Folge 73: Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia - A Book Talk with Natalie Koch, University of Heidelberg

In this episode of the HCA podcast, Anja Schüler talks to
Heidelberg geographer Natalie Koch about her new book “Arid
Empire: The Entangled Fate of Arizona and Arabia.“ While many of
us see deserts as mythic spaces or just empty wastelands, they
can also be crucial political spaces and sites of imperial
aspirations. Natalie Koch’s new history of the colonization of
the American West explores these themes, the mutual exchange of
“desert knowledge” between Arizona and Arabia, and the dual
relationship between the colonization of the U.S. Southwest and
diplomatic relations in the Middle East.