The Beinart Notebook

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com [https://peterbeinart.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] Andile Zulu [https://x.com/shakas_coconut] is a political writer and researcher at the Alternative Information and Development Center [https://aidc.org.za/] based in Capetown, South Africa. Questions include… What is the current reality around violence in South Africa, and how does it intersect with race and class? Looking back at the fall of apartheid, was there an alternative path the ANC could have taken that would’ve led to a better present? Given that violence in South Africa is more likely to afflict black people and that white people have largely maintained their privilege, where is this discourse of white persecution coming from? Why does the issue of Palestinian freedom resonate for South Africans? Does South Africa’s path from apartheid offer lessons for Palestinian liberation?

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com [https://peterbeinart.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] I spoke with my friend, political analyst, and president of The Agora Initiative [https://theagorainitiative.org/], Khalil Sayegh. Questions included… How are you able to face this unending horror and maintain such gentleness and generosity? What do you think of the “perfect victim” critique? After all this time, what gives you confidence that persuasion is possible, and that changing minds can lead to real-world change? How do you maintain your faith in God in the midst of so much suffering? How do you find the right balance between criticizing Hamas and criticizing Israel, given their great power disparity? How do you respond to the argument that Hamas’s authoritarianism and violence shows Israel can’t afford to give Palestinians equal rights? Do you believe Hamas truly accepts of the idea of a two-state solution? What was your response to the assasinations in Washington, DC? What do you think of the phrase “Globalize the Intifada”?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com [https://peterbeinart.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] Our guest is Michael Roth, President of Wesleyan University and author of several recent New York Times op-eds, including “Trump is Selling Jews a Dangerous Lie [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/opinion/trump-jewish-antisemitism-wesleyan.html]” and one subtitled “Higher Education Should be Tolerant but Never Neutral [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/02/opinion/college-president-campus-political.html].” We talk about the Trump administration’s assault on independent universities, the claim of rampant campus antisemitism, and the argument that universities should be neutral on political issues.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peterbeinart.substack.com/subscribe [https://peterbeinart.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]