Presented by the New America Foundation and The Atavist:

The Baghdad Country Club, a bar in the Green Zone and the subject of the recent story in The Atavist by the same name, was one man’s attempt to create an oasis in the heart of a conflict. In a place where even beer runs were a matter of life and death, the proprietors struggled against the entropy of war to find a respite from the world outside. How do writers, photographers, and outsiders thrown into a conflict zone both survive and represent the strange, dangerous, and even comical aspects of life outside of the heat of battle? What role does humor play in defending their psyches against the terrors around them?

FEATURING

JAMES

Founder of the Baghdad Country Club

JOSHUAH BEARMAN

Author of Baghdad Country Club
Regular contributor to This American Life, Wired, and Rolling Stone

BOB NICKELSBERG

A TIME magazine contract photographer for 25 years who has worked in Kashmir, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, among many other countries.

Listen to the full audio of this event: