusion, in my opinion. Michael Hingson  09:08 So the family has certainly been spread out. Where were you born? Prince Gharios el Chemor  09:14 Well, I was born and raised in Brazil, because we have, still some family members were able to stay in Lebanon, but there was a huge famine and persecution after my family lost the principality in scarta ze way, which is in the northern Lebanon, My great great great great, great grandfather was assassinated, and then his son had to flee and like, adopt different last names for their children, because the it's funny, because it could be a great movie, because the Sultan, Ottoman Sultan was a hunchback, so it was a perfect. Villain, so the hunchback Sultan wanted to kill all the members of my family, so they were able to hide for some time, but then, when the first war, already in the end of the 18th century, 19th century, it was a great don't know if I can use the word genocide, but it was a genocide of Christians because the Druze, they ally with the Ottomans and to destroy the Christians. And so started this movement in the mid 1800s until the culmination of the First World War, and then my family members and many Lebanese not just my family members, went to Brazil because Brazil is still the largest Catholic country in the world. So today you have in Brazil twice the number of Lebanese people. Then you have in Lebanon. You have around 4 million in Lebanon. You have over 8 million Lebanese in Brazil. And I made fun when I first met the Lebanese president, we had the first audience in 2017 I we just had a Lebanese descendant president in Brazil. So I said, Well, you know, the our Lebanese president has like, twice the number of Lebanese people than than here. So Isn't that ironic and funny? What did he say? No, he was laughing. He said, Yeah, you know. And it was funny because he was actually, his name was Michelle Temer. It was from Lebanese descent. And you have today, I think the Minister of Economy in Brazil is Haddad, which is also Lebanese. Yeah. So everyone has an uncle, a cousin, even in my family, we have a very funny situation, because half of the family of my cousins stayed in Lebanon, and the other half went to Brazil. So you had two brothers from the same father that one doesn't speak Arabic or French and the other doesn't speak Portuguese. So they used to visit each other with their kids and using like cell phones and other things because they they were like brothers and couldn't communicate, because one was born and raised in Brazil, and the other, and still today, like My Arabic is a joke and my cousins make fun of me, so we talk in English, because My Arabic is the Arabic of the 19th century. And again, my grandfather never used the word Lebanon, because there was no Lebanon when he left. Lebanon was created in 1946 so I think it's very interesting when a lot of people say about Palestine, oh, there's no Palestine. There was never a state called Palestine. Well, there's never a state called Lebanon, another state called Syria, and every state called Iraq, another state, any of the states that we have today, the Middle East, they're all created after the first war. So they're all creations by the British and the French. And also, a lot of people don't know that. Michael Hingson  13:34 So what was it like for you growing up? Because however you view it, you have a very rich family and rich ancestry. So what was it like for you growing up? Prince Gharios el Chemor  13:47 Well, it was very interesting because I I had a Lebanese grandmother and I had an Italian grandmother, so that's why I became fat. Thank God now I'm I lost weight, but yeah, I it was funny, because I inherited gout, so I was very sick with gout when I was, like, 27 years old, and I had to take cortisone. And I always tell the story, because I used to go to my Italian grandmother, she looked at me and say, My god, you're so fat. You're so terribly fat. You have to do something about that. But not today. Now eat so. So she was like, you know, I could always start I should always start a diet the next day that I visited her, because when I visited her, I had to eat. So that's how that's that how the dynamic works. But I had a very normal, let's say, upper middle class for. Upbringing, yeah, upbringing. But the thing is, because my father, when my grandfather, arrived in Brazil with his parents, he had, they had nothing. They had they escaped. They had to sell the marble from the palace. We had to bribe the Ottoman soldiers so they were able to escape. So they had, like they grabbed some jewelry and something. So they started from zero in Brazil, but then my grandfather in many Lebanese families started selling things door to door, and they made a fortune. My grandfather made a huge fortune. He had like medication distribution. He represented many laboratories for southern Brazil. And then he had real estate. He became very rich, and my father and my father was born, my grandfather was already very rich, so he had like a playboy upbringing, different than me. And then my father never worked one day in his life. So when I came, my family said, Well, let's not repeat the same mistake that, you know, we made with him. So let's, you know, ration things with him. So I started, well, I started working because I wanted but I started working, working it with 13 years old, and I always I cannot not work because I have a we talk about that I have a cognitive difference than regular people, what People call romantically gifted, which is a very is not as romantic and beautiful as people think is like, is like OCD or something like that, and hyper sensibility and stuff. So I always, I cannot not study something. I cannot not work. So is an obsession that I have. So that's why I wrote so many books. I've done so many things. Michael Hingson  17:24 So what was your job? What kind of work did you do? At 13 Prince Gharios el Chemor  17:29 I worked in a video store, like, like Blockbuster, but was like a small one, because I watched all the movies. So people love to see me recommending the movies and Yeah, and so I always work like, I was like, 1516 I was the marketing director of a magazine, so I was always like, precautious, let's Say, and yeah. So my life was always very normal. I was always blessed. Thank God. I never had any need like I I had. I suffered a lot. I was bullied and I had a because I was different. So people, you know, they because of the way I talked in school, and I was probably the worst soccer player that have ever lived. And so in Brazil, that's the thing. So I was highly bullied. I and but other than that, and of course, because I'm an empath, so, but I never had any, let's say, need of food or anything like that, like I always had a very blessed life. Michael Hingson  19:06 So you went to school in Israel and so on. Did you do college there? Or what did you do for college? Or did you in Brazil? Prince Gharios el Chemor  19:13 Well, I studied two things in Brazil. I studied in a Franciscan school, the regular school, and then for high school, there is a special course in Brazil which is the equivalent of the university for theater, like Dramatic Arts. So I've done that. And then for college, I've done a course that's called Marketing and PR. So I have this two, this two trainings, one in dramatic arts and the other one in a corporate PR. Actually, my course even taught propaganda. So we studied a lot of how states work with Prop. Ghana and things like that, Michael Hingson  20:03 two significantly different departments of study. How did you how did you combine those? Or, how did you justify having two different things, art and marketing, that's pretty different? Prince Gharios el Chemor  20:18 Well, not to me, because I always worked a lot with media. So I'm also a filmmaker and professional actor, a SAG actor. So I'm sag here, and I'm in Brazil. It's called sated. Is the sag equivalent there? I directed a lot of even some commercials and some shows. So to me, that's very they intersect and and I have this artistic side of me that is very obsessive too. So I always have to be painting. I always have to be singing and doing something creative, because that's, that's who I am. And some people don't understand, but people that actually I'm not again, I'm not claiming i i have any special talent or anything like that. I think there are people that think better than me, people that sing better than me, but people that have this, let's say, gift, they, they have a need of putting out their work is not, oh, I skewed to paint or skewed to sing or no, this is the need that you have to manifest this energy that you have inside of you. So I give you an example when when I had had the first flare of gout was because my first wife said that I could no longer paint because of the smell of the oil paint. So I stopped painting. And then I was like, full time, the time, the full free time I had I was exercising and I was swimming, I was I wasn't my the prime, healthy body I could ever had. I had that time, and then I start feeling this small pain, and I it became, what's the what's the term I psychologically, I don't remember now the term, but it became a disease because of I could not channel that energy, psychosomatic, exactly so, because I could not channel that energy for painting. Then I got the gout. Michael Hingson  23:06 So how long was it before you could go back to painting? Prince Gharios el Chemor  23:11 Well, then I discovered that I could. I created a technique that I can make the acrylic paint look as almost as good as the oil and and with significant less smell and mess. So I've been painting with acrylic since then. Michael Hingson  23:36 And you what happened to the gout? Did it basically go away? Prince Gharios el Chemor  23:41 Well, I got significantly bad, and I had to go and have a bariatric surgery, and because I was taking cortisone, like a heroin addict would take heroin. So because I got in this vicious circle of not being able to exercise, gaining weight, eating, being depressed. So I had, almost every two weeks, I have a very bad flare. So I was like, in the beginning, I would go to the doctor for the injections, then my grandfather would come in and give me the injections. And then I learned myself to give myself the injections. They were so frequent that I had to do it myself. But thank God for the past, let's say 18 years, I had probably a couple of flares. They're very mild, and just with oral medication, I was able to I'm cortisone free for like, Michael Hingson  24:44 18 years. That's great, yeah, well, you know, going back to some of the things we talked about earlier, in terms of you, you still identify. With the Royal House that that has not been directly in power, although I I would suspect you'd say that that you and your family do provide influence. But what does sovereignty mean to you in the 21st Century? Basically, when monarchy no longer rules, clearly, you have influence and so on. But what does sovereignty mean to you? Prince Gharios el Chemor  25:28 Yeah, there's there's another thing that people, people don't understand. I'll give you a very, very simple example about my family. My family, even though is not officially sovereign anymore, but my family in Lebanon, they still have a palace in a city called farhatta in northern Lebanon, and non stop be we've been serving the community to the point that when my my predecessor, which was Sheik Antonio's Ashmore, was alive, he passed, unfortunately, prematurely. He was 60 years old in 1970 122, years before I was born, and he would open the doors of the palace, and people go there and ask money for medication, as you know, to send the kids to school. He would, you know, help the community like a ruler would do so because, you know, Lebanon, back then was very poor country, and he was like very, very wealthy. So until today, his sons, my cousins, that are part of the Council of princes of the royal house of Ghassan. They still do that to the community there. So we it's like we never stop, you know, doing the the service that. So who wants to watch our documentary. They can Google it. We have it on YouTube. It's called the royal legacy and the Christian kingdom of the Middle East. You see that, for example, my family provided free water that are still being used by 200,000 people in northern Lebanon for free. So we give free water to 200,000 people 48 villages in Lebanon. So thanks to my family also, dialysis blood dialysis is free for all Lebanese citizens because my cousin bought some machines, and my cousin interact with the president, who was his personal friend back then. So the President made a decree, and today, until today, no one that needs dialysis has to pay so, but my cousin passed two years before I was born and his sons. His oldest son was 15, so he left a lot of businesses for his sons. So they didn't develop the Royal House to the point that in 2008 37 years later, I was the one that took over, and then I got permission from them also, which is, in Arab monarchies, you have something that called baya, so it's like the family agrees who's going to be the next head, the next leader, and they, they give the consent, because in Europe is the succession is primogeniture, like the oldest son or daughter inherits the position. But in the Arab systems is the best qualified person according to the Council of princes, or according to the will of the last hat. In my case, they are so busy. I always say I'm the poor cousin, because they're they're rich, they I'm the one that took over this responsibility, and I have the time. So that's how, how it's done. But sovereignty, as I always say, is is a word like peace and democracy that can mean anything and everything so but unfortunately, people don't understand what it means in international law, and today, according. According to the many conventions, or in the charter of United Nations, every single people has the right called the right of self determination. Is the is a cardinal right is every single people, and that doesn't depend on anything ever is like is a right that every single people have, so is in the 21st Century, is no longer acceptable to have colonialism. Prince Gharios el Chemor  30:32 So all all nations and all peoples have to have this right to to self determination, and I think that's unfortunately we've been having a sometimes that multilateralism and international law are not being very much respected, and we have to make sure that we we work together. Because a lot of people criticize United Nations, and I agree that maybe United Nations has a lot of things to improve, but so as everything else in mankind. So as I always say, when you your car has a flat tire, you don't throw away the car, you fix the tire. So I think it's a lot easier for us to fix the system we have, then get rid of it and go back to barbarism. Michael Hingson  31:26 So given given all of that, and given what your relatives are doing in Lebanon and so on, how do governments view your house and how do they view all of you today. Do they? Do you think there's opposition? Do they appreciate what you're doing, because you're not really trying to seek power as such? That probably helps some. But what? What do governments think of of you and all of you? Prince Gharios el Chemor  31:57 Yeah, well, some people the Lebanese Government, since the next president, we've been working together with them, because they seen the value that we bring. So during the covid through our one voice Foundation, we donated half a million dollars of baby formula. It's like 60 tons of baby formula and recently, amongst other small actions, but recently, this year, we we fed about 5000 people for a whole month. We thought it'd be 3000 but Caritas, which is the logistical organization for the Catholic Church, estimated in 5000 so it was like something around 1000 families, but for a whole month. So together with SOS world and giving hands Germany, we got together and Caritas, of course, which made a distribution so they're they are very like we just last Saturday, we had an intercultural, inter religious event under the patronage of The President General Joseph on so we've been working together with the government in Lebanon, because the President in Lebanon, people might not know, but the President has to be Christian. The Prime Minister has to be Sunni Muslim. The Speaker of the House must be Shia Muslim. Because, believe it or not, with all its problems. Lebanon is the only actual democracy in the Middle East, because all the 18 religions have the exact same rights according to the constitution. So but other regimes, for example, I love Jordan, and I've I lived in Jordan. I had a second residence in Jordan for two years, and we try to implement some educational projects there. Because I have, I have this, I even now have a name now. It's called the royal Gambit. It's, it's a project to prevent the radicalization of teenagers from radical organizations, and there's even a book about it that is also the royal Gambit, which is a better and cheaper way to fight terror than actually just try to fight the effects, not the the reasons, the sources of of the problem. And so I had some problems because of the fact that I'm Christian, because you know who the King Abdullah in Jordan is doing a great job. And the royal family in Jordan is amazing. And I had. Many, many friends from the royal family. But, you know, some people don't understand that, but who also has the power is not the ruler, but the person that put the paper in front of the ruler so the ruler can sign it. So sometimes the ruler has the best of the intentions, but a couple of people try to prevent that, because they don't want you to shine. And I found the same problem with the Catholic Church, too, unfortunately, and I'm Catholic, but a lot of things that I try to implement, and again, I just needed the stamp of the Catholic Church. I didn't ask for anything, and a lot of people, mostly lay men, seem to have the interest of the need to keep existing so they are relevant. And that's very sad. That's very sad because there's a lot of people that are have the best of intentions, that have a lot of holy men in the Catholic Church, like I give you Pope Francis, absolutely, but Cardinal Koch, which is a Swiss Cardinal, it's a dear friend and a great holy man. But you also have people that are not interested. Obviously, I'm not citing names, but people that just want to keep their positions, and they just want to the problems to still exist so they are relevant, because they are the ones giving aspirin to the terminal patient. Can I Oh, go ahead. No, no. Sorry. Michael Hingson  36:39 I was just gonna say, and sometimes you just have to walk very carefully with what you do because of that. Prince Gharios el Chemor  36:46 Oh yeah. I mean, I made a lot of people look bad, because in my ignorance, my naivete, I thought that okay, I have solutions for many problems, so let's solve the problems, right? Yeah. Why? Why should we keep suffering if we can actually solve the problems. But apparently, no they want to keep with the problem. Michael Hingson  37:07 So So you but you do a lot of work with persecuted Christian communities in the Middle East, and especially, you know, persecuted people. What's one moment or one person that really stands out to you from all of that work? Prince Gharios el Chemor  37:25 Well, I think that I have two moments, actually. One was in 2014 that I had this Egyptian boy I went to the school here in Los Angeles to talk about bully, because, as I said, I was bullied when I was a kid, and then this 10 year old boy asked to take a picture with me. He was Egyptian Copt. I have a very good relationship with the Copt Orthodox Church in I met with the Coptic Pope in in Cairo. So he he said, I want to take a picture with you, because you are my prince, because I'm also a Middle Eastern Christian. And that touched my heart. I had to hold very, very tired not to cry in front of him. And I said, Well, you know, if I can inspire one person, I'm happy, and the other person was in Jordan in 2016 because at the height of the Islamic State, this 40 families of Iraq, they escaped to Jordan, and they were being in the Melkite church in Jordan, took them in, and then they called me and said, we have this family. They have no food. They have nothing. They just arrived from Iraq. Said, okay, so I got my people there. We got food for this 40 families. And then I went there, and I met this old lady and and I immediately connect with her. And I said, are you okay? I said, Imagine this old lady having to skate from Iraq all the way here, you know, because they were just killing the Christians. It's ridiculous. And then she said, Yes, I'm fine. I'm being take good care and everything. But the problem is that I have to go because I have a high blood pressure problem. I have to go every day to the hospital, and then I have to stay there for I don't remember, she said, one hour waiting just to take her blood pressure twice a day. And then I said, Oh my God. I looked to my assistant and said, for the love of God, go to the nearest pharmacy and get her blood pressure machine. So. You went there, and, you know, sometimes is not, is not a money, you know, for, for, I don't know, 3050 bucks. I solved the problem and and then I gave it to her, and said, Okay, so from now on, this is for you, for you to take your blood pressure, but you also, if anyone needs you're going to be the guardian of this. So she was so happy. And again, is not just about the food, is not but about people. Must know that you care. I think that's the most important Michael Hingson  40:37 thing, yeah. But it's not about you. It's about it's about them, and the very fact that you do care, and you're not doing it to try to gain a lot of notoriety, is what I'm hearing you say. But rather, you're doing it because it's the right thing to do. Prince Gharios el Chemor  40:53 No, I have to correct you on this. I'm doing it because the feeling that you get. It's yeah. It's worth more than any money or any fame or anything, the feeling that that I got from it right? Knowing that I'm, I'm, I'm making that life a little better, yeah is better than anything I've ever tried. And that's what Michael Hingson  41:19 I'm that's what I'm saying. It's yeah, it's not about you're trying to become a big guy. No, you're doing it because it's the right thing to do and you want to help people, yeah. But I Prince Gharios el Chemor  41:30 get a lot from it too. Michael Hingson  41:33 Sure you do. Sure you do. Prince Gharios el Chemor  41:35 But to me, is, like, the feeling is, is, is amazing, Michael Hingson  41:39 sure, yeah, oh, I, I, I totally appreciate it, because it's the the way I feel. If I can inspire people, if I've been able to help one person, then I think I've done good, and I appreciate exactly what you're saying. Well, you, you work with a lot of different people. You work with presidents, billionaires, you work with scientists, priests, martial artists and so on. What have you learned about the universal desire under all of that? What do they all have in common? Prince Gharios el Chemor  42:14 Well, there is this beautiful poem that Elvis used to date when he he used to sing that song, welcome out of my shoes. And he used to say to every student that then shoot or saw things through his eyes, shouldn't watch it. Helpless. Hands well hard inside he dies. So help your brother along the way, no matter where it starts, because the same God that made you made him too, this man with broken hearts. So to me, I think it doesn't matter. That's another part of the poem that I don't remember. Like they may be kings, they might be beggars. We are all figuring things out. That, to me, is the most important thing we we have some might know a little better, some less better, but we are all figuring things out. Figuring things out. We are not special. We are special. We have a special thing about every single person we have. Every single person has something good and something special and some unique thing. But we are not better than anybody in terms of dignity and value. We are all the same, and we are all figuring things out. So when you see someone, you don't you don't know the battle that that's that person is going through. You don't know the suffering that that's that person is is going through. And that's why I say compassion is so important. We have to try to put ourselves in someone's place and and critical thinking and compassion, the two things that are missing in the Michael Hingson  44:04 world, in my opinion, yeah, tell me more about that. Yeah. Prince Gharios el Chemor  44:09 Well, we because of this, this thing called social media, which has great benefits too. We got together because of it, but unfortunately, give rise to some cognitive biases that we already have in one side and also gets us that that heard anonymity you know, when we are in a group or when we are Anonymous, we seem to do things that we wouldn't do otherwise if we were present and alone. There's a lot of psychological studies about it. So. We are living in times that we have this destructive zero sum division. And as I always say, is perfectly and healthy, perfectly fine and healthy to disagree, to have different opinions, as long as we are constructive about it. Let's say in politics. So you know, left and right and center is all fine if we think the way we want to think, as long as first, that idea comes from ourselves and not from some celebrity or politician that we like or dislike, but from our own critical thinking. And second, we have to realize that we're all on the same boat, a country, a state, a city is a community is a boat. So is, is not because you don't like the captain, that you're going to cheer for that boat to sink because you're going to die too. So we have to realize these things. We have to realize that we have to end this thing us against them in everything, in politics, in religion, in everything, because that's not going to get us anywhere. That's That's this destroying the critical thinking and destroying the compassion, and therefore everything become a zero sum, like you know, in order for me to succeed, you have to be destroyed, and that only leads to destruction. And unfortunately, social media is a catalyst to that. Michael Hingson  46:32 How do we do that? How do we we regain or get more compassion? How do we get people to think more critically and and, well, don't try to just do everything for themselves. Yeah, one thing Prince Gharios el Chemor  46:44 that people don't realize is that our brain was built, was hardwired to survive, not to be happy. So we evolved a lot technologically, but our brain is still from the caveman times in a and not just the brain like everything else, why we get gain weight? Because our body thinks we're still back in those times that we have food once a week, and then if we don't have food for many days. We have to storage the energy, otherwise we're going to die. So the same with something called tribalism. So we are trained, our mind is trained, to see everything that is different as as the enemy. So we have this natural neurological tendency of of of that. And then we have, of course, all the cognitive biases, and the greatest one is, as I always say, stupidity, which is not ignorance. We are all ignorant about something. It's impossible to know everything about everything. Stupidity is our resistance, emotional resistance to expertise and knowledge and education. So that's one of the main things, is laziness of thinking. So why would you lose time considering who God is, who's your relationship with the divine? If you can go once a week to a church, I don't see anything wrong in going to the church, please. But what I'm saying is some people go to the church because there they can get, like, a synthesized summary, and they just, it's easy, if they just take that and believe in that. Then they keep thinking the whole week about who God is, what's right and rights wrong, about religion and about ethics and moral and things like that. And the same with politics. Why should I try to understand politics? To try to understand what is a common good? If I can just look one politician that I like and just go for everything he says and and that's the problem. That's why in the social media, again, is a catalyst of that. Because you, you can be, you can insult, you can criticize you, you. We have another thing called the Dunning Kroger syndrome, which is, we think that the things that we know the least are we have. We have more security in the things that we know the least than the things that we actually know. Right? Yeah, so you put that, put it all together. We have confirmation biases because this algorithm in all social medias, they only bring you things that you to confirm what you already think. They realize what are your preferences, and then they just bring you the confirmation bias so you only hear one side of the story. Michael Hingson  49:59 How do we change. Change that mindset. Prince Gharios el Chemor  50:01 Oh, we have to. We have to break the cycle. We have to develop compassion. First. We have to to realize that that person might not look like you, might not like the same things as you, might not believe in the same things as you. But is a is is someone that you have to live with that person. You don't have to agree, but you have to live in the best possible way. Michael Hingson  50:26 But again, the issue is that there is a lot of that on it. I hear what you're saying, but how do we break that cycle? How do we change the mindset so that more people will start to learn that just because we're all different, it doesn't mean that we're all less capable or less than than ourselves. Prince Gharios el Chemor  50:47 Yeah, well, first we have to identify the stupidity. Where is this stupidity? Are we? Is a very hard process, but we have to see if our opinion is actually our own first and foremost, think, think yourself is your opinion is, I have an exercise for that which is a contemplation. So you try to, to meditate, uh, imagining a conflict that you have, and then you remember your own position in this conflict. Then you you go and you try to put yourself in the shoes of the person against you, why that person has those concepts, those ideas, those opinions. And then you try to go out and see both of you, and try to see without any dogs on the fight. You try to see the same, same conflict. You see it from at least three different perspectives. To understand it, Michael Hingson  51:52 we've got to start teaching those concepts to people, because all too many people have children. They don't bring them up any differently. They they don't, they don't look at a broader perspective and horizon. And that's and I hear that's what you're suggesting. But we've got to start. We've got to find ways to teach Prince Gharios el Chemor  52:10 that the best way is education. That's why I created logos, one which is a new educational system. Tell us about that? Yeah, well, because I was gifted, you know, a lot of gifted people have problems in school, because when you have like, a very deep giftness, you cannot conform with the with the system, with the mainstream system. So I can only thrive if I create my own systems. So that's why I developed a whole new system of philosophy, original. I completed Aristotle Plato's work. I refuted Machiavelli sprints. I completed some of Kant's works too, because I I have to create my own frameworks. And then I said, Well, you know, 95% of what I learned in school is useless. You're not going to never going to use it. You're never going to remember it. So why do you waste the most valuable asset we have, which is time. You know, not even Elon Musk can buy time, because time is nothing you can do to get more. So why do we basically throw away time in school in a time that we have our beautiful youth. And so why do we do that? And then I realized that, well, the actual things that you have, you really have to know you can learn in two years, which is basic math, basic history, language, you know, all these things in two years, you can learn that. So I created a system that is based on your vocation and your level. So since a child goes to goes to kindergarten, the child starts being tested by vocation and the level and everything. So this child is taken to there's one of 15 traits that can be combined to 30 point 5 billion different profiles. So today you go to school, you have only one profile. You have to follow that profile, right? So with my system, you can combine it and have 30 point 5 billion different profiles. So if you have more tendency to be an artist, you're going to be an artist. If you have a vocation and desire to be an engineer, you're going to put all your energy. All your all your time to do what you like, to do what you're born to do. I like to say that logos one was created for the child that they cannot stand still because they supposed to dance. So if you don't conform, if you don't sit still, if you don't do whatever the teacher tells you to do, you are a bad student. And that doesn't mean you're a bad student, because you're supposed to be the world's greatest dancer or the world's greatest painter, so or the world's greatest engineer if you are not good in sports. So the system we have now was created for the industrial revolution. So the world needed factory workers, people that conform and with AI, all bets are off. So my system integrates with AI, and it's self regulated and self improved by AI. So there's a book out also. It's called logos one, and that's the future of education. You're not going to be able to because, you know, we're going to have a huge change in professions. So probably the child that is in a first grade today, the profession of that child doesn't even exist yet. So I'm sure, because a lot of the depression and mental problems we have today and suffering that we have today in our society is because we have to work to make ends meet. We have to work to put food on a table, and that makes us work in things that are not very nice and are things that we are not happy to to work. And working is probably you spend most of your like life working, so you're going to be miserable if you are doing something you don't like or you're not born to do. So that's why we have all this, Prince Gharios el Chemor  57:11 this problems in the world. So with my system, people will be happy because they will be doing what they are meant to do they love to do. And they have, as I always say, we're going to have one Einstein in each corner, because we give the tools of this that person to be what that person was born to be. Michael Hingson  57:30 Has logos? One been implemented anywhere yet? Prince Gharios el Chemor  57:33 No, no. I would just formulated this year. I had this idea for 15, almost 20 years ago, and I finally put everything together. So now we are going out to get it to be implemented. Michael Hingson  57:49 You've written 37 books. Is there any kind of a common theme or thread that goes through all the books? Prince Gharios el Chemor  57:55 Yeah, actually, they're all part of the same ecosystem, let's say so, because I see everything is inter related. For example, I created a I formulated a universal law that's called the triple accord, which everything in the world is the result of a resonance between reason, empathy and compassion. So critical thinking, compassion and balance, measured by balance. So a government, a civilization, a relationship, a friendship, everything is measured by these three elements. So with that, I developed what's called New holism, which is a model of governance, a brand new, completely new system of political system, which I always say is not left, center, right is forward. And a new way of seeing politics, a new way of seeing transcending ideology. So the same thing with the skeptical mysticism, which is a brand new epistemology, brand new metaphysics, which finally got science and reason. I'm sorry, reason and faith together. I created a new it's called juice Vera, which is a new legal system and a new penal system. I created, as I said, the Royal Gambit. I create logos one and Magnus delta, which is the higher education continuation of logos one. I mean, everything I created, I wrote about, is either related to history, sovereignty, politics, philosophy, which to me, is everything together. And I also brought the. Eastern and Western philosophy together, because I studied a lot of Buddhism, Aikido, Japanese, Shinto, Zen, Buddhism. So I brought that with the Western philosophy. And so my system is a balance between both, because I found out that everything has to be in balance otherwise the system destroys itself. Michael Hingson  1:00:26 If you could transmit one sentence or say one thing to humanity that would be remembered in 200 years, what would it be? Prince Gharios el Chemor  1:00:36 Well, I always, I always think that. I think as James, James Sherman, that said that, and I always like to repeat it. It's we cannot go back and make a new start, but every moment we have the chance to make a new ending, it doesn't matter how old you are. Doesn't matter how you think your life is not good, but you can always make a new win. You can always change, even if it's so hard, you can always make it better. It's up to you, you know, Michael Hingson  1:01:16 and it really is. It is up to each of us, and if we want to make the world better place, we can do it, but it's up to us to do it, isn't it, Prince Gharios el Chemor  1:01:26 absolutely and remember that the person, not just a person, but all the animals, all the planes, all the environment, we are all part of the same. The Science already proven that we're all part we share the same frequency. So you know, tried everyone with kindness. There's another saying that says that kindness doesn't cost anything, and buys everything, buys you everything. So be kind to an animal, to a plant, be kind to a person. Be kind, be kind. Be kind, be kind. It's never going it's never too much, Michael Hingson  1:02:03 and be kind to yourself too. Prince Gharios el Chemor  1:02:05 Oh, absolutely. Yeah, that's the first person you have to love yourself before learning to love other other people. And again, back to what I said in the beginning. We're all figuring things out. Don't, don't feel bad because you are figuring things out. Because we are. All are in different levels, but we all are, yeah, Michael Hingson  1:02:23 well, this has absolutely been, I think, very thought provoking, and I think it's been been wonderful. Last question for you, how do you define unstoppable? What do you think unstoppable means? Prince Gharios el Chemor  1:02:38 Well, in my opinion, unstoppable is that that thing that makes you, that drive inside of you, that that you know, despite of everything, everything can go against you, but you still manage to, like Nelson Mandela said, something is impossible until it's done. That's what I think is unstoppable, like you keep moving, because, you know, the universe is in constant movement. There's a breath that the Japanese would call koku ryuku, so we always breathing. So you have to keep moving. You have to keep moving. Nothing stays static is good. Michael Hingson  1:03:27 One of the things that immediately comes to mind is that there was a guy named Roger Banister. He is the person who broke the four minute mile. And people said for years before he did it, no one can physically run faster than a mile in four minutes, and if you do, you'll die. That worked until, I think it was 1957 when he did it. And yeah, there's so many the Prince Gharios el Chemor  1:03:51 same with the car, the same with the car. Remember? Yeah, yeah. People thought that if the car went more than 35 miles an hour, or something like that, it will explode. Michael Hingson  1:04:01 Yeah, yep. Well, I want to thank you again for being here. I think you've given us lots to think about. If people want to reach out to you and learn more about what you do and so on. How do they do that? Prince Gharios el Chemor  1:04:13 They can visit my website. It's Prince gharios.org's Can you spell that? Yeah, Prince, like you say it and, G, H, A, R, i, o, s.org, altogether.org, Prince darius.org, okay, yeah, and yeah, or Google, me. I have social media, I have Instagram, I have Facebook, I'll be happy to LinkedIn. Michael Hingson  1:04:43 I know LinkedIn, Prince Gharios el Chemor  1:04:45 yes, how we got together, Speaker 2  1:04:47 yes, how we got Yeah, yeah. Prince Gharios el Chemor  1:04:49 So YouTube again, you Google, you go to YouTube. Is our channel is called Royal Herald. You can watch documentary about what we do. It's called the. Legacy and the Christian kings of the Middle East. So both have history. You can watch the royal legacy, and you get both the history and what we are doing now. So it's free. You don't have to do anything. You just go on YouTube. Is everything we do is free. Michael Hingson  1:05:19 Great. Well, thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for watching and listening today, wherever you are, please give us a five star rating and give us a great review. I think that garrios has given us a lot to think about today, and I hope that you all agree with that. I'd love to hear your thoughts as well. Feel free to email me at Michael H, i@accessibe.com that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, and garos for you and all of you listening, if you know anyone else who you think ought to be a guest on unstoppable mindset, please introduce us. We'd love to hear from you and from them, and we're always looking for more people to have come on so that we can show that we're all more unstoppable than we think we are. But again, Prince garrios, I want to thank you for being here. This has been absolutely wonderful. Prince Gharios el Chemor  1:06:15 Thank you. My brothers. Was my pleasure, and I'm always here whatever you need Michael Hingson  1:06:23 thank you for being here with me on unstoppable mindset. I hope today's conversation left you with a fresh perspective, a new insight, or at least something worth thinking about if you're ready to go deeper into the ideas that shape how we see ourselves and others, I have a free gift for you. Head over to Michael hingson.com and download my free ebook, blinded by fear. It explores the invisible beliefs that hold us back and shows you how to reframe them so you can move forward with clarity and confidence. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast, leave a review and share this show with someone who can use a reminder that growth starts with mindset. When people think differently, we all move forward together. Thanks again for listening. Keep learning, keep questioning and keep choosing to live with an unstoppable mindset you.

Hank Hanegraaff reflects on his personal experiences in Tehran during the anniversary of the shah's overthrow, remembering repeated encounters with the warmth, kindness, and hospitality of ordinary Iranians—from fellow travelers to late-night walks through the city.He sets these experiences alongside a broader argument distinguishing individual Muslims from the religion of Islam itself, raising the question of whether Islam is inherently a religion of peace and tolerance.Hank explains that Islam is the only significant religious system in the history of the human race with a sociopolitical structure of laws that mandate violence against the infidel. This graphic global reality makes Islam a religious ideology espousing terrorism as a permanent policy rather than as a temporary expedient. Such is historical reality, from the early seventh-century Medina massacres to the 9/11 twenty-first century Manhattan massacre and beyond.In the light of Qur'anic texts and historical reality, Hank challenges prevailing Western narratives and explores the implications of migration without assimilation, cultural change, and political denial.Ultimately, Hank calls for a clear-eyed understanding of Islam's history and teachings while urging Christians to thoughtfully engage these realities as opportunities to communicate the grace and truth of Christ in a complex and rapidly changing world.(Timestamps below.)0:45  War with Iran takes Hank back to Tehran and his first encounters with Iranians2:45  Walking Tehran at night—What Hank discovered3:40  A crucial distinction: Muslims vs. Islam4:15  Is Islam more than a religion?  6:00  Is Islam truly a religion of peace and tolerance?8:00  A sobering look at Islamic history and the massacre of Christians9:15  Armenian genocide by the Ottomans and Hitler's reference to it as an example of forgotten atrocities12:30  Migration without assimilation and the future of Europe—Gadhafi's prediction16:45  The advance of the Ottoman Empire halted17:30  Terrorism, truth, and the Christian responseFor further study:  MUSLIM: What You Need to Know About the World's Fastest-Growing Religion. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-muslim-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religion-wa0426/See also the many articles on Christianity and Islam at www.equip.org, including:Is Islam a Religion of Peace? https://www.equip.org/articles/is-islam-a-religion-of-peace/Is Allah of Islam the God of the Bible? https://www.equip.org/bible_answers/is-allah-of-islam-the-god-of-the-bible/Comparing the Central Figures of Islam and Christianity https://www.equip.org/articles/muhammad-messiah-comparing-central-figures-islam-christianity/Five Differences between Sharia and Old Testament Law https://www.equip.org/articles/five-differences-sharia-old-testament-law/Listen to Hank's podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

