I don’t think about Babylonian history as much these days. But I listened to a recent podcast … the portrait presented there … oof … it felt like something out of the 1950s. I swear we do history better these days … or I’d like to think we do

Teaser reel for my big investigation, out tomorrow!

Himal Southasian@himalsouthasian.bsky.social · 3w ago

An American scholar spent years buying Nepali gods out of Kathmandu Valley shrines, often for less than a bus fare. She then built a career as an expert on the culture she was quietly dismantling. She kept meticulous records. We found them. A new investigation, soon at himalmag.com

Ny! New! A Fifa council member, the man behind Morocco’s ascendancy in world football and arguably the ultimate powerbroker in African football, Fouzi Lekjaa has made a shift in domestic politics. Is this a first step toward the prime minister’s office? josimarfootball.com/2026/09/14/m...

Makhzen - josimarfootball.com

A Fifa council member, the man behind Morocco’s ascendancy in world football and arguably the ultimate powerbroker in African football, Fouzi Lekjaa has made a shift in domestic politics. Is this a fi...

josimarfootball.com

#Employment The Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC) at the University of California, Berkeley invites applications for an Assistant Professor in Cuneiform Cultures, tenure track. mesana.org/resources-an...

Middle East Studies Association

The Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC) invites applications for an Assistant Professor in Cuneiform Cultures, tenure track.

mesana.org

Free version here: discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

US child vaccination rates have plunged since before the pandemic, with kindergarten classrooms in more than 70% of counties now lacking herd immunity against measles.

Would be more than a bit awkward if two hosts of the 2030 men's World Cup—Portugal & Spain—boycotted the event. And it would be a downright crime against joy if the 2027 women's World Cup was sacrificed on the altar of FIFA greed.

Nathan Kalman-Lamb@nkalamb.bsky.social · 2mo ago

UEFA has just unanimously decided to boycott both men's and women's World Cups over FIFA's attempt to sell the global game to private equity. Damn.

Morocco's World Cup ambitions stretch far beyond the pitch, intertwining football with diplomacy, domestic politics and the contested future of Western Sahara. My first for @wired.com: www.wired.me/story/how-mo...

How Morocco Turned Football Into a Tool of Statecraft

The kingdom’s World Cup ambitions stretch far beyond the pitch, intertwining football with diplomacy, domestic politics and the contested future of Western Sahara.

wired.me

Morocco and the World Cup: "Football's coming home" National team success is no accident, as government seeks to project the country's power and influence substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

There has been a lot of talk about curses, witchcraft, and voodoo at the World Cup. So I wrote about so-called "black magic" and why it remains one of football's most enduring—and controversial—subjects. www.sportspolitika.news/p/world-cup-...

Eleven Men and a Witch Doctor

Why black magic remains one of football's most enduring—and controversial—subjects.

sportspolitika.news

It’s here 📖 ✍️ “Scribal Worlds: Scholarship and classification in cuneiform cultures” is out today from UCL Press— in print & free open access PDF. Co-editing it with Jay and Eduardo, in honor of Niek Veldhuis, has been one of the most meaningful projects. uclpress.co.uk/book/scribal...

Scribal Worlds

Scribal Worlds: Scholarship and classification in cuneiform cultures delves into the history of the earliest writing cultures of the ancient Middle East, bridging disciplines that include ancient hist...

uclpress.co.uk

Latest for @forbes.com Soccer In The MENA Region Is Re-Shaping The World Cup www.forbes.com/sites/simonc...

Soccer In The MENA Region Is Re-Shaping The World Cup

The MENA region has quickly become a host destination for FIFA's World Cup tournament, as well as a lucrative source of revenues for football's global governing body.

forbes.com

The 2026 World Cup is weeks away. Ahead of the tournament, I've launched a new podcast looking at FIFA's authoritarian history, starting with Mussolini's fascist takeover of the 1934 World Cup. Listen to Power Plays whereever you get your podcasts: www.sportspolitika.news/p/fascist-wo...

1/3 🧵 Discussing 'The World Cup & War' from @theathleticfc.bsky.social with @maxrushden.bsky.social & Charlie Baker on @talksport.com earlier today. 🎧 If you've not listened to the full audio doc yet, it's here: pod.fo/e/40c5b2 ...or wherever you get your podcasts.

