This podcast began by describing Tehran in the early 20th century and Reza Khan’s plans to modernize the city and country. The introduction is meant to capture your attention and it was successful. About three minutes in the narrator introduces herself. The podcast is going to tell the story of modern Iran.
Oriana Coburn does a good job of narrating the podcast. The episode focuses on a tobacco protest in 1891. The introduction doesn’t relate to podcast episode, so it must be an indicator of where book one is going to conclude. If not it didn’t need to be included in the podcast episode and should have been saved for an episode that actually discussed 1924 Iran.
I enjoyed listening to the podcast and it serves as a good source to gain an introductory level of Iranian history.
Below is one of my favorite quotes from the podcast:
“The tobacco protests were narrow in scope and didn’t result in any massive changes or a political reconstruction but the movement itself became a symbol, a sign of hope that through action and devotion anything was possible. By finding a common cause that everyone could relate to the issue of tobacco became a stepping stone to prepare Iranians for the bigger fights to come.”
Overall I enjoyed listening and will add this podcast to my library. This is a very new podcast as the first episode was only published on March 20th.
Thomas Aquinas is credited as one of the greatest proponents of natural law. During his time in Cologne he was taught by Albertus Magnus. Magnus used the teachings of Aristotle in his mentorship of Thomas Aquinas.
Samuel Adams believed in American Independence from Great Britain. He is one of the most well know Son's of Liberty. On August 1, 1776 he gave a speech to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
“Lest the land become desolate and the Christian name be destroyed there, we exhort and command the faithful to take up the sign of the cross and bring aid to the Christians established in Livonia.”
Pope Gregory IX
During the time of Alexander Nevsky why were western Catholic powers seen as a greater spiritual threat than the Mongols?
The Golden Horde ruled the principalities of Russia. Noble Russians were still allowed to serve as the princes of the great cities, but they owed their power to the Horde. A tribute system was established and in practice in 1262.
Those who collected the tax were known as the Besermeny. The were usually Muslim merchants or tax farmers working for the Golden Horde. They were foreigners and they were collecting the wealth of the native Russians. This made them hated. Prior to 1262 the Horde conducted a census in Russia to determine exactly what tributes needed to be paid. This had been met with great hostility.
In 1262 the besermeny had great power. The Russian chronicle notes that they “created great violence among the people.” It seems clear that they were willing to abuse their power to accomplish their jobs. In addition to monetary contributions by 1262 the Russian population also had to contribute their men to fight in the wars of the Golden Horde. This further angered the local ...
