Catherine of Aragon’s Bedchamber Servant | Get Ready with Me
Catalina of Motril was a former servant to Katherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII. Likely enslaved, she was brought to England at the age of 15 to serve…
The Religion of Pre-Islamic Arabia
Before Islam, Arabs worshipped many gods. Using newly deciphered ancient desert inscriptions, we explore the forgotten religious world of pre-Islamic Arabia: The goddess Allāt, sacrifice, pilgrimage, fate, magic, and the…
In Our Time: M.C. Escher
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the work of Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972), the graphic artist and printmaker best known for his impossible buildings, paradoxical perspectives, and repeating geometric patterns. Born…
How Muslims Influenced Thomas Jefferson and America’s Founders | American Muslims
Did you know that Thomas Jefferson owned a copy of the Qur’an? That George Washington owned enslaved people who were Muslim? And that a Muslim diplomat broke his Ramadan fast…
From Slavery to Freedom: The Untold Story of America’s First Muslims
Even before the United States was founded, tens of thousands of Muslims were already present, captured in West Africa and brought to colonial America in chains. Host Asma Khalid (NPR’s…
How Islam Influenced Black Americans in 1920s Chicago | American Muslims: A History Revealed
The 1920s saw a revival in Islam among Black Americans fleeing poverty and persecution in the Jim Crow South. In Northern cities including Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Newark, and New York,…
The Invention of Sicily:A Mediterranean History
by Jamie Mackay
The Origins of Arabic
In this video, we explore the history and development of the Arabic language, as well as its connection to religion.
Not Just the Tudors: When Europe met Islam
In the Early Modern period the boundaries between Christian and Islamic civilisations were far more porous than we imagine: Isaac Newton’s library included Arabic biographies of the Prophet Muhammad; the…
What is the Kaaba?
religion for breakfast