Dilemma Podcast

By Jay ShapiroSociety & Culture Philosophy

Dilemma Podcast episodes

January 30, 2025 The CRISIS of Journalism with Anjan Sundaram
In this video, I sit down with journalist and author Anjan Sundaram to explore the crisis of journalism, the emotional strain of witnessing trauma, and the uneasy coexistence of catastrophe and daily life. We discuss how the news is shaped, the search for the “perfect victim,” and the geopolitical narratives that demand palatable symbols of justice. Anjan’s insights are paired with an essay on the story of Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson as an analogy for the West’s desire for “safe” exits from guilt.
Anjan’s site with links to books, TED Talks, Journalism on Congo/CAR/Mexico/Cambodia : https://anjansundaram.com/
Jay Shapiro’s Film OPPOSITE FIELD (Uganda Little League Baseball) : https://www.primevideo.com/region/na/detail/0G6JGS036H3RX0YN1WIRSESFPO/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
Anjan and Lindsy Hilsum in conversation: https://granta.com/in-conversation-anjan-sundaram-and-lindsey-hilsum/
James Baldwin Essay "The Devil Finds Work": https://www.are.na/block/28328065
The Defiant Ones (1958) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Defiant_Ones
Jay's website with essays, archive, and contact information: whatjaythinks.com
00:00:00 Intro: Anjan’s Path and My Philosophical Lane
00:04:50 Intro: Journalism’s Role and Letters with Lindsey Hilsum
00:13:10 From Ivy League Mathematics phd to Congo Stringer
00:16:46 Running From or Running To?
00:22:35 Broken Journalism after October 7th
00:29:28 The Neocolonial Journalistic Informational Flows
00:37:51 Guns to my Head Multiple Times is Part of the Job
00:45:43 A Mind in Two Worlds: War and Home
00:53:20 Putting Ourselves in the Story
00:56:23 Journalism in Crisis the Ruins of Neoliberalism
01:05:28 Five Seconds to Tell the Story
01:11:39 The Intersection of Activism and Journalism
01:19:09 What Should We Know About the People We Never Hear About
01:26:20 Holding Power to Account… Who Are you Really Talking To
01:31:05 “Where is the world?”
01:37:38 “True Human Cost of the Phone” versus “Radical Change” through Inspiration
01:41:43 Immortal Stories and Art
01:44:36 Outro: The Defiant Ones (1958)
01:49:28 Outro: Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson and The “Perfect Victims” of Racism
02:15:28 Outro: The Silent Cry of the Imperfect Victims
2 hr 18 min
January 02, 2025 Something WORSE THAN GENOCIDE with Dirk Moses
In this video, I sit down with scholar and author A. Dirk Moses to unpack how the merging of the Holocaust’s specific history with the generic concept of genocide—and its elevation to the “crime of crimes”—has shaped our collective imagination in ways that blind us to potentially far worse horrors. Moses explains how the pursuit of permanent security by states and groups enacts devastating violence against civilians under the guise of prevention and control.
Stick around for the outro, where I use an X-Men analogy to explore the moral dilemmas of invulnerability, trauma, civilizational Darwinism, and the concomitant nightmares of absolute safety.
DILEMMA EPISODE WITH UYGHUR ACTIVIST - History Rhymes - Uyghur Genocide - Rahima Mahmut - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s02e04-history-rhymes-uyghur-genocide-rahima-mahmut/id1470490447?i=1000487315464
Jewish Currents Journal - https://jewishcurrents.org/
Dirk Moses Books, Podcasts, and Public Works - https://www.dirkmoses.com/
Journal of Genocide Research - https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/cjgr20
Just Security - https://www.justsecurity.org/
From the Periphery "Zionism from the Standpoint of one of it's victims" - https://youtu.be/bZWvvXVR8po?si=SAYcijQpAavGFZxb
X-Men Vs Magneto! Issue 150 (1981) Comics Bazaar - https://youtu.be/TooOu8QondM?si=X_ctDOV4kXX_KBHk
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:05 Intro: A Story From A Genocide Studies Department at My Alma Matter
00:12:50 Intro: Language as Obstacle and Path to Action
00:15:28 Dirk Moses’s Path To These Questions
00:23:13 Dirk Encounters The Intellectual Problems with “Genocide”
00:28:02 The Emotional Confusion of “Genocide” and “Holocaust”
