Season 5 Episode 1: Michael Carley, Stalin's Great Game : War and Neutrality, 1939-1941

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and tax policy expert Professor Dorothy A. Brown for a thought-provoking discussion of her books, The Whiteness of Wealth and Getting to Reparations. Drawing on decades of research, Brown examines how seemingly race-neutral tax policies have contributed to widening racial wealth disparities in the United States and explores what meaningful economic repair could look like in practice.Together, they discuss how the U.S. tax system has historically advantaged white households while limiting wealth-building opportunities for Black Americans. The conversation explores the hidden ways tax policy shapes homeownership, education, employment, and intergenerational wealth, as well as the broader historical forces that continue to influence economic inequality today. Brown also outlines her vision for reparations, arguing that confronting the legacy of slavery and systemic discrimination is essential to building a more equitable society.This episode offers listeners a deeper understanding of the intersection of race, public policy, and economic justice. It challenges conventional assumptions about fairness in the tax code and invites a broader conversation about how societies can address historical harms while creating more inclusive pathways to opportunity and prosperity. The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!📚 Join the conversation and go deeper into the ideas shaping our world.➡️ Watch the conversation on YouTube ➡️ Subscribe to the newsletter for episode updates, readings, and behind-the-scenes insights: https://bit.ly/subscribeBCJS➡️ Explore past episodes, show notes, and featured books: https://bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org🎧 Download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.📣 Love the show? Leave a rating and review - it helps more listeners find the podcast.🔁 Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or book club who’d enjoy the discussion!

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Professor Rana Mitter, for a compelling discussion of his book Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937–1945. Drawing on extensive archival research and long-overlooked sources, Mitter brings to light China’s central, and often underappreciated, role in the global fight against Imperial Japan during World War II.Together, they explore how China’s prolonged resistance tied down vast numbers of Japanese troops, shaping the broader trajectory of the war in Asia and beyond. They examine the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, the fragile alliances between Nationalists and Communists, and the immense human cost borne by Chinese civilians. The conversation also addresses how China’s wartime experience influenced its postwar political order and its place in the emerging international system.This episode offers listeners a powerful reframing of World War II, challenging Eurocentric narratives and highlighting the global dimensions of the conflict. It is a story of resilience, sacrifice, and strategic complexity, one that continues to shape how we understand China’s role in the world today and the enduring legacy of a “forgotten ally.”The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.Footnotes:Books by Rana MitterChina’s Role in World War IISecond Sino-Japanese WarInvasion of Manchuria Chiang Kai-shekMao ZedongOpium Wars in ChinaEzra F. Vogel Marco Polo Bridge IncidentChongqhing BombingWang JingweiJoseph StilwellP5 UN Security CouncilCairo Conference⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!📚 Join the conversation and go deeper into the ideas shaping our world.➡️ Watch the conversation on YouTube ➡️ Subscribe to the newsletter for episode updates, readings, and behind-the-scenes insights: https://bit.ly/subscribeBCJS➡️ Explore past episodes, show notes, and featured books: https://bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org🎧 Download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.📣 Love the show? Leave a rating and review - it helps more listeners find the podcast.🔁 Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or book club who’d enjoy the discussion!

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs for a compelling conversation on Martyrs to the Unspeakable: The Assassinations of JFK, Malcolm, Martin, and RFK by James W. Douglass. In this sweeping work, Douglass reexamines the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, arguing that these four leaders were killed not by isolated actors, but within a deeper context of national security power and Cold War politics.Drawing on extensive documentary evidence, witness testimony, and declassified records, Douglass challenges the official lone-gunman narratives and situates each assassination within a broader struggle between movements for peace and justice and entrenched systems of violence. At the heart of the book is the concept of the “Unspeakable,” a term Douglass uses to describe the hidden structures of power capable of silencing transformative leadership.Together, they explore how each of these figures, in different ways, broke with prevailing orthodoxies, opposing nuclear brinkmanship, militarism, racism, and war, and how their evolving commitments to peace may have placed them in direct conflict with powerful institutions. This episode invites listeners into a profound reconsideration of one of the most turbulent eras in American history. It is a story of conscience and consequence and of how the unresolved traumas of the 1960s continue to echo in political life today.Footnotes:Books by James W. DouglassJFK AssassinationMalcolm X AssassinationMLK AssassinationRFK AssassinationUS Central Intelligence AgencyThe Warren Commission ReportJames Jesus AngeltonEisenhower Farewell Address Khrushchev and JFK CommunicationsPeace on Earth Encyclical Pope John XXIII Lee Harvey OswaldDavid Talbot - The Devils ChessboardDag HammarskjöldAllen Dulles⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!📚 Join the conversation and go deeper into the ideas shaping our world.➡️ Watch the conversation on YouTube ➡️ Subscribe to the newsletter for episode updates, readings, and behind-the-scenes insights: https://bit.ly/subscribeBCJS➡️ Explore past episodes, show notes, and featured books: https://bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org🎧 Download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.📣 Love the show? Leave a rating and review - it helps more listeners find the podcast.🔁 Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or book club who’d enjoy the discussion!

