Apocalypse - The Playboy Bunnis

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Lonard cowen played for soldiers during the 73 war. He would stand up on crates of ammunition and play to them. The music is so distant from the experience of the soldiers, he's singing in english. But it seems clear that any one who heard cohen play in sinai never forgot it. It was that potent.

In October 1973, an unhappy Leonard Cohen was listening to the radio on his Greek island home when he heard that Israel was at war. He headed to Tel Aviv, exchanging a personal and creative crisis for a national one. Absent a plan and even a guitar, Cohen wound up serenading Israeli soldiers at the front. Journalist Matti Friedman talks about his book Who by Fire with EconTalk host Russ Roberts and explains how a songwriter and a nation were transformed in the crucible of war.