I'm largely ignorant about the Middle East, so am still learning and forming an opinion. But I just listened to a This American Life pod you might find interesting: "859: Chaos Graph," from 4/27. Act I is about the experiences of multiple American doctors who worked in Gaza.
I'm largely ignorant about the Middle East, so am still learning and forming an opinion. But I just listened to a This American Life pod you might find interesting: "859: Chaos Graph," from 4/27. Act I is about the experiences of multiple American doctors who worked in Gaza.
So I listened to the piece and itтАЩs definitely disturbing, though I guess shouldnтАЩt be surprised. IтАЩve pretty much known the Israeli military units get to behave pretty much as they want and itтАЩs up to their commanders to enforce or not enforce the rules. I was shocked about the direct gun shots to the head particularly in the small children.
If you are interested the Guardian has a sporadic diary written by a Gazan resident which ended in March of 2024, but it was also hauntingly bleak, but also full of life.
Call Me Back Podcasts with Dan Senor. There are a lot but I might suggest the one with Brett McGurk who was among the lead negotiatios in the Biden Admin trying to get the hostages out. McGurk puts the blame for no hostage deal squarely on the shoulders of Hamas and describes how the campus protest in the U.S. and pressure from the West (including the Biden Admin) only caused Hamas to dig in its heals further
Ask Haviv Anything. Far fewer and if you want to understand the perspective of Israelis, I cannot recommend these podcasts enough. Since there are not many, I would suggest at the first podcast
OK, first link: very informative about relatively recent history. At least I'm clear now that Iran is a very bad actor. (My minimal knowledge includes the fact that conflicts in this region go back to at least Biblical times.)
Second link: I watched Episode 4 and realized I don't have the time for this level of detail, or enough general understanding to be able to adequately understand and appreciate the info. (And for some reason, his voice is very unpleasant for me to listen to???)
Third link: listened to the whole thing, and parts of it twice; wow. To fully grasp it I think I'd need to sit w/ a map in front of me and then periodically stop the video and take notes. So, so much info; and such incredibly complicated dynamics. I'm so overwhelmed I can't even say what my main takeaways are. I feel a bit like I did the last time I sat down w/ a bunch of (elementary level) quantum physics books to try and gain a basic understanding - and didn't even come close.
Haven't yet had time to listen to the last one, but didn't want to wait any longer to reply to your comment. I'm going to keep it handy; and hopefully eventually will have a decent grasp of the situation.
Thank you! People are so passionate on every side of this issue. Sometime after 10/7, I heard Obama being interviewed about the ME. I don't recall the specific question that elicited this response, but Obama said the dynamics are incredibly complex. I do know that they literally go back thousands of years, and it's overwhelming to me.
I'm largely ignorant about the Middle East, so am still learning and forming an opinion. But I just listened to a This American Life pod you might find interesting: "859: Chaos Graph," from 4/27. Act I is about the experiences of multiple American doctors who worked in Gaza.
Probably not easy listening, but thanks for the suggestion. I will have to look it up.
It's not, but it is just one small piece of the picture. I'd be curious what you think.
So I listened to the piece and itтАЩs definitely disturbing, though I guess shouldnтАЩt be surprised. IтАЩve pretty much known the Israeli military units get to behave pretty much as they want and itтАЩs up to their commanders to enforce or not enforce the rules. I was shocked about the direct gun shots to the head particularly in the small children.
If you are interested the Guardian has a sporadic diary written by a Gazan resident which ended in March of 2024, but it was also hauntingly bleak, but also full of life.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/series/gaza-diary
Boy have you come to the right place.
Here ae some suggestions:
Call Me Back Podcasts with Dan Senor. There are a lot but I might suggest the one with Brett McGurk who was among the lead negotiatios in the Biden Admin trying to get the hostages out. McGurk puts the blame for no hostage deal squarely on the shoulders of Hamas and describes how the campus protest in the U.S. and pressure from the West (including the Biden Admin) only caused Hamas to dig in its heals further
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jGLlNQMRP4&list=PLiYCxMRIBxFp0V4ZazFmxsdWLCL8Lw-Sy&index=7&t=102s
Ask Haviv Anything. Far fewer and if you want to understand the perspective of Israelis, I cannot recommend these podcasts enough. Since there are not many, I would suggest at the first podcast
https://www.youtube.com/@AskHavivAnything
Couple more with Haviv on other folks podcasts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aFbNJALXBw&list=PL0QqDLM7Mfuv6Zkh9gNZstVepRQxr-Tzv&index=46&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pj9-YG_vXY&t=2656s
On last one on Gaza specifically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWeno1zEc0E&list=PL0QqDLM7Mfuv6Zkh9gNZstVepRQxr-Tzv&index=36
Would love to hear your thoughts after you listen to some of these.
OK, first link: very informative about relatively recent history. At least I'm clear now that Iran is a very bad actor. (My minimal knowledge includes the fact that conflicts in this region go back to at least Biblical times.)
Second link: I watched Episode 4 and realized I don't have the time for this level of detail, or enough general understanding to be able to adequately understand and appreciate the info. (And for some reason, his voice is very unpleasant for me to listen to???)
Third link: listened to the whole thing, and parts of it twice; wow. To fully grasp it I think I'd need to sit w/ a map in front of me and then periodically stop the video and take notes. So, so much info; and such incredibly complicated dynamics. I'm so overwhelmed I can't even say what my main takeaways are. I feel a bit like I did the last time I sat down w/ a bunch of (elementary level) quantum physics books to try and gain a basic understanding - and didn't even come close.
Haven't yet had time to listen to the last one, but didn't want to wait any longer to reply to your comment. I'm going to keep it handy; and hopefully eventually will have a decent grasp of the situation.
Thanks again.
Thank you! People are so passionate on every side of this issue. Sometime after 10/7, I heard Obama being interviewed about the ME. I don't recall the specific question that elicited this response, but Obama said the dynamics are incredibly complex. I do know that they literally go back thousands of years, and it's overwhelming to me.