Podcast Against Antisemitism

Jake Wallis Simons is a journalist, author, commentator and the former Editor of The Jewish Chronicle. He has spoken extensively on antisemitism, Israel and British identity and has written extensively on how prejudice against Jews and Israel is understood – and often misunderstood – in contemporary Western society. In this episode, Jake outlines where criticism of Israel ends and antisemitism beg...

Taryn Thomas is a former pro-Palestine activist and protester. After taking part in numerous demonstrations, she began educating herself on the horrors of Hamas’ 7th October terrorist atrocities. She soon became aware of the antisemitic nature permeating many of the protests, leading her to abandon the movement.  In this episode, Taryn describes what takes place behind the scenes of the pro-Palest...

Michael and Lisa Marlowe are the parents of Jake Marlowe, a British-Israeli citizen murdered on 7th October by Hamas terrorists. Jake was working as unarmed security at the Nova Music Festival that day when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering some 1,200 innocent people in cold blood, raping and torturing along the way, and taking more than 250 hostages, ranging in age from babies to the eld...

Yoni Finlay is a survivor of the deadly 2025 Islamist terrorist attack on Manchester’s Heaton Park Synagogue. The attack took place on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar – and two people were killed as a result of the terrorist’s actions, with three others injured. One of the injured was Yoni, who was hit by a stray police bullet that passed through him and, tragically, killed Adr...

Alex Woz is an award-winning Argentinian Jewish artist based in Los Angeles. After being cancelled for being Jewish, Alex only became more determined to reclaim the Jewish narrative through his art and empower Jews worldwide.  In this episode, Alex describes his artistic process, growing up in Argentina and confronting friends over antisemitism. Subscribe at antisemitism.org/podcast and send us yo...

Mark Birbeck is the founder of the activist collective OurFight, a group comprising mostly non-Jews who act against antisemitism. Mark began leading OurFight as a response to the wave of antisemitism in Britain following Hamas’ 7th October 2023 terrorist attack. In this episode, Mark details how OurFight began, why he believes that non-Jews must fight against Jew-hatred and the importance of being...

Tali Smus is a student at King’s College London who has been on the front lines of fighting antisemitism at universities across the country. She is the President and founder of King’s College Students Supporting Israel Society and also runs her own online advocacy page under the Instagram account @the.britishzioness. In this episode, Tali opens up about receiving antisemitic abuse from her fellow...

Moshe Teller is an art therapist and psychotherapist who has spent many years working with trauma, particularly within Jewish communities and with Holocaust survivors. Through art, Moshe helps people access emotions and memories that words alone often cannot reach. In this episode, Moshe opens up about his experience working with Holocaust survivors, the psychology behind trauma and what colour an...

Nick Rose is a Jewish American photographer and tattooist based in London. Following Hamas’ October 7th terrorist attacks, Nick launched an initiative offering free tattoos to the Jewish community, creating a space to foster pride and process grief together. He has since tattooed hundreds of people for free. In this episode, Nick shares his drive behind the free tattoo initiative, dives into his w...

Podcast Against Antisemitism returns for Season 6! Our first guest for this series is Andrew Fox, a former British Army Major who completed three tours in Afghanistan before becoming a frontline conflict researcher and later going on to teach military theory and leadership at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He has spoken in the British Houses of Parliament, the French Senate, and the United...

Whilst we prepare for the next season of Podcast Against Antisemitism, welcome to our brand new six-part series chronicling the history of antisemitism in English literature. In this podcast, we explore the anti-Jewish tropes perpetuated by centuries of literary misrepresentation. Beginning with medieval poetry and concluding with contemporary plays, the series offers a comprehensive chronological...

The Jews were expelled from England in 1290, but this did not mean the end of literary representation. In this episode, we delve into the antisemitic tropes in 14th-century literature, focusing on Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, John Gower’s Confessio Amantis and the musical legacy of anonymous ballads such as Sir Hugh, or The Jew’s Daughter. Subscribe at antisemitism.org/podcast and send us...

The early-modern period was a golden age for English theatre. Giants like Shakespeare, Marlowe, Dekker, Middleton and Jonson were all active in the 16th and 17th centuries. But where did the Jews fit into this Golden Age, and how were they represented on stage? In this episode, we explore what life was like for a Jew at this time, as well as taking a deep dive into key plays such as The Merchant o...

