We The 66

Ep. 27 The Anne Frank Who Lived: A Holocaust Survivor Shares Her Incredible Story

When she was just six months old, Louise Lawrence-Israels' parents hid her and her brother in an abandoned attic in Amsterdam. It was the winter of 1943, and the situation for Jews in the Netherlands was deteriorating. Public executions and mass deportations to Concentration Camps in Poland made Louise's parents fear for her and her brother's safety. They remained in that attic for nearly three years. Sometimes the only food she had was warm water. She and her brother never stepped foot outside during that time. She shared her story with RocaNews' official podcast We The 66. Before we share timestamps, we'd like to give a special thanks to Louise and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC which allowed us to film this interview in its hallowed halls.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Top Hezbollah Scholar Explains Hezbollah's History and Why Israel Might Not Destroy Them

Dr. Matthew Levitt is perhaps the United States' foremost leading expert on Hezbollah. He's a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and an adjunct professor in Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies. We sat down with Dr. Levitt to better understand Hezbollah's history, how it operates, how Israel plans to fight it, whether this could escalate into an Israel-Iran war, how the pager attack happened, and so much more. 0:00 - Intro 0:55 - History of Hezbollah 3:37 - Where is it based? 5:13 - Lebanon and Hezbollah's relationship 8:31 - Israel's war with Hezbollah 9:30 - Why Israel might not destroy it 12:40 - The Israeli pager attack 17:20 - Is Israel sparing citizens? 18:37 - How Israel is avoiding civilian casualties 20:36 - Closing

Ep. 26 Michigan Imam on Kamala Harris, Wokeness, and Israel (FIERY Debate)

Hassan al-Qazwini is one of the most prominent Muslim leaders in America. The Dearborn, Michigan-based Imam has been an American citizen since 1998 and considers the United States to be the best country in the world to be a Muslim. However, he argues that Israel exerts an undue influence -- to put it mildly -- on our politics and has made him and the American Muslim community irate. We ask him about what it's like to live in America's Arab-majority city, how he will vote this November, what he thinks of his Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims, AIPAC's influence on American politicians, and more. Timestamps: 0:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=0s] - Trailer 1:12 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=72s] - Inside the Mosque 2:35 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=155s] - IMAM INTRO 3:57 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=237s] - Sunni vs. Shia Differences 10:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=630s] - What is Dearborn community like? 13:40 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=820s] - Iran's influence 18:08 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=1088s] - Imam goes off on Israeli War 24:25 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=1465s] - Who the Imam will vote for 26:47 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=1607s] - "Jihad capital of the US" WSJ piece 28:12 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=1692s] - Why we support Israel 30:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=1830s] - AIPAC's influence 32:35 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=1955s] - HEATED debate on Israel 42:10 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=2530s] - Rashida Tlaib being pro-LGBTQ 4 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=2745s]5:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=2745s] - Imam on the Republicans 49:40 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=2980s] - Why Muslims hate America 55:15 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=3315s] - Palestine's future 57:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=3450s] - Can they live together? 1:00:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIoyRBP6Yc&t=3600s] - Future of Dearborn, MI We look forward to hearing your thoughts on this interview. It was fiery at times, and you may vehemently disagree with some of what the Imam said about Israel, America, and other subjects. But it's important to hear his perspective, and We the 66 believes that more conversation is the answer, not less. Comment thoughts below or email us at wethe66@rocanews.com.

Ep. 25 Oren Cass: The Man Reshaping the Republican Party

In 2012, Oren Cass was the domestic policy advisor to Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential campaign. Romney's economic policy epitomized that of the modern Republican Party: He celebrated free markets, free trade, and entrepreneurial capitalism. Since the time of Reagan, this worldview dominated the Right. But then, in the mid 2010s, something changed. An opioid crisis swept the Rust Belt, devastating communities that were thriving just decades ago. They suffered population decline, economic shrinkage, and the despair that accompanies both. This wasn't one small region experiencing this: It swept Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, upstate New York, West Virginia, Indiana, and Illinois. Even beyond the Rust Belt, working class towns and cities in every state saw factories close and workers lose their jobs. Coinciding with this trend was China's rise. China was the winner in this manufacturing shift. Whereas the United States was once the manufacturing leader of the world, China stole the crown in the mid 2010s and has put the United States in a $1+ trillion (!) trade deficit. In response to these changes, Oren Cass began publishing articles and writing the book "The Once and Future Worker." He then founded a think tank called the American Compass that makes the case for a worker- and community-first economic policy. He goes after Wall Street, Big Tech, and the neoliberal Washington, DC think tanks whose ideas shaped what he calls the "Old Right." He is one of JD Vance's major influences and has many disciples in Trump World. Some consider Cass to be the most important thinker of the New Right. So what does he believe? On this episode of We the 66, we talked to Cass and looked to find some answers. If you're curious, here is a link to Cass' new Substack: https://understandingamerica.substack.com/ For thoughts and feedback, email us at WeThe66@rocanews.com.

Ep. 24 The Ivy League Professor Who Does Hard Drugs and Wants Them Legalized

Dr. Carl Hart is a neuroscientist at Columbia University who researches drugs and their effects on the human brain. After decades of research, Hart concluded that drugs aren't nearly as dangerous as we're taught to believe. Since then, he's published best-selling books like "High Price" and "Drug Use for Grown Ups" that share his findings on drug and also his personal history of drug use, including his current use of h*roin. In this episode, he shares his views about overcounted drug deaths, morphine vs. heroin, adderall vs. meth, the opioid crisis myth, Prohibition, the crack cocaine epidemic that never was, and so much more.   As is tradition on We The 66, we like to hear a range of viewpoints. After our conversation with Ben Westhoff, the author of "Fentanyl Inc.," we thought it would be valuable to hear an alternative viewpoint. 0:00 - Preview 0:01:35 - Carl Hart intro 0:03:15 - CARL HART INTERVIEW 0:04:10 - Carl Hart's story 0:10:00 - Opioid crisis a myth? 0:22:55 - Truth about addiction 0:26:56 - American to do drugs? 0:37:25 - Myth of Anthony Bourdain 0:40:10 - Politicization of drugs 0:48:25 - Who shouldn't take drugs? 0:56:20 - Drug trials with illegal drugs 1:02:36 - Carl on Kamala Harris 1:08:21 - BACKEND SEGMENTS 1:10:30 - Watch Read Listen 1:16:48 - Frost trivia 1:22:00 - Farewell Max F's "Watch Read Listen" recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/Vietnam-Tragedy-1945-1975-Max-Hastings/dp/0062405667 [https://www.amazon.com/Vietnam-Tragedy-1945-1975-Max-Hastings/dp/0062405667] Max T's "Watch Read Listen" recommendation: https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-march-of-dimes-syndrome [https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-march-of-dimes-syndrome] Please comment your thoughts / questions or email us at wethe66@rocanews.com.