These last dozen or so episodes we have examined the genesis of two of the three major strategic preoccupations of the Habsburg empire, the rivalry with the French kings and the relationship with the imperial princes. Today we will look at the build-up of the third major strategic challenge to the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, the Ottomans. One can argue, and many have, that the threat of an Ottoman invasion in the 1520s and 1530s prevented the emperor Charles V from clamping down on the protestants in the empire. By the time the border had been stabilised and the Habsburgs could focus again on the religious and political changes in the German lands, it was too late to reverse events. There is an element of irony here that I will refrain from elaborating on.When Constantinople fell in 1453, the Christian nations of Western Europe assumed that they could regain the ancient capital of Byzantium and even Jerusalem if only they were united under the crusading banner. By the time Suleiman the Magnificent appeared before Belgrade in 1521, that had become inconceivable. The Christian nations, and in particular the Habsburgs were on their back foot.So, what had happened in these 70 years that made the Ottoman armies appear unbeatable?The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFor do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.So far I have:The OttoniansSalian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356The Reformation before the ReformationThe Empire in the 15th centuryThe Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs

When an Earthquake shattered the walls of Galipoli, the citizens fled in fear, and instead of a recovery effort sent by the Byzantines to rebuild the city, it was left empty. The Ottomans saw this as an opportunity of a lifetime and moved entire families across the sea from Asia to Europe, settling the city, rebuilding its walls, and forming a permanent Ottoman settlement on the European side of the Byzantine Empire. This was the first of many moves, which led to the total conquest of Byzantium and the Balkans as a whole.BLACK DEATH PDF Here --> http://www.infezmed.it/media/journal/Vol_19_3_2011_10.pdfThe History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the events from Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the fall of Constantinople in 1453, to the years under the Ottoman Empire, and 1821 when the Greeks fought for independence... all the way to the modern-day.EMAIL US: historyofmoderngreece@gmail.comWebsite: www.moderngreecepodcast.comSOCIAL MEDIA: Go here to chat with us. https://www.instagram.com/historyofmodern%20greece/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578023316172Music by Mark Jungerman: www.marcjungermann.com

3. EUROPE'S ENERGY CRISIS AND THE TRANSATLANTIC RIFT. JUDY DEMPSEY. Judy Dempsey reports on soaring German and French energy costs necessitating diesel subsidies. She highlights European distrust of the American administration and the fraying of traditional multilateral institutions. (3)1603 OTTOMANS

Albania has had many different faces over the last hundred years. Once ruled by the Ottomans, it became a kingdom before turning into a totalitarian communist state after the Second World War. During this time, no one was allowed in or out; all private property became state-owned, and bunkers sprang up across the country. After the fall of the communist regime, Albania descended into chaos. In 1996, a pyramid scheme that three quarters of the population had paid into, collapsed. People lost everything, and the country, especially the south, erupted into violence.These days, Albania is aiming to shake off its past and transform its reputation from a country marked by corruption to one known for luxury tourism. With its miles of unspoilt beaches, snow capped mountains, and olive groves that could rival anything Greece has to offer, it's unsurprising that it's quickly attracting investors. Among them are Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who are hoping to build a resort on an island off the coast of Vlorë. They have visited the secluded beaches of Zvërnec and Nartë; currently home only to endangered monk seals, sea turtles, and a few sheep. They, like others, hope to benefit from new government incentives to build luxury 5 star plus resorts.However, ghosts of Albania's communist past remain. Land disputes, allegations of corruption, and a lack of infrastructure could derail these resorts before they've even broken ground. For Crossing Continents, Emily Wither travels to Albania to find out whether it will be able to re-brand itself, and whether its dream of luxury escapism will become a reality.Producer: Lizzy McNeill Programme Mix: Neil Churchill Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Editor: Penny Murphy

Albania has had many different faces over the last hundred years. Once ruled by the Ottomans, it became a kingdom before turning into a totalitarian communist state after the Second World War. During this time, no one was allowed in or out; all private property became state-owned, and bunkers sprang up across the country. After the fall of the communist regime, Albania descended into chaos. In 1996, a pyramid scheme that three quarters of the population had paid into, collapsed. People lost everything, and the country, especially the south, erupted into violence.These days, Albania is aiming to shake off its past and transform its reputation from a country marked by corruption to one known for luxury tourism. With its miles of unspoilt beaches, snow capped mountains, and olive groves that could rival anything Greece has to offer, it's unsurprising that it's quickly attracting investors. Among them are Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who are hoping to build a resort on an island off the coast of Vlorë. They have visited the secluded beaches of Zvërnec and Nartë; currently home only to endangered monk seals, sea turtles, and a few sheep. They, like others, hope to benefit from new government incentives to build luxury 5 star plus resorts.However, ghosts of Albania's communist past remain. Land disputes, allegations of corruption, and a lack of infrastructure could derail these resorts before they've even broken ground. For Assignment, Emily Wither travels to Albania to find out whether it will be able to re-brand itself, and whether its dream of luxury escapism will become a reality.This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.

This is part 2 of 3 on Tolstoy's 2nd Sevastopol Sketch, which focuses on May of 1855 and declares the ineffable value of Truth as hero.I'm presenting this episode after covering Austerlitz, a conflict symbolic of the vain pursuits of rulers.  Further, similar to the result of Austerlitz, the Crimean War was a extraordinary humiliation for Russia that forced societal change.  This sketch also contains memorable depictions of death amidst armed conflict.This story places the reader 6 months into the 11-month siege where “the Angel of Death hovers over all. “ This includes the 4.5 mile-long defensive line made of trenches with 8 major bastions. Notably, the Crimean War marks one of the rare times in the 19th century where France, England & Ottomans where allies. The War is also notable for advances in technology by the victors, including in naval artillery and how it was documented using telegraphs and photos. Florence Nightingale also gained recognition for her approach to nursing. This sketch focuses on a handful of fictional low-ranking officers.  The climax is an artillery shell landing between two, where time slows down. Tolstoy brings you into their souls.The book begins with an introduction then focuses on the lead, Mikhailov, who is unmarried and noted not to own land. He is physically awkward and simple, but still “a man of worth.” He is thinking of a letter from a friend and day-dreams how his macabre reality can be a ladder for advancement. He realizes how many men he knew perished and how many he will meet who will meet the same end. He is lamenting transferring to Crimea. Mikhailov walks to the main boulevard an encounters his fellows - a small group imbued with basic decency as well as vice. In describing their hierarchy, it is pointed out how in any walk-of-life, there is someone higher – a so-called aristocrat. The various characters profiled include: Kalugin - an adjunct depicted as having a Gentleman's demeanor; Prince Galstin - who holds the highest rank among this group; and Col. Neferdoff and Calvary Captain Praskukhin, who share the designation as two of the “122 men of the world” who volunteered from retirement. The group commiserates about their war stories and complaints. In describing the superficial natures of these men, Tolstoy paraphrases the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, similar to how he did when Andrei was lying on his back at Austerlitz.  In a narrator's voice, Tolstoy cries out:Vanity! vanity! Vanity everywhere, even on the brink of the grave, and among men ready to die for the highest convictions. Vanity! It must be a … peculiar malady of our century…Why did Homer and Shakespeare talk of love, of glory, of suffering, while the literature of our age is nothing but an endless narrative of aspiring elitists and vanity?Mikhailov, before his assignment, travels to his apartment and realizes his next trip to bastion would be his 13th. He felt he would be killed but would vacillate and fathom: “if I make it…..I will be promoted.” All the men had similar forebodings. Mikhailov then writes a farewell note to his father. His servant of 12 years, Nikita, was inebriated and prepared his Master. This included dressing Mikhailov and putting together a bundle of cheese and vodka. Mikhailov insults Nikita yet an affection is portrayed and both share a poignant goodbye.The other men went to Prince Galtsin's quarters, where he has multiple servants and a piano. The men have tea and crackers and discuss tales of heroic actions and the latest updates on casualties. Prince Galstin then sat at his piano and Praskukhin sings along. The men know what lies ahead and make the best of their situation.As they leave for their posts, they notice the bombs overhead, with Kalugin observing how the “real work of the night has begun.” Tolstoy has the men to regard the visual of artillery fire as a celestial show.A Cossack soldier arrives and mentions how reinforcements are needed to replace the many killed. Kalugin follows the Cossack but Prince Galtsin doesn't have to and walks the streets, where the cannon and rifle fire are palpable. He passes wounded soldiers, many carried on stretchers, others supported by the arms of a comrade. He was able to question one of them. The wounded met the onrush of a contingent of the Ottomans, yelling Allah!   Nearly all of this unit were killed and the Ottomans took a valuable position.Galtsin was shocked and was nearly arguing with the man, hoping the hear that the enemy was repulsed. Others join in to relay the reality and Galtsin feels ashamed for impugning the man.  He follows the wounded to a vast hall serving as a triage center, where after being looked at, some would get transported to a hospital and others to a chapel serving as a morgue. Tolstoy then takes us to the Horror inside.

The Black Death entered Europe through the black sea while the Mongols were besieging the city of Caffa. The Genoese ships evacuated the city after the plague broke out, sailing to Constantinople and then to Egypt and Sicily. This was the worst outbreak in human history, and it came right as the climate grew colder and the wars stretched beyond empires and borders. The damage to Constantinople cannot be overstated. Almost half the population died, and this occurred right at the end of the civil war, while the Ottomans were gobbling up the empire.BLACK DEATH PDF Here --> http://www.infezmed.it/media/journal/Vol_19_3_2011_10.pdfThe History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the events from Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the fall of Constantinople in 1453, to the years under the Ottoman Empire, and 1821 when the Greeks fought for independence... all the way to the modern-day.EMAIL US: historyofmoderngreece@gmail.comWebsite: www.moderngreecepodcast.comSOCIAL MEDIA: Go here to chat with us. https://www.instagram.com/historyofmodern%20greece/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578023316172Music by Mark Jungerman: www.marcjungermann.com

