Not to Forgive, but to Understand
A podcast series discussing topics in genocide studies with scholars and individuals deeply involved in understanding the complexities of genocide and its perpetrators. Presented by writer, and scholar of Genocide Studies Sabah Carrim, along with co-host Luis Gonzalez-Aponte. Tune in to this podcast series for insightful discussions on pressing topics in the field.
Episodes
36 episodes
Omer Bartov: Academic Silence, Gaza, and the Costs of Speaking
In this episode, we speak with Omer Bartov about academic silence, Gaza, and the costs of speaking publicly about ongoing mass violence. Bartov reflects on the pressures shaping scholarly speech in the United States, the uneven application of l...
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1:00:22
Daria Mattingly: Culpability of Rank-and-File Perpetrators in the Holodomor
In this episode of Not to Forgive, but to Understand, we are joined by Daria Mattingly, a historian whose work focuses on perpetrator studies and the social and cultural history of the Soviet Union, with particular emphasis on Ukraine. The conv...
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54:39
Saira Hussain: Medicine Under Siege, Famine, and Starvation in Gaza
In this episode of Not to Forgive, but to Understand, we are joined by Saira Hussain, an anesthetist who has worked in Gaza at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis through humanitarian deployments with Medical Aid for Palestinians and IDEALS....
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1:05:03
David Chandler & Peg LeVine: Genocide Priming, Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, and ECCC
In this episode, we speak with David Chandler, historian of Cambodia, biographer of Pol Pot, and leading researcher on the S-21 Prison under the Khmer Rouge, who provided expert testimony at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia ...
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1:17:25
Amy Fagin: International Art Competition: Beyond Genocide
In this episode, we speak with Amy Fagin, the author and project lead of Beyond Genocide; members of the Beyond Genocide Arts Award Advisory Council—Bjorn Krondorfer, Alexis Herr, and Sabah Carrim—as well as Linda Paganelli, the 2024–2025 award...
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31:25
Alexandra Birch: The Sound of Atrocity — Music in Nazi Europe
In this episode, we’re joined by Alexandra Birch, violinist, historian, and author of Hitler’s Twilight of the Gods: Music and the Orchestration of War and Genocide in Europe.Birch’s research examines how music and sound functioned as tools...
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52:27
Mehnaz Afridi: Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Muslims in Holocaust Memory
In this conversation, Mehnaz Afridi—Professor of Religion and Philosophy and Director of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University—discusses her groundbreaking work “Shoah Through Muslim Eyes”, the overloo...
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42:44
Bruce Robbins: On Literature, Atrocity, and Academic Freedom
In this episode of Not to Forgive, but to Understand, we speak with Bruce Robbins—Columbia University professor and author of Atrocity: A Literary History. Drawing on his recent book, we explore how literature grapples with th...
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1:01:54
Ava Homa: On Kurdish Identity and Social Fragmentation in Iran
DescriptionIn this episode, we speak with Ava Homa—award-winning author of Daughters of Smoke and Fire and Echoes from the Other Land—about Kurdish identity, structural violence, and the cycles of oppression in I...
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41:18
Roni Mikel-Arieli: Jewish Detainees in Mauritius During WWII
In this episode, we speak with Roni Mikel Arieli, a cultural historian and Teaching and Research Fellow at the Rabb Center for Holocaust Studies, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Mikel Arieli specializes in modern Jewish history, African stu...
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1:10:01
Zachariah Mampilly: Not Beyond Salvation: A Discussion on Congo
🎙️ In this episode, we sit down with Zachariah Mampilly—Marxe Endowed Chair of International Affairs at CUNY and co-founder of the Program on African Social Research—to unpack the deep historical and geopolitical roots of the ongoing conflict i...
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47:53
Yair Wallach: The Ceasefire, & The Future of Israel-Palestine
In this episode, we are joined by Yair Wallach, Chair of the Centre for Jewish Studies at SOAS, University of London, to discuss the January 2025 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Gaza officials.The conversation examines the immedi...
