Tel Aviv Review
654 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago - ★★★★★ - 141 ratingsShowcasing the latest developments in the realm of academic and professional research and literature, about the Middle East and global affairs. We discuss Israeli, Arab and Palestinian society, the Jewish world, the Middle East and its conflicts, and issues of global and public affairs with scholars, writers and deep-thinkers.
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Episodes
A Rainbow of Complexities in Palestine
February 22, 2021 06:00 - 37 minutes - 26.8 MBNavigating queerness in the West Bank, Gaza or Israel, in refugee camps or as a Palestinian in the West Bank? It's complicated. Why is the LGBTQ global movement intensely invested in the Palestinian cause, and when does a social movement grow or plateau? Sa'ed Atshan asks and answers these questions in Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique.
Idiomatic Expression
February 15, 2021 06:00 - 39 minutes - 28.3 MBWhen Robert Berman, an American Jewish immigrant to Israel began studying Arabic, he didn't stop until he had written a book full of idioms. Together with language expert Christy Bandak as editor, the linguistic duo wrote Min Taq Taq: A Collection of Arabic Idioms, in which they explain what “his face is good on me” conveys in Arabic, and why they included a whole chapter on fingers.
Israeli Democracy in 2021: Close To Breaking Point?
February 08, 2021 16:53 - 40 minutes - 28.7 MBAhead of a fourth general election in under two years, Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute, joins us to discuss what needs to be done to come out of the ongoing political crisis that has left Israel without a stable government, a state budget for three years on end, and an effective response to the Covid pandemic. This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations ...
Long, Long, Long Live King Bibi
February 01, 2021 09:41 - 37 minutes - 26.8 MBIn their documentary film King Bibi: The Life and Performances of Benjamin Netanyahu, Dan Shadur and Liran Atzmor get to the bottom of Benjamin Netanyahu’s magic, which has made him the longest-serving Prime Minister in Israel’s history and a prominent fixture in Israeli politics for the past four decades, and counting.
Cracking the Code
January 25, 2021 11:27 - 40 minutes - 27.9 MBIt 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. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and European countries.
The Untold Stories of Iran’s Jews
January 18, 2021 06:00 - 35 minutes - 25.2 MBAt times reminiscent of European Jewry in the 19th century, at others of American Jewry in the 20th, the modern history of Iran’s Jews varies radically from contemporary Jewish histories in the Middle East. The new book Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth-Century Iran by Lior Sternfeld, assistant professor of history and Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University, focuses on the unique case of Iranian Jewry.
Meet the Mayor Next Door
January 11, 2021 09:41 - 40 minutes - 28.7 MBMusa 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. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and European countries.
Can America Ever Get It Right in the Middle East?
January 04, 2021 08:28 - 44 minutes - 31.6 MBIf 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. In Losing the Long Game, The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East, Philip Gordon examines what went wrong. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s rela...
COVID and the Israeli Economy: A Bittersweet Reckoning
December 28, 2020 18:23 - 35 minutes - 25.4 MBProf. Karnit Flug, Vice President of the Israel Democracy Institute and former Chancellor of the Bank of Israel, assesses the effects of the COVID pandemic on the Israeli economy. 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? This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy In...
Could It Happen To Us?
December 21, 2020 15:41 - 37 minutes - 26.8 MBIn her bestselling Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism, 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. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.
Identity, Dissembled
December 14, 2020 06:00 - 41 minutes - 29.9 MBGerman-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. His book “De-integrate Yourselves” has launched a thousand conversations. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and European countries.
In God They Trust
December 07, 2020 10:00 - 37 minutes - 27 MBDr. 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, as well as their relationship with their political leadership and the state. This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.
We’re All in This Together. Are We?
November 30, 2020 05:00 - 41 minutes - 29.7 MBYuval 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. This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.
Who Poisoned My News?
November 23, 2020 15:42 - 44 minutes - 30.5 MBSocial media has corrupted the truth, spawned fake news and contributed to the collapse of polite political norms – right or wrong? A systematic, in-depth study of American news media before and after Trump takes a deeper plunge into the right-wing ecosystem at large, with surprising findings. Yochai Benkler of Harvard University, co-author of Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics explains. This episode is made possible by the Israel of...
