Actors Bryan Cranston and Ferdinand Kingsley read an absolutely fiery exchange between the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the Zaporozhian Cossacks from 1675 during a Letters Live event in New York in June 2025.
The Sultan’s original letter demanded that they submit to him. Unfortunately for the Sultan, this fairly unreasonable demand came after the Zaporozhian Cossacks had beaten his troops in battle, so the threat was rather thin. Their response, however, was considerately a bit less measured.
Bryan Cranston and Ferdinand Kingsley joined us to read the hilarious exchange of letters between the two opposing forces at Letters Live in New York in June 2025.