On this episode, my guest is Hasan Kerim Güç. Kerim graduated from Istanbul High School in 1992 and from Yildiz Technical University in 1996. Between 1997-2004, he completed his master's degree in Information Systems and Business Administration in Baltimore, USA. He returned to Turkey in 2010. Realizing that the treasure he had been looking for for 14 years was right in his own home, he took the position of Chief Editor at Nefes Publishing House in 2014. Kerim nourishes his business life with Sufi studies and is pursuing a doctoral degree from the Usküdar University Institute for Sufi Studies. He has published four books.Show Notes* Rejecting the American Dream* Anatolian and Sufi Hospitality* Sufis and the Ottomans* Tanri misafiri (“God's guest”)* Togetherness, and the roots of Religion* When we welcome suffering, we make honey out of pain* Submission, servants and the prophet Mohammed* The Conference of the Birds / Stories from the Thirty Birds* Limits to hospitality in the Islamic world* Bereket / Baraka* Rumi's Guest HouseHomework* Kerim Vakfı* Stories from the Thirty Birds* Cemalnur Sargut: A Sufi Life of Love, Suffering, and Divine Union* Cemalnur Sargut Books* Kerim Guc - Instagram* Kyoto University Kenan Rifai Center for Sufi Studies* Ken'an Rifâî Chair of Islamic Studies at Peking University* University of North Carolina (UNC) Ken'an Rifâî Chair in Islamic StudiesTranscriptChris: [00:00:00] Welcome to the End of Tourism podcast, Kerim. Hoș geldiniz.Kerim: Thank you very much for having me.Chris: Yeah, it's my pleasure. Thank you for joining me today. Perhaps you could tell our listeners, where you find yourself and what the world looks like there for you.Kerim: Well, first of all, I'm an immigrant also. I was an immigrant. I lived in the US for a while, and then I came back to to my own country. And things are very different here than there, than it is in US. From the perspective of what I did... I was actually an engineer, and I was working in the IT fields, and I was living the American dream, and then I realized that there was some kind of an emptiness, and this whole thing, and I decided to go back to Turkey and [00:01:00] study Sufism, and since my mother was actually a Sufi teacher. She decided to actually move this whole Sufism into academia. So, she basically established an institute in Istanbul - Üsküdar Istanbul - at the University of Üsküdar. The difference between this institute and the other schools, the people like myself, like engineers, coming from different disciplines, including lawyers and whatnot, they were not able to do their masters or PhDs in Sufism, because in other universities, they require for you to actually have theology backgrounds. But with this new establishment, we were able to educate people from all different disciplines and, [00:02:00] so we basically concentrated on ethics rather than the religion itself.So, a lot of people coming from different areas, especially the white-collar people, living this, like - how do I say that? - it's a world of money and materialism and all kind of that stuff. They're coming to our institute and realizing that money or career is not the only goal for life.And we started to concentrating on things like spirituality more than the materialist world.Chris: Thank you. Well, I'm very much looking forward to exploring these themes with you and a little bit of the work that you do with Kerim Vakfı.Kerim: Sure.Chris: And so for the last season of the podcast, I'm very much interested in focusing on different hospitality traditions and practices from around the [00:03:00] world, as I mentioned to you. And, one of the key themes of the podcast is radical hospitality. Now, the word “radical” comes from Latin and it means “rooted,” or we might even say “local” or “living.”And so. I'm curious if there are any radical hospitality practices that you think are unique to your place, to Istanbul, or to the Sufi community that you might be willing to share with us today?Kerim: Well, Istanbul, actually, is a very metropolitan city. So like the other metropolitan cities, we kind of lost that - what we call the hospitality of Anatolia. Anatolia is basically the Eastern part of Istanbul. And in Istanbul, we have, right now, 25 million people in a very small area. And in older days when the population was smaller, [00:04:00] we were able to show our hospitality, because the Turkish hospitality is very famous, actually. In this area the hospitality is very famous, including the, you know, Greek and Arab hospitality. Usually, it's a little bit different than the western countries.For instance, we welcome people - we used to, and probably still, in the countryside - the people coming from other cities or countries or whatnot. The locals actually helped them out as much as possible. They even invite them to their own houses and let them stay for how long they want to stay. And this was kind of like a regular thing in the old days. It's still going on very much in the eastern side of Turkey, pretty much in the countryside. [00:05:00] But Istanbul, like other cosmopolitan cities, we kinda lost that. You know, neighbourly things. We have a lot of neighbours and we we have always good... we used to have a lot of good relationship with them, but nowadays, again, because of this material world, we kind of lost this hospitality.So from the Sufi point of view, hospitality is very important. It's interesting that you mentioned the “radical.” You were talking about where “radical” come from, but you didn't talk about where “hospitality” comes from. See, there is a relationship between the hospital and the hospitality and the way the Sufis look at things is very much like the illnesses in our body are our guests. So, we don't think that they're bad for you. They're actually [00:06:00] the guests of our house for a time being. So we show them the hospitality as much as we can, and then hopefully we say goodbye to them.Chris: Wow. Wow. That's fascinating. I do know that the term “hospitality,” hospital is part of that, and hospital historically came from these notions of hospitality. I mean, in the western world in, and at least in the Christian world, there's a kind of unauthorized history in which a lot of this hospitality, as you mentioned, that was offered to the stranger, was done by the families or the individual houses or homes within a community. A stranger would come and they would ask for hospitality, ask for food and shelter, and the family would have to decide whether to do that and how to do it. [00:07:00] And then at some point, the institution of the Church kind of stepped in and said, “you know what? You don't have to do this anymore. When the stranger comes to the community, when they show up at your door, just send them to us. Just send them to the church and we'll give them what they need.”And so this did a number of things, but the two most obvious ones, I think, are that the family, the individuals in the family and the community on a grassroots level, slowly ended up losing their ability, their unique kind of familial or personal ability to host the stranger. And at the same time, of course, the church used this as a way to try to convert, the stranger.Kerim: Right.Chris: And so I'm curious if there's anything in that realm that you see in the Islamic world, maybe in the Sufi world... you mentioned that, since the [00:08:00] imposition of modernity and the industrial Revolution in the world, we see less and less possibilities for small-scale, grassroots hospitality between people, in part, because there's so much movement, and of course, because the hospital has its brothers and sisters in the sense of the “hotel” and the “hostel.”Kerim: Absolutely.Chris: So, I'm curious if there's anything like that that comes to mind for you in regards to the Islamic world.Kerim: Well, one thing is about like the Ottomans. The Ottomans, when they were coming from the Anatolia and then started conquering all those places in the Balkan area, Greece and Bulgaria, Hungary and all those places, after they actually conquered, they sent Sufis to those places. And, like in Hungary, there is a person, his name is [00:09:00] Gül Baba, which means “Rose Father.” That's what they call him. He actually has his own tekke (tekke is like a church for Sufis). And this place, it's like a school more, more like a school, but it's a religious school.And in this tekke, he actually finds all those people with needs, and he pretty much helped them out with all those needs. And the people coming from different religions, they actually started liking people like from the Turks' point of view, because the Turks were symbolized by these Sufi movements. And instead of, you know, pushing people to convert or demolishing the churches and rebuilding mosques and stuff. Instead of that, they actually [00:10:00] welcomed people from all over the world, or all over the place, basically, to stay in the tekke, to eat and to get education in the tekke. So this was a great strategy of Ottomans. That's how they actually stayed in Europe for almost like 600 years. So that was very much like, you know, their strategy, I think. And in a good way.Chris: Yeah, you know, in my research I found out that there's still Sufi orders in the Balkans a group called the Bektashi.Kerim: Right.Chris: And of course, with the very little historical understanding that I had, I was very surprised. I had no idea. But of course, when I eventually went to visit the regions that my father is from, I saw churches, synagogues, and mosques, all in the same little neighbourhoods.[00:11:00] So, quite an impressive kind of understanding that the major religions in those places could coexist for so long. And that in the context of someone who grew up in North America, who thought it was the opposite (previously) and such things are so difficult.Kerim: Right. Right.Chris: So, Kerim, a mutual friend of ours has told me, that in the Turkish language, there is a phrase (and excuse my pronunciation). The phrase is tanri misafiri.Kerim: Right.Chris: Which translates into English as something like “God's guest.”Kerim: Right.Chris: Or “the guest sent by God.”Kerim: Right. Right.Chris: And so I'm wondering if you could speak about this phrase, maybe what it means to you and where you think it comes from?Kerim: Well, in Anatolia, it's a very famous phrase. And like I said previously, you know anybody coming from somewhere else, who comes into somebody's [00:12:00] house, is allowed to stay in the house as “the guest of God,” because we believe that God has sent that guest to us and we try to... you know, it's more like making that guest happy means making God happy. So, that's the understanding of older generations.In today's metropolitan areas, I don't think it's possible because of the security problems and everything. But like I said, in the countryside, people are very welcoming when it comes to this, because it is very important that knowing that person is actually coming from God, from Allah, so we have to take care of that person as much as possible to please God, actually.So that's how it is. I still see that in many cities in the [00:13:00] more eastern side of Turkey or south side of Turkey, or even north side of Turkey except in the bigger cities. But in the smaller cities, people are much more welcoming, again because of this specific idiom, actually.Chris: From tanri misafiri?Kerim: Right. Tanri means “God” in our language. In the original Turkish language, it's tanri, and, misafiri means “ the guest.”Chris: Yeah. So beautiful. Thank you for sharing that with us.Kerim: Absolutely.Chris: And so when guests arrive in a home, you know, in English, at least in, in the context of the older traditions, it is said that the guest or the potential guest, the stranger, asks for hospitality. They don't necessarily say “ they ask for food,” which we can imagine that surely they [00:14:00] do. They don't necessarily say that “they ask for shelter” or “accommodation,” which we surely we could imagine they do. But the literature often says they ask for hospitality.And so, when we think of hospitality today, we often think about people sitting around a table eating food together. And so I'm curious if there's a shared understanding among Sufis or at least the community that you live among and in, about the importance of both eating food and eating food together.Kerim: Togetherness is probably one of the most important things in the Islamic religion. Because like even our way of worshiping God - Allah - we try to do that in a union as much as possible. It is very interesting, the words that “religion” comes from.[00:15:00] Re- means “again,” and legion means “union.”So it's almost like “religion” itself means “to recreate the union,” “to reshape the union,” “ to have the union back,” because we have the tendency to be alone. And even you can imagine that in the western countries, in the western world, a lot of people want to be alone.Like, there's a lot of individuals rather than a group of people. And in the eastern world, it's a little bit different. We are more like family-oriented people. We try to do things together. I mean, there are advantages and disadvantages obviously, but there is a difference between them.So, we always had this [notion that] “the more is better,” basically. You know, more people is better. So, we help each other, [00:16:00] we understand each other, we talk about our problems. When we try to solve them, it's easier together. And if there's pain, you know, the pain actually, can be eased with more people, easier, I think, compared to have this pain alone. So, again, we're more family-oriented people.And the Sufi are very much like that. The Sufi always pray together, and they think that it creates a n energy, basically. It produces an energy that basically helps all of them at the same time, in a union.Chris: Hmm hmm. And do you find that sitting down for a meal together also creates that kind of union, or recreates as you were saying?Kerim: I think so. Doing any kind of activities, including eating... eating is basically the most common activity [00:17:00] that we do in our daily life and getting together, to talk about our things together, and discuss things together, all those things - togetherness, when it comes to the idea of togetherness - I think, is beautiful.Chris: Hmm, hmm. Amen. Yeah, I very much agree with that, Kerim.And so, when we think about hospitality, and we think about food, we often imagine big banquet tables and as you said, this sense of togetherness and celebration.But there's also, you know, from what little I've read, there's also this important aspect of the religious life in the Islamic world, and perhaps in the Sufi world as well that points to, maybe not the absence of food, but a different way of being fed, and a different way of feeding that doesn't [00:18:00] include the food we're used to, the kind of material food. And we often refer to this as fasting. And so, there's a beautiful video that you sent me, Kerim, of your mother speaking, and she recalls a phrase in that video from her own mother who said that “when we welcome suffering, we make honey out of pain.”And so, this is a question I very much want to ask you because I've fasted myself quite intensely. I'm curious, what is the honey that comes from fasting? Or, what do you think is the honey that comes from fasting?Kerim: Right? First of all, yeah, fasting is in our religion. So, we basically do that one month in the whole year. It's called Ramadan. In some cases, we actually do that because our Prophet Muhammad, when he [00:19:00] lived, he was fasting every Monday and every Thursday. So it was like a common practice for some of the religious people. And at least we do that one month in the whole year.And obviously, that month is a little bit difficult, you know, because we not only stop eating, we also stopped drinking and all that stuff. In theory, we should not be lying, we should not be telling bad things to other people or gossiping and all that stuff, but usually we do during that time. I mean, in theory, we should not be doing that.So it's like a whole discipline thing - the whole fasting. And at the end of the thirty days, you become a really, really different person. And first of all, one thing that [00:20:00] I feel, is that you understand the people who do not have food. We still have people in the world, unfortunately, in Africa, and all those places, the people, having less access to food as we do, and we feel like, oh yeah we don't actually thank God for all those things that he's giving to us. And this is the time that you start thinking about the reality and start thanking God for actually giving us all that food, twenty-four hours, seven days [a week]. And when you are fasting during that time, you are understanding the feeling of these people, who are like poor and who cannot eat.There are people now, in the social media, we are seeing people, who never had [00:21:00] chocolates in their life. The people living in these countries or in the cities or metropolitan cities, we never think about these things.So, we take these things for granted, and during that time of fasting, you start thinking about these stuff and then you become more thankful, and that's basically honey itself, after the suffering. And I wouldn't say “suffering,” because we don't suffer as much as they do, honestly.And we're just telling our egos, “just stop for a day to do bad things and stop eating,” and all that stuff that ego wants to have. And again, it's at the end of the thirty days, you become a new person because now you have a different mentality. Now, in the other eleven months, you still forget about these things, but [00:22:00] again, it comes through. It's like a cycle.Chris: Yeah. Yeah. I totally agree with you that, you know, gratitude is the honey and...Kerim: Absolutely.Chris: ...I remember the fasting that I did over the course of four years, and I don't know if it was as intense as the fasting that happens during Ramadan, but doing that fasting and trying to feed something other than myself for a time imbued a degree of hospitality and gratitude that I don't think I had ever felt before. And it sticks to me. It sticks to my bones to this day. And it's something that, like you said, I also have to constantly remind myself of those moments when I sit down to eat a meal, because it's so easy to forget.Kerim: Absolutely. Absolutely. And one thing is [00:23:00] basically during that time of fasting, you basically stop feeding your ego, and start feeding your spirit, basically. That's what I think.Chris: That's beautiful. Yeah. I absolutely understand that. Thank you, Kerim.So my next question is around the word “ submission.” So, translated into English, the word “Islam” means “submission.” Now I've read that this word can also be translated to mean “servants of God.” Servants of God.Now in English, the word “servant” can be synonymous with “host.” A servant and a host. Now, there's a book by an author named Mona Siddiqui called Hospitality in Islam. And in that book she writes, it's actually a quote, but she writes,“'What is faith?' The Prophet replied, ‘the giving of [00:24:00] food and the exchange of greetings.' He ends on a most dramatic note saying, “a house which is not entered by guests is not entered by angels.”Kerim: Perfect. Yeah.Chris: And it seems that in this phrase, the Prophet is suggesting that the way we are with guests and strangers has something to do with how we are with the divine, which I think you kind of alluded to a little bit earlier.And so I'm curious, is this something that you've seen in your own days or in those of others that you know? Is hospitality a practice that connects us to the divine?Kerim: Absolutely. Because reaching God, you need to reach people first. To be able to reach God... when I say “reach God,” meaning be in communication with Him, is basically being in a communication [00:25:00] with the people he created. So, to serve the people is basically serving him from the Islamic point of view.So, and that's a hadith that you mentioned in the book. It's a hadith of Prophet Mohammed, like you said. And Prophet Mohammed always... it was a common practice that he was hosting maybe, you know, 10-15 people every night. And he was a poor person, by the way. I mean, he doesn't have much money, much food or anything, but they share. There was a time that... there's a story that somebody, actually, one of his apostles rather, asks him to visit him for a dinner. So he invites him to a dinner.But during his conversation, Prophet Mommed said, “can I bring my friends too?”[00:26:00]And the apostle says, “of course you can bring your friends.” And he brings hundreds of people. Now, the host only have some bread, and maybe a little bit meat, and a little bit rice in the cup.So, he was ashamed because he doesn't have any money, and the Prophet Mohammed is going to bring all those guests together, and he didn't know what to do. But he uses submission, basically.He said, well, if Prophet Mohammed is coming, then something is going to happen. And as he was thinking all those things, Prophet Mohammed puts his hand on top of the rice holder. And every time he was putting rice onto the dishes, the rice never ends, the meat never ends. So he served like 200 people during this invitation and the food never ended.[00:27:00]So he was happy for his submission, basically.Chris: Wow. Beautiful. Thank you, Kerim.Kerim: Of course.Chris: You know, you have this beautiful book - that is still in the mail, unfortunately I haven't got my hands on it yet, but I'm very much looking forward to it - called Stories From the Thirty Birds, which I understand is inspired by The Conference of the Birds, this incredible book from I think the 1300s.And I'm curious if you could tell us a little bit about that book and what, if any inspiration or maybe teachings around hospitality that come from both, The Conference of the Birds and how you've employed it in your book.Kerim: Right. The Conference of the Birds is really a beautiful story of Farid ud-Din Attar who lived in Nishapur, which is in Khorasan, in Iran, today. And he was one of the very famous [00:28:00] Sufis at that time. He was the teacher of Rumi. A lot of people know Rumi. And he wrote this book about birds, millions of birds, who are in the process of going to their king, which is the phoenix (or what we call it simurg). And during that time, during that travel, they go through seven valleys, and in each valley some of the birds get lost, because the valleys actually symbolize things.Like, the first valley is the valley of intention. So, a lot of birds actually don't have the intention to reach their king. The king is basically symbolizing Allah (God), and the birds are symbolizing us very much, and we are getting [00:29:00] lost during the time of life. Like, our intention is basically this world. If our intention is staying in this world, then we stay in this world. And that's the valley of intention.And a lot of birds, like half of them, actually, get lost in this stage.And the second valley is the valley of love. And the birds that get lost in this valley are the ones that actually think the beauty is in this world, rather than they don't see the beauty of God himself. So they see the shadow of that beauty in the world, but they're content with that beauty, and they don't really want to move on.And again, the third valley is the value of wisdom. And the birds that get lost in this valley are the ones who think that knowledge, [00:30:00] in this world, is more important than anything else, and they don't realize the source of the knowledge is actually their king.So on and so forth, they go through the seven valleys and at the end of the seventh valley, only thirty birds remain. And the thirty birds, they're ready to see their king, and they go through this mountain called Qaf, where the  simurg, the phoenix lives (behind the mountain). And it's very difficult to get there, basically. When they get there, they can't find the king over there. They only find a mirror. So, they realize the king is themselves, but more specifically, the union of thirty birds. So simurg - the [00:31:00] phoenix - in Iranian, in Persian means “thirty birds,” actually. Si is “thirty.” “Burg” is “bird,” actually.So from what we understand is, the union of ourselves, what we are seeing, is our reflection, because the king is actually a perfect mirror. But we don't see ourselves, only, we see the union of thirty birds together. So there are birds that we don't think live together. For instance, a hawk doesn't live with a smaller bird together, but in this union, they live together. There in one. And they use whatever advantage they have together. So it's almost like being one and using the characteristics of every single bird [00:32:00] itself.Chris: And I imagine that someone growing up in a culture like that, whether back then or more recently, and hearing this story or hearing it multiple times throughout their life or maybe once a year, that that notion also might arise in the way that they are with others, the way they are with strangers.Kerim: Right.Chris: And so, I have one final question for you, if that's all right?Kerim: Absolutely.Chris: So, before we say farewell I'd like to ask you about Istanbul, and I'd like to ask you about the limits to hospitality. So, last year, on a trip I took to the city I met a friend of a mutual friend of ours, and for a couple of hours we walked around the Karakoy neighbourhood and he spoke to me about how the city has changed quite a bit over the last decade.For many people who grew up in Istanbul, the city [00:33:00] might now appear to be very difficult to live in. He said that the cost of living has skyrocketed. The rents, the rent prices or costs have doubled. And much of this is a combination of tourism and gentrification in the city.Now it seems that many religious traditions speak of the importance of welcoming strangers and offering them hospitality, but they also speak of the limits to such hospitality. In one particular, hadith or saying of the Prophet Mohammed, it is said that “hospitality is for three days. Anything more is charity or sadaqah.”Again, excuse my pronunciation.Kerim: No. That's perfect pronunciation.Chris: And so I'm curious, you mentioned a little bit earlier, in the Sufi community and perhaps in the Islamic communities, there is this notion of togetherness, but also that “more is better.” And so I'm [00:34:00] curious in the context of what's happening in Istanbul and what's happening in many places around the world, do you think there should also be limits to the hospitality that is offered to the guest or stranger?Kerim: Well, of course. I mean, of course we have financial issues here, and it's very difficult for us to actually serve other people as much as we want to. But again, when we are together, even if it's very difficult to live in the city, it's still something, you know?What I see: the rent went up, like you said, so the people try to move into their family houses, the houses there of their families and everything. And in western countries, it's difficult. You usually don't do this kind of stuff, but in our community, it's much easier to do these things. And, you know, the families welcome the children [00:35:00] more than other countries. So that's something I think that's a positive thing.But to the strangers. What do we do for strangers? Obviously, we do as much as possible. We may not be able to serve them as much as we used to, obviously, before this inflation. And we have the highest inflation in the world, or probably the second-highest inflation. So again, it's difficult, and Istanbul became probably one of the most expensive cities in the world. But even that, again, we may not be able to take them to dinner every night, but we serve what we have in the house, like in the Prophet Mohammed's story.Whatever we have, we share. And, we call it bereket, as in Arabic baraka, they call it. Baraka is something [00:36:00] like... we use it for money. It's not “more money.” That's not important. How do I say that? I don't even know how to say it in English, but it's more like “the luck of the money, itself.” Basically, you may be able to buy more stuff with less money based on your luck. That's basically what we call it. Bereket. So the bereket is much more important than the amount of the money or the financial thing. And the bereket always goes up when you share it.Chris: Beautiful. Yeah, I love that. I mean, in English, not to reduce it at all, but in English we say, quality over quantity.”Kerim: Yeah, absolutely.Chris: And you said that, in order to offer hospitality or the hospitality that we would like to offer to our guests, sometimes maybe that means not doing it all the time, [00:37:00] because one simply cannot. Right. It's not possible.Kerim: Right.Chris: But yeah, it's a really beautiful point.Kerim: Rumi is a very important Sufi, probably known by many Americans. Even the world knows him. He wrote a poem, which is about the guests. So, if you don't mind, I'm gonna read that, uh, it's called the Guest House and it goes like:This human life is a guest house. Every dawn, a new visitor arrives.A gladness, a sadness, a pettiness, a flash of insights all come knocking, unannounced.Welcome them all. Make room even if a band of sorrows storms inand clears your rooms of comfort.Still honour every guest.[00:38:00] Perhaps they empty you to prepare you for something brighter.The gloomy thought, the shame, the bitterness,greet them at the door with a smile, and lead them inside.Be thankful for whoever comes, for each is sent as a messenger from the beyond.So that's a poem by Rumi, and I think it pretty much explains the whole hospitality thing.Chris: Yeah, that's a gorgeous, gorgeous poem. I love that. I'll make sure that's up on the End of Tourism website when the episode launches.And so finally, Kerim, uh, I'd like to thank you so very much for being willing to join me today, to be willing to speak in a language that is not your first, or mother tongue, and to share with us some of the beauty that has touched your days. Before we say goodbye, [00:39:00] perhaps you could tell our listeners how they can follow and learn more about Kerim Vakfı, Stories from the 30 Birds, your book, and any other projects you might want them to know about.Kerim: We have a Sufi centre in North Carolina, at the University of North Carolina. We have a centre in China, Beijing University, and another center in Kyoto University in Japan. And my mother's book about the commentary of some Quranic verses is the one. For instance, Yasin is available through Amazon and my book Stories from the 30 Birds is available on Barnes and Noble and all that other places in US.Chris: Beautiful. Well, I'll make sure that those links are all available on the End of Tourism website and on my Substack when the episode comes out. [00:40:00] And on behalf of our listeners, tesekkur, tesekkur.Kerim: I thank you. Get full access to Chris Christou at chrischristou.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode John Kantezouzenos goes to war with the wife of his deceased best friend... the previous emperor. They both fought this war out of fear that the other would destroy the empire in its time of need, and they had good reason to suspect each other. But really, all they accomplished was to speed up the empire's collapse. When they should have been working together to defend the empire from its many powerful enemies, they spent their last treasures destroying themselves, leaving the door wide open for the Ottomans to move in.The History of Modern Greece Podcast covers the events from Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the fall of Constantinople in 1453, to the years under the Ottoman Empire, and 1821 when the Greeks fought for independence... all the way to the modern-day.EMAIL US: historyofmoderngreece@gmail.comWebsite: www.moderngreecepodcast.comSOCIAL MEDIA: Go here to chat with us. https://www.instagram.com/historyofmodern%20greece/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578023316172Music by Mark Jungerman: www.marcjungermann.com

Nate emerges from a vat of paprikas boykibble to take the reins and bring us the story of The Battle of Haçova, a decisive clash between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans, the implications of the Hamburger Helper Mascot, and Smurf racism. Get the whole episode on Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/posts/152758527 We still have merch available! Check it out here www.llbdpodcast.com/

In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we return to Eugene Rogan's superb The Fall of the Ottomans to explore how military defeat and political crisis in the Balkan Wars transformed the Ottoman Empire from within—and set the stage for the birth of modern Turkey.It's remarkable how topical the story of a declining empire, seemingly in endless crisis, yet still capable of surprising its enemies, feels at this moment. But the Ottoman story is worth understanding on its own terms, not just as a mirror to our own times.We pick up the narrative in 1913, following the catastrophic First Balkan War in which the Ottomans lost most of their remaining European territories. The defeat of Edirne—a historic Ottoman city—triggered a political earthquake in Constantinople. The liberal government that had overseen the loss was overthrown, and when the Grand Vizier was assassinated in June 1913, the Committee of Union and Progress (the Young Turks) seized the opportunity to eliminate their opponents once and for all.The result was the emergence of a ruling triumvirate that would dominate the empire until its final collapse: Enver Pasha, Talat Pasha, and Cemal Pasha. More powerful than the Sultan himself, these men would lead the Ottoman Empire into the First World War and oversee both its greatest triumphs and its ultimate destruction.But 1913 also brought an unexpected gift. Bulgaria, aggrieved by the division of spoils after the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies—Greece and Serbia—sparking the Second Balkan War. With Bulgarian forces redeployed away from the Ottoman frontier, Enver Pasha seized his moment. Defying a cautious government, he led Ottoman forces back into Edirne, liberating the city on 9th July 1913 to national euphoria. The hero of the 1908 revolution became the liberator of Edirne, and the CUP gained unprecedented popular support.Yet this victory masked deeper problems. The same crisis that brought the Young Turks to power also intensified their centralising, Turkifying policies—measures that would alienate the empire's Arab provinces. Arabic was displaced from schools and courts, Turkish officials replaced experienced Arab civil servants, and demands for autonomy were met with police crackdowns.Eugene Rogan traces the emergence of Arabist societies, from Al-Fatah in Paris (which envisaged a dual Turco-Arab monarchy on the Austro-Hungarian model) to the Ottoman Decentralisation Party in Cairo. These organisations sought not independence but greater rights within the empire—a federal system, cultural autonomy, equal status with Turks. But the CUP, at the height of the Balkan crisis, was in no mood to compromise.When the Beirut Reform Society published a manifesto calling for administrative decentralisation in 1913, Ottoman authorities closed its offices and ordered it to disband. A week of strikes and protests ended with prisoners released—but the society never reopened. Arabism went underground, and with it, the possibility of holding the empire together through compromise and cooperation.Empires die, or they evolve. Those that lack the capacity to fend off external threats while accommodating internal diversity through assimilation, compromise, and cooperation—those are the ones that tend to die more rapidly. The Ottoman story is a lesson in what happens when a ruling elite, facing existential crisis, chooses centralisation over conciliation.Topics covered:The political fallout from the loss of EdirneThe assassination of Grand Vizier Mahmud Şevket PashaThe CUP's purge of liberal opponentsThe rise of the triumvirate: Enver, Talat, and Cemal PashaThe Second Balkan War and Bulgaria's fatal miscalculationEnver's recapture of Edirne and its propaganda valueThe emergence of Arabist societies and their demandsThe CUP's centralising, Turkifying policiesThe closure of the Beirut Reform SocietyThe shift from imperial to national identityExplaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A major thank you to Octavian for sponsoring today's stream. In this stream I dive into the life of Michael the Brave, a man who took on the Ottoman, Austrian, and Polish-Lithuanian Empires all to unite Romania for the first time in history. Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless

Here's some real news that will shock the normal people. Scripted world events are happening that the MSM won't touch. Subscribing to rigid ideologies generates worldwide problems. Russia's balancing act on energy is looking shaky. They lose, we don't. Eurasian struggles occur over power issues. Control the tap and call the shots. The huge geopolitical lessons of the day. Real wars occur that aren't on TV. The geographic chessboard is real. Let's start with the recent history of Yugoslavia. It got help in falling apart. Regional power struggles in action. Find fault lines and wire them to explode. History's extraordinary ironies are showing. The Ottoman Empire represented the beating heart of Islam. Turkey created Sharia law. Yes, our intel people were involved. No American citizens are dying for Israel. Geography provides unreal dynamics, and genocide. Cyprus was always screwed. The world's throat is the Bosporus Straight. Who are the new Ottomans? Erdogan is playing big cards. China's Belt and Road project produces political pressures. We needed Turkey, so that changed NATO's game. Don't forget the Saudi Turkey shadow war to control Sunni Islam. For those understanding the puzzle, the pieces are fitting together in an alarming way.

Aventurière, archéologue, espionne, parlant l'arabe et le persan, elle fut la première femme puissante de l'Empire britannique, mais aussi une héroïne tragique. Au lendemain de la Première Guerre mondiale, Gertrude Bell a dessiné les frontières de l'Orient, dans ce désert sauvage où tout a commencé : le pays entre deux fleuves, le Tigre et l'Euphrate, la Mesopotamie. Éclipsée par Thomas Edward Lawrence, alias Lawrence d'Arabie, par ailleurs son ami, Gertrude Bell est au coeur du dernier roman d'Olivier Guez, Mesopotamia (Seuil). Mythique et maudite, la Mésopotamie verra son destin chavirer lors de la découverte, à l'aube de la Première guerre Mondiale, de gigantesques gisements pétroliers, convoités par les Britanniques, Français, Allemands, et Ottomans. Sous les tentes bédouines ou dans les rues ensablées de Bagdad, le tracé de Gertrude Bell sera celui de l'Irak, dont elle dessinera les frontières et d'une première mondialisation sous l'égide d'un Empire Britannique alors à son apogée. sujets traités : Gertrude Bell, reine, désert, Mésopotamie, Aventurière, archéologue, espionne, Lawrence d'Arabie, Bagdad, Empire Britannique Merci pour votre écoute Un Jour dans l'Histoire, c'est également en direct tous les jours de la semaine de 13h15 à 14h30 sur www.rtbf.be/lapremiere Retrouvez tous les épisodes d'Un Jour dans l'Histoire sur notre plateforme Auvio.be :https://auvio.rtbf.be/emission/5936 Intéressés par l'histoire ? Vous pourriez également aimer nos autres podcasts : L'Histoire Continue: https://audmns.com/kSbpELwL'heure H : https://audmns.com/YagLLiKEt sa version à écouter en famille : La Mini Heure H https://audmns.com/YagLLiKAinsi que nos séries historiques :Chili, le Pays de mes Histoires : https://audmns.com/XHbnevhD-Day : https://audmns.com/JWRdPYIJoséphine Baker : https://audmns.com/wCfhoEwLa folle histoire de l'aviation : https://audmns.com/xAWjyWCLes Jeux Olympiques, l'étonnant miroir de notre Histoire : https://audmns.com/ZEIihzZMarguerite, la Voix d'une Résistante : https://audmns.com/zFDehnENapoléon, le crépuscule de l'Aigle : https://audmns.com/DcdnIUnUn Jour dans le Sport : https://audmns.com/xXlkHMHSous le sable des Pyramides : https://audmns.com/rXfVppvN'oubliez pas de vous y abonner pour ne rien manquer.Et si vous avez apprécié ce podcast, n'hésitez pas à nous donner des étoiles ou des commentaires, cela nous aide à le faire connaître plus largement. Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Historian Faisal Husain wrote the book "Rivers of the Sultan: The Tigris and Euphrates in the Ottoman Empire" and in this episode, helps us explore the history of the Tigris and Euphrates. He argued for the necessity of understanding human history within the context of geological time, discussing the rivers' origins roughly 20 million years ago, tracing their influence on civilization from the "agricultural revolution" (which some scholars argue was a mistake leading to health issues) to the rise of early urban centers like the Sumerian cities. The conversation highlights the difference between the gentle Euphrates, which attracted early settlements, and the fast and unpredictable Tigris. Shifting to the Ottoman era, Husain examines the environmental challenges of Ottoman Iraq, which was poor in essential resources like grain, metal, and wood suited for construction, and details the extraordinary story of the Euphrates river changing its course in the late 1600s due to a poorly dug irrigation canal. He emphasizes the cultural importance of the palm tree and the vital role of water buffaloes, which made life possible for a quarter of the Iraqi population in the wetlands, whose fate would have otherwise been migration to seek resources and refuge elsewhere. 0:00 Introduction1:47 When Did the Tigris and Euphrates Start?3:04 The Importance of Deep History5:49 Geological Origins: 20 Million Years Ago7:37 When the Rivers Began to Matter to Homo Sapiens10:40 The Rationale for Writing Deep History12:00 Starting Middle East History Before 6th Century Arabia14:45 The Difference Between the Twin Rivers17:05 Why Sumerian Civilization Clustered on the Euphrates20:36 Questioning the Agricultural Revolution23:16 How Agriculture Began: Trial and Error27:00 The Consequences of Taming Nature30:40 The Ottoman Conquest of Iraq32:20 Why Iraq Was Environmentally Poor for a Major Power36:06 Iraq's Default Status Under Iranian States38:25 Baghdad in the 16th Century42:25 The Euphrates Shifts Course (Late 1600s)47:09 Water Buffaloes: The Essential Technology of the Wetlands49:28 Ranking the Most Important Crops51:03 Evliya Çelebi: The Traveler54:49 Ottoman vs. European Traveler Perspectives58:35 The Book Cover: Baghdad on the Tigris Faisal Husain is an environmental historian of the Ottoman Empire, with a geographical focus on its eastern provinces in Anatolia and Iraq and a temporal focus on the early modern period. His first book "Rivers of the Sultan" examined the role of the Tigris and Euphrates in the establishment of Ottoman state institutions in the Ottoman eastern borderland between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. His second book project is an environmental history of Ottoman frontier expansion east of the Euphrates during the sixteenth century. He is co-editing a book on the global histories of animals (under contract with Oxford University Press) with Emily Wakild (Boise State University) and Nancy Jacobs (Brown University). In 2024-2025, he served as a senior lecturer at Boğaziçi University's Department of History in Istanbul through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. He serves on several editorial boards, including those of Marmara Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi (Marmara University), Global Environment (White Horse Press), and the “Middle East Environmental Histories” book series (Leiden University Press). Hosted by: Mikey Muhanna

