The number of disappeared from the years of dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983) is still unknown. What is clear is the lingering trauma. Anthropologist Tony Robben has spent his career studying the repercussions of this era. Robben argues that the inability to mourn the dead and the military’s continued refusal to take responsibility for the past has splintered Argentina into competing memory communities. A conversation with Tony Robben about his book, Argentina Betrayed: Memory, Mourning and Accountability, next on the August 5th episode of Realm of Memory.

Beginning with calls for never again, we’re living in an age where the duty to remember has become sacrosanct. Memory has become a means of righting past wrongs, fostering trust and strengthening social cohesion. But is it also possible to see memory as a destabilizing force, undercutting the prospects for peace and stability? This is precisely what David Rieff argues in his book In Praise of Forgetting: Historical Memory and its Ironies. Informed by a decades-long career as a journalist and writer covering conflict zones around the globe, Rieff contends that forgetting is often the best way to reduce harm and suffering. Listen to my conversation with David Reiff and find out how forgetting can sometimes be the answer.

When should we remember difficult and divisive histories? After a career of covering conflicts around the globe, writer and political analyst David Reiff offers his thoughts on the question. In Praise of Forgetting: Historical Memory and its Ironies, Rieff posits that in some cases there is a consensus around the need to remember past crimes. More often, however, there is no agreement. The only way out of messy conflicts is to agree to forgive and forget. Find out more about possibilities and perils of memory on the July 1st episode of Realms of Memory.