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Duration: 1:27:38

Leon Wieseltier (b June 14, 1952) is an American writer, critic, and magazine editor. Since 1983 he has been the literary editor of The New Republic. Wieseltier was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Columbia University, Oxford University, and Harvard University.

Wieseltier has published several fictional and non-fictional books including Kaddish, a National Book Award finalist in 2000, and Against Identity, a collection of thoughts about the modern notion of identity. During Wieseltier’s tenure as literary editor of The New Republic, many of his signed and unsigned writings have appeared in the magazine.

Wieseltier served on the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.

In co-sponsoring the Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture Series, the Burkle Center for International Relations celebrates the memory of Daniel Pearl as a prominent journalist who dedicated his life to bringing joy and understanding to the world. Past guests have included Christopher Hitchens, CNN's Anderson Cooper, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, Daniel Schorr of NPR, and CNN's Larry King.