A report on the weekly questions of the Oral History website

A year of non-stop questioning

Hadith Kashfi
Machine Translation Edited by Mandana Karimi

2026-10-16

A year has passed since the weekly questions and answers of the Oral History website. From 11 October 2025 to 11 October 2026, every week a question about an issue in oral history was raised by some experienced and knowledgeable figures who answered them from their own perspective. A year of continuous questioning, scientific research and efforts to open new horizons in the path of oral history should be considered as the goals of this project. A path that the statistics of visits show has been welcomed by the audience and has gradually gone beyond asking questions and has provided a basis for producing knowledge and forming ideas and the beginning of extracting related theories. Theories that can be effective in better understanding oral history issues and developing the theoretical foundations of this field and even designing new research. To date, 52 of the 100 anticipated questions have received 452 responses, and 62 responses have been recorded through artificial intelligence. This statistic is not just a measure of the number of questions and answers; it also reflects the emergence of a new experiment in the connection between oral history, systematic questioning, and the use of artificial intelligence capabilities.

This project has produced a valuable repository of different perspectives on oral history, which is the product of people’s experiences and studies, and has led to the discovery of numerous patterns and trends. These questions and answers have identified recurring challenges, factors that create success, and effective solutions. The main value of this collection is not simply in the number of responses; it is in the interaction that took place between the oral history site and a group of knowledgeable and experienced individuals, creating a link between several different perspectives that sometimes form a comprehensive response together. This connection can help form new trends in dialogue and collective cooperation to produce new thoughts and ideas in the field of oral history. This project showed that when it comes to collective knowledge and wisdom, it must be demonstrated in practice, the circle of knowledgeable individuals must be expanded and new professions must be sought. Different perspectives must be seen and heard, and new capacities must be introduced into the oral history environment. It is not right in any field or profession to extract questions and arrive at answers that are exclusive to a specific and repetitive group. This project is a new step in this direction, and it is possible that by categorizing and analyzing the responses, it can be turned into a practical text. Undoubtedly, what gives this path more credibility is the continuation of questioning, recording the responses, the possibility of reviewing and comparing perspectives, and the effort to convert data into knowledge.

Another important point is that the specialized oral history site has strengthened its authority more than before in this way. This site, whose audience is limited to oral history enthusiasts and is not among the daily news and analysis sites, has succeeded in producing acceptable and specialized content in an interesting way that hosts the audience with a new statement every week, along with other sections. The encouragement and support of the audience showed that such an experience can provide the basis for further participation and expansion of scientific dialogue.

This project is a sign of a growing movement. The ultimate goal is not simply to increase the number of questions and answers; it is to pave the way for knowledge generation, theory development, and strengthening the position of oral history in Iranian historical and social studies.

This experience shows that if questioning is accompanied by continuity, participation, and an analytical perspective, even a weekly question can become part of an influential scientific movement over time. A year has passed, but this path is not over

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