{"podcast":{"title":"Is It? The Art Mystery Podcast","slug":"is-it-the-art-mystery-podcast-7505217","podcast_index_feed_id":7505217,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/WVp91Ydq","website_url":"https://is-it-the-art-mystery-podcast.simplecast.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/f1ec9843-cc45-45af-b29f-053ac6b37f33/6058e14f-d260-4074-9ed2-6c56f40e92ef/3000x3000/is-20it-20series-20logo.jpg?aid=rss_feed","author":"Noah Charney","episode_count":14,"summary":"Is It? is a brand new podcast on art history’s mysteries. In each episode, we ask the question of whether a certain painting is by a certain famous artist. These are puzzle paintings, works that have divided and confounded scholars, sometimes for centuries. To answer this question, we bring in a guest expert, a specialist in the artist in question. And we also bring in an expert in AI authentication from Art Recognition. While our guest expert is the star of the show, we’ve also conducted a cutting edge, brand new AI analysis of the painting in question—and we’ll reveal what it says in the final part of this episode. The podcast is hosted by award-winning presenter and best-selling art historian, Professor Noah Charney. We cover suspected works by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Van Eyck and many more. So subscribe and listen for free wherever you get podcasts to find out: Is it? This series is sponsored by Art Recognition, a Zurich-based AI art analysis firm that tests the works featured in each episode. It is produced by Urska Charney.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-08T20:20:34.675265+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/is-it-the-art-mystery-podcast-7505217"},"episode":{"title":"Is It a Said? with Jehane Ragai","slug":"is-it-a-said-with-jehane-ragai","published_at":"2026-01-31T12:13:45+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/is-it-the-art-mystery-podcast-7505217/is-it-a-said-with-jehane-ragai","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/is-it-the-art-mystery-podcast-7505217","url":"https://is-it-the-art-mystery-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/is-it-a-said-0RmD34WF","audio_url":"https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/a17eb4b4-f4ee-4603-948b-8b76b9290a7f/episodes/7549e30d-9172-412f-b030-75292400cc9d/audio/f4908416-0946-403c-bb93-ad8ab0ac4e9c/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=WVp91Ydq","summary":"In this episode, we’re turning our attention to the work of Mahmoud Sa'id, one of the most important and influential figures in modern Egyptian art. Trained in Europe yet deeply rooted in Egyptian culture, Sa’id created a body of work that blends academic technique with a distinctly local vision. His paintings occupy a central place in the history of twentieth-century Egyptian modernism—and they also raise important questions about attribution, variation, and legacy. To discuss a painting that she selected for AI image analysis, I’m joined by Jehane Ragai, emeritus professor of chemistry at the American University in Cairo. Professor Ragai is a pioneer in the scientific analysis of artworks, with decades of experience applying chemistry and materials science to questions of attribution, authenticity, and conservation. Her work has been especially influential in the study of modern Egyptian painting, where scientific evidence can play a crucial role in clarifying complex art-historical and market questions. She’s the author of two excellent books that are sitting on my shelf: \"The Scientist and the Forger\" and \"Technical Art History.\" I’m also joined by Batu Arda Düzgün, AI Developer at Art Recognition, where he works at the intersection of machine learning, visual analysis, and art authentication. Batu develops systems that analyze artistic patterns at a level of scale and precision impossible for the human eye alone, offering new tools for understanding authorship, consistency, and deviation within an artist’s oeuvre. Let's ask the question: Is it a Sa'id?","meta_description":"In this episode, we’re turning our attention to the work of Mahmoud Sa'id, one of the most important and influential figures in modern Egyptian art. Train…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2006,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/is-it-the-art-mystery-podcast-7505217/episodes/is-it-a-said-with-jehane-ragai/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/is-it-the-art-mystery-podcast-7505217/is-it-a-said-with-jehane-ragai.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}