New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti says prior to Oct. 7, Israel's leadership was focused on an attack by Iran and its proxies —not Hamas. "They were ... myopic about what the true threat was." TV critic David Bianculli reviews the Netflix miniseries adaptation of All the Light We Cannot See. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
On the Ted radio hour, linguist Ann Curzan says she gets a lot of complaints about people using the pronoun they to refer to one person.
I sometimes get into arguments with people where they will say to me, but.
It can't be singular.
And I will say, but it is.
The history behind words causing a lot of debate.
That's on the Ted radio hour from NPR.
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This is FRESH AIR.
Im Thierry Gross.
There were so many questions surrounding Israels failure to detect that Hamas was planning a devastating attack on Israel.
Why had israeli intelligence and military leaders become relatively dismissive of the threat posed by Hamas, focusing instead on Hezbollah?
When security officials did try to warn Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israels enemies might be planning an attack, why did Netanyahu ignore the warnings after Hamas launched the attack?
Why did it take so long for israeli soldiers to arrive where Israelis were being slaughtered?
My guest, Mark Mezzetti, co wrote with Ronan Bergman and Maria Abi Habib, a long article investigating those questions.
Hes a New York Times investigative reporter based in Washington, focusing on national security.
Hes also been reporting on the negotiations between Israel, Saudi Arabia and the US toward a deal in which the Saudis would recognize Israel in return for the US selling more arms to the Saudis and signing a mutual defense agreement with the US.
The war has put those negotiations on hold.
Mazzetti was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for reporting on Donald Trumps advisors and their connections to Russia.
Mazzetti shared a Pulitzer prize in 2009 for reporting on the intensifying violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan and Washingtons response.
Mark Mazzetti, welcome back to Fresh Air.