Episode 85: Fahad Bishara Tells the Story of a World in Motion

In this episode of Drafting the Past, host Kate Carpenter is joined by Dr. Fahad Bishara.

Fahad is an associate professor at the University of Virginia, but he is currently on leave and teaching at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. His first book, A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780-1950, won multiple awards. His second book, which came out in 2025, is Monsoon Voyagers: An Indian Ocean History. In it, he follows one year of the voyages of a single dhow, a type of sailing ship, and its captain and crew as it travels around the Persian Gulf and Western Indian Ocean. Working at multiple scales, from the details of daily ship life to the circulation of goods and ideas across the Gulf, Fahad gives us a new, ocean-based perspective on Middle Eastern history. It's also a beautifully written book, and I was eager to talk with Fahad about his inventive structure, how he organized his materials, and more. You're going to get a lot out of this conversation with Dr. Fahad Bishara.

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Mentioned in this episode:

• A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780-1950
• Monsoon Voyagers: An Indian Ocean History
• OneNote
• DevonThink
• Jack Hart, Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction
• Robert Harms, The Diligent: A Voyage Through the Worlds of the Slave Trade
• Greeking Out podcast
• Nicholas Thomas, Discoveries: The Voyages of Captain Cook
• In Episode 18 of Drafting the Past, Adam Sowards talked about trying to get three senses into a description Whichever episode someone talks about senses
• Greg Dening, Islands and Beaches: Discourses on a Silent Land: Marquesas, 1774-1880
• Laila Lalami, The Moor's Account
• Brinkley Messick
• Engseng Ho
• This American Life
• Planet Money and the episode with their formula for storytelling, Episode 1000
• The Indicator