Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Before Iranians were killed, they had to become killable. And shows like Homeland and Tehran did precisely that. While an early generation built an image of Iran as fanatical, backward, and savage, recent shows turn Iran into an active war zone. 133
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Iranians have rallied behind Team Melli for decades. So why did they recently become the target of political campaigns? In Ajam's latest, Ashkan Hashemipour traces the delegitimization campaign. Despite the noise online, he argues, Team Melli remains a source of unity. Full article below: 100
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 19/06/2026"The demilitarization of the Indian Ocean may sound utopian. It is, in fact, the only reasonable demand commensurate with the existential stakes at hand? Ecological custodianship or catastrophe." Read the Case for Demilitarizing the Indian Ocean: 100
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 18/06/2026The World Cup has put Tehrangeles in the spotlight. But how much do you really know about the largest Iranian community outside of Iran? Read our Tourist’s Guide to Tehrangeles, the Capital of the Iranian Diaspora: 100
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 09/06/2026What connects a tiny Swiss village, the bedazzled palaces of Safavid Isfahan, and the imperial courts of Mughal Delhi? Read about the remarkable 18th century journey of the Lion and Sun in the second article in our Unexpected Persianate Series by Kristof Szitar: 110
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 25/05/2026What does the most famous Hungarian dish tarhonya share with the humble Persian tarkhineh? Far more than just a name! Read about culinary connections between Hungary, the Ottomans, and Iran in the latest piece on Ajam, the first in our Unexpected Persianate Series: 120
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 13/05/2026For Assyrians across the Middle East and in diaspora, the red, white, and blue Assyrian flag is a symbol of resilience and unity. But how does a stateless nation develop a flag? In Ajam's latest, Ramina Samuel explores the history of the Assyrian flag: 120
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 04/05/2026"The night before the attack, Rafi-Nia synagogue hosted a Passover celebration. The morning after, the community gathered again, this time to survey the rubble." Narciss M. Sohrabi reflects on the destruction of a Tehran synagogue - and how its tight-knit community is planning to rebuild: 100
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 20/04/2026"Restorative nostalgia may briefly unite a diaspora, but it is not enough to build a nation. Afghanistan offers a stark lesson." The latest article on Ajam is a reflection on royal nostalgia and the lessons of Zahir Shah's return after the US invasion, written by Zohra Saed: 100
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 30/03/2026How did the Indian Ocean become a geography of unilateral US dominance? In Ajam's latest, Mahdi Chowdhury explores the history of anti-colonial efforts to build a Zone of Peace and argues for the urgent, existential need to demilitarize the Indian Ocean: 121
Reposted by Ajam Media CollectiveAlex Shams @alexshams.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Powerful, heart wrenching piece on the unbearable pain of witnessing this war on Iran and our people: "People greet each other with a joke—“Haha, you’re still alive?” When survival becomes the joke, ordinary life is already gone." ajammc.com/2026/03/11/w...ajammc.comWe are Alive, Tehran is Dying - Ajam Media Collective“Our neighborhood was hit. But we are alive.” I woke up to this message from my friend in Iran. A message like that rearranges the meaning of language. Alive becomes a threshold, a daily confirmation,... 032
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 12/03/2026"My friend writes to me again: “We are alive, Nazanin. Tehran is dying.” The latest on Ajam is a personal reflection on memory and the pain of witnessing war from diaspora, written by Nazanin Shahrokni: ajammc.com/2026/03/11/w...ajammc.comWe are Alive, Tehran is Dying - Ajam Media Collective“Our neighborhood was hit. But we are alive.” I woke up to this message from my friend in Iran. A message like that rearranges the meaning of language. Alive becomes a threshold, a daily confirmation,... 020
Reposted by Ajam Media CollectiveAmanda Lanzillo @amandazillo.bsky.social · 10/12/2025Really interesting ethnographic work with a community whose histories I've always been curious about... 074
