New Directions + Questions for Subscribers
Reader Suggestions + Short Courses + Podcast + A Spinoff.
Dear Subscribers,
I’m grateful for your reads, likes, and comments (particular nod to paid subscribers, who helped defray the cost of production) over the past 16-months of The Middle East-Told Slant. A blog has little purpose, and an author not much satisfaction, without readers —and readers with opinions. So thank you.
I enjoy writing this blog, and believe that there is a huge space for better, deeper, more balanced, experience-based outside coverage of the Middle East and Africa. This semester I am teaching a course at Yale on the History of the Red Sea – so more of my posts will be directed towards Red Sea issues (which includes the dominant Israel-Iran-Gaza conflict).
An Ask:
I have some “news.” But first, I would like to ask a favor, i.e. your feedback (the more specific the better!) on what you like, don’t like, and would like to see more / less of on this blog.
What do you find either entertaining, or useful, or non-optimal, about the current format? Do you read for a practitioner’s perspective on current conflicts and possible futures? Balance in reporting? Are you looking for a single source for summary info, or something else? Would you like to hear less about topics already in the news (Gaza-Israel, e.g.), and more about struggles and conflicts that aren’t in the news (Sudan, the Horn, The Kurds)? Or are you more drawn to first person observations on places and cultures? Do you prefer written, or video content? Your answers will help me improve the Substack.
Potential New Offerings:
I’m planning to produce a pilot podcast, which would explore different perspectives on the region with some well-known colleagues and contacts — but even more so, those with interesting and helpful ideas that should be much better known.
I’m also exploring the idea of offering interactive, short (3-5 individual, hour-long) courses related to the region, its history, politics, ecology, specific issues and conflicts, or intros to “how to live, and how to work in….(X country, assuming I’ve lived there). If I have a quorum for any given topic, I’ll start to schedule them, and post fees.
Some proposed titles include:
American Middle East Policy, from Bush to Trump
The Mad Scramble for the Ports of the Red Sea
The Best Historical (Tour/Vacation) Itineraries of the Middle East
The origins of the Yemen war (and the Houthis)
A Course Based on my 2022 Book, “Benghazi: A New History.”
Middle East Mega- and Giga- Projects: Grand Vision, Folly? — Or both?
The Coming War Over The Nile
A (Very) Short History of the Red Sea
A Middle East Literature Book Club, with a set list of recommended titles (in translation), assignments, and discussion?
I’d love to hear your ideas, and format preference. You can either respond to this post, or email me on chorin@perim-media.com
Dogmender Spinoff:
And, last but not least, for those of you who tolerated the Middle East material for the “touch of dog”, it’s now here: https://dogmender.substack.com.
Thank you again for following The Middle East - Told Slant, and helping me offer something a bit different in this space….
Very best, Ethan Chorin
If I had a suggestion or request, it would be a series of posts that are more anthropologically and culturally oriented. I feel that part of the misunderstanding we have about different parts of the world, and not just the Middle East, comes from the difficulty we collectively have in grasping structural cultural differences.
I think you're doing just fine Ethan. As mentioned on your new tandem canine stream I think the doggie stuff was good light relief too but now you've diverted that theme I think pretty much run things as you have as well as your new ideas suggested above.
I think the short courses sound rewarding but how many of us can afford them and make the time zones work is another matter of course.
I also think a pod would be great to hear -I'm a big pod-fan and fill my working day with them so adding yours would be great.
I realise you have your specialist subjects and are probably keen to major with them - that's great, we appreciate your depth of knowledge but don't let that deter you from straying beyond the borders. I think it's good to push further outwards and would welcome yout thoughts on the wider Middle East (I dislike that term but...) and into Central Asia (another poor term but...).
Wherever you go, I feel sure we'll discover some wonders together. I just hope I can make time and keep on top of my reading, there never seems to be enough time (probably because I have a tall pile of books on the go and too many Substack subscriptions!)