Journalist and author Robert Wright invited EconTalk's Russ Roberts to his podcast, NonZero, to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, knowing that there would be plenty to disagree about. The two then agreed to release their back-and-forth on their respective podcasts. The result is a lively but respectful discussion that is more debate than the usual EconTalk episode. We hope there will still be much to learn from this slightly more combative than usual episode.
Welcome to Econ talk conversations for the curious part of the Library of economics and Liberty.
I'm your host, Russ Roberts of Shalem College in Jerusalem and Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
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Today is January 24, 2024.
My guest is journalist and author Robert Wright.
He's the founder and chief correspondent of the non zero newsletter and non zero podcast available on Substack.
He was last here on Econ Talk in October 2017, discussing meditation and Buddhism.
But we have a very different topic today and an unusual setup.
Bob had invited me to his podcast to discuss the Gaza war and the arab israeli conflict more generally, and he invited me because he knows that we do not agree on these topics.
And he thought, and I agreed, it would be wonderful to have a thoughtful conversation on a controversial topic, and in particular to try to understand ideally, why too thoughtful.
We think smart.
Maybe people could have different perspectives.
This conversation will air on both of our platforms.
Bob, welcome back to Econ Talk.
Thanks.
Good to be here.
So, Russ, I'm really looking forward to this conversation because we do have, I think, different perspectives on the subject.