S03E11: Monsters and Distance - David Livingstone Smith

11/14/23 • 79 min

David Livingstone Smith has been studying "dehumanization" for decades and has written three books on the subject. In this episode Jay and Smith apply his findings to the current conflict in Israel and broaden their scope to examine how a rising modern factor of "Distance" interplays with violence.

Previous Episode

S03E10: Antisemitism and the Future of Analysis

Jay Shapiro's personal essay and account of how the disfigurement of American Judaism has forged an existential crisis for something much bigger than survival of the state of Israel.

Next Episode

The Palestine Collection - The Problem of History

Jay Shapiro breaks down arguments being presented by popular thinkers such as Sam Harris and from Zionists who defend Israel. He walks through the complications of deciphering the popularity of Islamism and Jihadism and Hamas and he outlines the mentality of "tribal essentialism".He teases a trilogy of upcoming episodes with Gideon Levy, Richard English, and Miko Peled.

In this episode he discusses:

Deciphering IDF intentions

Settler expansion

Roman Abramovich

Birthright

Zionism as Colonialism

The Arab Spring

Menachem Begin

Irgun, Stern Gang, Hagana

Two State Solutions

One State Hopes

More information and recommendations at whatjaythinks.com