Bridging the Gulf
November 16, 2020 10:51 - 36 minutes - 26.3 MBDr. Moran Zaga was studying the Persian Gulf countries long before it became fashionable for Israel to make peace with them. She explains the historic and political background to a series of unlikely diplomatic deals between Israel and certain Arab states, what’s in it for them, and why the United Arab Emirates seeks to position itself as the moderate actor between competing extremist forces throughout the Middle East. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government...
The Middle East Through Russian-Israeli Eyes
November 09, 2020 16:55 - 46 minutes - 32.8 MBKsenia Svetlova’s story is gripping: she moved to Israel as a teen, grew up to become a journalist, and eventually served as a Member of Knesset. In her book: “Reporting the Middle East on High Heels,” Ksenia brings her story to her beat, giving readers an over-her-shoulder view of the Middle East from Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, to the Palestinians areas much closer to home. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relation...
Hearts of Darkness
November 02, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutes - 30 MBIn The Management of Hate: Nation, Affect, and the Governance of Right-Wing Extremism in Germany, Dr. Nitzan Shoshan travels with the marginalized, outcasts and left-behind members of German society today to find out what drives some to the far-right – and how the state tries to contain them. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education
Ordinary People: Polish-Jewish Relations During the Holocaust
October 26, 2020 14:39 - 33 minutes - 24.3 MBProf. Havi Dreifuss of the Department of Jewish History at Tel Aviv University and the International Institute of Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem, discusses her book Relations Between Jews and Poles during the Holocaust: The Jewish Perspective, laying out the myriad views and feelings Polish Jews harbored for their country and their non-Jewish compatriots. This episode is made possible by Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism.
Antisemitism: Past and Present
October 19, 2020 05:00 - 39 minutes - 28.5 MBDr. Scott Ury, the outgoing director of Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism, and Guy Meron, Prof. of Jewish History at the Open University of Israel, discuss their collected issue entitled Antisemitism: Historical Concept, Public Discourse. This episode is made possible by Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism.
Dialectic of Catastrophe: The Holocaust and the Nakba
October 12, 2020 15:55 - 42 minutes - 30.3 MBProf. Bashir Bashir of the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication at the Open University of Israel, and Prof. Amos Goldberg of the Department of Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discuss their edited volume The Holocaust and the Nakba: A New Grammar of Trauma and History. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.
A Chronicle of Diplomacy
October 05, 2020 06:40 - 35 minutes - 25.2 MBThe Israeli Palestinian conflict is among the most prominent and complex foreign policy challenges for the European Union. Anders Persson looks at the evolution of EU policy towards the conflict through the EU’s own documentation, from 1967 to the present. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and European countries. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanisti...
Ending Wars Peacefully
September 21, 2020 12:51 - 41 minutes - 29.7 MBIn The Sword is Not Enough: Arabs, Israelis, and the Limits of Military Force Jeremy Pressman challenges the notion that violence is the best way to win concessions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or in the Israeli-Arab context more broadly. His research shows that diplomacy, negotiations, and shared interests are no less important for making genuine progress towards peace – and often more. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, de...
Living With Ghosts
September 14, 2020 07:47 - 40 minutes - 28.9 MBMichal Ben Naftali’s novel The Teacher examines memories of those who can never forget. People die, but their collective trauma lives on. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and European countries. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.
From Genetics To Eugenics
September 07, 2020 13:15 - 39 minutes - 28.1 MBProf. Amir Teicher, a historian at Tel Aviv University, discusses his book Social Mendelism: Genetics and the Politics of Race in Germany, 1900-1948, exploring the cooptation of a seminal, 19th-century genetic theory by a climate of racial categorization several decades on. This episode is supported by The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, a...
Dark Rooms
August 31, 2020 14:47 - 40 minutes - 28.8 MBProf. Amos Morris-Reich, the incoming director of the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism, discusses his book Race and Photography: Racial Photography as Scientific Evidence 1876-1980, exploring the meeting point between culture and science against the backdrop of racism. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.
A Very Diplomatic Review
August 24, 2020 08:53 - 32 minutes - 23.5 MBAs part of our special series sponsored by the German government, the Tel Aviv Review hosts Germany’s Ambassador to Israel, Dr. Susanne Wasum-Rainer. The Ambassador discusses Germany’s vision at the start of its Presidency of the Council of the EU, challenges to the post-war global order, German-Israel relations, and her long professional connection to Israel. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and Euro...
