You're listening to Robert Wright's Non-Zero podcast. You're listening to Robert Wright's Non-Zero Podcast.

Hi, Josh.

And how are you, Bob?

I'm doing fine.

How are you in Oklahoma, the land of my birth?

I can't believe. I still can't believe that your father was an artillery man down in a Lawton. Absolutely. Well, you know,

it's beautiful weather here actually today. It's sunny and glorious, not too chilly,

although last night was cold. Yeah, it's getting warm here.

And it's attributed by my life to climate change, and she's an expert on all she talks about, like me, like you.

Although you actually are an expert, fortunately, on Syria.

And that's what we're going to talk about.

How was that for the transition?

I'm checking my wallet right now.

Okay.

So let me introduce this.

I'm Robert Wright, publisher of Nonserer Newsletter.

This is the Nonser podcast, you, Joshua Landis.

You truly are one of America's foremost experts on authority.

You're a professor of Middle East Studies at the university of oklahoma in the

uh college of international studies and director of the center for middle east studies there

and a non-resident fellow at the quincy institute and you are just the person i want to talk to

because i want to try to shed whatever light is possible to shed on the future of Syria.

...