Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY) with Dr. Dirk Moses

The world is confusing, but there are experts in everything. In our least funny episode ever, we thankfully convinced a global expert, professor, researcher, author, and Genocidologist (it’s a real word) Dr. Dirk Moses to answer the questions that we may secretly have: What exactly is genocide? How long has it been happening? Is it a war crime? Is it a crime of atrocity? Who makes up humanitarian law? What's self-defense — and what's offense? How is it litigated? Whose business is it? Why do we do this to each other? What can be done? It’s a dense, long episode with lots of asides for history and context, but it might be just what you need to give you perspective on the conditions — and cycles of trauma — that can lead to crimes of atrocities. 

Listen via Apple, Spotify, Podcast Addict, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Follow Dr. Dirk Moses on X

Read his book, “The Problems of Genocide: Permanent Security and the Language of Transgression

A donation went to student tuition at City College of New York


Links to things we discussed:

Axis rule in occupied Europe : laws of occupation, analysis of government, proposals for redress / by Raphaël Lemkin

Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907

Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (Geneva Protocol)

The Geneva Conventions Of 12 August 1949

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977

The Formation of the United Nations, 1945

United Nations Charter (full text)

The International Criminal Court (ICC)

UN Framework of Analysis for Atrocity crimes

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

Jurisdiction of the ICC

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

UN Summary of the history of Palestine/Israel since 1914

States which have ratified the UN’s Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

List of parties to the Genocide Convention

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

What is the difference between a nation and a state? 

History of the Question of Palestine

Intergenerational consequences of the Holocaust on offspring mental health: a systematic review of associated factors and mechanisms

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda

From unimaginable to possible: Spain, Pinochet and the judicialization of power

International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

South Africa urges top UN court to impose more emergency orders on Israel to end starvation in Gaza

South Africa asks ICJ for more measures against Israel over Gaza ‘famine’

U.S. vetoes widely supported UN resolution backing full UN membership for Palestine

Who are the Uyghurs and why is China being accused of genocide?

Rohingya refugees risk dangerous sea route to Indonesia in search of safety and freedom

Herero and Nama genocide

A Short Account Of The Destruction Of The Indies Bartolomé De Las Casas

The Cannibal Butcher Shop: Protestant Uses of las Casas's "Brevísima relación" in Europe and the American Colonies 

Harsh Israeli rhetoric against Palestinians becomes central to South Africa’s genocide case

The harm caused by dehumanising language

Fanon on Violence and the Person

Israel officials support Gaza destruction, court hears

Parts of Gaza in ‘Full-Blown Famine,’ U.N. Aid Official Says

Is What’s Happening in Gaza a Genocide? Experts Weigh In  

Israel-Gaza war in maps and charts: Live tracker

Day of Remembrance: Japanese Angelenos at Manzanar

The U.S. Deported a Million of Its Own Citizens to Mexico During the Great Depression

China knife attack and explosions leave several dead

New Research Reveals How the Nazis Targeted Transgender People

Why America’s Israel-Palestine debate is broken — and how to fix it

Gaza as Twilight of Israel Exceptionalism: Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Unprecedented Crisis to Unprecedented Change


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Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE)

Ethnoecology (ETHNOBOTANY/NATIVE PLANTS)

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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jacob Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth 

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

HistoryAlie Ward