FRDH Podcast with Michael Goldfarb

Latest Episodes:

Saudi Arabia: Silent Kingdom Steps Center Stage Aug 15, 2023

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For decades Saudi Arabia was a place of official silence but now it is taking its place and the center of the geo-political stage. Whether it is paying exorbitant sums to entice football stars to play in its new league or holding peace conferences on Ukraine or opening up diplomatically to Israel, Iran AND the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia's leader, Mohammed bin Salman has put his kingdom in the center of the global conversation without revealing much about the place. In this FRDH podcast Michael Goldfarb talks with Steven A. Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations about the Silent Kingdom.

Odesa 2023: War, Identity and Poetry Jul 29, 2023

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War has come with a vengeance to Odesa in 2023 and poet and translator Boris Dralyuk wants to talk about Odesa's identity and the poetry and comedy and love it inspires. In this podcast he tells about Odesa's unique historical identity as the place where so many poets, novelists, musicians and comedians come from. He knows his stuff since he is one of them.

History Repeats: First Time as Tragedy, Second Time It's Still Tragic Jul 15, 2023

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Karl Marx was wrong when he wrote History repeats itself, first as tragedy then as farce. The second time around it is still tragic as the events of midsummer 2023 show. In this podcast with BBC great Robin Lustig we look at how from riots in Paris to Israeli incursions into the West Bank city of Jenin the conflicts we have covered 15/20/30 years ago keep blowing up again. Give us 50:56 to argue it out.

Tel Aviv Anti-Netanyahu Demonstrations: A Rough Draft in Sound Jul 01, 2023

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Every Saturday night for the last 26 weeks in Tel Aviv crowds of up to 150,000 have staged demonstrations against Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu over his attempt to gut the courts and steer Israel towards strong man rule, with Netanyahu as the strong man. This short shapr podcast contains sound and interviews from the demonstration held on July 1st, 2023.

Democracy in Crisis: One Idea for Fixing It Jun 04, 2023

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To say Democracy is in crisis today is not hyperbole but people don't have an idea about fixing it. Forty years ago Oxford professor Maurice Pope saw the crisis coming and wrote a book about one possible solution. Needless to say the book couldn't find a publisher. Their attitude was crisis, what crisis? The manuscript was lost for forty years, rediscovered and has recently been published and in this FRDH podcast Michael Goldfarb talks with the author's son, Hugh Pope, about his father's big idea to bypass electoral politics and take democratic decision making back to the people.

China Today: One Leader, Many Chinas May 15, 2023

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Journalist Isabel Hilton talks about China today, its leader Xi Jinping, and the many different Chinas he is trying to bring under his control. China is constanstly in the news but for all the coverage it remains an unknown place. Isabel Hilton has half a century of experience reporting on the country and in this wide-ranging conversation paints a picture of Chinese society and the recent history that has created it,

25 Years Later: Mo Mowlam and the Price of Northern Ireland's Peace Apr 09, 2023

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25 years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed this is the story of how Mo Mowlam accepted what the price of peace in Northern Ireland would be and heroically acted to make peace possible. FRDH podcast host Michael covered that story throughout the 1990s on the 25th anniversary remembers his encounters with Mo Mowlam and the twists and turns that led to Northern Ireland's peace after three decades of conflict as well as the key lesson of her brave work.

One Iraqi’s War, Hopes and Ruins, A Sound History Mar 17, 2023

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The voice missing from most US/UK histories of the Iraq war is that of Iraqis who saw their hopes raised and then ruined. This sound history was made by FRDH podcast host Michael Goldfarb who covered the Iraq War as an unembedded reporter. He followed the overthrow of Saddam Hussein through the eyes of someone who had suffered terribly under Saddam’s regime. This radio documentary first aired in 2003 a few weeks after Saddam’s statue in Baghdad came down, it contains essential Iraqi voices and stands as a sound history of that conflict.

Sir Lawrence Freedman on Two Wars, Two Anniversaries: Ukraine & Iraq Mar 11, 2023

Show notes

Sir Lawrence Freedman, takes an anniversary look at two of the big wars of the 21st century: Ukraine and Iraq. Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London, talks about the current state of play in Ukraine on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion as well as what happened in Iraq on the 20th anniversary of the American invasion. Do the two conflicts have anything in common? Listen through to the end to find out.

2023: Israel At the Authoritarian Crossroads Mar 05, 2023

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In the year 2023 Israel reached a crossroad. Hundreds of thousands of citizens demonstrated every week against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and its lurch towards authoritarianism. In this FRDH podcast Michael Goldfarb talks with former Knesset Member Ksenia Svetlova about Netanyahu's power grab and the dangerous, violent nationalism of the the religious Zionists on whom he depends for power, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir.

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