Original air date: 1 December 2015 | The city of Istanbul underwent vast transformations over nearly five centuries of Ottoman rule, but it nonetheless retained its place at the center of Ottoman urban life. In this episode, Kate Fleet and Ebru Boyar discuss some of the transformations and continuities that shaped the urban history of Istanbul between 1453 and 1923. Natural disasters, shifting gender relations and practices of health and hygiene, and the presence of the Sultan and his court not only marked Istanbul's urban fabric but also transformed the lives of its people; the way these changes were experienced depended in part on class, gender and occupation.

More at: http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2015/11/social-history-istanbul.html

Dr. Ebru Boyar is Associate Professor of International Relations at Middle East Technical University. She is the author of A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul, with Kate Fleet (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), along with many other works on Ottoman social and diplomatic history.

Dr. Kate Fleet is Director of the Skilleter Centre for Ottoman Studies at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Newnham College. She is the co-author of A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul, with Ebru Boyar, along with many other works.

CREDITS

Episode No. 214
Release date: 1 December 2015
Location: Koç RCAC, Istanbul
Editing and production by Chris Gratien
Music sample from archive.org: Katibim (Uskudar'a Gider iken) - Safiye Ayla
Image via Library of Congress
Additional thanks to Buket Coşkuner