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Welcome to the Learning Corps podcast, the newest show on the Telos Channel! Together, we’ll excavate the core issues of conflict with experts from around the world, to uncover the path forward toward creative action in our communities. 
In this Learning Corps conversation, we were joined by Dr. Joy Banner, the  Co-Founder and Co-Director of The Descendants Project. The Descendants Project is a nonprofit foundation founded to preserve and protect the health, land, and lives of the Black descendant community located in Louisiana’s River Parishes. Many of the folks on our ReStory US experience visit these parishes and hear from Dr. Joy Banner, who is the former Director of Communications and descendant of people enslaved at Whitney Plantation, the only plantation museum in Louisiana that centers the lives of the enslaved.
We explore who these descendant communities are, as well as how they’ve been disproportionately impacted by environmental policies that have their legacies in slavery. But we also center the resilience and resources of this community,  the strategic actions they are taking to advocate for themselves, and how we can come alongside them in their healing and flourishing. 
Links:
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Join the Telos Learning Corps for more of these conversations and community collaboration calls with the Telos network
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Learn more about The Descendants Project
Read about the Wallace Grain Elevator
Financially Support The Descendants Project 
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Massive student protests at Columbia University in solidarity with Gaza were met with swift and intense repression by university administrators and NYPD over the weekend, leading to the arrests of more than 100 students.

Greg Khalil, President and Co-founder of Telos, was present for some of the events over the weekend as an adjunct professor at Columbia. He shares what he saw, what he has heard from students leading and participating in the protests, and what it means for our nation as we struggle to reckon with our part of what’s happening in Gaza.

*Note: This conversation was recorded on Tuesday, April 23—the situation on college campuses across the country is evolving quickly. Protests and student encampments have grown on dozens of campuses. Police on campuses at the University of Texas, Cal-Poly University, Emerson College, and others have cracked down on these protests with violent measures, arresting hundreds of students. Our conversation hopefully offers a way forward to know how to engage these protests with a vision of mutual flourishing.

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After Israel’s strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Iran launched a barrage of 300 missiles at Israel from sites around the Middle East. While around 99% of the projectiles were intercepted before landing, the retaliatory response represented an escalation in a moment already fraught with risk of greater war. Then, overnight last Friday, Israel responded with a strike near an Iranian nuclear site, raising concerns that the region could be on the brink of massive violence.
In this episode, we explore the complex relationship between Israel and Iran, how the recent strikes factor into Washington’s relationship to the actors and what’s happening in Gaza, and what it all means for us—those of us who care to see the human rights of all people honored in the region. 
In order to provide a range of perspectives on the issue, we brought on guest expert Joe Cirincione to discuss. Joe is the Former Director for Non Proliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where he closely tracked Iran’s nuclear program and then, as the President of Ploughshares Fund, played a key role in the campaign for the Iran Deal, which rolled back Iran’s nuclear weapons development program. Joe is an internationally recognized expert on the issue and offered invaluable insights for us on this episode.
Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify
If you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!
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Read Joe’s substack
Read Nicholas Kristoff in the New York Times, as mentioned by Joe: Gaza is Biden’s War Now

After an Israeli strike killed IRGC leaders in Syria, the region has waited with baited breath for a response from the Iranian regime. Could regional war be on the horizon?
We explore:
What (and who) is a proxy? How does the US-Israel alliance shape Iran’s engagement in the region? What does the strike mean for the ongoing negotiations to end the war? We hear the perspectives of two accomplished guest experts from DAWN: Democracy for the Arab World Now, a human rights organization founded by the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 to promote the rule of law and democracy across the Middle East, just before his murder in Turkey. 

Joining us were Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN’s Executive Director, and Omid Memarian, DAWN’s Director of Communications and an Iranian journalist. Both have impressive resumes in human rights work in the region and offer a helpful perspective on the current moment. 
There’s more to explore on Iran, so stay tuned for further conversations with more perspectives, and send us your questions from this episode to address in a follow-up conversation coming soon.

UPDATE: See our follow-up episode, posted April 22, for more perspective and conversation. 
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Read more about DAWN’s work

Yesterday, after three attempts vetoed by the US, the U.N. Security Council successfully passed a resolution calling for an immediate and “lasting” ceasefire in Gaza, with the US abstaining.
We discuss: What does this reflect about the US’ ongoing relationship to the region? What difference will the resolution make on the ground, and for the protection of international norms of human rights? And what can we do to use our voice to build a world that supports the freedom, security, and dignity of all people—in Israel/Palestine and elsewhere?
The Check-in:
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UPDATE!! This morning, the International Court of Justice issued its ruling on the provisional measures of South Africa's case against Israel at The Hague, after it accused it of failing its commitments to the Genocide Convention in its campaign in Gaza.

This ruling is potentially a world-pivoting event. Listen to find out why...

BUT FIRST, be sure to listen to our previous episode discussing the case:
"The Check-in: South Africa takes Israel to Court."

*David was recording on the road today so audio-quality wasn't as sharp as normal. He promises to remember his mic next time :)

Read and share the Principles and Practices of Peacemaking 
Follow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroup
If you’re enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!
Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify
Subscribe to the Telos Newsletter