The “Wonderwomen” Edition
We discuss: 1) The face-of-the-protests particle physicist Shikma Bressler, and whether or not gender played a part in establishing her authority 2) Why Gal Gadot is, among Israelis, the most beloved Israeli since maybe Moshe Dayan
Face to Face
The Hebrew word פנים means face, and on its face, an ordinary and simple word. But there’s more to it in spoken Hebrew, including little things about its proper use
Detente? Christian-Jewish Relations in the Postwar Era
Dr Karma Ben-Johanan discusses her new book “Jacob's Younger Brother: Christian-Jewish relations after Vatican II” and explains what were the implications of the Vatican's new approach to Judaism, announced in the 1960s, across the Catholic world and among Jewish theologians
The “Dei Ex Machina?” Edition
We discuss: 1) Whether tossing out the far-right parties from the gov't, and swapping in the center-left, makes a lick of sense 2) The appeal of some prominent leftists to Joe Biden and Congress to save Israel from itself
What Do Israeli Haredim Really Care About?
Dr Nechumi Yaffe discusses her research on ultra-Orthodox "capabilities" - a tool used by social scientists to measure the well-being and opportunities afforded to people - as well as the relationship between a Haredi lifestyle and higher education
The “What Happened? What Happens Now?” Edition
We discuss: 1) The law that passed and why no compromise was reached, even though all sides said that’s what they wanted 2) What happens, now that that law has passed
The Forces of Nature
Irus Braverman discusses her book “Settling Nature: The Conservation Regime in Palestine/Israel” and explains how Israel's management of nature fits into its broader settler logic
The “Heat of Summer” Edition
We discuss: 1) The petition to the Supreme Court to strip the premiership from Benjamin Netanyahu 2) What to make of Israel’s two-day operation in Jenin 3) A major new documentary about “secularism” in Israel
Revolution and National Liberation
Tamir Sorek, professor of history at Penn State University, discusses his book “The Optimist: A social biography of Tawfiq Zayyad,” the story of one of the foremost Palestinian politicians and intellectuals in Israel of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s
The “It Ain’t the Heat, It’s the Fluidity” Edition
We discuss: 1) the escalation of the protests and counter-protests as summer heats up 2) a new scheme to convene a “Constitutional Convention” and write a founding document for Israel 3) a new report saying Israelis may be more religion-fluid than we usually think!
Withdrawal: The Continuation of Occupation by Other Means?
Dr Rob Geist Pinfold discusses his book “Understanding Territorial Withdrawals: Israeli Occupations and Exits,” which offers a cross-section examination of several cases of territorial expansion and realignment throughout Israel's history
Your Israeli Soundtrack for August
DJ Antithesis spins the latest Israeli hits, including new releases from Noa Kirel, Shiri Maimon, Eden Hason and others