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Michael J. Carley, retired Professeur at the Université de Montréal, for a discussion of his groundbreaking trilogy on the international crises of the 1930s: Stalin’s Gamble, Stalin’s Failed Alliance, and Stalin’s Great Game. Drawing on decades of archival research, Carley challenges the familiar Cold War narrative that paints Stalin and Hitler as “dual dictators” and instead uncovers a forgotten history of the Soviet Union’s sustained efforts to build a collective security alliance against Nazi Germany.Sachs and Carley explore how Britain, France, and the United States repeatedly rejected these overtures, shaped by anti-communism, imperial interests, and deep-seated prejudices that cast the USSR - not Hitler - as the greater threat. This strategic blindness, Carley argues, helped pave the way to World War II and has since been obscured by Western historiography and popular culture.This episode offers listeners a powerful narrative of missed opportunities, ideological blinders, and the consequences of mistrust among great powers. It is a story from the 1930s with striking resonance today, revealing how historical misunderstanding can shape international politics, and how the failures of statecraft then echo in our world now.The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.Footnotes:Books by Michael J. CarleyBolshevik Revolution Plato’s Allegory of the CaveMaxim LitvinovHistory of the Soviet UnionCzarist Russian EmpireJoseph StalinMein KampfFascismBenito Mussolini⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!📚 Join the conversation and go deeper into the ideas shaping our world.➡️ Watch the conversation on YouTube ➡️ Subscribe to the newsletter for episode updates, readings, and behind-the-scenes insights: https://bit.ly/subscribeBCJS➡️ Explore past episodes, show notes, and featured books: https://bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org🎧 Download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.📣 Love the show? Leave a rating and review - it helps more listeners find the podcast.🔁 Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or book club who’d enjoy the discussion!

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Yakov M. Rabkin, historian and Professor Emeritus at the University of Montreal, for a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion on the history of Zionism, Jewish thought, and the modern state of Israel. Delving into Rabkin’s path-breaking work, including his newest book, Israel in Palestine: Jewish Rejection of Zionism, Rabkin and Sachs discuss the early opposition to modern Zionism from many parts of the world Jewry, and the deep theological, political, and cultural divides that Zionism has created in Jewish communities around the world.  Together, Rabkin and Sachs trace the surprising origins of Zionism in 17th century British Protestantism, and its transformation into a modern political movement in 19th century Europe, led by both British evangelical Protestants and Central and Eastern European secular Jews. They delve into Herzl’s Zionist movement, which faced many Jewish opponents, including rabbinical authorities, assimilated Jews in Western Europe, and socialists who viewed it as a distraction from class struggle. Rabkin and Sachs discuss the pivotal role of Britain’s Balfour Declaration, the Russian revolutionary roots of Israel’s political culture, and the enduring legacies of figures such as Theodor Herzl and Ze’ev Jabotinsky.The conversation then turns to the present crisis in Israel and Palestine. They discuss the ideologies of Israel’s ruling parties, the rise of Israel’s religious-nationalist movements since 1967, and the role of these ideologies and movements in the ongoing conflict. Rabkin’s scholarship offers listeners a deeply informed narrative of history, religion, and power - shedding a powerful light on the disastrous, ongoing Israel - Palestine conflict.  The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.Footnotes:Yakov Rabkin Books ZionismSatmar HasidimChristian ZionismIsaac Newton’s religious viewsJoseph PriestleyFirst Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE)Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–135 CE)Theodor HerzlWilliam HechlerTalmudThree Oaths (Judaism)Pale of SettlementGeneral Jewish Labour BundBalfour DeclarationEdwin MontaguJewish Colonial TrustZe’ev JabotinskyIron WallSix-Day War (1967)⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!📚 Join the conversation and go deeper into the ideas shaping our world.➡️ Watch the conversation on YouTube ➡️ Subscribe to the newsletter for episode updates, readings, and behind-the-scenes insights: https://bit.ly/subscribeBCJS➡️ Explore past episodes, show notes, and featured books: https://bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org🎧 Download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.📣 Love the show? Leave a rating and review - it helps more listeners find the podcast.🔁 Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or book club who’d enjoy the discussion!