00:32:27 “Genocide”, Aerial Bombing, and Weaponizing Holocaust Memory
00:41:16 The ICJ, The Rome Statute, UN Convention and the “Crime of Crimes”
00:51:22 Exploiting the Genocide Mixed Intention Loophole and Rigging the Law
00:57:35 The Logic of Permanent Security and Artificial Legal Constructs
01:05:41 “We Had To Do This for Security” and Preemptive Killings
01:09:30 The Legal Recognition of “Genocide”
01:14:29 The Fusion of “The Holocaust” and “Genocide” and Zionist Ambitions
01:21:26 Academia’s Paralysis, Firings, and Confusions
01:30:25 The Aesthetics of Killing and Future Surveillance
01:33:48 Teetering International Legal Order: Global North or South?
01:43:43 Why the Focus on Israel’s Crimes?
01:47:55 Outro: Dystopia and Absolute Safety
01:50:50 Outro: Collateral Damage Maximization Policy
01:58:35 Outro: X-Men’s Magneto and Zionism's Deadly Darkness
02:11:12 Outro: Why The Whole World Is Watching
2 hr 16 min
October 22, 2024 BREAKING AWAY, BREAKING IN from Zionism to Palestine Action - Stavit Sinai
In this interview with Stavit Sinai, we explore her journey from growing up in a Zionist environment to avoiding conscription in the IDF, and the challenges she faced, including accusations of antisemitism for her activism. I also provide an in-depth breakdown of the psychological phenomenon of cognitive dissonance and its relevance to these complex issues.
00:00 Introduction
04:19 Born to Holocaust Survivors into an Apartheid
8:48 Two Shades of the Same Ideology
12:02 Contact with Palestinians
13:45 High School and the Path to the IDF
16:05 Coexistence, Reform Religion, and Zionism
17:52 Pre Military Camp, Dirty Tents, and avoiding the IDF
23:43 The Role of the Moral Reasons
27:29 Cracks in The Zionist Ideology
29:16 A Dive into Cognitive Dissonance
48:53 The Friends Who Didn't Get Away
52:10 Unlearning Zionism and Execution After Death
55:11 Standing up to Zionism and Shlomo Sand
58:07 The Intifada and A Bus Bombing
1:01:30 Power Relations, Historical Context, and The Big Bad ‘T’ Word
1:06:56 An Abolitionist Paper Covers Nat Turner Revolt
1:11:45 An Emotional Issue and Family Strains
1:17:00 Does Changing Opinions Matter?
1:20:04 First Arrest
1:25:16 Liberal Zionism Legitimizes the Project
1:30:41 The Humboldt University Speaker and Yair Lapid
1:34:03 A Gas Chamber Dark Prophecy
1:36:40 The Humboldt Protest
1:40:35 The White Rose Underground
1:46:45 The Antisemitism Smear and Plato’s Crito
1:51:22 From BDS to Palestine Action and Elbit Systems
2:02:59 Arrest and Jail Time
2:05:50 Direct Action Success
2:08:25 What About October 7th and After
2:15:55 A Silver Lining to the Honest Far Right
2:23:17 Our Capacity to Liberate Ourselves
2 hr 27 min
October 15, 2024 Palestine and the Growing Defiance of the Global South - Vijay Prashad
Vijay Prashad and I discuss the fierce defiance of the Global South, from the legacies of leaders like Kwame Nkrumah to the global conversation about neocolonialism. We dive into the new mood of the Global South after October 7th, the fight for dignity in places like the West Bank, and the global power dynamics that continue to shape these battles.
whatjaythinks.com
00:00 Pop Quiz Introduction
03:16 Vijay’s Interest in the Global South
08:19 The Case for Kwame Nkrumah
14:09 Nkrumah and Pan Africanism
19:19 Controlling Resources, Sovereignty, and MultiNational Corporations
25:15 National Liberation and getting Branded a Marxist
27:57 The Difficult First Phase After Gaining “Independence”
39:38 The New Mood of the Global South After October 7th
50:45 Controlling the High Ground and “Air Superiority”
56:14 “You eat. And you want Dignity.” Water in the West Bank
1:04:15 The Reverse of Dignity and the Erasure of Humanity
1:07:21 Utilitarian Progress and Humiliation and Nuclear Weapons
1:12:25 Hiroshima Day
1:19:04 The US Election and do I need a hug?
1:22:54 I do love Jill Stein…
1:25:43 Final Thoughts and References for Further Reading
1:32:52 Tolerances of Freedom Mobutu v Lumumba and Hamas’s “Decision”
1:41:12 An Actual Smile to End
City Population Projections: https://sites.ontariotechu.ca/sustainabilitytoday/urban-and-energy-systems/Worlds-largest-cities/population-projections/city-population-2100.php
Kwame speech to Pan African leaders
