Interlude in Istanbul

Michael Balter 8/18/2009 11:14:00 AM Life and life only






Greetings from Istanbul, on my way to visit the 9500 year old Neolithic (early farming) site of Çatalhöyük, which was the subject of my book "The Goddess and the Bull" (note among these photos a shop window in an Istanbul book store featuring it; four years after publication of the hardback edition it is still going strong in Turkey if not other places.)

This is my 11th trip to Turkey since the early 1990s, but my first since 2005. I had forgotten just a little what a fabulous, exciting and colorful city Istanbul is--if you have not been here, make plans now. Turkey really should be in the European Union, all they need to do is stop pulling the finger nails out of Kurdish separatists and make the taxi drivers install working seat belts in the back seats.

More soon...
Michael Balter

Posted by Michael Balter

I have been a working journalist for more than 40 years, beginning in Los Angeles as an investigative reporter and then in Paris as a travel, food, and science writer. For more than 20 years I have covered anthropology and archaeology writer for Science, Audubon, Scientific American, SAPIENS, and other publications. I have also covered sexual misconduct for The Verge, Scientific American, and others; I write about mental health, especially schizophrenia; and I engage in occasional media criticism. I returned to the USA in October 2017 after 30 years in Paris, and now live in the New York City area, where I currently teach journalism at City College of New York (I previously taught journalism at Boston University and New York University.) For more about me and what I do, copies of my articles, information about my book, and other goodies, please visit MY WEB SITE

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2 Comments

Anne Gilbert said…
Istancbul looks like a really lovely place. I'll have to take your advice before I die. . . .
August 18, 2009 at 5:52 PM
Richard Parker said…
Michael; you may write well, but you ain't a photographer.

Next time, cross the road to take a photo of Hagia Sophia without the fence and Japanese car.

That place embodies at least 1500 years of European/Asian history, and it's right before your eyes.
August 22, 2009 at 10:05 AM
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