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Professor James Romm, classicist and historian at Bard College, for a captivating discussion on one of the most dramatic and fascinating political experiments of the ancient world: Plato’s involvement with power politics in Syracuse (Siracusa). Drawing on Romm’s newest book, Plato and the Tyrant, Sachs and Romm explore the extraordinary story of how the great philosopher Plato attempted over the course of three decades to bring philosophy into the heart of government.Together, they delve into Plato’s journey to the court of the autocratic ruler Dionysius in ancient Syracuse, where he hoped to transform a tyrant into a philosopher-king. They discuss the political turmoil that unfolded, Plato’s close relationship with the philosophically minded Dion, and how Plato’s experiences deeply shaped his writing of The Republic.  Romm reveals how Plato’s real-world political experiences ultimately informed his later, more sober work The Laws, and how these texts reflect a lifelong quest to define justice, leadership, and the possibility of a virtuous society.This episode offers listeners a rich narrative of political intrigue, philosophical ambition, and the enduring relevance of Plato’s quest to unite ethics and power - an ancient story with striking implications for our world today.The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.Footnotes: Ancient Greek PhilosophyPlatoAuthoritarianismAutocracySyracuseAthensDionysius DionPlato’s AcademyAristotleThe Republic (by Plato)The Laws (by Plato)CarthagePhilosopher-King⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!📚 Join the conversation and go deeper into the ideas shaping our world.➡️ Watch the conversation on YouTube ➡️ Subscribe to the newsletter for episode updates, readings, and behind-the-scenes insights: https://bit.ly/subscribeBCJS➡️ Explore past episodes, show notes, and featured books: https://bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org🎧 Download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.📣 Love the show? Leave a rating and review - it helps more listeners find the podcast.🔁 Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or book club who’d enjoy the discussion!

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Prof. Ilan Pappè, historian at Exeter University, UK, for an in-depth conversation on one of the most enduring and contentious issues of our time: the Israel-Palestine conflict. Drawing on Pappè’s powerful new books—Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic and A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, Sachs and Pappè discuss the historical, political, and ideological forces that have shaped the Zionist movement and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.    Together, they explore how lobbying networks in the UK and US have influenced the foreign policy of both countries, and the role of the UK and US in the Israel-Palestine conflict. They delve into the historical roots of Zionism, the legacy of British colonial rule in Mandatory Palestine, and the role of the US in the Israel-Palestine conflict from the adoption of the UN Partition Plan in 1947 until today. This episode offers listeners a deeper understanding of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine by delving into the historical processes that shaped the conflict during the past century and more. The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.orgFootnotes:ZionismIsrael Palestinian ConflictWar in GazaJudaismAntisemitismHistory of IsraelHistory of PalestineSettler ColonialismOttoman EmpireBritish ImperialismLord BalfourNeoconsUN Resolution 181UN Partition Plan for PalestinePatrick Wolfe - Elimination of the Local2000 Camp David Summit2024 Protests on University Campuses⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!📚 Join the conversation and go deeper into the ideas shaping our world.➡️ Watch the conversation on YouTube ➡️ Subscribe to the newsletter for episode updates, readings, and behind-the-scenes insights: https://bit.ly/subscribeBCJS➡️ Explore past episodes, show notes, and featured books: https://bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org🎧 Download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.📣 Love the show? Leave a rating and review - it helps more listeners find the podcast.🔁 Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or book club who’d enjoy the discussion!

