"I Have a Question" - A (imaginary) TV Broadcast with Chris Hayes and Jeet Heer
- Apr 13, 2022
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 29, 2022
“I Have a Question” is a (imaginary) is an hour long TV show hosted by Chris Hayes and Jeet Heer (usually alternating as hosts)
It runs at the same time as the program “A Year of Astronomy and Space”
The show is on an irregular schedule, often released in accordance with issues brought up in the "A Year of Astronomy and Space" program
It takes the same general end goal that the program “A Year of Astronomy and Space” does, but it is not necessarily a parallel path. In the end, we hope that both programs support the knowledge we learn in each to give us a cohesive whole understanding of the world, our place in it and our future amongst the stars.
As usual - this program also requires a lot of outside reading., which is independent of the programing, but integrated - the same basic concepts are at the base of how States operate, how religion can operate in how a State operate and how these both operate within the population and the trajectory of all three.
Let’s start off with the books that will undergird this program.
We focus on two countries and their people - Iran and Israel, which illustrate a lot of the same dynamics between state, religious institutions and the power they both weld, that we find throughout our studies of history.
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You can read these books in this order which follows a sequence related to time and events or follow the list below this section categorized by importance to our topic. If you are not a reader or do not want to devote the time to this area, then read the Required List, if the topic is of interest, then read by historical order to build up a knowledge base from ground zero
Israel
A History of the Jews
Exodus
A Tale of Love and Darkness
Israel: A History
My Promised Land
The Israelis
Memories After My Death
A series of articles on Israel (see list below)
Iran
Immortal
The Soul of Iran
The Strangling of Persia
My Napoleon
All The Shah’s Men
The Cypress Tree
Post Revolutionary Politics in Iran
A Single Roll of the Dice
Required:
1) A History of the Jews by Paul Johnson - 1987 - 583 pgs
Thorough - you have to start with a knowledge of the 4,000 year old history of the Jewish people to understand what Israel means. Ends in the early 70s. It's a long one - almost 600 pages, but every page is a turner.
2) The Soul of Iran by Afghan Molavi - 2002 - 350 pgs
Pilgrimages are a central feature of the shia branch of the Islamic faith, so Molavi has framed his book around the historical events and cultural significance of places that he visits while traveling across Iran.
3) Post-Revolutionary Politics in Iran by David Menashri - 2001 - 320 pgs
"Post-Revolutionary Politics in Iran:Religion,Society and Power" by David Menashri. Menashri is probably one of the world's foremost authorities on the Iranian government. The book covers in detail the development of Iran's domestic and foreign policy and philosophy of rule from the start of the Revolution to 1997. A factual study, which is so rare concerning much material written about Iran today.
4) A series of articles on Israel:
(“Religion in Israel 101”) published as a chapter in Routledge's Understanding Israel volume - Ofer
Beyond Liberal Peacemaking: Lessons from Israeli-Palestinian Diplomatic Peacemaking
Deep Diversity, the Common Good, and the Israeli Future
Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Viability of One-State Models
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Recommend:
1) The Strangling of Persia by William Morgan - 1912 - 334 pgs
"The Strangling of Persia: A Story of the European Diplomacy and Oriental Intrigue That Resulted in the Denationalization of Twelve Million Mohammedans,A Personal Narrative" (those Victorians loved looong book titles) by William Morgan Shuster, written in 1912. I believe it is available for free online.
Mr. Shuster,an American, became the Treasurer-General of Persia in the time period right before WW1 and this is his story of his time in Iran while holding that office.When you get through this book - a very easy read -you will understand the history of Russia and Great Britain in Iran and why Iranians have such an obsession about never being beholden to any outside entity. It may not be the book I return to as a reference, but it is the one that for me explains the heart of Iran the best.
Captures the Essence of Iranians' Attitude Toward Outside Countries
2) My Promised Land by Ari Shavit - 2013 - 420 pgs
"My Promised Land:The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel" by Ari Shavit - gives a very good overview on Israel's past and how she got here and the issues facing her in the future. He's caught heck from left and right and even though he and I disagree on some issues - I like his heart.
3) Memories After My Death by Yair Lapid - 2011 - 404 pgs
4) Single Roll of the Dice by Trita Parsi - 2012 - 240 pgs
"Single Roll of the Dice:Obama's Diplomacy with Iran" by Trita Parsi
Iran Nuclear Deal: From 2009 to 2012 when the book was published. Even though events have now outpaced the book, still the best primer.
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Optional:
"Immortal:A Military History of Iran and It's Armed Forces" by Steven Ward Covers the evolution of Iran's military wings,including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp, from it's roots in antiquity to 2006. Excellent background on the underpinnings even to today.
2) ”Israel: A History" by Martin Gilbert - While it covers a lot of the same ground as Johnson’s “A History of the Jews”, the emphasis is different - it is really focused on the creation of the state. Ends right at 2007. Again - t's a long one (about 700 pages) but wow - fiction does not match reality for excitement.
3) ”My Uncle Napoleon" by Iraj Pezeshkzad
This is the book that a popular Iranian TV sitcom was based on. The humour is earthy and broad and had me laughing outloud. It fully displays the distrust of outside interference, particularly from the British that evolved in Iran after the events from the period in which “Strangling of Persia” takes place.
4) "A Tale of Love and Darkness" - Amos Oz'
Fiction is able to give you a feel of a situation with all the nuances that nonfiction can not achieve and this book does that with the state of Israel's early history. It's is a biographical narrative of Oz' family coming to Israel (Jerusalem) before it was a state and how hard life was as an immigrant. I especially recommend the book to women - Oz gets what it is like for a woman to be faced with no choices and yet having to continue on because such is life. I'll warn you - the book is a heartbreaker.(at least it was for me - just tore me apart).
5) "All The Shah's Men:An American Coup and the Roots of Middle Eastern Terror" by Stephen Kinzer
For Americans, the single most important event that resonates with us is the hostage situation in 1979, but for Iranians, the single event concerning Americans that resonates with them is the 1953 coup that removed the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran,Mohammad Mossadegh. To understand the depth of emotion felt by the Iranian people even 20 years later in connection with the deposing of the Shah, you have to start here.
6) "The Israelis:Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land" by Donna Rosenthal. It is divided into issues of modern life in Israel rather than historical events.It ends right after the second intifada and gives you a good sense of the emotional impact for Israelis of that event.
7) ”The Cypress Tree" by Kamin Mohammadi
Tells the story of Iran through three generations of the women in author's family - starting back with her grandmother. Because societies often choose women to be the expression of their ideas of nationhood, women are a good barometer of how the society has changed.
8) “Exodus” by Leon Uris
Exodus is a historical novel by American novelist Leon Uris about the founding of the State of Israel beginning with a compressed retelling of the voyages of the 1947 immigration ship Exodus and describing the histories of the various main characters and the ties of their personal lives to the birth of the new Jewish state.
Published by Doubleday in 1958, it became an international publishing phenomenon, the biggest bestseller in the United States since Gone with the Wind (1936) and still at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list eight months after its release. It has been both widely praised and criticized as being anti-Arab or anti-Palestinian and as having "ignored the basic injustice" at the root of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
This is the book that shaped the view of much of the US population that came of age in the generation after WW2 of the state of Israel , just as “Gone With the Wind” shaped the general public’s view of The South before the Civil Rights movement brought an awareness of what the reality was for the non-dominant population in that region. They are both a type of fictional propaganda, but “Exodus” does capture the emotional desire of many in Christian America after WW2 for a correction of the harm done to Jews (some might say a shifting of the blame to another group rather than a facing up to their own actions).
It has pretty much fallen into insignificance as the reality of what has happened to the non-dominant population in Israel has come to light and continued on its trajectory. But it is still a good read to understand how we got here.
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