NIOD Rewind Podcast

In the NIOD Rewind podcast on war & violence, Anne van Mourik interviews scholars about the history of mass violence, genocide and war. A new episode appears every few weeks. What are the main issues and new insights in the field of war and violence studies? How does the history of violence relate to the current debate, events, and phenomena? The NIOD Rewind podcast looks into innovative research, interesting methods, and new publications. All episodes are available to listen via our Soundcloud account or in your favourite podcast platform

New: episode 47

Are perpetrators of mass atrocities really “monsters”? Or are they, in fact, normal people, like us? Anne van Mourik and Lucy Gaynor interview Professor Alette Smeulers (University Groningen), who argues that those who commit extreme violence are often far more ordinary than we would like to believe. We discuss Alette’s research - which looks at many cases including the Holocaust, the Rwandan Genocide, Apartheid in South Africa, and military dictatorships in South America - and ask: what patterns emerge? Do different contexts produce different types of perpetrators, such as “fanatics”, “masterminds”, and “followers"? Does social media, in our modern age, act as a kind of fanatic infrastructure, creating spaces like the manosphere, or even enabling perpetration? What is the role of “strongmen” like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Benjamin Netanyahu, in the perpetration of atrocities? How do other leaders, like NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, play a part in normalising violence?

Anne van Mourik, Lucy Gaynor and Alette Smeulers

Not sure what to listen next? Take a look at some of our favorites:

Episode 4: Negotiating Displacement (13-02-2020)
Episode 14: The Problems of Genocide (21-04-2021)
Episode 19: Political Apologies across Cultures (21-02-2022)
Episode 25: What is ‘Violence’? Debates and Directions (29-08-2022)
Episode 26: Bones of Contention: the Vietnam-American War (8-9-2022)
Episode 30: Revolutionary Worlds: Local Perspectives and Dynamics during the Indonesian Independence War, 1945-49 (6-2-2023)
Episode 35: Between lines and lives: using ego-documents to study war and violence (8-9-2023)

Overview of all episodes

The NIOD Rewind podcast has been on air since 2019 and was created by Anne van Mourik and Thijs Bouwknegt. Check out an overview of all episodes below.

Season 7 NIOD Rewind Podcast

Season 6 NIOD Rewind Podcast

Season 5 NIOD Rewind Podcast

Season 4 NIOD Rewind Podcast

Special series: Onzekere Tijden

In this special series of the NIOD Rewind podcast, NIOD researchers discuss the corona crisis and the uncertain times it brought. How do they experience the crisis themselves? And how, from the perspective of their research, do they analyse events in society? A special series in Dutch by: Anne van Mourik, Thijs Bouwknegt and Anne-Lise Bobeldijk.