Our Election in Christ (7)  (audio) David Eells – 2/15/26 I'm going to continue speaking today about election and talk about the children and the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that giveth life; … (Joh.6:63). In the Book of Romans, we found out that before Jacob and Esau were even born, Jacob was called God's elect. (Rom.9:10) And not only so; but Rebecca also having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac— (11) for [the children] being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, (12) it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. (13) Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. Well, just as I'm sure you have questions, I had some questions, too, when I got this far in my revelation about election and predestination. What about the children? What about the babies? What about the doctrine of an “age of reason” that the Church has had for so many years? They say every child goes to be with the Lord, if they die before they reach the “age of reason,” and after that age, then they become accountable. Then it becomes their responsibility to accept the Lord and walk with the Lord. And so on. To me, that doctrine seemed contrary to election, according to everything I understood. I really wanted to know for myself, so I began to do some research. I decided to seek out how all of this fits together about children and election, but I want to remind you that both Jacob and Esau went past the stage of childhood; Jacob went on to manifest as a vessel of honor, and Esau as a vessel of dishonor. Neither one of them died as a child or as a baby. Let me share with you what I discovered. We know that, according to election, there are sons of God and sons of the devil, based on what God makes out of the clay and what a person becomes in their life (Romans 9:21). But, according to nature, I'd like to show you another teaching: (Heb.12:9) Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of [our] spirits, and live? Some translations add in the word “our” to “Father of spirits” in this verse, but the word “our” is not in the ancient manuscripts of the Nestle's or Received Text, and there's no numeric pattern for that word to be there. He's the “Father of spirits,” as He's called elsewhere in the Bible. You may be questioning, “So is God the Father of our spirits or is He the Father of every spirit?” The answer can be found here: (Num.16:22) And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? And another place says in (Num.27:16) Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation. That gives us two witnesses that He's “God of the spirits of all flesh.” When God breathed into Adam the breath, or the spirit, of life, the spirit that He gave Adam was a fresh, clean human spirit (Genesis 2:7), and I believe God gives everyone a fresh, clean human spirit. Now I want you to look at something that you may find surprising. Once you understand election and God's predestination of the elect, you can see how there are sons of God and there are sons of the devil. We've seen that the “wheat” are the sons of God and the “tares” are the sons of the devil. The wheat and the tares were sown in the earth, and in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24,36-43), the earth was the hearts of men. Universally, the hearts of men are that “earth” in which God sows His seed and in which the devil sows his seed. But what about that heart before it manifested the seed of God or the seed of the devil? When Paul preached to the pagans at the Areopagus, he told them, (Act.17:24) The God that made the world and all [things] (The word “things” is not in the original; it was added by the translators.) therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; (25) neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all [things]. Again, the word “things” is not in the original. “He giveth to all life, and breath.” The word there for “breath” is the Greek word pneuma, and it's the same word translated as “spirit” in other places in the New Testament. The words “breath” and “spirit” both come from the same word pneuma, which is where we get our word for “air.” As we read on down, we're going to see if this word “all” really means “all” because this word “all” has to be judged by its context in the rest of the Scripture. We read again this text without “things.” (Act.17:25) Neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all; (26) and he made of one every nation of men (God made all men) to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined [their] appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation (Everybody came from Adam according to (Act 17:26) and he made of one every nation of men… And, Eve is called the “mother of all living” in Genesis 3:20, so we know that everybody came from Adam and Eve, contrary to some doctrines of men.); (27) that they should seek God, if happily they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us (That shows each person on this earth is individually responsible for seeking God, but not everybody will do that and they are going to be held responsible.): (28) for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Paul is agreeing with what those pagans were saying about us receiving our being in God. He's saying that it's true. (Act.17:28) For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. “We are also His offspring.” You know, Christians like to correct this theology and say, “For we are all children of God.” That's not true because we are not all children of God, but we are all His offspring in a way. Then Paul goes on to say, (29) Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man. (30) The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent: (31) inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Well, how are we all the “offspring of God”? (Joh.1:1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All [things] were made through him (He's talking about people, not things, which is not in the numeric pattern. The Greek word there is the adjective pas, and it simply means “all, the whole, every kind of.”); and without him was not anything made that hath been made. So the Word made everything; He made Adam. We can read a confirmation of this here: (Col.1:16) For in him were all [things] created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him. Everything was created through Jesus and for Jesus. He is the first-born of the creation of God. This is talking about from the very beginning of all creation. It all came to be because it was created through Christ. (Joh.1:4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And over in Proverbs it says, (Pro.20:27) The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all his innermost parts. The Father created all things through Christ, and Christ was the medium through which the Father used to create all things and all men as in these texts. It was Jesus, the Son of God Who created all things and breathed into Adam. (Gen.2:7) And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Or the “spirit.” The Hebrew word there is neshamah and is translated as both “breath” and “spirit” in the Old Testament.); and man became a living soul. The Bible says that the first man, Adam, was a natural being. (1Co.15:44) It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual [body]. (45) So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (46) Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual. (47) The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven. (48) As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. His natural man came from the earth, but his spirit came from God. God breathed into Adam, and the breath, the Spirit, came out of God and went into man. Some theologians like to argue that the “breath of life” is the “breath of lives.” I'm not sure about that, but we know that in the loins of Adam, in the seed of Adam, was all mankind (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). And God breathed into Adam a fresh, clean, pure Spirit to be the spirit of man, but it wasn't long after this that instead of following after his spirit, man followed his flesh and corrupted himself on the earth. (Gen.6:12) And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. (17) And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon this earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is in the earth shall die. Adam started out innocent before God, but in following his flesh, he got further and further away from God, and Adam's children got further and further away from God, until God had to destroy them. Truly, nothing has changed; we're in the same position today. God gives the natural child a fresh, clean spirit, which is the breath of life that He breathes into them. With this spirit, they have an opportunity to follow their spirit, and your conscience is a part of your spirit, so when you're following your conscience, you are following your spirit. We have to choose. You can follow your conscience, or you can follow your flesh, and as we know, everybody follows after their flesh. (Joh.1:5) And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not. This sounds very much like what Peter said: (2Pe.1:19) And we have the word of prophecy [made] more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp (We've learned that the “lamp” is the “spirit of man,” according to Proverbs 20:27.) shining in a dark place (The “dark place” is your soul, which is your mind, will and emotions.), until the day dawn, and the daystar arise in your hearts. In the beginning, God gave Adam a “lamp” and it shined forth into his human nature, but Adam's offspring, who all started out the same way, began to follow after their flesh more and more, which corrupted their soul and eventually corrupted their spirit. If we follow after the flesh, the soul is going to be corrupted, and then when we follow our corrupted soul, our spirit will eventually be corrupted. Everybody starts out with a fresh, clean spirit, but they also start out with the corrupt nature that was passed down to them through their parents. “The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” The last Adam, or Jesus, is the one who gives us a new spirit when we are born again and become a new creation. (2Co.5:17) Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. Jesus is the second Adam; He is the Father of a new, born-again creation because the first creation corrupted itself. Except for one thing, babies start out in the place of Adam because they are given a fresh, clean spirit from God, one that's not corrupted. However, their soul is corrupted because their parents passed on their blood. (Lev.17:11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life. That gives the child a lot to overcome. The Bible says of God, (Exo.34:6) And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, (7) keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation. So we see that the sins of the parents are also passed down to the children from one generation to another generation and on and on. So, live holy. (Joh.1:6) There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. (7) The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. (8) He was not the light, but [came] that he might bear witness of the light. (9) There was the true light, [even the light] which lighteth every man, coming into the world. This should be turned around because the numeric pattern proves that the sequence is wrong. What it actually says is, “The true light was, which coming into the world, lighteth every man.” Jesus is the true light that “lighteth every man.” (12) But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God. As far as the new creation, Jesus' spirit is that new spirit that comes into every man as their lamp to show them the way. It shines in the dark place of their soul in order to dispel the darkness. You can see the same pattern repeated with babies. Like Adam at the beginning of creation, Jesus breathes into them the spirit of life, and they start out innocent when they are born, but they don't stay that way long. And the Bible doesn't teach that it has anything to do with some so-called “age of reason”; theologians have come up with that doctrine. What the Bible does say is, (Isa.53:6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.... Well, in order to go astray, you had to have been with God in the first place. (Rom.3:9) What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we before laid to the charge both of Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin (Of course, the Greeks weren't under the Old Covenant. Paul is talking about the New Covenant.); (10) as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one; (11) There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God (He's talking about the Jews and the Gentiles.); (12) They have all turned aside, they are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no, not, so much as one. They all turned aside. Jews and Gentiles all turned aside. That means, in some way, they started out with God. In some way, babies start out with God. (Psa.58:3) The wicked are estranged from the womb: They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. This says they start going astray from the time they are born, but at birth, they are with God. They go astray because they follow their fallen nature, instead of following after their fresh, clean spirit, which was given from God. They go astray following after their flesh and become more and more corrupt. If you have a clean spirit, but you follow after the flesh, your soul will die. (Job.36:8) And if they be bound in fetters, And be taken in the cords of afflictions; (9) Then he showeth them their work, And their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly. (10) He openeth also their ear to instruction, And commandeth that they return from iniquity. (11) If they hearken and serve [him], They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures. (12) But if they hearken not, they shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge. (13) But they that are godless in heart lay up anger: They cry not for help when he bindeth them. (14) They die in youth.... “Their soul dieth” is what it literally says in the original Hebrew and your Bible should have a footnote explaining this. Strong's concordance is based on the Received Text and uses noar, which is a different Hebrew word altogether. (14) They die in soul, And their life [perisheth] among the unclean. (15) He delivereth the afflicted by their affliction, And openeth their ear in oppression. (16) Yea, he would have allured thee out of distress Into a broad place, where there is no straitness; And that which is set on thy table would be full of fatness. (17) But thou art full of the judgment of the wicked: Judgment and justice take hold [on thee.] (18) For let not wrath stir thee up against chastisements; Neither let the greatness of the ransom turn thee aside. Therefore, if a person were to listen to the Lord and follow after the Lord, their soul wouldn't die, but the natural process of degeneration sets in as soon as a person is born. They begin to go astray by following after their flesh, but the point is that they don't start out that way; they start out with the Lord. I don't think responsibility has anything to do with reaching an “age of reason.” I think that responsibility has more to do with the degeneration of the spirit than it does with reason. Children who are raised up with Godly parents, parents who discipline them and teach them the truth, don't become as corrupt as quickly as other children. Their conscience doesn't become as defiled as that of other children because discipline is a motivation to do what is right. It's a motivation to obey your conscience and obey your spirit, and not obey your flesh. If a child is raised with discipline, they don't become corrupted as quickly as a child who is not raised with discipline. Little children go bad and become evil very quickly without any discipline, and that's why I don't think that there is any particular age called the “age of reason,” where God imputes responsibility. It's not an age that makes you accountable; it's truth that makes you accountable. The more truth you go against, the more your conscience is defiled. The Bible is very plain: (Jas.4:17) To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. That doesn't mention any particular age. “To him it is sin,” but where there was no law or, in other words, when they didn't know that what they were doing was sin, then sin was not imputed to them. (Rom.5:13) For until the law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Being held responsible has to do with knowledge; knowledge determines whether God imputes iniquity to you or whether He doesn't impute iniquity to you. Yet, knowledge must be incorporated to bear fruit. I believe that whether a child is raised with discipline or whether they're not raised with discipline, they end up in the same place. Eventually, what happens is that their soul and spirit become corrupt. At that time, they need to be born again. I can't say if there's any particular age for that because the Bible doesn't teach it. But somewhere during that time, I believe that a person whose spirit becomes corrupt must be born again; their spirit must be born again. Adam was pure before God when he was in his innocence, even though he was not born again. That was the natural birth that he had. It was when Adam got away from his innocence that he fell. God gave Adam a clean spirit and He gave Adam only one law, but still Adam failed. He followed the flesh and he fell away. Now there is a place of innocence from childhood on up because of ignorance. Let me show you that in the story of Abijah, the son of Jeroboam. Jeroboam was a wicked king over the northern 10 tribes, and he led Israel into apostasy. God had prophesied to him that he was going to be King over Israel (1 Kings 11:29-37; 12:20), but he led Israel in the wrong way (1 Kings 12:26-33; 13:33,34). When Jeroboam's son was sick, he asked his wife to disguise herself and go to the prophet Ahijah to see what was going to happen to their son. God spoke to Ahijah the prophet, who was blind, and told him that Jeroboam's wife was coming, and God gave Ahijah a word of prophecy for her. (1Ki.14:7) Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel, (8) and rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee; and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes, (9) but hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: (10) therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every man-child, him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweepeth away dung, till it be all gone. (11) Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the birds of the heavens eat: for the Lord hath spoken it. (12) Arise thou therefore, get thee to thy house: [and] when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. (13) And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. Here, this child's parents were some of the most wicked in all of Israel, yet there was something good in this child toward the Lord. I believe the Lord was saying that the child's spirit was still good. Do you remember what happened when the disciples wanted to know who was the greatest? (Mat.18:1) In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (2) And he called to him a little child, and set him in the midst of them, (3) and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. (4) Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. What was Jesus talking about? Jesus was showing the disciples how a little child is submissive. In every case in the Gospels, it says “little child” (Mark 10:15; Luke 9:47) because, as you know, some older children are not submissive and trusting of their father; they're not clean on the inside. Another place of innocence is a child who is killed by abortion or dies from miscarriage. (Ecc.6:3) If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth (In other words, speaking of a miscarriage.) is better than he. So a man can live a full life, but not live in the goodness of the Lord, and not be a vessel of honor. This is saying it's better to have been born dead. (4) For it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness; (5) moreover it hath not seen the sun nor known it; this hath rest rather than the other: (6) yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet enjoy no good, do not all go to one place? He's talking about death here, not about going to the same place in Sheol, because this man went to Hades and the child went to Abraham's Bosom, but they both went to Sheol (Luke 16:22-26). This shows us that God at least considers innocency among children or babies. Abijah was a small child and God did not impute iniquity to this small child. That leads me to believe the further we get away from birth, the more dangerous it becomes because we become more responsible as we acquire knowledge. Innocency is not based on some “age of accountability” or “age of reason,” as theologians have told us, because you can't find that in the Bible. Saints, God imputes iniquity with knowledge. (Jas.4:17) To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. God showed His election through Jacob, who manifested a vessel of honor, and Esau, who manifested a vessel of dishonor. This is what they were elected to do. Although every child is born with a fresh, clean spirit, they also receive the nature of their parents, and so they have a choice to make. They can choose to follow after their spirit, or they can choose to follow after the nature of their parents. As we've seen, everyone chooses to go the way of the flesh, and then their soul becomes corrupt, and eventually their spirit becomes corrupt. When the spirit becomes corrupt, that child has to be born again to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. I haven't found that there is any particular age at which the spirit becomes corrupt for all mature differently. Some children are raised with discipline and are more conscientious, while others are raised with no discipline, and they become very corrupt, very quickly, but I do believe that when the spirit dies, that person is responsible before God, and they must be born again. Yes, we are given a fresh, clean spirit from God when we are born, but that spirit dies from following after the flesh, and it becomes corrupt. This is what I'm calling “death” here. It's not a physical lack of existence but the spirit becoming corrupt. When that happens, then we are held responsible. Jesus was the one who breathed into Adam the breath of life, and as the Scriptures tell us, (Joh.1:1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made. (4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (Col.1:16) For in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; (17) and he is before all things, and in him all things consist. God the Father created everything through Christ. There is nothing created that wasn't created through Christ. Jesus breathed into Adam the breath of life, but the whole race of Adam fell and became corrupt. Then Jesus, the second Adam (1Corinthians 15:47), breathed again; He breathed His spirit of life into His new creation. And, did you know that you still don't have to follow your spirit after being born again? You can, once again, choose to follow your flesh. A born-again person has the opportunity to follow their spirit and go with God, or they can follow their fallen nature and go the way of the rest of creation. We were given a fresh, clean human spirit from God, like Christ's human spirit, but we have a fallen soul because “the life of the flesh is in the blood.” That means after we are born again, we must overcome the disadvantage of the fallen nature that was passed on to us through our parents. The apostle Paul explains to us about his battle against the fallen nature that was passed on to him. He says, (Rom.7:23) I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. (24) Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? He wanted power over the body of death. Paul was a Christian, and he wanted to serve God. Do you know what God did to give Christians power over the body of death? He gave them the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a person doesn't have that power. I'll prove this to you: (Rom.8:7) Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: (8) and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (9) But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God (that's the Holy Spirit) dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ (that's your born-again spirit), he is none of his. Christ was man in that He had a human spirit, soul, and body. He was God in that the Holy Spirit dwelt in His spirit. (1:3) Concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, (4) who was declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness. This in turn affected His DNA. When we are born again, our human spirit is born again. The Holy Spirit comes to do three things. Jesus said, (Joh.16:14) He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall declare [it] unto you. First, the Holy Spirit comes to give us the Spirit of Christ, which is our born-again spirit, our fresh, clean spirit. Second, as we follow the Holy Spirit, our soul becomes born again. If we bear fruit in the realm of the soul, we will receive a born-again body. This is the manifestation of Christ in you, spirit, soul and body. Even if you have the Spirit of Christ, if you don't have the Holy Spirit, you don't have power over the body. (Rom.8:9) But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. If you don't have the Spirit of Christ in you, or, in other words, if you don't have a born-again human spirit, you don't belong to Him because Jesus had a born-again human spirit. (10) And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin (That's the situation Paul was in.); but the spirit is life because of righteousness. Before the disciples received the Holy Spirit, even though they had received their born-again spirit, they didn't have the greater power over the flesh. As Jesus said to them, (Mat.26:41) … The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Did they have a born-again human spirit? Yes. Jesus told His disciples, (Joh.15:3) Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. You can't be clean without a born-again spirit, and they had a reborn spirit through the Word that was spoken into them. Paul says, “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness.” So here you have a born-again person who is born-again in their spirit, but they don't have the greater power over their body, “the body of death.” Paul was crying out, “Who shall deliver me from this body of death?” Christians didn't have the greater power over their “body of death” until they received the Holy Spirit. (Rom.8:11) But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you (that's the Holy Spirit), he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you. People think this is talking about the resurrection of the dead, but Paul said, “shall give life also to your mortal bodies.” That's talking about this physical body. Where you had death in your mortal body and had no greater power over it, God gave you life through His Spirit that dwells in you. Paul is talking about two different spirits here. Most religions I've experienced teach that when you are born again, that's when you receive the Holy Spirit. Even the Pentecostal denominations say, “When you are born again, you receive the Holy Spirit, but when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, you receive more of it.” Again, that's not what the Bible teaches. You can't find a place in the New Testament where the Christians didn't go on to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit as soon as they found out about it. It was never supposed to be optional, the way it is today. I'm not saying that a person is lost if they don't have the Holy Spirit because Paul said a person belonged to God if they had the spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9); they just didn't have the greater power without having the Holy Spirit of God. As a matter of fact, back in the Old Testament, we can find the same New Covenant promise of receiving the Holy Spirit, and one of the clearest places to see it is in Ezekiel. (Eze.36:24) For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. (25) And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean.... This is what Jesus did with His disciples. He told them, (Joh.15:3) Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. God gave them a born-again spirit through the Word. He said in (6:63) It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. He spoke life into them. (Eze.36:25) And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. (26) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you (Theologians put a lowercase “s” here and I believe they're right. The word “spirit” here should be a lowercase “s” because it's talking about your human spirit.); and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. (27) And I will put my Spirit (They capitalized “Spirit” here, and they're right again. This is talking about the Holy Spirit.) within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.... The Holy Spirit is power from God. (Act.1:8) But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the power to be a witness by walking as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6). (2Co.3:2) Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men; (3) being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh. You see, it's how you live your life, not just what you say, that makes you a witness. (Eze.36:27) And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them. (28) And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. As soon as the Church started, the baptism of the Holy Spirit came right along with baptism in water. How did the Church go so far astray as to think that people can live the Christian life without everything that God provided? It was never meant to be that way. We are commanded to be full of the spirit of God. (Eph.5:15) Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; (16) redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (17) Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (18) And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; (19) speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord. If you obey the corrupt nature that's been passed on to you genetically through your parents, you will begin to fall into corruption: first flesh, then soul, then spirit. The “death” is continually taking place because the more corrupt you become, the more dead you become. It's a spiritual death, not a physical death, but it ends in physical death because our spirit is our connection with the Holy Spirit. When our spirit is given to us at birth, it's clean and pure. In Hebrews (10:22,26,27; 11:15-17), the Bible talks about “defiling” your conscience. Your conscience is a part of your spirit, and it tells you right from wrong, but the more you disobey and ignore your conscience, it will become more and more quiet. Eventually, if we don't listen to our spirit, we come to the place where we don't hear it anymore, and that means we come to the place where we aren't led by it anymore. As a child grows up, they become more and more corrupt because they follow their flesh. I believe that the corruption process may be slower if you raise up a child in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6; 23:13,14), but still they are going to fall into corruption. They will need to be born again because they don't have the Holy Spirit to empower them to follow their human spirit. The devil wants to take possession of our soul, which is our mind, will, and emotions, and he does this through our flesh. God wants to take possession of our souls, but the way He takes possession is through our spirit. So here we are with our soul, or in other words, our natural life, our nature, in the middle. We've been given a spirit, and we've been given flesh. As a born-again Christian, we have a decision to make: Are we going to follow the flesh and die, or are we going to follow the Spirit and live? If we follow the Spirit, we're following God. If we follow the flesh, we're following the devil. When a child is born, they don't have the spirit of God, so they don't have the ability to make a choice. They always follow the flesh, and they always die in their soul but less so with good parenting. When I say “die,” I'm talking about spiritual death while you are alive because you are held accountable when you know to do good. (Jas.4:17) To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Sin is imputed when you know what's right and what's wrong. (Rom.5:13) For until the law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. The older a child gets, the quieter their conscience becomes because they get more and more used to disobeying and rebelling against it. And so they come to the place where they must be born again. Jesus is not saying that a little child must be born again. A little child doesn't have to be born again to enter the Kingdom because their spirit is not dead yet, but the older they become, the more corrupt their soul becomes, and then the more corrupt their spirit becomes until they must be born again in order to see the Kingdom of Heaven. A little child is very open to God. Their spirit is still alive. You can talk to them about God, and they understand, and they easily receive what you teach them, but if you don't teach them anything, they don't have that strength. We have to train our spirit to take the sword of the Spirit. (Eph.6:13) Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil [one]. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The Word of God is our sword, Saints. Without the Word of God, your spirit is defenseless. You need to educate your spirit by putting the Word of God in there. When I was a little child in the Catholic Church, they told me certain things were wrong that weren't wrong, and so if I did them, my conscience smote me. Even when I was a little child, my conscience told me when I was doing wrong. The Bible tells us that this is true, and we are never supposed to go against our conscience but rather educate it. (Rom.13:5) Wherefore [ye] must needs be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience' sake. And here's another example: (1Co.10:25) Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no question for conscience' sake, (26) for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. (27) If one of them that believe not biddeth you [to a feast,] and ye are disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience' sake. (28) But if any man say unto you, This hath been offered in sacrifice, eat not, for his sake that showed it, and for conscience' sake: (29) conscience, I say, not thine own, but the other's; for why is my liberty judged by another conscience? (30) If I partake with thankfulness, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? (31) Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (32) Give no occasion of stumbling, either to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God: (33) even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the [profit] of the many, that they may be saved. When I became born again, I had to re-educate my conscience according to the Word of God in order to have the sword of the Spirit. The sword belongs to the Spirit; it doesn't belong to the flesh. The Word of God empowers your spirit to win the battle against your flesh and the devil. (Eph.6:12) For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood (This is referring to fighting with physical weapons against physical enemies.), but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]. Did you know that it's possible to have the baptism of the Holy Spirit but still not obey the Holy Spirit? Just because you have the Holy Spirit doesn't profit you. What matters is that you are walking in faith and obeying the Holy Spirit because, if you are not walking in faith, you're not going to get anywhere. People who are filled with the Holy Spirit walk closer to God. They have more faith, and they have power over the flesh. Jesus said, (Act.1:8) But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. But you can offend the Holy Spirit and become reprobate, or rejected, by the Holy Spirit. (Eph.4:30) And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption. How do you “grieve” the Holy Spirit? (Heb.6:4) For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, (5) and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, (6) and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (7) For the land which hath drunk the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receiveth blessing from God: (8) but if it beareth thorns and thistles, it is rejected (This is the Greek word adokimos and it means “failing to pass the test; unapproved; counterfeit”; or, in other words, “reprobated.”) and nigh unto a curse; whose end is to be burned. You grieve the Holy Spirit by not doing His works and therefore you don't bear any fruit. The ultimate end of this is reprobation. (Tit.1:15) To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. (16) They profess that they know God; but by their works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. Did you know that just because you are filled with the Holy Spirit doesn't mean you are going to stay filled with the Holy Spirit? I know this is contrary to what many Pentecostal denominations teach, but if you look in the Book of Acts, you'll see that the same people who were filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost were later filled again with the Holy Spirit. (Act.2:4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. So they were filled with the Holy Spirit and then after Peter and John were released from prison, they prayed, (4:31) And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, (30) while thy stretchest forth thy hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy Servant Jesus. (31) And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness. The same people were refilled with the Holy Spirit. You ask, “David, why would somebody need to be filled with the Spirit more than once?” Jesus gives us the answer. He said, (Joh.7:38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. (39) But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive. The power of the Holy Spirit flows out and is used up as we minister according to the command of Jesus. Notice, it's a river, not a pond. (Mat.10:7) And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. (8) Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give. I'm not saying that the Holy Spirit ever leaves you completely; I'm saying that it takes staying in fellowship with God to stay filled with the Holy Spirit. It's not just a one-time thing, like some Pentecostals believe. We just read, (Act.4:31) And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. How can you be filled twice, unless you've been emptied once? If Jesus taught that out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of the Spirit,” then this power is imparted to the need around you. It has to come out, and then it has to be replenished. The point is that we have to maintain our relationship with God because, if we don't, we won't stay filled with the Holy Spirit. Even so, the gifts of God are without repentance (Romans 11:29). He won't take the gifts back. For instance, He won't necessarily take speaking in tongues back, but you may speak in tongues and yet not be filled with the Holy Spirit. A person has to stay filled with the Holy Spirit, as the Bible clearly teaches in Acts. The people who were preaching in Acts 2 were the same people who were filled with the Holy Spirit again in Acts 4. Personally, I believe you have the capacity to receive more of the Spirit when you are full of the Word of God. Jesus said, (Joh.6:63) It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. Therefore, if you receive more of His Word, you will receive more of His Spirit. That's why Jesus breathed on the disciples and in (20:22) … saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit, even though it wasn't manifested until Pentecost, when the rushing mighty wind came.” Most Pentecostal denominations believe that having the Holy Spirit makes you a shoo-in for the Kingdom of Heaven, but having the Holy Spirit doesn't make you immune to sin. Having the Holy Spirit is not what saves you. Some have the Spirit but don't serve Him.  Obeying the Holy Spirit is what saves you from sin. (Rom.8:11) But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Life came out of Jesus. Life came out of His Words when He spoke. Life came out of Him when He laid hands on people. Life came out of His garment and healed the woman who touched Him. Life was in Him and that life was imparted to others, but that's not the case with a person who's not filled with the Holy Spirit. It's more difficult to walk with God, without being filled with the Holy Spirit. From the Book of Acts, you can see that the very foundation of Christianity is to repent, receive a born-again spirit, and then be filled with the Holy Spirit. The typology of the Temple in the Old Covenant makes this very clear. We are supposed to be temples “not made with hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1; Acts 7:47-49) or, in other words, without the works of man. (1Co.6:19) Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; (20) for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body. When Solomon built the Temple, it represented the house “made without hands,” so there couldn't be the sound of tools, symbolizing man's works, while they were building it (1 Kings 6:7). After the Temple was built and they had sanctified it (1 Kings 8:1-9; 2 Chronicles 5:1-10), it still didn't have the Spirit of God in it. But when they had the dedication of the Temple, the Spirit of God came in the form of the Glory Cloud and dwelt in the Temple (1 Kings 8:10,11; 2 Chronicles 5:13,14). You see, the Temple was designed for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. What good was the Temple without the Spirit? I think in this regard, a lot of people are going to fall away because they will not obey the Scriptures and receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power to do what you have to do. There were times when I just didn't think the Holy Spirit was there, but right when it was necessary, the power showed up and completely awed me. And no matter what situation we find ourselves in, the Holy Spirit can manifest Himself in us and enable us to walk as Jesus walked. The Lord also pointed out to me that it was Judah who dwelt in Zion. The name Judah means “praise,” and so Judah identifies the Spirit-filled people, the full-Gospel people. The name Judah separates us from the rest of Christianity, who haven't received the Holy Spirit. The northern 10 tribes of Israel went further astray and “missed the boat” many more times than the tribe of Judah. The northern 10 tribes worshipped the false “Christ,” the two golden calves which they set up. I believe that the Lord showed me this is a type for our day. The northern 10 tribes represent the non-Spirit-filled groups, and Judah represents the Spirit-filled groups, the ones who inhabit Zion. Zion was the city that escaped when Babylon conquered the people of God. A modern-day example of this is the Armenian genocide. The word “genocide” was first coined by historian Raphael Lemkin in 1943 to describe the systematic murder of the Armenians by the Ottomans. Only the Spirit-filled Christians escaped. They fled when they were warned because they believed in prophecy and they believed the prophets God sent to them, but many, many non-Spirit-filled Christians were killed. Some estimates are that as many as 1.5 million lost their lives in that holocaust. The Happiest People on Earth by Demos Shakarian, and John and Elizabeth Sherrill, published by Guideposts Magazine in 1975, tells the story of Demos Shakarian. His grandfather left Armenia for America when the Russian prophet Klubniken foretold that an “unspeakable tragedy” was coming to Armenia. Well, people, now the same thing is getting ready to happen in America, where most of the people who call themselves “Christian” have not yet been filled with the Spirit of God, and they're not giving any heed to all the prophetic warnings that another holocaust is coming. The Spirit of God makes you respect prophets and prophecies. The Spirit of God opens your eyes to dreams, visions, revelations, and the deeper things of the Spirit. We've seen that when the disciples needed more power from God to stand up to and endure the persecution they were receiving, they came together and prayed, and God filled them again with the Holy Spirit. Not only does every Christian need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, but we also need to be continually baptized in the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Episode Summary:In this episode of Explaining History, Nick delves into the cataclysmic events of 1912-1913 that shattered the Ottoman Empire and set the stage for the First World War.Following the humiliating loss of Libya to Italy, the Balkan states—Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Bulgaria—sensed weakness and struck. We explore how this coalition of former subjects mobilized a massive army of over 700,000 men to drive the Ottomans out of Europe.Drawing on Eugene Rogan's The Fall of the Ottomans, Nick examines the internal chaos of the empire, from the violent coup led by Enver Pasha at the Sublime Porte to the desperate siege of Edirne. Why did the "Sick Man of Europe" fight so poorly in the Balkans but so fiercely later at Gallipoli? And how did the loss of its European heartland radicalize the Young Turk regime?Plus: Important announcements about our upcoming live masterclasses for history students in February, March, and April!Key Topics:The First Balkan War: How a coalition of small states defeated an empire.The Raid on the Sublime Porte: Enver Pasha's violent seizure of power.The Loss of Europe: The economic and psychological blow of losing Macedonia, Albania, and Thrace.Schrödinger's Empire: The paradox of Ottoman weakness in 1912 vs. resilience in 1915.Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We follow events after the Ottomans broke through the walls of Constantinople. Taking the story up to the Sultans triumphant return to Edirne.To win the game Seljuk: Byzantium Besieged email me thehistoryofbyzantium at gmail.com before February 28th. See an interview with the creator here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Church was determined to wipe out any vestige of Judaism from Spain, any custom, any law, any practice, and thousands of Jews would pay the price. Spain was not just one country, however; it spread to the Americas and the Indies, and the stories of individual heroism, ingenuity, and courage are breathtaking.   Timestamps: 0:00:01 Crypto-Judaism vs. Crusades — constant oversight in Spain   0:00:27 Podcast intro 0:01:16 Series context — part 3 importance   0:02:58 Post-1492 groups — emigrants, later emigrants, those who stayed   0:03:36 Sephardic diaspora — destinations & trades (Ottoman lands, North Africa, textiles, medicine)   0:04:41 Jewish diplomacy under Ottomans — translators/negotiators, ties to Spain   0:07:14 Crypto-Judaism basics — loss of rabbis, books, reliance on oral tradition & Old Testament   0:09:42 Decline of living memory — mid-1500s generational loss   0:11:40 Core beliefs retained — monotheism, Moses, Torah; examples from Inquisition confessions   0:14:02 Observance statistics from trials — fasting, kashrut, Shabbat, Yom Kippur prevalence   0:15:59 Passing faith to next generation — secrecy, double lives, limited transmission   0:17:32 Inquisition edicts as inadvertent guides to practice   0:19:26 End-of-life rituals — refusal of crucifix, tahara, burial customs   0:23:41 Shabbat practices — hidden candles, inward sweeping, blessings   0:26:31 Church attendance — outward conformity, internal belief strategies   0:27:25 New World/Inquisition — arrival in Americas; Inquisition established in Mexico, Peru, Brazil   0:31:00 Dutch Brazil exception — temporary open practice under Dutch rule, later expulsion 1654   0:32:40 Louis de Carvajal & notable trials — arrests, preserved writings used as evidence   0:36:22 Secret communication/code — phrases, walks, covert declarations of faith   0:39:04 Dangers of disclosure — denunciations even by family; psychological terror of arrest   0:42:40 Arrest/interrogation process — isolation, written records, potential torture   0:45:00 Auto-da-fé description — public spectacle, sanbenito, punishments, executions   0:50:47 Survival customs preserved in remote towns (e.g., burial, food practices)   0:51:07 Reasons many stayed — travel restrictions, family/assets, hope things improve   0:55:46 Reintegration abroad — relearning Judaism, halachic complications (bris, remarriage)   0:59:12 Broader Jewish response — limited help; notable rescuers and martyrs   1:02:19 Scale of persecution — arrests (100k–150k), deaths (~4–10k estimated)   1:05:34 Long-term effects — endogamy, oral legacy, Kabbalah/messianic currents   1:06:46 Closing & next steps — possible future series; contact/website/tours info   Action items (end): confirm availability for next series; monitor listener feedback; update website/tours.

In this episode, Sean and James turn to the Eastern Mediterranean to examine the Ottoman Empire’s entry into the Great War and the tragic Allied attempt to seize the Dardanelles. We trace how Turkey joined the Central Powers, setting the stage for the Gallipoli Campaign—an ambitious plan to knock the Ottomans out of the war that instead ended in disaster and immense loss of life. The campaign’s failure reshaped Allied strategy, toppled political careers, and helped lay the foundations of modern Turkey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Summary:In this episode of Explaining History, Nick continues his exploration of the twilight of the Ottoman Empire. We shift our focus to North Africa, where a newly unified Italy sought to satisfy its imperial ambitions by seizing Libya—the Ottomans' last foothold on the continent.Drawing on Eugene Rogan's The Fall of the Ottomans, we examine the invasion of 1911 and the fierce guerrilla resistance led by the Young Turk officer Enver Pasha. From his alliance with the mystical Senussi Brotherhood to his use of Islam as a mobilizing force against European colonialism, Enver's campaign in the desert foreshadowed the tactics of the First World War.Nick also discusses the broader geopolitical fallout: how Italy's aggression exposed Ottoman weakness, triggering the Balkan Wars and setting the stage for the catastrophic collapse of 1914. Was the seizure of Libya the first domino in the chain reaction that led to the Great War?Plus: A final call for history students! Our Russian Revolution Masterclass is this Sunday, January 25th. Don't miss out on this deep dive into exam technique and historical argument.Key Topics:The Italian Invasion: Why a "liberal" Italy launched a brutal colonial war.Enver Pasha: The secular Young Turk who became a desert warrior.The Senussi Brotherhood: The Islamic order that fought alongside the Ottomans.The Balkan Card: How the war in Libya triggered the collapse of Ottoman power in Europe.Books Mentioned:The Fall of the Ottomans by Eugene RoganExplaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1924, the Republic of Turkey voted to abolish the Ottoman caliphate, ending a 400-year-long claim by the Ottomans that they were the leaders of the Islamic world. Abdülmecid II—who had been elected to the position by the Republic of Turkey just two years before—decamped for Europe. What followed was a bold plan by Indian Muslims and the Nizam of Hyderabad, one of the world's richest men at the time, to potentially revive the caliphate, as told in Imran Mulla's book The Indian Caliphate, Exiled Ottomans and the Billionaire Prince (Hurst, 2025) Imran Mulla is a journalist at Middle East Eye in London, before which he studied history at the University of Cambridge. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Indian Caliphate. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In 1924, the Republic of Turkey voted to abolish the Ottoman caliphate, ending a 400-year-long claim by the Ottomans that they were the leaders of the Islamic world. Abdülmecid II—who had been elected to the position by the Republic of Turkey just two years before—decamped for Europe. What followed was a bold plan by Indian Muslims and the Nizam of Hyderabad, one of the world's richest men at the time, to potentially revive the caliphate, as told in Imran Mulla's book The Indian Caliphate, Exiled Ottomans and the Billionaire Prince (Hurst, 2025) Imran Mulla is a journalist at Middle East Eye in London, before which he studied history at the University of Cambridge. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Indian Caliphate. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at@nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/islamic-studies

In this episode of Explaining History, Nick returns to the turbulent twilight of the Ottoman Empire. Following the euphoria of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, disillusionment quickly set in. We explore the 1909 Counter-Revolution, where religious conservatives and mutinous soldiers attempted to roll back constitutional rule and restore the Sultan's absolute power.But the restoration of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) did not bring stability. Instead, it exposed deep ethnic fault lines. Drawing on Eugene Rogan's The Fall of the Ottomans, we examine how the "Armenian Question" metastasized from a demand for civil rights into a pretext for mass murder.From the massacres in Adana to the cynical interventions of European powers, we trace the road to the first genocide of the 20th century. How did the fear of partition radicalize the Ottoman state? And what role did the Great Powers play in turning ethnic tension into catastrophe?Listen to this episode advert free on Patreon hereAlso, you can sign up for the Explaining History Russian Revolution Masterclass hereKey Topics:The 1909 Counter-Revolution: The failed attempt to restore Islamic law and absolutism.The Armenian Question: How demands for autonomy were viewed as an existential threat.The Adana Massacres: The prelude to the genocide of 1915.European Intervention: How Western meddling exacerbated sectarian violence.Books Mentioned:The Fall of the Ottomans by Eugene RoganExplaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You may have heard of many of the largest empires in world history. The Romans, the Mongols, the British, the Persians, the Ottomans, the Incas, and the Byzantines. That last empire, however, the Byzantines, never actually existed. How can one of the world's greatest empires not have existed? Learn more about the Byzantine Empire and why no one ever called it that during its existence on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Chubbies Get 20% off your purchase at Chubbies with the promo code DAILY at checkout! Aura Frames Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/DAILY. Promo Code DAILY DripDrop Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code EVERYTHING for 20% off your first order. Uncommon Goods Go to uncommongoods.com/DAILY for 15% off! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys In this week's episode, we begin part one of a 2-part series describing the life and times of George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, the famous Romantic poet of the early 19th century who went to Greece in hopes of fighting for independence against the Ottomans, and immediately died. But, who was this man? And is describing something as "Byronic" a good thing? Spoiler: uh-oh. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bostridge, Mark. “On the Trail of the Real Lord Byron.” The Independent, November 4, 2002. https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/features/on-the-trail-of-the-real-lord-byron-126324.html. Brand, Emily. The Fall of the House of Byron: Scandal and Seduction in Georgian England. Paperback edition. John Murray, 2021. Brewer, David. The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation. Woodstock, N.Y. : Overlook Press, 2001. http://archive.org/details/greekwarofindepe0000brew. Burton, Danielle. “Lord Byron and His Pet Bear.” Derbyshire Record Office, October 22, 2024. https://recordoffice.wordpress.com/2024/10/22/lord-byron-and-his-pet-bear/. Byron, George Gordon, Ernest Hartley Coleridge, and Rowland Edmund Prothero Ernle. The Words of Lord Byron. London : J. Murray; New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1898. http://archive.org/details/worksoflordbyron11byro. Byron, William Byron. The trial of William Lord Byron, Baron Byron of Rochdale, for the murder of William Chaworth, Esq; before the Right Honourable the House of Peers, ... On Tuesday the 16th, and Wednesday the 17th of April, 1765: on the last of which days the said William Lord Byron was acquitted of murder, but found guilty of manslaughter. ... 1765. 1765. http://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-trial-of-william-lor_byron-william-byron-ba_1765. “Edward Blaquiere, British Officer, Founding Member of the Philhellenic Committee of London.” Εταιρεία Για Τον Ελληνισμό Και Τον Φιλελληνισμό, October 27, 2020. https://www.eefshp.org/en/edward-blaquiere-british-officer-founding-member-of-the-philhellenic-committee-of-london/. Jones, Thomas. “On Top of Everything.” Review of Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame, by Benita Eisler. London Review of Books, September 16, 1999. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v21/n18/thomas-jones/on-top-of-everything. Kunst Museum Winterthur. “Bildtext: Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer.” Accessed December 9, 2025. https://www.kmw.ch/ausstellungen/friedrich/digital/wanderer/. Marchand, Leslie A. Byron: A Portrait. The University of Chicago Press, 1979. MacCarthy, Fiona. Byron: Life and Legend. London: John Murray, 2014. Patanè, Vincenzo, James Schwarten, and John Francis Phillimore. The Sour Fruit: Lord Byron, Love & Sex. John Cabot university press Copublished by the Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. Rizzoli, G. B. “Byron's Unacknowledged Armenian Grammar and a New Poem.” Keats-Shelley Journal 64 (2015): 43–71.

Discover the interconnectedness of peddling and factory work, the surprising origins of the Aloha shirt, and the key role Syrian workers played in major labor actions like the 1912 Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Associate Professor of History at the University of California and author of "Unmentionables: Textiles, Garment Work, and the Syrian American Working Class" Dr. Stacy D. Fahrenthold discusses her work which offers a class-conscious history of the Syrian-American diaspora, a community of about half a million people in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. While the "peddler" is often the central figure and icon of this diaspora's economic history for over a century, Fahrenthold shifts the focus to the new immigrants who came to the U.S. and found work in the textile industries. The conversation explores the hidden role of Syrian-American garment workers, particularly young women, who produced goods like "kimonos", undergarments, stockings, and household textiles. 0:00 Introducing Unmentionables & Shifting the Icon from Peddler to Laborer0:40 Lawrence, Massachusetts: The Second Largest Arab-American Community1:48 Who Was The Syrian American Working Class?2:41 The Gap in Arab-American Diaspora History3:14 Textiles and Garment Work4:50 The Peddler: Icon vs Reality7:12 Labor Experience In The U.S. vs Greater Syria8:50 Skilled Silk Weavers and First-Time Proletarians10:14 Syrian Workers and Global Labor Movements11:27 The Bread and Roses Strike of 191215:09 Dynamite, Arrests and Militarization of the Syrian Neighborhood19:16 Scale of Syrian Immigration Compared to Other Groups22:14 The Majority of Textile Workers Were Women24:43 The Connection to the Silk Industry in Mount Lebanon27:28 A Look Inside a Syrian-American Garment Factory29:04 The Kimono: Branding and Orientalism31:50 The Effacement of Origins in the Marketplace35:36 Economic and Social Mobility For Syrian-American Families39:03 The Legacy of Syrian-American Textile Companies40:01 The Lebanese Origins of The Aloha Shirt43:14 Marghab Linen and Racial Stereotyping44:22 Geographic Dispersion of Syrian Communities47:09 Illicit Activity and Contraband in the Diaspora49:22 Recommended Readings In Arab-American History Stacy Fahrenthold is a historian of the modern Middle East specializing in labor migration; displacement/refugees; border studies; and diasporas within and from the region. Her new book "Unmentionables: Textiles, Garment Work, and the Syrian American Working Class" examines how Syrian, Lebanese, and Palestinian immigrant workers navigated processes of racialization, immigration restriction, and labor contestation in the textile industries of the Atlantic world. It recently received the Middle East Studies Association's 2025 Nikki Keddie Award for "outstanding scholarly work in religion, revolution, and/or society." Her award-winning first book, "Between the Ottomans and the Entente: The First World War in the Syrian and Lebanese Diaspora" examines the politics of Syrian and Lebanese migration to the Americas during the First World War, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and the rise of European Mandates in the Middle East. Fahrenthold is Associate Editor of Mashriq & Mahjar: Journal of Middle Eastern and North African Migration Studies. Connect with Stacy D. Fahrenthold

In 1908, the Ottoman Empire was on the brink of collapse. The despotism of Sultan Abdul Hamid II had stifled political life for decades, but a military uprising in Macedonia would soon change everything.In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores one of the great forgotten revolutions of the 20th century: the Young Turk Revolution. Drawing on Eugene Rogan's masterful book The Fall of the Ottomans, we delve into how the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) forced the Sultan to restore the constitution, sparking scenes of jubilation across the empire where Turks, Arabs, and Armenians briefly united as "Ottomans."But why did this moment of hope turn to disillusionment? Why did the revolutionaries leave the Sultan on the throne? And how did the failure to address deep social and economic crises pave the way for the brutal nationalism that would define the empire's final years?Key Topics:The 1908 Revolution: How junior officers forced the Sultan's hand.The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP): The secret society that seized power.Constitutional euphoria: The brief moment of multi-ethnic unity.The limits of political revolution: Why changing the constitution wasn't enough to save the empire.Books Mentioned:The Fall of the Ottomans by Eugene RoganThe Balfour Declaration by Jonathan SchneerExplaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patrick opens with the aftermath of a brutal terror attack at a Sydney Hanukkah party, recounting piercing eyewitness accounts and confronting the painful reality of anti-Semitic violence. Voices from callers and commentators collide, forcing difficult questions about ideology, Western society, and faith, while Muslim perspectives challenge the boundaries of silence and condemnation. The episode veers between prayer, outrage, and searching for answers in a world shaken by relentless extremism. Audio: Bondi Beach Hanukkah Attack Kills 15 (01:00) https://x.com/TheocharousH/status/2000218949938545077?s=20 Audio: Douglas Murray "Something is going to happen, and Americans need to GET READY." (02:39)https://x.com/ImtiazMadmood/status/2000249424291787154?s=20 Audio: Muslim murders - They were father and son, reportedly from Pakistan https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/2000309636675846266?s=46&t=m_l2itwnFvka2DG8_72nHQ (05:08) Audio: Eyewitness of Australia terror attack says the terrorist was firing for 20 minutes while cops were frozen in place (07:53) https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/2000234562694103089?s=20 Francis - The clip you just played is right on the money. I am concerned that this will happen in America. (11:55) Timeline of Muslim terror attacks over the years (15:34) AUDIO: Australian Muslim: “Jihad is definitely part of our religion. Allah prefers and rewards Muslims who directly fight our infidel enemies more than those who do nothing.” (22:45) https://x.com/realmaalouf/status/2000300836635967534?s=46&t=m_l2itwnFvka2DG8_72nHQ Audio: Muslim Emirati commentator AQ Almenhali discuss the motivations behind Islamic attack on Jews in Australia (24:46) https://x.com/MarinaMedvin/status/2000219724223807806?s=20 Audio: Eight years ago, the UAE’s Foreign Minister HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed issued a warning to the West (27:44) https://x.com/visegrad24/status/2000209485793484889?s=20 Sam - I want to add to your list. I am a Christian from Iraq and left when I was 14. Ottomans killed Christians who wouldn't convert 100 years ago and forced Bishops to watch. We need to wake up. (28:53) Audio: Just hours after the October 7th Massacre, a large crowd of migrants gathered in front of the Sydney Opera House to celebrate and chant: “Gas the Jews” (36:27) https://x.com/visegrad24/status/2000229487888507018?s=20 Audio: Lauren Southern in 2015 - Islam is dominating. Lauren Southern is a Canadian commentator and author known for her commentary on immigration, feminism, and Islam. (37:34) https://x.com/AntonioTweets2/status/2000228194666840420?s=20 Richard - Banning a religion by name is prohibited by 1st Amendment but we can limit Muslim immigration. We could do this immediately. US has been fighting Muslims since the beginning. I hope the Church would step forward to convert Muslims. (41:16) Here is the list Patrick read about Muslim terrorist attacks: 1979 The Iranian Embassy Takeover = Muslims1983 The Beirut Embassy bombers = Muslims1983 The Beirut Marine bombers = Muslims1985 The Achille Lauro Hijackers = Muslims1988 The Pan-Am #103 Bombers = Muslims1993 The First WTC bombers = Muslims1994 The Air France Hijackers = Muslims1994 The Buenos Aires bombers = Muslims1996 The Khobar Towers Bombers = Muslims1998 The Kenyan U.S Embassy = Muslims2000 The U.S.S. Cole Bombers = Muslims2001 The Shoe Bomber = Muslim2001 The 9/11 hijackers = Muslims2002 The 2002 Bali Nightclub = Muslims2002 The Moscow Theatre Attackers = Muslims2002 The Beheading of Daniel Pearl = Muslims2002 The Beltway Snipers = Muslims2004 The Madrid Train Bombers = Muslims2004 The Besian School Attackers = Muslims2005 The 7/7 bombers = Muslims2005 The 2005 Bali Bombings = Muslims2008 The Bombay Attackers = Muslims2009 The Fort Hood Shooter = Muslim2009 The Underwear Bomber = Muslim2012 The Libyan U.S. Embassy Attack = Muslims2013 The murder of Lee Rigby = Muslims2013 The Boston Marathon Bombers = Muslims2014 The Yazidi Massacre of 2014 = Muslims2015 The Charlie Hebdo Attacks = Muslims2015 The San Bernardino Attacks = Muslims2016 The Ankara Airport Attack = Muslims2016 The Beheading of French priest = Muslims2016 The Minnesota Mall stabbings = Muslim2016 The Nice Attack = Muslim2016 The Orlando attack = Muslim2017 The Westminster Attack = Muslim2017 The Manchester Arena bombing = Muslim2017 The London Bridge Attack = Muslims2018 The Surabaya bombings = Muslims

One of the most important empires in history was the Ottoman Empire.  It wasn't the biggest empire, but it had an outsized impact on the world due to its strategic location and its moment in history.  The Ottomans shocked the world by capturing the city of Constantinople and later almost conquering much of Central Europe. Despite having a six-hundred-year run, as with all empires, it eventually weakened and collapsed. Learn more about the Ottoman Empire, its rise and its fall, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Stash Go to get.stash.com/EVERYTHING to see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase. Newspaper.com Go to Newspapers.com to get a gift subscription for the family historian in your life! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the late 16th century and the Ottoman Empire is continuing to advance across the eastern Mediterranean. In Istanbul, the Ottomans have begun ratifying ambassadorships and trade deals with the English crown. And in the middle of this comes a crew of the most sunburned Barbary Pirates you've ever met, hell-bent on plundering any ship they can find before they high-tail it back to...England? Get the whole episode on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/143253364 We have new merch available in our store! www.llbdpodcast.com

PREVIEW HEADLINE: The Islamist Strongman: Why Erdogan Cannot Be Trusted in Gaza Peacekeeping Efforts GUEST NAME: Jonathan Schanzer, Foundation for Defense of Democracies 100-WORD SUMMARY: John Batchelor and Jonathan Schanzer discuss the highly problematic role of Turkish President Erdogan, who is described as a strongman, autocrat, and dictator hostile to U.S. and Israeli interests. Schanzer expresses concern about the potential for Turkish troops on the ground in Gaza to enforce peace, noting that Turkey previously sponsored Hamas and called for a Muslim coalition to attack Israel. Erdogan provides sanctuary to the Muslim Brotherhood (the "mother ship of Hamas") and is an Islamist to his core. He has supported ISIS and Hamas and helped Iran evade sanctions. While Donald Trump has attempted to co-opt Erdogan to make Turkey a more constructive player, Schanzer is concerned this strategy will fail, believing it runs against Erdogan's fundamental nature. 1879 OTTOMANS