Syrian expert and prolific author David W. Lesch joins me to talk about his captivating new biography, “Dodgers to Damascus: David Lesch’s Journey from Baseball to the Middle East,” written by Catherine Nixon Cooke.

David W. Lesch is a modern-day Renaissance man whose work has spanned continents and allowed him to explore cultures near and far. An acclaimed scholar, educator, author, and conflict resolution specialist, he has advised five U.S. presidential administrations at the highest levels about the head-spinning political, religious, and cultural complexities of the Middle East. He is the author or editor of seventeen books, including A History of the Middle East since the Rise of Islam, Syria: A Modern History, and The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History.

Long before, as the number one draft pick for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1980, Lesch followed his American dream, playing with many baseball greats until a shoulder injury sidelined him. He later became a distinguished professor of Middle East studies at Trinity University in San Antonio and was soon tapped by the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, and policy centers and governments internationally.

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