Dilemma Podcast

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Sam Harris's Israel Defense & The Unchallenged Assumption He Seems To Know Is A Problem

July 08, 2026

In this essay, I respond to Sam Harris's recent comments on Israel, Gaza, Hamas, and why he refuses to debate many of his critics. My argument is not primarily about genocide, proportionality, international law, or even the details of Israel's military response. It is about something more fundamental: the framing of violence itself.Sam Harris often frames Hamas and similar movements as expressions of jihadism—forms of violence rooted primarily in religious belief, metaphysical commitm...

The Overlooked Idea That Could Solve The "Genocide" Problem with Scholar Dirk Moses

July 08, 2026

For decades, the word "genocide" has occupied a unique place in international law, collective memory, and political debate. But what exactly does it mean—and has the definition become too narrow to describe the forms of violence we witness today? In this conversation, Holocaust and genocide scholar Dirk Moses joins me to discuss the crisis unfolding within genocide studies, the fierce disputes over how the term should be defined, and why debates about Gaza have exposed deep fracture...

Trita Parsi on Iran, Israel, Zionism, and America Finding It's Limits in Iran

June 03, 2026

Born in Iran in 1974, just years before the Iranian Revolution transformed the country forever, Trita Parsi has spent his life at the intersection of some of the most consequential political conflicts of the modern era. In this conversation, we trace his journey from childhood in pre-revolutionary Iran to exile and life in Sweden, exploring how displacement, identity, and history shaped his understanding of power, nationalism, and the Middle East. Along the way, we discuss the rise of the Isl...