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 20/01/2026Blackouts do not erase events. They shape what can be proven, mourned, and acted upon. For Ajam's latest, Parham Ghalamdar uses theory-fiction to understand what happens when mourning is forced through an interface and death is indexed in Iran today: 110
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 10/12/2025The Luli are a Persian-speaking part of the Romani diaspora in Central Asia Ubiquitous in public spaces, they are excluded from national narratives, paradoxically hypervisible and invisible Frishta Qaderi shares from her research across Uzbekistan in Ajam's latest: ajammc.com/2025/12/09/c...ajammc.comHidden in Plain Sight: Field Notes from Central Asia's Luli Communities - Ajam Media CollectiveThe Luli, also known as the Jugi or Mugat, are a community that lives across Central Asia, part of the wider Roma and Domari diaspora. They are ubiquitous in public spaces yet excluded from national n... 084
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 03/12/2025Khak-e Hayat was a two-week research residency bringing together 14 artists, academics, and architects from Iran and Pakistan to explore the region’s shared ecological pasts and imagine alternative visions for a collective future. Read on to learn more: ajammc.com/2025/12/03/a... 022
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 29/09/2025For Ajam's latest, Manar Heikal explores the history of her illustrious community - the Iranians of Cairo: "You won’t find much about them in textbooks. There are no heritage signs, no archives, no plaques. Our story was something quieter. More intimate." Read it here: ajammc.com/2025/09/28/i... 011
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 27/08/2025"Pahlavi’s attempt to restore dignity to his throne has spawned a tradition of romanticizing ancient Persia in order to deflect attention from contemporary struggles." ajammc.com/2013/06/06/r...ajammc.comReconstructing a Persian Past: Contemporary Uses and Misuses of the Cyrus Cylinder in Iranian Nationalist Discourse - Ajam Media CollectiveAlthough the Cyrus Cylinder is over 2,500 years old, much of the discourse surrounding its function has emerged only in the past century. While nationalists believe the cylinder to be a symbol of huma... 000
Reposted by Ajam Media CollectiveAmanda Leong @acatleong11.bsky.social · 11/08/2025Come and submit your work to our new initiative, Unexpected Persianate! More details below 011
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 26/08/2025"While there is no doubt the Shahnameh has helped conserve the rich cultural heritage of the Iranian peoples, many nation-states have propagated misconceptions about the Shahnameh. Myths have attained the status of legend, despite their falsehood." ajammc.com/2013/01/17/f...ajammc.comFerdowsi's Legacy: Examining Persian Nationalist Myths of the Shahnameh - Ajam Media CollectiveA tribute to Ajam Media Collective’s name and inspiration, this post was written by Ajam’s editors, Alex Shams, Rustin Zarkar, and Beeta Baghoolizadeh. Photographs by Preethi Nallu originally publishe... 010
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 11/08/2025What is the most unexpected place where you’ve encountered the Persianate? We want to hear about it! The Association for the Study of Persianate Societies and Ajam invite submissions for our new article series: The Unexpected Persianate: ajammc.com/2025/08/11/c...ajammc.comCall for Submissions: The Unexpected Persianate - Ajam Media CollectiveWhat is the most unexpected place where you’ve encountered the Persianate? Have you ever noticed a family tradition, neighborhood landmark, a debate, a photograph, a song, or a casual turn of phrase t... 011
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 06/08/2025What happens when an ancient Silk Road city becomes a gentrified tourist mecca? Gulnoza Usmonova writes about how government-led heritage restoration has transformed her hometown Bukhara, Uzbekistan and displaced locals who once brought life to its streets: ajammc.com/2025/08/05/g...ajammc.comSelling the Silk Road: How Gentrification is Reshaping Uzbekistan's Historic Cities - Ajam Media CollectiveThe historic city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan was once a living, breathing city. Now it is rapidly becoming something else. State-led gentrification is reshaping its ancient quarters. Family-run bathhouses... 021
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 29/07/2025Confused yet? Let us help you make sense of this with our recent article: "The Battle Over Iran's Flag" ajammc.com/2025/07/09/b... 001
Reposted by Ajam Media CollectiveAlex Shams @alexshams.bsky.social · 23/07/2025In any disaster, always look for the people helping: 031
Reposted by Ajam Media Collectiveannikaschmeding.bsky.social @annikaschmeding.bsky.social · 23/07/2025Afghan #mutualAid networks have rapidly emerged in recent weeks to support deportees dropped at the border, amid a mass deportation drive that has expelled half a million #Afghans from #Iran. I explore the past&present of these grassroots solidarity networks for @ajammc.bsky.social 021
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 23/07/2025Ajam's latest article explores how Afghan mutual aid networks have activated across the country to support deportees - serving a crucial role in the unfolding humanitarian crisis: ajammc.com/2025/07/22/a...ajammc.comSolidarity at the Border: Afghan Mutual Aid Networks Mobilize Amid Mass Deportation - Ajam Media CollectiveAmid the wave of expulsions from Iran, Afghans have mobilized mutual aid to support deportees. These networks fill a crucial need and highlight the foundational role that grassroots solidarity plays i... 040
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 10/07/2025Our latest article is an exploration of Iran's many flags and what they mean: "Each Iranian flag signifies a specific history, representing the political divides of the 90 million Iranians in Iran and 5 million in diaspora. So why do they provoke such strong emotions?" ajammc.com/2025/07/09/b...ajammc.comThe Battle Over Iran's Flag - Ajam Media CollectiveEach Iranian flag signifies a specific history and ideology, representing the political divides of the 90 million Iranians in Iran and 5 million Iranians in diaspora. At recent protests, many members ... 011
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 01/07/2025"Tehran over the last 30 years has undergone a remarkable and exciting urban transformation, with city officials, cultural venues, and grassroots organizations helping build a city that defies cliches." ajammc.com/2019/01/14/t...ajammc.comTehran is not just "LA with minarets": Against cliches of Third World cities on the brink of disaster - Ajam Media CollectiveIgnoring Tehran's remarkable urban transformation over the last three decades leaves us with a simplistic, reductionist vision of this Middle Eastern metropolis. By ignoring the hard work being done b... 011
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 01/07/2025"Iranian militants saw support for Palestinians as a way of furthering their own struggle against the Shah. They emphasized these connections in posters intended to provoke popular support and solidarity." ajammc.com/2023/11/22/i...ajammc.com'Unity of the Revolutionary Rifles': 1970s Iranian Leftist Posters in Solidarity with Palestine - Ajam Media CollectiveIn 1970s Iran, revolutionary movements that opposed the authoritarian rule of the US-backed Shah championed the Palestinian cause. Solidarity posters from the time reveal how different movements recog... 020
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 02/06/2025"Contemporary examples abound of Turkic languages that continue to use the Arabic script. Far from marginal groups, these communities account for tens of millions of people." ajammc.com/2024/02/11/l...ajammc.comLatin Lies: The Lost History of Arabic Script Experimentation in Turkic Languages - Ajam Media CollectiveIs it possible to adapt the Arabic script to Turkic languages’ sounds? Why are so many of these languages written in Latin or Cyrillic script today? Over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, ide... 000
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 26/05/2025For Ajam's latest, Veera Rustomji explores how the Parsi community of Karachi narrates its history - and how new archaeological evidence of Sasanian presence on Sindh's shores could reshape how the community understands the history of Zoroastrianism in South Asia: ajammc.com/2025/05/23/p...ajammc.comNarrating Parsi History in Karachi: Untold Stories of Zoroastrianism from the Coast of Sindh - Ajam Media CollectiveKarachi’s Zoroastrian community draws its visual vocabulary and cultural ancestry from Gujarat, India, and not from Iran, because the community traces its origins through the Parsi migrations of the Q... 011
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 05/05/2025Join us Tuesday for a panel in collaboration with the Association for Persianate Studies about “The Unexpected Persianate”! 010
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 01/05/2025"Visual ephemera related to May Day 1979 in Iran are testaments to the pluralistic nature of the early years of the Revolution." ajammc.com/2013/05/01/m...ajammc.comThe Poster Arts of May Day: International Worker's Day in Revolutionary Iran - Ajam Media CollectiveDuring the Iranian Revolution, International Worker’s Day became an ideological battleground as competing political organizations— secular and religious— organized their constituents and articulated t... 000
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 23/04/2025In almost every major body of 20th century photography from Afghanistan, telltale clouds of pale petunia blossoms make an appearance at the margins. What can the humble petunia tell us about gardening, beauty, and aesthetics in Afghanistan? ajammc.com/2025/04/18/p...ajammc.comPretty in Pastel: A Century of Petunias in Afghanistan - Ajam Media CollectiveThe billowing clouds of pastel blooms that extend across the photographic archive of modern Afghanistan speak to more than just a redeeming cultural quirk in the face of tragic national history. They ... 011
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 22/04/2025In our latest article, Nicolas Roth explores the pictorial record of petunias in Afghanistan - and how these flowers became a mainstay of horticultural practices across the country: ajammc.com/2025/04/18/p...ajammc.comPretty in Pastel: A Century of Petunias in Afghanistan - Ajam Media CollectiveThe billowing clouds of pastel blooms that extend across the photographic archive of modern Afghanistan speak to more than just a redeeming cultural quirk in the face of tragic national history. They ... 000
Reposted by Ajam Media CollectiveI.B. Tauris (former imprint of Bloomsbury) @ibtauris.bsky.social · 09/04/2025How did Iran's environment shape histories of labour, revolution, and empire? Listen to the latest @ajammc.bsky.social podcast, featuring James Gustafson discussing his new I.B. Tauris book 'The Lion and the Sun'. 👇 094
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 08/04/2025***new podcast episode!*** @bcheves.bsky.social interviews @jamesgustafson.bsky.social about his new book, The Lion and the Sun: Environmental History and the Formation of Modern Iran (I.B. Tauris, 2025). Learn more and listen here: ajammc.com/2025/04/07/a...ajammc.comAjam Podcast #47: Towards An Environmental History of Modern Iran - Ajam Media CollectiveIn this episode, Belle interviews James Gustafson, Associate Professor of History at Indiana State University, about his new book. In The Lion and the Sun (and our podcast episode), Gustafson presents... 052
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 01/04/2025"In markets across Iran, Tanakura Bazaars can be found dedicated to second-hand clothes. Tanakura is originally a Japanese word. But in Japan, the word is an uncommon family name; the Persian meaning is nowhere to be found. So how did Tanakura become common in Iran? ajammc.com/2021/02/16/t...ajammc.comTanakura Bazaar: The Iranian Legacy of Beloved Japanese Soap Opera Oshin - Ajam Media CollectiveAcross Iran, second hand shops are known by the word Tanakura, referring to vintage clothes. But how and why did this Japanese surname enter modern Persian? The answer comes from the show Oshin, which... 010
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 01/04/2025"The world’s approximately 1.5 million Assyrians celebrate Akitu on the first day of April (Nissan), marking the arrival of springtime just a week after their Kurdish neighbors celebrate Nowruz and a day before Iranians celebrate the picnic holiday of Sizdah Bedar." ajammc.com/2017/04/05/t...ajammc.comThe Joys of Akitu, the Assyrian New Year - Ajam Media CollectiveAssyrians around the world this week marked the festival of Akitu this week, a spring holiday that commemorates the beginning of the Assyrian New Year 6767. 011
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 20/03/2025Happy Nowruz !! نوروز پیروز From all of us at Ajam — As we welcome spring and the new year, check out these beautiful Nowruz stamps explained by Ben Rejali! ajammc.com/2025/03/19/n... 021
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 19/03/2025"The Zoroastrian New Year coincides with the Spring Equinox. It marks not only the beginning of the calendar, but the renewal of life in its perennial struggle with death. This annual milestone is an occasion for celebration and involves ritual arrangements and acts." ajammc.com/2016/05/26/r...ajammc.comRitual Matter(s): Nowruz Ceremonies of the Zoroastrian New Year in Tehran - Ajam Media CollectivePerhaps the most widely known among these is the ceremonial spread called the Khan-e Nowruz or the Haft Chin. It features a variety of objects that symbolize key figures and values of Zoroastrian cosm... 010