In the 19th century, the Jewish community in England faced both progress and prejudice. While legal reforms began to improve their status, antisemitic stereotypes persisted. In this episode, we turn to Charles Dickens, a towering figure of Victorian literature, whose evolving portrayals of Jewish characters offer a compelling case study. From the malevolent Fagin in Oliver Twist to the empathetic...

In this episode, we turn our focus to the 20th century – a period marked by profound literary innovation and social upheaval. From the modernist verse of T.S. Eliot to the beloved children’s tales of Roald Dahl, the literature of this era is saturated in antisemitic motifs. Subscribe at antisemitism.org/podcast and send us your feedback to podcast@antisemitism.org. Follow us on all socials @antise...

In our final episode, we shift our focus from 20th-century writers to contemporary playwrights and modern allegations of dramatic antisemitism. Since antisemitism has been on the rise in recent years, it is crucial to examine how modern works, including plays by Caryl Churchill, Joe Murphy, Joe Robertson, and Stefano Massini, engage with and, at times, perpetuate harmful stereotypes.  This conclud...

Gideon Falter is the Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), a charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance law enforcement. Gideon was elected to lead CAA in the autumn of 2014, soon after its establishment, building it into the UK’s foremost campaigning organisation against antisemitism. His work for CAA has been publicly praised...

Natalie Sanandaji is a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre, where a reported 364 people were murdered by Hamas terrorists. This atrocity was part of the wider 7th October attacks in Israel, the single worst massacre of the Jews since the Holocaust. Since that day, Natalie has devoted her time and efforts to raising awareness about the grave events that took place. In this episode, Natalie...

Shabbos Kestenbaum is a Religion and Public Policy graduate student from Harvard University. Since the 7th October Hamas atrocities, Shabbos has been embroiled in a long public battle with Harvard, which has resulted in him suing them for failing to combat antisemitism, describing the school as “a bastion of rampant anti-Jewish hatred and harassment”. In this episode, Shabbos discusses his decisio...

Steven Berkoff is an actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and director born in the Jewish East End of London. Over the course of his critically-acclaimed career, Steven has adapted Kafka, directed Shakespeare and produced his own original work. In this episode, Steven looks back at the Battle of Cable Street, in which his Uncle Sam fought, and recounts his experiences of writing plays a...

Eylon Keshet is the cousin of Yarden Bibas who, along with baby Kfir, his five-year-old brother Ariel, and their mother Shiri, were kidnapped and taken as hostages to Gaza by Hamas terrorists on 7th October. The Bibas family lived on the Nir Oz kibbutz, close to Gaza, where a quarter of the community were killed, kidnapped or injured in the 7th October attacks. In this episode, Eylon explains wher...

Benjamin Till is a Jewish composer, director and filmmaker. He is currently the Composer in Residence for Mosaic Voices, a vocal ensemble at London’s New West End Synagogue. Benjamin’s music has been performed at top venues across the country, including the Royal Albert Hall. In this episode, he discusses his new project, ‘The Jews of Britain’, which sees him looking at the history of Britain’s Je...

Dora Reisser is a Bulgarian Holocaust survivor whose life was profoundly impacted by the rise of the Nazi regime. Despite facing unimaginable challenges, she emerged as an accomplished ballet dancer, actress, fashion designer and writer.  In this episode, Dora describes living under Nazi rule, making a new life for herself and her experiences acting in academy-award-winning Hollywood classics like...

Reverend Canon Nigel Biggar is a historian, theologian and ethicist currently serving as Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology at the University of Oxford. Nigel has been described as “one of the leading living Western ethicists” by the New Statesman, and is named as one of Prospect Magazine’s Top Thinkers of 2024. He has published eight books and has written several articles since Hamas’ 7t...

Marco Shalma is the creator and executive producer of the upcoming documentary ‘Here We Go Again’ which delves into the cyclical and cynical nature of antisemitism through the lens of a diverse group of activists. The film invites viewers to reflect on the past and present, urging a future where the lessons of resilience and solidarity pave the way for a brighter, more inclusive world. In this epi...