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1:04:09
Uğur Ümit Üngör: Holocaust and Genocide Studies: Cucumber and Vegetable Studies?
In this interview, historian and sociologist Uğur Ümit Üngör discusses the controversy and complication over the use of the “g-word” (genocide), as well as the damage done to humanity because some genocides are deemed “more equal” than others. ...
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57:40
Arie M. Dubnov: 7 Questions on Israel
Join us for an insightful conversation with Arie M. Dubnov, Jewish-Israeli historian and associate professor at George Washington University. Dubnov discusses the complexities of genocide studies, the role of oral histories in the Holocaust, an...
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1:12:10
Omar Yousef Shehabi: 7 Questions on Palestine
Join us for an insightful conversation with Omar Yousef Shehabi, an acting assistant professor at NYU School of Law and a JSD candidate at Yale Law School. With a wealth of experience working as a legal officer for the United Nations Relief and...
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1:01:07
Zukiswa Wanner: Giving up the Goethe Medal for Gaza
Join us for an enriching conversation with Zukiswa Wanner, acclaimed writer and activist, as she shares insights from Johannesburg, South Africa. In this interview, Zukiswa reflects on her literary achievements, activism, and firsthand experien...
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36:50
Alex Hinton: The Engaged Scholar
Join us in conversation with Alex Hinton, Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, and UNESCO Chair in Genocide Prevention at Rutgers University. In this interview, we delve int...
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57:16
Dirk Moses: The Problems of Genocide: Israel and Palestine
Join us as we're privileged to host Dirk Moses, the Anne N. Bernard Spitzer Professor of Political Science at City University of New York and author of 'The Problems of Genocide: Permanent Security and the Language of Transgression.' Tune in as...
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1:07:51
Jermaine McCalpin: Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the 1972 Genocide in Burundi
In this episode, Jermaine McCalpin joins us for an in-depth conversation on the overlooked 1972 genocide in Burundi. We discuss the historical and political conditions that led to the violence, the colonial construction of ethnic identities, an...
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53:23
Thierry Cruvellier: Justice, Memory, and the Limits of the Rwandan Tribunal (ICTR)
Join us for a powerful conversation with Thierry Cruvellier, Editor-in-Chief of JusticeInfo.net and author of Court of Remorse and The Master of Confessions, as he reflects on his decades-long journey reporting on international tribunals and tr...
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1:16:37
Kjell Anderson: The Trial of Dominic Ongwen & the Complexity of Victim-Perpetrators
In this episode of Not to Forgive, but to Understand, we speak with Kjell Anderson, jurist, social scientist, and expert on mass violence, about the complexities of victim-perpetrators through the case of Dominic Ongwen. We explore the intersec...
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1:06:13
Leyla Ferman: ISIS, the Islamic State (Daesh), and the 74 genocides against the Yazidi
Leyla Ferman: A Decade After the Yazidi GenocideIn this episode of Not to Forgive, but to Understand, we speak with Leyla Ferman, Co-Founder of the Yazidi Justice Committee and Director of Women for Justice, about the ongoing fight for just...
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1:08:59
Craig Etcheson: Establishing the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (ECCC)
In this episode, we sit down with Craig Etcheson to explore his experiences conducting groundbreaking research on the Khmer Rouge and his role in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). We delve into the continued activitie...
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51:53
Nyrola Elimä & Ben Mauk: The Persecution of the Uyghurs in China and Beyond
In this episode of Not to Forgive, but to Understand, Sabah Carrim speaks with Ben Mauk and Nyrola Elimä about their investigation published in The New York Times. The article, titled “The Long Road from Xinjiang” in print and “He Made a Daring...
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1:08:25
Morag Grant: Music in War, Torture, and Genocide
In this interview, musicologist Morag Grant, specializing in the intersections of music, violence, and human rights, discusses the ways music has been used in contexts such as mass violence, torture, and genocide. She examines its role in shapi...
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48:37