https://youtu.be/nrYf97_IUrE?si=KAXfXNCHuwzpjE47
Kwame speech from exile
https://youtu.be/2niDtrZalWc?si=yKyqXTYskeFCHXxT
Patrice Lumumba speech
https://youtu.be/ouXas0XYHxM?si=wJKlh9nW2iPO7Gh5
Qaddafi on the Gold Dinar
https://theecologist.org/2016/mar/14/why-qaddafi-had-go-african-gold-oil-and-challenge-monetary-imperialism
https://thenewamerican.com/us/economy/markets/gadhafi-s-gold-money-plan-would-have-devastated-dollar/
https://millenium-state.com/blog/2019/05/03/the-dinar-gold-the-real-reason-for-gaddafis-murder/
Hilary emails about Gaddafi
https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/01/06/new-hillary-emails-reveal-true-motive-for-libya-intervention/
The non alignment movement
https://www.fikerinstitute.org/publications/the-non-aligned-movement-history-relevance-reform
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cold-wars/nonalignment/50C54C20DC60A6DE4F28F44AD2E6B2A2
George Padmore Book
https://dialecticalartist.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/panafricanism-or-communism.-the-coming-struggle-for-africa-by-george-padmore-.pdf
Congo Mine That Build the Atomic Bomb
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200803-the-forgotten-mine-that-built-the-atomic-bomb
https://www.wired.com/story/the-dark-history-oppenheimer-didnt-show/
Bitter Fruit
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674019300
Fidel Castro speech to the intellectuals June 1961 http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1961/19610630.html
This Way To the Spring
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27774750-the-way-to-the-spring
Curb Your Enthusiasm "Palestinian Chicken"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1640882/
1 hr 44 min
October 15, 2024 Chasing History and When My World Changed
A reflection on my first trip abroad, where I first learned the name Kwame Nkrumah and started wondering why things were the way they were. An effort to broaden the conversation from Palestine, exploring the tangled relationship between peace, justice, free will, the principle of Unjust Riches and the impact of the past year’s global events.
1 hr 14 min
September 07, 2024 Kamala's Little Blue Box and the Zionist Stranglehold
An examination of the intertwining of Zionist ideology and symbology in my upbringing in Judaism. What Kamala was talking about when she spoke to AIPAC. And who I am voting for in the US elections.
1 hr 4 min
May 28, 2024 Do you condemn Hamas? (a serious answer)
An essay which takes this question seriously.
00:00 Introduction
01:00 What does condemn mean?
02:46 Condemnation and victims statements
08:54 Two paths to being condemned
11:11 Do I condemn the condemned?
12:06 Children aren´t condemned
13:23 Nemr´s Pain
16:51 Doesn't delegitimize
19:05 Native American Analogy
21:00 Manifest Destiny
23:50 Would you argue against the Trail of Tears?
26:48 The Condemnable Future is not Inevitable
29:35 A Short Answer
30:26 Nemr´s Interview from Middle East Eye
33 min
April 08, 2024 The Palestine Collection - The Collapse of Zionism and Forgiveness
Jay discusses Palestine with historian and author Ilan Pappe. Together they ponder if we are seeing the end of Zionism and what might that collapse might look like.

Jay then reads an essay on the topic of forgiveness and redemption and how the psychology of cognitive dissonance prevents us from having evidence change our mind.
1 hr 45 min
February 27, 2024 The Palestine Collection - Zionism and a Speech For the Future
In the final part of this series, Jay dissects the definition of the words Zionism, Israel, and Judaism and delivers a Speech he wishes a future Prime Minister of Israel would give.
The entire collection and all resources can be found here: whatjaythinks.com
52 min
February 26, 2024 The Palestine Collection - Zionist to Palestinian Activist - Miko Peled
A conversation with Miko Peled on his journey from unquestioned Zionism to becoming an active Palestinian Activist.

In this episode we discuss:

Jacob Israel de Haan
Where are the Palestinian Nelson Mandelas?
How Miko changed his mind
When the only thing left is violence
Why Zionism is flawed from the beginning
What the future might hold for Israel
Zionism vs Judaism

and more...

1 hr 5 min