Roger Berkowitz in Conversation with Ian Buruma on the Reading Hannah Arendt Podcast
L-R: Professor Ian Buruma (Photo by Pete Mauney ’93 MFA ’00) and Professor Roger Berkowitz.
The Hannah Arendt Center at Bard released an interview with Paul W. Williams Professor of Human Rights and Journalism Ian Buruma on their podcast Reading Hannah Arendt. Professor Roger Berkowitz spoke with Buruma about his article, “Staying Decent in an Indecent Society,” which will be published in the Summer 2025 issue of Liberties Journal. The essay covers Buruma’s life in the post-World War II Netherlands before discussing his perceptions of decency and civility in society then and now. Berkowitz and Buruma also discussed whether America is currently a “decent society” and how individual decency is based on personal beliefs, not country of origin. “To defend openness, to defend individual liberty, the right to dissent and so on, is not a question of roots,” Buruma said. “You defend [these things] because they’re right.”
Post Date: 07-15-2025
Post Date: 07-15-2025