Dr. Aaron Hagler: Middle East History, Israeli–Palestinian Conflicts, and Peace Process

03/13/20 • 66 min

In the July of 2000, President Bill Clinton hosted a summit meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. Five months later, in December, President Clinton, and the two leaders publicly announced that they had a peace agreement. But, shortly after the statements were released it became apparent that the public didn’t support the agreement and the deal fell apart.
When we think about big events like this, we tend to oversimplify the groups involved into good guys and bad guys, right and wrong, black and white. But, the reality, and backstory is often much more complex and murky than we like to think. It’s easy to see why our individual support for one group over another tends to line up with what we already believe about the world. It’s a lot easier to take sides than to dig through all the layers of complexity to reach a deeper understanding of the debate. The history of the Middle East, and the conflict in Israel is no different. The reality is that you probably fall on one side of the conflict or the other because of how you were raised, how you feel, or what you’ve heard from your favorite news outlet. Part of the problem is that when we chose sides like this, we risk invalidating the other side’s real life experiences. We risk the nuance that comes from testing our views against opposing views. We run the risk of confirmation bias.
Dr. Aaron Hagler sat down with me to discuss the long, complicated history of the Middle East, and the events that have lead to the modern tensions that we see in that region today. He shares his personal journey, and the path that lead him from being a theater major to a professor of history. Then we follow the course of history from the fall of the Roman Empire, and the spread of Islam into Europe. We consider the Christian Crusades, and what that means to various groups. We talk about the Rise of the Turks and the Ottoman Empire, and how European economic interest affected the formation of the nation states we now see in the Middle East. Dr. Hagler concludes the interview by giving his perspective on which characters are acting in bad faith and making lasting peace more difficult, and how we can educate ourselves with the valid points that are coming from both sides.
Dr. Hagler’s attention to detail, and his honest, balanced approach is refreshing. I hope you enjoy the interview, and get a new perspective on this region. I’ve included some of the items we discuss in the show notes, so be sure to look at those if you’d like more information.
And now, my conversation with Dr. Aaron Hagler.
Dr. Hagler’s email [email protected]
One land, Two stories, by Shaul M. Gabbay and Amin M. Kazak
https://www.amazon.com/Land-Stories-Shaul-Gabbay-Kazak/dp/0985196106
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Previous Episode

Dr. Govind Menon: Black Holes, Plastics, and STEM

It’s hard for me to imagine a world where everyone believes the earth is basically shaped like a snow globe. That water is trapped above a dome, and it rains when windows open in the sky to let water in. That the lights in the sky rotate like a wheel. That the earth is flat and has corners. These ideas seem absurd to us modern humans thanks in part to civilizations like the Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Chinese who developed the early ideas that led to Astronomy.
New ideas are continually changing the way we understand our role on this planet and our place in the universe. Take for instance the speed of light. Light travels at about 186,000 mi/s. That means we can measure how far light will travel in a minute, a month, or a year. It also means that if a star is 55 million light years away, it has taken 55 million years for the light from that star to reach us. Which also means anyone from that solar system would be seeing the light from our sun just how it appeared 55 million years ago. Think about that for a minute.
I bring up that specific number because that’s the distance to the first black hole ever imaged. My friend Dr Govind Menon is an expert in Black Hole Astrophysics. He is the Director of the School of Science and Technology, at TROY University, and he chairs the department of chemistry and physics . In this interview We talk about his path into math and physics. He helps me work through big concepts about black holes and galaxies. We talk about how our solar system was formed, and why scientists think our sun is a second generation star. We talk about some of the exciting plans the university has for plastics research. We wrap up with some very helpful suggestions for parents who are interested STEM resources for their own kids.
I owe much of my own interest in science and space to a teacher who was much like Govind. He was the coolest teacher I ever had, who made learning science fun and interesting. This podcast is dedicated to the memory of John Eliason, Jr., or Mr. “E” who died in 2004. He was an inspiration to me, and I’m thankful I had the opportunity to learn from him.
I hope you learn something from this interview, and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Govind Menon.
Find more about Dr. Govind Menon http://spectrum.troy.edu/gmenon/
Troy University receives $3.2 million grant for Center for Materials and Manufacturing Sciences
Testimony before US House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
Other Helpful Links: click here
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Next Episode

Dr. Jay Valentine: Philosophy, Buddhism, and Pandemics

Dr. Jay Valentine is my special guest for this Season 1 bonus episode. He is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Troy University, and an expert in Buddhism, eastern religions, meditation, and philosophy. We recorded this episode just as Alabama began shutting down right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. I really thought I’d have plenty of time to edit, and release it during the stay-at-home orders, but it just didn’t play out that way. And, Jay is such a cool guy that I hated to just not release it. Pre-COVID, we spent a couple hours at his office talking about world religions, and I asked him about his particular area of research, and he just blew my mind with his work on the Northern Treasure Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was such a good conversation that I knew I needed to record a podcast with him.
World religions have fascinated me for a long time. The stories that people tell each other to explain life, and the world seems to be a universal human trait. These beliefs share elements of truth, and fiction that we can all learn from. We cover Jay's journey to university, and to study Buddhism and meditation. We walk through elements of meditation, and what it can mean for reducing suffering in our life. And, we talk about other ways that we can think about the world that might help us deal with the isolation, and the time alone during this pandemic.
One last thing before the interview, I’ll be posting Season 2 of The Bean Pot beginning in January, so look for those updates as well.
And now, the interview you’ve been waiting for, here’s Dr. Jay Valentine.
Dr. Valentines’s email [email protected]
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