Month: October 2023

There are a lot of experts that you may have heard on the news in the past few weeks. People who know a great deal about Hamas or Hezbollah or Iran or China or Russia—regional experts. There are also many subject matter experts who can tell us about cyber warfare or decolonization or, for example, the way that foreign governments have influenced higher education in America. All of those stories are important, but each one of those topics gives you only a slice of the whole story. What if you want to understand the whole thing?

That’s when you turn to Walter Russell Mead.

Mead, who is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, a professor of foreign affairs and humanities at Bard College, and the author of many profound books, is able to connect what can seem like disparate dots and pull them together to show us the big picture. That’s especially critical right now. Because despite what you read in the headlines, this isn’t just a war between a terrorist group called Hamas and a small Jewish country called Israel. This is the bleeding edge of something much more widespread that has the potential to touch the lives of every American. 

Right after we recorded this conversation with Walter, Yemen declared war on Israel—with Houthi rebels firing missiles at the city of Eilat—and, in a major provocation from China, Israel was removed from Baidu Maps, China’s digital maps, late on Monday night. Though I didn’t get to talk to Walter about these discrete developments, in many ways they confirm exactly what Walter expresses in this conversation: that this war isn’t just a regional conflict. That it is representative of a world, as he puts it, “spinning out of control.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its third week and the Israeli military initiates a ground invasion in Gaza, Ravi and guest co-host Isaac Saul discuss Israel’s definition of success, what to make of the American left’s anti-Israel swing, and the lessons to learn from the Western media biases surrounding this conflict.

Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570

Subscribe to our feed on Spotify: http://bitly.ws/zC9K

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/3Gs5YTF

Subscribe to our Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/

Follow The Branch on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebranchmedia/

Follow The Branch on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebranchmedia

Follow The Branch on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thebranchmedia

The Branch website: http://thebranchmedia.org/

Lost Debate is also available on the following platforms: 

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785

Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw 

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-lost-debate

iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate

Greg Lukianoff, President of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, returns to continue our discussion about his new book, The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust, Destroys Institutions, and Threatens Us All—but There Is a Solution. Plus, how much has changed in the degree to which Joe Biden backs Israel. And Dean Phillips is a Presidential candidate for Halloween! How cute.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices