We speak with Dr. Kevin Blankinship of Brigham Young University about this edgy figure. Blind since childhood, poet Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī, was a vegan and anti-natalist who agitated contemporaries with his seemingly heretical views. Dr. Blankinship challenges what we think we know about this gadfly. He ends with an original translation of one of al-Maʿarrī’s Luzūmiyāt poems. Find more of Dr. Blankinship’s work here: byu.academia.edu/KevinBlankinship
This was great fun during our Covid-19 self-isolation conducted over Google Hangout. I’ve experimented with different platforms for remote podcasting viz. Zencastr, Cleanfeed, Skype (?), Zoom but Google Hangout I’ve found to be the clearest and easiest for all parties to use. It would be good to hear your views.
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