Disinformation Smells Bad
August 17, 2020 05:00 - 35 minutes - 25.4 MBIf healthy democracies depend on a well-informed citizen body, does disinformation destroy them? Can the average person know when to trust science, or spot bad information causing political and social mayhem? In Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World, co-authors Carl Bergstrom and Jevin D. West argue that people have the power to judge data critically and independently – and they teach us how. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-S...
Endangered Liberalism
August 10, 2020 11:14 - 47 minutes - 33.5 MBMenny Mautner, Professor Emeritus of Law at Tel Aviv University, discusses his book Liberalism in Israel: History, Problems and Contingencies, analyzing the onset of the liberal agenda in Israel’s political history, up to its precarious state at present. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.
Prelude to a Nation
August 03, 2020 13:55 - 35 minutes - 24.1 MBProf. Ruth HaCohen-Pinczower, co-author of Singing Freedom: The Interplay between Music and Politics in the West, discusses the power of music as well as power and music. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.
Israel And The Family Of Nations
July 27, 2020 17:02 - 34 minutes - 24.5 MBAfter decades of diplomacy, Oded Eran, former Ambassador to the EU and Jordan, now at the Institute for National Security Studies, provides a comprehensive checkup of Israeli foreign policy. He examines Israel’s relations with the Middle East, India and China, the EU, the Palestinians and the US, and we consider what impact annexation – or COVID – will have on Israel’s standing in the world. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s rel...
The History, Memory And Myth Of The Kishinev Pogrom
July 20, 2020 05:00 - 41 minutes - 29.4 MBThe Kishinev Pogrom of 1903 was among the seminal events of modern Jewish history. The violence was memorialized in ways that shaped Jewish identity, from the early Zionist national narrative to Jewish American social activism. Prof. Steven Zipperstein examines the history, memory and myth of the violence in Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political e...
How New Conspiracy Theorists Undermine Democracy
July 13, 2020 12:06 - 39 minutes - 28.1 MBA politician you don’t like might be running child prostitutes from a pizzeria. Election results you don’t like were rigged. In their new book A Lot of People are Saying, Professors Nancy Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead argue that new conspiracists in Donald Trump’s America have no evidence and no argument – in essence, no theory at all. Rosenberg explains how they harm democracy. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, ...
Can We Inoculate Democracy From Populism?
July 06, 2020 14:34 - 39 minutes - 28 MBIn his authoritative book on the subject, Prof. Jan Werner Muller asked What is Populism; in other works, he considers “militant democracy,” when constitutions protect countries from populist injury, Christian democracy, conservatives and populism, and how communities of democratic countries can deal with members who stray. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education. This season is...
It Is a Sighted Man’s World
June 29, 2020 09:00 - 36 minutes - 26.1 MBDr Gili Hammer, an anthropologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discusses her book Blindness through the Looking Glass: The Performance of Blindness, Gender, and the Sensory Body, exploring how visually impaired Israeli women grasp and perform the interface between blindness and gender. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.
Martin Buber: A Beautiful Mind?
June 22, 2020 05:00 - 34 minutes - 24.8 MBIn his new biography, Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent, Paul Mendes-Flohr explores the journey of the Jewish philosopher, from his early years as a polyglot cosmopolitan intellectual under the waning Habsburg empire, to a voice of political dissent in the new state of Israel. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.
Europe in the Middle East: The Imperfect Storm
June 15, 2020 09:50 - 40 minutes - 28.6 MBHow can the EU cope with recent or ongoing ruinous wars in Syria, Yemen and Libya, in a field full of foreign powers, and still tow a clear line on the Israeli Palestinian conflict? Muriel Asseburg of the German foreign policy think tank SWP makes sense of the quagmire and offers policy ideas for a mission that can look impossible. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and European countries. This season...
My People, Our History
June 08, 2020 09:26 - 42 minutes - 30.1 MBRashid Khalidi, a leading historian of the Palestinian national movement, weaves his family history into a century of the Palestinian national struggle against Israel and international forces seeking to thwart self-determination in his new book, The 100 Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education....
The Environmental Peacemaker
June 01, 2020 09:20 - 44 minutes - 31.7 MBThere’s no time like the COVID-19 pandemic to learn about the interconnectedness of countries in the Middle East – even across conflict lines. Gidon Bromberg, director of EcoPeace Middle East, shows the urgency – and feasibility – of coordinating environmental policies and sharing vital resources between Israel, Palestine and Jordan. Because water, energy and climate change won’t wait. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relatio...
