ad Astra The Astra Project

In this episode I talk with Simon Dolet about his research on astrometeorology in the early eighteenth century. Simon is a PhD candidate at the Côte d’Azur University (Nice) and has been studying the role of astrology in the history of meteorology. His project is a continuation of his MA "L'astrologie saine de Giuseppe Toaldo. Un astro-météorologue dans la République des sciences" (2022).
Simon's publications and work can be found here: https://cmmc-nice.academia.edu/SimonDolet

In this episode, I talk with Fien de Block about her research on astrologers and astrological practices in the fifteenth-century Sultanate of Cairo. This was the subject of her PhD thesis titled "(Re)drawing the lines: the science of the stars in the late fifteenth century Sultanate of Cairo" (2020). Fien de Block is currently a guest professor and a researcher at the University of Gent.
Her publications and works can be found here: https://research.flw.ugent.be/en/fdblock.deblock

In this episode, I talk to Professor Tunç Şen, Assistant Professor at the Department of History of Columbia University. He is a historian of the Ottoman Empire interested in intellectual, cultural, and political history. Is PhD thesis “Astrology in the Service of the Empire: Knowledge, Prognostication, and Politics at the Ottoman Court, 1450s-1550s” (2016) focuses the astrological practices and practitioners of the Ottoman Court.
For more see on his work, see: https://history.columbia.edu/person/tunc-a-sen/
Some related articles:
“Books on Astrology, Astronomical Tables, and Almanacs in the Library Inventory of Bayezid II (co-authored with Cornell H. Fleischer,” in Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4), eds. Gülru Necipoğlu, Cemal Kafadar, Cornell H. Fleischer (Leiden: Brill, 2019), 767-821.
“Reading the Stars at the Ottoman Court: Bāyezīd II (r. 886/1481-918/1512) andhis Celestial Interests,” Arabica 64/3-4 (2017): 557-608.
“Practicing Astral Magic in Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Istanbul: A Treatise onTalismans attributed to Ibn Kemāl (d. 1534),” Journal of Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 12 (2017): 66- 88.

In this episode I talk with Tayra Lanuza Navarro on her research on Early Modern Astrology in Spain. Tayra has been one of the foremost historians of astrology in Spain and has produced numerous papers on this topic. She is currently a researcher at the ERC project Early Modern Cosmology: Institutions and Metaphysics at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
Find more about Tayra's work at: https://unive.academia.edu/TayraLanuzaNavarro
The Early Modern Cosmology project: https://www.unive.it/pag/35129/

In this episode, which is very dear to me, I invite three previous guests of the podcast to discuss Helena Avelar's work, in particular her book: "An Astrologer at Work in Late Medieval France. The Workbooks of S. Belle". Helena was the co-founder of the Astra project and co-host of this podcast. She passed way unexpectedly in March 2021 before her book published. Dorian Greenbaum, Charles Burnett and Henrique Leitão join me to discuss the importance of Helena's research and academic work.
Details on the book can be found here: https://brill.com/view/title/57551
For a list of Helena's works see: https://ulondon.academia.edu/HelenaAvelardeCarvalho
Helena's memorial: https://ciuhct.org/noticias/helena-avelar-carvalho-1964-2021

In this episode we talk to Josefina Rodriguez Arribas and Dorian G. Greenbaum about their new edited volume "Unveiling the Hidden – Anticipating the Future: Divinatory Practices Among Jews Between Qumran and the Modern Period" (Brill, 2021). Gathering the work of ten scholars, the book explores various Jewish practices of divination (astrology, bibliomancy, physiognomy, dream requests, astral magic, etc.)
For more information on the book see https://brill.com/view/title/59308