Scholars, artists, and thinkers, in their own words.
Since 2008, Rorotoko has published short interviews in which the person who wrote the book explains it themselves. No interviewer's questions. No reviewer's verdict. Just the author.
The archive
Historians, statisticians, artists, film critics, archaeologists. Every one of them still online, still readable, still free.
What a thread is
Every book gets three pieces, each published on its own day:
- In a nutshell — the argument, short.
- The wide angle — where the idea came from and what it's arguing with.
- A close-up — one passage, one scene, one detail, opened up.
Together they make a thread. Read one and you have the gist; read all three and you have the insight.
Who makes it
Rorotoko is edited and published by Bora Pajo, a professor with more than fifteen years of experience in research methodology and the author of three editions of Introduction to Research Methods: A Hands-On Approach (Sage Publishing). Lura Islamaj runs the Instagram. That is the entire operation, which is why the author photographs aren't uniform and nothing here sounds like a press release.
How it stays free
No paywall. No ads. No data sold. No investors. Rorotoko runs on a small budget and on the generosity of the authors who write for it. If you'd like it to keep going: donate, buy a tote, or subscribe to the monthly stitch.
Read.all the threads, or explore by subject, place and period.
Get featured. Authors, publicists and agents: the submissions page.
Partner. Presses, museums and institutes: write to b@rorotoko.com for the media kit.
Know something the rest of us don't?
Most threads on Rorotoko begin with our invitation. Some begin with a proposal. Both use the same prompts and the same editing, with your own pages in the archive. Proposed threads carry a small Sponsored label and a fee.
Propose a thread →