The Best and Worst of Both Worlds
May 25, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutes - 30.3 MBNancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and History and the academic director of the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University, discusses her new book From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The New York Intellectuals and the Politics of Jewish Life, recounting her life on the cusp between Europe and America, and between liberal socialism and Reagan-era conservatism. This episode is sponsored by Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Institute for the Study...
Israel – Populist in Its Own Special Way
May 18, 2020 05:00 - 40 minutes - 28.9 MBProf. Dani Filc of Ben Gurion University continues our populism and democracy series by shining the spotlight on Israel. With comparative global context, he asks how Israeli political populism differs from all others, or does it differ? What other countries share similar qualities in their own populist movements? And he has surprising answers. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice th...
In God We Trust? Nationalism and Secularization Revisited
May 11, 2020 11:45 - 36 minutes - 25.9 MBDr Zohar Maor, lecturer in history at Bar Ilan University and co-editor of the new volume Nationalism and Secularization, discusses new views on the crux of political modernity, and old views revisited. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.
Tough Love or Tough Luck? EU and the Middle East Peace Process
May 04, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutes - 30.4 MBThe European Union treats Israel like the closest of cousins. However, the EU remains vexed by the atrophied peace process, and seeks measures to push the sides to end their conflict. But can EU’s current response be effective? Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Relations explains the EU dilemmas regarding Israel, Palestine and an elusive peace. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and Europea...
Fraught Friends: Israel and the EU, Past and Present
April 27, 2020 08:37 - 38 minutes - 27.8 MBIsrael and the European Union were both founded following World War II – Israel would protect the Jews and the EU would inoculate the continent from another war. Yet their relationship with each other has been uneven: robust economic ties are beset by political tension. Dr. Maya Sion of Hebrew University explains why. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and European countries. This season is made possi...
Cherchez Les Femmes
April 20, 2020 05:00 - 47 minutes - 33.7 MBDr Rachel Mesch, professor of French and English at Yeshiva University, discusses her new book Before Trans: Three Gender Stories from Nineteenth-Century France. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel. This episode was made possible by Yeshiva University’s Center for Israel Studies and the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, an...
The Crypto-Jews of the Mid-Atlantic
April 13, 2020 15:24 - 40 minutes - 28.7 MBRonnie Perelis, Associate Professor of Sephardic Studies and the director of the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, discusses his book Narratives from the Sephardic Atlantic, a collective biography of three Iberian crypto Jews in the late 16th and 17th centuries. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel. This episode was made possible by Yeshiva Unive...
Returning to the Scene of the Crime
April 06, 2020 17:10 - 37 minutes - 26.7 MBWhy are young Israeli Jews, three generations after the Holocaust, moving to Germany in droves? Who are they, how do they explain their choices, and what are the reactions back home? What does the trend say about both Israel and Germany? Political scientist Hadas Cohen asked them. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel. This episode is part of a series made possible by...
If You Build It: Jewish Architecture Throughout the Centuries
March 30, 2020 18:08 - 54 minutes - 38.7 MBYeshiva University professors Jess Olson, Ronnie Perelis and Steven Fine, contributors to the edited book Jewish Religious Architecture: From Biblical Israel to Modern Judaism, come together to discuss the role of aesthetics and functionality for a predominantly text-based faith, focusing on different instances in the long history of the Jews. This episode was made possible by Yeshiva University’s Center for Israel Studies and the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, an...
Well-Behaved Orthodox Journalists Seldom Make History
March 23, 2020 15:35 - 45 minutes - 32.2 MBOrthodox journalists Sivan Rahav-Meir and Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt discuss the media, religion and gender in a panel discussion held at Yeshiva University in New York. This episode was made possible by Yeshiva University's Center for Israel Studies and the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, and was recorded on the YU premises in New York City in front of a live audience.
Judaism for Dummies?
March 16, 2020 10:08 - 40 minutes - 28.6 MBJess Olson, Associate Professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University, discusses his book Jewish Culture: A Quick Immersion. Is the title not a contradiction in terms? This episode was made possible by Yeshiva University's Center for Israel Studies and the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, and was recorded on the YU premises in New York City in front of a live audience.
I'll Have What She's Having
March 09, 2020 05:00 - 36 minutes - 26 MBAdeena Sussman's new Israeli cookbook Sababa took the food world by storm, and everyone else. With prose as effortless as her recipes look, she tells the story of her life in Israel through the best edibles on offer, filtered through Israel's kaleidoscope of cultures. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.