An Exemplar of The Podcasting Game — Theo Von’s Dual Episodes on Israel & Palestine Feat. A Rabbi & An Arab Comic
Over the past few months, This Past Weekend has been my go-to. Been a fan of Theo Von for a while but hadn’t taken the deep dive into his interviews until recently, which is the fun part of this content world, getting to discover things from whenever the hell. My true love for Zeppelin only blossomed in the last three years.
Beyond his wonderfully weird comedic brain dissecting the subtleties of life in some of the strangest, most provocative, and random ways, it’s not uncommon for the Rat King to bear his heart on his sleeve and connect with his audience in a number of ways. Every episode is littered with quotes. He’s a great interviewer and does so with a humility and honesty.
Alright, enough of tire pumping.
People who don’t like his comedy tend to yell at waiters.
Alright.
What I’m getting at here — we do a lot of preaching to the choir in the good ole U.S.A.
We do. I know it. You know it. The old lady in the shoe knows it.
It’s rare to find someone who watches as much Fox News as they do MSNBC.
And I’m not advertising either of them.
We tend to seek out entertainment and commentary that shares our vision and aligns us with other like-minded individuals.
Community. It’s human nature, baby.
We don’t seek out arguments to find new friends.
Who’s got time for that?
As a whole, I don’t think this really bodes well for the country.
Which is exactly why I love this set of ‘casts.
Kudos, bruh.
The Interviews
These two episodes, posted on the same day, showcase both sides of the conflict in very different ways. Whereas they’re both humorous and good natured, Bassem Youssef is an Egyptian comedian and former heart surgeon who’s married to a Palestinian woman; and Rabbi David Wolpe is an American Rabbi who dutifully supports Israel.
Bassem can be a bit tough to listen to early on as he laughs rather intensely at some of the harsh realties that the Palestinians have faced. But that dissipates for the most part and Mr. Youssef and Theo go on to have a great conversation. One of the more shocking claims, at least in my eyes, was that some of the gruesome stories of October 6th were fabricated and perpetuated by American media.
A few hours of podcasts doesn’t make me educated enough on the matter, but the understanding I came away with here — as far as the ideal and only possible next steps towards solution — are rather simple:
Release the Israeli hostages.
Clearly declared leaders come forth for both Palestine and Hamas and a massive olive branch is shown
Perhaps something like Hamas handing over guns and weapons to the Israeli Army.
Maybe I’m crazy but that sounds pretty reasonable and possible.
But unfortunately, these podcasts made me feel like that day is far away.
I hope I’m wrong and that day is actually right around the corner.
Then, should it happen, what would follow?
A democratic Palestine and sanctioned land in the ruins of Gaza?
All that money being sent to Israel… will they rebuild Palestine and not make it an open air prison?
It just doesn’t sound like that will happen anytime soon.
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