It took the world’s most advanced digital pioneers, when the computer as we know it was barely born, to stave off Nazi conquest of the Middle East. And it took Gershom Gorenberg to write the true history of the “War of Shadows: Codebreakers, Spies, and the Secret Struggle to Drive the Nazis from the Middle East” – as if it was a novel.

At times reminiscent of 19th century European Jewry, at others of American Jewry in the 20th, the modern history of Iran’s Jews varies radically from other Jewish histories in the Middle East. A new book focuses on the unique case of Iranian Jewry.

Musa Hadid is an all-around nice guy; he’s determined to fix up the old town, re-brand his city, and have a Christmas celebration for everyone. But being the Mayor of Ramallah is no ordinary job and a new documentary, Mayor, is no ordinary film about Palestine. David Osit, the director, explains why.

If a former White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf, who served as special assistant to President Obama concludes that you shouldn’t undertake regime change in the Middle East, you probably shouldn’t. But nothing is ever quite that simple.

Does the fact that Israel is a small and centralized economy work in its benefit? To what extent was the relative robustness of the Israeli economy squandered by the mishandling of the pandemic response by decision makers? How quickly will it bounce back?

Acclaimed journalist and historian Anne Applebaum examines how a wave of nationalist populism swept through the western world – and tore apart her own circle of friends

German-Jewish poet, political scientist and sometimes-provocateur Max Czollek examines the complex dance between modern Germany and German Jews, Holocaust memory, minority identity, radical diversity, art and politics

Dr. Gilad Malach, Director of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program at the Israel Democracy Institute, discusses how the Covid pandemic has affected internal dynamics within the Haredi community in Israel

Yuval Feldman, professor of law at Bar-Ilan University and a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, utilizes behavioral analysis of regulation, enforcement and compliance to discuss how trust in the state has affected the response to the Covid pandemic, in Israel and beyond

Has social media corrupted the truth, spawned fake news and contributed to the collapse of polite political norms? Harvard University’s Yochai Benkler explains his surprising findings