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 18/03/2025From the archive: How Tehran celebrated Nowruz in the age of COVID “We couldn’t believe spring arrived and yet we were stuck, unable to embrace our loved ones. We wrote poems on banners, like those we read to each other over the phone, but this time for our neighbors." ajammc.com/2020/03/24/p...ajammc.comPoetry fills Tehran streets as Iranians adapt Nowruz rituals to Corona restrictions - Ajam Media CollectiveUnder quarantine, Iranians invent new ways to celebrate the Nowruz holiday that marks the arrival of spring. Transforming their traditions, they build bonds of solidarity between neighbors and loved o... 001
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 17/03/2025Nowruz is coming! This week marks the arrival of Spring. Learn how this ancient festival is celebrated across the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, the Balkans, and East Africa: ajammc.com/2018/03/21/h...ajammc.comHow Nowruz is Celebrated Around the World - Ajam Media CollectiveThe ancient festival of Nowruz marks the beginning of Spring for millions around the world. Widely referred to as Persian New Year, Nowruz is celebrated in dozens of countries in many different ways.V... 042
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 14/03/2025"Masoud El Amaratly is not only one of Iraq’s most famous singers; he is also one of the Arab World’s most well-known transgender icons." ajammc.com/2023/06/26/i...ajammc.comRecovering Arab Trans History: Masoud El Amaratly, the Folk Music Icon from Iraq's Marshes - Ajam Media CollectiveMasoud El Amaratly is an Iraqi singing legend, his voice evoking the lush marshes of southern Iraq with lament, melancholy and longing. He is not only one of Iraq's most famous singers; he is also one... 000
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 13/03/2025"History’s path cannot be followed like a continuous thread; with the passage of time, many narratives are marginalized or forgotten. As we reread historical narratives, their absences create a void. The story of the Iranians of Istanbul is one of these voids." ajammc.com/2024/08/24/i...ajammc.comIranians at The Gate of Happiness: The Untold History of Istanbul's Persian Community - Ajam Media CollectiveFor centuries, the Iranians of Istanbul built lives, trade networks, and dreams in the capital of the Ottoman Empire. But today, few traces of their existence remain. A new documentary brings to life ... 020
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 08/03/2025Have you listened to our recent podcast yet? Learn about how Sufi communities in Afghanistan navigate religious authority and adapt in times of political change and social upheaval. ajammc.com/2025/03/03/a... #WeekendListen #Sufism #Afghanistanajammc.comAjam Podcast #46: Sufi Communities in Afghanistan - Ajam Media CollectiveIn this episode, Belle interviews Dr. Annika Schmeding, Senior Researcher at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and a Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), about her fi... 001
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 07/03/2025"Why were planets represented as enslaved people in Islamic art? What do these images imply about medieval astrological understandings of the planets and their power?" ajammc.com/2025/02/07/v...ajammc.comVenus in Chains: Visualizing the Enslaved Cosmos in Medieval Islamic Astrology - Ajam Media CollectiveWhy were planets represented as enslaved people in Islamic art? Ava Hess analyses images of the planet Venus in chains to explore how and why the labor of the unfree was connected to astrological mean... 020
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 06/03/2025A decade before the revolution, Indo-Pakistani author Qurratulain Hyder visited Iran to accompany the royal family and prepare a biography of Empress Farah Diba. Her journey is a revealing look behind the scenes of Pahlavi rule: ajammc.com/2025/02/21/q...ajammc.comWhen Qurratulain Hyder Met Farah Pahlavi: A Lost Biography from 1970s Iran - Ajam Media CollectiveA decade before the 1979 revolution, Indo-Pakistani author Qurratulain Hyder visited Iran to accompany the Pahlavi royal family as she prepared a biography of former Empress Farah Pahlavi. The text sh... 021
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 05/03/2025***new podcast alert!*** @bcheves.bsky.social interviews @annikaschmeding.bsky.social about her first book, Sufi Civilities: Religious Authority and Political Change in Afghanistan (@stanfordpress.bsky.social, 2023). Listen here: ajammc.com/2025/03/03/a... 083
Ajam Media Collective @ajammc.bsky.social · 04/03/2025here we are, Bluesky!! thank you to the guest of our newest podcast episode (coming out tomorrow!) for getting us to make the leap. stay tuned for more articles and podcasts, and trips down Ajam’s memory lane as we share oldies but goodies, as wellmedia.tenor.coma kitten is jumping in the air with a blue backgroundALT: a kitten is jumping in the air with a blue background 083