The Binary of Genocide

Minds Over Matters · Dec 23, 2025 · 57m

While the act of genocide dates back to the 13th century, the word itself is fairly young — coined in 1944. Keith David Watenpaugh, one of the country’s leading experts on human rights and the history of genocide, sits down with Ed for a conversation on the implications of that coining, the legalities that inform its interpretations, what it might require to ultimately render the word meaningless, the shocking number of times it’s been correctly used and tips on how we should proceed until that day comes when it is no longer needed. Bio: Keith David Watenpaugh is an American historian and…