“In his view, the medal is not a forgery. A forgery implies that there is a genuine medal. As the genuine philology medal does not exist, his medal cannot be a forgery,” Lallois said. Alors là, chapeau. Bravo.This is impeccable logic.

French professor accused of ‘gigantic hoax’ after inventing Nobel-style prize

Authorities investigate Florent Montaclair over award given to himself and others including Noam Chomsky

theguardian.com

Every four years, Stefan Szymanski and I massively update Soccernomics. The new US edition is out tomorrow, with lots of new material on transfers, on the USMNT and a whole new chapter on what the MLS needs to do to become good. Get your copy here: hachettebookgroup.com/titles/simon...

I made a whole BBC TV series (2020) about the remarkable resilience of the people of Iran and their culture over centuries of threat and callous rule. You can watch it right here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Four - Art of Persia

Broadcaster and journalist Samira Ahmed reveals the remarkable story of Iran.

bbc.co.uk

Contractually obligated to say Go Blue

Hearing that after two years, and multiple procedural and administrative delays, FIFA has finally made a decision on the Palestinian FA's case against Israel. It has decided it cannot do anything of substance and the case is closed. The Palestinian FA can take matter to CAS.

Enough footballers were killed by the Iranian Islamist regime in the space of forty-eight hours in January to make up two full teams. Fifa’s response? Silence. By Zohreh Abdollahkhani josimarfootball.com/2026/03/05/s...

Silent slaughter - josimarfootball.com

Enough footballers were killed by the Iranian Islamist regime in the space of forty-eight hours in January to make up two full teams. Fifa’s response? Silence.

josimarfootball.com

Here we go. New course at @resistanceschool.bsky.social: THE WORLD CUP & THE POLITICS OF FOOTBALL — a 6-week course using the 2026 World Cup as a backdrop. Late April–June. Weekly classes, 6–8 pm EST. Taught by @tonykaron.bsky.social & me. www.resistancestudiesseries.com/worldcupwait...

World Cup and Global Politics 101 Interest Form — RESISTANCE STUDIES SERIES

This six-week course examines the 2026 World Cup as a lens for understanding the political, cultural, and economic power of global football.

resistancestudiesseries.com

⚽ New FootPol episode out now! Women’s football in the Middle East is changing fast — from Morocco’s pro leagues to Saudi investment drives and grassroots struggles in Lebanon. We speak with @assiletoufaily.bsky.social on power, politics & the future of the game. www.buzzsprout.com/2253650/epis...

A short National Geographic article on the map of Nippur, excavated in the 1890s at Nippur, now housed at the Uni Jena in Germany. @augustamcmahon.bsky.social www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...?

Today on It Was What It Was, we talk to the great David Goldblatt about football and the state of the world. podfollow.com/1745066482

It Was What It Was

Welcome to The Overlap's football history podcast, It Was What It Was.Each week Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper will be talking about the key episodes in football history that have shaped the footballi...

podfollow.com

How a national vision and strategic tie-ups are transforming sport Mercedes' new partnership with the WTA is just the latest in a series of deals involving Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and the German car maker substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

A student in one of my undergraduate classes wrote this short piece on the cultural heritage of Iraq in @michigandaily.bsky.social www.michigandaily.com/michigan-in-...

The struggle of preserving Iraqi cultural heritage

On March 20, 2003, a U.S.-led coalition began its invasion of Iraq. Approximately one month later, on April 10, 2003, U.S. soldiers were on standby while looters broke into the National Museum of Iraq...

michigandaily.com

“This report underscores how the Civil Rights Act of 1964—which passed in response to years of nonviolent civil disobedience against racial injustice—is being misused to squash political dissent & speech that advocates for the human rights of Palestinians.” — Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel

Power & Pushback: New report details weaponization of antisemitism on campuses

A new report from the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association reveals how civil rights law has been used to suppress Palestine activism on U.S. campuses.

mondoweiss.net

It should come as no surprise that the UK has effectively instituted a Gulf-style kafala system for low-paid foreign workers.

Luke Piper@lukepiper.bsky.social · 11mo ago

The majority of the casework I do involves people in similar situations to Kavin. Trapped in limbo unable to work and move on to new sponsors. The government's toughening up of rules and increase in costs has made the situation worse. www.opendemocracy.net/en/migrants-...