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and futurist Ray Kurzweil for a compelling conversation on the accelerating pace of technological change and its profound implications for the future of humanity. In his new book, The Singularity Is Nearer, Kurzweil revisits and updates his groundbreaking predictions on AI & AGI, exponential growth, and human evolution and longevity.Together, they explore a future where AI rivals human intelligence by 2029, nanotechnology rebuilds the world atom by atom, and our minds merge with the cloud to expand intelligence beyond biological limits. They examine radical life extension, the promise of renewable energy, and how exponential technologies are reshaping industries, reducing poverty, and transforming global well-being. But, they also confront the risks while discussing a vision of the future - both awe-inspiring and cautionary - challenging us to rethink what it means to be human in an age of rapid and relentless innovation.The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.Footnotes:AIAGI The Singularity is Near Dartmouth WorkshopMartin Kosinski NeuromedBiotechnologyFrank RosenblattPerceptronExponential Growth Turing TestLongevity Humanoid RobotsVirtual Reality NeocortexArtificial Consciousness⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!📚 Join the conversation and go deeper into the ideas shaping our world.➡️ Watch the conversation on YouTube ➡️ Subscribe to the newsletter for episode updates, readings, and behind-the-scenes insights: https://bit.ly/subscribeBCJS➡️ Explore past episodes, show notes, and featured books: https://bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org🎧 Download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.📣 Love the show? Leave a rating and review - it helps more listeners find the podcast.🔁 Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or book club who’d enjoy the discussion!

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and American historian Lauren Benton for a discussion on the hidden histories of empires and the lasting impact of imperial violence. In her book, They Called It Peace: Worlds of Imperial Violence Benton uncovers how European powers built and maintained their empires through relentless cycles of raiding, slaving, and plunder—while portraying their conquests as missions of order and peace.Together, they explore the brutal mechanics of colonial expansion, the blurred lines between war and peace, and how fragile truces paved the way for endless conflict. Was imperial violence an aberration, or did it set the stage for the perpetual wars that define our world today? With insights spanning centuries and continents, this episode confronts the uncomfortable truths about power, violence, and the myths that continue to shape global order.The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.Footnotes:ImperialismInternational LawEmpiresHistory of WarsLaw of WarLong 19th CenturyState of Exception Perpetual WarReconquistaExterminatory Violence1492: Conquest of ParadiseWar TruecesInformal EmpireNeocolonialismBritish Merchants Policing The Dividing of Africa by EuropeWar Against Tasmanian Aborigines Drone Warfare⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!📚 Join the conversation and go deeper into the ideas shaping our world.➡️ Watch the conversation on YouTube ➡️ Subscribe to the newsletter for episode updates, readings, and behind-the-scenes insights: https://bit.ly/subscribeBCJS➡️ Explore past episodes, show notes, and featured books: https://bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org🎧 Download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.📣 Love the show? Leave a rating and review - it helps more listeners find the podcast.🔁 Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or book club who’d enjoy the discussion!

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian, Professor Richard Overy for an insightful conversation on one of humanity’s most unsettling questions: Why do we wage war? In his book, Why War? Overy takes us on a journey across time, from the ancient battlefields of the Roman Empire to the devastation of the World Wars and the conflicts shaping our present.Together, they examine what drives organized violence? Is it hardwired into human nature, or does it stem from competition for resources, power, and security? Drawing on psychology, history, and political strategy, Overy dissects the deep-rooted forces behind war— confronting the stark realities of conflict and examining whether war is an inescapable part of our past—or an unavoidable part of our future. This episode doesn’t shy away from the hard truths—there are no easy answers, and Overy delivers no false hope.The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.Footnotes:Why Do Humans Make War?StatecraftYugoslav WarsAristotelianismBarbarian Proxy WarPeloponnesian WarsThucydidesJihad Israeli - Palestinian ConflictNuremberg TrialsHermann GoeringDemagogue of AthensBritain Mercantile StateNew ImperialismHobbes Social ContractMunich AgreementOperation PaperclipStalin’s Rise to Power⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!📚 Join the conversation and go deeper into the ideas shaping our world.➡️ Watch the conversation on YouTube ➡️ Subscribe to the newsletter for episode updates, readings, and behind-the-scenes insights: https://bit.ly/subscribeBCJS➡️ Explore past episodes, show notes, and featured books: https://bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org🎧 Download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.📣 Love the show? Leave a rating and review - it helps more listeners find the podcast.🔁 Share this episode with a friend, colleague, or book club who’d enjoy the discussion!