It's 2.30 p.m. on Friday, March 28th here in New York City, as we get ready to transition to Shabbat.

It's 9.30 p.m. on Friday, March 28th in Israel. As Israelis end a week of the renewed war

against Hamas and Gaza. And as Israelis try to make sense of the images of Gazans seeming to

finally rise up and protest against Hamas, a topic we'll be diving into in our next episode and as 59 hostages are still

being held captive by Hamas. Today for this special episode, we are doing something a little

different. We are going to have a conversation about a book, a book that's not about Israel and not

about the Middle East, but it is yet a book that I think will be

very relevant to many of our listeners and viewers, and I encourage them to read it. We'll be having

a conversation with the authors. At the beginning of that conversation, we are going to touch

upon some work that they are doing in the Middle East, but the majority of the conversation

will be about their book. I'm sitting down with two close and long-time friends

and, dare I say, mentors of mine, Dina Powell McCormick and Dave McCormick. By the way, I used to

often refer to guests as longtime friends, but I've been told by many listeners, including

Rachel Goldberg. Rachel, I'm looking at you, who say that I dilute the term long time and close friend

when I refer to so many people that way.

But Dave and Dina, I am using it because they really are long time and close friends.

Dina has been a senior executive and partner at Goldman Sachs and at BT and MSD partners,

where she is today.

She earlier served in government at the highest levels of the George W. Bush administration

in the State Department and as the assistant to the president for presidential personnel,

one of the most important positions in government that you've never heard of.

She's an immigrant to America from Egypt, where her father was a captain in Anwar Sadat's army.

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